Amber Ingdom

Amber Kingdom

-

You shouldn't play with dead things.

My mothers advice echoes inside my mind, stilling my boot about to nudge the dead rat at my feet. This is not the kind place I like.

Courtney, Elliot and Jack all bounce ahead down the deserted street, not paying any mind to the dirty puddles staining their white shoes brown. Gross. I shove my hands deeper into the pockets of my dusty pink hoodie and follow them. Why couldn't we have stayed at the bar? It was fine, warm, not to mention easy to find.

"How's James supposed to find us?" I ask, remembering my phones empty reception bars. Ugh what kind of place in the 21st century doesn't have any data or cellular signal? A dump, thats where. Empty houses and factories line the street, their shattered windows staring daggers as we pass.

Courtney smiles back at me, her platinum hair catching the moonlight. "He already has the address, he might beat us there."

Yeah, like thats going to go well. I've seen my share of horror movies and supernatural re runs, and while those guys are hot, but it never ends well for the kids exploring abandoned places on halloween. Well, we're not kids really, all mid to late twenties, but still.

The wind shifts, bring with it the sharp brine of seawater. Ugh it's putrid, we must be close to the docks. "OH, hey! There it is!" Jacks voice startles me and I follow his flashlights path to a decrepit wooden building to the left. A boat house maybe? It's huge, stretching outward into the night.

He strides forward, his lanky frame and dusty blonde hair barely visible in the buildings shadow, the moon hidden behind its crumbling roof.

"Guys this is breaking and entering," I say as they, surprisingly quickly, jimmy the door open. "Why are we even here-?" it's stupid. I want to say, but these are Jame's friends and, I ju- Sigh, I want them to like me. James is my first serious boyfriend in awhile and I can't fuck things up now.

"Come on! It's an adventure, James loves doing stuff like this." Elliot says, popping his head out, he's really got a good hipster head of curls going.

Really? James seems so civilised and well, rule following. But these guys know him better than anyone I guess, having grown up with him. My eyes glance upward to the sky full of stars, their presence calming me as it always has and then, inwardly groaning, I follow.

The inside of the building is just as moist, mouldy and just all around unpleasant as I imagined it to be. Gross. The smell of the docks is stronger now, the slap of water against stone sounding in the distance. I trace the high wooden walls with my phones flashlight, their length disappearing far into the distance.

The three of them confidently head deeper into the building as I lag behind, eyeing the darkest corners, praying nothing jumps out. I don't believe in ghosts, not really. But still.

"Hey Lauren, you alright back there?" Elliots flashlight almost blinds me, I stick out a hand to block the offensive beam shining right in my face.

"Yeah, just fucking peachy." I laugh, trying to keep it even. Fuck, how long do we have to be here? "So James is coming yeah?"

"He'll be here soon, promise." Courtney says, back tracking with Jack so we we can walk side by side. Jack stays ahead, his gait steady.

"Did you like dinner?" Elliot asks.

"Um, yeah. It was nice. Thanks for paying." I say. Weird they asked me out, though for the steak they ordered me, far out of my price range, I can handle alittle small talk. They just want to get to know me better, feel me out, I guess.

"That's good," He smiles down at me.

A small light flickers in the darkness. I blink, thinking its a trick of my eyes until other small lights join it. "What's that?"

"Hey Lauren," Courtney says, I turn to her. "I really like your hoodie,"

"Tha-" viper-quick, arms wrap around me from behind in an iron grip. Shock floods me but before I can even scream Courtney crushes something soft and foul smelling over my mouth and everything evaporates into nothing.

-

I wake, though I really don't want to. Reality hurts and I just want to return to sweet darkness.

The darkness is still here though, broken by flickering lights- candles, I recognise. Unconsciousness slows my mind but things start coming back to me, Jame's friends, the abandoned boat house. Waves crash beneath the floorboards and the same damp wood smell of the boat house hangs in the air. It's cold too, my hoodie and other layers gone, leaving me in only my singlet and underwear.

Realisation hits, fear itching its way up my chest, my breathing coming hard and fast, fogging in the air. I'm strapped face down spread eagle, leather straps holding my wrists and ankles in place. I tug at my restraints, panic replacing fear. "HELLO?" I cry, twisting my head this way and that. I can see the tall candelabras that hold the candles and, briefly, a figure wearing a scrap of cloth and a black and yellow mask, before they walk out of eye shot.

"Hey!" I call out but no one responds. The perspective is off, I realise, I think I'm off the floor. On a raised table? It's bitingly cold against my exposed skin, the surface is hard and rough. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I don't like this. I'm thrashing now, pulling and tearing best I can. A hand slams my face down into the table.

"Behave, child."

"Let me go." I sneer, trying to angle to see their face.

He ignores me and speaks loudly, "We are here today to celebrate, today we make history. Today we wake a God." A God? Fuck. This has to be some sort of cult shit. In his other hand a heavy leather tome rests, its pages yellowed and aged. What I can only describe as demonic script is written across is surface, with a dark yellow stone sits in its centre.

"I know this is a long time coming," He continues, "we've all had our ups and downs. But today, you'll have your reward, your gifts, for being so loyal, I mean, thats why we're here right?" He ends with a playful tone, eliciting excited whispers and even some fucking chuckles from the small crowd. Five - seven people maybe? Nausea churns in my gut, worsened when just out of the corner of my eye, I notice Jack and Courtney whispering excitedly. Even with their masks on I recognise Jacks tattooed sleeve and Courtneys white--- hair.

My stomach empties out, James isn't coming. He never was. Betrayal stings my eyes, followed closely by rage.

Someones phone timer goes off.

It's the weirdest thing to hear right now and is shut off quickly. "Sebastian, it's time." An unfamiliar female voice says. Sebastian? The leader?

"Good." Sebastian says, letting my head go. And to my horror, he pulls a long dagger from his hip sheath. The warm fire light flickers beautifully off its long amber blade, the handle a dull grey with intricate writing etched into it. A moment later the blade is out of eye shot and so is Sebastian.

My singlet is tears open down the back, the sound tearing through me. Oh God.

"I would relax if I was you," Sebastian says, "If you feel like passing out, don't fight it."

Before I can comprehend his works, slice of agony erupts down my spine. I scream. Hot blood seeps from the shallow wound, dribbling down my back and onto the alter below. Sebastian begins a rough and slow chant, the others joining into a chorus.

Their joined voices echo through the abandoned building but I can't hear them over my own screams.

Again and again my back is sliced open, blood flowing and then streaming in rivulets down my back, my strength draining with every drop.

On and on, the chorus continues and my fighting eventually turns to writhing, my screams to whimpers. All the while they keep chanting. I wish I would pass out but I know, in my heart, that if I do, thats it. Finally, their voices raise into a crescendo and Sebastian cuts his final slice into my hot, ruined skin.

The ground begins to shake.

I barely register it over the pain and the music, the chanting voices passionate, elevated. The shaking worsens, a candelabra falling into a pile of dirty rags, igniting instantly. The closest robed figure stumbles his next chant, eyeing the fire. "Keep in line!" Sebastian demands. The figure does what he's told but he's voice is lost in the melody, wavering as he eyes dart to the rapidly spreading fire at his feet. Eating its way across the floorboards the fire spreads, circling the alter, the heat pressing on my skin.

Sebastian sets down his dagger, laying the blood stained blade next to my head. The chorus has gone silent. The only sound is the rapidly expanding fire, crackling and eating its way across the floor and up the walls.

Taking his place at the head of the alter, Sebastian takes a beat, then speaks loudly in a tongue I don't recognise, the syllables blending together rhythmically yet are harsh.

They call out to something in me, something bright and long buried. It pulls from me toward something else. Something that's coming closer.

Wood groans, fire now licking its way across the walls and ceiling. Sebastian speech echoes off the walls, repeating the same chant again and again. I can't breathe, can barely see, all my focus going toward just keeping conscious. Suddenly, a beam falls from the ceiling, slamming into the floor and the alter. Some acolytes scream and jump away, one, James I think, I see running for the exit.

So this just got too real for him huh? It couldn't have gotten real before they butchered me? Anger whispers against my skin, how dare they? How could they do this to me? Why?

The fallen beam leans diagonally half on the alter, next to my left wrist, the heat searing. I look up at Sebastian, who is still chanting, undeterred, and then down to my wrist. The leather strap isn't too thick, too strong to break myself but... I edge it towards the burning beam.

Sebastian stops chanting. The overwhelming pull in my chest sings out and I angle my head to try and see.

The ground stops shaking as thunder cracks the air, It's deep cracking turning into a hungry growl. I can't see much with the awkward angle but its enough, enough to see the fire parting for a figure cloaked in heat and made of shadow. The firelight glints off his skin like glass, or crystal. He's huge, hulking over Sebastian frame. A small glimmer stands out from the fires glow, a thread of light glowing from Sebastians hand, up to wrap around the creatures throat. Thin enough you could mistake it for spider web or maybe even wire? What's happening? My wrist screams in pain, but the strap becomes looser.

I hear screams, and running. Now hot rage flares under my ribs, how dare these people? Sebastian staggers back, absently placing the dagger behind him, right next to my face.

"Mighty Besiris, I have summoned you." He says, voice wavering.

The thing, Besiris, steps through the flames. He reaches a thick, clawed hand for Sebastians throat, the motions lagging, lazy. The strap around my wrist loosens even more and I almost black out for the pain, the skin sizzling.

"S-stop!" Sebastian yells, the hand inches from his throat freezes. I'm shocked, the beast obeyed? The wrist strap falls away.

Sebastian laughs nervously "T-there you see, you obey me-" I shove the dagger through his kidney. He screams as I pull it out and when he falls, I shove it through his neck.

He gurgles, the dagger clattering to the ground, my hand no longer strong enough to hold its weight. Sebastians body falls, I don't care to look where. There. I got some sort of revenge at least, even if the others got away... The roar of the flames and the crack of the slowly collapsing building hide the sound of the strangers footsteps as he approaches me.

"Hmm... poor thing." He says, in voice that rolls deep and thick as lava.

I roll my head to see the owner of the voice, his head held high and intimidating, a strong nose and jaw define his crystalline features. I feel the straps holding the rest of me down snap off all at once. "Carved and served like a lamb. You seem to have gotten me out of a little bind there. I'm in your debt."

With a quick motion, I'm drawn forward on invisible hands until I'm kneeling on the alter before him. My

back screams in pain, drawing a whimper from my dry mouth.

"Tell me, little one," He says, a hand leisurely stroking my face. Heat flares up my back and I gasp, arching, as the pain of my wounds evaporates. My body comes alight, the bright spark I felt during his summoning, now singing bright. "What is it that you desire?" He asks. His voice, his everything speaks of the darkest desires, violence, lust, raw and primal rise through every fibre of my being. And I know what I want.

Raising my head, I look him in the face, in his eyes that glow like the sun. "I want them dead." The words come out a rough whisper, my throat like sandpaper.

"Very well." He raises a hand, fingers posed as if he's going to click them.

"Wait," I say. He lowers his hand, eyes burning curious. My hands tighten on my lap, rage burning and my core tightening under his gaze, "I want to do it."

A smile stretches across his beautifully unnatural face, "Even better."