Death To The Village

 I was a popular priest amongst my fellow members. In fact, I would say I led them…

Kino: “Chenko sir. A lot of our followers are claiming that their kids are being possessed to venture out from their households. Missing reports have already been made from over 50 kids. One parent was able to follow his kid to see what was happening, but he started to wander too far from home and the boy’s father grabbed him and took him back. The kid claimed that he didn’t know anything.”

Chenko thought about the situation. “Kino, has the church reached out to all of the families? We could try some magic rituals to see what was going on in his head, possibly or even use some chaplets to detect if there is anything wrong inside their bodies. Have you contacted Raphael?”

“Yes. We reached out to all the families in question. We also contacted Sir Raphael. He actually tried to look through the boy’s mind and body already, but he couldn’t see anything. He said that the boy’s mind is normal and there is nothing wrong.”

“Hmm…Call all the priests together. Create a barrier around the town so that nobody comes in or out except for the priests. Gather a search party as well for the missing kids. Our reputation is already declining. Tell Raphael to try it on every kid. He might find something important.”

“Yes sir!” Kino walked away to adhere to Chenko’s words. Chenko thought about what was going on. ‘Kids being possessed? It’s some sort of magic no doubt, but I’ve never heard of anything like that. It’s either accessing the brain or the body or even both. Someone in the town is definitely involved. Is it one of my own men or did someone sneak into the village somehow? No that can’t be it. We have men patrolling the borders, plus the town isn’t very big. It must be a witch of some sort or a type of sword.’

In the distance a woman screamed. A little girl with blonde hair was covered with blood and held a knife in the air. She continued to stab the woman who lay lifeless on the ground. She kept repeating in a dull voice, “Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.”

Four other priests ran over and pulled the girl off of the woman.

“Hey! Stop it! Knock it off!”

Chenko ran over with wide eyes.

“Wh-What happened here? What did I just witness?”

One of the priests spoke up. “I don’t know. We saw the same thing you did and ran here to stop it, but…we were too late.”

Chenko looked at the dead woman on the ground. Dark thoughts ran through his mind. He couldn’t focus. He looked at the girl again who wouldn’t stop saying, “kill, kill, kill, kill.” It echoed through his mind. ‘W-Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why would you do this?’ However, Chenko had said this out loud without even knowing.

The girl finally stopped talking and looked at Chenko with a smile from cheek to cheek. “He told me to. Hehe. Kill, kill, kill, kill.”

“Stop. Stop it. That was your mother. Have you no love for her?”

She smiled again from cheek to cheek and spoke.

“I don’t care. If he tells me to kill, then I must kill. Hehe.”

People surrounded the area crying and bewildered by what had happened. Chenko questioned the little girl again. “Who is he? Who is this person?”

“Hmm…I can’t say! It’s forbidden!”

Chenko became angered at the comment. He quickly took up the knife from the girl and swung down reaching her face before stopping an inch from her eye. He purposely stopped to see what would happen. Both her eyes turned dark yellow and a deep voice laughed and spoke.

“You really think that would make her turn back? Hahaha! How about I do you a favor?”

The girl grabbed the knife out of Chenko’s hand and stabbed herself in the head. The voice continued talking and smiling. “Your move,’ before her eyes turned back to normal, but remained cold as she fell to the ground next to her mom.

Screams started to ensnare the entire town. Every kid became possessed at once and pulled knives out of their clothes. People dropped to the ground. A priest nearby panicked. “G-Get away! Get away from me! Earth Chaplet!”

Chenko shouted at the man. “Harte! No! Stop!” The priest then lit the boy on the fire with his sword’s technique, paying no attention to Chenko, but the young kid just smiled and leaped towards the priest, killing him where he stood while still on fire. Chenko screamed out, “Who is doing this?! Show yourself!”

A voice laughed in the air. Dark clouds circled around the village and night fell quickly. Chenko called out to his men as the village continued to fall into violence.

“Men! Everyone that can hear me! Listen! Rush to the church immediately! Do not risk your own lives! These kids are not themselves! Anyone in reach of you, tell them to go to the church! Do not kill the kids!”

A big boom was heard in the distance. Houses began to explode and light on fire. The priests ran to the entrance of the church. Chenko was the first to head inside. He walked up to the back wall and pressed a space on the wall that opened a hatch on the ground. “Go. Quickly! Hurry! I’ll go check for more people.”

People thanked him as they ran down the stairs in tears. His fellow priests wished him luck on the outside. Chenko ran outside to half the town on fire in the 2 minutes that they were inside the church. Nobody was in sight. “Hey! Is anybody out there? Hey!”

‘Tch! Nobody? This is a mess. It came out of nowhere too. Whoever this is decided to attack all at once. We aren’t even a strong group of people. We have no connections either. Who would do this? Who would do such a thing?!’

A woman’s voice cried out, “H-Help m-me…”

Chenko ran to the voice.

“Hey! Call out again! Please!” he shouted.

???: “P-Pl…e…ase.”

Chenko found the woman behind a house. Her leg was cut off and she was full of holes from a knife. She bled from multiple spots. A small girl stood next to her. “Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.”

Time froze for Chenko. ‘Wh-What? Th-This isn’t fair. I…don’t know what to do. She’s going to die. I can’t help…I-I can’t kill this little girl. But…If I don’t…the woman dies. She’s swinging her knife down. I can’t move. I can’t talk. I can’t speak. Stop. Please, stop. I’m begging you. Why can’t you hear me? I…I…I.’

The little girl swung her knife down into the woman’s chest. Chenko fell to his knees.

“Ahh. Ahh.”

He continued moaning, unable to speak a word, hurt at what was becoming of his people, yet unable to do anything. As a priest, he chose a path of peace with no intention of hurting anyone ever in his life. Finally able to utter a word, he chose to say, “H-Help.”

Even Chenko did not know what he meant by this. His consciousness spoke for him. He was a generally happy person and tried his best to make others happy his whole life, but this was too much for him. Seeing people he cared about killing each other. He didn’t know what to think or do. A man started running towards them covered in blood.

???: “Stop it! Don’t kill my girl Sir Chenko. Please!”

He grabbed onto his daughter in front of him, but she was no longer who he thought she was. She smiled and stabbed him in the back as he hugged her. He screamed in pain, but looked at Chenko and said, “Don’t you dare kill my girl,” with a smile on his face. “Help her…Please.”

He crawled as much as he could to Chenko and grabbed him by his collar, looking him straight in the eyes. “P-Please…”

He fell to the ground in silence, dead right away.

“Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill,” the girl muttered. She approached Chenko with the knife this time. ‘I’m gonna die next, aren’t I? I can’t save anyone. I don’t know if I can even help this dead man. Maybe…Maybe it’s for the best. My men. My followers. Survive for me. Please.’

The little girl swung the knife down on Chenko. A fiery feeling lit up in Chenko’s stomach. Off reflex, he grabbed the knife and stabbed the little girl in the chest. Her eyes became a dark yellow like before. The voice returned. “So…This is your move? What a shame.”

She fell to the ground. Chenko still could not speak a word, but in his head he was questioning everything. ‘Wh-What? W-Why did I do that? My body…’

He finally built up enough anger in his system to scream out loud into the open sky. “WHYYY?!!!!! How come I couldn’t save that woman?! That girl! WHY?! Yet, I save myself without thought! How can I call myself a priest! How can I call myself a human! Her father…He just asked me not to! He just asked me to protect his kids! Can I not listen to anyone?!”

A group of young kids stood on the hill ahead of him. They looked down onto him and pointed east. The front kid spoke. “To the Land of the Stiff. Face your fears.”

“Wait! Stop! Don’t leave! What does that mean? Face what fears?” Chenko shouted out.

Tears ran down his face and his eyes lit up in shock at the events that unrolled. Chenko ran back to the church and down the hatch to regather himself the best he could, although these memories were still haunting him every second.

“Hello? Is everyone okay?”

???: “We’re good, boss. Nobody else out there?”

“I-I…How many do we have?” he said, completely ignoring what one of his men had just asked him.

“72 people total. 40 of us including you and 32 civilians. We don’t know where the other 10 priests are. Sir Raphael isn’t here either.”

“Okay.”

Chenko turned to the 72 people hiding in fear. “Everyone. I wish I could say I know what is happening, but I don’t. I don’t know why we were attacked and I don’t know what to do. I need to talk with my men though. Please understand.” Chenko bowed down in front of everyone asking for forgiveness.

A citizen spoke in the utmost respect for him.

“There is no need for that, Chenko. We trust you.”

Another spoke.

“Whatever you need to do, Chenko. You’ve helped us all in the past before. We know you will always tell the truth. Just…Please help our kids.”

He looked at some young children crying on the ground. His heart broke for them and he broke down in tears. “Thank you. Thank you everyone…My men, follow me please into the other room.”

Everyone sat down prepared to hear the worst. “I…uh…I don’t know where to start. I truly know not why we are being attacked. However, something is controlling the kids. I know that is obvious, but I have no other answers. Wh-When I was out there. A woman died in front of me. Some of the kids gathered and pointed east. They said, “To the Land of the Stiff.”

Some of the priests stood there in shock and fear. One sat down with his head in between his legs. He quivered as he said, “The Land of the Stiff? A-Are you insane? I’m not going there. I won’t last 5 minutes. I’ve heard the stories.”

Chenko: “I’m not asking any of you to go there. But…If that’s where the answer to this is, then I must go. I know this is a suicide mission, but as the person I am I cannot let this go. I’ve made mistakes in my life, and I thought that turning to God was the answer. I thought that….somewhere within I could change to be less selfish, but I haven’t changed. God only paved the way. It’s up to me to make that decision. He will help us in the end.”

A man walked forward and grabbed Chenko by the chest. “Huh? Haven’t changed? Who gives a crap if you haven’t changed? We don’t know your past and we don’t care. You’re someone who has helped us become better people. Like we give a rat’s ass about you changing. We follow you for a reason. Stop wallowing in your own shame already. What do we need to do to get everyone back?”

He turned around to the rest of the priests and continued his bantering to them.

“Those of you who wish to help this man. Our leader. Our boss. You will venture with us to the Land of the Stiff. If you choose not to…Then pray to the glory of God that you aren’t struck down by God himself. If you have no pride or will to help others, then leave and ask for forgiveness. If you’re lucky, he might just grant you it.”

The man looked back at Chenko. “Call the Counsel. Explain the situation. Those who will help us will follow you. I promise you. Gather as many as you can.”

Chenko: “O-Okay.”

Chenko double tapped on his right ear. Small red lines and dots surfaced onto the ear before a small red glass box attached to the side of his head, covering his ear. A voice answered.

???: “Chenko! My friend! How are you?”

Chenko: “Archer? Is this you?”

Archer: “Yes. What’s up? I haven’t heard from you in a long time. Ever since you started missionary work and moved out to create your own village. How’s that going? How many people have you got there now?”

Chenko: “Listen to me Archer. I don’t know how to explain it that well, but please trust me. A lot of people died and…we have to get to the Land of the Stiff to fix it.”

Silence rang over the air for a moment. “Th-The L-Land of the Stiff? Chenko…I-I would do anything for you truly. I would. But, that’s just staring death in its face. People died? What are you talking about?”

Chenko: “Archer. Please. I need you to tell the Counsel. We need as many men as possible. I think we will have a good chance at beating whatever this is with a lot of manpower.”

Archer paused, but then responded. “For you Chenko, I will. But…Don’t expect much. It’s gonna take a few hours. You know the leaders are going to discuss this. Even if they do approve it, they aren’t going to send a lot of men. You know how the old man is.”

Chenko: “I know. I know. Thank you. Whatever you can do is great. I’ll pray for you.”

Chenko looked at his men once more…“It’s going to be a little bit of time before a decision is made. Those of you who wish to follow me, that is up to you. Those who do not, that is okay. You may make use of this hidden room or leave. To the south is the nearest town. Barnette is about 8 miles from here. They will take you in. Although, I can’t guarantee that what happened here isn’t happening in other places. I can’t see a reason why only we would be attacked. We might’ve just been an extra town that was on the list.”

The man that made the speech earlier stepped forward. “I’m with you, Chenko!” More men started to walk forward to Chenko’s side. All but 2 people abstained. One was the man on the floor still and the other was an average looking man with brown hair and glasses. He spoke. “I’m sorry. I cannot go. I trust you Chenko, as well as all of you, but…although it is selfish, I am rather content with my life. I have a goal, and I don’t want to throw it away. I have a beautiful wife that loves me. I don’t want to throw that away.”

Chenko walked forward to the man and put his hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. You’ve followed me all these years, Franky. Do not be ashamed. I do not blame you…You as well, Paulo. Do not beat yourself into the ground. Fear is not something you can avoid. You can close it off, but it always seems to linger.” Chenko thought back to the girl that he had killed and the woman he was unable to save. Knowing he dealt with this too, he had no right to speak, but did anyway.

“Come. My men. We march west to the Counsel. If they choose to turn us away, then we will fight for what was and what is ours.”

The priests shouted and raised their fists in the air preparing for what was to come.