I came upon a dilapidated shack on the beach. Nothing else was around. No people, other homes, nothing else. Only the shack. My curiosity piqued, I went inside. Instantly the realization that this was no longer the third dimension hit me. There was a different feel to the air; a different look to the atmosphere.

Looking through the shack (in this dimension, the walls were transparent) I saw two forms far in the distance. They were headed in my direction. I checked my feelings and found more interest than fear. That was odd for me. I was the type to jump at horror movies. The feeling that I was about to enter something akin to “The Twilight Zone” was starting to come over me.

The forms came closer and it was evident they were male and female. Both were dressed in nondescript clothing. Each of them was carrying a backpack. They were engaged in a lively conversation, making wild hand gestures at one another.

From behind them, two more forms appeared and began their approach toward the shack. I presumed them to be another male/female couple. I stood in the shack, which was sparsely furnished with only a table and one chair. I chose not to sit in the chair. The chair seemed to give off a strange, almost evil vibration, like it was seeing me and daring me to sit on it. I kept the best distance I could, considering the shack was small.

The first two forms had arrived and entered the shack. Looking at me, they seemed puzzled as to why I was there. I tried to explain that I had stumbled upon the shack by accident; however, my words fell upon deaf ears. Out of the backpack of the male figure came several implements; a mortar, a pestle, a bowl and a crystal ball. The female took a sharp, knifelike object from her backpack and placed it on the table beside the other things.

I became frightened. Was some sort of ritual about to take place? Had I, by stumbling onto it by mistake, become an unwitting participant?

The second couple arrived. As small as the shack was, it seemed to expand to make room for everyone that was inside. "An odd thing," I remember thinking. The two men whispered to each other in a language I could not understand. The women disrobed. The four beings stood looking at me with intrigue, as if wondering how they could incorporate me into their ceremony. I was stuck to my place, my feet would not move no matter how I tried. They were like two pieces of lead.

The first man thing pulled out the chair and motioned for me to sit. The chair of evil seemed to smile an invisible smile and beckoned to me. Trancelike, I sat on the chair. I began to see things never seen before. Things that had existed since the beginning of time. I saw Hell, with all its fire and suffering souls. I saw Heaven, a place of paradise. Demons and angels, and panoramas of ritual sacrifices to the Gods of yore flashed before my eyes. Next were hearts being cut out of animals and heads being cut from humans, gladly giving their lives for the honor of the Tradition. The Tradition that had existed since the beginning of time.

We were no longer in the shack. We were standing in a great hall, and a large number of beings similar to the four in the shack surrounded me sitting on the seeing, evil chair. It was then that I realized I was to be part of the day’s festivities, the traditional sacrifice. Why had they picked me? My visions had shown me that the ones being sacrificed were leaders of their communities and that it was a great honor to participate in the sacrifice ritual and be remembered as a martyr.

The second man thing put the crystal ball in my lap and pointed down to it, as though I should look to it. I looked in the crystal ball and was shocked at the sight of myself as a sacred Priest, one who had lived in a previous life at the beginning of time. "My soul has come home to become a martyr," I thought.

The women things had been busy preparing a concoction with their mortar and pestle and they had me take the mixture by mouth. Still in a state of trance, I partook of their offering, and found myself losing my fear. I was becoming one with these odd beings.

I was pleased to be chosen for the sacrifice of the ritual. The potion gave me strength and confidence. I was led from the hall to an anteroom, where I disrobed and donned a black gown with an opening in the front. When dressed, they led me back into the main hall.

The beings motioned me to lie upon the table. The women approached me. One of them picked up the knifelike object. One held my chest down firmly. The other swiftly severed my head from my body with the ease of one who had performed the ritual many times. There was no pain, only ecstasy was mine. The last thing I remember feeling was my head swinging high above the crowd. I saw my headless corpse lying on the sacrificial table surrounded by the lot of the beings and heard the chanting of their chorus, chanting an unknown song to an unknown diety, hopeful that their sacrifice would be accepted one more time. Hopefully the God would be pleased, continuing to bless them until the time came again for the next ritual.

I ceased to exist.

Copyright © 2007 Jennifer McKernan (Luna)