The Black Egress

A slap across Samuel’s face woke him up. He jerked but his hands were bound over his head with a rope which in turn was bound to a pole that was fixed to the ground behind his back. There was a taste of blood in his mouth and his entire head rang with pain. Facing down he noticed an ornate chalk circle around himself with many more strewn about the rest of the floor of the unfamiliar room and much of his fellow gang members were in a similar situation as him. Leon was being dragged by two of the men towards the podium in the centre of the chamber. Red candles were placed all over the room in regular patterns and were the only sources of light, though they were sufficient due to their sheer number. He remembered what he had been willing to do. What bothered him the most was the fact that it didn’t really bother him all that much. Had he had another chance at killing his captors, he would be willing to take it. His blood seemed as if it were running cold through his veins.

“Some easy pickings tonight,” a black robed man murmured. “A decent number too.”

One of his associates grunted in agreement. A very excited man came was almost dancing around the room going from one prisoner to the next.

“Thank you for your sacrifice,” he said with a giddy voice as he stopped before Samuel and burst out laughing. Samuel was unable to respond and just glared at the man.

Meanwhile Leon was brought to the podium where a man in ostentatious blood red robes and a distasteful amount of jewellery stood. The clothes distinguished him from the rest of the group as did the staff that was taller than him and adorned with a skull of some monstrous beast. The upper half of his face was covered by a mask. Behind him stood a sheep and a goat in some outlandish contrast to both the strange men and the industrial setting they were in. Only later Samuel also noticed a small cage holding a single pigeon.

“Welcome, brothers and sisters!” he began speaking in a loud voice that projected all across the chamber. “On this special night I thank every single one of you for attending this glorious ritual. We have all worked very hard to make it happen and are overjoyed at your contribution.”

Samuel stared at him in disbelief. These people are mental. Are they actually trying to pull come occultic nonsense. How old are they? It’s bad enough that we have Jarek doing this, but now there are grown men playing at this. I can’t believe I used to go for this sort of thing back in the day. Seeing these men brought back embarrassing memories of when he had tried to follow occultic rituals he had found online and those that Jarek got the whole friend group to do even before they established the gang. In the few years since then he had become thoroughly disillusioned regarding anything of the spiritual nature and merely tolerated whatever his friends did.

As he was speaking the animals were led and carried to a circle right in front of the podium. One of the men knelt before him and presented him a long gilded dagger. As he took it, he began chanting and was soon joined by everyone else in a disquieting harmony. He moved around the circle to the goat. It was tied down in a smaller circle touching the large one. The other two animals were in similar positions, each on its own side of an equilateral triangle connecting the three smaller circles. He cupped the goat’s head in one hand and slit its throat with the dagger in the other hand. The animal offered no resistance and barely made a sound. I heard a gasp coming from Ewa. I turned around and saw her. She had a split lip and a swollen eye. Anger and relief filled Samuel’s mind at the sight of her. For some reason he had to hold back tears. Whatever they were for, he didn’t want to give those bastards the satisfaction of seeing him like that. The chant never ceased and the man continued his path to the lamb which met the same fate and finally the pigeon. For the poor bird he changed his approach and stabbed the animal, impaling it to the ground and left the dagger there, handle sticking upward. He raised his hands and the blood of the animals poured along the chalk lines, turning them crimson. The voices of the cultists reached a crescendo that seemed to make the entire room tremble.

A moment later there was a spine-chilling silence. Samuel held his breath as he waited for something to happen. To his surprise nothing seemed to. Of course nothing happened. They can sing their gibberish all they want and it won’t make a difference. Several cultists approached the circle and began placing items of jewellery into the tiny circles that surrounded the entire circumference of the main large circle. Each item was placed carefully in its individual spot. Only as he watched the process Samuel noticed something had in fact changed inside the circle. While most of the floor reflected at least some of the light from the candles including the reddened chalk lines, the centre part of the circle was just black like a void in space.

Leon was forced to kneel in front of the circle. The long dagger that protruded from the floor brought Samuel a sickening feeling enhanced by the presence of still bleeding animals slaughtered next to Leon. Instead of distress, Leon’s face bore a determined scowl. He was eyeing the dagger. Samuel looked around to see if there was anything he could use to give Leon an opening. At the same time he felt conflicted about it. It would mean somebody would end up dead. It wouldn’t bother him if one of their captors met an unfortunate demise but on the other hand the thought of losing one of his closest friends, whom he had known since they were children, filled him with a deep pain. I have kept at list this much humanity. He never expected he was the type to condone killing even when it came to his opponents but in their current situation it came naturally.

Samuel tried flexing his arms, but the ropes were tight. His legs were free however. Leon was glancing at the two guards around him and Samuel knew he was about to strike. He had been trying to get his attention but as Leon was facing away from him most of the time there was no way for him to do it without also betraying Leon’s intent. He would have to trust the bond they had cultivated for all their years together. He will expect me to jump in and help at precisely the right time. The laughing man who had taunted him and all the others since they were awoken in the chamber was once again making his way past Samuel to amuse himself at the expense of one of the captives. As soon as he passed Samuel, he used his entire body to push himself away from the pole to which he was bound. With all his might he kicked the laughing man’s leg. As soon as it connected he also let out a loud shout accompanied by the man’s cry of pain and thud as he hit the floor face first. It drew the attention of the cultists and even a couple of gasps from the captive gang members.

Leon took advantage of the distraction, broke free of the grip of his guards and lunged for the dagger. His hands were tied together but he was still able to grip the weapon. Without waiting he charged one of his guards and stabbed with the dagger as his momentum made him crash into the guard and they both tumbled to the floor. At the same time the man Samuel had tripped got up and growled as he turned around and walked towards him. He punched Samuel though the impact was somewhat reduced as Samuel swayed on the ropes that held him. The man stumbled and Samuel spat blood.

“Yes! Get the scum!” Samuel shouted but even as he spoke his voice was drowned out by a loud crack and a flash of blinding light. Once Samuel opened his eyes again, Leon was lying collapsed at the side of the circle and the guard with a dagger still stuck in his torso a few metres away.

“Enough!” The leader of the cultist shouted. His voice demanded obedience and Samuel couldn’t find the will to resist it and sagged. “I cannot have you murder my faithful followers even if you are providing such a valuable sacrifice. I understand you are impatient and eager to perform your duty but we need to observe the proper form. I promise you it will be done soon.”

He motioned to one of his followers and two of them dragged the body of their fallen comrade away. Samuel couldn’t tell whether the man still lived. The rest of them didn’t seem all that concerned either. Two guards held Leon under his arms and brought him closer to the circle.

“Aixer! Grant us power so that we may serve your purpose with all our will and might!” the leader shouted. “Accept our humble sacrifice. May it be one of many.” As he spoke, he held his arms towards the centre of the circle. The guards lifted Leon and threw him into the circle. The dark surface wobbled as Leon impacted it like a thick liquid or jelly. Leon snapped back into consciousness and shrieked with terror as he began sinking bit by bit into the dark sludge.

“No!” Ewa screamed and was joined by Samuel and some of the others that were not struck dumb by what they saw.

In a couple of seconds only his hand was still visible and in the next moment Leon was gone. Even his scream faded. Samuel stared in incredulity. There was no way to understand what had happened to his friend. There was nothing there to tell Leon had ever even been there. Only a single piece of jewellery in one of the smaller circles seemed to glitter for a moment before fading and becoming indistinguishable from the rest once more.

“We express our gratitude for your charitable offering. May your boon guide our paths.” Samuel had never felt such hatred as he scowled at the leader of the cultists. “We present the next sacrifice.”

Samuel’s breath caught as they brought Ewa to the circle. This time they took care to hold down their victim close to prevent any more defiance or other mishaps. There was nothing Samuel or anybody else could do for her. No screaming, threatening, begging or cursing would help. Another one of his dearest friends disappeared forever. Followed by the next, and another. While each vanishing hurt in its own unique way, his reactions became more and more muted.

“Accept the next sacrifice,” the man continued.

“No!” The sharp refusal made Samuel jump a little. Even from the remaining members of the gang, little more than whining and sobbing was heard as they watched their comrades go. The voice came from Jarek. “What are you doing? This isn’t what we agreed!” Samuel gaped at his leader as he was being dragged towards the circle. “Stop! I demand you release me.”

Samuel’s vision went dark. He betrayed us? It was an inconceivable thought. Even if he didn’t like Jarek all that much, he was still their leader and in a real sense their older brother. He had taken care of them and made sure the entire group stuck together, which led into him establishing their gang in the first place. What possible reason could he have had to do this to us? How long was he planning to do this? Since these guys showed up or before? From the start? Every single thing they had ever done together became another question in his mind and he wandered what had it all been for. Was the graffiti they had drawn part of it or what about the time they had shoplifted together and violent gang they had fought just a couple of months ago, the people they helped and the houses they assisted in rebuilding over the years? This time Samuel was not able to hold back tears. Most of the people he had ever trusted were already gone and one of them had been a traitor. They would never even get to find out why it had happened.

Jarek was thrown screaming and cursing into the circle without any comment from any of the cultist. The only response he got was a snigger from one of the men that had thrown him in.

Samuel’s head fell to his chest and he almost didn’t realise that he had been hauled towards the circle. The blackness was drawing him closer and contrary to his previous feelings he figured that perhaps fading into the abyss was for the best. The physical and emotional pain would stop and there would be no more worries he had to deal with nor watch any more of his friends cease to exist.

“Shut it fatty,” he said in a calm voice as he began sinking into the darkness. For the first time the cultist leader looked annoyed but he didn’t stop his incantation. It was enough for Samuel to feel the barest hint of satisfaction before the world became dark.