Listening For That Sweet Tune-Chapter 25: The Flaming Locust On the Red Sea Pt. 4

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Chapter 1: A Simple Beginning

Previously on Listening For That Sweet Tune:

Chapter 25: The Flaming Locust On the Red Sea Pt. 3

It was Moony. Only one person has told me the beginning of that rhyme before and that was her but she was dead, how could she be here and now and older than she was from before?

'You're supposed to be dead.' I said waveringly. She smiled towards me and her teeth were sharpened and covered with blood. I began to panic and turned around as quick as I could but there she was, just a few inches away from me and puts a finger to her mouth and let out a quiet 'shush' then, nothing. 

I woke up to find myself in a dining room of a gothic origin pointed arches compiled most of the ceilings. The walls and ceilings were made of solid stone and stained glass as the floor was made out of large marble tiles. Blind arcading was against the outer walls with rectangles of stained glass in between the columns. The stained glass showed pictures of monsters consuming humans and mutilated yet strung up corpses. I was placed in the center of this room on a wooden chair with exceptional details to the wood. In front of me was a large rectangular table covered with plates of various meats, fruit and vegetables. Silverware and a large plate were both in front of me and in front of Moony—who of which was sitting directly on the other side of the table. Her arms were crossed against her body and her eyes were formed back into her skull showing her light blue eyes. 

'Ben. Please tell me, how does it feel to take somebody’s life?' She asked. 

'What do you mean? You have done it as well.'

'Yes, but its different for every person. I, personally, feel a rush that goes down my chest, down my waist and it shakes my legs.' She used her hands to show a more descript image in my head then raised her hand up towards her mouth as if she was smoking a cigarette. 

'I, I don't know. I don't think I've ever been conscious to feel the act.'

'But you have! Don’t be shy Ben. It makes you look weak. You chewed that young psychopaths throat straight out of his neck and you continued to eat like the monster you are.' She said with a big smile—her teeth were back to normal. I thought deeply about how I marveled in the taste of the man’s blood and flesh as I consumed him like a six-ounce steak. I never really thought about how I felt as I killed him but I guess I had a great high. A big sense of adrenaline pumped through my veins and I thought I was invincible, in the moment. I felt as if there were no worries to be had and that all the stress I had up to that point just meted from off my back and the shackles fell to the floor. I felt invincible since that moment and nothing was going to bring me down, I was like god. 

'It felt good I guess.' I said

'You guess? Now that is a disappointment! Tell me about how you felt the power of taking life away as you watched the light dwindle from the man's eyes. Tell me about how accomplished you felt knowing that you could do whatever you want with no consequences. There's nobody to reign on your parade. No formal government in place. The world is ripe for our bidding and no one can stop us Ben.' I then thought to myself how Moony was still alive. I looked at her with disparity in my gaze with such sorrow that I couldn't understand what it was like to be dead. 

'Tell me Moony.' I repositioned myself in my seat. 'What’s it like to be dead? That is what you are is it not?' Moony's smile turned into a frown as she stood up.

'And there you go again Ben, raining on my parade. Why can't you be happy with just knowing that you are who you are and that there is no way it's going to be any different? Eat, please.' She pointed to the food between us and I thought to help myself. I reached out to what appeared to be ribs of a cow and took the whole helping to myself then reached for a helping of grapes and an apple. I pulled the meat from off the bones with my bare teeth and I hungered for more—if I could feel hungry at all then this moment would have been starving. The juices gushed from the meat to in between my teeth—I was consuming my food like a lion. 

'Its good isn't it? I knew you couldn't resist.' I drew my attention back to Moony as she paced back and forth. 'I never thought that Captain Grey would have made a great centerpiece but there he is, in the flesh. Is it good? I seasoned him with the freshest of herbs in sautéed onions, I knew you have liked that.' I continued to eat. 'I guess there is no hard feelings. He went away screaming for me to stop skewering his flesh as I prepped him for the rotisserie but I couldn't help myself, I wanted to give you the best, proper meal you have ever had.' I continued to rip the meat off the bones trying to stop myself but I only hungered for more.

'I guess it's time to explain some things Ben. This land is cursed. Doomed to repeat its mistakes for an eternity, you and I are apart of this mess. Because of the decisions of a third party, a quiet darkness came alive to wake vengeance upon all those who oppose the best interest of The Wretched.' I raised my head to look towards Moony. 'There is no such thing as death because we don't age. We are just here, no one knows why so we make it for the best. We consume the bodies of the dead and reanimate their souls creating no point of a higher authority than our own. In death, all becomes one in the great unknown. Every breathing soul becomes the same and there is no changing that, it's how it's been since the beginning but only until recently we have found a reason to become something more. The great Mother Sow and her son appeared in our midst, the first of their kind to walk here and she became our figurehead. She taught us how to expand our talents and how to manipulate the world around us. She showed us how to show our true form to the people of the world and then she showed us how to control the people. Before she came we were respected like gods but through her influence we learned that we needed to be feared not loved. To show that we are the beginning and the end, not just something to pass the time. We became a power when she showed her face and such a power we became. I am one with them because of you and I can only thank you for showing me the light.'

'You're one of The Wretched?' I said while raising my eyebrow. 

'Yes Ben and you will be too. I'm sure you noticed the feelings of insanity pulsing underneath your skin. A grim outlook on how the world evolves. You even consume the bodies of what you once were.' I put a napkin to my face then placed it on my plate covering my food. 'But you're so strong Ben you have been resisting the transformation this whole time.' She minced around the table putting effort into her walk to appear womanlier—I couldn't help but watch. 

'What do you want with me?' I asked.  She continued to walk around and stood in front of me. She bent over to look directly into my eyes. 

'Your willpower is so intense Ben it just makes a woman like me go crazy.' She stood back up and folded her arms making a gesture as if she was waiting for me. 

'Moony. I'm not like you. I bleed just like anyone else. I'm maintaining my sanity just fine even though this place could make the strongest of minds crumble.' I stopped mid sentence because Moony pushed the straps of her dress off her shoulders and let it drop to the floor leaving her perfect body naked. When I was finished talking she straddled me and started to rub her body against mine. I started to talk again but she put her hand over my mouth and told me to shut up. She moved her neck towards my neck and started to lick it as she continued to move up and down; the lick turned into a kiss and then a soft bite. I looked up towards the ceiling to see the arches that descended to columns to the edges of the room and I marveled at how the architecture of the room was flawless till white wings covered my view. 

The elegant wings that broke out of Moony's back started to make crackling noises like that of cartilage popping underneath the skin; they were full as if they were a swans. Blood dripped off the tips of her wings as they fluttered in the air. She started to bite me harder and I started to squirm underneath her because the pain was becoming something unpleasant. She stopped biting and looked back into my eyes while placing her wrists on my shoulders. She smiled as she moved up and down my waist and started to lick her lips. Blood was on her teeth and she smiled when my pupils grew in astonishment. 

'You taste so good Ben.' She emphasized the 'so' by saying it longer than normal. 'I can be anything that you have ever wanted Ben. Just let me be that woman.' I thought for a moment longer then whispered on her ear. 

'Ok.' She looked at me with a big smile and let out a playful laughter as she began to take off my shirt and kissed my chest. I looked down to her to notice her necklace that I took from her after she died. Along with the little crescent moon that was once lodged in my hand I also placed the key—once in my leg—on the silver thread. She didn't notice or care to notice the necklace around my neck that was once hers, she was stuck in the moment and so was I. 

'You know.' She said between kisses. 'I was skeptical on how you were going to feel about this. Like you didn't want to become one.' She continued kissing, as her lips got lower down my chest. 

'One what?' I asked. She continued to go lower with her kisses. I thought to myself that what I could become one with and I was stumped I looked down to her as she began to take off my pants. 'One with who?' I asked again. I thought about how she was telling me that The Wretched was trying to make me to be one like them. She got up off her knees and jumped back to straddling me as she rubbed her body against mine. I contemplated if doing this would make me one of them and I continued to reason with myself when she began to breathe heavily in my ear. This can't be so; I won't allow this to happen. She's going to take my soul and my search for Serenity is going to end. 

'Its time.' I pushed her off of me as quick as I could then started to look for a way out as I stood up. She slid away from me making a slight squeaking noise as she dragged against the tiles and started to yell. 'Ben Lamb! You know better than to mess with us!' As she got up to her feet. 'If things aren't going to be settled this way then there is one last thing we can do! I'm going to kill you to finish the process!' The corners of her eyes started to bleed and before I knew it they were sunk in revealing the empty eye sockets I saw earlier. Her wings started to deteriorate to form a black exoskeleton underneath the feathers. I looked to my right to see a door no more than a few yards away. I sprinted towards the door and looked back to see the daemon that was once Moony standing behind me. 'If only you understood Ben!' She yelled to me as I frantically reached for the doorknob and opened the door to see a dark abyss. I looked back and Moony still stood where she was before. I didn't want to be here, so I jumped. 

Up next in Listening For That Sweet Tune:

Chapter 26

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Listening For That Sweet Tune-Chapter 25: The Flaming Locust On the Red Sea Pt. 3

STOP

Have you read the preceding chapters?

If not then read it from the beginning

or

Read the preceding chapter...

Go to the beginning:

Chapter 1: A Simple Beginning

Previously on Listening For That Sweet Tune:

Chapter 25: The Flaming Locust On the Red Sea Pt. 2

I rushed outside to the main deck as quick as I could then looked down the bloody stairs that lead to the bottom of the boat. Everything was so dark down there that I couldn't see any silhouettes of objects or even walls. I let out a big sigh then yelled down to the abyss. 

'Captain Grey! Captain Grey!' I waited for a quick moment afterward but there was no response. I feared that the worst happened to the Captain and I feared even more about my own skin. I yelled his name one more time but not even a single stir moved in the dark. The boat creaked back and forth as I tried to maintain my footing at the top of the stairs then I thought to do the unthinkable. I couldn't drive the boat by myself—until recently I never even been on a boat. The decent down began. 

I kept my two hands on the handrails on either side of me as my feet dinged as soon as they touched the metal stairs. Their was a few dim lights around me but none was anywhere near me. As I looked around I could see the silhouettes of cots and hammocks along with big boxes of luggage in nearly every corner of the room. I yelled the Captain's name again but only the creaking of the floor and walls around me from the oceans current echoed around me. I took the last few steps down to place me in the center of the room looking for another staircase to place me down another level. Directly behind me underneath the staircase I just got off was the other staircase. I swung around keeping haste on my side to lead me down the other staircase nearly slipping on something wet that was on the ground. 

Gaining my footing again I descended the steps to place me in the center of the next room but there were walls on this other floor. I could of turned left or right but in front of me was the lightest coming from the emergency lights that glowed a red. At the end of this hall was a bright white light that was over a deep red door that read 'Caution' on it. That room must be the mechanical room in which leads down to the lower levels but my best bet in finding the Captain was in the room in front of me. I began to head forward but before I knew it I took a step up that followed with a cracking. I looked down to make out I was stepping on and I could only feel dread because what I was expecting was a person. A blanket was over what I was stepping on so I stepped back to place me on the floor again and sat on my knees. 

The floor was wet because whatever was on the ground began to seep through my pants and onto my knees. 'Who am I kidding?' I thought to myself. 'You know very well what is on the floor, stop being so ignorant.' It was blood. I knew what it was when I first stepped into the hall. The smell of blood stunk up the air that I was walking through and I knew the split second I smelled it. In previous instances when I stumbled upon piles of blood I felt sick to the stomach thinking 'Who could do such a thing?' but now a growling went through my stomach. I thirsted for the very thing that once made me sick and I could only wonder why. 

I thought back to the lighthouse to when I bit off the man’s throat clean off his body and how his blood tasted too pleasing to the tongue and I could only wonder if it was still the case. I reached down in the dark to put my fingers into a pool of blood then proceeded to put my fingers in my mouth. I didn't taste the same anymore. What was once sweet to the taste now had a different twang to it. It wasn't disgusting. It was better than before. I placed my fingers on the ground again to have another taste and I let out a big 'mmm'. I caught myself and looked around me as quick as I could as if someone could have been watching me but I was only paranoid. 

I reached over to the blanket and pulled it off of the man I was stepping on and I looked at him as if he was the main course but I stopped myself thinking that there was some etiquette to eating another person. It should be cooked and I'm better than a mere animal; I shouldn't tear it apart with my teeth but a fork and knife. I thought of the diseases that the man could have and I lost my appetite nearly immediately and got back onto my feet. 

I began to listen to the air and what was once a tiny sound in the air was now louder. Machinery. Machinery and contraptions containing metal and wood rotated around each other and made a loud roar burning petroleum-based products. Someone turned on the engine and I hoped it was my dear Captain. I began to walk over the man with more crunching and crackling then I stepped on another, then another. The hallway was littered with bodies—maybe the whole crew—and I stomped on them with all my might—like a little child jumping through puddles of rain—breaking ribs and jaws hearing bones snap in half and muscles tear. I delighted in this sound then I realized that I was loosing control of myself. 

I reached up to my forehead to wipe off the sweat that was dripping down my face. It was hot, hotter than before as if every step closer to the door led that much closer to the sun. I'm sure it was just the heat of the machinery coming through the walls. The gears that rotated, screeched letting out high-pitched squeals as the coal fires of the furnace roared. I reached the door and put my hand on the handle. It was hot like the air but something bearable to the touch. On the other side were huge machine blocks covering the walls as long arms and gears rotated in their perspective positions. In front of me I saw a bloody handprint and trail but it could have been anybody. Bodies were tucked in small crevices between the machinery and others lay on the ground like before. I took a left to go further through the machinery to be confronted by a man hanging over another staircase that went further down. I looked up to the man through the dim red light and it wasn't the Captain I was looking for. 

A rotten black door was at the bottom of the stairs. I reached for the handle and this doorknob was cold, nearly frozen the door creaked as I opened it to get into the other room. The stench of blood filled the room and a small lamp on the ground lit up a few inches of darkness all around it. Blood soaked its way through the rotten floorboards. I picked up the lantern and began to walk forward. Directly to my right began metal bars forming boxes. The door to the first one was wide open. Looking inside; blood was sprayed over the walls, the bench within was snapped in half and marks of nails were engraved in the wood walls and floor. I walked up to the second box to see it locked, the light only traveled a few inches inside so it appeared as if nothing was inside other than splattered blood but looking at the walls I could see a glimmer of something wet revealing odd forms of shapes. 

In the third one was a carcass of a man that was once being eaten alive. His jaw was stuck wide open showing that he was screaming as he died or something broke his jaw wide open; blood filled this cell as well. The fourth one had the door ripped off from its hinges which I could see on the floor below me but this cell was darker than the rest taking a step inside I heard a grunt and no more than a few inches away from the lamp was a woman wearing a small white dress spotted with blood. I looked down to her feet and she was bare footed while standing in a shallow pool of blood. I took a few steps back hearing a stir from the woman's feet and a mumbling coming through her lips. With her long dark brown hair and a smaller build I thought 'Is it her?'. I took one step closer and whispered.

'Serenity? Is that you?' The body stopped moving and the mumbling grew louder. 'Serenity?' I asked again. Her mumbling grew to what was beginning to sound legible and heard her say my name. 'Lets go Serenity; I've been looking for you. It's dark down here.' That's when she turned around. Her face was covered in scars and it appeared as if her eyes were just ripped out from her skull. Fresh blood rolled down her cheeks and onto the floor. I couldn't tell whom it was because of the scars over her face, she began to walk towards me. In a growling tone she spoke. 

'Ben Lamb, Ben Lamb find your way to cure them. Abhorrent and rotten is what’s left of our skin. From the deepest of oceans, to the darkest of rooms. So Ben Lamb, Ben Lamb, we're waiting for you.'

Up next in Listening For That Sweet Tune:

Chapter 25: The Flaming Locust On the Red Sea Pt. 4

Remember me