A Warm Feeling

A New Kind of God

     And there you stand. In a dark and cold room that consumes all of your previous courage. The chilling and unnaturally smooth stones under your feet seem to heed to the giant goat-like being depicted in the center of the room. You shudder and take a sharp breath as you think of whatever could be so influential in a strange basement Hell to have an entire shrine. The statue stares into your very soul and almost calls out to you. The feeling of dread is powerful in this room.

     Your eyes adjust and so it seems does your sense of smell. You catch a strong whiff of something horrible enough to puke at. A dead cat's head lay in front of the statue, like some sick and twisted offering. Your brain moves to getting the fuck out of this room but your body refuses. There is more. At first you went into a brief shock, as if you hadn't enough fear already, there lay a human face. Upon closer looking, the disgusting mutilated skin was attached to a book. You feel an even deeper pang of fear as you wonder what lay inside of those human skin covers. And last there lay an innocent looking blade with the blood of a presumably dead cat on it.

     A voice seems to whir in your head now. It's not your own but it seems to have your sense of survival. It tells you to pick up the blade. 'Living is the top priority and this is how you can make it.' you sigh, a small white wisp of air escapes your mouth. You can feel your body getting closer to the blade now. You bend down and stare deeply into the metal. The reflection of a fearful person who wants to live looks back at you. The blade is in your hand and without time to think, you feel a horrible pain swirl through your whole body. This pain seems to tear through your very skin and into your heart. You scream loudly and stumble around for a second, and then, just as suddenly as it had started, you don't feel anything anymore. 

     At least this potentially lethal weapon is now in your grasp. You feel compelled to hold it now, it is part of you. The air seems less cold to you for whatever reason, and the general fear has died in a strange way. The protection of whatever the fuck this statue was made in the name of is now inside of you, you thought with an almost grin. 

     The voice that may be keeping you alive speaks again, 'Say, that book could hold the information you need to vanquish the horrible beasts in this dungeon.' You think somewhat harder about this one. You know that you are truly in control of yourself and a voice can't tell you what to do. Yet, still, the feeling of having even more protection is very appealing. Your fingers reach for the fleshy abomination. Already you can feel the same deep and powerful pain coursing through your body. But, there is no time to cry, pain is necessary to survive. You made your choice minutes ago. As your hand touches the grossly soggy skin and flesh you can feel something split on your forehead. You scream again but now you are sure that your sacrifices to the goat beast are good and he is, as far as you are concerned, god. You feel comforted in a very new way and ignore the blood now dripping from your nose.

     After again regaining your mental state you look at the cat's head. Maybe you didn't really think at all, or the intense feelings surging through your body just wanted to become stronger. All you remember is grabbing the cat's dead head and stuffing it in your backpack. Tears mixed with blood trickle down your face and the split in your head grows. The pain is so severe that you collapse into a pile of sacrifices and bad choices. "NO, PLEASE HELP! I DID THIS FOR YOU! DON'T KILL ME PLEASE!" You shout nonsense as voices in languages you have never heard before whisper in your head. Your vision grows blurry and red. Peace overcomes your body and you close your eyes. 

     You open your eyes in a tinted blue cave. A dark and powerful figure stands over you, grinning.