Rituals pt. 7

It was like watching a movie.  The images flickered before me, everything scratchy and slightly out of focus at first, but slowly the image adjusted. 

I was looking at a small park.  It was packed with people, and in the center was a grandstand.  On that grandstand stood a man, his body hidden behind a dark cloak.  He stood there, surveying the crowd, and as his head turned I caught a brief glimpse of the lower half of his face. 

He was smiling, thin lips parted ever so slightly to reveal sharp, needle like teeth. 

He held up his hands in a grand gesture, and the murmuring crowd around him grew silent. 

“Do you wish to survive?” His voice boomed.  “Do you wish to flourish in this new world?”

People in the crowd were nodding.  I could see the woman from the church, now very much alive, and looking very terrified.  She was nodding her head enthusiastically. 

“Then join me,” said the man on the grandstand. “Who will be the first?”

The woman stepped forward, her arms raised.  “I will.  I want to.”

“A wise choice.”  Then, without another word, the man leapt at her, his mouth opening wide, then wider, his teeth sinking into her neck. 

The woman jerked once, and then… then she began to change.  The change was simple at first.  Her skin grew pale.  Then the change came rapidly.  No one in the crowd had a chance to react before she had completely transformed into that creature that I had seen Doug hack to death. 

The crowd didn’t stand a chance.  Once changed, the woman began attacking, and within moments the majority of the people had been changed. 

As the carnage continued the movie began to flicker, as if a film reel was running out. 

Then there was nothing but blackness.