Bane

October 25, 1993

7:10 PM

Lillian sat on the carpeted floor of her living room with six others in a large circle. "There is such a darkness coming." She packed a rosewood pipe with salvia. "I dreamt of something horrible in the days coming. When it comes, I don't know... time is so fluid, but I saw it, and I see."

Daniel in his tie dyed shirt and dancing Jerry Bears stared at Lillian from behind gold wire rimmed glasses. "These are hard times, Lillian. The Inquisition is declared war on us."

Lillian sat the pipe on the floor before her. "Daniel, don't I know it? I've been at odds with their order a long time now."

"They're not good people." Suheila, sitting to the left of Daniel, pulled her hair behind her ear. "I thought they were, trusted they were. They let me down. Cameron Dean let me down."

"They are an order of liars." Jeremy, to the right of Daniel, looked around the circle from person to person. Shasta, to the left of Suheila, nodded. To her left, next to his Lillian - his mother - Russell smirked.

"What we need is a sympathetic ear. Someone with real pull." Lillian retrieved the Pipe set, and touched the salvia in the bowl. It lit with a hot spark.

"David Walker would help us, were he not... previously indisposed." Russell looked over the others in the circle. "My mother can protect us from the outside threats. We need a circle."

"You are all young." Lillian took a deep, long drag from the pipe. She exhaled a blue-black cloud of smoke, speaking through it. "...but through me you can all be more. Alone, we can only handle so much, but collectively, we can work wonders and restore balance to Driftwood. Alone, we are nothing. Together, we are everything."

"I am with you." Suheila opened her hand, and Lillian leaned in and passed the pipe to her.

"Breathe deeply from the pipe, and pass it to the next who joins."

"I'm with you." Jeremy said as Suheila inhaled deeply from the pipe. She coughed out a large cloud of the potent sage, passing the pipe to Jeremy.

One at a time, each in the circle joined with the next in a pledge to Lillian's circle.

"Together we are Driftwood, it's true sons and daughters. Any to stand against us would be fools. Now join me in a vision. Let us see what great things Driftwood will bring us."

✟ ☧ ✟

Midnight

Simon's hands were red-brown under the pale light of Simon's lanterns, his fingers still stained with his mother's blood.

He shoveled the last pile of dirt over her grave in the woodlands nearest where once stood Nida, and Amir's home before it met its fate in flames.

Mother.

Mother. Not his mother. Not anymore. Not after discovering her with another man, using her body to obtain the opiates, and the needle. She passed before she realized what Simon did. The man with her was not so lucky, and if Simon was lucky, he could finish the deed when he got home.

Simon perked as a shrill scream echoed through the woods. The screaming was closer.

Simon gripped his shovel.

"Help! Help me!" She ran into Simon, the two toppling over the freshly filled grave.

Simon groaned. "Help. Help you?"

"He's coming!" She clawed at the dirt, the still soft, earthy clumps breaking on her grip.

"What? Who?"