The Black Farm

by Elias Witherow

  When I eventually reached the pew-filled room, I was grateful to see that it had emptied. The altar stood vacant of the cross-breed monster. I knew where they had all gone.

  I walked to the basement stairs and peered down into the darkness, the sharp corner halfway down revealing nothing of what waited below.

  Gritting my teeth, I descended.

  As my feet echoed down the steps, I began to hear a noise. It was distant at first, but as I rounded the corner, it grew louder. It sounded like chanting.

  Bowls of fire hung from the ceiling, casting shadows across the dim depths. As I delved further downward, the stone walls pressed in tight and I fought against a growing sense of claustrophobia.

  Finally, I reached the bottom and my boots kicked up dirt as I walked into a large open room with a low ceiling. Pillars of stone rose from the earth and I booted a pebble ahead of me. I could see a mass of Hooves toward the end of the long room, a cluster of robes and drawn hoods. They were sitting down on the bare floor, their backs to me.

  I cautiously approached, searching for Peter. As I got closer, I spotted dark holes in the walls, crude passageways that disappeared deeper into the Temple. I could only imagine the horrific secrets that waited at the end of them.

  I was about a dozen yards from the Hooves when I froze, the state of their stillness now apparent. They were watching something.

  I slid to hide against a stone pillar, heart accelerating.

  A single Pig Born stood before the collection of people, a fat behemoth of incredible weight. His stomach sagged over his nakedness, a drooping deluge of pale, scabbed flesh. Its face was twisted and broken, teeth jutting from a broken jaw, tongue lapping at cracked lips. Its eyes rolled in its head, breath coming out in panting gasps. But it didn’t move. It just stood there, before the others, waiting for something.

  A scream suddenly echoed from one of the dark passageways behind the Pig Born, bouncing off the stone walls and filling the space.

  The Hooves of the Pig stirred, an air of excitement sparking between them.

  Another scream followed.

  It sounded female.

  I wiped sweat from my brow and tried to calm myself as the scream grew louder, now accompanied by a rattle of chains. The Pig Born stamped its feet in excited anticipation and I felt my stomach plummet.

  A hooded man emerged from the passageway, a long chain in his hands vanishing into the black behind him. He gave it a sharp tug and I heard a cry of pain from inside. The man reeled in the coiling iron and after a moment, two shackled women exited the hole in the wall.

  They were naked and filthy, their shivering bodies trembling beneath the crackle of fire overhead. Tears filled their eyes and horror swelled across their faces as they saw the Pig Born waiting from them.

  The first woman was in her fifties, a tussle of gray hair cut short across her scalp. She was bleeding from the nose and she sobbed, covering herself in shame and fear. The man holding the chain jerked her forward and she cried out, almost falling. The second woman caught her and put a hand on her arm, their eyes meeting.

  My heart stopped and all sound drained from the room.

  The second woman…was Jess.

  I slammed my hand over my mouth to stifle the call rising in my throat, tears jumping from my eyes at the sight of her. My knees melted and I heard the ax fall by my side.

  Jess looked like absolute hell. Her blond hair was a snarl of filth and her face shined black and blue along one of her cheeks. Dried blood coated her right arm and her left thigh sported a long cut that wrapped itself around her body. Her skin was pale and gaunt and she struggled to stay standing, the chains around her wrists so tight they drew blood.

  It was really her…Jess…my sweet Jess.

  I felt like I was standing on an island opposite her, the world stripped away to leave nothing but her image before me. Every drop of blood, sweat, and grime staining her skin consumed me, every detail and strand of hair, every breath she took was like a gale that blew heavy across my soaring heart.

  Look at what they’ve done to her. Look at what they’ve done to the woman you love.

  Murder rose inside of me like a demon, a brutal rage that roared like furious hell. My hands balled into fists and I began to shake with the violence screaming inside of me. Sweat dripped from my nose and my teeth screeched against one another as I ground them, jaw popping.

  Get. Her. Out. Of. Here.

  The hooded man holding the end of the chain was circling Jess and the other woman, the crowd in front of me beginning to murmur their approval. The Pig Born stomped its feet once again and jiggled its dangling cock at them, its passion growing.

  Stop this. You have to stop this.

  But what the hell was I supposed to do? If I charged in screaming, ax raised, I’d be cut down in seconds. I tapped my fingers against my thigh in a frenzied panic, knowing my time was growing short.

  “Fuck,” I hissed, maddeningly frustrated, emotions bleeding uncontrollably.

  You need a distraction. You have to get them out of the basement.

  My eyes roamed the basement as the herd before me began to chant again, the sexual energy rising. My mind threw every possible option across my unsteady judgment, and I countered each with how long I would live if put into action.

  And then an idea popped into my mind and I seized it with desperate certainty. I stooped down and retrieved my ax, casting a look at the crowd. The Pig Born was approaching the first woman, running its ruined fingers through her hair, snot and pus leaking from its face. The Hooves were riling it up.

  “I’ll be right back,” I whispered to Jess, never taking my eyes from her shivering body. “Wait for me just a moment longer. I’ll get you out of here.”

  I turned and ran back to the stairs, my heart crashing into my chest like the tick of a clock. I took the steps two at a time, my ax clinking against the stone. Everything had been stripped away once I saw Jess. It was now or never. She was all that mattered.

  I reached the top and spun around in the sanctuary, raking my memory for the correct hallway. After a second, I bolted toward one that looked familiar, passing a startled Hoof. As I ran down the passageway, I saw him turn, lowering his hood and eying me cautiously.

  They were all supposed to be downstairs. Oh well, it’s too late now, I thought, ripping around another corner and spotting the door I had been looking for.

  I reached it and allowed myself a single second to breathe. Then I put my boot through the wood, knocking the flimsy door off its hinges.

  “Nick!”

  I entered the room, dark death hanging above my shoulders like wings. “Hello, Ryder.”

  His naked mass was just as offensive as I remembered. He shifted his bulk on the bed, propping his drooping stomach up; his flabby back made the headboard creak. The bowl of fire overhead spit shadows over my face as I walked to him, knuckles white against the handle of my ax.

  Megan was still chained to his bedside, her arm now completely flayed to the bone, all the way down to her fingers. She looked completely comatose, her skin a sickly white, dried blood pooling the floor where she sat.

  She slowly raised her eyes to look up at me, squinting in pain. For a moment, she didn’t recognize me, then something like surprise rose to the surface.

  “N-Nick?” She asked so quietly I thought I imagined it.

  “What is all this about? What are you doing here?” Ryder demanded, his fat face twisting like a squished doughnut.

  I stomped to the bed and shoved the head of my ax into Ryder’s face, the blade inches from his upturned nose, my voice dripping with vengeance. “Keep your fucking mouth shut, you goddamn pig.”

  Flustered by my aggression, he snorted, “Listen, I don’t know who you think you are, but-”

  I pressed the blunt end of the blade into his face, my voice grating like steel. “Open your mouth again and I’ll gut-fuck you with this ax.”

  His mouth dropped open and I knelt down and stared into Megan
’s eyes, sympathy leaking from my own. This poor woman. What hell had she endured in this room?

  “Kill…me…” she begged, voice cracking with effort, “release me…back into the Farm.”

  I stared at her for another second and then gave a quick nod, “Stay safe.”

  I raised my axe and swung it into her neck as hard as I could. Megan’s expression never changed as the blade severed her head, spraying my knees with a gout of blood.

  “No!” Ryder yelled, jerking the chains that had held her. “What have you done?!”

  I exhaled thoughts of Megan and inhaled the image of Jess, waiting below. I turned to Ryder, a snarl twisting my lips.

  “This nightmare ends today,” I growled, “the Temple, the Hooves, and most importantly…” I leaned into him, “You.”

  Ryder’s eyes went wide with shock. “You can’t do that! Think about what you’re saying! Think of all this place has given you!” his tongue slithered between his lips like an obese worm. “What do you want, Nick? Tell me and it’s yours.”

  I raised the ax over my head, “I want you dead.”

  He extended his stubby arms to me, panic bleeding into his face. “No! No, we can help each other! Together we can build this Temple into—”

  I slammed the blade of the ax into his stomach.

  His screams shook the walls and I grinned, ripping the sharp edge toward me and opening up his heaving mass. Coils of gore spilled onto the floor followed by a waterfall of blood, Ryder’s face contorted in shocked agony.

  I plowed the ax back into his exposed guts, a sickly squishing noise bringing with it a splash of blood that fell like rain on my face.

  “You’re a big boy,” I cackled, “this could take a while.” I hacked into his stomach again, further separating the flesh. Ryder began to shake, his cries warming my heart with deathly intention.

  I slammed the blade deep into his splitting stomach, feeling something important rupture beneath its sharp bite. More blood soaked my arms and face and I grinned around it, the red staining my teeth.

  “Lucky for you,” I said panting, jerking the blade free to another scream, “I don’t have all day to kill you.”

  Ryder’s eyes rolled in his head, lost in pain, blood leaking from the corners of his mouth. His bulk quivered on the bed like a bowl of trembling lard, splattering the carnage against the walls.

  I lifted my ax above my head and hooked the blade around the bowl of fire hanging over the bed. Slowly, I pulled it down and watched as the burning oil fell, splashing with a flare of heat into Ryder’s open stomach and across the floor.

  Immediately, his pounds of fat began to sizzle, encouraged by the blazing oil. I had turned his body into a human fire pit, and I stepped back and watched him burn. His howls of agony reached a new level as he tried to swat out the hungry flames, but he couldn’t reach across his rolling bulk.

  “Looks like it’s back to square one for you,” I said. I was counting on his screams, counting on his bulk to burn and spread, the flames licking at the bed frame and across the floor.

  I turned to leave and froze. The man I had brushed past earlier was standing in the doorway, mouth open in horrific shock.

  I stared at him, unmoving, my ax resting loosely in my hands.

  “W-what have you done?” he asked, paralyzed by the sight of me.

  I gave him a smile, the one with the edges, as blood dripped from my face. “Come on, come get yours, cunt.”

  He took a step back, despite Ryder’s dying screams, conflicting impulses written plainly across his face.

  I threw my ax at him with all my might. The head struck him in the shoulder and he let out a cry of pain, fumbling against the wall of the hallway. I didn’t give him any time to recover. I sprang forward and gripped his face in my palm, slamming the back of his head against the hard stone.

  I heard a satisfying crunch, and then he was falling to the floor, leaving behind a streak of red.

  I steadied myself and wiped a handful of blood from my face. I could taste it on my tongue, smelled it with every pant of breath. I scooped up my axe, Ryder’s screams still roaring behind me.

  Time to see if they’d take the bait.

  I bolted down the hall back to the basement, upturning every bowl of fire I came across. Even as I reached the stairs, I could still hear the howls of my violent work. I thundered down the stone decline and raced into the gloomy depths of the Temple, wiping blood from my face.

  I jumped the last step, hiding my ax behind my leg, the Hooves still splayed out before me, “Stop! Stop everything!”

  In unison, the crowd turned, and I spotted Peter’s flaring eyes in the mass. The Pig Born had the first woman against the wall, one gnarled hand between her legs. It appraised me viciously, infuriated that I had halted its sexual feast.

  I pointed toward the stairs, yelling, “It’s Ryder! There’s someone in his room killing him! We have to go stop them! Let’s GO! NOW!”

  Confused rippled through them, and a few stood, shock painting their faces. They looked at one another, lowering their hoods, murmurs snaking between them.

  “He’s fucking DYING!” I screamed, motioning them forward, “Come ON!”

  Peter pushed through the crowd, a sudden urgency in his step, “Follow me everyone, let’s see who dare defiles our temple!”

  A roar of anger rose from the Hooves and they charged the stairs, a worried desperation shaking away any lingering doubt. They quickly filed up the stairs, each one eager to be the first to put down the attacker. I knew that each one of them probably saw it as an opportunity to rise in standing, a showcase of dedication to their precious religion. They would be a hero.

  As they poured past me, I smiled internally, pressing my bloodied axe against the back of my leg, hiding it in the low light. They thundered up the stairs, Ryder’s screams now audible. It fueled the mob mentality, bringing a roar of concern.

  A cloud of dirt and dust was all that remained of them, the basement empty. I heard the crash of feet upstairs and I quickly turned to the Pig Born and two women. Jess was on her knees, crying in the corner, lost in the madness of her surroundings. The other one was frozen in place, pinned to the wall by the Pig Born. It ignored me and turned back to her, intent on finishing what it had started. It slid its fingers back between her legs, its diseased tongue lapping at the woman’s neck.

  I strode forward, bringing my ax around and over my head.

  At the last second, the Pig Born turned and I saw something like fear enter its eyes. The blade split its skull down the middle, spilling rot onto the floor, its body dropping like a sack of sand. The woman it had been molesting didn’t even scream. She raised her hands over her head, silent cries pouring from her lips.

  I severed her chains with a swift chop and pointed toward the stairs, my voice urgent, “Run!”

  She stared at me for a moment and then I grabbed her by the neck and shoved her. “Go! HURRY!”

  As I turned to Jess, I heard the woman sprinting for the stairs, now audible sobs tearing from her throat.

  Ignoring her, I quickly got down on my knees in front of Jess, cupping a hand under her chin and turning her face to me. “Jess?” My voice trembled as I touched her.

  Curling into herself, still crying, Jess raised her eyes to mine and I melted.

  “Nick?” she sobbed, breathless, unbelieving.

  My chest hitched as emotion tore through me like a train. “It’s me, honey, I’m getting you out of here.”

  Fresh tears budded in her eyes and her lower lip quivered, “Nick, is it really you?”

  I lovingly stroked her bruised cheek. “It’s me, sweetie. I’m here. I’ve missed you so, so much. I’m so…so sorry…”

  Jess leaped into my arms, weeping uncontrollably, her arms wrapping around me, “Oh Nick, I thought I’d never see you again! With everything that happened and all the…the horrible…”

  I kissed her passionately, one hand wrapping around her head, filling my world with her. She
looked into my eyes as I pulled away, tears streaking trails through the grime on her cheeks.

  “Please get me out of here,” she whispered, shaking.

  I stood up, hefting my ax. “You better believe it.” I severed her chains and helped her stand, her legs shaking. I put her arm around my shoulders, her battered body even more apparent now that she was pressed up against me.

  These fucking monsters…

  “We don’t have much time,” I whispered urgently, “we’re leaving, right now. Can you walk?”

  She looked up into my face, her beautiful blue eyes the only color I ever wanted to see again, “Yeah, just help me please.”

  I smiled down at her, my heart breaking, “I’m never going to let these bastard touch you ever again.”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  I jerked my head towards the foot of the stairs and saw Peter walking toward us, machete drawn.

  “You’ve been a bad, bad boy, Nick,” he growled, voice like rolling thunder.

  11

  I watched Peter warily, unsure what to do. Jess clung to me and I wrapped an arm around her naked shoulders.

  “What have you done!?” Peter yelled, clutching the machete dangerously.

  “I’m leaving,” I said, listening to the chaos above our heads begin to escalate, “and I’m taking her with me. I won’t let you stop me.”

  Peter took an aggressive step toward me, furious. “Was any of it real? Did you ever have any intention to join us?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t want anything to do with you sick fucks.”

  Peter’s eyes narrowed. “I took you under my wing. I vouched for you. I trusted you!”

  “So what?” I spat, “that supposed to make me feel bad?”

  Peter gritted his teeth. “How did I not see this…how is any of this happening right now? Do you know the extent of what you’ve done?”

  “I extinguished a monster,” I said, hefting my ax.

  Peter pointed a finger towards the ceiling, “It’s burning. It’s all burning right now. Kind of ironic, isn’t it? The world is nothing but endless rain, but you’ve managed to start a fire in one of the few places it can’t reach.”