Well Met, But Not Well Done

Ok, well this week’s prompt was to write about something that we feared as a child (or maybe even now) and how we deal with it (unless you haven’t, and it is a veritable time capsule under your bed because no way, no how, are you sticking your head, hand under there to look for something!). I tried, but was inspired by another idea, one terrifyingly true to life, and so while I did use the word (sinister) I will not be ‘entering’. If you click the tricycle though, it will take you to it, so’s you can comment and lavish warm commenty goodness on them. (After reading my story first, of course!)

__________________

I watched the old building, knowing the location was correct- but were my instincts? Months of endless reading, sending transmissions, infiltrating a hidden circle. The message I discovered was no accident, did the radar blip and find me? Fear instincts threatened to creep in like the October breeze. Was it bait? I would know soon enough.

My shadow stretched to the door before I did, the sun giving its last light for the day. I pulled at the worn metal handle, the correct choice reassuring me, as the door creaked open.

It was darker inside than the twilight I had left. Trying to adjust my vision, I swear I could see shapes. Were there people milling about, or their souls, still not finding the solace they once sought within these walls ? It was hard to tell, the worn leather and wood chairs groaning, the large metal oven still ticking, waiting for a spark. There was life here, and if it was a sinister presence, I was dead meat.

Various altars of heavy wood were scattered about. Symbols were carved upon all of them; the rough edges of blades scratching and puncturing from determined hands; others drawn and painted on. Messages, testimonies, memorials?

What did I know about the Divers anyway? They were loyal, single minded – sworn against the systematic Shackers, forcing their own to wait, single file, in any weather, to feast.

“You’ve arrived.”

I jumped, turning to find several figures standing in a half-circle behind me.

“Huh? I was, just… you were expecting me?”

“In a way. You obviously decoded the subtle message I posted, meant to summon Divers, but sometimes new acolytes find us.”

“But let’s not grill you further.” He put his cloak aside, and waved his hand towards the oven. There was a louder click and it ignited, burning bright, warm, hungrily. Another member handed me a glass filled with a thick, dark brew.

The group gathered at a large altar and looked towards me expectantly.

“Medium well ok?”

__________________