Eden: The Eighth Day Part 1

Vita walked back to the palace. She winced with the pain of a cracked rib as she hurried, eager that her absence go unnoticed. Castus had parted from her at the palace road, a child of his age and standing in society not required at the annual nominations. It pleased Vita that for one more year he would avoid seeing her for the fraud she really was. Despite contesting his positive view of her own strength and character, it pleased her that he admired her so much. If she too were the Dulcas’s natural child, she would also avoid the cruel judgement that she knew was heading her way. It wouldn’t be many more years now though. From his sixteenth year, he would be in attendance and hear what the people truly thought of her.

She stumbled through the dusty town, hiding her face beneath the oversized hood of her cloak. The town was bustling and alive with the shouts of the market stall owners, and she didn’t want to draw attention to her presence. Their stalls were mere slabs of rock, displaying the scarce crop any brave farmer dared to grow. Backed on to the stalls were ox-pulled carts housing an occasional starved cow or sheep.

Somewhere nearby, she could hear pained screams and turned to see three rotten demons beating one fragile old man.

‘Stop!’ she cried, hurrying over and trying to pull the creature off the man, only to be flung back on her rear. She glanced around and saw a crowd already gathered around a preacher, beginning his pre-nomination speech. Of course, The man must have wandered out of line, probably through confusion judging by his age and generally confused demeanour. Not that his senility would be reason enough to escape a beating.

‘Why don’t any of you help?’ she begged them, but they turned their attention back to the preacher, who continued as if nothing had happened.

The elderly man became still and silent; a dark pool of red soaked the sands beneath him. She was too late. One day, she promised herself, they will pay!

Vita turned to leave but was met by one of the demon guards. Deodamnatus! They all knew her by her rebellious nature, but she was safe while under the emperor’s protection. From her twenty-first birthday next week though, she was sure there would be a line of beatings waiting to be offered. She decided against adding any more fuel to their fire and turned to join the crowd.

‘His anger is upon us,’ the preacher bellowed over the crowd. He had a strangely loud voice for such a withered man. Vita guessed he was nearing the end of his time by his long grey beard and the uncontrollable shake to his limbs.

‘Once again we have failed our gods, Mendacia. Who amongst us still sins? Your friends? Your neighbours? Even your sons and daughters? It is only you who see and ignore their crimes and yet you are the ones who will be punished for their sins. Will you stand by and let more pure souls perish from starvation for your own pride? Hand them over, citizens.’

He paused, gesturing behind the crowd with a wave of his wrist. His voice softened. ‘Look atop the hill, my friends.’

The townsfolk turned as one, eerily obedient, towards the palace atop a great dune within their desert world. There, the sky did not burn. Instead, the huge palace walls glinted golden in the sunlight from above it, a rainbow arcing over the divine architecture as a shower fell upon the surrounding lush grasses.

Vita watched the faces, ignoring the preacher’s urge to turn. Thousands of pairs of glassy eyes stared past her. Where was their humanity? Their passion? They seemed mechanical in their unified motions. The same way they always did at such gatherings. Any place where their noble emperor and his family – his wife, Vesta, and son, Kayin – were in attendance.

Her eyes settled on the noble Emperor Malum Dolus in his place beside the preacher. Why did they travel down to the town for the congregations? The guards ensured no riots started up and they never intervened with the preacher’s speeches. But nevertheless, they had never, to her knowledge, missed a congregation.

Maybe, she realised, they wished only to build bonds with the townsfolk. That is what a normal, trusting person would think, isn’t it? So why did she feel so suspicious of them?

Malum’s eyes darted from the direction of the palace, landing on her own with a piercing glare. She jumped, shrinking back beneath his gaze. Her sudden movement seemed to call the attention of one of the guards from behind her and a guttural grunt ordered her to obey.

She turned, the wind whipping her brown curls across her face. She took in the bear-headed guard and his rotting flesh. Her stomach turned at the rancid sight and the stink of death snaked up her nostrils, threatening to overpower her senses. It grunted once more, realising she still didn’t follow the order but it let her disobedience slide as the preacher continued.

‘Turn in Mendacia’s deviants today citizens and we will all be blessed with such divinity. Our founder, Emperor Meridian, sacrificed his own freedom to the gods so that our small empire could remain. He trusted in the good of humanity. When the gods wiped away the plague that was the human race, Meridian stood before them and begged for our lives. He promised to return to them society’s sinners, to slay those unworthy of the gift of life. He trusted in you, Mendacia, and it was only his own purity that would convince the gods to let us live.’

He gestured to his left where the proud emperor stood in his silken white robes, golden cuffs over his biceps, golden medallion resting at his chest and a ring of golden leaves circling his head like a crown. His wife and son stood beside him in similar luxurious garb and the image was striking against the brown, grey and black scraps the rest of the congregation wore.

’His heir, the noble Malum Dolus, continues to feed us, to hydrate us. His medics care for our sick and he removes the threats from our streets believing in his ancestor’s faith in us all. But, unless we can prove that his faith was founded in truth, we will continue to starve, will never again feel the touch of a raindrop on our faces, see the bloom of spring or taste the sweetness of nature’s fruit.

‘We will remain imprisoned in this fiery hell; trapped between our molten rivers and blazing skies. Look at the first generation, citizens. Do you want your flesh to rot as theirs does? An eternity to remember your failings, never being able to rest. The gods become restless once more and will punish us as they did them.’

The congregation glanced at the demon guards, disgusted by their flesh yet terrified by their brutality. Even the preacher swallowed a lump of fear as he spoke the words, bolstered by the presence of the emperor.

A fire bolt cracked from the sky, darting through the air, and landed with an explosion of dust and light on a nearby dune. A barren tree flared yellow as it was swallowed by the flames. The citizens cried out in fear.

The same as every year, Vita thought with curiosity. Why did the rest of the crowd react with such fear? Surely, they had become accustomed to the spectacle by now. The same passionate speech, word for word, by the preacher, the same bolt of lightning and the same cry of fear.

If it was the gods’ intent to spike fear in their disobedient children, why not make their reactions more passionate, more… unpredictable. That’s what she would do.

‘You see their anger,’ the preacher bellowed now, his voice cutting through the wind like a dagger. ‘We have but one chance. The celebration of Octavo is imminent. The Eighth Day, when Meridian made his deal. Soon, all the accused will have a final chance to prove their innocence. They will fight for their freedom within the gods’ own colosseum where their judgement can be cast. You must not fear for your loved ones, citizens, for should your accusations be in error, the gods will see to it that they will be blessed with the means for survival.’

Vita silently scoffed. In her twenty-one years here she had known but one survivor of the Octavo battle, a man with skin as black as the palace’s night sky. A man who had vanished the very day his freedom was granted. No one had seen or heard from him again and Vita suspected he had met the same fate as the others.

She doubted any of the citizens deserved death for their petty sacrificing or brave crimes. A stolen apple from the market to feed a starving family, a forgiving dagger to the heart of a long-suffering relative, raising a hand to the brutal demon guard? No, Vita saw the heroic bravery of each citizen cast to their fate, and was sure any god would see the same.

The preacher continued. ‘If you show your loyalty to the gods, they will reward us so I urge you, citizens, look to your left and to your right and trust your hearts to guide you. It is time for the nominations.’

Vita felt thousands of mechanical eyes land on her. She caught the emperor’s eye, a wicked smile spread across his face. He wanted to hear her beg.

‘I nominate Vita Dulcas.’ A man’s voice broke the crowd’s silence.

‘And me.’ A woman’s scornful voice agreed.

‘Me too.’ A shaking voice of an elderly man met her ears.

Soon accusations of her guilt rumbled through the desert like a stampede of demons. It seemed they would never end. People became agitated, shouting above friends and neighbours desperate to be heard.

‘Silence!’ Malum shouted.

The din ceased and order returned once more.

‘What proof have you?’ asked the now flustered preacher.

Why is he still so surprised by the uproar? Vita thought. It’s the same every year.

Voices began to shout out again in an incoherent babble.

‘One at a time,’ the preacher ordered, raising his hand and pointing to a short lady near to Vita. ‘You. What cause have you for your nomination?’

‘She’s a witch!’ the woman spat. A chorus of consent surrounded her from the crowd. ‘She was found abandoned in the serpents’ lair as a wee babe.’ Her arm shot to her right, pointing through the sandstorm towards the serpents’ lair. ’Her own mother must have known she was cursed, abandoning her to the snakes like that. It’s the only thing ’makes sense.’

‘They feasted on her too!’ her neighbour chimed in, nodding his sunken face furiously. ’She was full of their poison by the time the Dulcases found ‘er. Enough to have killed twenty grown men! Even Thomas admitted so.’

‘I heard it was thirty,’ another voice added.

‘Witchcraft is the only explanation for her survival. She sides with the devil,’ the man finished.

Someone else spoke now, a young woman around the same age as Vita’s twenty-one years, but unlike Vita, she looked old and frail, her skin hung like leather from her bones, her teeth yellowed and her stomach protruded with malnourishment. ‘And why does she fail to age like the rest of us? Why does she remain strong and healthy? Her looks remaining the same as in her sixteenth year?’

From across the crowd another woman answered her question. ‘She eats the souls of the newborns. The Dulcases would protect her, she no doubt had them under her spell too, but we all saw Abelia’s stomach rise with new life. Where did these babies go? There was only young Castus to show for it.’ The woman turned to Vita pointing an accusatory finger. ‘She ate them! I saw her do it, ate them to claim their youth and vitality.’

That was a new one. The others had, to some extent, been born of truth. Yes, she had been abandoned in the caves and poisoned by snake venom, but Thomas Dulcas was the best physician. He had treated her bites and she had healed. She was lucky, that was all.

Yes, she looked more youthful but that was simple too, she had lived with the well-respected family and had been fed well by the emperor. He would care for the Dulcases, of course he would if it meant his own ailments would be healed. She had been lucky in that respect too. Of course, her brother and even the emperor’s beloved Bilo boys still showed the signs of the land. But that meant nothing.

But eating the souls of babies? She would have laughed had the truth not been so painful. Abelia had only been lucky enough to give birth to one live child, having to bear the torture of burying yet another stillborn time after time. Vita had been there for each one, consoling her mother as best as a child could, feeling the pain of her loss.

Vita remained strong. She wouldn’t bite at the provocation. What did any of it matter anymore? Instead she took a deep breath and snapped her eyes back towards the emperor who met her own with the same devious glint as before. Last year she had pleaded, explaining her logic, the reasons why she remained healthy and strong and why she didn’t die from the venom. She had cried, desperate to live another day. She had been desperate to make them see. She was just a normal woman.

‘Come now,’ a voice rose from the crowd.

Vulcan! Vita cringed.

He sidled along through the crowd to take a place with the noble family. He caught Vita’s eye, a look of shock and relief flooding his face.

‘We all know she is but a girl. You are all reliving rumours that is all. I will control her, as I always have. She is no threat to you. Retract your nominations, that’s an order.’

Another citizen began to speak, but Vita’s voice was louder. ‘It’s true,’ she cried, stepping forward through the rows of confused citizens as she made her way to the front of the crowd.

She didn’t know what she was doing, she wasn’t thinking with any sense of logic, but she’d be damned if Vulcan Bilo would be her saviour. ’Everything you speak is true. But now I have tired with your world and wish to leave this place and be reborn.

‘My master, the devil himself has offered me his protection, ready to take me into his fatherly embrace. I hand myself over to Mendacia, to this desolate land, ready and willing for the colosseum.’

The crowd gasped, mothers pulled their children to their breasts, husbands slung protective arms over their wives. They began to back away in fear.

‘She’ll kill us all.’ A faceless voice escaped from the group which caused a wave of panic through the crowd. Screams filled the air as they feared for their lives. Some fled while others shouted for her death.

Elbows nudged others’ faces as some tried to reach her while others tried to escape; stones flew in the crowd aimed towards her, but in the panic and the storm none struck true. They cascaded into their comrades causing fighting to break out. Malum dashed forward trying to calm the riot but it had escalated too fast. His commands fell on deaf ears.

Someone grabbed Vita’s arm from behind. ‘What are you doing?’ a familiar voice hissed. ‘He’ll kill you. You can only push him so far, Vita.’

She spun around and stared into the terrified face of the prince, Kayin Dolus. She shivered, feeling the panic prickling her neck and tried to shake that memory from her mind.

All the blood! She could see it in her mind, dripping from the tip of the silver dagger, splashing onto the forehead of his own kin. All the evil hidden beneath those kind eyes. Liar! She just stared at him, entranced. Behind her, the commotion continued, an occasional shout of death piercing her mind. The forceful voice of the emperor, booming and yet incomprehensible to her ears.

‘Vita. Stop this! Take it back. Tell him it’s not true,’ Kayin screamed at her, and then he saw her face, bloodied and bruised from her earlier attack by Vulcan. ‘Your face!’ He reached a hand to her face but she recoiled.

No! she thought, watching the desperation grow in the prince’s face. She had lost her family. She would not let him close to her.

He shook her then, his medallions rattling against his bracelets. ‘Please don’t do this. Please.’

The action broke her from her trance. She pulled away from him with a snarl and strode towards the emperor.

‘You stupid wretch,’ Malum bellowed as she approached him. ‘Look at the mess you’ve caused. How do you expect me to clear this up?’

Vita looked forward towards the crowd. Though the storm made it difficult to see the true devastation before her, her eyes were sharp and as she strained she could make out the shapes of the demons descending on the crowds. Their bulking limbs flew this way and that, flinging frail bodies to the ground in the name of returning peace to the group.

Vita could feel their elation, although she couldn’t explain how, as they targeted the disruptive members of the group. Those who, Vita guessed, were most afraid and desperate to escape. Screams of pain followed as the force of giants smashed into their targets and she could imagine the sound of snapping bones. The demons cared not whether man, woman or child were in their path. They were there to control the crowd, by any means necessary.

‘Stop them!’ Vita yelled to Malum. ‘Why don’t you stop them?’ Vita knew he had the power to do so; with just one command the beasts would retreat, so why didn’t he?

‘This is your doing, girl! Your burden to carry. Your own life may not carry much weight to you, but what of the people? The innocent souls? Did you think I would let you get away with such a scene?’

As though by Malum’s order, a small body was thrown through the dust to drive the emperor’s message home. The small body landed close enough for Vita to see: a boy, five or six years old at a guess. She dashed towards the lad. She didn’t need her father’s expertise to realise it was too late. The boy’s head was caved inwards, his face no longer recognisable.

‘No!’ she screamed. ‘I didn’t mean for this to happen. I just wanted peace. I didn’t want them to die!’

Hot tears rolled down her cheeks and she turned back to Malum screaming. ‘Why don’t you stop the demons? Help the citizens! Please! I’m sorry!’ Her words fell out in a tumble as she sought the right one that would make the emperor see. Make him stop this madness. ‘He’s just a child.’ She laid a palm on the boy’s face but was wrenched backwards by a formidable force.

She hadn’t even seen him move but now she felt Malum’s arm lock around her throat, his other hand holding her head towards the scene. ’You try to outsmart me girl? You wanted death? Well here it is. Watch them die! I haven’t finished with you yet!’

And this was their noble emperor? Sent to protect them? She wouldn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe it! There was something darker, something evil beneath his soul. She could feel it now, seeming to ooze from his hand as he held her face steady towards the crowd.

By Meridian he was strong too. Stronger than Vulcan, by far. Stronger even than the demons? Not that she would fight him. This was all her fault and she should have known better than to act on impulse like that. So she followed his rules, her eyes wide towards the scene, watching and listening as the townsfolk were taken by the demons. Her mind reached out to them with her sorrow.

She couldn’t blame them for their hatred of her; in their world suspicion meant survival. There were no sinners there, of that much she was certain. They worked hard maintaining their slum community, protected each other and fed their neighbours from their own scraps of food; they behaved, for the most part, in a way any god should be proud of.

No, she doubted any of the devastation her world saw was a result of their sins. Something else was going on here. The demons, the mechanical motions of the townspeople, the repetitive congregation, even the fire bolt. She didn’t know how, but somehow as she felt his darkness flow into her, she was sure the emperor was behind it all.

She struggled against his grip, gasping for air as her head began to feel light from lack of oxygen but she still forced herself to take in the slaughter.

And then someone, something was amongst them. The screams of the people ceased, replaced by the guttural screams of the demons. Vita’s vision was growing dark and was already blurred by the tears which still fell. She just saw a blinding white figure – an angel? –dance among the group, cutting down demon after demon with a flash of steel. Her eyes playing their last trick on her, she decided, before her world went dark. In the darkness, she dreamt.

‘Mama, where is he?’ Vita asked, fidgeting on the floor by the fire. ‘He should be home by now.’

‘Patience, Vita.’ Abelia laughed. ‘It’s an important job he has now. He’ll have the sick and infirm lined up all along the palace road, he can’t just leave them. But now Malum has given him his own clinic and all those modern instruments, I’ve no doubt he’ll have the citizens fighting fit in no time.’

Baby Castus began to grumble in Abelia’s arms and she took him to her breast. ‘Don’t look so anxious, darling. He will be home soon and full of stories to occupy your busy mind.’

‘But something doesn’t feel right, Mama. Why has Malum suddenly decided to give Father the clinic? He’s refused every request he’s ever made for one. Why now?’

‘Oh, Vita. Stop worrying. Malum was probably just worn down by your father’s persistence. Don’t become suspicious, it doesn’t suit you. You have a good life here and when the time comes you will be able to follow in your father’s footsteps, but only if you don’t fall prey to the divine curse. I know it is difficult seeing such misery and hardship, but each and every one of us needs to be grateful that we are still alive. The more giving and loving we are to one another, the faster the gods will release us from this fiery desert. Just stay strong. For me.’

‘I’ll try,’ Vita said, still unable to shift the knot in her stomach.

‘Good girl.’

Vita pulled herself up and went to sit by her mother, snuggling beneath her free arm. ‘I love you, Mama.’

‘And I you, darling.’

With a slam of the shutter door, Tom came barging into the small dwelling, clutching a small cloth-covered parcel to his side. Vita and Abelia’s gaze shot to his panic-stricken eyes.

‘Father?’ Vita managed.

‘You have to run,’ he said, wide-eyed and panting for breath. ‘All of you! There is no time to explain. Go to the serpents’ lair and I’ll meet you there when it’s safe. Go!’ he shouted, spurring them into action.

‘Vita, come darling,’ Abelia said, feigning calm.

Vita noticed her father’s trembling hand as she passed, and then they were out into the hot night. They all noticed the looming figures together. Four giant shadows careering down the palace road towards them. Abelia turned, grabbed Vita’s hand and dragged her back inside.

‘Deodamnatus!’ Tom slammed the door behind him and darted across the room to the pantry cupboard, opening it wide. ‘Quick, get inside, Vita. Whatever happens, do not make a sound. Do you understand?’

Vita nodded, trying to swallow her fear and Abelia passed the now sleeping baby down into her small arms and ushered her inside the cupboard.

Tom stared at his wife, imploring her to join her children in the small space. She shook her head. ‘Tom, you know there isn’t enough space for three of us. I will stand beside you, no matter what the cost.’

Tom sighed regretfully and pulled Abelia towards him, kissing the top of her head. He turned his attention back towards his children. ‘Be brave, Vita. I love you, both.’ He removed the small cloth package and slid it inside a crack in the pantry wall. Had Vita been watching him and not the fear in her mother’s eyes, she would have seen the cloth slip to reveal pages of a thick, leather-bound book.

‘Mama, I’m scared,’ Vita whispered from the darkness.

‘You be strong, my girl, you’ll be safe here,’ her mother said through tears. ‘I need you to be brave now, angel, and if anything should happen,’ she paused, biting down firmly, as she closed her eyes, ‘you have to promise me to care for your brother. Do you understand?’

Vita nodded bravely.

‘I love you both,’ she said, kissing Castus’s tiny forehead. She took Vita’s face in her palms and stared into her eyes. She kissed the top of her head, holding her closely, her tears soaking through Vita’s hair. Abelia turned, shutting the door on her children. She stood with her back to the door, her head raised as she tried to force back the tears. She knew, deep down, that from this moment, she was lost to them.

All Vita knew was that she felt frightened.

Another three bangs and this time four pairs of red eyes followed, marching into the room. The smell of rotting flesh drifted through the heat of the night, making her gag and her brother cough. She gently covered his mouth to silence him. The four giants, each towering over seven feet tall, marched into the centre of the room, rotting corpses wearing animal masks crafted to their own skulls, to hide their hideous faces.

The family’s four visitors comprised a gorilla, hair still intact aside the leather face, one bear’s head, set in an attack position with its mouth agape to boast curved white fangs, and a panther’s head, which looked sleek and black in comparison to the grotesque body it sat on.

The final demon, Taurus, the biggest of the group by far, had a bull’s head crafted over his own. Two beady, wicked-looking glass eyes atop a wide snout, its shiny black nose pierced by a giant ring. From its head, two great horns protruded, spiralling around and forward to speared points. Everyone knew of Taurus, his cruel ways were the source of many a child’s nightmares.

Vita watched as the beasts barged past her parents, knocking her father off his feet. They were looking for something. The panther and the gorilla searched the room, upturning the tables and examining every surface.

The bear and the bull searched each of her parents while they both wildly shook their heads in protest, raising their arms to try to calm the monsters. Having not found what they were looking for, the bull and the bear reached out towards Abelia and Tom, who ducked away from the monstrous fists.

The two others went to hold Abelia and Tom’s bodies still. The demons reached out their fists once more, placing their palms around her parents’ throats and ripped the heads off the innocent souls in one swift swipe. Vita’s mother’s last scream echoed around the room. Her parents’ lifeless bodies dropped to the floor and the demons dropped their heads beside them. Vita watched through her tear-filled eyes. Their blood pooled beneath their lifeless bodies, seeping down through the floorboards. Her mother’s head lay staring across at her, eyes still wide with fright.

Vita let out a squeak and cursed herself for breaking her promise to her father. She clasped her spare hand over her mouth but it was too late.

Taurus spun towards the pantry, lowering its head so its horns lay parallel to the floor, and began to charge. Vita recoiled from her peephole, and knocked a sack of flour off the shelf. It landed with a thud and exploded in a white cloud. The space was too small and there was nowhere else to go; any second now Taurus’s horns would crash through the door and pierce her and Castus like a blade. She shuffled her and her brother’s small bodies behind the sack and cowered beneath a shelf.

The inevitable happened. With a crack of splintering wood, the door shattered and Taurus’s horns hit the stone of the opposite wall. The beast pulled back, ripping the, now free, block of wood from its horns and made an awful gurgling noise that could have been a scream.

It stormed back towards the small room, catching sight of the spilled bag of flour on the floor. Unable to fit inside, it reached its enormous fist through the doorway and grabbed the sack, slinging it over its shoulder. There was nothing there.

It was furious now, slamming its hand into shelf after shelf, causing an avalanche of butter, cheese, meats and vegetables, before finally accepting there was nobody there. With a final turn of its head, it left the dwelling, gesturing for the other demons to follow.

‘Dai Gratia,’ Vita whispered when she could no longer hear the footsteps of the demons retreat. Removing a hand from the still sleeping baby’s mouth, she hauled their bodies from their hiding place: a tiny alcove beside the door. In a moment of clarity, she had realised the beast wouldn’t be able to fit inside the room, and doubted it would have sense enough to check anywhere that wasn’t within its direct eyeline. Her risk had paid off.

She kicked away enough of the debris to give her enough room to sit, and let her body sink back against the cool stone. It was only then that she let the tears begin to roll.

Countless hours passed with the two children huddled together, awaiting their fate. It was only a matter of time before the demons came back for them. But then there was a gentle knock at the dwelling door, and Vita peered out of the cupboard to see the emperor standing in the doorway looking distraught at the sight that met him.

Vita nearly jumped up to run to him, but something stopped her. She would stay a moment longer. She peered around the space where the door had been and watched as her emperor walked to her father’s corpse on the floor. She thought he was to bless his body and soul as she had seen him do in the church.

Instead she watched, horrified, as her beloved emperor rifled through her parents’ clothing and abandoned their bodies to the floor. She heard the footsteps approaching.

The next thing she remembered was walking up the palace steps hand in hand with Malum, and knowing, beyond all doubt, he was not to be trusted.