In the darkness

The monastery of eternal light had few windows facing out. Most windows faced the inner courtyard, above the main entrance there was one that looked over the outer wall, down towards the town. Aerea had been born inside the monastery she had never stepped beyond the outer wall.

The outer wall looked crumbled, stone worn by weather had shifted over time, in places it looked like it would fall over if pushed, in others scaling it would be simple. The wall protected the monastery not through strength but through weakness, a strong, maintained wall would attract attention, being another Irish ruin atop a hill that could be admired from afar protected the order. There were prettier ruins on hills that were easier to ascend, others on hills that could provide a challenge to climbers, an average ruin on an average hill kept them safe.

Aerea knew little of the outside world, but she liked to watch from the window, she wasn't forbidden from standing at the window, but she felt guilty regardless. To long for the outside world, the world of false lights, was longing to leave everything she knew.

The sun was setting, the grass deepening in colour, soon it would be black but she could not watch it turn, her candle would be visible, standing by the window after the sun had set with a lit candle was forbidden, not having the light fall upon your face was forbidden. She had never been able to stare out at the night outside, the only night she could see was the night of the courtyard, kept at bay by the candles, or the night that fell upon the gardens between the monastery and the outer wall.

She left the window and the darkening outside world. She wore a cotton dress, it offered little protection from the cold, but it was all she owned, all any priestess owned. Her hand shielded the fragile flame as she made her way to the staircase. The steps led down to the door, she could walk through it and follow the short path to the outer wall, its gate would be barred but sliding back the beam would let her enter the world.

Instead of heading down to the door, and leaving the only life she knew, she followed the steps up to the chapel. The chapel had only three walls, the fourth had been removed to look down upon the courtyard, it had no roof to let the sun shine down upon it. Candles surrounded the room, lighting the pews and the small alter.

The high priestess stood at the altar, dressed in her white dress. “Walk in the light child.” She greeted her with a smile.

“Walk in the light mother.” Aerea returned the greeting of the order.

“The time will be upon us soon, are you prepared?” The other priestesses would not be joining them for the private ceremony, just the high priestess and Aerea.

“I am, thank you.” She walked to the alter, a simple table covered in a cloth embroidered with a myriad of suns. Upon it, two candelabras stood with long white candles aflame.

“Kneel and we will pray together.” The high priestess led the prayer, the familiar passages asking for the protection of the light, for its warmth and comfort.

Aerea watched the flames of the candles dance as she let the words wash over her, she knew the words. Then the high priestess started a new prayer that she had not heard before.

“The light is your glory, the light is our salvation. In the light, we find our peace. The child walks through darkness to reach light. Fill her with the light so her heart holds a flame even when no other falls upon her. Welcome her into the light, reward her with your glory, for she keeps the darkness at bay. Amen.”

Aerea echoed the amen, and silence fell upon them, the high priestess gazed into the flames, unmoving. The flames danced in the gentle breeze as the moon rose, a chill rose from the stone into Aerea's knee, the clear winter night would be long and cold.

Eventually, the high priestess looked up from the flame and crossed herself. “It is time.”

Aerea rose, her knee complaining at the movement. She walked around the alter as the high priestess drew back a curtain that covered the wall behind the altar. A wooden door was set into the wall, the wood was old but strong.

The high priestess sighed as she gripped an iron handle and pulled the door open. Cold air rushed out of the door, the candles fluttered. The door opened onto a spiral staircase, like the one Aerea had climbed it wound down. There was no access on the floor beneath where she watched from the window, nor onto the ground floor. It wound down into the earth, beyond the touch of the sun.

The candle she held shook as her fingers trembled. The staircase had no windows, it was a well of darkness. She almost jumped as the high priestess's hand closed over hers to take the candle. “You must enter the darkness without light or clothes.”

Slowly she pulled the dress up her body. The priestess would often bask naked beneath the sun so being undressed before another was not uncommon, but for the first time she felt nervous of her body. The summer's tan had almost faded from her skin and the candle light gave her a ghostly complexion.

Stepping out of her sandals she stood naked in the doorway, she breathed deeply trying to keep herself calm. The high priestess didn't urge her onwards, but she knew she must enter the stairway. She wanted to say something, but her mouth was dry. She stepped forward, her feet sent out puffs of dust as they stepped onto stone that had not been stepped on for a year.

“Let the light in your heart guide you.” The high priestess spoke from behind her as the door closed.

Aerea had never known darkness, all she needed to do was open her eyes and see the reassuring flame. She knew the stairs led down from her right but no matter how much she strained her eyes showed her nothing. Her heart pumped beneath her breast.

Time didn't exist in the darkness, she could have stood for days or seconds but eventually resigned to the fact that all she would ever see is the black nothingness, she reached out for the wall to steady herself. Each step was covered in a thick layer of dust that her toes searched through to find the edge.

She had never counted how many steps were in the other stairway so she didn't know how many she had to descend, nor did she know how far beneath the ground her journey would take her. With arms outstretched her fingertips reached both walls, she wondered how many others had trailed their fingers across the same stones. Did some press against the outside wall and inch their way around until their backs were black from the dirt.

When her toes didn't find the edge of the next step she stumbled, her arms reached forward and she found a stone wall before her. Her fingertips searched the wall, but found nothing, the stairs ended in an empty square with bare walls.

The silence and darkness seemed to close in on her as she panicked that she had done something wrong. She could hear her panting breaths echo off the walls as her panic rose. Squeezing her eyes closed she slowly gained control over her body and her breathing subsided.

A sound came to her, first it was faint, a rumble that slowly grew. The ground started to shake and then she felt the wall before her retreat, she couldn't see it, but she felt it moving away. She stepped backwards afraid of what she would find behind the stone. Her heel hit the bottom step and she cried out in surprise, her voice echoed, screaming back at her in a warning. She fought the urge to turn and flee back up the stairs.

The grating of stone against stone stopped, she could sense a large room before her but stayed in the alcove. She knew she should walk forward, through the darkness to the light beyond, but she couldn't move, her limbs felt like lead holding her in place.

A low voice, almost a growl summoned her inside in the ancient language. She wanted to scream, deep inside she had hoped he wouldn't exist, she had hoped that the ritual was nothing more than symbolic.

The voice remained silent, but she felt him expecting her. She stepped forward, her legs wobbling but managing to support her, her fingers trailed along the walls until they found the edge and then she stepped into the abyss.

Shivering, she stood alone in the darkness, there was no one breathing, hidden by blackness. She wondered if it was a hallucination caused by the darkness, her mind conjuring the sounds and the hidden room. She tried to convince herself that she was still at the bottom of the stairs, solid stone surrounding her. But the emptiness of the room clawed at her, she could feel the openness around her.

Slowly she realised in the darkness there was light, not natural light from flames or the sun, or the artificial light that those outside the monastery commanded. The light was an insipid green glow that felt unholy. She could feel it on her skin, like insects crawling all over her, she wanted to swat at the light and had to force her hands down by her side.

The room was square, with a ceiling that was hidden from sight. There was no source of the strange glow, but the floor was scattered with bones. Aerea gasped at the thought of the centuries of sacrifices, girls giving their lives to protect the light from the darkness.

Thousands of eyeless skulls sat amongst the rib cages, the femurs and the pelvises. All of them seemed to be turned toward her, welcoming her into their midst, the sinister glow growing stronger. She span in a panic, wanting to run back up the stairs and pound on the door. All round her the floor was littered with bones, the floor she must have walked over to reach the center of the room covered, undistinguishable from the rest. The walls were solid, no doorway or gap, just stone covered in the unnatural green glow.

She span on the spot watched by the grinning skulls until she didn't know which way she had entered from. She stopped and closed her eyes as the ghoulish bones continued to spin before her.

Opening her eyes she screamed, before her in the green light stood a creature. It stood 7 feet tall, the body of a man covered in muscle and encased within red skin that glowed black in the green light. With a face drawn into a snout, he had yellow teeth protruding from thick black lips. Large eyes glowed in the low light, bright green pupils in pools of red. Atop his bald head large black curling horns rose.

Before him she felt her legs weaken, only the prospect of collapsing onto the bones of the previous sacrifices kept her on her feet.

“It is normal to feel fear in the presence of your God.” His voice boomed, it was deep, the words vibrating over her skin.

She wanted to shout that he was not her God, God was light, God was good, he was born from the darkness, a creature of evil. But she couldn't speak, her grip on her own sanity was failing, she could feel her mind about to snap.

It stepped forward, she shuddered at the sound of bones breaking beneath him. She couldn't bring herself to look down to see if the creature had feet or hooves, his green eyes bore into her fixing her gaze upon him.

His large hand gripped her breast, she wanted to cry out but all that squeezed through her throat was a whimper, “You are ripe.” He spoke as if checking a piece of fruit, his thumb rubbed over the rough skin surrounding her hidden nipple.

“You have read the prophecy and know who I am?” She realised he had no accent, when he had been imprisoned, English had not been formed but he spoke it with ease. She wondered if the other sacrifices had taught him, they were to obey his wishes until they were sent to the light.

“I cannot read the ancient language, none can, but I know the words.” She swallowed hard, her throat dry, trying to ignore the feel of his thumb over her nipple. “You are the creature who will bring darkness to the world. You are the creature that will send the world into the abyss.”

His lips twitched, what could have been a smile revealed more of his yellow pointed teeth. “And you know why you are here.” He didn't ask the question, but stated fact.

“On the longest night you are at your most dangerous, a child born and raised in the light is sent as sacrifice, they hold the light within them, a light that even in the darkest place cannot be extinguished.” The priestesses never spoke of what happened to the sacrifices.

He stepped closer, his body nearly touching her, he bent down till his mouth was near her ear, she gulped as fear froze her body. “You were chosen as you were born beneath the midday sun of the summer solstice, born in the light. You were raised with light always upon you, I have been down here so long all I know is the darkness. You are young, while I am older than the history of the world. Yet we are both prisoners of the monastery, we both wish to be free of it, by dawn you will have that wish.”

She had expected hot, foetid breath, but his words were a warm caress. She had known she would be chosen as sacrifice all her life, but the fact he knew so much about her scared her.

“Daughter of a priestess and delivery man, you've been an orphan all our life. Perhaps if your mother had survived your birth you would not be here. She went before the high priestess and told the story of how the delivery man smiled at her and she gave in to the temptations of the flesh.”

His free hand slid down her body as he whispered to her a story she had been told before. The delivery man was never named, all she knew of him was he no longer worked for the order. She tried to ignore his hand sliding down her stomach, as she ignored her awakening nipple, and the question of how he knew so much.

His hand moved down, large fingers pushing her thighs apart. “Your mother was ashamed and told lies to hide the shame. The delivery man's smile was not of kindness, he saw your mother, pretty like you. Inside the store room he blocked the door, and forced himself upon your mother.”

As the creature told lies about her mother, his finger pushed inside her. She bit her lip to stifle a scream, a stab of pain from penetration.

“In the small store room, the light of her candle cast shadows upon the sacks boxes and jars. Glass reflected the small flame, until the man blew it out. No light fell upon them, the darkness of the man's soul matched by the darkness of the small room. Conceived at dusk of the autumn equinox, the time when light and dark are equal, conceived in darkness and born in light.”

He didn't move inside her, but she felt her heart beat reflected off him, the pain slowly fading, but the rhythmic circling of her nipple continued, an awakened bud.

“There is a prophecy about you, not in the book the order have, in older texts that have crumbled to dust. The child conceived in darkness raised in the light, the door between this world and the others.”

His hand upon her breast was cool, but the finger inside her felt hot, the heat was spreading through her. With the pain gone, all she felt was the heat. It pulsed through her like waves upon a lake. “I am a child of the light.” Speaking was a struggle for her, “I will live in the eternal light for my sacrifice.”

He forced his hand up, she felt the finger delving deeper, “Eternal light is a lie, nothing is eternal, in the end it dies and you are left with the void.”

Her body burned, she wanted to reaffirm her faith in the light, but she couldn't. She fell forward her hands bracing against him to stop her collapse. His body was strong and smooth, cooling to her burning flesh.

Within his large chest she could hear his heart beating, every boom of his heart coincided with a surge from deep inside her. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of him inside her and the feel of his chest against her cheek.

Behind her eyelids images formed, the last sacrifice, Maria, a slim girl with long natural straight dark hair. She was on her hands and knees amongst the bones, the creature behind her, holding her hips and thrusting. Then it was the sacrifice before, Catriona, a skinny tall girl, freckles spattering every inch of pale skin. She was pressed against one of the walls, small breasts flattened against the wall as he pushed himself against her.

A chubby girl who Aerea couldn't remember the name of sat upon him, large breasts bouncing as his hands gripped her ass to thrust her up and down. Another girl on her knees had the creatures giant member forced between open lips, jaw stretched to accommodate it. Another, her legs wrapped around his waste but leant back with her hands on the ground.

Countless girls, a parade of the sacrifices running through her mind. The amount of bones on the floor changed as time flew backwards and forwards, but otherwise things were the same. Some girls skinny, some fat, blondes, brunettes and redheads, all of a similar age, all naked, all offering themselves as sacrifice to be used to satisfy him.

She felt his finger undulating inside her, pressing against her, making her lose her senses, she moaned against his chest. All the girls had their mouths open, she couldn't tell if it was pain or, if like her, they had no choice but to release the feeling inside them.

His large member pressed against her stomach, behind closed eyes she saw it. A girl with long wavy brown hair on her knees before him, lapping at him like a kitten, her small tongue flicking in and out along the long red shaft.

She wanted to slide her hands down his chest, to curl her fingers around his thickness. She couldn't move, she could barely breathe, if it weren't for his body supporting her she would collapse on the floor. His finger inside burned so hot she worried she would burn from the inside.

The burning grew until it was all she knew. The visions behind her closed eyes became a blur of faces, of pale flesh lit by the green glow and red flesh almost black in the darkness. Finally, her voice returned, she cried out loud enough to make the cell vibrate. The heat within her exploded as liquid fire surged through her body.

Her cry turned to a wail as she sank down to her knees, his hand removed from between her legs. The pleasure burned so brightly it turned to pain, her body unable to contain it. It was unbearable, but she longed for it to continue. As the feeling faded, she fell backwards, knowing she would reach oblivion before her back would crash upon the luminous bones.

A large hand caught her, his arm wrapped around her. She opened her eyes to find him on one knee, cradling her. His face changed, from that of a snarling animal to a man, the eyes remained the same, his lips still black but curled in the smile of a man, white shining teeth visible between.

The room was brighter, the green tint had lost its power. The bones still glowed, but she didn't fear them.

He rose, pulling her back to her feet, “The ancient language has been lost, the translation of the prophecy corrupted in the passing from one to the next. I am not the bringer of darkness, I am the father of darkness.”

His other hand grabbed her pulling her off her feet. Her arms instinctively wrapped around his neck. The heat of him warmed her as she clung to his torso. Her body yearned for him, he had awakened lust within her, that demanded him. “Please” was the only word she could form.

“I am to be the father of darkness, and you are to be the vessel from which it is born.”

She wrapped her arms around him, the bulbous head of his member pressing between her legs. She didn't care about a prophecy, she was consumed with a need for him. “Please” she repeated.

“You willingly give yourself to the prophecy?” He pressed up against her.

She knew it would hurt, his finger had been large but to have his full girth within her would stretch her. But she feared the pain as little as she feared a prophecy. “Take me,” she commanded.

His thrust was hard, a blinding pain that felt like she was being ripped in half. Her cry of pain was loud, her heart thundered beneath her breast. Slowly she felt the pain subsiding, she felt him within her motionless, her body moulding itself around him, trying to accept his presence.

Impaled upon him she felt small, her thin body held easily by his large hands, her slender legs forced wide apart to wrap around his broad body. She hung from around his neck panting from the exertion of the pain.

Able to hold her with just one hand his other closed around her breast, fingers pinching at her hardened nipple. She gasped, the flicker of pain from the pinch distracting her from the last of the pain between her legs.

His thumb pressed into the small of her back, his fingers curving beneath her ass. Slowly swaying back and forth, the full length of his shaft moved deep within her.

She released her grip from around his neck, letting herself be held by just has hand and the hard rod inside her. One breast covered by his hand was held in place, the other bounced back and forth as she was moved by his motion. Opening his mouth, rows of shining white teeth became visible, each one with a point that looked razor sharp.

A long thin tongue snaked out from his open mouth, it stretched out between their bodies, the forked tip curled around her exposed nipple. She felt the rough wet surface rub against sensitive skin.

Each thrust made her moan. Before she walked down the stone steps, she had worried that he would take her innocence by force, in pain. But impaled upon him, she worried that it would all end too soon, he told her she only had until dawn and in the underground prison she had no way of knowing when that would be.

His hand released her breast so he could use both hands to grip her hips. When his finger had been inside her, it was tipped with a small nail. As he gripped her ass sharp claws dug into pale flesh. His mouth still open, tongue protruding, elongated, his lips stretching as his face morphed back to that of a beast.

The muscles of his arms bulged as he began to thrust her back and forth upon him. His tongue released her nipple to lick at her body with its covering of sweat. She felt an ache of having her legs spread wide open to accommodate his body between them. Thick hairs began to sprout from the skin below his waist, she felt them prick at the skin of her thighs and calves.

His body grew, she felt the floor fall away, and within her she felt him growing even larger, her body straining to contain him. Saliva dripped from his open jaw, she felt it hot upon her skin as it landed on her stomach and slowly ran down, she felt it clinging to the crop of fine hairs between her legs.

He snarled as he thrust with powerful hips, making her call out. His eyes glowed brightly, his horns stretched upwards, spiralling into darkness, their tips obscured. As he became less human, his true demon form emerging, she didn't feel fear. The pain of being stretched by his enormous girth was secondary to her desire.

She moaned and screamed as she felt her lust rampaging through her body. His hand, grown larger by his transformation, gripped her round the waist. He thrust her up and down like a rag doll her hair fly around her. Her arms flailed in the air, and still she wanted him harder and faster. She felt his claws digging into her soft flesh, but there was no pain, all she felt was him within her.

Between moans, she found herself calling out “My God!” over and over. It was instinctive, the words forced from her by having him inside her.

Within her he grew even larger, she felt the pressure building. A roar that shook the world accompanied his release, a violent blast within her. She felt claws tear into her flesh as he squeezed her. She didn't feel any pain, all she felt was the flood from him. Her body spasmed in climax, a jolt of pleasure ran up her spine, making her back arch as she screamed at the blackness that hid the ceiling.

As he pulled out from her, he lowered her to the ground. She pushed bones out of the way, without a thought to the girls who had been sacrificed before her, so she could lie back and let the cold stone cool her hot back. She felt his seed seeping out of her.

Before her, he shrank down to his original size, the black hair that covered his legs receded to leave bare red skin. His black lips sank back till his mouth was a discoloured human mouth. His spent member hung limply between his legs small compared to how large it felt inside her but still as thick as her wrist.

She felt dizzy, exhausted. She closed her eyes to sleep.

“The night is not over for you.” His voice sounded drained, but it was still strong enough to compel her to obey. “I cannot escape the walls of the monastery, but you who has never been beyond them are still free to go. Take our child into the world.”

Beyond him, where the wall had been solid stood a doorway. But she remained on the floor. Her hand moved to her stomach, wondering if she could truly be carrying his spawn. Her fingers were slick with blood from where his claws had torn at her, but the skin was unbroken.

She rolled onto her stomach, shivering as her nipples brushed against stone. Slowly she pushed herself up and staggered to her feet.

“You must be gone from here before dawn.” He stepped aside to reveal a path through the bones to the doorway.

Her thighs were slick, she felt the mixture of their fluids trickling down. She didn't want to go, she didn't know what she would find on the other side. The doorway was pitch black, she couldn't tell if it led back into the monastery or out beneath the wall.

She turned back to the creature, but he was gone. She span finding the room empty, the demon gone, even the bones of the other sacrifices gone. All that was left was the grey stone floor and the black doorway. And as she stood in silence, the stone darkened, soon she would be in complete darkness again.

She stumbled through darkness, the tunnel that had been floored with stone turned to dirt, walls turned to rough rock. She walked for hours, her feet hurt and her legs ached but she couldn't stop.

The tunnel didn't run straight, but twisted and turned, suddenly at one turn she stopped, ahead a circle of light shone brightly. An exit from the tunnel, the entrance to the world. The light stung at her eyes. She stumbled towards it, her hand up to shield her eyes.

She emerged from a cave, looking over her shoulder it was no deeper than 10 yards before ending in solid rock. She was naked covered in dirt and blood. The early morning light bore into her, forcing her to keep her face down. She staggered onto the grass. Behind her, on top of the hill, the monastery, before her, the road leading to town.

Part of her wanted to turn, to walk up the hill, to go back to the only home she had known. But a deeper part, told her to go to the town, a primeval urge craved the flesh of men. But with the sun rising she retreated into the cave and curled up on the floor. She would wait for nightfall, for darkness, and then hunt for what her body craved.

Word Count: 4953