The Never Ending Quest For Sanity

CHAPTER 13B

Scanning the environment, he wasn’t sure why they were in such a dark, damp setting.  A short distance away, a black widow spun its web and the remains of those unlucky wanderers that had become trapped were now hanging like prized hunting trophies hung on a den wall.  The scene was unsettling to him but he ignored such a sight he would see here and there, but eventually, it would stir some colossal fear within him, the dread creeping in.  Arachnophobia was a condition he hated but was cursed to endure, the thought of overcoming such a thing absurd to him--in fact, impossible to imagine.

A dripping sound could be heard in the distance, testifying that this was a larger cave than he had originally imagined.  There were odd noises that could be heard throughout the depths that were unseen, the exact depth hopefully known soon as he hated the unknown.  As they moved throughout the cave to the depths that were illuminated only by torch, the sunlight dimmer with each foot deeper into the cave.  As they proceeded in silence, the air began to grow colder to the sensation of sub-zero temperatures, but no one seemed to mind though they were freezing.  

The journey came to a temporary halt at the threshold of a small space they were to proceed past.  With his shoulder forced into stone, his father began to push until the debris began to fall from the entryway, the stone tumbling with very little effort.  It was as though this had been repeated from previous times and he watched as the rest of his family entered the cave.  His father turned to see him standing clueless at the threshold and after a moment of hesitation, he proceeded.

“Son, we feel you are ready to see the secret we have worked so hard to conceal from the eyes of others.  It was outlined in our fate long ago by the Heavens and our pastor has brought it to us by means of divine revelation.  This is something you can never tell anyone of, no matter what!  Do you understand?”  His father was beginning to scare him but he nodded, nonetheless, and his father smiled.  “Your sister has been so gifted, truly a natural.”  

“It’s easy, you just have to believe you can do it and remember that they are not people, they are animals.”  She was very rooted in the philosophy that was bequeathed to her by those entrusted to shape her mind and lead her to a life of respectable mannerisms.  There was never a moment that passed that she was not thirsty for knowledge, longing to be led in the divine path that we all would strive to travel in life.  

Destiny, after all, was a funny thing that led so many on such foreign or uncertain paths.

As he began to adjust his eyes to the dim light, he saw the corpses of many who had fallen victim to diabolical actions from minds infected with evil hanging from the ceiling of the cave he had entered.  He felt dirty but couldn’t unsee such a thing as this that he had already seen.  

They were hanging in the sad estate, many of them nude but a majority still clothed.  Laying in the corner of the area they now stood, there were various body parts that lay, rotting in a heap, the vermin not yet arriving for the feast that lay here for them.  Instruments of destruction lay on the opposite side, the sharp objects that had taken many lives in plain sight, blood still on the blades of the giant, sword-like tools.  There was a nauseous feeling, but he had wanted to impress his father whose approval was the sole source of his happiness, so he kept mum as well as emotionless, the slightest clue an uncertain error that would be incurred.

“Remember not to rush, we don’t want to stench to reach too far away.”  His mother observed her daughter, smiling like a prideful mother when her child took her first steps.  This demented circus was almost too much for his boundaries to handle and at this point, he wanted to run away.  

However, he still remained emotionless in his manner and imagined there would be consequences to such a sign given that expressed inadequate comfort.  He masked his discomfort well and his sister had left the rather spacious workspace, the actions that had occurred a source of pride in the eyes of 2 demented parents who were sick with mordlust.  What happened next would brand itself in his mind for the rest of his life, the playback of the event unsettling.

His sister had lured a man in by blindfold.  This was a man who was a local pedophile who had been released days earlier from prison.  He had been lured to this area by the little girl and told that she would return soon, his willingness to wait for the girl a testament to the deranged mind he possessed.

“I’ve waited for you to come.  I knew you would.”  The man was soon seated on a rock in the center and the blindfold removed.  He scanned the room and noticed that there were 3 others, the most notable figure was the man who had arrested him all those years ago.  

“You know that one day, these things were going to catch up to you, right?”  The man was dumbfounded, seeing the father of his prey turned predator.  “I did tell you.”  He lit a cigarette and examined the man, who was fearful of his fate.  “You wouldn’t listen.”  

“We’re together finally, just as you said you wanted.  I never said there wouldn’t be others in the room, though.”  The man’s eyes widened and he sat frozen to the stone, not sure how much longer he had to live nor what was going to happen next.  “There is always penance for sins.”  She returned with a rusty, sharp, sword-like blade.  He was in shock, the events of the last few moments taking an unexpected turn for the worst.  

Stumbling, he was soon at the exit but his predator was two steps ahead as she quickened her step to a running pace and drove the blade through the back of his leg, the blood spurting from the wound, howls of agony following.  He was no longer attempting to escape, as she was now the one who pulled the strings, as a marionette does on his puppet.

No other hands were at work as the man lay on the floor, a mere few inches from the exit.  It was within reach but entirely futile to attempt to do so.  At this moment, his doom was rather imminent, the only question of when it would be finished remained.  As he lay with his stare fixated on the floor, he began to weep softly in hopes his assailant possessed empathy for the suffering.  However, there was no such emotion in existence, the absence of empathy a harsh reality.  

His appetites had been the daggers that had fatally pierced his soul, snuffing the flame from his life candle.  

As he lay, the blade was extracted swiftly from his leg and driven into his left forearm, the impact plowing through bone, creating another river of blood to run across the floor by his side, the sight rather stomach-churning.  At any moment, there was a possibility someone would vomit at the sight of unmerciless destruction of a human body, the smells and sounds associated with the process of murder enough to soften even the most hardened of hearts.  

As the death session continued, the blood pooled in a lake below the body, and the man lay silent, thinking about the emptiness he had felt in life, in no way proud of how he had lived.  She squatted before him and he glanced at her weakly before she steadied a pistol to head, the entry point at the top of his head.  Drooling blood, he began to shake, and, with a steady aim, she pulled the trigger, ending his last moments of life in which he had suffered.