My father arrived after six. I'd been chatting with the guys for about half an hour, so engrossed that I'd forgotten about making dinner. Luckily, he brought food from a restaurant.

It seemed he was ready to get to work right away. After all, there wasn't much to clean up or put away when you brought food from a restaurant.

He placed the takeout containers on the table and went back to the car to get that strange trunk he had yesterday. He brought it inside and went straight to his room. I wondered what was inside that trunk. I'd have to ask him about it when he had some free time.

After we ate, my father, wearing just a short, told me to come to his room. He was holding a bunch of needles. Was he getting a tattoo?

"Son, fill the bathtub with about a foot and a half of cold water," he said. While I was filling the tub, he somehow managed to bring in about ten or twelve bags of ice.

"Empty these bags too. I think this will be enough." I wondered what he was planning to do.

Then he brought in those Petri dishes with the colored powders. While I was breaking up the ice, he took one Petri dish at a time, looking at some brownish paper, muttering to himself, and pouring the contents into the tub.

It looked like he was making some kind of magic potion. And the smell was awful!

"Dad, I feel like I'm going to vomit," I said.

"Go to your bathroom quickly. You'll get used to it after a couple of tries," he said, seemingly unaffected by the stench. He continued pouring the powders into the water.

When I came back, he was done. The water was black, like dirty drain water. I felt disgusted.

"Here," he said, handing me a long stick. "Stir this continuously so it doesn't settle." While I was stirring, he brought in those test tubes. They were still bubbling. About fifty of them. He opened each one and poured the contents into a large container.

Finally, he poured everything into the tub. Now the tub was bubbling in places, thick like tar. But the liquid was cold. I didn't stop stirring.

My father went out again and came back with a rope and a flask filled with a reddish-purple liquid.

"Okay, stop that and come here," he said. "Listen carefully; everything from here on out is in your hands. This is called the Awakening Ritual, or the Pibidime Charithraya." He went out again and brought back a hand towel.

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I was in a state of utter bewilderment. My father's words were like a foreign language, his actions shrouded in mystery. Was this some elaborate prank? Or was there something more sinister at play? I had no idea what to believe.

"This tub is filled with chilly lotions. You can apply these to your body and withstand even molten lava from a volcano."

Was my father a member of some kind of dangerous cult?

"This is the best way… for us… to do this ritual on Earth. There are other methods, but they are ten or even a hundred times more difficult. So, follow my instructions exactly. This will be a little painful. Bear with it. You might feel like you're going to die. But remember, I'm here with you. You have a lot of things to experience in life. So, hold on. It's not that difficult."

I was sweating all over from fear. I wanted to turn and run, but… no. My father would never do anything to harm me.

"Now, I'm going to tie your hands and legs tightly with this rope so you can't move. Then I'm going to bathe you with that water." He pointed to a separate basin where he had put the ice to melt.

I got goosebumps all over again.

My father did indeed tie me up tightly with the rope so I couldn't move. Then, just as he said, he bathed me with the water.

"Eeeeeeyyyyyy….yeee…oohf ooohf.." I was shivering and gasping.

My father forcibly opened my mouth and poured all the liquid from the flask down my throat. Before I could even think, he crumpled the hand towel and stuffed it into my mouth, then pushed me into the tub, leaving just my nose above the surface so I could barely breathe. He held me down firmly. I couldn't move or get up.

... ... ...

"Aaargh….grrr….grrr…aakhhrg"

The liquid was fire, coursing down my throat like molten lead. It burned its way through my esophagus, each swallow a fresh wave of agony. I could feel it seeping into my bloodstream, a burning tide spreading through my veins, reaching every cell, every nerve, every fiber of my being. My heart hammered against my ribs, each beat pumping the burning poison further into my system. Dark purple blood seeped from every pore, every crevice, every opening – my gums, nose, eyes, ears, and even the tips of my fingers. My insides felt like they were being slowly dissolved from the inside out.

The fire raged across my skin, each nerve a conductor for the searing heat. It wasn't just burning; it was melting. I could feel my skin liquefying, dripping away like candle wax. The smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils, acrid and sickeningly sweet. My screams were trapped in my throat, replaced by a guttural rasp...

The pain began in my pores, a million tiny needles piercing my skin, each one a jolt of pure agony. It felt like my skin was being invaded, each pore a gateway for the torment to spread. The needles twisted and turned, deepening their assault, and making me want to scream

I could feel my bones give way, the crunching sound echoing in my ears, each break a fresh wave of agony. It felt like a giant hand was squeezing me, crushing me from the inside out. The sound was like dry branches snapping underfoot, a sickening reminder of the destruction happening within.

Just as I thought the pain couldn't get any worse, the sensation shifted. The crushing reversed, my bones knitting themselves back together with excruciating slowness. Where moments before there were only broken fragments, new bone grew, pushing against raw flesh. My fingers, or what was left of them, began to reform, new tissue budding and spreading like grotesque flowers, each new cell a fresh wave of throbbing pain.

The world began to spin, the edges of my vision blurring. My body trembled uncontrollably, then went limp. The pain, though still present, began to recede, replaced by a numbing coldness as I slipped into unconsciousness.

.....