The Calling of Time

Castle in the Darkness

Thanatos might be the one who reinstated slavery, but apparently humans had jumped on that particular bandwagon with little argument. The crowd surrounding the platform had been large, the people had acted like it was a regular occurrence, laughing and jostling one another. Acting like they were bidding on a horse, not a human.

As we turned round the bend, a haze of thick black smoke rolled over our windshield. The air was filled with it. There was a small white church nestled between an old green house and a run down factory. There was another crowd here, slightly smaller than the auction had been. They were gathered around a large bonfire. This crowd was more subdued, and as we passed a few looked up, glaring at the jeep. I pressed my face to the window, and saw a frail looking old woman add another armful of fuel to the fire.

The books tumbled out of her arms and into the flames, and the pages curled, shriveled and blackened.

They were burning bibles.

“Holy crap,” Manda was leaning forward, pointing up at the sign above the church doors. “Look at that. The arrogant bastard.”

The sign had obviously been painted over, and there were fresh words printed on it, words that Manda read out loud in a scornful voice,

“Church of Thanatos. Hah.”

“Typical of a lesser demon,” Horace scoffed. “Puffing himself up like a God.”

We travelled onwards in miserable silence, and eventually we began putting the city behind us. As we entered the outskirts the road split into a wide double highway, and other cars passed us on both sides. I couldn’t help staring. It felt like forever since I’d been in actual traffic. Most of the other vehicles were heavy duty jeeps or trucks, all done up the same way as ours. I pressed my face to the glass and watched a light green pickup speed past us. There was something smeared on the back of it, a dark brown patch that looked like blood.

My stomach twisted, and I leaned back against my seat, fixing my gaze on something else. It probably was blood. They’d backed into something. Maybe a soul sucker. Maybe a human. Would there even be consequence for killing someone anymore? Obviously Thanatos’ men did whatever they wanted, including selling other humans and burning books. What was a little hit and run to these people?

Jai must have seen the look on my face, because he leaned over and asked in a low voice, “You okay?”

“I don’t think I like New Canada.”

Manda snorted from the front seat. “Nobody likes it here. They’re just here because there’s a higher survival rate, and food. The rest of the world is running out of food, and Thanatos just takes what he wants.”

Horace slowed the jeep down, muttering loud enough for the rest of us to hear, “Damn, I was afraid of that.”

I leaned sideways, trying to see what he was looking at. The cars in front of us were slowing, and up ahead there was a line up. There were two toll booths blocking the middle of the highway.

“We have to pay to get out of town?” I frowned. “How does that make sense?”

“Out or in, this way.” Jai pointed at the other side. “I’m sure Thanatos makes a good deal of money that way.”

“They pretend you don’t have to pay.” Manda said. “They say it’s just a check point, but that’s bullshit.” She leaned forward and yanked the glove compartment open. “Here, this might do it.” She tossed Horace something, and he caught it and held it on his open palm. It was a black velvet bag with a draw string.