The Leader walked into the room, his tall cloth crown momentarily blocking out the light from the solitary bulb. The tendrils that extended from his hand trailed behind him, keeping the three people in the door in place. Their eyes were bulging, faces rapidly turning red, as the black strands wrapped tightly around their throat. Imti locked eyes with Ari as the Leader walked past him. They placed their still gloved hand on the table, moving it over the magazines.
"Who put these here," They mused in a wholly unnatural way. Judging from their movement, it seemed as if their voice came out a bit after their mouth enunciated the words.
The Leader moved to the window, using their rotting hand to push aside the curtains an inch. A gurgling noise emanated from Taneen's throat. His face was contorted in rage, visible even through the blueish hue of his face.
With a curl of their hand, the Leader tightened the tendrils' grip.
"Silence," Their voice made the very atoms in Imti's bones rumble. "Did you really think I didn't know you were here?"
They turned to face Imti.
"It talks to me, you know," They cooed. "The thing you're holding."
Imti still looked at Ari, whose eyes had started drooping. Her right arm had been inside the bag on her shoulder when the black stuff had grabbed all of them, and it was the one area the tendrils didn't reach. It seemed as if whatever was inside the bag was warding them off, leaving Ari's right arm completely free. However, she didn't move it.
As Imti's heart pounded, he felt a new sense of calm overcome him. He kept his thumb over the button on the device. "What's it saying now?"
The Leader seemed a little taken back as they straightened up.
"The same things it always does."
They took a step closer to Imti, who was still looking at Ari. The light was fading now. "It's been talking to me since the day I found it. That's when I knew I had a connection to Azrael himself. That I was chosen. It told me to find followers, as much as I can, and I did, and then I spent my life trying to understand who was speaking to me from within. It punished me for my doubts, oh, such terrible punishments but I kept being strong. He told me, complimented me, He made sure I understood our connection."
"But the other one never speaks to me. It is something else- something evil. Azrael hates it, his voice trembles when he speaks of it. It's so silent but so full of evil. That's why they," A hand was motioned towards the door. "Look for it. They think it's a cure but it's not. Azrael knows it's not, and I know it's not. I am the only person who can control it, that's why I use it to bless. Something so evil, so cruel, so silent-" They hissed as they inched closer to Imti. "Should stay with me."
The little boy's mind raced. The person talking to him was supposed to be the supreme mind on his religion. Everything he had ever believed, everything he ever learnt - all of it came from them. And yet, here they were, with proof that they talked to Azrael, the creator and destroyer of all things, saying that the red and gold Drive was evil - that it couldn't cure Ari. As he looked at his friend slowly losing consciousness over each excruciating moment, Imti realized it was him that had put all of them in this situation. Everything that had gone wrong was because of him.So this was what his mother had always meant. If you go too far against the grain, divine punishment rained down against you. A single tear rolled down Imti's cheek. All the stories, the lectures, the sermons, the verses - it had all been true.
YOU ARE READING
FALTER
Misteri / Thriller"Do you remember what we used to say?" "Never falter." "Yeah. Forever after." When a familiar cult emerges from the shadows of Youth City, underground rockstar Imti has to choose between hiding his demons behind a mask or finally facing everyone bur...
