The 8th Hour

The darkness of the boot felt like a blindfold I couldn't remove. The poignant smell of leaking gas mixed with something else unrecognisable to the human nose made me nauseous. My hands were bounded by restraints, and since I was thrown into this dark compartment of the car with such force my body was not cooperating.

It was almost imcomphrensible, the emotional turmoil I had to endure. I felt like my heartbeat was jolting to the unpleasant rhythm of the car. My head throbbed immensely but all I could do was swallow down the pain.

A tear escaped from my right eye, a warm salty sensation that consist of self-pity than anger.
I am so pathetic.
So conceited.
And utterly condemned.

After a few sharp turns I was convinced that I had dislocated something, having long limbs and square shoulders isn't the best fit for confined spaces. I didn't even bother with searching for a screwdriver or anything that I could weaponise.

Had I given up?

I honestly don't care if I died. At least I tried to do something, at least I left that house and did something.
Perhaps that's the beauty of it all, entering the gates of hell and forgetting that the flames burn , or maybe I was just driven by stupidity.
Perhaps this could just be put simply into one word; fate.

It was fate that I lost my mother last year. It was fate that I lost my father this year. And now it was fate that I'd lose my life to this godforsaken event, just like the rest of my family and the people I love. I was meant to suffer...and now it's time to die.

I stifled a rueful laugh.

I'd kill myself if I have to.
Overpowered by thought I kicked around viciously and yelled.
"Kill me , motherfucker, I dare you!"
I thrust my body around, bruising my already livid skin but I was too emotionally numb to stop myself anymore.

"What is sanity?"

Sanity doesn't really exist. It's an illusion we have manifested to keep ourselves in control in times of adversity. That's why people desperately want to save one another's sanity, they want people to compose themselves but once you've lost yourself...sanity no longer applies...because it no longer exists.

I was too consumed in these thoughts to realise that the car had stopped.

It was the blinding torchlight directed my eye sockets that snapped me awake. I hissed at the masked man and he chuckled deeply. Then he leant in close, just a few inches away from my face. I would have clawed his eyes out but I was restrained.

"Before the fun begins I need you to confirm that you are who I'm looking for-"

I laughed out loud in incredulity.

"My name is Elleanor Crimson, daughter of Kieran Crimson. I am nineteen years old, and I was previously traveling with my boyfriend Damien, until he could no longer continue. It was then that some sort of purge vigil antique accompanied me, helping me seek the man responsible for my father's massacre. I know that the gang members participated in his execution but I saw you took his life with a knife to the eye. I abandoned the security of my house to find you and ultimately kill you. I was driven by desperation and revenge to avenge my father but now I've realised that it was stupid and pathetic of me. In the end, you found me and will inevitably kill me."

I didn't expect to run my mouth but each word came out like bullets and I just drilled my eyes into him. I suppose I wanted to provoke some sort of response. But he was silenced. His hands froze tentatively midair, and he just stared back at me with a renewed...perception?

Stop it, Elle. He's still going to kill you. Slowly.

"You are very brave and strong to be alive at this hour. Time is blood, Elleanor Crimson." He dragged me by restraints like a leash, if it had been around my neck I would have been beheaded. Grunting, I tried to keep up with his haste but eight hours into this treacherous night has taken its toll on me. I'm weak.

As my eyes adjusted to my surroundings I become aware of the fact that this part of town was quiet. But the windows were all shattered and blood stained the concrete like spills of paint.

The masked man pushed open two heavy doors and I am greeted by an aisle of candlelight and the aroma of incense. As I took in the pristine nature of the building and the arched ceiling, the church bell chimed and confirmed my suspicions. I was tossed in front of the cross which crucified Jesus. But everytime I looked at it I saw my dad.

There were about five black hooded men who stood on the stage of the preachers and pastors. Three victims kneeled in front of me, a potato sack hung over their heads, but judging by their physique, they were all men.

The masked man stood behind me and held onto me by a fistful of hair.

"I found the girl." He said.

One of the hooded members stepped forward and scrutinised me. It gave me the creeps when the candlelight flickered and revealed his face, which was dominated by a huge pink birthmark.

"The girl who purged." His deep voice sent tremors in the ground , or maybe I am just exaggerations the vibrations in his voice. "How did you manage to find her?"

The masked man scoffed and shot me a petty look.

"I like to get my job done fast, Morr. Don't you?" There was a hint of impatience in his tone. What was he impatience for though, my execution?"

Morr, stepped passed the kneeling the bodies and stopped when he reached me. He surrendered on one knee and caressed my cheekbone as if to soothe te demonds within me.

"The church is ours tonight, Miss Crimson. It's only ever going to be ours for tonight. It doesn't matter if I write my name in blood on the walls, in a few hours it won't belong to me anymore. Now I don't pity that. You want to know why? Because the purge is an ongoing ritual the government finds salvation in. And although this moments of...possession only last twelve hours...maybe that's enough," Morr grabbed my chin tightly and glared into my soul. "We were impressed with you tonight so now you are one of us. One of the elite purgers of America! But first, we must be loyal to our traditions and perform a blood ritual. You won't like it but it's for your own good. Trust. Me." Morr glanced passed me and gave the masked man a nod.

I braced myself for impact but I was wrong. The masked man was not going to strike at me, instead he released me from the restraints and then started ripping my clothes off. I fought against him but as soon as he produced the hand knife and cutting at the seams, I was become bare within seconds.

Suddenly self-conscious of my body, I used my arms to conceal the vital bits. The masked man scoffed and dragged me forward. I began to hyperventilate. What the hell are they going to do to me?!

The hooded men tore off the potato sack of their three victims. The first was a bearded man, who looked a street beggar, the next was a more lanky dark skinned man who appeared to be blind in both eyes and lastly was a lean muscled guy inked in sleeves, eyes half closed and most likely already dead.

"Damien," I mouthed.

Morr lifted his hood back so his birthmark was in full view. It covered a third of his entire face and gave off a rough texture.

"First we fill the cauldron with blood," he announced. The hooded men quickly grabbed the street beggar and slashed his throat into a large black metal cauldron that came to the waste. I almost gaged but composed myself. I couldn't look anymore so I closed my eyes and let the sounds of thick fluid sloshing into the cauldron torture me instead. I knew that Damien was long gone. And he was about to be next.
I refused to watched him be drained of blood like an animal. I've seen enough to scar me for three lifetimes.
"Then we rip the pages out of the Old Testament into the cauldron," Morr's haunting voice made me re-open my eyes and I winced at the sight of three lifeless bodies being kicked aside as the Bible was being shredded.
"Now the ritual will commence." Morr closed his eyes and began to hum. The hooded men copied.

The masked man prompted me to get up and pushed me closer to the stage. Once I was confronted with the cauldron he did something that caught me off guard. He grabbed the back of my head and shoved me into the blood filled cauldron mixed with the pages of the bible. I swallowed a choking amount and gagged when he pulled me back up, only to shove my head back in the vile liquid.

So this is how I'm going to die? Drowning blood, naked, in a church with a group of pschypaths?
It actually hurt to put it bluntly. How could this be it? I mean a gunshot wound would have sufficed!

God must really hate me.

As my head was repeated dipped in the cauldron I gave up on refuting and just let it happened. Morr and hooded men were chanting in another language. I was in no mindset to figure out what it was. I just wanted Death to find me and take me away. But as soon as I find serenity in that thought, the masked man yanked me back and I collapsed on the marble floor, puking blood.

Between coughing fits I heard Morr and the rest of them clap.

"We must brand you, Miss Crimson in order the ritual. This will only hurt...a lot." He grinned wickedly.

I tried to crawl away, whimpering as I did but the masked man held me down and Morr came behind me with a candle in his hand. He was humming again. I thrust about but it was futile, they got me by my limbs and all I could do was scream as he pressed the candle into my back. The hot wax and flame pentrated my skin in an unbearable manner. But there was nothing I could do. I had to endure this...then kill myself.

"Leave her in the cell. We will get back to her in an hour." Morr instructed.

I felt my weightless body lift off the cold floor and then thrown into a small dark room. There was a stream of light in the centre and I desperately tried to crawl towards it. But the sounds of chains rustling stopped me and the hairs on my bare body shot up like splinters.

"Nice clothes." Said a very familiar voice,

I itched closer to the sound and peered into the dark as my eyes made out the shape of a man.

"You got to be kidding me."

Hendricks.

---------

A/N

The 8th hour - forced to take part in an insane blood ritual, naked and awaiting death sentence, being tossed into a cell room with Hendricks, only four more hours of hell to go.

I'm back!!! And I'm happy to announce that I'm back and ready to continue this story, hopefully in a few more weeks , the book is done. I'd really like to hear from you all! So comment your thoughts and if you ask questions I will do my best to answer them !