The Owl

By this point in the ceremony, the fire was roaring as if possessed by the devil himself, the socializing between villagers was coming to an end, and most of the villagers were dressed in their white gowns. It has now become time to continue on with the towns' oldest tradition, simply referred to as "The Ceremony", this one night of every year, the town celebrates their founding and prays for a good harvest by human sacrifice. The unlucky individual who is picked is crucified on an upside down cross and lit upon fire. Every year, when the offering is on the cross, the villagers always have the same reaction. They stare at the offering as if entranced by the fire, so much so that they cannot even hear the cries of agony from the towns "lucky" sacrifice. When the cries of terror end and the fire begins to dwindle, the town rejoices and embraces each other with happiness. Another successful ceremony and the hope for another successful harvest in the coming year.

The time has come. It is time for this year's offering. A young woman is brought out from a large tent, resisting as much as she can whilst wailing at the top of her lungs not to do this. Tears were running down her face. The villagers began to take the girl up to the overturned cross. It is the belief of the villagers that she will now spend eternity in hell because of her sacrifice which will appease the devil. The girl is having her arms bound and tied to the cross as she looks up and locks eyes with a young boy. He was the same age of the girl, probably in his teens. They knew each other. They loved each other. The boy had a tear shed from one of his eyes as he tried to maintain composure. The desperate look in the girls' eyes as she stared back at the boy. She was looking for any semblance of hope from him. Anything from him to say that she was going to be okay. It was a stare so deep that she saw into him. He could feel it in his chest. He had to do something. Anything. He couldn't sit by and watch the girl he loves die. With little rationale and little to no thought, the boy leaped up and ran to the girl. The rest of the village was watching but waiting patiently for the ceremony to commence. The boy hit the 2 people bringing the girl in in the head. They dropped unconscious almost immediately. He untied the girl quickly since the two had never finished tying her up. The entire village was gathered but was now attentive to what they were witnessing. Torches were lit, pitchforks were hoisted, and yells of disgust, anger, and murder were in the air.

The boy grabbed the girl by the hand and began to run. They had no option but to run. It was the best thing he could think of doing. They were chased through the woods by the villagers. It was dark in the woods aside from the glow of torches behind them and the luminescence of the moon peaking in between branches above them. The two lovers tried to gain as much distance from the villagers as they could. They weren't very far away from the villagers trying to kill them. The two felt like they could hear the angry villagers all around themselves. They were so tired from running already. The two were completely lost but saw an opening in the brush in front of them. Tired and with no other options, they decided to give it a chance as it sounded somewhat quiet. They went to the opening and pushed through. The two lovers came up to a small clearing where the moon shone bright above them as a centerpiece to the twinkling stars in the clear sky.

Hoot.

The boy was spooked by this sound and turned around many times to ascertain where the sound was coming from. His heart was beating through his chest to the point it felt like it was going to come out of his throat.

Hoot.

The boy looked around more carefully and slowly this time, still on edge and at high alert. The boy finally noticed a barn owl, sitting on a low branch of a tree, staring directly at them. The boy locked eyes with the owl and was both frightened but also mesmerized by the creature. It was as if he was under the control of the barn owl. His thoughts weren't his own. But he started to like them. Within a matter of seconds, the boy was completely controlled by the owl. He could only do and say what the owl told him to do. His eyes glowed white for a brief moment before returning to their natural hue.

He looked at the girl, nothing noticeably different about him after this encounter, he looked the exact same. She spoke to him asking if he was alright and looked at the owl but looked away almost instantly, she was scared. She told the boy that she was scared. The fear behind her words would have sent chills down your spine.

"Please make the owl go away, it scares me. I just want to get out of this crazy nightmare of a night and this insane village."

The boy looks up at the owl as his eyes glow for another brief moment and then recede back to normal. It lasted for less than a second so the girl couldn't see that it happened. The boy shouted something at the owl, and it flew away into the night. Everything seemed quiet around them. They couldn't even hear the villagers now. He turned to look at the girl and hug her. He grabs her by the arm and starts to lead her out of the woods. She keeps saying how scared she is and how she's so happy that the boy saved her. She keeps talking about how much she loves you and about you both getting to safety. The love that she had for him had swelled to all time high. He continues to lead her out of the woods, he hardly spoke to her, mainly just acknowledging her words. They had been walking for some time now and finally see an opening up ahead of them.

They get to the opening and what the girl sees almost makes her faint. Her eyes wide with terror, she sees the cross. The boy brought her out of the woods right back to where the ceremony would have taken place. And right there in front of her, are the villagers, calm as if they had been waiting there the entire time. She turns to run as the boy grabs her wrist and holds on tight with such a force that the girl cannot go anywhere. She turns to him screaming, "What are you doing!? They are about to kill us! We need to go."

The boy looks at the girl, his eyes are glowing white. Fear has overtaken the girl. She hopes that she is just having a bad dream and that she will wake up soon. Alas, this is no dream. The girl tries to pull away from the boy but to no avail as his grip is so tight. The boy takes her to the cross, practically dragging her there. He brings her to the cross slowly but consistently. Any effort to resist went unnoticed. She tried to fight him, but it was of no use. The boy is there, but he isn't there. It may look like him, but he isn't in control. He is possessed by the barn owl.

They finally get to the cross and she is tied up per the ceremony tradition. Now, the offering can begin. She screams in terror as the flame is about to be lit below her. The boy stands in front of her and begins to speak, his eyes entirely white and glowing, "This town has a longstanding tradition. A tradition that cannot and will not be disrupted. We continue our night with our yearly tradition. Our offering for a good harvest. Let the offering, begin." As the last words are spoken by the boy, the girl screams and cries. This is the end.

The girl is lit on fire and the screams of agony from pain are more for that of mercy, hoping for death, just so it will end. The girl was engulfed by the flames as cries went unnoticed.

Eventually, the girl stopped screaming. The only sounds were that of the fire now. Everyone stared into the fire as the offering was consumed. Then, they all looked up to the top of the fire to bask in its glory. The fire then suddenly receded as if controlled by some higher power. Behind the flames was the barn owl, sitting on a low hanging branch, watching this years' ceremony take place as it has for so many years already.

The end.