darkest night

It all began on a cold december night in upstate New York. A light snow fell silently to the frozen ground as a trio of hooded figures moved quickly through the pine trees, dragging behind them a most sinister cargo. It was wrapped up in a blue tarp as the three boys dragged it deeper into the woods. A thick trail of dark red oozed out from the tarp, but the boys weren't worried. They knew the snow would cover their tracks by morning. However, they did not notice the figure standing twenty feet away from them, clad in black robes. He stood there silently, until the trio passed him. He stood there in the snow, and waited until the boys disappeared into the forest. Swiftly and silently, he followed the grizzly red trail, until he found the boys at their destination. It was a small pit, encircled by a makeshift wooden fence, made mostly from nearby branches. In the center of the circle was a fresh pile of kindling, placed together to form a pentagram. The figure stared in silence as the boys unwrapped their gruesome cargo. They dragged it over to the wooden pentagram, and lay the body out so each bloodied limb was within a point of the star. One of the boys reached under a pile of pine branches, and pulled out a small can of gasoline. They poured the gasoline over the still twitching body. The dark figure still stood there, watching from the shadows. He wondered if the victim was still breathing. Still alive, as he was about to be burned in the name of some dark ritual. The three boys sat around the gas soaked body, in silent prayer. He watched the whole time, unseen, not making a sound. The body began to stir on the ground. It mumbled incoherent ramblings of someone who was very close to death. The boys didn't seem to care if he was alive. They continued to chant dark and ancient words in the cold night. The body began to weep, slowly and with much agony. The three boys finished their prayer and stood, declaring “Hegge satanis!” as they stood. One pulled a box of matches from his coat pocket, lit one, and threw it on the body. The night suddenly burst in an illumination of flame. The burning body screamed  for a while, but soon fell silent. The three boys stood in silent anticipation. They stayed silent as the figure appeared from the shadows, casting off his black robe, and revealing his pale corpse like body. Long dark horns protruded from his head, his eyes had no color. Only white. He stepped into the flames and stared down at the burning corpse beneath his feet. And he began the feast….

Afterwards the three boys parted ways in the woods, each going back to their mundane lives. But they would return to the circle, on the sixth day of every month, and they would carry out the same ritual, in the name of a dark evil they knew little about. And one day, it will swallow them as well.