Christian, Brotherhood of Life part 4

Christian and the Brotherhood of Life
         Chapter Four

Hours later, in the darkest part of the night, Christian sat up in his bed as if he hadn’t have even fallen asleep at all. His dark green eyes darted back and forth as he looked all around his room for a few startled moments. Finally, his eyes fixed on his bedroom window which was opened. Strange, because he was sure that it had been shut before. Christian peered at it without blinking for so long his eyes started to burn a little.
         Christian…
         He thought he heard someone calling his name, but it must have been the wind. The curtains draped down the sides of the window fluttered lightly as a cool breeze blew through the night. The wind, that’s all it was.
         Chris…tian…
         Again the voice called to him, a voice hardly more than a whisper in the back of his mind, yet as undeniable as a shout. A voice carried on the wind itself. His curiosity had completely over taken any good judgment he had as he crept across his room. As he finally laid his hands on the edge of his opened window, a gust blew in it so fiercely he had to use one of his hands to shield his eyes. Luckily, it only lasted for a second, and as soon as it ended, he had his head stuck out the window and was looking around in all directions.
         Christian…
         It was calling to him from the left. He turned his head, but there was no one there. The streetlight at the end of their driveway was out, so he had couldn’t see very far out into the distance. All he could see in the back yard was the old tool shed and the lawnmower that sat out back all the time.
         Another burst of wind cut through the night. The grass leaned over under the weight of the wind, and the trees beyond the lawn all swayed to and fro in a strange synchronized dance. The trees! Christian looked at the tree line off in the distance like were a glowing beacon signaling to him.
         He hadn’t even noticed himself climbing out of his bedroom window until his bare feet hit the ground. The grass was cold to the touch as it slid between his toes.          Christian looked back at his bedroom for a second. He wasn’t worried about getting caught. He had actually snuck out quite a few times before. But something was different about tonight. It felt like it would be the last time he would ever see his room again.
         Everything about it was the same as always. His bookshelf stood against the wall opposite his closet like it always did. The computer on the desk beside his bed hummed quietly in sleep mode. It stayed in sleep mode most of the time. The thing was so old he could hardly do anything on it.
         Nothing about tonight was any different than any of the other nights he had snuck out. Except for that voice, that called to him yet again.
         Christian…
         He slowly closed his bedroom window and began putting one foot in front of the other. After taking several steps, Christian froze in his tracks. He glanced back over his shoulder at the motion detector nestled under the lip of the roof. He knew the way to walk to avoid setting it off, but he had completely forgotten to take that path.
         Something was odd though. The security light around the house hadn’t gone off and Christian was standing in a direct line in front of the small black camera-like object. Christian held his breath for a second. Then another. Finally, Christian raised his hand and gave the motion detector a little wave. Still nothing.
         The motion activated light on the back of the house wasn’t on, for whatever reason. At least now he didn’t have to worry about it. Without wasting any more time he turned back around and bolted for the woods behind his home as fast as his skinny legs could carry him.
         The moon was shining down more brightly tonight then it usually did. That was good, because now he could see where he was going, even though he wasn’t even sure where that was. He was going to get there though, whatever it took.
         Christian…
         It was still only a whisper, a voice on the wind, but whatever it was Christian was after, he knew he was getting close. And then, much to his surprise, he burst past a pair of large trees and found himself standing at the edge of a large clearing.
         Christian had often escaped to the woods behind his house on days when his bedroom wasn’t enough, but he had never gone this far before. He put his hand on the tree trunk closet to him and leaned on it as he tried to catch his breath. A quick look back over his shoulder told him what he already knew, that he was too far away from his house to see it anymore. He thought for a minute that it might be a good idea to go back, but he couldn’t now. He had already gone too far
         Christian...finally, you have come…
         Again, the voice spoke to him. This time, more a rasp than a whisper. More real than imaginary. So close that it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
         “Finally, you have come…”
         Christian nearly shouted when he turned back around to see a tall hooded figure standing before him, but the words simply failed to leave his throat. He gaped, wide-eyed and confused, unable to speak, unable to move. Christian stood frozen in place. He wasn’t even shaking. He was as quiet and motionless as the trees around him.
         A withered hand shot out from beneath the long dark layers of cloth covering the mysterious figure and grabbed him by the arm. The hand was little more than skin pulled tight across bone, but it seemed to be clamped on him tighter than steel handcuffs. Christian knew he wouldn’t be able to pull himself away even if he could force himself to try to.
         With one quick jerk, he was tossed through the air deeper into the clearing. Moonlight weaved in and out of his vision as Christian tumbled across dirt and grass. The hooded figure moved across the field towards the disoriented boy slumped over on the ground with effortless speed. It stopped and towered over Christian as he feebly rolled over onto his back. Again the hand came for him, this time wrapping a tight, cold grip around his neck. He was lifted from his feet and thrust back. Pain shot through Christian’s body as he was slammed against something hard.
         Christian frantically tried to figure out what was happening to him. He couldn’t make sense of any of it. Everything seemed like a blur in his mind. Trying to focus his eyes only made his head hurt even more. He managed to regain enough of his coherency to make out another dark figure as it appeared out from behind the one holding him back. It was another hooded person, but much smaller, stooped over, and seemed to be shaking vehemently beneath the layers of dark cloth covering it.
         The small figure, scurrying on all fours like some sort of rodent, moved quickly around Christian and finally escaped his view. In less than a moment, it had climbed onto whatever it was Christian was being held against and began to roughly fasten a coarse rope around Christian’s right wrist.
         His mind slowly absorbed what was going on around him. He wasn’t sure if he could trust what he was seeing, but it seemed like he was being tied to some sort of old wooden cross. Once the little creature under the black robes had tightly tied his right arm back it quickly moved to the left, all while the tall figure held him back with the cold steel hand.
         “Where…what…” Try as he might, Christian could hardly form words, much less a whole sentence.
         “Our master has heard your request,” a raspy voiced hissed out from beneath the shadows of the hood draped over a faceless void. It sounded strangely familiar to the voice that had called Christian out of his room, only now it was cold, direct, and without a hint of remorse.
         Christian wanted to tell him to stop. He wanted to scream as loud as he could, to cry out for help, to run away, anything. But, he couldn’t. All he could do was to stare into the black hole facing him and try to stay conscious, gasping for one shallow breath after another.
         After the tiny shivering thing had finished tying back his other arm, it jumped down and wove a piece of rope between his ankles, tying his feet back as well. Its task complete, it skittered across the ground until it was out of site behind the large figure again. The cold hand released its iron grip on Christian’s throat at last, leaving him coughing and sputtering for his breath.
         Christian, more scared and confused then he had ever been in his entire life, watched as the tall figure drifted back into the darkness and faded away. Christian wished he were back at home again. He wished his mother was giving him a scolding for something he didn’t do. He wished his father was punishing him for something that wasn’t his fault. He wished he was anywhere but where he was. Christian pulled as hard as he could with his little arms but it was no use, he was tied back too tightly to get loose. All his struggling accomplished was to dig the rope’s rough fibers deeper into his wrists.
         Tears began to well up in his eyes. That was something that hadn’t happened to him for a very long time. Just as the very first one started to roll down his cheek, the ground at his feet began to shake. All of the sudden, nearly half a dozen thick chains, shining brightly in the light of the moon, came ripping their way out of the ground and began winding their way up his legs like cold metal snakes. They wound around his body with a life of their own, eventually making their way down his arms and around his head.
         After working their way around his entire body, the chains began to pull him downwards, towards the earth they had burst forth out of. Christian was still fastened tightly to the make shift crucifix, but the living chains didn’t seem to care. They tightened and pulled until it felt like he was going to be ripped in half. Still, all of his struggling was to no avail.
         Then something tore. The sensation was similar to the feeling of tearing wet paper apart, only from the inside. Christian felt the chains pulling him away from the old cross through the cold night air. Slowly, Christian was spun in the air until his was facing the opposite direction.
         There was no way to prepare for what he saw. He had half expected to see the old ropes that he had been bound by to be torn, hanging limp across the arms of the wooden cross, but instead, he found himself staring back into his own face. At the same time, he could see himself behind held in the air by shimmering metal tendrils born out of the earth below. He gazed into his own eyes for the longest time. It was surreal. It was like standing between two mirrors and looking at your own reflection going on indefinitely.
         The chains game a sudden and violent jerk, whipping Christian’s head back. He could see the moon glowing peacefully in the night sky above as he felt his body being pulled down.  Lower and lower he went until he could feel the cold ground pressing against his back. And lower still. He wanted to look around, but he couldn’t. The chains were fastened around his head too tightly for him to turn it in either direction. Yet, at the same time, he was watching the entire endeavor as he hung from the crucifix. He tried to scream. He tried to cry. But nothing happened. There was nothing he could do but watch as his body was slowly swallowed up by the ground at his feet.
         Everything that happened next was a blur. All around him, there was nothing but dark, so dark that it made his head hurt. And then, blinding whiteness. Whiter than anything he had ever seen before. He couldn’t see himself anymore. He couldn’t see anything. Yet, he had the sensation that he was moving incredibly fast. Moving through a sea of endless white. And then he realized exactly where he was.
         He was dead.
         

Christian was perfectly still, yet he moved faster than he had ever moved before. He was cold enough to shiver, but hot enough to sweat. Tired, but wide-awake. Hungry and full. Everything and nothing, all at once. He was unaware of anything, and at the same time, everything made perfect sense.
         Christian closed his eyes, but it did nothing to drown out the light around him. It covered his whole body like a warm liquid. He simply gave himself over to it. There was something about the light that made it feel like it was alive. Conscious. Thinking.
         When he finally opened his eyes again, he found himself looking at the back of a large, golden throne. The source of all the light seemed to be pouring forth from whatever was on the other side of it. Something large and dark moved at Christian’s side, pulling his attention away from the magnificent seat.
         As he craned his neck around, he found himself gazing into the dark, hollow sockets of skull that was almost so close it was almost pressed up against his own face. But it wasn’t a real skull, it was a gleaming silver helmet shaped like a skull. It was crafted in perfect detail, with two pair of spiraling horns working around it sides so that two points aimed up and the others down.
         Whoever was behind the fearsome helmet was breathing so heavily that Christian could hear it, feel it, and see it billowing out from the spaces between where the upper and lower jaws like a thick black smoke. It backed up enough for Christian to see that it was sitting on top or a suit of armor made out of the same shiny, perfectly silver metal. The skull-clad man was the biggest thing Christian had ever seen. Christian always thought of his father as a big person, but this man, this thing in the silver armor was big enough to look down at the top of his father’s head, and then some.
         Christian was looking back up at the skull shaped helmet when the whole thing lunged at him. It struck him with such force that it knocked him off his feet. He came crashing down on the ground so hard it knocked the wind right out of him. All he could do was roll over on his side and curl up into a fetal position as he tried desperately to catch his breath. That’s when he noticed how much he hurt. And how cold he was.
         The moon shone off his green eyes as he slowly opened them and looked around. He was lying on the grass in the middle of the empty field once again. The hooded figures, the strange wooden cross and the chains from the ground were all gone. He had no idea what had happened to him. All he wanted to do was go home where he would be safe again. But he couldn’t even do that. He couldn’t move. Everything part of his body ached terribly. It felt like he had been hit by a train, dropped off of a tall building and trampled by wild horses all at the same time. His whole body contracted as a wave of agonizing pain ran through every fiber of his body. At least the pain let him know he was still alive.          
         “Hang on there, little buddy.”
         Christian looked around but couldn’t see where the voice was coming from. It didn’t sound anything like the one that had called to him before. It was deep, like his father’s, and very calming. Just hearing it made him feel a little bit better, even though he didn’t know where it was coming from. The next thing he knew, he was being scooped up off the ground by a pair of strong, solid arms. A little bit of warmth started to make its way back into his body as he was carried across the field.
         “Don’t worry,” said the man carrying him, “Everything’s ganna be ok…”
         Christian wanted to ask him who he was. He wanted to ask about what had just happened. But he couldn’t. He was so tired. He couldn’t stay awake open any longer. Christian closed his eyes and sank into a deep sleep as he was being carried into the darkness under the canopy of the trees.