Chapter #91Memories From The Dark by: imaj   You begin with the bar, and how you were abducted on the way to the toilets. Rick murmurs ‘that’s how I never saw you leaving’ when you explain about the back door but Kali hushes him. You describe your odd dream and how you suspected that changing to Miko helped you escape the effects of the drugs. Rick nods happily as you describe you escape from the tunnels. He seems pleased with the way you managed to escape without alerting anyone save for the empty chair you left behind.
“Actually, how did you get out the chair,” asks Fyodor. “If you were tied up.”
“There was a knife on the table,” you explain. “I was able to reach it and cut myself loose.” Fyodor frowns at this. “I brought it with me. I put it down in the hall, let me go get it.”
You return a minute later with the ornate knife and hand it Fyodor. He turns it over very carefully, examining it wordlessly.
“Well,” asks Rick after several minutes have passed.
“Sacrificial dagger,” replies Fyodor matter-of-factly. “One of a set if I am seeing this right. Might even have a limited will of its own. Very bad news. It might be that the knife wanted you to take it my friend. You didn’t use it on anyone did you?”
“I came close,” you admit wretchedly. “It was the guy who drugged me. He was right in front of me and didn’t know I was there. I nearly stuck the knife in him.”
“Then very lucky for both you and him my friend,” grins Fyodor. “And lucky for us too. We’ll store this one in the archives where it can’t do any more harm. Your cultist friends will still have the others in the set though.”
“How many,” asks Rick.
“Apart from this one,” says Fyodor pushing the knife into the middle of the table. He takes great care to keep the blade pointing away from anybody. “Another two I think. It would take a day to be sure, but two I think.”
“Could they still proceed with their ritual without this,” asks Kali, indicating the knife with some distaste.
“Probably,” replies Fyodor.
“Oh god,” you murmur, taking a seat beside Kali. “I should have rescued the other girls while I had the chance.”
“No, you did good squirt,” says Rick. “Sounded like it was hard enough getting out yourself. Having a couple of innocents tailing along with you would have made it impossible. Then they’d be dead, you’d be dead along with them and we’d be none the wiser.”
“There’s wisdom in knowing when to seek help,” agrees Kali
“I just wish I could have done something more,” you sigh.
“You done enough squirt, and now we can handle the rest. It’s your call Fyodor,” says Rick evenly.
“I always have the weakness for the damsels in distress,” grins Fyodor. “We hit them just before their ritual, that way we get them all in the one place.”
“Makes sense,” murmurs Rick. “You got a plan?
“Not yet,” smiles Fyodor. “I was thinking Will could maybe help me formulate one.”
Your jaw drops as Kali and Rick both turn to look at you. Kali is as surprised as you are, but there’s a gleam in Ricks eye that tells you he knows, or at least suspects, something. “Me,” you whine. “I don’t know anything about doing this.”
“Ah my friend,” smiles Fyodor, his grin growing ever wider. “But you do have something that Kali and Rick here don’t,” he explains confidently, although you have no idea what he’s talking about. You just stare blankly at the three of them. It’s only a small consolation that Kali seems to be as much in the dark as you are.
“He’s talking about the imago you lifted from the cultist,” explains Rick. “That’s all the information he needs: their numbers, what they plan to do, what they’ve got in those tunnels. Everything.”
“There will be some dark knowledge in there,” interrupts Kali solemnly. “I urge caution.”
“Agreed, but there’s also some very useful information in there too,” replies Fyodor. He looks at you, his face suddenly uncharacteristically serious. “Will, are you able to summon the cultist’s memories without changing imago? Should we give you five minutes to change clothes?”
“No, I mean yes,” you stumble. “I mean, no I don’t need to change my clothes, yes I can look at his memories without changing out,” you explain, waving your hand up and down to indicate your body. “That’s how I got out the maze in the tunnels.”
“Ah, of course,” replies Fyodor, his grin returning briefly. “Kali, if you could lead Will in meditation on the imago,” he asks more seriously.
“I was about to suggest the same thing,” sniffs Kali. “Hold out your hand Will.”
You hesitate. “I can check memories by myself,” you prevaricate. “Why do I need help now?”
“It’s not so much that you need help accessing the imago and memories of the cultist,” explains Kali smoothly. “But what else you might find while you are there. You might learn things you wish you had not, and you might vicariously relive some of the individual's darker experiences. I shall help protect you from them.” Kali gestures again for you to hold out your hand. You reach out confidently and close your eyes, feeling Kali’s own hand grasp around yours. “Now summon the imago. Close enough to see but not close enough to become.”
The swirling stars that represent your collection of faces float around you. You pick out George’s and pull it close, stopping just short of letting it envelop you. Wraiths of memory orbit it, packed densely like a shoal of fish. Unbidden, you pick apart at George’s life: An uncaring mother, a distant father, a childhood being bullied at one of the most prestigious public schools in the country and, in turn, being the bully himself. Then you turn to his more recent memories, his athletic pursuits, the rowing and his absolute, absolute determination to be selected for Oxford’s team on the annual Oxford-Cambridge boat race and eventually, win it.
“Is that it,” you murmur quietly
“It seems so petty,” comes Kali voice from beside you. She has seen everything that you have and seemingly cannot believe that someone would turn to something quite as dark and ugly as human sacrifice just to ensure their sporting success. You think back to your days at Westside and the basket ball team there. Would Gordon Black and Steve Patterson gone to such lengths to beat their hated rivals at Eastman? Frighteningly it seems possible. “Let’s put aside his motivations and turn to more pertinent information,” adds Kali. “Starting with how many there are in this cult.”
You reach for the memory, scattering others nearby. “Nine,” you say. A vivid apparition of George’s induction comes forth. George and seven others in a line, each holding their palms open in turn as Rob slices them open with the knife you stole. You can do nothing but watch as Rob turns each dripping hand into a bowl and catches the spilling red liquid. Then each of the cultists drinking from the bowl, becoming brothers bound in blood.
The vision vanishes as quickly as it came upon you and you are enveloped in a warm, golden and nurturing glow. “Thank you Kali,” you say, recognising your mentor’s intervention.
“You’re welcome Will,” says Kali smoothly. “This is exactly what I was hoping to protect you from.”
“Are memories like that dangerous?”
“Perhaps,” says Kali. “If you look at them too closely. The wiser course is not to take that chance I think.”
You murmur your agreement. “How do I get rid of them,” you ask. “If it’s that bad I don’t want to carry them around.”
“An interesting question,” replies Kali. “But one for another time. Perhaps tomorrow once this business is done. Let us return to more pressing matters: The ritual.”
“Tonight,” you say sifting through George’s memories. “At midnight. Three young women to be sacrificed with the three daggers.”
“They’ll all be there,” you hear Fyodor ask, though his voice sounds distant.
“Yes,” you reply. “They need to be present to gain the… benefits…” you stutter until Kali pulls you back from the memories again.
“You said there was a maze,” probes Fyodor. “Can you draw us a map?”
The meditation continues for what seems like an age. Fyodor continues to gently question you on the cult, asking for clarification where he needs it, pulling out the details he needs. Two more times Kali has to step in and draw you away from darker memories and you find yourself thankful for her intervention.
The questioning accelerates. Fyodor drills down to greater and greater levels of detail. Which cells are the prisoners kept in: The middle two on either side. How wide is the ritual chamber: about fifteen metres. How will the cultists be standing: In a semi circular arc. It is exhausting and terrifying both until finally it stops.
“Thank you Will,” says Fyodor. “You’ve told us more than enough.”
Your eyes flutter open weakly. “I’m help…” you say quietly. “I’m happy I could help.”
“Thank you again my friend,” says Fyodor.
And just like that, you are switched off.
Fyodor and Rick go straight into planning. Hunched over the map you drew for them, they talk in low whispers, discussing how and where to attack. Occasionally Kali interjects with an idea, but you no longer seem to be part of the planning process.
It’s not that you think it’s unfair. Fyodor, Rick and Kali are more experienced than you and it’s only right they carry out the rescue. It’s a matter of obligation, and one of guilt. You left the two other girls at the mercy of the cult when you escaped, and your escape has doomed a third to take your place. You want to help them as much as you do the Stellae.
“I want to go,” you say quietly.
No one hears you.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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