A/N: Unedited
The preacher was in the middle of his sermon, droning on and on about the ways of God and such. I wasn't paying attention--never did--wanting to go to children's church where I could hang out with my best friend, Ashley.
Ashley was taller than me and older by a year. She had pretty gold hair and brown eyes and a big mouth that always complained about how fat she was. I never understood that but I nodded along and complained right along with her even though I never thought twice about my size or weight. She made me happy and that's all I wanted.
It was only a few minutes before tithes and offerings, then it was time for children's church. For some reason, churches never had clocks out in the main area so I had no idea what time it was. Mommy wouldn't let me check her phone either, shushing me with a glare every time I pulled on her shoulder.
Bishop Monroe had started to preach from the bible about the chosen one. Then he raised his arms and declared, "For many are called, but few are chosen!"
It was like a switch had turned off inside my head. It was pitch black. Darker than the night itself and somewhere, off in the distance, I heard an ear-shattering scream. Is that me? That must be why mommy always gets mad at me then.
It was dark and I tried to walk, holding my hands out, but I just kept going forward. I was in some type of-of-of.. void! I finally got the word and for a second I was so proud of myself until I realized why I had to use that word.
I was so scared. Tears started falling even though I was remembering that mommy said to stay calm and ask for help if I was ever in trouble. How was I supposed to stay calm when I was in the middle of nowhere.
"Someone... help me." I whimpered. I tried to call out but my voice faltered. I was so scared and alone.
Don't worry my child. I will protect you.
It was a calming, man's voice. It made me relax, almost involuntarily at it's soothing sound. It reminded me of my daddy. It was like being wrapped in a big, squishy hug by really warm hands.
Then suddenly, the pitch black became a blinding white canvas. I had to shut my yes until it finally dimmed down to the point where I could just barely squint my eyes open. It wasn't that scared and I pushed myself up into a sitting position. I had almost completely calmed down.
Then I saw it.
It was human shaped with pure white eyes. It hurt looking into the thing's eyes because it seemed to burn brighter than the sun. It held out a hand to me and that's when I realized just how terrifying it was.
It was pitch black, darker than black. It's fingers were long, sharp, and pointy. The only soothing thing about it was how it looked human like but, looking closely, you could see that it was glitching out of focus. No--not glitching, more like fuzzy around the edges. It moved, but it didn't have any legs. Yes it did. They were fuzzy, too.
I cried out and tried to move away from it, turning to run, only to be met with another one of them. It also held out its hand to me and I screamed. I kept trying to run away. To escape the monsters but more of them kept popping up. They closed in on me until they were in a circle and I was in the middle of it.
They opened their mouths and at first I thought they were going to eat me. With their gaping holes for mouths it was almost absolute that I was going to be devoured in this white, barren waste land. But they began speaking. At first it was only the first one I saw but soon enough they all joined in speaking some foreign language.
Qui nos in
Nos parvulus robore nostro
In illa spe, quae non nisi mundi
Iam illa a malo encasing
Numquid unum elegit Deus, tueri,
Peior casus infernum
The last thing I heard was a name. It was short and it echoed in my mind as my eyes closed and my heart began to burn. It was the beautiful sound of birds and it calmed me, even though it felt like my body was being ripped apart.
Ani.
A/N: Translation in first chapter
ns 15.158.61.48da2
