The sun had barely risen when we were approaching the temple. As they walked me closer to the inner sanctum, I was immediately hit with the smell of incense. It was excruciating, and the headache only got worse under my eyes. One of the ladies held me as I bent over, holding my head with a soft groan.

After a minute, I was brought deeper into the sanctum. Soon, we were there, and the looming statue of the goddess watched over. Her six arms held six weapons, and, before her, there were multiple altars holding various offerings, incense, lamps and more. The smell only got worse and nothing in me wanted to stay here any longer.

Still, it wasn’t as though I could defy tradition. I was brought here under the order of the priests, so under the priests I was to stay until dismissed. The ladies saw my frown and pulled me aside, setting me down on one of the mats that had been on the temple floor. One of them coughed, alerting a passing priest to our presence. He had nearly jumped out of his skin, falling to the side when he heard the harsh, breathy croak. He looked at me, understanding immediately and rushing deeper into the temple.

The ladies, having seen their duty to completion, left to continue their work as temple-mothers. I was left in the silence of the sanctum, the goddess watching me and the thrumming pain in my head only getting worse as time progressed. I tried to remember details from last night. I remember the feeling of blood under my nails. I don’t remember walking around in my sleep, only waking up and seeing him. Who was he? The blood smell that wafted off him itched part of my brain, a distant memory.

“Welcome child,” a voice broke through my reverie. I looked up to see a kindly priest walking into the sanctum. His face was tired with deep ridges and burrows across his sun-beaten skin. He was keeping his distance from me, but it wouldn’t suit whatever ‘this’ was. He eventually sat down on a mat opposite me and gazed at me quietly.

“I’m assuming you want to know why you’re here?”

“I think that would be a good place to start,” I tried to hide my frustration, but the bile slipped into my voice as it slipped.

“It’s alright to be annoyed. I heard you’ve had a rough evening and the priests only spoke in riddles about the ritual,” he trailed off thoughtfully.

“I think I’m a bit more than just ‘annoyed’,” I retorted.

“Again, it is perfectly alright. You are rather special, however. We haven’t had many possessions this year. With what has happened, we think you’d be better suited to our particular issue rather than a detective.”

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Something happened, and what about a ‘detective’?”

“There was a murder yesterday, an elder. He was left in a – state of disrepair to say the least.”

“I don’t appreciate ambiguity, priest,” I didn’t even bother at this point. He raised his eyebrows at the sudden snap, but a smile broke the tenseness.

“It’s good to have someone with a little fire. Well, I’ll be honest then,” he said, leaning forward, “An elder was mauled by a wild animal. A demon is what the priests think it is, and its presence has caused quite a stir. Would you like to see him?”

“I don’t think I have much of a choice,” I confessed.

“You’re quite right. You have to see it at some point, and I’d recommend it before the embalmers go crazy.”

With that, he immediately stood up and shuffled into the corridor. He was expecting me to follow, and I would deny the hesitation that seeped into my bones. This entire thing was spiraling out of control. I had barely been awake, and I was already being thrust into a situation.

I stood up and followed him, resigning to my fate. We moved down into the colder parts of the temple. The smell of incense changed into the clean smell of resin and salts. We were getting closer to the embalming chambers. He was in front of an archway, staring in. When he heard my steps behind him, he turned and smiled toothily.

He was taking a bit too much pleasure in this, and it was very disconcerting. I came up behind him and looked over at the table. There it was then, a corpse. He was not lying when he said that it was in a state of disrepair.

The skin of the corpse was marred in multiple ways. His stomach was beyond any repair, the skin ripped open and the organs missing. It lacked the precision of the embalmers. His left arm was missing but his face was the worst. His jaw had been ripped off, the muscles of the tongue and soft palate folding over the remnants of his throat. His eyes were carved out. The entire thing was a grizzly and cruel murder. I turned into the hallway, heaving into the empty air.

“Horrible, right?”

“No shit,” I whispered huskily, my throat still shaking with the threat of vomiting. I turned to look up at the priest who was still watching distantly.

“Elder Sandsen,” he added thoughtlessly, “one of our most prominent elders.”

Sandsen, he was the one that found me at the edge of the forest. He was the one who was rough with me. The priest must’ve noticed my sudden change in demeanor.

“You know him?”

“He was rough with me yesterday, dragged me to my rooms.”

“That places suspicion on you, then,” he said honestly, not even changing the tone of his voice. I looked up at him, demanding an explanation for his comment.

“Not by the priests, they’d say it was the protection of the Goddess. Still, the priests and the commoners are worlds apart. We hold authority over the Elders, and the Elders over yours.”

“Just great,” I sighed, collapsing into a sitting position on the floor. I stared at him, but he didn’t turn to look at me.

“The priests will want a record of your vision and whatever happens after that is beyond my control. You might be sent to the forest, for your safety quite honestly.”

“I was born into this world cursed for my being,” I hissed, pulling my legs into my chest.

“And you will die in this world a memory, don’t let it get to you.”