Ascent by Mark Anthony

Author:Mark Anthony
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Book Reality Experience
Published: 2023-03-15T16:00:00+00:00

Bruja

Sam turned as Jason approached. “His name was Thiago Sanguesa. A Spanish beggar… or as we like to say now… a Spanish person without housing” Jason scoffed coldly. “These paintings date back to the 17th century. This is the Witch, or as our friend Thiago called it, Bruja.”

Asshole. Sam took a deep breath, her eyes. “It's a Leviathan!”

“Yep,” Jason nodded happily. “You see Thiago was a Devotee. This is what Devotees do. We call them Devotees, others call them ‘painters’, amongst other names but they are the same thing. You see there are three types of Devotees. Seers, Haunters and fucking Wraiths. All can release shadow either by force or by choice and when they do, this happens… They paint. And they can step.”

“Step?”

“You and I have both felt that other place. It's not just how it looks… It's how it feels. A Devotee is technically between that world and ours all the time. By will only they can ‘step’ to the other side. One foot in both. ‘Stepping’ brings that fear here and it completely mind fucks people! People can lose their fucking minds.”

“How did all this get here?”

“Mika. He’s a collector of sorts. Found these in Europe and brought them here.”

“Is that what he does? Like, collect art?

Jason laughed mockingly. “Mika does a lot of things. Let's just say Mika is… resourceful.”

“Then who does the paintings?”

Jason sighed. “Devotees, it's just part of what they do. When they go there, a shadow is released, scaring the absolute shit out of everyone, but part of them remains, the human carcass, it paints what they see or what even has been. It's quite fascinating really, a glimpse into the other side. But Devotees are sad pricks. They start and end their journey at the door, stuck between both worlds. That's why they can be used to take things from ours to theirs and theirs to ours. Handy. But they are finally dragged into the realm of things so much more powerful than they are. They serve us and them. They become part of it. Short life spans for a Devotee… or a really long one, I suppose, depending on how you look at it. But all Devotees are bottom feeders in the other realm. Parasites, vermin. No more. But before this happens they can be really handy to have around. Then it’s…” he raised a waving hand, smiling snidely “bye-bye.”

Sam thought about Chelamah. This bizarre group had obviously adopted the mantra… a Devotee was a bottom feeder, therefore was not worth as much even as a human. That was her fate. That could explain her strange behaviour, her odd, distant demeanour. It seemed unfair. Everything seemed unfair.

“But that happens to us as well,” Sam observed. He was growing tired of Jason's arrogance. “When we die, we get taken.”

“Uh uh,” Jason shook his head. “Not necessarily.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, unless we die a completely natural death but come on… how many of us make it that long?”

“Some do!” Jason exclaimed. “One of our Aces went home one night, BAM, heart attack.

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