CW: Blood, gore, non-con, demonic possession, murder, human sacrifice, orgy, self-harm.
She shivered in the dimly-lit church. The last thing she remembered was meeting her old friend from high school, Robbie the Nerd, for dinner. That was a little unfair; they had been more like study-buddies, and he described himself as a “geek,” more than as a “nerd.” They helped each other in class: she helped him pass History and Physics, he helped her pass Chemistry and that over-the-top Robotics class she signed up for on a dare. She called him “Robbie the Nerd” because he was always reading these incredibly vapid astrology books. “There’s something to these,” he’d say, “I’ll figure out the actual science behind it one day.” He was good-looking and had played cornerback on their football team. He got recruited to Stanford but buried himself in their chemistry program instead.
He called her “Mara the Geek,” largely because she was into cosplay- she made him dress up as Dez and Rez from the anime “Is it Wrong to Pick Up Cute Demons at High School?” and would run around with their stuffed snake, zapping people with their Hypno-Rays. She went on to Harvard, and then to law school. She had been a little lonely throughout her life- she was married to whatever job she had- but Robbie was a friend she could never shake off. Not that she tried, really.
She had clerked for an appellate court judge and just missed out on clerking for a Supreme Court justice. She was settling in at a white shoe firm in DC when she got the email from Robbie.
Robbie was in town on some typical “hush hush” pharmaceutical business and wanted to go out for dinner and maybe some dancing. She had always found him somewhat attractive, but for whatever reason they never hooked up, aside from that drunken grad night that neither of them really remembered and neither of them ever wanted to talk about.
She got dressed up- she looked good, but not devastating, and he looked well-put together (as he usually did) and a little nervous. He blamed the nerves on a presentation he had to do later that week. She offered to help him-she even offered to sign an NDA-but he said that the less she knew the better it’d be.
She insisted, however, since they had plenty of time before dinner.
He set up his laptop, gave her a glass of red wine, and started talking… and then…
The next thing she knew she was in what appeared to be a church. She realized that only a certain kind of church had that color of wood. For some reason, she was staring straight ahead and couldn’t move her neck or eyes. Out of the corner of her vision, she could see some candlelight reflecting off of some kind of stained glass which separated this room from the next. She could also sense one… maybe more… people behind her. She strained to talk, to moan, to move her head, her neck, her eyes.., to swallow, even. But she couldn’t do any of these. She couldn’t even hold her breath. She suddenly felt like a passenger in her own body.
Her body.
She could tell she wasn’t wearing the outfit she remembered wearing to Robbie’s house. She felt naked under some kind of tight robe that clung to her.
Robbie.
Her mouth let out the slightest of noises before that same feeling of powerlessness and lack of control settled over her.
Her cry echoed in the room and she felt a jolt of tension electrify the air. It felt as if the people behind her collectively inhaled.
Mara internally winced and waited for something to happen. She had a palpable sense of foreboding descend on to her body, and she couldn’t shake it.
There was a slight, tense, pause.
All of a sudden, from the next room, there was an explosion of sound.
Mara heard the sound of organ music. Internally, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. The tune sounded straight out of one of those Italian horror films Robbie would have her watch, in exchange for making him watch that old British time travel show. What was the one he liked? “Red is My Blood; Black is My Heart!”?
That was the one involving a virginal sacrifice in order to summon….
Oh no.
A figure dressed in a cloak came from the side. It was holding what looked like a giant staff. At the top of it was some kind of red crystal that seemed to be glowing from the inside. It seemed familiar… and not just from the movie.
She felt her head move up, unbidden, to stare at the crystal.
The figure threw open what Mara realized were doors that had been right in front of her.
The organ music, suddenly louder in her head, changed from a fanfare to some regal, slow, minor-key march. With the doors opened she could see some of the room ahead.
As she suspected, it was….almost a church. The dark wood extended all around. Although there was stained glass between the vestibule and the nave, there did not appear to be any other windows anywhere in sight.
Mara’s eyes followed the red crystal up and down as the figure with the staff solemnly struck the floor three times. Then the staff, capturing her attention, advanced into the nave.
As soon as the figure went three steps Mara felt her body move forward, walking in time with the figure’s steps. Mara could feel there was another body alongside her, matching her stride for stride. She tried to get a look, but, again, her head refused to shift.
After they took three steps, she could hear footsteps behind her walking in time with her, the figure ahead and, of course, the music.
Soon she heard more feet and then even more feet; Mara quickly lost track of how many people were behind her.
As her body glided down the center aisle, she came to realize just how *not* like a church this place was. Instead of pews, there seemed to be pillows and carpets cast about. She thought she caught sight of some bondage equipment in the shadows, and maybe some things that wouldn’t have been out of place in the Inquisition.
The stained-red wood motif continued throughout the room- everything was dim, smoky, and dark red. Almost- she shuddered- blood red.
There was no altar where there should have been. There was, however, a crucifix. It was, of course, upside down. There were candles lining the center aisle leading to the dais in front. Even the candle light seemed impossibly red. The smoke had a bitter taste to it. She thought she could make out a little pot, maybe, and a lot of very exotic fragrances foreign to her.
The figure with the Staff finally reached the dais and then stopped. She stopped. The figure walking next to her stopped. The music stopped. Everyone and everything was still. Her eyes remained transfixed on the red crystal.
She was suddenly aware of another hooded figure, with its arms raised, looming on the dais. In a penetrating, deep voice, she heard it say: “In the name of the Baal, in the name of Beelzebub, in the name of Glaxya, in the memory of Lilith, and for the blessings of the Unspeakable Name themself, present the Offerings.”
Internally, Mara rolled her eyes. Externally however, she found herself launched forward, and as she passed the figure with the staff, her hands reached up to untie something at her neck, then cast off the robe with something approaching a dramatic flourish. Mara was almost glad she wasn’t in control, as she was fairly sure she would have gotten a headache from rolling her eyes so much.
It only then occurred to her that she was naked. And the impulses from her body were unmistakable— her body was very, very turned on. She noted her body was standing more erect than she had managed in years. Her head straight, chest out, and her arms slightly behind her. She walked up to the front of the Dias, paused, and then began to follow the edge of a wide circle drawn on the red ochre floor. It looked disturbingly like dried blood. And salt.
As she completed her orbit, she saw another naked body mirroring her. It was another woman, and she had a dopey, serene expression on her face. Mara hoped against hope that she didn’t share that expression.
They stopped about four feet from each other, flanking the figure who had begun the invocation. Then turned in unison to stare towards the center of the blood-red circle. There was nothing in the middle beyond a garish center of chalk and salt and red markings. It was the culmination of spirals, symbols, and words that seemed to be burning into the lower part of her eyes. Her body, though, kept staring towards the middle of the circle, and a little bit towards the ceiling.
Two by two other figures drifted around the circle. Different genders, different races, different shapes. Each and every one with the same bearing and the same batshit crazy serene expression on their face.
There were about 16 in all. Each of them stared directly across the circle at, and slightly above, another figure. Through the dim smokey air she could see the figure across from her was some chiseled body-builder. She had a vague thought about licking her way up those abs, before she cursed herself.
It was her body that was turned on… not her.
There was another stretch of silence once the naked people took positions around the circle.
“Bring to me the Staff of Openings.”
The figure with the staff walked counter clockwise around the circle. Paused, faced the High Douchebag (as Mara had decided to think of them), bowed, and presented the Staff. (Internally, Mara frowned about how certain words had started to be capitalized in her own head.)
The High Douchebag bowed and accepted the Staff. The other figure then continued counterclockwise around the circle until he took up a position opposite the H.D.
“Now, let us once more sanctify and cleanse these offerings.” With that, Mara found herself turning and joining the rest of the “Offerings” in walking- perfectly in sync-around the circle. HD held the staff out and touched each person on the forehead with the crystal as they came by. Right after this, one by one, each “Offering” began chanting something indecipherable in a kind of half-Latin, half-vaguely-Farsi, half-Russian language. (Yes, that was three “halves,” but Mara had other things concerning her than proper mathematics.)
Mara was last in line to go around the circle. Right before it was her turn, she thought she could actually move her left hand on her own. But when the crystal reached her forehead, she heard a thousand whispers calling to her, and her vision and her hearing was filled with blood.
When the redness and the whispers finally faded out she could hear herself muttering some words. She wasn’t moving, but the room had gotten smokier. HD was saying something loud and obnoxious and it soon became evident that there was some kind of ceremony. Also, about 16 more people had joined the party.
Behind every naked body (each with their arms out wide and staring into the middle distance; each visibly, physically turned on (Mr. Chiseled Abs was *very* well-endowed)) was a figure dressed in a billowing ostentatious robe which was red with black trim. She could barely make out a face for the robed person behind Mr. Abs. That figure seemed somewhat feminine in appearance and was wearing a mask. The outside figures themselves formed a circle and were chanting responses to HD’s call. Between the lowkey whispers of the naked “Offerings,” the chanting of the new people, and HD’s lead, it very much sounded like an unholy church service… or a reenactment of Eyes Wide Shut. She idly wondered who might be behind her… she couldn’t quite distinguish between the voices yet… but she also had a pretty good fucking guess.
Finally, she was able to focus on the words being said.
“As the Unholy Books of Blood have foretold, to receive the blessings of the Unspeakable Name, you must first present the flower of your heart, that it might then be plucked and planted in the Unspeakable Name’s Garden.” HD proclaimed.
The hooded figure behind her and on her right began speaking.
“Her name is Courtney. She is my boss. I do everything for her, anticipate her every need. I love her and would do anything for her.” As this first figure said this, it walked around Courtney counterclockwise, casting off their robe leaving them naked. In their hands was a shiny, intricate silver knife. Mara could tell that the figure was nervous, as their hands were shaking as they drew a knife from their belt. But they were still obviously just as turned on as any of the other naked bodies, including her own. “To make this offering my own, I combine our essences.” The figure now stood behind Courtney and wrapped their arms awkwardly around her. The figure dragged the knife across their own wrist and held it just over Courtney’s lips.
Blood. It dribbled down the blade and dripped towards Courtney’s face. As soon as it touched Courtney, her mouth, still chanting the same mantra over and over again, began moaning. She still continued the chanting, but now through moans and the constant tasting of her own lips. At that moment, a small candle on the floor, just in front of Courtney, flared into light.
The figure then took a step back and held the knife between its hands, as if praying to a god of blades.
The next figure began on the left began, “This is Steven. We grew up next door to each other. We watched each other through our bedroom windows, but our parents would never understand. We finally moved away from each other after high school. He is the love of my life, the one I always wanted for my own.” Once again, this figure disrobed, this time stood in front of Steven, and cut his wrist, dribbling blood down his face and torso. Steven moaned and twitched. It almost looked like he was about to cum right there and then, while thrusting into the air. “To make this offering my own, I combine our essences.” The figure continued, before returning to his position, naked and bleeding.
Courtney and Steven continued to chant in unison with the other Offerings, though this time with their voices shaking, like they were participants in Hysterical Literature.
This continued, Offering by Offering, all around the circle. One offering, Claudia, was someone’s wife. Jeff was someone’s husband. Yasmine had been a person’s accounting professor. Amara had been this one’s first girlfriend, while Julio had been another’s adulterous lover.
Mr. Abs, it turned out, was named Jesse, and the figure behind him said he and her had lusted after each other for a decade, with him following her to the same college, to the same city, to the same neighborhood, but they were each always too shy to do anything about their great love for each other, even though she longed to make Jesse hers. “To make this offering my own, I combine our essences.” As her blood hit Jesse’s lip, his dick got even more impossibly larger, and a giant drop of pre-cum fell slowly to the floor. Mara felt suddenly thirsty inside her body, then cursed herself again for losing control.
Finally, after what seemed like an hour, the ceremony reached her. A row of candles had lit up all around the blood-red circle, making a path to her. The candlewax was already dripping and filling up the etches around the circle.
“Her name is Mara,” said Robbie’s voice… that fucker. She had already figured it out, but to hear his voice sound out and confirm it was him was still infuriating. Her body’s voice didn’t falter, but Mara wanted to yell and scream and curse.
“I’ve loved her from the first moment I saw her. I would do anything for her. Dress up in stupid costumes. Take up football because she liked the sport.” What the fuck was he talking about? Mara remembered mentioning in passing liking the Packers when she was a kid, but that was because she had a crush on Brett Favre. “We got together once. But the heat was so great we never could talk about it again.” She was so *drunk* and *stoned* she couldn’t remember!
He could hear him walking around her, counter-clockwise, and when he passed in front of her, he managed not to make eye contact. Her body wasn’t obeying her, but oh she wish she could have kicked him in his-admittedly large-but not as large as Jesse Abs’, ha ha- dick. “And so to make this offering my own, I combine our essences.”
His arms reached around her and she could feel him against her. “It *is* bigger than any of the other acolytes’” came a thought that was surely not her own. She tried to shake it off by being as sardonic as she could about this whole stupid thing. She couldn’t deny, though, that her own body would be only too eager to betray her.
He cut across his arm – across for sympathy down if you’re serious, she thought-and tried to follow the blood as it began its inevitable drip. Robbie had bad aim- which is why he always played defense- so some of it dripped on her chest. It felt like a thousand mouths sucking her skin where it fell and drooled down her body.
Finally a drop hit her lips and-
She felt, in her entire body, every single moment in her life when she was right before an orgasm. She felt the pressure in her ears, in her heart, in her cunt, all over her clit. Her g-spot throbbed. She felt one eternal inhalation as if she were getting ready to scream. The drop of pre-cum Robbie left on her ass made her body yearn for more of his touch.
Her mind was racing. She legit felt like she was on an out-of-control whitewater raft heading towards a giant waterfall but never reaching it. Mara struggle to drown out her own internal voice, which was filling her head- in some suddenly understandable ancient language- “I surrender to the Nameless One, My sex for the Nameless One, My heart for the Nameless One, My soul for the Nameless One. I summon the Nameless One with my sacrifice. I surrender to the Nameless One…” and so on. She could hear the voice inside her mind, now. Just her voice first, then making a continual repeating whisper in consort with the whispers of the other Offerings. All of them coming from outside and through the dark red smoke, and into her head, each syllable of which strummed relentlessly across her sex. She could feel now that the thrusts and twitches of the other Offerings were actually in time to the chant. Her body and mind were vibrating.
She almost missed it when HD started speaking again.
“Each of you has come here tonight, as the autumn takes hold of the world, as we celebrate the lifting of the veil between this world and the dark universe beyond. We are here at this time and in this place, to make manifest what was written in the infernal texts- ‘Upon the vernal equinox, four by four in number, attend a circle around a circle and bind your heart’s desire with your heart’s blood, then bear your love to sacrifice with the your blood-cleansed blade. Minds and bodies will be eternal, consecrated in a bloody orgy, touched by the Nameless One, and focused on service in the Nameless One’s desires, sharp as the blood-cleansed blade. Plant your love in the fertile air that thy will make it so.’ And so, as the moment of the equinox approaches, complete the ceremony by bestowing upon your Offering your blade.”
Mara felt herself turn around.
The circle’s chanting began to get louder. Robbie finally made eye contact. He seemed to be searching for some flash of recognition or any reaction. Mara did her best to give him the dirtiest look ever seen, especially after she noticed he was starting to cry, the bastard. He placed the Blood-Cleansed Blade in her hands. She turned back around, as all the Offerings did. For the first time, they all took one step into the blood-red circle and then knelt. Each Offering took the Blade and placed the point pressing against their heart. The Outer Circle now joined in the chant, which was quickly getting louder and louder and more and more frenzied. Mara struggled to try to stop herself, but her will was getting washed away in the internal rush of her body. Ever since she had tasted Robbie’s blood, her body felt on the very edge of the edge of the most life-changing orgasm. Mara was getting a very good idea of how this was all going to go down, but every ounce of her struggle to stop it was swept aside.
The voices became even louder and more desperate. Her voice got even louder and more desperate. She felt rather than heard some kind of countdown begin.
Her body needed release.
Her head and sex were throbbing.
In some recess of her mind, Mara almost invited oblivion, if only to end the torture of being right *there*— always rushing but never moving.
As they felt the countdown reach zero, Mara inhaled.
The Blade pushed slightly into her skin, drew blood, and…..
And then a bright, hellish, red light bore down on the Offerings in the circle.
The world suddenly seemed infinitely more liminal. Mara felt the same desperation, but much less of a connection to her own body or to the ritual or whatever was happening.
She heard shouts and screams from outside the circle. As one, the Offerings lowered their blade to their side, stood up, and turned around. The red light stopped at the edge of the circle.
Mara felt suddenly very different. Grounded. Connected.
She felt a Presence behind her. She could feel the Presence’s mind reach out to hers.
She felt something like a tentacle lay itself around the back of her mind.
She had been a passenger in her own body all night. Now, she felt present and one with her body, and her mind… her mind felt sharpened. She felt like she was seeing the world with new eyes. She felt a different kind of smile take over her face, as if she were a lioness about to take down her prey.
The shouts and screams outside the circle got louder. Mr. HD and his high priest grabbed the Staff with the crystal and ran into the circle. The moment they crossed the threshold, their bodies levitated, then quickly were rotated around the center of the circle. As one, each of the Offerings raised their blade towards the sky. HD and his assistant each started screaming and begging this to stop. Mara felt the bodies drag across her blade, one after the other, over and over. The shouts quickly stopped. There was blood everywhere. She knew she should have been disgusted by this, but the blood pouring everywhere felt merely refreshing to her, like a shower after a day at the beach.
The chanting, needless to say, had stopped. The staff fell on the floor somewhere behind her.
She felt the Presence speak. She could sense its voice behind her, speaking in many voices, deep and light and big and small, all at the same time. The voices of the Offerings, including her own voice, spoke as one with the Presence.
“Who hath summoned me only to try to attack me? What is it that you frightened mortals seek?”
There was general consternation, and then, finally one of them spoke. It was Robbie, of course.
“We have summoned Thee, Oh Great Nameless One, that we may be in your service forever, as Your Book foretold.”
There was a pause.
“What book is this?” The legion of voices queried. Mara hoped her contempt broke through.
“The Unspoken Infernium…um…Oh Great Nameless One.” Then, reading, “then bear your love to sacrifice with the your blood-cleansed blade. Minds and bodies will be eternal, consecrated in a bloody orgy, and focused on service in the Nameless One’s desires.”
“And so you have brought these individuals who each of you loved and put them in the circle to be sacrificed so that you…you would embody My Gifts?”
“Yes, oh Great Nameless One!”
Another pause, then laughter. Mara had to admit, even though she was part of it, having 16 of more people laughing in unison was creepy as fuck. “That’s not how that works. That’s not how that works at all. If you are to be consecrated into my service…why aren’t you in the central circle offering yourselves up to me??”
Robbie audibly gulped. He and all the other acolytes took a step back. “Well… oh great Nameless One…we were sacrificing our greatest loves to you!!”
“…you thought such denial of your heart’s desire would endear yourself to the very embodiment of infernal eternal hunger??”
There was muttering. She heard Robbie talk to someone else, she thought it was Mr Abs’ sponsor, “It’s ok- the Magic Circle binds them in.”
Mara glanced down to where the blood-red circle stood out like lava through a cut in the earth. It seemed like the candle flames spread all around the edge of the circle. It was beautiful.
“You were to bring your hearts’ one true love so that they could watch as you fed on that love to become one of my Eternal Arms. Not to deny your own pleasure in some sick bid for eternal life. But since you brought such beautiful souls, let’s see if they’re willing instead to become my Voice on this Plane… I believe, Robert the Nerd, you’ll find that ritual on page 217.”
Robbie was flustered and was frantically flipping through pages. “But it doesn’t matter, you’re all inside the magice circle!!!”
Mara felt the laughter roll through all of them. She felt her voice lead this next line- “but Robbie the Nerd, all of you” and here each Offering pointed directly at their sponsor, “are the circle…a circle around another circle. Just like the ritual said.”
.
And with that, the liminal bright light flooded the church. The sponsors froze in their tracks, each adopting the same serene smile she had seen on the other Offerings’ faces.
This time, the Presence spoke alone. “Go, my Arms, and take their essence into you and share it, that you might be my Voice.”
Each of them walked to the person who had, just a few minutes before, professed their love. Each “Offering” still held their Blade in their hand.
Mara could still feel her body throbbing. There was a heartbeat booming in her ears. It wasn’t her heart. She saw the Other Offerings had an opaque, tentacle-like appendage running from them back to the center of the Circle, where the Presence was. She knew this should concern her, but those concerns were being actively wiped away. If anything, she felt light and liberated.
She walked to Robbie and pulled the book from his hand and dropped it to the floor. She rudely pushed him to the floor right next to it. He gasped, and without another thought, she knelt and impaled herself on his cock. She had a flash of doing something similar when they were drunk.
She started riding him. Slowly at first. She looked at him in the eyes. Instead of seeing nothing, she saw him and his eyes. He was frightened. He was scared. He was in shock. He was in love. He was filled with lust. She could see him struggle, but felt him twitch within her.
“Isn’t this what you wanted, Robbie? Aren’t I the love of your life? Your big…fucking…dick…thinks so.” That got a grunt out of him.
She could hear the grunts and moans of coupling happen all around them. As they all found a rhythm, the Presence started chanting from the center. The bright red light was itself throbbing and oscillating. The Nameless One began moaning too, as it started receiving and feeding on the sensations.
“It’s a shame, Robbie,” she spoke in a voice that was and wasn’t her own, “you didn’t have the…spine to tell me what you…wanted. I could have had…so much fun…with this body…fucking it…being your love…being your slut….being your whore…I know what it was…though…why you didn’t… I always kind of knew… you see…you’d have to…start thinking of me…as a person…and not…an object.” She had remained right on the edge of the orgasm to end all orgasms since before she started. “Who’s…the object…now??”
His eyes widened. She could tell he was trying not to cum. She could almost hear his thoughts frantically thinking of anything to distract him from cumming. But her dirty talk…and feeling the truth and her sex envelope him, was breaking down all the barriers.
She felt him pulsing within her, ready to explode. She placed the knife right over his heart. “Come on Robbie. Give me your essence. Cum for me, asshole!”
She felt him begin to cum. She shouted as she felt her own orgasm avalanche through her body “And so to make this offering my own, I combine our essences!!” And she plunged the knife deep within his heart.
She could feel the Presence in her mind cumming with her. And then, as if hers was the first domino to fall, she heard the same ritualistic line moaned and shouted over and over from different parts of the room, and each time there was a shout, the orgasm got exponentially stronger and stronger, as each of the lives was sacrificed. The light burned brighter. She felt blood squirt and splatter as Robbie stayed hard, letting her ride him to orgasm after exponential orgasm.
She could feel the energy of his soul get absorbed into her, and through her, to the Nameless One. Robbie’s whole body just began to dissolve, ending with his cock.
Mara began to laugh with joy. She felt so much power coursing through her. She felt free. She knew her mind was no longer just her own, but she knew the world would be hers. Soon, the sixteen Offerings were collapsed in chaotic laughter. They crawled to each other and continued the orgy, thrusting and fucking indiscriminately on the blood red floor of the unholy dais.
After some hours, the Presence halted proceedings.
“The veil grows thick and I must leave. You are now my Voice and my Arms on this Plane of Existence. Make it scream in ecstasy and need so that I may one day take it for my own.”
There was a groan as if a door was closed, and then a flash. All of them stood up, clean, and and now in designer versions of their favorite clothes.
The doors swung open. There were pews, and updated furnishings throughout their church. Instead of an upside-down cross, there was a statue of a giant sun, eclipsed by the moon, with rays and flares stretching out into the rafters and then around the church, looking vaguely like tentacles.
Mara found Jesse, and grabbed his hand. They had a lot to do, and Mara was looking forward to never being alone again.
djpynchon 