Conditioned Fear

by Outsider

Ch.2 Divinum Interventu

Ch. 2 Divinum Interventu

As the source of the voice began to step through the bushes, time began slowing down as anticipation ran through my body, sending nervous "jitters" rampant through my body. So many emotions coursed through my mind it was nigh impossible to keep track joy, fear, sorrow, anticipation, when I was finally greeted by the source of the voice all but fear were shattered.

My mind is drawing a blank, attempting to do anything to rationalize this but it made no sense except to say: I was looking at a bright yellow Pegasus. It appeared to be paralyzed in fear but also lost in wonder of what manner of unknown beast it was looking at as I did the same. The Pegasus gazed at my monstrous figure with its over-sized eyes as it slowly began to back away, a dreadful silence seemed to permeate the area. This long period of silence was finally broken not by me or this... thing standing before me, but by a simple gust of wind blowing through the trees. This finally sent the Pegasus into a full blown panic as it ran screaming rather softly (amusingly enough) back to wherever such a thing would come from.

Now that I was freed from my fear-induced trance I immediately walked back into the forest to collect myself, as the long, twisted shadows of the trees seemed to beckon to some unknown part of me.

There was nothing new about the environment just more, dark trees, the pale moonlight barely illuminating the surrounding area, the distorted shadows of the night creeping up upon me, the scarce howls of nocturnal predators echoing in the distance all seemed to create a rather... unwelcome feeling. Only a small amount of the weak light could pierce the thicket of branches above; which created what appeared to be small islands of light among the ocean of darkness that flooded the ground. I pressed on attempting to comfort myself, when something occurred to me, I feel more at peace now than I had ever before, the desolation of the night, the deafening silence, a slight grin being etched upon my face as I felt these new feelings forged by my surroundings, it was glorious!

I looked towards the sky, the once powerful moon now fading before the emerging sunlight as it washed away the twisted shapes of the night, becoming familiar locations once again.

As my lonesome walk dragged on I spied something odd out of the corner of my eye, a statue, a thin layer of stubborn vegetation nearly coating it. The statue itself depicted a rather... strange being, it featured the basic shape of a man but... wrong. In the way the statue is carved it seemed to attempt to show how nothing was truly definitive about whatever the sculptor was attempting to carve, almost like a static quality. What little of the peeling paint remained were an odd mix of black and various shades of red, and the face of the statue was struck with a wide sinister grin.

I studied the statue for a time, overtaken by an unexplainable feeling of familiarity about the being depicted. I stood around the statue basking in the warm feeling I had not felt in a long time. I wonder how long this stat- My thoughts were interrupted by newcomers
"Come on it's just over here!"
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Don't be such a filly!"
I heard three distinct voices, two of young (and rather mean sounding) girls and a young 'lad' with a British accent.

Oh, how I love children, the easiest, and yet still the most rewarding of people to scare I thought, diving behind a large bush as the sounds of footsteps drew closer. I poked an eye out from behind the dense brush, and that’s when I saw them, the ‘children’ were all similar creatures to the Pegasus.

“Wow, what is it?” the whitish, light brown spotted creature asked gazing at the statue (with what I assume to be) a puzzled expression, clearly showing itself as the source of the boys voice. The pink and gray ones shared a nefarious glance towards one another, clearly planning some cruel prank. Unfortunately for all three their moment was cut short as I burst forth from my hiding place, spouting some semi-organized gibberish in a guttural tone attempting to make something resembling coherent speech. The creature’s expressions of wonder and anticipation swiftly changing to those of abject terror as they screamed, fleeing in every conceivable direction. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing, finally a successful scare that didn’t (immediately) backfire, my mean spirited laughter echoed through the now suspiciously silent forest.

My eyes slowly opened fighting through the tears, to be faced by the white... horse-like thing, my mind scrambled to think of what to do I always wanted to imitate the Lord of the Flies... was the first coherent thought I had, so I followed it blindly and hoped something positive would come out of it. “You are a silly little boy” I said, now staring directly at the now shocked creature “just an ignorant, silly little boy.” The creatures’ mouth fell agape, fear and curiosity struck on its face as it attempted to form words “Don’t you agree?” I asked moving slightly closer “aren’t you just a silly little boy?” The creature seemed to be slightly less fearful as it attempted to speak, however it was still unable to produce sound. “You’d better run off and play with the others.” I said cutting off a part of the quote that wasn’t fully applicable. “What are you doing out here all alone? Aren’t you afraid of me?” Just as I was about to continue the creature somehow found the courage to speak.
“Y-yes” it said shakily “but why do you have to act so scary?” The boy inquired, I sighed deeply as I finally stopped my incessant quoting.
“Because it’s fun and fairly simple really” I regurgitated the same answer I have said a thousand times to others. “But you SHOULD run off and get back to your friends” I answered, urging him to leave
“O-okay, I hope I’ll see you again” the boy said, almost with what sounded like legitimate emotion, rather than a learned response.

I was alone once more, as a lone thought wandered through my mind just where am I anyway? as I lazily turned back to the statue to find it was no longer there! An empty stand remained, almost sobbing over the loss of what was supposed to be its eternal partner. I don’t know how to explain it but as I looked around me I felt... an uneasy feeling that prior to this seemed nonexistent, I stared in awe as the night sky faded into existence as the sun once again waned before the appearance of the bleak moon as I wandered into the night once more.

I was unable to sleep, my mind drawing a blank as to what I should be doing, my legs were walking automatically, the once tranquil forest seemed twisted and strange in the moonlight as numerous cries and howls echoed throughout the once silent night. By the time dawn broke my legs could carry me no further, I slumped to the ground freezing, tired, hungry... bored, an odd silence seemed to rule over the area for a time as I felt the cold grip of death reach into my soul. But then, when all seemed lost to me something happened that I cannot explain, I heard a voice, like a whisper, yet it boomed with the power and volume of the THX logo "Iya kohtnetohtweb tayemhekemiyaset cesshekemayempayemtayemekemrot sehtyoodtcesskohtseht, Iya’meht sehtohtrohtrohtyahkem." The words filled me with an unnatural feeling of power as the voice echoed in my mind; I stood feeling like I had just stepped out from a grand feast within a warm palace, better than I had felt in years, as I was filled with new resolve to continue my journey to... I'm not entirely certain as of yet, but one thing was certain (as cliché as it sounds), someone or rather something is watching over me.

Comments

[Exemter]

This is... Unique I will keep reading to see how it turns out.