Shadows of the Altar

The story of Devin Wells and Carly Kelton began at the Grasshopper Bar (known to the locals as simply Hopper) on a Friday night in late October. Devin, a regular at Hopper, was sitting at the bar when he saw Carly come in, accompanied by her best friend Lisa. He was instantly smitten, nearly dropping his drink. He pulled himself together, took a deep breath, and waited. He didn’t want to descend upon her immediately and freak her out. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Carly approached the bar, ordered her drink, and went to find a seat.

About fifteen minutes later, Devin decided that he'd waited long enough. He downed the rest of his beer in two gulps, took another deep breath, and approached Carly and Lisa, who was now in deep conversation with another man. As a result, Carly was staring into the depths of her own drink, trying not to show her boredom.

"Can I ask you a question?" asked Devin, and Carly looked up, surprised; Lisa and her gentleman caller paid them no attention.

"Me?" asked Carly, to which Devin nodded. "Um…I guess."

"There's been talk," said Devin, sitting down across from Carly, "that there's a fifty-first state."

Carly didn’t say anything, merely raised an eyebrow.

"They say it's called Fifteennessee," said Devin, "and you must be from there, because 'ten I see' is way too low."

Carly laughed, accidentally snorting beer from her nose. Lisa jumped up in surprise to avoid being splashed. This caused Devin to laugh, and Carly, apparently relieved, laughed even harder. After a minute, they both calmed down, and Carly wiped her eyes.

"That sure is an original one," she said. "You come up with that all on your own?"

"Actually, no," said Devin. "Believe it or not, I read it off a fortune cookie. Never been hit on by a baked good before, but I guess there's a first for everything."

This was followed by another round of laughter.

***

Believe it or not, that corny joke led to a fruitful discussion between Carly and Devin. The following evening, they met at the local Italian restaurant, La Pasta Magica, for an official date. By date three, things were starting to become serious. Devin, on that evening, had intended to officially ask Carly to be his girlfriend, but his nerves got the better of him. Things were corrected, though, after date four, after Devin had spent several days rehearsing in the mirror.

3 years later, Carly and Devin returned to Hopper, but the circumstances of this visit have changed. Carly, who had been wearing jeans and a T-shirt during that initial meeting, wore a simple yet elegant midnight blue dress, accented with a necklace Devin gifted her for their two-year anniversary. Devin was dressed in a suit and tie. The ring in his pocket thumped lightly against his leg as he walked.

They sat at the same table as that initial encounter and ordered a round of drinks. At the end of the second round, the mood was high. Devin downed the last of his beer and lightly tapped Carly, who was people watching, on the shoulder. She turned to face him, and he took her hand in his.

"Carly Elizabeth Kelton," he said, and Carly's lit up at once; she had a strong feeling as to what was coming. "From the moment we met, you've made me happier than anyone I've ever known. I can be my true self with you, and I love the life we've built together."

He knelt, withdrawing the ring as he did. He held it up, and it glittered brightly, like a small sun.

"Will you marry me, Carly?" he asked, and he was forced to cover his ears from her resulting scream of utter delight. Several people looked around, equally surprised.

"YES!" she screeched and threw her arms around Devin as he stood up. Around them, other patrons applauded and whistled. A man sitting next to them bought their next round.

***

Six months later, Carly was lying in bed, having just woken up to start the day. Devin had already left for work. He worked as a youth pastor for the local church. Carly had never been religious, and Devin had accepted that. Carly herself was currently between jobs, having been released from her video editing position just two months ago.

Carly got up and started her day, making breakfast for herself. She ate in silence, scrolling through her phone as she did. Neither Facebook nor Twitter, surprisingly, had much to offer in means of drama this morning; the day was young, though.

After cleaning up her dishes, Carly set about tackling several chores around the apartment. She ran the vacuum and watered the plants. She started a load of laundry before checking mailbox. She reached the mailroom, unlocked the box, and found a few items inside. She absentmindedly gathered them up and brought them back, sitting at the kitchen table.

She was leafing through the mail-mostly bills, but also a reminder that Carly needed an eye appointment- but one piece caught her eye. It was a box, wrapped in plain brown paper. The problem was the address label. Her name was clearly legible on it, but the sender's name was so badly smudged that it was impossible to decipher.

Carly shook the package, trying to remember if anyone had alerted her to an incoming package. She retrieved a knife from the block, sliced through the tape that sealed the box, and set the knife on the table. Half-expecting something to jump out at her, she slowly opened the box. To her surprise, though, she saw only packing peanuts. Was this some sort of strange prank?

She slowly began to sift through peanuts, reaching deeper into the box. At first, all she felt was more packing peanuts. She felt her fingers scrape along the box's bottom and, after sliding her hand across it, felt the edge of something. She took hold of it and pulled. It was a disc, currently held in a clear container. There was a note attached to the disc itself, and it was written in handwriting she didn’t recognize. It only had two words: Play Me.

Carly laid the disc on the table, looking at it nervously. What was going on? Why would someone send her this? She shook her head and got up to do more chores, trying to put the disc and its possible contents out of her mind.

Devin came home around 12:30 for lunch. By then, Carly had moved the disc to a drawer in her nightstand. She didn’t want to share it with Devin until she herself knew what it contained. As they ate, Carly waited for him to ask if anything had arrived in the mail, but Devin stayed silent.

"Alright," he said, finishing his sandwich and checking his watch. "I've got to go. I'm going to be home late tonight. The late-night service is this evening."

"Sounds good," said Carly, and he kissed her cheek before leaving. When she was satisfied that he was a safe distance away, she quickly cleared away the plates and hurried to the bedroom. She fished the disc out of the drawer and brought it to Devin's PS5, powering it up. She slid the disc in and adjusted the TV so that the console would display the video. Shaking slightly, Carly pressed Play.

At first, there was nothing but a black screen. A small amount of light then began to appear, and Carly realized it was fire, held aloft by torches. A strange sound pierced the air, sending shivers up Carly's spine. The camera looked around, and she saw more torches and realized that this-whatever it was- was taking place in a forest, evidenced by the large number of trees that surrounded those gathered. The other people were dressed in white robes, and their faces were covered by white hoods. To Carly, they were dressed eerily like the Ku Klux Klan. She saw the gathered crowd was a mixture of adults and, to her surprise, children, each of them dressed in identical robes.

"My children!" said a voice, that of a man. "The hour is nigh! We shall begin!"

The camera turned to reveal the speaker. The man was also dressed in white robes, but his face, like the others, was covered by a white hood, but his was trimmed with red. In his hands, held in front of his chest, he held an ornate dagger, its handle adorned with various jewels, each of them sparkling in the torchlight; the dagger's blade flashed threateningly. At once, the other people-a congregation, Carly suspected- separated into two groups, separated by an aisle that led down the center between them.

"Let us sing the song of our ancestors," said the hooded man, and he began to walk like a priest at Sunday mass. Around him, the congregation began to sing, their voices low and almost otherworldly.

"Great lord Balir, we come to you now

So that you will show us how

we enter the kingdom of your wisdom.

Great lord Balir, lord above all

so that you will show us the way

to enter the kingdom of your wisdom.

Great lord Balir, our love for you is fresh.

Tonight, we offer you this flesh

and renew our loyalty to you."

As the hooded man walked, the camera slowly rotated to show that his destination was a large marble altar with candles burning on each side, but it was what was strapped to the altar that make Carly's jaw drop. Strapped to the altar, screaming, was a young woman in her early twenties. Her face was bloodied, as though she had been beaten, and a small trickle of blood ran down the length of her face and neck, colliding into her clothes, which were ripped in several places. At the sight of the dagger, the woman began to scream again, and the sound, the desperation in it, made the hairs on the back of Carly's neck stand at attention.

The hooded man reached the altar, laid the dagger upon the tabletop, and faced the crowd. The woman gave a small whimper, and the hooded figure slapped her, hard, across the face; there were jeers from the crowd.

"My friends," he said, raising his hands. "We, the Brotherhood of Iron, have gathered here tonight. We gather here in the hope that Balir, the Lord Prince of Death, shall grant us power over death and that we join his immortal ranks, free to spread his gift across the globe. Bring forth the drums."

The others cheered, shaking their fists and laughing. A group of robed individuals hurried forward and, from the depths of the forest, retrieved a set of drums. The woman screamed again. The man slapped her again, and she fell silent. He then picked up the dagger and went around to the other side of the table-the altar- and faced his congregation. He raised the dagger above his head, as though he were Rafiki during the opening of The Lion King. As he did, the drummers began to play, rhythmically thumping.

"Great Lord Balir," the man shouted. "I offer you this flesh. I offer you this flesh so that you will reward us, your ever-loyal subjects, with life everlasting."

The dagger pierced the air and went directly into the young woman's throat. Crimson blood spouted from the wound, splashing the man's robes. The woman lashed back and forth, up and down, trying to claw at her captor, but her efforts were futile. Her hands went limp, and her feet stopped kicking. The blade slashed again, and the woman lay still upon the altar, her eyes staring at the twinkling stars above.

Applause filled the air as the congregation cheered and whistled for their leader, who bowed his head graciously and waved to each side. When the applause stopped, the entire mood of the congregation shifted. They began conversing with each other, as though they hadn't witnessed murder most foul.  The camera, though, remained locked on the leader, who descended from the altar, and came over to the recorder. As he approached, the leader reached up and removed his hood, exposing his face for the first time.

At the sight of the man's face, Carly had to fight to remain alert and conscious. It was Devin, smiling widely as he held the hood under one arm.

"Balir be with you," he said, nodding to the recorder. He then turned and walked among his congregation, the recorder following just behind him. He repeated this phrase to everyone else. Several people shook his hand, and he ruffled a few children's hair.  He stopped before them and knelt before them.

"Hello, children," he said. "Did you enjoy tonight's celebration?"

A few of them nodded but did not speak, clearly nervous to do so.

"I'm glad you did," said Devin. "You are the most important aspect of the Brotherhood. It's important that you understand our traditions, so that you may pass them along when your time comes."

"Yes, sir," the children said in unison, and they hurried back to their parents, acting like they had just spoken with a movie star.

The film ended here, and the screen went dark. Carly stared at her reflection on the screen for a moment, trying to process all of what she'd just watched. Her legs seemed numb as she walked over to the PS5, retrieved the disc, and returned it to its case. She then took the case back to her nightstand, where she stowed it in a drawer. She sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor, her mind racing.

Devin, the man she was to promise her life to, had committed murder, ritualistic murder, in front of children, and then encouraged them to do the same! A moment later, she stood, retrieved the disc, and brought it to her laptop, where she inserted it. She ran the video through her editing software, trying to determine if there was any way it had been altered. The numb feeling began to encapsulate her as she determined its legitimacy: the footage was real.

She retrieved the disc from her laptop and returned it to the drawer yet again.  She curled up into a ball on the bed and began to cry, her tears dropping softly onto the sheets.

***

The front door opened, heralding Devin's return from work. Carly sat up straight as the color drained from her face. She quickly wiped the tears away from her eyes just as Devin came into the room, smiling.

"Hey there!" he said, bending down to kiss her cheek. She ducked away, her mind racing. Devin noticed this, and his smile faltered.

"You ok?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah. I just put on some make up and don’t want it to get smudged."

Devin nodded, but Carly noticed his eyes were surveying her. She waited for him to call his bluff, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he stepped over to the closet and started to change clothes.

"How was your day?" he asked, taking off his shirt. "Anything interesting happen today?"

Carly hesitated, wondering what she would say. How would he react? Would he sacrifice her?

"No, nothing interesting today," she said at last. "How about you? How was work?"

As he talked, Carly carefully weighed her options. The first was to either confront him right now. However, this would put her at risk, and he could react violently. The second was to show the disc to the police and let them deal with it. She could vouch for its authenticity, but would they accuse her of being the one who made the recording? Would she end up in jail, right next to Devin? Did she have any sort of bargaining power? The third option was to simply leave. Just pack up and get the hell out of here as fast as she could. Deny him an explanation. Get out and alert the police after she'd settled down elsewhere. There were at least a dozen people in that congregation, though. How many lived right here and, given the opportunity, would put Devin on her trail, or, worse yet, take matters into their own hands?

Carly played the rest of the evening as normally as she could. She half-expected Devin to suspect something, but, if he did, he kept it to himself. When they went to bed that night, she quickly got into bed and acted as though she was asleep, impatiently waiting for it to come.

She awoke at 9:30 the next morning to find Devin had already left for work. She gave a small chuckle, happy to have missed him that morning. As quickly as she could, she showered, dressed, and began shoving her clothes into her suitcase. She was in the process of calling Lisa to explain her situation when she opened her bedside drawer to pack the disc. To her shock, it was gone.

Carly's stomach immediately twisted into knots, and she thought she was going to vomit. She began to panic, wondering if she'd put the disc somewhere else last night. No, she wouldn’t have done that. Otherwise, she would've risked alerting Devin. Her heart pounding in her chest, she frantically began searching every room, tearing the sheets off the bed as she did. When she collapsed onto the couch an hour later, it looked as though a tornado had gone through.

After nearly three hours of frantic searching, Carly was forced to conclude the disc was no longer in the apartment. Where had it gone, then? Had Devin, somehow, found it? That was the only explanation, it had to be. As that idea formed in her mind, the front door opened, and Devin walked in, holding a briefcase. Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

Devin instantly saw the wreckage strewn through the apartment. He didn’t say anything as he set down the briefcase, paying no attention to Carly, who, no doubt, looked deranged. He merely walked through each room, slowly taking in what he was seeing: contents of drawers littered the floor, the bed was upended with the sheets piled into one corner, books were tossed to the floor with no regard. He returned to the living room, hands on hips, and sighed.

"So," he said, avoiding eye contact. "What happened here?"

Carly felt her stomach plummet, nearly expecting it to fall out of her guts.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "You don’t have a single clue?"

"I don't have the slightest idea as to why our apartment looks like a nuclear bomb has gone off. When I left this morning, it was perfectly normal. What happened?"

"Don’t you dare lie to me!" Carly shouted, getting directly into Devin's face. "You found it, didn’t you?"

"'I found it?' Care to be a little more specific? Simply saying 'it' tells me nothing. Do you mean the quarter I found on my way to work this morning? Is that what this is about?"

"Goddammit, don’t lie! The disc that was in my bedside drawer! You found that, and you now know what's on it!"

Devin picked up the briefcase, reset an upended chair, and sat down on it, laying the briefcase in his lap. For a moment, he was silent, merely staring into Carly's eyes. His expression was unreadable, and it was one Carly hadn’t seen before. He then unsnapped the briefcase and withdrew a small tranquilizer gun, which he aimed at Carly.

"You seemed tense last night," he said, his voice steady despite the cold fury present within it, "I figured something was bothering you, so I decided to look around before I left for work. You can't imagine my surprise when I found that disc. I don’t know how you got it, but now that you have..."

Carly opened her mouth-either to argue or beg, she wasn’t sure- but before she could, Devin fired the tranquilizer. Two darts shot through the air, sinking into Carly's chest. She began to feel sleepy, and the world grew dark.

***

Carly struggled to open her eyes, but when she did, the world around her was fuzzy and unclear.

"Wazz going on?" she mumbled. She was now lying on the floor. She tried to lift her head, but it was too heavy. She could hear faint voices speaking just above her.

"How much…?" A woman's voice, a familiar one.

"I don’t know…" This was Devin's voice.

"Where am I?" asked Carly, but the Devin and his companion ignored her. She closed her eyes and counted to ten, taking deep breaths as she did. When she opened her eyes again, the room was in much better focus. They were still in the apartment, and Devin, indeed, was standing above her. The woman he was talking to, Carly could now see, was Lisa, whose face was pale with worry.

"Lisa?" said Carly, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Lisa looked down at Carly, then back up at Devin.

"She's awake now," she said, a twinge of worry in her voice. "You sure she'll be alright?"

"Yes, she'll be fine," said Devin. His voice was calm and focused. His face, on the other hand, was a terrifying mixture of calm and red-hot fury; Carly was surprised his voice was so calm.

"Help me with her," said Devin, and he and Lisa came forward. As they did, Carly saw a tangle of rope draped over Devin's shoulder, and she began to scream. A second later, though, Lisa stuffed a dirty kitchen sponge into Carly's mouth, silencing her. Devin and Lisa each took one of Carly's arms, hoisted her into a nearby chair, and quickly tied her to it, bounding her hands behind her.

"Now," said Devin, walking to stand in front of Carly. "I have some questions…"

He was cut off by a knock at the door. He sighed and went to it, holding the tranquilizer gun behind his back. He opened it slightly, and Carly heard Mrs. Whitmore, their neighbor's, voice.

"Devin," she said, sweetly. "Is everything alright in there? I thought I heard a scream."

"Oh, yes, we're all good," said Devin, adding a dash of charm to his voice. "We're watching a scary movie, and my girlfriend screamed at a scary part."

"Oh, that's good," said Mrs. Whitmore. "I just wanted to be sure. I'm sorry to bother you. Enjoy your movie."

"We will, thank you," said Devin, and he closed the door. He chuckled as he returned to Carly and Lisa, running his fingers through his brown hair.

"Oh, she's a nice woman," he said, as though they were merely having a dinner conversation. "As I was saying, Carly, I have some questions. You must answer them for me honestly. I need to remove the sponge, and you must not scream. If you do, I can't guarantee Mrs. Whitmore's safety if she returns. Is that understood?"

Carly didn’t move, only stared into Devin's eyes. Lisa came forward and yanked the sponge out of Carly's mouth. Once it was free, she spit several times onto the floor, trying to rid her mouth of any remaining foodstuffs. As she did, Devin brought a chair in front of Carly and sat down. Lisa, meanwhile, draped herself across the back, looking at Devin as if she were struck with one of Cupid's arrows.

"I've watched the disc," said Devin, "and I know what you saw. My question is, how did you get the disc? Who gave it to you?"

"I don't know who gave it to me," said Carly, her eyes flicking back and forth between Devin and Lisa. "It showed up in yesterday's mail, addressed to me. That's all I know about it. I even ran it through my software to see if it had been manipulated."

Devin didn’t answer right away, but Carly suspected he was doing it more for dramatic effect than contemplating if he believed her.

"I believe you," he said, apparently satisfied. "My next question is, what were your plans? You saw the video, what I did, so what was next? What was your next move?"

"Leave," said Carly. "Get someplace safe and then turn the disc into the police. I wanted it to be a surprise when they cuffed your ass."

Devin's face flickered for a moment, anger flitting quickly across his face, before it returned to that neutral expression.

"Did you recognize anyone else in the video?" he asked, choosing to overlook her last statement. Carly shook her head, and Devin smiled, a wicked one that turned his handsome face ugly and twisted.

"What do you know about Balir, the Great Lord?" he asked, and this question caught Carly by surprise.

"I'd never heard of him until I saw that video."

"Is that so? To be honest, that doesn’t surprise me. He's a relatively new god, created much later than Christianity and the rest. Belief in him, if I'm honest, is much more potent than even the strongest drug. He has sustained me for more than two hundred years."

"You expect me to believe you're over two hundred years old?" asked Carly, trying her best not to laugh. For some reason, this was so strange that it was almost funny.

"Two hundred seventy, to be precise," said Devin. "Here's a little history lesson for you. The American Revolutionary War was a false war. Sure, it was fought between the British and the Americans, but it's the war's origin that most people don’t know.

"By the time I was twenty, I had built a sizable cabal dedicated to spreading the Great Lord's will. The British, though, discovered our cabal and were both repulsed and scared. They attacked us, but I managed to escape the carnage. I told the Continental Congress what had happened, making it seem as though we were innocent rioters. That was enough for them to declare war."

Carly didn’t say anything, merely tried to wrap her mind around everything. Lisa, meanwhile, squealed like a young girl on Christmas that had just opened her most anticipated present. Devin ignored her.

"I was left with nothing after that," he continued. "After the war, I travelled all over the world, spreading the Great Lord's message. I rebuilt my cabal, and it's only become stronger over time. I wanted you to become my princess, Carly. I wanted you at my side, but you have, clearly, rejected this, and I must act accordingly."

He sighed and moved over to the kitchen counter, where he picked up the tranquilizer gun. He held it up, seemingly admiring it.

"You know," he said, looking back at Carly, "that you really should thank Lisa here. It was she that organized our meeting at Hopper. She's my most devoted follower, and she will be greatly rewarded.

He returned to Lisa and kissed her, his arms wrapped around her waist. As they kissed, he raised the tranquilizer gun again, and the last thing Carly heard was Lisa's squeals of excitement.

***

When Carly opened her eyes again, the first thing she noticed was that she was no longer in the apartment. Instead, she was now lying in the back of a car, her hands and legs still tied together, and something stuffed in her mouth again. She shook her head, and the world came into focus. She saw the car was Devin's Prius. He was behind the wheel, while Lisa was in the passenger seat. It was dark outside, and Carly could see flashes of lightning.

"….do this before it starts to rain," Devin was saying. "Did you alert everyone?"

"I did," said Lisa, tying her hair into a ponytail. "Mark and Richard are already there, making the necessary arrangements."

"Good," said Devin, nodding. "Balir be with them."

They lapsed into silence, and Devin's eyes flicked to the backseat, where he saw that Carly had come to.

"Ah, you're awake again," he said, smiling. "I'm excited for you to see this for yourself."

"Are we there yet?" asked Lisa impatiently. "I'm bored!"

"We're almost there," said Devin, placing a hand on her knee. "Just a few more minutes."

The rest of the car ride was quiet, and Lisa squealed when they approached a large forest. Devin navigated the car deeper into the forest, where the trees began to grow thicker, and the moon above was covered by branches. They pulled into a parking lot, where nearly two dozen other cars were parked, and Devin and Lisa got out. Devin opened the door behind driver's and knelt so that he and Carly could make eye contact.

"I'm going to bring you out of the car," he said, "and I'm going to free your legs so you can walk. No running off, though, or tomorrow won't come."

Carly slowly nodded, and Devin reached in and pulled her out of the car. He helped her stand up straight before kneeling to her feet. He produced a pocketknife and sliced through the ropes there.

"Take her arms," said Devin, and Lisa took hold of the knot that bound Carly's arms behind her back. Devin, meanwhile, popped the trunk and withdrew a duffle bag, which he slung over his back. He closed the trunk and looked back at the two women.

"Let's go," he said, and he led the way down a nearby path. They walked deeper still into the forest, and Carly could hear owls hooting and the shrieking of bats. Fifteen minutes later, Devin stopped at large oak tree and set the duffle bag on the ground. He unzipped the bag, and Carly saw the robes that he had worn in the video. Devin pulled his on, except for the mask, and handed another set to Lisa, who pulled them on and covered her face with the hood. From the bag, Carly saw Devin retrieve the bejeweled dagger; at the sight of it, Carly's face paled.

"Lisa, go join everyone else," said Devin, and Lisa strode up the path before turning left, disappearing among the trees. Devin turned to Carly.

"Are you ready?"

She began to cry, she couldn’t help it. Fat tears began to stream down her face. Devin's face softened, and he walked over to her. He placed one finger on her cheek, and, for a moment, Carly thought he was going to free her. Instead, a tear fell onto the finger, and Devin raised it to his mouth and licked it.

"Fear is the most potent near the end," he said, smiling. "Let's go. We can't be late."

Carly turned and tried to walk, but she found her legs refused to work. It wasn’t until Devin gave her a hard shove that the feeling returned to them, and she slowly made her way down the path, Devin following her.

"Left here," said Devin, and they turned, leaving the path. They walked for nearly ten minutes, by which time they had left the path far behind. Up ahead, Carly could see flickering light and realized, as they drew closer, that the light was torches. They had reached the clearing from the video.

In the clearing, Carly saw the hooded people, and she felt as if she'd gone back in time. Seeing these people, their faces hidden, was like seeing ghosts but much scarier; their anonymity added to this. The altar sat a few feet away, the chains drooped across it and spilled onto the ground.

"Mark, Richard!" Devin called, and two hooded figures approached them and bowed to him. "Take our guest to her spot. We shall begin soon."

The men nodded, and each of them grasped one of Carly's shoulders and began to shove her towards the altar; they looked like a wedding party with one too many escorts. The others quickly moved into two groups, separated by an aisle down the middle. Watching the video, Carly realized, was one thing; being here now, with the altar coming closer, was another, one far more terrifying. Yet she refused to cry, refusing to give Devin that satisfaction.

They reached the altar, and a metallic odor filled Carly's nostrils. Across the table, she could see dried flecks and pools of blood, no doubt from previous victims. Torches flickered around them, and the moon shone high above them; in another world, this might've only been part of a fairy tale. The robed people watched as Carly and her escorts walked down the aisle, chanting quietly as they did.

Carly and her escorts reached the altar, and one of them held Carly's shoulder while the other cut the ropes that still bound her hands. She made a small effort to run, but the man holding her shoulder had too tight of a grip.

"I wouldn't do that," he said. "Climb up and lay down on the altar."

Carly did as she was told, and the two men chained her to it, the metal clinking unpleasantly together as they did. When she was securely fastened, the two men went to join the ranks of the two groups.

"My children!" said Devin. "The hour is nigh! We shall begin!"

Carly turned and saw him begin to walk down the aisle, still holding the dagger in front of his chest. As he neared the halfway point, he spoke again.

" Let us sing the song of our ancestors."

At his command, the congregation began to sing.

"Great lord Balir, we come to you now

so that you will show us the way

to enter the kingdom of your wisdom.

Great lord Balir, lord above all

we will help you stand tall

so that your favor in us will not waver.

Great lord Balir, our love for you is fresh.

Tonight, we offer you this flesh

and renew our loyalty to you."

Devin reached the altar, and it was only now that Carly began to cry. The crowd's chanting had, somehow, calmed her and allowed her to accept the inevitability of what was coming. Devin looked down, saw her tears, and, to her surprise, smiled.

"Behold, my children," he said. "Over the course of my life, I have never seen one so calm. The others who given their life to the Great Lord have done nothing but scream and beg."

He laid the dagger upon the altar and nodded to one of the hooded people. The person returned the nod and came forward, carrying a chalice above their head. Like the dagger, it, too, was decorated with various gems surrounding a B that was carved into it. The congregant handed the chalice to Devin, bowed, and returned to their original spot. Devin held the chalice high above his head, as though he were a priest during Sunday mass.

"Behold, my children," he said. "This is the Sacred Chalice of Balir. It is through this chalice that our most sacred ritual is performed, and it shall be performed tonight."

A murmur of excitement rushed through the congregation, but it fell silent just as quickly.

"This ritual," said Devin, "is known as the Passing of the Hands. The High Priest of Balir shall select a successor, who shall lead the Great Lord's people into a new era."

Without another word, Devin brought the dagger to his palm and slid it, gently, across the flesh. At once, scarlet blood began to drip from the wound. With his other hand, Devin brought the chalice up to the wound, allowing enough droplets of blood to fill the bottom. Satisfied, Devin set the chalice and dagger on the table and snapped his fingers with his uninjured hand. Immediately, the same congregant that had brought him returned to his side, carrying a bundle of bandages. Slowly, the congregant wrapped the wound in the bandages before stepping back to stand behind Devin, who picked up the chalice with both hands and raised it above his head.

"Behold, my children," he said. "Behold, the blood of the High Priest of the Great Lord. This blood has flowed through my veins for the last two hundred seventy years. It will now flow through this woman, whom I've selected as my successor."

The congregant who was standing behind Devin came around to the front of the table. Before Carly could react, the person had grasped her face in their hands, ripped the sponge out of her mouth, and squeezed her cheeks, forcing her mouth to remain open. Carly tried to resist, but the person was too strong. Devin lowered the chalice and tipped it forward. The blood within seemed to flow in slow motion, dripping into Carly's mouth.

At once, a strange sensation swept through the entirety of Carly's body. One moment, she was feeling the weight of her own mortality, staring down death as if it were a loaded gun. The next second, though, that feeling was…gone. It had simply vanished. What replaced it, instead, was a feeling of lightness, as though she could walk on clouds. Devin snapped his finger again, and the congregant came forward once again, this time unlocking the shackles that bound Carly to the table. She sat up and turned to Devin, who was backing away from the altar.

He was doubled over, clutching his stomach, and he was moaning, as though he was going to be sick. Sure enough, he vomited, but the stuff that spewed from his mouth was pure white and silvery, and small wisps of steam issued off it as it splattered against the ground.

"Devin?" Carly asked; it felt strange to use her voice again. "What's going on?"

He didn’t say anything. He raised his head, and his face had become sunken and discolored, like the color of oatmeal. He was aging before her eyes. A white beard sprouted on his face and grew until it touched the floor, dripping into the strange vomit. His eyes became bloodshot, and dark circles began to appear around them. He raised a hand, and Carly saw that the skin there had aged to the point that it was nearly transparent. He vomited more of the silver and white substance and collapsed to the ground, his body slowly decaying until it was nothing but a pile of ash, which was swept up and away with the next strong gust of wind.

Another strange sensation swept over Carly. At this moment, she knew she should be shocked at what she witnessed. She was eerily calm, though, and that free feeling only intensified within her. She looked away from Devin's crumpled pile of clothes to the people who made up the congregation, who were currently watching her. None of them had reacted to Devin's demise. Now, though, one of them began to clap. Another joined in, and another, until the whole congregation was applauding; a few of them whooped and cheered.

Carly dismounted from the altar as the congregant came over to her, pulling off her hood. It was Lisa, practically giddy, and she threw her arms around Carly.

"It's you!" she squealed. "It's you! Oh, I knew it was going to be you!"

Carly didn’t respond, only looked at Lisa in confusion. Lisa noticed this and calmed herself as best she could.

"This was the Passing of the Hands," said Lisa. "It's like what Devin said! His life force has now been transferred to you. You now have his immortality, and you are to lead us into a new era of the Church of Balir."

Something clicked inside Carly, like a light switch that had been activated. Moreso, it was a sense of purpose, of belonging. In consuming Devin's blood, he had freed her mind and opened it to a new realm of possibilities. She looked out at her new-found followers, who were eager awaiting her to speak.

"My children," she said, moving to stand in front of them. "My children, tonight we usher in a new era for the Brotherhood of Iron. I foresee our brotherhood stretching to every corner of the globe, the one, true religion. Balir be with you."

The cheering and applause that followed was drowned out by a clap of thunder as it began to rain.