Season Five - Saviour

Buddha stared with his not-eyes at Olivia. He studied her and marveled at how perfect of a sacrifice she was for Mara. She was by no means innocent, sure, but just the right amount of pure for Mara to enjoy. Buddha knew that he would savor every last bite of this mortal creature, and Buddha could see a promotion in His future. He noticed Olivia's struggle against the ropes tying her to the wooden pillar. He chortled, amused by her useless attempts. Olivia, hearing his mocking laughter, ceased her wiggling and glared through the veil blocking her eyes at the being assuming the figure of Buddha.

With hate and fear in her voice, she choked out, "...Let me go, impersonator."

Buddha offered no reply and instead turned his focus towards the jittering demons. "Maketh sure the lady is fully did prepare f'r the hour," he commanded, and with a loud SWISH of pungent-smelling smoke, he vanished into the abyss.

She crinkled her nose to escape the lingering smell and it was then that she truly recognized the identity of the being she called Buddha for so long; it was a demon, Mara's subordinate. She wanted--no, needed--to escape and she felt the ropes constraining her had loosened after all her violent contorting. She didn't know how long it would take, but the not-Buddha had revealed that she only had an hour left to escape. If she didn't, she would be sacrificed to Mara.

She didn't know how long had gone by (she guessed it was around thirty minutes), but the ropes had only gotten slightly looser than they were before. In the past thirty minutes, the chittering and dancing demons below her had not ceased, but she had heard some of them place objects at the edge of the blaze. She assumed they were offerings for Mara when he came to consume her. The flame had not stopped burning, but thankfully, it did not grow larger. Maybe it was waiting for the right time when it could burst into a flaming tornado to engulf her in a fiery hell-blaze. Olivia, with only thirty minutes left until her execution, began to panic.

She struggled harder for the following twenty minutes, vehemently attempting to break free from her restraints. She was able to wiggle free just enough that she could separate her arms from her torso by a couple of inches. However, freedom was still far out of her reach. As the seconds and minutes passed by, she could hear the chants getting more energetic and closer to their end. She knew death was imminent.

One minute

Three minutes

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine minutes passed and only one remained until her execution. Olivia started to cry. She trembled, letting out choked sobs of anger. Anger towards the fake Buddha for deceiving her. Anger towards the little, red demons for enjoying her terror and pain. Anger towards Mara for demanding sacrifices like her. Anger towards herself for allowing herself to be tricked and subjugated to this level of fear and agony. Seconds ticked by and when the final second struck the hour, a loud and violent bell rang far off into the distance yet to Olivia, it sounded like it was right in her ears. It vibrated her brain and she thought she'd pass out. That was until the not-Buddha emerged from the darkness like Californian smog.

As he spoke, Olivia could hear the smile in his voice. "Is the lady prop'rly did prepare f'r the ritual?"

The red devils chattered in excitement and the impersonator understood it to be a 'yes'.

"Then alloweth us beginneth!"

Suddenly a loud, rhythmic bang of a drum began playing in the void. The ritual had begun. With the signal to begin the ritual the red naked demonlings once again began their chorus and dance. They spun and swung each other while chanting that same horrendous word.

"Penis!

Penis!

Penis!"

Olivia began to sob as the flames, too, began their ascent. They tickled the soles of her sneakers, burning through the rubber bottoms. She felt the scorching heat threaten to burn her alive, and it would if she couldn't escape. And she did want to escape, but an hour of twisting and turning against the ropes had tired her out and the burning flame caused her great dehydration. She was weak and could not escape. As the blaze got higher, the sparks burned hotter. The condensation on Olivia's skin was probably enough to put out the fire if she collected it all in a bucket. She was sure she would die of dehydration before burning to death.

All at once, everything went to shit. There was a high-pitched KLANG followed by a resounding CLASH! The demons--horrible little mongrels--ceased their choir and began shrieking. They ran in every direction, some bumping into each other, screaming for dear life. Olivia, blind to the events unfolding in front of her, turned her head left then right, forgetting that she could not see.

"Nay! This cannot beest!" Somewhere in the distance, Mara's underling shouted in anger and confusion. "Thee aren't did suppose to beest h're!" And with a flick of his shadow-hand, he vanished in a puff of smoke, fleeing from the battle before him.

Just as quickly and suddenly as they began, the screams and sounds of metal clashing ceased. All was quiet, eerily so. Olivia shuddered, scared of what could be powerful enough to defeat the hundreds of red devils and frighten the not-Buddha into running. There was a whispering hisssss as if water was dumped on a scorching fire, extinguishing it for good. The sudden lack of burning heat caused Olivia to shiver, quaking in the ropes.

There was a SWISH and suddenly, she was falling. She slammed into the soaked logs that once stoked a deadly blaze. The ropes had been slashed and she was free. She let out a breathy laugh, relief flooding her mind. She sat up on her knees and reached to remove that damned blindfold. She ripped it from her head and squeezed her eyes shut, getting used to the lighter darkness. She opened her eyes and straight ahead of her, there was a pair of legs. Clad in dark black jeans, the legs were strong and long. She followed the legs up and up to the face of a familiar man.

"What the hell are you doing here, Liv?"