The Mark

It was a crisp, dark night. The sky was a winters blue and the air held a certain chill; it tickled my fingers and me nose. I should not have even been out at such a late hour on such a night like tonight. I was going against every rule my father had taught me to strictly follow. Tonight was one of those magical nights, when the moon is full and the tide was at its highest. This is when everything happened in this place; when the Elders met together. Rumours about what happened on these nights flew round, yet only the Elders and those closest knew. That was why I was here on this frost-filled December night. I wanted to find out the truth and why there were so many rules and secrets between our people. I walked towards the stables, where I had discretely followed the Elders. The candles dimly lit the pebbled path and gave an ominous glow to the barn where the Elders were holding these meetings. I waited for my time and kept my distance, whilst also keeping a look out for anything suspicious as I still wondered over the rule that I had broken; that no woman under the age of 18 should be allowed out on a full moon and a high tide. Suddenly I heard chanting from the stable barn and a flash of red light. Smoke started to rise from somewhere inside. I could not see clearly so I risked a closer look. I peered through a small hole, trying not to get noticed or caught. Inside was a group of tall hooded shadows whom where all chanting around a cauldron of some sort. I was unsure of what they were chanting or what was happening, but I did not like what I saw.

I carried on watching; wondering what was going on, when suddenly I noticed one of the hooded Elders pull over a girl, dressed in pure satin white. He dragged her by the hair into the light and I instantly recognised her. She was the Farmers daughter, Elizabeth. I could tell by the small mark she had on the right side of her face. The hooded man then grabbed Elizabeth by the chin and placed the back of her head on the hot cauldron. There came an instant sizzling sound from the girls flesh. This was followed very shortly by screaming from the poor tortured girl. As soon as this happened, I winced away and instantaneously the chanting became louder. This made me look back, not wanting to take me eyed away from this evil; but knowing, in my mind, that I should stop, and run away. The same hooded member turned Elizabeth round so that her marked cheek was over the opening of the cauldron. The girl continued to shrill and wail as her flesh blistered, singed and fell away. Then in one quick swoop of a knife to her throat, it was over. Her cries turned into gurgles and choking as the bright crimson blood gushed and spurted from her wound and her mouth into the pot. As this happened I shed a few tears for the poor Famers daughter. As Elizabeth struggled on her last blood filled breaths she was shoved away from the pot and left to wilt and rot. One of the other masked murders then picked up the cauldron and immersed his hand into this mixture of blood and other unknown substances. For any normal human, putting their hand into a boiling pot would scold them and burnt the skin off their hands, but the hooded shadow took his hand out of the cauldron and it was fully in tacked without any marks or scaring visible. Instead it was covered in the blood mixture the Elders had just created. After this the other masked Elders immersed the hands in this concoction and started placing it on the far wall whilst chanting. I could not see what they had done until they had evaporated away from the wall they had just spread blood onto. When they dispersed, I saw what had been written; the words, Like a Fire That Commands all. These powerful, black-magic filled words meant nothing to me. I did not understand what was going on. I wished right then that I had never left the house or followed the Elders to this slaughter house. I took myself away from the hole where I was watching and away from the suffering and horror inside. I just wish I never looked. As I turned round to sneak back to the house, there stood one tall hooded dark shadow of an Elder staring back at me. No defining facial features were visible. I believe youve seen enough Rose. He cackled.