Alyss walked inside the pitch black building, the shouts of the crowd closed off the by shutting door. The elders knew what they were doing. They knew better than her. She kept repeating the mantra in her head, trying to convince herself it was true. She should have utmost trust in them, but a tiny scream of doubt wormed its way into her thoughts.
Long ago, the elders decided only the strongest willed would survive. As a result, Verum was built. It was a gray, looming building. Nondescript, nothing obvious distinguishing it from the rest of the village structures. During the Rituals of the Righteous, those chosen were sent into Verum. These trials determined if a person was mentally strong, and only the elders could initiate the trials.
Which was why Alyss was marched through the small doors, trapping her inside. The elders had deemed her worthy of her Ritual now that her 19th birthday had passed. It should be an honor to be chosen. It felt like a sentence.
Only a few people made it out with their sanity intact. She doubted she would be one of them. It was too dark to see anything, but the smallness, the closeness of the unforgiving walls to her body made her tense. There was no breeze in the enclosed space, but the chill continued to seep into her bones, making her movements jerky and awkward.
Her feet seemed to drag her through the darkness, closet to an unbearable evil. Its identity remained unknown, but it almost felt familiar. She couldn’t describe the feeling, and it scared her to think that she knew this dark presence. Even the air seemed afraid to move. She continued her slow progression through the thick darkness, when suddenly a brightness enveloped her.
It was blinding. The change in light caused her to shield her eyes with her arm. After a moment, the burn behind her eyes lessened enough to allow her to see. Squinting, she saw herself...but it wasn’t herself. There were thousands of her, surrounding Alyss. It was disorienting and the urge to fall over was strong. At first, they all moved with her movements, mimicking her in a way only they could. They soon began to change.
They were alive, individually moving. Alyss stood, transfixed on her movements that weren’t her own. They took on her features, transforming her face into different emotions. No two were the same. One copy next to her sneered menacingly at her.
“Good enough? You’ll never be good enough. You don’t deserve this. A thief like you will never be worthy of the truth.” It spoke, but that was impossible, she thought. Yet the voice came at her. It was her voice, but not hers. Another Alyss sobbed quietly, head in her hands. Another looked murderous, teeth bared and fists clenched.
Another looked doubtful. One was proud. Lustful. Desire. Despair. They were all her emotions, and they spoke to her.
“What do you want?” Alyss yelled. They didn’t respond, but stood staring at her like they knew something she didn’t. This was strange, since they were her, a version of herself.
“Why did you do this? David loved you, and you betrayed him! You monster!” Another shrieked, causing her to stumble backwards. She bumped into another reflection. It was happy.
“You know, it’s not all that bad. You can do anything you wish to do here. It’s a sort of freedom, if you could call it that. Even Miss White can’t restrain you. You know how long you’ve had obey her. Now you can break free.” The copy put out her hand to Alyss, who was frozen in terror and confusion. The copies began to surround her, closing in but never seeming to advance.
“No! Stay away! I don’t want this!” She futilely put her hands forward to ward them off. They laughed, yelled, cried, pouted. Talking all at once, they formed indecipherable words that blurred into a loud murmur of noise. They were her, but they weren’t. She felt like she was watching herself from the side.
The thought made her laugh, and she found she couldn’t stop as she slowly gave into the voices. Only dimly did she notice the lights were gone, as were the copies. She didn’t care.
Hands grabbed her, pulling her somewhere. It didn’t bother her. She was free.
The girl was brought out ten minutes after she entered, as custom of the Rituals. It took three people to bring her out. Eyes wild and unfocused, a laugh escaped her lips occasionally. The elder sighed sadly. He gestured to a man nearby.
“Bring forth the next candidate.”
ns 15.158.61.12da2
