Apocrypha

Chapter 21

"I have found the one whom my soul loves."
Song of Solomon 3:4

AT THE BORDER of Mississippi, the sign welcoming them to the Magnolia State was withered and covered in dirt. It was not a sign that would make someone feel welcomed. The sign looked like a warning.

"Normally, I'd say that's enough of Mississippi." Gabriel said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Remember when I said there was something dangerous on this trip?" Lysander asked, Gabriel nodding in reply. "Well, because incestuous marriage is legal in this state, there have been some people with... deformities."

"Are you afraid of inbred people?" Gabriel jokingly asked.

But Lysander looked serious. "I'm not joking around. It's not what they look like is terrifying. It's what they do."

"What do they-" A car was coming from down the road. Lysander grabbed his partner and pulled him behind the sign.

An old, rusty silver truck drove past them. The truck was littered with Confederate and American flags. Anyone can easily see how these people vote.

"Tell me, what is wrong with the inbred people of Mississippi?" Gabriel asked. Lysander sighed as he looked down at the street, which led into the state.

"Because their minds have also become warped, some have developed a taste for... human meat."

"Lysander." Gabriel said, his face having dropped. "Are you telling me that there are cannibals in Mississippi?" he asked a bit too loudly. Lysander put his hand over Gabriel's mouth.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. But I did warn you that this trip was dangerous. Nothing we can do now but try to make sure we don't run into freaks."

Gabriel was starting to freak out. Cannibalism was outlawed, as it should be, by the country. It was punishable by death because it is defiling another human. But if anything, the past months have taught Gabriel, it is that much goes on in this country under the noses of the government.

"How come they still exist?" Gabriel asked. The two stood up and began to walk past the entrance sign.

"It's not worth the governor's time. From what some of the locals have told me, the federal government does give funding to institutionalize these people. But the state leaders pocket the money and just send local sheriffs to kill any inbred people on sight."

"I guess even cannibals are victims of the system."

"In a way. Some can't control it. Like I said, their minds are not right."

"Have you ever encountered one?" Gabriel asked.

Lysander nodded his head. "One tried to eat my finger off. I managed to fight him off by piercing a stick into his eye."

"Did he die?" Gabriel then asked. Lysander bit the inside of his cheek.

"Don't know. I ran as fast as I could away from there." He said. Gabriel reached the pocket inside his cloak and tightened his grip on the gun.

They walked through the woods, which was growing more humid. The ground under then was wet, the men having to hold onto nearby trees to prevent them from slipping onto the ground.

"Watch out for bugs." Lysander said. "And crocodiles."

"What?" Gabriel said. He kept walking forward.

After passing through the dense woods, a dirt road was up ahead. Gabriel sighed in relief now that he won't have to constantly avoid slipping.

"How much farther for things? Where are we even going, is what I should be asking." Gabriel said.