Elle felt weak. And hot. Too hot. The flames were too close.
“Help..” she cried softly. She had drained all her energy and none was left.
The chanting grew louder and for a moment she thought she felt a gush of cold wind. And then there was the chant again. And the wind…she felt as if it was on top of her. Elle looked up and could not believe what she just saw. The sky was clear a moment ago. But now it was as if hurricane was coming. Flashes of lightning…wind billowing, crashes of thunder and then at the corner of her eye she saw something white. Abnormally white amidst the darkness of the sky. And the whitish glow slowly emerge, taking shape..a ghostly shape was all she could make of.
“Stellis!” Elle thought and panicked. It worked. She was the bearer of the Goddess of Darkness. The time has come. She didn’t want it to happen.Then she felt it. It was as if something was grabbing her heart. She clutched her chest. She couldn’t breath. Every breath she took was a huge effort. I’m dying, she thought. And she fell backwards. In an awkward position with her hands tied at her back. She was staring towards the sky. The figure she saw earlier was clearer. It took a form..a women..so bright..it hurt her eyes..then it changes.The women’s head was filled with small serpents.Hissing at her..like medusa. Her heart hurts more than she can bear. She felt weaker every second. This thing was sucking life out of her…
They saw..the people in masks, Raoul, Kingkong, Zip. They all saw. The silhouette was closing at Elle. Elle was having hard time breathing.
“STELLIS” the people in masks start chanting.
Raoul was awed. He stood guard at his place. It’s real. Stellis is alive.
Behind him, Kingkong paced himself faster. A gun in his hand. He was as dumbfounded as those around him but at this point he had to act..fast. He silently walked towards Raoul from behind after spotting Raoul. Nobody realized his existence. They were too absorbed in their own world. Closing in, Kingkong then grabbed Raoul at his neck and placed the gun on his temple.
“You are going to be sorry for what you’ve done you bastard!” Kingkong said to Raoul’s ear and pulled the trigger.
Raoul could not react.It happened to fast. He heard the blast of gunshot and felt something was piercing his head. And that was the last thing he felt before he dropped dead.
The group was interrupted by the second gunshot. They stopped to see what happened. At that moment, there were screams. One by one in the group were dropping like flies. Gunshots were everywhere. Kingkong had hid near the bushes and started shooting at the masked people. He didn’t care who they were.
******
Zip was waiting for that moment before he tried to take action. He knew Kingkong would have acted aggressively. And with his mental state right now, Kingkong’s going a step further. Trying to kill every single person on the ritual ground. Including him if he did not act now.
Elle was obviously growing weaker. The whitish figure was still on top of her. Apart from the chaos that was happening on the ground, nothing seem to affect Stellis. Zip quickly got out from his hiding place and tried to sneak into the group and to get to the top of the stone. He knew where Kingkong was so he carefully positioned himself so that Kingkong will not be able to see him. The masked group were already scattered around the ritual ground trying to hide for safety. Zip got to the stone but now he had to pass the bonfire that was surrounding it. Ignoring the heat, he tried to look for something to climb the climb the stone. These people obviously had used something to get Elle to the top. He searched frantically for something and at last he saw a bamboo ladder near the place he stood and brought it to the stone. It won’t last, he thought. The fire will burn it down but it gave him enough time to climb it. The heat from the fire was getting intense but he had to ignore it. He needed to save Elle.
Zip placed the ladder on the stone at such an angle that only the top touches the flame. He climbed it and in a few seconds, he was at the top. The flames started to burn him. He winced as his arm was burned. He jumped to the flat top of the stone to see Elle lying on her back. She was not moving. She was pale..
“No!Don’t die on me, Elle,” Zip cried rushing towards Elle.
The silhouette was clearer now as Zip was closer to it. He was mesmerized but then he felt it was so full of evil. The serpent head woman was glaring at him as if he had just interrupted her. He felt pain on his chest now..and was gasping for his breath. Not now, he thought. He quickly exposed the tattoo that was on Elle’s thigh and withdrew his Swiss Army knife.
“Whatever you are,” Zip said to the figure on top of him still gasping for breath, “You are dead!!” Zip took the knife and slashed Elle’s thigh. Making a line across the tattoo.
Suddenly there was a piercing scream from above. Stellis was fading. The figure distorted. At that moment, wind was blowing on all direction. It was as if hurricane was passing to the area. Zip grabbed hold of Elle afraid that they will be blown away. Then there was crashing of thunders. He heard awful screams from below. Fire around him and Elle was starting to torch them. He felt the heat and the smoke was starting to intoxicate him. He didn’t know if Elle was still alive but he did let go of her. His eyes starting to burn and he couldn’t breath. I’m dying, Zip thought and passed out.
********
Newsflash
The world had caught a surprise this week when an awful massacre had taken place in the Samoan Island. It is believe to have started from a cult known as the Mapoo Cult that had been going on for centuries. The cult was once thought as legend and myth now have emerged and this massacre is a sign showing that this cult does exist. More than 20 people were found dead. Some were inflicted by gunshot wounds while the others were burned to death. It was as if they were strike by lightning but the meteorology confirmed there was no evidence of any lightning and thunderstorm occurrence in the area on the night it happened. A male professor known as Professor Zyne was also found dead. His involvement with this cult was still unclear although some have said that he may be one of the ‘higher power’ of this well known cult. The 20 people found dead were all wearing black robes and masks. Evidence shows that there had been a sacrificial ritual going on the night of the massacre but something or someone had stopped it because the women who was meant to be sacrifice was found alive. Most of those found dead are identified as Japanese and most of them are high profile businessman from the country of the rising sun. The man who was suspected forshooting the people was found dead, burned alive next to a revolver that was believe to be the murder weapon.Police and local authority are still baffled with this event and investigation is still going on. Interpol is currently involved with the investigation due to the involvements of the Japanese tycoons. There were only 2 survivors in this massacre and currently are heavily guarded in the local hospital. Both had suffered from burns and other injuries and are in the state of comma.
*******
3 weeks later..
“Where am I?”
“Where do you think you are?”
“Stellis…grandpa”
“Shh..you don’t want to mention that to anyone. Not now. “
“Who are you?”
“Don’t you remember me? It’s Zip.”
“Who..who’s Zip?”
“Wh..what..you don’t remember? How about Raoul? Kingkong?”
“ Who are they? Where am I?”
“You’re in a hospital. I’m Zip. You were in a comma..for almost 3 weeks now..”
“Comma? What happened?”
“You…you were in an accident. I was with you. You don’t remember? We were on our way to go to grandpa’s funeral but we crashed. I just woke up too…good thing both of us are safe…”
“What…accident? I can’t remember a thing. Nothing. But who are you?”
“I’m Zip..your husband……it’s ok. We’ll take things easy from now. You’ll get you memory back and I’ll help you with it. I’ll make sure of it…..”
-THE END-
