In The Dark

If only the killing would stop, maybe Zoya will stop fearing the dark.

     "We unleash the beast within, the beast within the Book of the Blood. We set forth this creature to feed upon that which threatens our life force. We shall feed the beast within, feast upon the enemy for not to kill is to be killed." we chanted the phrases over and over again like a mantra, pleading, begging, almost panicking.

    From the palms of our hands came forth the magnificent beast that guarded the Book of the Blood. We almost sighed in relief at the sight of that monstrous creature.

    "Send him back to the depths of hell!" I yelled over the roar of the beast.

     It obeyed swiftly, just as it was made to do. Beside me, Zoya held onto the pages of the book tightly and squeezed her eyes shut. She could never stomach the violence that always occurred. But this was necessary, that she understood. As I watched the beast take down the man we were sent out to kill, I saw the spray of blood and the rending of flesh by the beast's claws before his screams echoed throughout the night. Or perhaps it seemed louder in the casting zone.

     "Krav!" I called out to the beast who was licking at the blood coating the cement flooring, "Return to the Book."

    It bounded back towards us playfully licking the tips of its claws before disappearing between the pages of the book. Immediately after, Zoya slammed it shut, clutching the book with trembling fingers before thrusting it into my arms. She ran out of the alleyway as if she were running from the Grim Reaper himself. I sighed and tucked the book under my arm before heading towards her.

     I found her at the edge of the lake, squatting and all huddled up. She squeezed her eyes shut and stuck her fingers into her ears as if to block out the gory scene she had just witnessed. My gaze softened as I watched her vulnerable form, shivering in the moonlight.

     "I can't do it anymore Zina. I can't. I just can't do it. Seeing it devour another human being as if it was just a goddamned meal without a family... a life. I'm not like you. I just..." she sighed and started to cry.

     I knelt beside her and rubbed her back, "You know what happens if we stop."

     "I know. That's the reason why I've held out for so long. But don't you think that hundreds of other lives could be saved if we just stopped? If we just quit the organisation and probably head off on a suicide path. Two lives are not worth a hundred thousand others Zina!" she screamed towards the end.

    I waited until she was finished before I gripped her hand and hauled her to her feet. Then I took out a handkerchief from her coat pocket and wiped her tears. I stared into her dark obsidian eyes as I thought it all out, remembering that fateful night we gave away our lives for pieces of bread and a cup of water.

     Our lives were ruled over by this black book and we could not change that simple fact. I don't think we ever will. And we'll always be banished to the dark side of the world, never welcomed into the light.

Author's Note

I hope that this is worthy of some comments and critiques. This is story about my friend and my original character. I think it could unfurl? But I never really liked writing novels. Because halfway through them I would always scrap them. *sigh*

Reviews

[Micco Gibson]

Wow... During that first part, it felt like I was watching a movie. I even had fitting music playing!
"I saw the spray of blood and the rending of flesh by the beast's claws before his screams echoed throughout the night."
That's my favorite line out of the entire thing. We've all seen enough movies that we can picture this in our mind, some more comfortably than others, about what exactly is happening to this man.
Another thing I liked was the contrast of the two characters. We see these two character types a lot, and while used a lot, it isn't necessarily a bad thing to use them. Things a used a lot for a reason, and the reason here is because it works.
I would like to see this as a novel, but focusing on a novel is really hard. Maybe you could do a type of continuation, like in this short story format, just making more whenever you feel like writing more. It could be less restraining than a novel, and let you continue on at the same time.
Lastly, the name Krav... That sounds really familiar! Is it from mythology or a story or something?
I liked this write, and would like to see where these characters lead in their lives with the "organization".
Oh! And "Organization" is with a "Z", not "S". ^^