Love Thy Shadow, Satan (LTSS) [#Wattys2018]

Chapter 5 - Slaughter House

Faith's POV

I was less than 15 minutes away from the Pack House when the war had started in the Outer Ground. Alarm bells ringing louder in my head with every step I took towards my home... Something wasn't right...

As I drew closer to the building, I felt my MindLink being forcibly blocked by a thick cloud of Wolfsbane which shrouded the Pack House like a dense fog.

Well... now my only way to contact daddy is gone. Great.

Agonising cries rang through the air, the stench of blood hitting me full force - Pack blood, for sure. I felt the warmth of 216 bodies within the compound (but only 23 were moving), meaning 16 or more intruders within the premises. Unanswerable questions started cramming my mind - refusing to clear. Why had the trespassers not been taken care of yet? And why were my pack not helping each other to easily overpower them?

With every step into what now seemed like a battlefield, my senses started working on overdrive - adrenaline rushing through my veins, aiding to compose a minds' image of my surroundings. Fear seemed to be creeping its way into my mind, uninvited - the scent of burning flesh slowly overpowering that of the blood. As I turned and reached the main hall, I automatically started using my "sight" to scan the source of the putrid odour. Never will I ever forget what I "saw".

There were 193 burning bodies hanging from the ceiling.

Each reeked of gasoline and radiated waves of scorching heat - from their slight movements and hollow cries of pain I figured they had all, most likely, been alive when set alight. I have never thanked the Goddess enough for my lack of sight.

Silver ropes had been used to attach the bodies haphazardly to the beams of the ceiling, covering the wooden framework entirely. The silver must have been the reason why they were too weak to recover from their injuries - too weak to escape their bindings. Judging from the strong smell of Wolfsbane, emanating from the blood escaping my fellow pack members, they were somehow poisoned beforehand - paralysed as their captors did what they willed. The sadistic tendencies of whoever did this was clearly expressed through this disgusting setting. I proceeded further into what seemed like a distorted recreation of a slaughter house - trying to find signs of any survivors. It was very difficult to differentiate between them, since they all had little to no life radiating from them.

Some of my pack members were still clinging to life by a thread - wanting to survive this ordeal and warn the rest of the pack, their family. With all the courage I could muster, in that single moment, I made the hardest decision I have ever made - I used my Alpha voice. Exhaling deeply, I took another laboured breath... and barely voiced my Alpha Command, "I feel your pain, my people. Your love, respect and loyalty will be remembered and your wishes fulfilled - with me as your vassal. I will find out the truth to what happened here and personally punish those who hurt you."

I sensed some still partially living within the masses of hanged bodies - there was no hope of them recovering, no hope of them to live - yet they were still clinging to life by a thread, wanting to survive this ordeal and warn the rest of the pack... their family. After watching their fruitless struggle for what felt like a lifetime, I realised what I would have to do to effectively end their suffering. Exhaling deeply, I took another laboured breath... and barely voiced my Alpha Command,

"I feel your pain, my people. Your love, respect and loyalty will be remembered and your wishes fulfilled - with me as your vassal. I will find out the truth to what happened here and personally punish those who hurt you. My family... rest in peace knowing your Faith will avenge you. This is an Alpha's Promise. Remember, I love you all. Now rest... sleep."

I heard the few living release their last breaths... it took me til their bodies grew silent to fully comprehend the situation. 

Dead... All of them. My pack. My family... Young. Old. Man. Woman. Child... Not one was spared... There were no survivors... I had ordered them to die. What's worse is that I don't regret my decision.