by Silver Pandorica » Sat Mar 04, 2017 7:08 am
Prompt 69: “I found the ring!”
I couldn’t help but glare at him. “You idiot! What were you thinking?! Don’t you watch any movies?”
Dan shrank back farther into the wooden post he was tied to. “Sorry, Summer…”
Rolling my eyes, I attempted to twist around and look over my shoulder. My hands were bound in a dirty, blood-soaked cloth. Disgustingly, I couldn’t tell if the blood was mine or if it had been there previously. I wrinkled my nose and turned back to survey the room we’d woken up in just minutes before our squabble. There wasn’t much to see. As far as I could tell, the walls and floor were made of wood, and the floor was covered in dry red splatters that looked suspiciously similar blood. It was like someone had slaughtered an animal in here, but it had put up a fight first. Not to mention the rancid stench hanging around the area. “Great,” I spat, facing Dan. “We’re dead.”
He frowned before giving the room a glance himself. “Doesn’t look like heaven to me.”
“Who said you were going to heaven?” I muttered. “Besides, you know what I meant. If we aren’t dead yet, we’re about to be.”
“What makes you say th-“
Before Dan could even finish his sentence, the door burst open. I hadn’t even noticed the door before, given it blended into the wall like a chameleon. I was almost grateful they had cut him off…until I saw who it was. A man with one leg and a stubbly chin hobbled into the room with a cane, followed by some of those horrible creatures we saw earlier. This man, mind you, was by no means old. He couldn’t have been ten years older than myself. I’d guess twenty-five, maybe? I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling realization dawn on my face. “You. You were there.”
The young man flashed me a smile and leaned on his stick. “Sorry, hun. You’ll have to be a tad more specific.”
If my hands weren’t tied to the pole so tightly, they would’ve been trembling. “You were at his funeral.” My mind flashed back to my uncle’s dark day. I caught this guy snooping around his casket after the service, but I’d called him out for trying to open the box.
Creepy Guy chuckled darkly. “Indeed. I was looking for something my associates were after. Unfortunately, you and your grandma stopped me before I could have a looky inside.”
“She’s my aunt,” I murmured under my breath. I processed his words. “What could my uncle possibly have that you want?”
He feigned an innocent look. “Oh, my dear, you and your entire family have gotten yourselves all wrapped up inside something you never should have even stumbled across.” Giving me a light smirk, he nodded at the creatures and they started toward us.
Dan, not seeming to notice them, shot Mr. Creep over there a dirty look. “Care to introduce yourself?”
The man put a hand over his heart. “Ah, Daniel, I truly apologize.” He limped over to Dan and held out a strangely soft hand. “Kent Krillion, official ambassador from the earth to the supernatural.”
Dan stared into the man’s eyes, ignoring his hand. “What is that supposed to mean?” For once, his tone was dead serious. “Don’t tell me that’s actually a thing.”
Kent’s hand wavered, and he retracted it. “Of course not, silly child. It is a title I have bestowed upon myself, a privilege granted by Lord Akiton himself.”
My turn. “And who the heck is that?” I inquired, shuddering as the creatures’ many arms wrapped themselves around my waist and forced me to stand. I briefly noted they had untied me from the pole and were now binding me even tighter than they had previously. They did the same to Dan, but he went less willingly. I cringed as a set of claws swept across his face, causing him to give up.
“You’re about to meet him.” A cruel smile spread across Kent’s face, and an odd feeling washed over me that made me wish with all my soul I could take back my question.
***
Sweat dripped down the sides of my face, trickling into my shirt to join the moisture forming there as well. I couldn’t remember the exact moment I had started sweating, all I could recall is that it had happened to both Dan and Kent at the same time as it did I. We were all soaking in it. Oddly enough, Kent seemed too distracted to notice. He led us into a large open room that strangely reminded me of a throne room, except with the heat cranked up to a thousand degrees. The floors were hard and dry, and it took me a few seconds to realize that it was a large mosaic. I was too close to the ground to tell what it depicted, but I could tell it must be beautiful in a creepy sort of way, especially if it was anything like the paintings on the walls. The paintings depicted strange creatures, a few similar to the ones keeping me from making a mad dash for the exit. Most of them, however, were nothing like I’d ever seen before. There also appeared to be many battle scenes on the walls. I shuddered at a picture of a man stabbed with a spear right through his chest.
Tearing my gaze away from the walls, my eyes fell to an evilly breathtaking throne at the head of the room. It was made of a black stony substance that was so black, it looked as if it were crafted of a black hole itself. Crystal clear gems were encrusted into the seat, and as I was lead toward the center of the room the light reflected off of the pretty stones, almost as if they were winking at me. “What do you think about your execution room, my dear?”
Kent’s words caused me to do a double take. Execution room? A shiver shot through my spine, which felt really odd in contrast with the piping hot room. Before I could ask him what he was talking about, he continued. “I’ll cut to the chase, girl. We need your blood, and we need your suffering. My Lord cannot continue with his plan for universal domination if we do not attain it.”
He said this in such a light tone, I almost didn’t catch the dark words hidden inside of it. Dan beat me to a retort. “What makes you think you can kill us just like that?”
I winced as the creature shook him violently, as if trying to shut him up. “What makes you think you will both be killed?” Kent asked innocently. Dan blinked, and the young man chuckled. “No no, you will watch your friend suffer, and then you’ll die. Don’t worry, plenty of suffering to go around!”
Dan flinched. “Don’t touch her.”
I resisted to point out that we were both already in the hands of Kent and his minions, both physically and metaphorically. Kent just laughed. “Oh, the poor boy doesn’t want me to touch his little friend. Do not be anxious, my friend. You will both reunite in heaven soon enough.”
“Go to hell,” I said through gritted teeth.
Kent grinned insanely. “Oh, I plan to! But first, before we commence with this little ritual, I need something from you, Summer.”
It was odd how his tone could change from light to dark and threatening in mere seconds. “What’s that?” I replied smoothly, even though I had a feeling I knew what he was talking about.
The cruel smile on Kent’s face grew ever larger as he reached towards my jeans pocket and dug around inside. It was an awkward moment, I admit, but it immediately got serious as he pulled the ruby ring from my pocket that my uncle had given to me so many months ago. “Master,” the evil young man murmured, seemingly to himself. “I found the ring.”