Chapter 1: Push of a Hand

Rumors of the Church of Salvation harboring unethical practices began spreading throughout the continent. It was unknown who, when, or where the rumor started, but it was clear that the Church’s grip on the kingdom’s citizen is terrifyingly strong. In a matter of days, the rumor ceased to exist, and everyone went on with their lives. Everyone… except those who are struggling to see the light of day.

Deep within the recess of the world of society is a small pocket of chilling air that houses the victims of the Church. Darkness dreaded the eyes of those who’d witness it. Torches that were sparingly spread revealed the true horror of the Church of Salvation’s practices.

Within one of the confinement rooms was a boy who’d spend far too long here. Recollection of the times he spent with his mother and father were burnt and withered away. The only thing that occupied his mind was the counting of seconds. One second eventually reached one-thousand. One-thousand became ten-thousand. Ten-thousand became one hundred-thousand. In this silent hellhole, he believed himself it was only a matter of time that help will eventually come and the light of day will finally grace his body once more. He kept thinking that only a few more seconds until his savior barge opened the door.

The door of the boy’s cell opened, silently with an aroma of misfortune. An unfathomable being appeared at the doorway. It had a deathly pale skin-tone with a white-and-black robe covering the areas beneath its scarred neck. Its mouth was sewn shut, a metal rod pierced through its head where the ears should be, and a black blindfold covered its eyes. It wasn’t just one, but two unnatural beings at his doorsteps. One held a lantern illuminated by a source of blue flame, and the other had an abnormal needle-sized nails.

Seeds of fear sprouted within his body. He wanted to be obedient to extend his life, so the boy put up zero resistance. Whether the boy was willingly or not, the monster with the thick needle-sized nails dug into the boy’s left shoulder and dragged him away.

He cupped his mouth with his right hand and involuntarily bit his lips. The stench of blood, permeating through the areas he was dragged through, made him nauseous. He wanted to do so many things… yell, scream, shout, vomit, and yet all he could do was pathetically let himself be dragged away.

He couldn’t depend on his eyes to see where he was going – for the most part everything he saw was just another inch of darkness. What wasn’t darkness were unoccupied cells that mirrors his own. The stench of blood grew thicker and audible voices grew louder as he got closer to what he believed was his destination.

It’s been so long since he heard another’s voices.

His destination has been reached. At the center of the room was a large sphere of light hovering over a group of dispirited people. After being flung like a scrap of food, the boy groveled on the ground before immediately looking up in high spirit. But he was only met with grim faces.

He knew these people. Not all of them, but he did recognize some of them. They were the same faces he saw when he mysteriously arrived here.

They all had some sort of injury inflicted upon them – holes that pierced their bodies in a similar fashion that the boy had holes in his left shoulder.

“You fucking monster! Let us go!” A man shouted with all his might.

But what he was shouting at wasn’t there.

Another body flew from the darkness and into the light.

This one was motionless and empty. The dead body had blood oozing through the fresh holes from his neck. This one suffered an unfortunate event with Lady Luck.

“No! Stop it!” A woman screamed from the top of her lungs. She fell to her knees and cried like a newborn baby.

No one tried to cheer her up, nor did they said anything. They all knew this was something to be expected the moment they arrived here. Yet, seeing it and believing it is totally different.

“Please… what do you want with us? I just… want to go home to my wife and daughter…” a man cried.

“Why me… I won’t be a bad girl anymore! Let me leave, now!” a girl frantically shouted.

One by one, each person began to speak their share of sorrow.

The boy who thought he could depend on these people quickly rejected the idea.

Have you all given up? the boy depressingly thought as he listened to each and every one of their laments. Regardless of what they said, the emotions within their voice spoke volume of the speck of hope within them.

Footsteps rang from the south side of the area. Everyone turned their attentions towards it. The unnatural beings appeared, one with a lantern and another one with a broken door. The door was firmly planted on the ground in front of them. The door didn’t lead to anywhere because it wasn’t attached to anything, but it still sparked their sense of yearning.

“Is it letting us… out?” a young woman asked.

“I think so. Maybe…” a frail man answered uncertainly.

And then, within the darkness that surrounds them, many types of degraded weapons were thrown at them. A rusty dagger, half-broken sword, blunted axe – a variety of weapons laid on the ground beneath the sphere of light.

The unnatural being pointed with its long, thin nails at the weapons, then the dead body amongst them, and finally at the door.

A young man smiled at the arsenals around him. With a swoop of his hand, he picked up a nearby chipped sword and ran at the monsters watching them.

“Go back to hell,” he shouted. But before he could even swing, the observer’s long nails had already pierced his skull. His body was effortlessly flung to the side.

Voices within the group screamed as another one bites the dust.

The boy with an injured shoulder quickly realized their intentions. He dashed towards a dagger nearby and distanced himself from the group. The dagger was pointed at the group with determined eyes.

“You crazy kid! Put that fucking weapon down!” an angry man yelled.

The boy didn’t respond. He’s heard enough of what they had to say. I can’t trust any of them…

A young woman picked up a spear lying nearby. Her hand was shaking at the sudden realization of what the monsters wanted them to do… to each other. She stared at the spear in her hands as her body uncontrollably trembles.

“You! Put that weapon down! Now!” the angry man yelled again.

“They want us to fight for our freedom… to kill each other…” the young woman’s thoughts escaped through her broken voice.

The group began distancing themselves from the broken young woman. They back-pedaled with every word that the woman mused.

She charged at them with overflowing tears. The group of people scattered everywhere in disarray. They picked up whatever weapon they could grab and isolated themselves from each other.

An elderly man with holes in his kneecaps couldn’t compete with the speed of the others. He tried his best to limp away, but one leg cannot outrun two. The spear impaled his throat. He cursed humanity with his last dying breath.

“You… You! You killed him!” the angry man shouted with disbelief.

A woman on her knees screamed with all her soul as she watched a man wielding a hammer smash her face. A loud thud silenced the room. Everyone turned their eyes towards the inhumanity emerging within their group.

And then… chaos ensued. Chaotic fights erupted everywhere. Another person was stabbed by the young woman wielding a spear. A girl tried to run towards the darkness, but was later flung back by the observers – her life was voided. Many people simultaneously attacked the man wielding a hammer. His wild swings killed a few people through brute strength alone before falling to the ground.

“Fuck all of this!” a cowardly woman shouted. She took the rusty dagger in her hand and tried to slice her own neck. The dagger chipped and broke half-way through. Blood spit out of her neck as she broke into a hysterical laughter. A warm sensation could be felt near her tummy. Gazing down at it, she saw a sharp, metallic object going out of her stomach.

The sounds of weapons clashing and people wailing drilled into the mind of the boy as he watched the event unfold. He wanted to look away from it all, but forced himself to endure. He watched it all to ensure that no one could sneak up on him.

As the room fell to a silence, the blood from fresh corpses found its way seeping into the ground. Only three were left standing. A young woman wielding a spear eyed her two combatants: a boy who seem to only be able to use one arm, and a man struggling to stand upright.

She charged at the man before he could get into a proper stance. The spear plunged forward, missing the man as he luckily fell to the ground. With a dominant position, she stabbed at the man once more and tore through his abdomen.

The man laughed as he held onto the spear tightly.

The young woman struggled to free the spear. She wanted to yank it out, but the man’s grip was surprisingly strong for an injured person. Instead, she put all her weight at the end of the spear’s handle and broke the wooden part in half. With the pointy end of the wooden stub, she smashed it downwards at the man’s skull. Using every last bit of his strength, the man impeded his doom by gripping onto the young woman’s wrist. The pointy, wooden object drew closer to his eyeball as his strength fades.

It was at that point the woman felt a slight prick on her back. She felt her blood oozing out of her back and struggled to grip the wooden stub. With a slow head rotation everything was clear. The boy, who she thought was an easy prey, stabbed her back with a dagger. The dagger was slowly ejected and stabbed once more at her spine, forcing a twitch reaction. And again, and again, and again… after the seventh time the woman could no longer find the will to stand.

“Soon… your turn…” The woman limped to the ground, lifeless and ceased to say anymore.

The man laid on the ground and resigned to his fate. The amount of blood loss suffered from the chaos earlier was enough to silence him forever.

The unnatural being with its lantern in hand walked forward onto the stage’s bloodbath. Everything happened so quickly – the group that was once with him has now left him, alone and alive. The lantern swung back and forth in a rhythmic manner.

Facing the unnatural being, the boy didn’t dare to hold the rusty dagger anymore. He knew the fate of those who opposed it. The boy was dragged back to his cell in a similar manner to how he arrived here.

A holy sigil lit beneath the boy in his cell. Ethereal chains sprouted forth and wrapped itself around the boy, restricting all movements and anchoring him to the ground. The unnatural being, one with thin needle-size nails, inserted its nails into the boy’s head and began probing his brain.

This brought uncomfortableness to an extreme level. The pain was excruciating as he felt the needle repeatedly leave and enter his brain. One inch deeper… one centimeter closer… it was impossible to ignore it. Every iteration, every moment he felt a fresh, new hole… was soul crushing.

“Stop… Stop…” the boy murmured. He shut his eyes and wished for it all to go away. Tears involuntarily fell as he plead for his life to end.

The boy’s mouth felled open due to the work of the monster. The boy couldn’t fight it; he was powerless in any attempt to resist. His eyes remain closed, refusing to acknowledge reality.

Slimy, mushy substance entered his mouth. It was gross and had a terrible taste. He was forced to swallow, so he can breathe. One unidentified object after another entered his body. The boy munched them all as his forehead creased.

His body felt hot. Every fiber in his muscles were in a state of overwork. Unable to endure the pain any longer, the boy thankfully retreated from the world and fell into a subconscious state. Everything became quiet, peaceful, and best of all, he wasn’t suffering anymore. Black curtains fell over the boy’s eyes and he couldn’t be happier.

…Am I dreaming? …Am I dead? It was all so surreal. Every second counted felt like an eternity, holding time as a hostage. Those experiences, that wouldn’t make one second-guess about suicide, were unfathomable. It felt too strange, too unreal, that piecing it together convinced himself that it was all fake.

Deep down inside he believed that these horrific experiences were all an illusion. Somewhere out there, his body is slumbering under the starry night sky to the peaceful and soothing sound of crashing waves. Eventually he’ll wake up on a greenery plain to a beautiful view of the ocean in the horizon.

He can go back to his regular life. Maybe somewhere down the road of his life, he’ll settle down with a wonderful woman and have a beautiful family. In a short instance, the life that he’d imagine quickly portrayed themselves in front of him. It was a blissful scene that only he can see.

Dark, crude, unruly hands grasped on to each and every one of his life’s expectations. They simultaneously tore it in half, again and again like fragile pieces of paper. The boy urgently ran towards them, but no matter how far or how fast he ran, the gap seemed endless and unapproachable. The hands faded into darkness and all he was left with was tiny scraps of everything he hoped for.

Boiled with madness and animosity, the boy gathered all of the scraps into a pile and held them in his arms. They were no longer recognizable nor discernable. No matter how close he held them to his heart, they eventually dissipated into light particles.

No one’s going to save me… They’ll take everything from me… Everyone… will die. With a firm resolution locked in his heart, the boy faced forward with a greater goal than ever. Never in his life had he found such a drive to be free, to live.

And then… he woke up.