Ritual

Ritual

01

   They arrive just before dawn. The crows in the neighbouring trees make the only noise able to mask the cries of two figures being dragged into the clearing. Soiled rags are stuffed in their mouths to prevent them from screaming as their shins are snapped with a hammer.

   Both victims are dropped in the middle of a circle drawn out in the mud with white paint and a design for summoning the dead is illuminated by moonlight. They are ordered to lie still and be silent. A stone column stands nearby and a four-legged creature devouring a humanlike figure is etched onto its face.

   The victims were taken from their beds. Their names are Mary and Peter.  The group had arrived in the dead of night and got to Peter first, dragging him out of bed whilst his alarmed wife attempted to scream for help.

   A hooded man steps forward and looks down at the writhing man; the female is quiet. In a faint or dead, he doesn’t care. He unsheathes a dagger from his cloak. It glimmers in the natural light cascading on to the clearing. The sound this produces causes Mary to stir and wake. She attempts to scream through the rag. Peter lunges forwards at the man’s ankles in order to knock him off balance. The leader anticipates this and successfully evades the attack. Another hooded figure comes out of the darkness and grabs Mary forcefully, planting her face in the ground. Her cries are instantly stifled and once she realises she can’t escape, the whimpering halts. The figure steps back and the leader addresses the victims below him.

   “It is time.”

   Peter manages to loosen the rag in his mouth and create a gap big enough to shout through.

   “Please don’t do this!”

   “Peter, you knew this was inevitable. It’s for the common good.”

   “But why us?”

   “You will understand in time.”

   Peter tries to lean up on his elbows to get a better look at his captors. The small group of hooded figures close in on the two in the middle and one begins chanting. The rest of the group is silent as they reveal their daggers. The blades are encrypted with an ancient language. The knives are raised simultaneously. The chanting stops. The leader pulls his hood down and Peter’s eyes widen in recognition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

02

   “Let us recap the past few days, Dempsey.”

   Delgado sat forward and entwined his fingers, his face a mask of concentration. His face was slightly wrinkled at the edges and his nose was crooked, an intelligent man but prone to impulsiveness.  His mousey hair, not yet grey in spite of his age, flopped over his blue eyes.