What time is it? Marv wondered. The sky would not give that answer. Nothing moved but the black wisps in the sky. The moon made no movement across the sky, but he thought it may be getting larger. It's like we're on a different planet. He looked at his fellow aliens. And how do we fly back home?
Dressed like the weirdos in the woods, they had explained that they were some kind of investigators. Apparently, all the disappearances across the country had something to do with them. Some freaky cult bent on bringing their god back to life. Once that happened, they would leave this world for a better one. It was like the shit you'd see in a horror flick or a comic book: Ritual sacrifices, voices in the head, other worlds. To see it play out in the real world, Marvin McConville didn't know what to make of it.
The burly bald guy, Marcus talked about the cult's leader. The name rang a bell for Marvin. Blayson Dec, Marvin thought. He was preacher that came to visit his family, he remembered. The painful memory came rushing back. After he had struck Mandy at the fair, she sprinted from him, crying. They fought over some prize dad had won. At his father's angry behest, he went after her. No matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find her. She was gone. Nearly a month had passed by when the cops found what remained of her in the bed of a creek. The news tore his soul to shreds. A few days after they buried Mandy, the man came to visit the McConville household. Using soft words and making comforting noises, he showed him and his parents a pamphlet, inviting them to join his flock. Marvin remembered how he'd spoken to him. "It is not your fault, young man. Don't blame yourself for what happened. Everybody loses their temper at some point." At the time, the words had brought Marvin comfort and felt his heart lighten a little. But now that he thought of it, it made his skin crawl. Blaming myself? How the fuck did he know?
According to Marcus's findings, after sneaking into Dec's office, Dec believed a prophecy had been fulfilled when he found the "prince." In the chamber where he lay, there were also jars filled with blood. "They were from sacrifices," explained Marcus, "even though they were there for centuries, they rarely showed signs of deterioration." Dec had called it the "Gift of Transcendence." He had the casket the prince lay in and the jars transported back to his mansion in the backwoods near Ralston.
Dec's entries in his journal suggested the prince spoke to him through his thoughts and dreams. Those who were kidnapped targeted based on the prince's desires. Some were sacrificed. Others, however, were less lucky. Of all the bizarre religious jargon Dec scribbled in his journal depicting the destiny for these poor souls, "servitude" was the only word that Marcus could make from it. Those who did escape, the agency found, they were not much help. Their minds were twisted and all they could do was mutter about the prince, the new world and other oddities.
"And you all saw the prince, tonight?" Marvin asked the agents.
"Yeah, " said Ignas after swallowing spit, "tonight was a special one, we were briefed. 'The awakening' was what the cult called it."
"It got up." The young woman, Charlotte, added quietly, "Who or whatever it was, got up."
"What did?" Questioned Marvin.
"The body, in the casket. It had no skin and a porcelain face" Charlotte's face twisted in disgust.
Marvin felt sick as he remembered his dream.
"It looked like what?" Marvin asked to confirm.
Before Charlotte could repeat herself, the ground shook violently. Ignas, who was standing by the front desk, lost his balance and stumbled over. Marv went to his aid.
"You ok, man?" He asked him. Ignas nodded in agreement.
The lights in the motel lobby flickered, as the light from outside abandoned them, the large moon and the red sky being smothered by the black clouds thickening. The lights stopped flickering and stayed off; it was pitch black as the earth let out its anger.
The combination of darkness and shaking was a new fear Marv experienced. Not being able to see anything as you heard the walls and ceiling scream in pain. He couldn't stand, as if the floor wanted to hold him, as fearful as he was. This building is going to crumble on top of us. Marv thought frantically. But where to crawl? He shouted for the other two. They made there way closer to each other, flailing their arms until they chanced to grab each other. As they huddled close together on the dirty carpet, the shaking stopped. The lights came back on as well.
Outside, the world was different once again.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
