One of Us

by Samie Sands

  Then in unison, they all took a single step forward. He heard the thunderous simultaneous slap of dozens of sneakers, flip-flops, Crocks and sandals all strike the asphalt at the same time creating a rumbling sound that shook Quentin to his core. Then there was another followed by another. He was shell-shocked sitting, sweating and shaking, as the thundering horde grew ever closer with each slow and forceful step. Then the closest of the crowd were against the edge of the table pushing it over with the sheer weight of their mass. Quentin could smell a combination of sweat, body odor, greasy French fries and some underlying stink he couldn’t even begin to identify as the table suddenly toppled over, knocking him backward to the ground.

  Quentin felt the air explode from his lungs, first from the impact of his body hitting the hard paving then again when the rounded plastic edge of the table came crashing down upon him along with the weight of dozens of those shambling people falling with it. He heard a cracking sound followed by several sharp agonizing stabs of pain and realized his ribs had been broken. Then with his arms pinned by his sides also by the table edge, he felt it suddenly becoming more and more difficult to breath. It was then he realized his broken ribs had punctured his lungs and all of the air was leaving his body.

  Dozens of pairs of hands began to reach down toward him as he looked up into the hateful inhuman eyes of those strange crushing beings. He felt his hair torn out by the roots but he couldn’t scream because of his lack of oxygen. Soon unknown fingers entered his mouth while others pawed his face. Still others grabbed at his legs, abdomen and crotch. He felt a ripping and tearing of his clothing from his body then he felt sharp fingernails digging deep into his exposed flesh and tearing it to shreds.

  A particularly strong pair of hand found their way around his throat, making an already impossible situation even worse. With one final gasp, Quentin felt the last traces of his life fade away to nothing as he looked up at the insane pairs of angry eyes staring down at him.

  Soon the crowd stood back up and slowly work their way out into the main flow of pedestrian traffic once again leaving Quentin’s ravaged corpse lying beneath the fallen table. Once again, the air was full of the many strange and wonderful smells of the street fair.

  Thomas M. Malafarina

  Thomas M. Malafarina is a horror fiction author from the South Heidelberg Twp area of Berks County, Pennsylvania. He was born July 23, 1955, in Ashland, Schuylkill County, PA where he lived until moving to Berks County in 1979.

  Many of Thomas’s stories take place in his native Schuylkill County and also in Berks County settings. Thomas’s books are published by Sunbury Press of Mechanicsburg, PA.

  Thomas’s early novels included 99 Souls, Burn Phone and Eye Contact all three of which are now out of print, having been reworked and re-titled by Thomas from 2016-2018. They were replaced by the new books, It Waits Below, Burner and From the Dark. His novel, Fallen Stones is currently still available although this also is being reworked by Thomas and will eventually be called Circle of Blood and re-released. Other novels include three in his Dead Kill series, Dead Kill Book 1: The Ridge Of Death, Dead Kill Book 2: The Ridge of Change and the third installment, Dead Kill Book 3: The Ridge of War.

  The Play of Dionysus

  Alexander Bailey

  The lights dim.

  A hush fell over the crowd.

  The curtain pulled back to reveal a stage full of lit black candles.

  Brown robed figures walked out from each side of the stage to stand around a stone altar. The altar was stained a brownish red. The audience members in the balcony could see a pentagram on the floor made out of the same substance.

  A stone archway stood behind the altar.

  Pan flute music started to softly play from the speakers around the auditorium.

  The cult members on stage began to softly chant.

  Alex entered the auditorium into the second floor balcony. One of the benefits of working at the theatre was even in the dark he was able to find his seat.

  A figure in a purple colored robed slowly made his way out to the middle of the stage. Half of his face was covered with a white stone mask. A large knife hung from his belt.

  “Ladies and gentlemen welcome to tonight's show. You should feel very honored to be here. Very soon you will see things that will change your life! A few warnings before we proceed. If there is anyone who gets queasy at the sight of blood, they should leave now.”

  Brian thought it was strange. Though the priest was on the very edge of the stage he couldn’t see his face. In fact, he couldn’t see any of the actor’s faces.

  The priest figure gestured to the door and waited. No one moved.

  “Very well then. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Some members of the audience chuckled.

  “I am the high priest of a very old cult that worships the great God, Dionysus. To keep favor with our God we must sacrifice a virgin every year. In the old days it was easy. In these modern times things have become a bit more complicated. That being said we’ve found some ways to adapt and spread our message.”

  A female scream came from off stage.

  The high priest smiled. “I see the first special guest of the evening has regained consciousness.”

  Four cult members clad in dark green robes slowly walked on stage. Each member had a chain in their hands. The end of each chain was attached to a woman. Two chains led to shackles around her wrists. The other two led to shackles around her ankles.

  Liz couldn’t believe what she saw on stage. Part of her wants to leave, but something made her stay. She felt like she was glued to her seat.

  Gasps came from some members of the audience when they saw that the blonde woman was naked.

  The volume of the music increases.

  Some of the men in the audience started to get erection. Some women started to get damp.

  The naked woman started to scream. “Please, will someone help me? Please, this isn’t an act. Someone please help!”

  The high priest started to laugh. Addressing the audience. “Let’s give her a big hand. What an actress she is.” He started to clap.

  The audience followed suit. Some of them even felt compelled to laugh.

  Mary was impressed by the woman’s performance, but something made her feel uneasy. Something inside her told her she shouldn’t be watching this. The feeling went away when she focused on the music. It had a calming effect on her.

  The green robed figures dragged the blonde woman to the altar.

  The priest walked over to her.

  She stared at him with tears in her eyes.

  The priest smiled.

  “Why are you doing this to me?” the woman wailed.

  “For my god.” The priest smiled at her then turned to face the audience, “and because it’s fun, of course.”

  The cult members proceeded to chain the woman to altar. The high priest moved out of the way of the audience.

  The naked woman kept screaming. “Please, I have a family. I have two kids. Please, someone fucking help me.”

  “Oh, will you please shut up.” The priest moved quickly over to the woman and hit the top of her head.

  Her screaming stopped.

  The priest looked up at the audience. “That’s better, isn’t it?”

  The audience laughed.

  The green colored cult members finished securing the unconscious, naked woman to the stone altar.

  The high priest sauntered back to the front of the stage. He took a few moments to look out at the faces in the crowd.

  The music washed over the audience. Relaxation and joyful emotion seeped into the crowd.

  Stephen had never been happier in his entire life. The feel of pure euphoria washed over him. He couldn’t stop smiling.

  The priest smiled. “Now comes the fun part, my friends.” His voice could be heard over the music.

  The man in the center of the stage pulled the blade from its sheath on his waist. With two hands he held it up.

 
“This blade is a Kopis. It was used by Greek horse riders in battle. This blade in particular has seen many battles and ended the life of many strong men. I acquired it after the battle of Troy when I looted Achilles’ body. It was a sign from my God that my prayers to him had been answered. I was to use this blade to show my devotion to him. It has served me well over the years. Now let me show you wonderful people just what this blade was meant to do.”

  The audience cheered and clapped.

  Taking the blade in his right hand he moved to the altar.

  Chris was glued to his seat. Even if he could leave he didn’t want too. The show was just getting good. He heard the green robe figures start to chant. Chris couldn’t make out what they were saying. It sounded ancient. He wasn’t sure how he knew that, but he did.

  When the green robed members were finished securing the chains to the floor they joined their brothers in the circle around the altar.

  The music grew softer.

  In one swift motion the high priest was on the altar. Head leaned back and arms spread out the priest yelled to the sky. “Great lord Dionysus, hear me and see me. I commit this sacrifice in your name to gain your favor and power.”

  He slammed the blade into the naked woman’s chest.

  When the blade entered her skin the woman awoke, screaming.

  With a gleeful laugh the priest began to pull the blade in circle. The Kopis cut through the woman like a hot knife through butter.

  Halfway through the woman’s screams stopped.

  Light shone through the shone archway at the back of the stage.

  Had any of the audience members looked into the portal they would of saw a green meadow in the middle of a lush forest teeming with strange plants and animals.

  Had anyone looked to the portal they would of seen the light skinned naked man wearing a heavy stone mask step through.

  Had any members of the audience gazed into the portal their minds would have broken, causing them to leave the theatre screaming.

  As it was all eyes were on the high priest laughing as he cut the woman's heart out of her chest. The audience laughed with him.

  EMILY’S HAND FLEW TO her mouth. She was horrified by how real the props and makeup looked. After a few seconds she realized how ridiculous it was to be horrified. She should be happy she got to witness something this amazing.

  After the naked man was fully through the portal went dark. The man leaned against one of the pillars and surveyed the crowd. His dark eyes shone with excitement.

  Once the cutting was done the high priest set the bloody Kopis next to the dead woman on the altar. Standing up with his arms raised he showed the crowd the beating heart give its last few beats.

  The audience went wild with cheers and applause.

  The cult members around the altar ceased their chanting.

  Still holding the heart aloft the priest jumped off the altar.

  The masked man and the priest met in the middle of the stage. The priest fell to his knees before his God.

  Edward couldn’t help but noticed how well-endowed the masked figure was. Something inside him stirred with desire.

  “My lord Dionysus I present this offering to gain your blessing and favor.”

  Dionysus removed his stone mask. A smile full of bright white teeth was plastered on his face. He placed a hand on the cult leader’s shoulder.

  “You have done well, my child. I see you were even able to bring a large audience this time. I’m very proud of you.” He took the offered heart and walked over to the altar. The priest followed him.

  Dionysus whispered something to the high priest. The man nodded and grinned.

  The high priest moved to the front of the stage.

  Dionysus placed his stone mask next to the dead woman. From behind the altar he grabbed a large chalice and small thick staff with a pine at the top. Using the altar as a table he placed the heart into the chalice. Using the bloody Kopis he sliced his hand open over the chalice. The wound healed itself when the cup was about half full. After setting the Kopis back on the altar Dionysus went to work stirring the blood and heart together with his pine cone tipped thyrsus.

  The music grew softer.

  Amy was a little disappointed when she realized the play was almost over. She was also disappointed that Dionysus was standing behind the altar. It blocked her view of the best part of the play.

  In the middle of the stage the high priest began to speak to the audience.

  “Ladies and gentlemen tonight's entertainment will soon be coming to an end. Thank you all for coming. The power is greater the more people we have in one room. Now we have one more bit of business to finish up the ceremony.”

  The brown and green robbed figures moved away from the altar to the center of the stage. Dionysus looked out over the crowd as he continued to stir the concoction in the chalice. Twelve different people noticed his gaze. Something stirred inside each of them.

  “The drink our god is making will grant us the ability to pass through the gate way. Once there our bodies will be reshaped. Then we will truly be Dionysus’ children.”

  The crowd cheered.

  Mark was felt himself full of joy. He had never been this happy in his life before. He didn’t even want to come out tonight, but he agreed making his wife happy in hopes of her actually having sex with him later.

  When Dionysus tapped his thyrsus against the chalice the cheers of the music and cheers where silenced. With two hands he brought the chalice over to the gathered cult. The first member in line took the offering. They took sip and passed the chalice along.

  Dionysus walked back over to the naked dead woman.

  Once the last few drops of liquid went down the high priest's throat the middle of the stone archway lit up.

  “Enter my children to your new home.” Dionysus called. “I’ll be joining you very soon. There is just one last thing I have to do here.”

  The people on stage began to chant once more. One by one, with the high priest in front, they entered into the portal. The light dimmed once the last member walked through.

  Dionysus watched it all from the front of the altar. His back to the silent audience.

  He slowly climbed into the blood covered stone.

  When was face to face with the dead woman he leaned down kissing her on the lips. Had anyone been on the stage next to him they would have seen a small seed pod pass from the God’s mouth and into the woman's.

  Janet felt jealousy when she saw her god kiss the dead woman. She started to wonder on ways to make him kiss her that way.

  Suddenly, Dionysus jumped onto the stage floor facing the audience. He gave a final bow.

  The lights went dark.

  The curtain fell.

  The audience roared with applause.

  Walking out of the theatre Jeremy felt the most satisfied he felt in years. He didn’t want this feeling to go away. He started thinking of ways to keep this high.

  Long after the audience left the woman sat up from the altar. The hole in her chest completely healed. She took a few moments to take in her surroundings.

  The altar to the home of Dionysus was gone. In its place was a chair with a lush purple robe laid on it.

  As the woman moved to put on the robe she knocked something of the altar.

  Fully clothed she picked up the Kopis placing it in the sheath on the robe.

  Walking off stage she passed the now broken stone altar. Something caught her eye.

  It looked to be half of a stone mask.

  She placed it on her face.

  “Thy will be done my lord Dionysus.”

  RAPID CITY NEWS!

  “Missing girl found!”

  Late last night Abigail Williams, age 20, was reunited with her family after being missing for close to three months. She has no memory of what happened after she was kidnapped. The custodian at the local community theatre called police last night after he found Ms. Williams naked in the alley behind the theatre. She was taken to
Rapid City General to be check over for any injuries. The only injuries that doctors were able to find was an odd circle shaped wound on her chest. Not finding any complication with the wound she was released into the care of her family.

  “New Actor Troupe in Town”

  It seems that a group of twelve stranger are getting together to take famous play “The Play of Dionysus” on the road. Troupe leader, Alex, had this to say............

  The End

  Alexander Bailey

  Alexander lives and works in Iowa. When not working his two jobs Alex can be found reading or playing video games. His favorite genre for both is Horror. One day Alex hopes to be able to write full time.

  Wingreen Uprising

  C.L. WIlliams

  The following story is a prequel to the story “Wingreen Possession” that appears in the anthology Ghostly Writes Anthology 2018.

  Reverend William Michaels is delivering his usual Sunday sermon in front of his congregation as they latch onto every word he speaks. He follows his sermon with the breaking of the bread for communion and ends the Sunday Services with a prayer. After he says “Amen” he then walks to the door as his congregation walks out and each member of the congregation shakes his hand as they leave the church.