Young Writers Society

There were five sacrifices for the Somninecro. Four Somnists and one peasant. The Somnists were higher up in the hierarchy. The peasant's name was Jakob. None of them knew what their fate was to be, though the Somnists knew that they would all die. Jakob was just bewildered as to why he had been knocked out and spirited away from his family. They were all kept together in a cell and given the best food available. There were two women and two men, besides himself. The others names were Rone, Florence, Eric, and Matthew. They all seemed aware of why they were being held there, but none of them would disclose their fate. As the others woke up and before they went to sleep, they would kneel and pray to something called Somninecro. When he asked what it was, they glared and turned away.

One day, they were all chained together, except for Rone, and marched to some great auditorium. Rone stood in center stage, chained to a pole. While before, she had been wearing a headdress, now her red hair was worn down. There was a hooded man standing in front of her, fumbling with some metal contraption. He turned to the audience, and a cloaked man with a long beard stood up and started chanting in another language. The hooded man was wearing strange rings on each finger, they had huge metal claws on them. Another hooded man walked up with a small, shovel-shaped knife. He took her hand gently and began ripping out her nails. She winced, but kept her silence. He lifted the strange knife and began sawing at her lips. Tears flashed in the corner of her eyes. He grabbed her ear. There was a horrible tearing noise. She gave a quick scream. Blood spurted from where her ear had been, he did the same to the other side. He swiftly reached up and dug deep behind her eye. Blood poured down her face, trickling into her mouth. Her other eye rolled back and she slumped against her bindings. He quickly popped out both her eyes. He stepped back. The hooded figure with the metal claws stepped forward. He shouted something in the strange language and plunged the claws into her chest. There was a moment of stillness, then blood spilled down her chest. He dug the claws in deeper, then tore something out of her chest. It was her heart. Blood spurted everywhere, out of the gaping hole in her chest, out of her still-beating heart. Her empty eye sockets widened she tried to breathe and she gave a rattling, choking cough, and blood gushed out of her mouth. As they were led away, two cloaked figures carried her body away.

A few weeks later, they were taken to the auditorium again, this time minus Eric. By the time they reached it this time, he had already had his nails, lips, ears, and eyes removed. The hooded figure held a large jar. Eric was tied to the ground. The hooded figure picked up the jar and shook it gently over him. Tiny black things scattered over him. Almost immediately, Eric howled in pain and writhed back and forth. He was covered with a thousand tiny bites, you could actually see his flesh being eaten away. He thrashed from side to side, trying to shake off a minuscule adversary. He screamed a final time, and was still. All that was left was a skeleton.

Life went on, they continued to be given the best food available, and they were generally treated very well. Although none of them gave any hint about when the next execution was to be, there was terror in the others' eyes.

Matthew was next. Jakob wished that it had been Florence, as she unnerved him. They were taken to the auditorium and he had his nails, lips, ears, and eyes removed. Surprisingly, he stayed conscious the entire time. The hooded figure held a handled metal spike, about five inches long. Jakob shuddered at the thought of what was about to happen. The figure tied Matthew's head to the pole, stepped forward, and jammed the metal spike up under his chin. It was razor sharp. The man thrust it in farther and it came out of his cheek. He yanked it out, and drove it in again, it came out his other cheek. Blood spurted out of the holes in his cheeks. He coughed and spat out blood. The man positioned it a final time, and drove it in. It went straight up, piercing the roof of his mouth, propping his mouth open so he gagged and choked a bit on his blood. Tears streamed down his cheeks, mixing with blood. The man pushed harder, and the tip of it appeared at the bridge of his nose. Blood was everywhere, Matthew's head lolled, he coughed and blood gushed from his mouth and nose. They were led away.

Jakob was scared, terrified of what they might do to him. Florence didn't help, with her praying all the time, and her dirty looks when he tried to make conversation. One day, however, she explained a bit about the Somninecro.

"Somninecro is the great God of man, he rules all humans on earth. The only way to see him is through death. But you may glimpse his true glory when you endure pain and suffering. All humans must endure pain and suffering. Otherwise you are nothing more than a weed. Soon you will have the greatest honor of all. You shall be sacrificed to my lord." She never spoke to him again.

This time Jakob was the only one to be taken to the auditorium. Florence stood in the center, chained to the floor, her hands tied behind her back. After her nails, etc. had been removed, a strange mechanism was rolled onto the stage. Like two walls with two long poles sticking out of them, and a strange sort of crank coming out the back. The crank was turned until the poles touched her temples. The hooded figure began to slowly crank. Florence screamed in pain. The blunt poles pushed harder and harder on her head. Her eyes rolled, her breath was short. Her black hair stained with blood. She screamed like an animal, when it is injured and sees the visage of death. The poles pushed harder, and there was an unearthly crack. Florence sagged, the poles, now going through her skull, holding her up. Blood gushed out of her nose, mixed with tiny clumps of brain. The man removed the poles and Florence crumpled to the ground, as blood sprayed out of the twin holes in her skull. Jakob was taken back to his cell, shuddering at what he had just seen.

Weeks passed, and there was no sign of what would happen to him. One day, after eating, black spots clouded his vision, and he blacked out. When he awoke, he felt slightly sick, and his ear itched deep down inside. After about a day, the sickness ebbed slightly, weeks passed and he felt feverish, as if there were things crawling inside him. About a month after he passed out, he began vomiting blood. He kept finding strange holes in his skin. Occasionally he would see strange things moving in the holes, which never healed. He became unable to stand, and he could not swallow. One day he was blindfolded and taken through a long series of tunnels. When the blindfold was removed he was standing on the stage. His fingernails were removed, but he didn't feel anything. His lips were cut off, and it hurt, but the pain felt distant. When his ears were cut off, he felt something crawl down the side of his face, it was some kind of centipede. His eyes were cut out, and he felt something stir, deep in his chest. Suddenly, there was excruciating pain everywhere. All the holes in his skin tore wider, and bugs crawled out of them. They crawled out of his mouth, nose, and his empty eye sockets. He fell to to the ground. As he lay dying, he saw a tall figure cloaked in black. As his vision dimmed, the figure leaned down, and through dulled ears, he heard the figure speak, in a voice made of ice,

"Somninecro...Somninecro."

Fin