Silence filled the empty void of the hall. Believers reaching fifty in number all gathered in one room to pray. An assembly of those who believe in the god who rules over the world of dreams. A beautiful sight.

Arabella Pynos watched all these believers pray through the eyelashes that covered her peeping eyes. Her position was that of a “humble” deacon. She assisted the priests in simpler matters.

The silence suddenly broke into a mini pattering of feet as many men, women, and children stood from their seats and walked through the exit in a semi-orderly manner. Arabella opened her eyes completely in reaction to the sight. She turned to her right to see one of the priests watching the believers exit as well. A stout man in a nice set of stretched clothes wobbly approached from Arabella’s left with money in his hand.

The man dropped his money into the pot next to her, as he slowly greedily turned to Arabella. Despite her disgust, Arabella bowed to the man as he left. His unstable swaying led him to nearly fall many times.

Arabella began to think about her life before the church, her life as Arabella Burke. She silently sighed as she looked toward her reminiscence and abandonment of her last time in the name of the God of Dreams.

She turned to her left, then her right. After making sure nobody was around, she released her strained shoulder and yawned alongside an excellent stretch.

“Mmm-! Phew.”

After the invigorating stretch, a feeling of a dagger on her back caused her to instantly turn around.

“P-Pastor Manos…”

Pastor Manos Pynos only sighed as if to show his mild irritation. He quickly turned away from Arabella.

“Come to my study in ten.”

“Y-yes!”

The pastor walked away elegantly as he headed to his study.

…

“Okay, I think that’s it.”

With the conversation between the deacon and the pastor coming to a close, Arabella begins to drop her shoulders and relax. As if in response to her relaxation, a black liquid begins to ooze out from the study's well-maintained walls.

Words of shock escaped his agape lips and his beady eyes looked upon the ooze in disgust and terror. As the panic began to set in, a large glob of the dark liquid dropped from the ceiling, landing on the old pastor’s head.

For a moment, his muffled screams could be heard from underneath the fluid, but they soon turned into the sound of innocent murmurs accustomed to that of a sleeping person. His body began to disappear and meld with the ooze as it slowly dripped down to his feet. His body, now fully covered in the stuff, began to murmur nonsensical words and sounds of no correlation to each other.

Arabella watched all of this from an off corner of the room. Her eyes were wide open from the unexpected visit of the black stuff. She wished to speak out some words of encouragement to herself and the now-consumed Manos, but she couldn’t.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

She had been stuck by fear.

The entire room was covered in the black goop. It had long escaped the confines of the walls and had begun to travel by floor. The liquid continued to expand outward in an effort to reach Arabella. She could feel the fear of death reaching its climax. She knew that she couldn’t do anything.

Arabella, despite being a deacon, did not pray much. Most of her “prayers” were partial attempts to look as such. At this moment, however, Arabella had gotten on her knees and was praying.

“Oh God of Dreams, Ruler of the landscape beyond the mind; Great being who sees life to dream, please, please! Please do not let me die here.”

Those words continued to escape her lips in a rapid, continuous motion as thick tears escaped the glands in her eyes.

“Oh God of Dreams, Ruler of the landscape beyond the mind; Great being who sees life to dream, please do not let me die here.”

The black liquid continued to extend itself, consuming everything in its wake. It engulfed the pastor’s desk, chairs, books, and even almost the entire room. The only thing left in the room now was the praying Arabella who was in complete shambles.

“Oh God of Dreams, Ruler of the landscape beyond the mind; Great being who sees life to dream, please do not let me die here.”

The liquid soon made contact with her body. She could feel her thoughts become incoherent but calm. Still, she continued to pray.

“Oh God of Dreams, Ruler of the landscape beyond the mind; Great being who sees life to dream, please do not let me die here.”

She prayed.

“Oh God of Dreams, Ruler of the landscape beyond the mind; Great being who sees life to dream, please do not let me die here.”

And prayed.

“Oh God of Dreams, Ruler of the landscape beyond the mind; Great being who sees life to dream, please, please! Please do not let me die here.”

As she felt herself slipping, she felt an anchor reach from the back of her mind. It began to grasp at her being and soon, a name she had no clue about began to spout from her lips.

“Adall, God of the Restless Night, Ruler of the eternal thoughts, I beg of thee to grant me access to the abilities of your infinite domain so I may live to believe in your benevolent grace.”

These words shook Arabella’s heart like a great earthquake. The liquid began to shiver violently as the words pushed forward through Arabella’s fearing lips. As if commanded by such words, the black ooze began to retreat back through the walls, but the pastor did not reappear.

With a great burst of strength, a man who could be considered to have a high level of male physique burst through the door. His dark shirt and the still remaining fear led Arabella’s heart rate to spike at his sudden entrance. The white badge and yellow stripes on his vest were the only things that kept her rational enough so as to not begin chanting the name of unknown origin.

The man noticed her panicked state and immediately released the tension holding the badge on his chest.

“Officer Vincent Brooks. Someone reported that you and pastor Manos Pynos had been in this room for multiple hours. When someone knocked on the door there was no response. We tried to break down the door for ten minutes now, but it only just now fell.”

Office Brooks’ face showed the tension and uncertainty in the case.

“Unfortunately, you’re the only suspect and witness, making this case very difficult on both sides.”

The officer began to rub his chin as he looked to the ground in front of Arabella. Coming soon behind the officer was a bishop whose name was unknown to Arabella.

Officer Brooks turned over to the unknown bishop and began to whisper words into his ear.

“Reasonable… special forces…”

These words were the only ones that she could decipher. The officer turned back to Arabella.

“Arabella Pynos, you are being taken into custody. You will be released or convicted depending on how the situation plays out.”

The officer walked over and put metal cuffs on Arabella’s arms.