Weirdest0username

I know not how long I’ve been here, and I don’t know how long I will remain. There are plenty of things I don't know. Or at least it feels like a lot of things, I’m not entirely sure. Where I am, how I got here, all a handful of memories that my brain keeps buried in a fuzzy dark mist. If you want to call it that. But dwelling on those makes me feel like I’m rotting inside, so I try to focus on what I’m able to observe outside of myself. Though I’ve lost count of the days I’ve been aware of my surroundings I guess. Time itself began to blend together in the constant parade of sunrises and sunsets.

Unfortunately there was no sunrise today, just a bleak dawning of light smothered by the sea of grey above me. And the wind was blowing fiercely, making the high thin branches of pine sway far beyond my reach. I ran my fingertips gently over the rough bark of the deadwood that was keeping me confined to the forest floor, feeling the grooves and bumps in it made me feel somewhat grounded. Literally. No birds were singing today, which made the area feel dangerous, too quiet. As I let out a shallow sigh I heard a quick movement deeper in the woods and tried to stay completely silent.

I remembered gunshots once before, I can’t recall where I heard them from. But still, the very idea sent chills down my spine, knowing how exposed I must have been. A moment later a twig snapped to my right and I turned to see a young lamb fleeing towards me. It startled for only a moment upon realizing I was there before bolting across the deadwood and disappearing back into the treeline. I braced myself for the jolt of pain from the lambs wight pressing on me but to my surprise I didn’t feel a thing. 

“How strange..” I mumbled to myself. A prickly feeling began to run up the back of my head, when I began to feel as though I was being watched by a pair of eyes. Then a voice exploded behind me,

“HO! LOOK HERE!” The sound of heavy footsteps made my heart skip a beat, but I still couldn’t see anyone. They were intentionally avoiding my line of sight.

After a few moments of nothing but the whistle of wind in the trees and heavy breathing behind me I heard another voice. This one seemed sharper, more serious.

“That is not a lamb brother.”

“Yes, why are you bringing us to this..corpse?” A third voice entered the space, and yet I still saw no one. Was I making this all up in my head? The first voice rang out in an irritated manner,

“Look, look here. This is not a corpse, They were talking. I will show you.” In an instant two rough hands gripped my shoulders and pulled. However, this attempt to remove me from my wooden prison did little more than tear at my shirt and send a hot shooting sensation across my back. The pain was so sudden it prompted me to cry out in protest. At that moment one of the other voices spoke up again.

“You were being truthful.”

I watched as a cloaked figure curved into my peripheral vision until it stopped directly in front of me and the deadwood. Silently two more figures entered my vision to stand beside the first. All three of their faces were obscured by veil and hood, and suddenly I found my stomach turning in knots. Say something! Do something! Don’t just stand there watching me. Finally the first figure spoke again, though it’s voice seemed softer now.

“Perhaps..Perhaps, Father Jack will appreciate more than a lamb, since you let our first one get away, Brother.” It trailed off as I watched it’s head turn to the figure on it’s right. 

“Help me remove this trunk,” it added, “You too sister.”

Together the three moved to barely lift the deadwood and move it off of my body before dropping it back onto the ground beside me. A small flourish of leaves got stuck in my hair as I breathed a quick sigh of relief. Someone was helping me.

“Thank yo-” Before I could express my gratitude I felt hands grasping at my face and arms. Panic surged in my chest and I began to flail in an attempt to fight back but a strong grip was fixing me in place. Soon, thick bands of cloth were fixed over my eyes and into my mouth as my surroundings were taken from me.

A gloved hand cupped my cheek.

“There now. All you have to worry about is cooperation, and everything will be right.” The soft voice in front of me spoke again, it was almost comforting. Still I tried to jerk my arms away from whoever was behind me, but the only response to that was a tighter grip and a subtle popping sound in my wrists. Eventually, my hands were bound I was lifted off of the littered ground. I wanted to keep fighting but my body was so tired.

Once we begin walking time began to feel so slow, and yet so fast all at once. The only noises I was able to pick up was the sound of footfall over dried needles and the distant growl of thunder. I don’t know how long the journey was, I assumed it took a few hours. Eventually I found myself drifting off to the sway of rhythm in the world around me, what else could I do?

I was rudely informed of our arrival to..someplace when I felt my face slam back down to earth.

“Come now! What was that for?!” One of the voices, a woman I believe, cried out. “You are only going to bruise them more if you keep dropping them like that!!” Her protest was met with a rather grouchy scoffing sound and that loud voice again.

“It will be right, I am sure Father Jack will not mind a few blemishes. We shall go and call for him, then you will see.” When I heard their retreating footfall I let out a shaky sigh.

I was laying on my side with my shoulder pressed hard against what felt like packed grass. We must be in a sort of field? When I heard a rustling noise by my head I tried to call out ‘Who’s there’, but my words came out as a garbled, muted sound. Then a couple of gentle tugs pulled me into an upright half kneeling, half sitting position. Agh! Too bright!

Out of nowhere the world seemed to be exploding with light, causing me to squeeze my eyes shut as the blindfold was removed. The gag followed shortly after.

“Open your eyes.” It was the same voice as before, comforting. “I said open your eyes.” They repeated themselves with insistence in their tone.

Cautiously I squinted my eyes open, only to be greeted with a shadow looming over me. I blinked before looking to find that the cloaked figure was holding a piece of fabric or cloth over my head, shielding my eyes.

“Thank you..?” I mumbled, unsure if I should be thanking my captor. They remain silent after that and though I could not see their face beneath the veil I felt their eyes studying me. “You are going to have one nasty bruise..” They whisper to themselves, I felt their hand gingerly touch my throbbing temple and winced at the flash of pain it brought.

Once my eyes had adjusted to the abusive light I took a few moments to observe my new surroundings. We were seated in a massive clearing that was covered in patches of dirt and dried, dead grass. The sky above us was a stormy pale blue, encircled by a thicket of dark evergreens. There were a handful of tents bordering the treeline, then I spotted a stone arch that was coated in something dark red somewhere in the middle of the clearing. It was quiet, too quiet.

This new place caused an eerie panic to tighten in my chest. It reminded me of how little I knew beyond what I could see and feel immediately in the valley. I felt like I was going crazy, there had to be more! There must have been, I wasn’t born yesterday. But why can’t I find it? Fear, frustration, and an awful longing sadness began to swirl in my thoughts. I wanted to scream. What am I even doing here? The tightness in my chest became gradually worse to the point that my body felt numb. A sudden pressure on my abdomen startled me so I curled forward. Make it stop. Stop, stop. I could feel my heartbeat in my throat, pounding as it it was going to break free. It’s over, it’s all over.

I’m- going to die here, in this place. 

“Breathe.” What? 

“Breathe deeply now. Find something to focus on.” Hand, there was a hand on my chest. 

“Come now, breathe with me.” I tried to take in a breath but lost it immediately. So I tried again. When I was able to take in almost a full breath I held it.

“There, now empty your lungs.” I exhale, staggered and shaky, before taking another breath.

I looked at the hand on my chest, no longer gloved and focused on the way it’s fingertips rose and fell with each breath I took. 

“Good, keep doing that. Father Jack will not appreciate if you have asphyxiated yourself.” When I began to feel my heartbeat slow I sat back upright. 

“Just, try to relax. Here, look at this.” The mystery voice beckoned me to look into the palm of their hand. In it was a small shard of glass, mirror perhaps, and a line of crimson where it had sliced into their skin. Upon further inspection I realized their hand was covered in tiny scars and cuts, very similar to the fresh one they had just created. 

“Your hand.. It-”

“Silver glass,” they interrupted.

“What?” Was this person not aware of the open wound in their palm or did they just not care?

“Father Jack calls this ‘silver glass’, it serves to reflect Mother Lune’s light, deter evil spirits, and protect the possessor from malevolent entities.”

The hooded figure before me motioned back towards the treeline and that’s when I noticed the broken mirrors tacked to the trees and the shards that hung from the lower branches. There were also strange symbols carved into the bark of the bigger trees. When a gust of wind blew across us it made the mirror shards twirl and catch in the light. They began to remind me of twinkling stars, so that’s where the blinding light had been coming from. Then the figure lowered itself closer to my head, and whispered.

“Worry not, this will all be over soon.” 

As I was processing their words I began to notice 3 more cloaked figures peeking into the clearing from the treeline. My heart sank seeing those faceless bodies looking right at me. When they finally emerged from the trees and began to approach one of them lowered their veil. He was an old man, and his face was twisted into what appeared to be irritation. He had long hair and a beard that was silver and wispy, with an almost hunched posture. But despite his appearance he still seemed to radiate with an atmosphere of cool control. Immediately after the two figures accompanying him lowered their own veils and hoods. A younger man with a smug face framed by messy hair to his right, and a young woman whose expression was solemn with hair tied neatly over her shoulder to his left.

All of them wore similar garments a brown cloak and gloves with celestial and natural designs stitched onto them, although the old man’s clothing seemed to have a more decorative grandeur to it.

“Brother! Sister! You have brought Father Jack back with you! Oh wonderful!” The voice beside me was no longer soft spoken, but had a rather cheerful tenseness to it. 

“Quiet boy!” The old man snapped as he shot a glowering look in our direction. Immediately the atmosphere in the clearing changed, it was now heavy, dangerous.

I turned my head to look down at the grass in front of me, looking at that man gave me a gripping unease. Shortly, the patch of grass I was staring at was replaced by a pair of worn boots. 

“Look at me.” A harsh voice commanded. When I did not respond a familiar rough hand found its place at my jaw and tore my head up towards the sky. My temple throbbed as I tried to wrench away from meeting the face of that old man. “When Father Jack tells you to do something. You DO IT. understand?” The young man seethed in my ear.

“You forget your place son.” The old man grumbled, smacking the young man who then let go of my jaw.

I watched him retreat slightly as this 'Father Jack' leaned in closer. His sharp green eyes inspected every slight movement I made. I felt a solid pressure at my back and Father Jack raised himself to face the figure behind me staring at them as an eerie silence lingered in the air. Finally he spoke again.

“I asked you three to bring me a lamb. Tell me, what does this,” he gestured down to me, “look like to you? A lamb or an impure fool with a weak soul and a body of dust?” 

“It was Brother Wolfgang’s idea to bring them to you! It is his fault.” The annoying young man crowed from behind.

I watched as the solemn woman shot him a dirty look and smacked his elbow. Then the pressure at my back disappeared as the figure behind me moved around raising a finger to point at the annoying one and snarled back.

“If YOU had not distracted us and let the lamb GET AWAY. Then none of this would be hap-” The old man snatched their wrist in a tight grip and lowered the accusing hand, staring directly into the veil that covered the figures face. “Now have you forgotten your manners? Is that any way to treat your Brother?” The old man grinned as he spoke, but not kindly.

The figure breathed heavily for a moment before speaking with a level tone.

“No Father, forgive me. I thought you would be just as pleased with a person in place of the lamb. Am I mistaken?” 

“You are. Now, my Daughter Sterling I want you to take your Brother Aurelius, remove this pathetic excuse for a sacrifice from our home, kill them, and find another lamb.” The young woman nodded silently and began to approach taking the cloth bands from the figure being held fast by Father Jack. “Sister Sterling, please,” the figure whispered desperately.

Father Jack wrenched their wrist again, tugging them out in front of me. 

“As for you my son, you and I must have a very serious discussion.” 

“Yes Father Jack” The figure turned its head to look at me one last time before I was pushed back into darkness by the blindfold. 

“W-wait! Please, don't kill me! I’ve done nothing to warrant this, please!” My cries were muted in an instant when the gag was shoved back in my mouth. No no no. I mean, this was going to happen either way but I- I don’t want to die!

I began to struggle when I was hoisted off the ground. Brother Aurelius must have been the one carrying me, because he snapped out at me.

“Would you care for a repeat of today’s earlier treatment?” I thought about my aching head and sore wrists so I stop struggling.

“Come Brother, let us leave before the storm reaches us.” And then we were off again. This trip felt shorter somehow, or maybe I was just imagining things. Towards the beginning I tried to think of some clever way to escape. Though nothing ever panned out in my mind. And when I tried to make peace with my situation I realized how much of a gaping hole I was unable to fill about my life. How can one make peace with experiences they can’t even recall. The very idea burned in my heart and a silly half laughing half sobbing sound escaped my throat. It’s hopeless. I’m going to die to the hands of this- this cult. This is the end, and I’ll never get to understand why.

Then we stopped, and the blindfold was torn away from my eyes. 

“Look at this sister, they are crying. They are denied even a noble death and they are crying.” Aurelius was pressed close to my face.

“That does not matter Brother, just get rid of them.”

“Yes Sister.” He rolled his eyes and removed the gag before picking me back up.

“Let me go! You don’t have to do this! Please,” I begged. Brother Aurelius Scoffed as he produced a hunting dagger and held it close to me. 

“When Father Jack tells you to do something. You. do. It.” “No, no no no STOP-”

A loud wet crunch sounded accompanied by a sharp pain near my knee before I found myself suspended in the air. Immediately, I felt my body come crashing back down to the earth and all of the air left my lungs as I was thrown down the side of a steep incline. Rocks and debris flew in all directions and the world kept spinning and spinning, but somewhere distant I thought I heard a voice. 

“Do you think that was good enough?” “If the fall does not kill them then the floods will,” a voice echoed back.

Before I could make out anything else I heard a loud crack, a dull ache began to bore into my skull before the rest of the world started to grow dim and fuzzy. Almost peaceful. I think I stopped falling at some point? I was now on my back facing the sky again. Dark rolling stormclouds swirled in my vision before they finally settled and I felt a cool raindrop touch my lips. Was it starting to rain? In a moment the skies broke open completely and water poured down on me.

Somewhere distant under the howling wind I heard a shrill animal cry beyond the woods. How much time had past? How long was I laying here? Reality seemed to be drowned out by the constant droning of noise all around me, but I could feel myself choking. The rain had become angry, smothering my face with fierce intensity. When I tried to roll onto my side however, a searing pain hit my chest and I cried out. I remained so still as the rain beat on and on and on. Until it finally stopped as the sky began to fade into an inky black and everything grew quiet.

In the morning I watched as clouds moved above me and turned my head to see a mirrored reflection of the cliffside and sky. Silver glass, is that what they had called it? Silver glass.. To protect me from evil spirits. I took in a shallow breath and reached my hand out to tap the water’s surface gently. My wrist bindings must have broken in the fall somehow. The ripples on the water’s surface were beautiful and symmetrical, mesmerizing.

Three sunsets had passed by now and the water had receded beyond my reach. Leaving me with only my thoughts, though I couldn’t really think of anything particularly interesting. So I mostly listened, during the day when the sun beat down on my face I could hear insects buzzing and occasionally birds calling out to one another. But at night I felt vulnerable, when the moon came out all the earths darkest creatures began to roam and cry. My muscles felt stiff and numb, and my mind was empty.

One late afternoon I heard the distant rumble of a new storm and decided that I had to change something, I didn’t want to drown again. Slowly, very slowly, I managed to pull myself onto my side and lay there curled with my head on my arm. By the time the rain began to fall I thought I had prepared well enough. It was calm and cool on my skin at first, but as the temperament of the storm grew it began to pelt me again. Harder this time, hard enough that every drop seemed to sting my skin washing away any comfort I might have felt. This felt like agony, make it stop. I turned my face down towards the mud to avoid the awful feeling. But the mud was thick and choking, not much of an improvement. There was a dangerous growling and then, BOOM a deafening roar echoed around me accompanied by a brilliant bright flash of light and my world ended. So this was where I would die.

Soft, dry, warm, all comforts I so desperately needed, I know I must be dead now. When I shifted my body slightly my chest exploded with pain. Nope! Not dead yet. Gah. I took in a shallow breath, everything ached. I felt a weight settle beside me and a moment later a solid object was pressed against my lips.

“Here, drink this please.” It smelled savory like a soup, so I graciously accepted the offering. After a few minutes and some more soup I opened my eyes.

There was a dull buzzing in my head. The room I was in was dim, and the first thing I took notice of were the wooden beams on the ceiling before noticing the figure hovering in my peripheral. It was a boy, he kept stealing glances at me almost like he was studying me. 

“What..?” I muttered groggily as I tried to sit up, only to be met with another round of lashing pain. I have got to stop doing that.

There was a loud clack as the young man dropped the bowl of soup he had been holding before he came over and gently pushed my shoulder back into the bed. Bed? How did I get in a bed? 

“Wh-”

“Shh,” he interjected, “you need to rest.”

I felt a light squeeze on my hand as he left my side and retrieved a cloth to clean the spilled soup. He was very quiet while he worked, an unnerving quiet. So I took the time to observe him.

He was kind of short and lean with this long dark hair that just spilled all over his back. His face was hard to read but he seemed almost timid, save for the knife strapped to his thigh which served as a reminder that this stranger might be dangerous. When the mess was finally tended to he prepared another bowl of soup and came to perch on the edge of the bed beside me. He offered me the soup again which I welcomed. I can’t remember the last time I had a proper meal. As I let my thoughts wander I found myself staring blankly at his hands, cradling the bowl and spoon.

Wait a moment.. Realization hit me when I caught a glimpse of the fresh scab in his palm. 

“Brother Wolfgang?” His body tensed and hot soup dribbled onto my cheek. Immediately he began apologizing.

“I- I am so sorry. Here, let me clean that for you.” He lifted a small cloth and gently wiped my face as he took a deep breath. 

“Um,” he paused, searching for his next words, “You may just call me Wolfgang now. Or whatever else you like. I am not hurting you, am I? You have a particularly painful looking bruise.” I considered the question, by comparison with the overall pain and numbness I couldn’t really say if what he was doing hurt or not.

“I mean, no? Not any more that I already do.” I finally looked around.

We appeared to be in a cabin, there were some shelves, a hearth, and a table at least. There were also numerous trunks and piles of old looking clothes scattered across the floor. 

“Where even- where am I?” I remembered that clearing, and suddenly the cabin felt too small. He felt too close.

He wanted to give me up to that creepy old man to be sacrificed. He wanted me to die. “Shh, sh, please be calm.” He gently set his hand over my chest.

“Don’t touch me, get- Get off!” I smacked his arm away and my shoulder stung. He stood up and went to the opposite end of the cabin, setting the bowl on the table and looking back at me. “I did not mean to frighten you. You are safe now, hidden from them.”

“But, you-” My head spun. How could he claim I was safe when he was the one who brought me there in the first place?

“Excommunicated. I shall not return to that place. But you are ill and in need of help,” he paused “I want to help you.” “Why? Why me?” He looked away from me for a moment before answering.

“I do not know why, I simply feel drawn to you I suppose. And besides, you are hurt. I will never abandon someone in need.”

He went silent again after that, for a long time neither of us spoke. 

“Are you going to kill me now?” He tensed sharply when the question left my lips. Silently, slowly, he shook his head. After some time he offered me a small cup of tea. I refused the drink initially, but after some time I decided that something was better than nothing. It was a very mild tea, slightly sweet. As the fading light outside bled from orange to purple I found that I had begun to nod off. Was there something in the tea? Why couldn't I stay awake?

"What've you done to me?" I let my head fall to the side looking to find him.

He sat at the table beside a small teapot. I watched a relaxed line of steam rise from it and curl lazily in the air. Suddenly he rose and approached the bed, I breathed in sharply and braced myself from the pain. He sat still beside the bed and stroked the top of my hand gently before speaking.

"You are in so much pain. Your body, your legs are broken. You need rest. The only thing you have drunk is a tea that I have infused with willow and honey. Just close your eyes, and everything will be right." He spoke slowly, in a calm quiet voice whilst he kept stroking along my wrist and hand.

Everything felt distant and tiresome now, eventually I fell asleep to a soft humming. It wasn’t proper sleep per say, more so me half-waking up at any odd time and not remembering when I had fallen asleep. Something in my gut felt wrong, and everytime I blinked awake I would find him watching me from the table. A few times in the night I felt hands working around me, adjusting, reapplying, and fixing little things. By the morning he was gone, much to my surprise, so I took the opportunity to try and get some much needed deeper rest.