Purple Dandelion

8-cuts

(Unedited)

¿LAZARUS¿

The sound of waves fighting for passage way against the rock sounds muffled in the cave we are in. The focal point of sound comes from the sky as thunder seems to be contesting with the previous strike. It is a storm outside which would be seen as a curse to our ritual but in this case it is a form of blessing. It is the water spirits way of showing us it is time.

Majority of our light comes from the lightening which behaves as a reveller. It revels the writings and secrets of the Guardians before us. The ones who used this space for the same or a similar reason as to ours. The inscriptions are seen just as long as the lightning lights.

The Guardian sent here to help and ensure I follow through with the ritual has just finished making three fire pits to form triangle around Believe. This creates a more sinister appeal then when we depended on the lighting as a source of light. I have never seen this Guardian before this day but she has tried to comfort me with small talk since she emerged from the water. From the way she has taken charge and seems to know where everything is and what to do with it I can assume with pure certainty that she has done this before.

I have placed Believe on a large stone platform which acts as bed. She looks pained even though I know she is void of any feeling. It is as if emotional pain and scaring never leaves even in a state of death. We had to take off the hospital gown she was wearing because the cave does not allow things that have not been blessed by the waters.

Now she is wrapped with sea weed on the chest and genital area. Since the last time I saw her awake Believe has gotten an an ashy colour and lost some weight. She even  radiates weakness. Seeing her like this makes me wonder my role in the accident. If I had not loved her we wouldn’t be here now. If I would have been able to treat her like any other mission she wouldn’t have been here now.

But I do not regret loving her, whether that is selfish of me or not. I do not regret longing for her when she is at work, or even in the kitchen while I’m in the sitting room. I do not regret the feeling I got every time I held her as close as I possibly can but still feeling like it is not close enough. I do not regret feeling fulfilled each time she laughed or smiled in my direction or the broken noses other guys got when they made her smile in my presence.

I do however regret allowing myself to share her, being so afraid of the outcome of our relationship that I forced her to split herself. I regret not fixing things before watching her leave that morning. I regret how my emotions got the best of me.
But this has to be done. It has been this way since the beginning of sin and it shall remain this way until the death of the last man. The woman looks at me and nods as a sign that its time.

Stone fish venom cause immense pain, circulatory failure, paralysis and even death if the spikes happens to penetrate your flesh. Currently we have pierced Believes’ body with over two hundred spikes. Even though she is already paralysed and weak. The Guardian assisting me claims that she has socked the spikes in some herbs and other compounds which had a chemical reaction with the venom, transferring it into a completely new substance. Now the spikes keep the blood in Believes bloody follow and fresh fooling her brain into think she is awake and well.

Once the last prick is in her body every inch of her body swells. This begins the cutting phase. The Guardian and I divide Believes body into a half. Working in sync we begin with the feet, creating shallow cuts on her soles as well as her toes. We rub in a turquoise paste the Guardian made before spiking Believe. We repeat this processes on her ankles, knees, waist, shoulders, elbows, wrist, fingers, neck, different areas of her face then her chest.

Once this is done the Guardian brings forth a second paste, this one is white. I stand back as the Guardian says that she will take it from here. I watch as the lady created a deep wide gash in between Believes thighs causing blood to rush out like it has been waiting for an escape. She quickly fills the wounds with the paste. She does this on Believes hips, stomach and arms. Though I knew internally she feels nothing due to her critical state, but watching all this gives me a sense of unease.

By the time everything is done Believe is beyond recognition. She looks like a beaten to death corps that has started decomposing. Even though we wiped the excess blood off  she doesn’t look any better.

“What’s your name?” the lady asks me while we wait for the next phase of the ritual to happen.

“Lazarus.” I respond with an expressionless tone.

“ Well my name is Rit.”

“hmm” I hum without a care in the world.

“Not much of a speaker I guess.” Rit continues. When I don’t respond she seem to think it was an opportunity to continue.

“ You must really care for her being you looked like you wanted to kill me with each cut I gave her. ” Adding a nervous laugh.

Silence

“ You know I have been doing this for 1432 year now and each time I feel pity for the women as they are chosen into something they don’t have a say in, though at the same time I envy them. They get the chance to rule over something they don’t not understand or have training in. They can mess up and led to the death of hundreds of people and they will not be punished whatsoever, for the rest of us making a mistake gets us thrown into the restless pit until we lose all sanity or vanish into nothing but a memory. ” her tone is bitter making me who she cared for got send to the pit.

Silence

“Come on Lazarus you have to know how to say more than your name and ‘hmm’ ” she continues her attempt to make me talk.

Silence

“Okay... so.... how o-“

“What happens to the her body once we done with it?” I interrupt Rit mid-sentence.

“ I’m sorry Lazarus I am not authorised to tell you that information without Believes consent as we are not sure how you relationship with her will be after the transformation. It’s part of the rules. ” Rit says with sadness laced in her voice,

“So can we sit silently since you have proven incapable of telling me what i-“

Before I could finish my sentence Believes body begins convulsing rapidly. All I can do is watch as one chapter  of her book ends and a whole new story begins.