empyrean | pjm (wattys2017)

0.07

"Yoona!" My name echoed around the house an hour after the girl was taken away.

"I'm coming" I shouted back, dashing down the stairs. My step mother and I were to attend the ritual at the shrine, with rest of the townspeople.

The human sacrifice which they casually called a 'ritual'. It was horrifying. They performed it every two months. It was an offering to the gods, to protect us the evil. Evil; beings like vampires, werewolves, warlocks and witches.

I didn't know if such people really existed or was just a story made up by an old man in his eighties which he thought would bring people together against the bad. But no one seemed to care. Even if they did, nobody was brave enough to protest against the system.

The short walk to the temple seemed to be shorter than usual. The torches burnt bright against the ancient stone walls of the shrine enabling us to see in the dark of the night. I stood in the sea like crowd, right beside my step mom, hugging myself as tears pricked my eyes.

The young girl was now ready to be sacrificed, her parents stood at a distance, looking down at their own feet while tears streamed down their cheeks. The priest wore the same red cloak, but decorated with bronze lace with silver edges.

The girl laid on the sacrificial stone, struggling against the chains that held her down. She was made to wear a thin satin frock which was as white as milk against her chocolate like skin.

"Please" she begged again, "I don't want to die".

I blinked, letting a drop of tear roll down the side of my face as i aimlessly stared ahead. The priest read out a few lines in an unknown language.

I only returned to my self when he uttered those last few heart breaking, nerve wrecking lines, "We offer thee a young virgin.." he placed his hand on her forehead and she squirmed when he spoke a few more words before finishing, "...protect us from the evil inreturn".

That was it, people rushed out of the temple. All the windows were then closed shut and the doors were securely locked.

It was the third time I was witnessing this. The doors would be opened the next morning only to find the girl gone.