Adam wakes groggy and disoriented. He goes to sit up but is stopped short. ‘Huh? That’s not right.’ Confused, he looks down at his body and becomes aware of restraints holding him to a stone table, completely naked. Both things are equally concerning separately, together even more so. Panic setting in Adam makes a scan of the room and is shocked to realise he doesn’t know where he is. The room is a large circular stone chamber, strange etchings and characters line the walls and ceiling. A ways off just before the wall lies a section of tables and shelves filled with sharp implements and containers, some filled with fluids and dark masses he can’t make out.
‘Is this what happened to them?’ This depressing thought only a brief flash before his attention is pulled away. The last thing to draw his attention in the room was the reason he’s in it. A woman stands off from him, unclothed and chanting in an alien tongue. Unlike the room Adam recognises the women instantly having become familiar as of late, Hilda Grace his grandmother. Age is etched into her face and down her body as if she had gained twenty years since he last saw her, her form firm and steady in contrast to her aged body as she begins to perform strange movements.
All these observations have told Adam two things, one this woman is insane and two, he is going to die. Terror pools within him and tries to weigh him down, before being quickly pushed off. Even his own emotions having hardly any sway over him anymore. The only course of action he can see is communication. To throw her off, cause a mistake or just to delay her while he struggles with the restraints.
“I-” With a suddenly parched throat Adam swallows, before trying again. “I knew there was something wrong with you, but this! Are you really delusional enough to believe that-that sacrificing me will benefit you?!” She continues on completely absorbed with her ritual not even sparing him a glance. As the chants continue other noises start to creep in at the edge of his hearing. Begging and pleading, cries of agony and suffering, cruises and snarls of anger. With the sounds comes touch, phantom blades dancing along his skin, echoes of breaking bones, memories of tortured moments.
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Even with his emotional control Adam is starting to slip, he can see no way out as frantically scans the chamber for anything he might have missed, that might help, that could save him. His eyes keep coming back to rest on Hilda… no not her, it’s the murky haze that surrounds her. That repulsive aura which warned of her true nature, it’s beginning to shift, becoming more defined. Condensing into a cylindrical snaking form of black smoke, worming it’s way over till it hovers just above his head. And then something truly horrifying happens. It speaks.
“You have truly outdone yourself this time Witch. Such a perfect Gifted would likely never appear by chance.” It speaks but not with words no, the words don’t reach ears but something much deeper. Drilling straight to the mind or perhaps even further, the repulsive voice resonates within the soul itself. Violating not only one’s self but reality, an insult to the natural order.
“Yes, truly a perfect specimen. Why, it’s almost a shame to see you gobble it up.” It is at this point that finally she reacts with a jolt, her actions frantic and more hurried. The amused chuckle from the entity makes the boy’s skin crawl.
“Turnabout's fair play, wouldn't you say kid? She wants to take your everything, so I'll let you take hers. All you have to do is say yes. Eat or be eaten child, take your pick.” Adam isn't given much time to weigh his options as the ceremony has reached its crescendo, with Hilda marching towards Adam face livid knife in hand. Death to the women who presumably killed his parents, or a deal with the proverbial devil. While he may come to regret this choice at least he’ll be alive to deal with the consequences, avenging his parents certainly helps tip the scale.
“Yes!” Shouting out to dispel the last of his doubts and hesitance, he throws a final hate filled glare at his grandmother as she raises the blade up high. “As you wish.” The things pleased drawl brings bile to the back of his throat. And then there was screaming.
Hilda screams as she shrivels upon herself, hollowed out body and soul. Adam screams as all that was drawn out from her is funnelled into him, convulsing against the restraints that bind him as lightning coursing through his very being. And then he knew nothing.