“Yield?” I ask, having no clue about the garbage he’s spewing.
“Life, Abigail. Life inside the vessel.”
“You’re deluded!” I snarl, spinning away to try to rein in my building temper, and he starts chanting again, and this time my mum and sister join in.
“Who brought this vessel?” Banes calls, and in unison, my mother and sister call.
“The line.”
“Who takes this vessel?” he calls again, and Maggie and my mother follow.
“The flame.”
“Who protects the seed?”
“The blood,” they chant.
“Who owns the child?” he calls, and my traitorous family chants.
“Symme.”
“Shut the hell up!” I scream, charging towards him, ready to swing a punch, but then he holds his hands out to me, like I’m going to run into his waiting arms.
“From sin she bore, in pain she yields,” he calls. “The heir to rise, the fire to seal. Not hers, nor his, this child is the flame. Of Symme it grows. Of Symme it came.”
“Shut the fuck up!” I yell, wanting to punch him but terrified of getting any closer. “Don’t preach your cult shit here!”
“Symme, hear me!” He looks up to the greying clouds hovering low in the sky, blinking as the first drops of rain start to fall. “Flame of the First Blood, do not let this flesh betray its purpose. I am your breath. Your chosen. Your prophet without equal.” He holds his hands up to the sky, like he is the one making it rain. “Death is not mine. Death is for the impure, the unshaped.”
Shaking my head at his brand of crazy, I stumble backwards, running into Ringo’s firm chest, his hands coming up to rest on my shoulders.
“Want me to shoot him now?” he asks, but I shake my head, holding my hand out instead, knowing he’ll know what I want.
“Rise in me!” Banes calls. “Stitch bone to bone. Bind my marrow to the flame. Let my blood command the body. Let my will reject the grave.”
The heavy weight of a gun gets placed in my palm, and I wrap my hands around it, hearing my mum screaming for me to stop.
“This womb of the world is mine to rule!” Banes calls, eyes open as he stares up at the sky, blinking each time a drop of rain hits his face. “My lifeline will not rot. My seed will not fail. I am Symme’s eternal tongue. I speak, and the world kneels! I bleed, and the world obeys! If I die, the world will burn for daring to outlive me!”
I already knew he was delusional, but this God complex is truly disturbing. He actually believes he is a higher being.
I step closer, Ringo’s hand falling away from my shoulder, and Banes’ eyes snap to me.
“No. No. No!” he panics, flinching as his gaze falls to my gun. “Symme, listen to me! Please! I am not finished. My work is not done! This flesh is not permitted to fail me. This heart beats becauseI command it to!”
Suddenly, my mum starts chanting, and Maggie quickly joins in.
“The line. The blood. The flame. Symme.”
“The line. The blood. The flame. Symme.”
“The line. The blood. The flame. Symme.”
“Do you hear me, flame?!” Banes bellows up to the sky, arms spread out, palms facing the clouds. “I carved your laws into children’s bones. I bled your scripture into wombs. I broke my children to build yourkingdom. I am your right hand. I am your chosen mouth. I AM THE BLOOD THAT BINDS THIS WORLD!”
“You are the scum that rots this Earth,” I snap, having enough of his bullshit, lurching forward as the Sadist behind him steps away.
I shove the barrel of the gun under his chin, and his dark eyes meet mine as he continues to pray.
