October 5th

Their voices hummed and chanted as they stood around her. Her eyes looked widely at everything, at the people wearing dark robes, their faces covered with grotesque masks. She couldn't tell if they were all men, or both sexes combined. The candles dripped their black wax onto the floor on either side of her. It was a long stone corridor. She couldn't tell based on her surroundings whether it was night or day. It gave her a feeling of claustrophobia, this windowless, cold place. Their masks made them look emotionless, uncaring — as cold as this cave-like chamber. She glanced back and forth, at them and at the candles. Sitting out of place among the burning cylinders of dark wax was a small pumpkin. It had the face of one of their masks carved into it, and it glowed with radiance from the inside.

They carried her, or at least the table to which the bindings secured her. They finally stopped at the center of a round room. A tall figure stepped out amongst the group. He held a knife. She could imagine the ugly, menacing face hidden behind the eyes she could see through the mask.

"You've been chosen," he said. "A beauty like you is the perfect sacrifice. Our lord will be pleased."

He held the knife above his head. The chanting grew louder. She lay on the table, ropes tightly pulled across her. His arms swung down towards her body, and her arm shot out, grabbing the blade. It cut into her hand; blood dripped down her arm onto her chest, but she did not seem to care. She smiled. The ropes binding her fell off and landed in a loose pile on the floor. She sat up, pushing the knife back away from her and towards her assailant.

"You're… you're the head witch."

"And you are the perfect sacrifice," she said. "We've been waiting for you, helping you grow, change, transform. This was your final test. We had to see if the innocent, the sweet and gentle, a loving and caring one could be twisted and contorted into something the complete opposite. You were willing to kill for us, for our lord. And now, we send you to him."

She stood to her feet, and he felt himself flung onto the table. The ropes jumped from the ground on their own and wrapped around him tightly. She reached forward with her bloody hand and tore away his mask. He looked around and saw everybody in the group completely exposed. They had dropped their robes and now stood around him naked. The masks were gone, and their smiles were wicked.

His eyes widened as he watched the knife hover above him. The blonde woman, the one who would have been victim, smiled with an evil he could never have known or expected. The knife shot down towards his chest, and he screamed.

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