Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25402021-20140914080153

        “Time is running up my friend. What would you choose?”

        The cloaked figure tapped the iron-bound book held on his left hand as his blue, burning, empty sockets gazed at Arial. Arial looked at the cloaked figure then looked at her sister laying on the bed. Her face looked almost as pale as her white sheets and her breaths were shallow. Arial could see the black cloud creeping over her sister’s entire body.

        Somebody knocked on the door and Arial turned around. Her mother looked at her and raised her eye. Arial waved her hand and returned a bitter smile, then turned back to the

        “How about a deal. I’ll do anything for you for ten years, twenty, thirty… I’ll do it better than any of your servants, better than you can hope for. If you are happy with my service then return me to the land of the living and keep my sister alive as well. If you are not… If you are not then I’ll gratefully serve you forever.”

        “It’s one life for another – the eternal death of one or another. Thus is the law of all realms. I am sorry that I cannot do any better,” the cloaked figure said, still tapping his book

        “Can’t you take someone else’s life? A criminal? Murderer? Rapist? Why me? Why us? What have we done to deserve this?”

        “The System doesn’t deal with sins. The System demands a soul like your sister’s, and I am merely an agent of the System. Be thankful that your soul is similar enough to your

        “But-”

        “I would hurry if I were you, Arial. Your sister will not last long.”

        Arial thought of her preacher’s words – do not fall to the temptation of demons because their promises never come true. She stole a glance of the cloaked figure. His burning blue eyes still gazed unflinching towards her, as if piercing through her skull and reading her mind. She looked at the window on the door again, and saw her parents loving face worried at her and grieving for her sister. Arial held her sister’s hand and gripped it. Cold, so cold. But my sister…my sister who always gave me the biggest piece of cake, who took a beating from others so I won’t have to, who would sacrifice everything to save me without hesitating… Yet here I am.

        “Me. Take me. Spare my sister.”

        The cloaked figure nodded then turned around and pushed his palm against the door. The shadows in the room burst into life and converged on the door, then weaved themselves into a thick web, sealing the entrance. Many knocked began to be heard on the door, as well as a few muffled shouts. The figure waved at the door a few more times and more living shadows weaved over the web, silencing the sound.

        “I hope you can understand. I have to make sure nobody interrupts the ritual.”

        Arial nodded.

        Opening his book, the cloaked figure put his finger over a line and murmured something. Blue flames blazed into life on the words. Pointing his hand towards Arial, the cloaked figure murmured another incantation. The black cloud crawled away from the bed and crept towards Arial. A wave of numbness washed over her as the black cloud touched her skin. The coldness spread throughout Arial’s body as the cloud crept upwards.

        A drowsiness began rising in Arial. She fell onto her sister’s chest and looked at her face. Flashes of red reappeared on her face. Her heart began beating harder. Thud, thud. Her breath began to become richer. Thud, thud. Tired, so tired… Thud, thud. Arial tried to keep her eyes open to see the rosy cheeks of her sister for a few more seconds…a few more seconds… Thud, thud. But her mind disobeyed her. Arial’s eyelids closed and she saw perpetual, pure darkness. The sound of the beating heart became more distant, her sister’s hand farther, the walls in the room seem as if its light-years away.

<p class="MsoNormal">         “See you on the other side, Arial,” a voice rasped. It must have been quite loud, yet it sounded like a whisper – a shout that came from so far away. Arial heard a muffled click, followed by threads weaving, interweaving, then a door crashing against a wall. Something moved beneath Arial’s hands. Distant shouting came from all directions. Tired… So tired. <ac_metadata title="Fall From Grace (1)"> </ac_metadata>