Ch 2 - Selection

Ren woke with a sharp pain in his side. Jerking awake, he moved away from the source of the pain.

He looked over to see a skinny, bald man in rags prodding people awake with a metal poker.

"Wake up. It's selection time." The man said with a dead, raspy voice. The man had a collar attached to his neck and any exposed skin was covered in scars, new and old.

Looking around, Ren saw that he was in a cave of sorts. Black vines crept along the walls, floors, and ceiling of the cave; each vine covered in red lights looking like veins. The veins pulsed occasionally, giving the impression that there was a heart pumping the red light through the vines.

Seeing that Ren was awake, the bald man moved on to wake up more people.

In the cave were people Ren recognized. Many of the villagers were here and, to Ren's surprise, he even saw some of the bandits that attacked him.

Sitting upright Ren also noticed the chains attached to his wrists. In fact, looking around, everyone wore chains attaching them to someone else.

Those that were awake were sitting in shock or trying to remove their shackles. He heard mumbling and cries of denial. The distinct smell of urine mixed with blood permeated through the warm, stale air around him.

Turning to the bald man before he left, Ren asked, "What's going on? What is 'selection', where are we, and what happened to the demons?"

The man just ignored him and kept moving down the line.

Before long, everyone was awake.

Nodding to himself, the bald man walked away. It wasn't long before Ren felt a pull from his wrists. The chain was moving, prompting him to move with it.

Knowing he couldn't break or escape from the chains, Ren walked forward.

A few villagers and bandits tried to resist, pulling back on the chain as much as they could. These individuals were then dragged forward as they could not slow the pull of the chain in the slightest.

The unlucky ones were dragged through the filth and blood of the ones who were in front of them. Ren was careful to avoid and 'puddles' or suspicious 'lumps' in his path forward.

Thoughts raced through Ren's mind, "Where are we? I thought I was thrown into the well, did I remember that wrong? Thank goodness I am not injured"

He turned to look at the man behind him. It was one of the bandits who had ambushed him, but his arm bore three giant gashes that slowly bled onto the cavern floor.

Ren's clothes felt damp, so he had most likely passed through the well? But since he wasn't sopping wet there must have been some time that passed. An hour? Maybe less? He wasn't cold as the caves seemed to be heated by something further in. In fact, the further he walked, the warmer it became.

Ren looked to his sides, attempting to find a way out. A few offshoots sprang up occasionally as they walked, but there was too much for him to remember.

"If all else fails, I can follow the piss trail I guess" he thought, seeing how the smell of urine hadn't faded at all.

Others seemed to be thinking similar things as Ren noticed them glance side to side frequently.

The man in front of him kept whispering to himself, "It's a dream! Just a dream. This isn't happening! Hah! I gotta wake up, gotta wake up, gotta wake up....".

Ren wasn't so delusional to reject the reality in front of him, he had even pinched himself several times just in case. The man in front of him seemed to have lost it though.

They continued walking for what felt like an hour, but Ren couldn't tell the exact time. He had lost count of how many steps he had taken at around 1000. Granted he was quite impressed he got that far given the mental state he was in.

Fear gripped his heart, but worry made him nervous. His mind flitted about from one thing to the next, trying to distract itself from the nightmare he was in.

Soon after, the cave began to broaden and the ceiling gradually lifted along with the vines into what looked to be a vast cavern.

There at the center of the cavern stood the bald man, and next to him on an elevated platform stood a unique demon. Surrounding the platform in a crescent shape stood the demons Ren recognized to be what attacked the village.

The unique demon in the center was smaller than those around it, but it also lacked the barbarity of the monsters that had attacked the village. A grin split the demons face as it observed the 'prey' before it.

Silence fell on the chained group. The only sound being the sniffs of those who continued to cry out in pain, and the shaking of the chain as some shook in fear.

"Begin" the demon spoke, breaking the silence. Ren honestly had preferred the silence to that ungodly voice. It vibrated as if constantly being muffled and then amplified, and an unnatural grating accompanied each vowel.

The bald man shuddered and nodded in submission. Stepping forward he then spoke, "Today you will be selected."

"There are four jobs here to be done, each just as important to our...community"

At the final word the man glance at the demon beside him. The demon only grinned wider, something Ren thought to be impossible.

The bald man continued, "...Those four jobs are labor, entertainment, reproduction, and...food".

Cries of dismay and exclamations of shock swept over the crowd. Some tried to pull away from the chain in panic while others even fell to their knees, pleading for anything but food.

"Sssssilence" The demon spoke, it's voice cutting through the wails of the humans before it. It's slitted eyes passed over all of them and it's forked tongue danced out of it's fanged grin.

Once quiet had overtaken the group once more, the bald man continued.

"Those chosen to perform labor will move to the caverns below to expand our 'home' and perform various other tasks. Those chosen for entertainment will be given a chance to please our masters. Those chosen for reproduction are blessed for taking part in the expansion of our...'family'. And those chosen for food are thanked for their 'donation'. "

Ren shuddered. This was clearly scripted, but the words chosen only added to the terror and disgust Ren felt towards his new 'family'.

"Step forward", the bald man continued in his raspy voice, "and welcome your selection."