Prologue: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/envhal/a_tale_for_a_tale
“I’ll tell you my story if you tell me yours. By the way, please call me Damon. I’m merely a demon after all.” A dry laughter rose from his mouth but the smile did not reach his eyes. They only mirrored a deep sadness. When I told him my name in response I felt the urge to shake his hand which, at second thought, seemed inappropriate in the current situation. Instead I clumsily stumbled to one of the benches lined up in the old church and let myself sink down on it. “I don’t have much to tell”, I remarked with a trembling voice. It was cold and thick clouds began to cover the moon which shone weakly through the shattered glass of the once colorful windows.
Damon walked through the aisle between the benches with much more graze than I would have thought his weak body to be capable of. His eyes were directed at the huge wooden cross at the far back of the building below which his prison had been. “I must have been here for decades, no, centuries, so a lot must have changed. I dare to assume that you have many stories to tell”, he said while walking towards the cross until he stopped right in front of it, his feet not even a palm away from the dark hole in the ground from which he had risen only minutes ago. “I can try”, I gave in, still with little confidence in my ability to tell him a story that would fulfill his expectations. He turned around like in a dance to look at me with a pleased expression. “But just for inspiration”, I added quickly, “Would you be so kind to give me kind of an example of a story, just so I know what you’re expecting.” He smiled again as if I had said something funny or slightly stupid. Maybe I had, what do I know. This time it was him who gave in as he moved closer to take a seat next to me. His presence was weirdly comforting as well as uncomfortable at the same time. The air seemed to be getting colder around him, but I just tried to ignore it.
“I presume you found the village this church belongs to. A long time ago, probably a few centuries ago judging by your attire, it was an idyllic little spot of earth where good people lived among themselves. They had families and businesses, celebrated all kind of festivities throughout the year and all things considered, led a very peaceful and happy life far from the temptations that came along the, as it was called back then, modern civilization. I was born into one of the families in the village. I was an only child and honestly quite spoiled by my mother who probably loved me more than herself. My father was not a very educated man, but a hard worker who was out farming most of the time. I hardly saw him while growing up so my whole life centered around my caring mother.
I had a good childhood full of pleasant memories with the other children of the village and neighbors who tended to me as if I was of their own family. Turning 15 meant for the boys in my village to come of age. With the number came the responsibility to get married and start a job. My mother, though, resisted the customs and let me keep living with her for the following five years without me having to get married or fend for myself. Now I don’t want to brag, but there were a lot of girls who would have loved to become my bride. But I’ll get to that later. Anyways, my father was not happy with the decision my mother had made, but he didn’t let it show. Still, I knew it because he let it show every time she was not looking, if only with a disapproving glance in my direction. I tried not to read too much into it and instead spent all my time at my mother’s secret library or out in the forests to put my newly acquired knowledge into practice.
The village elders were of the opinion that literacy would make people lazy and books corrupt peoples’ minds so there was no school and books were banned. Disobedience seemed to run in my family’s blood, though, so my mother had inherited her parents’ library and then introduced this oasis of knowledge to me. She also took me into the forest and up the mountains regularly when I was a child to teach me about all the animals, plants and wonders of nature that we lived among. I had to keep my knowledge a secret outside the safety of our home, but it was worth it.
Life went on like that until one day, when I was in my early 20s, some strangers came to our village. Nobody knew who they were, but the elders talked to them and only a few weeks later, this church was built. The strangers proclaimed that the only book for the people to read was what they called the Bible and read it at weekly services to the town’s people. My mother and I refused to go there, but my father went and with every week, he became more reclusive, except for work only leaving the house for the services. My mother was suspicious of them, so I was too, but my father was not to be convinced. One day, when my mother finally could not deal with my father’s silence any longer, we accompanied him to one.
We sat in the last row, while he was in the front, listening to the words of one of the strangers like he was under a spell. Most of the things he talked about centered around human sins, the evil in the world and how we should be punished for our wrongdoings. It contradicted what I knew of the world, my friendly neighbors, friends and family, innocent animals in the forest, the clear blue sky, softly flowing water, life-spending trees and flowers… At one point, I could no longer resist the urge and jumped up from my seat. “There is so much good, so much beauty in this world, why are you constantly talking about corruption and punishment?”, I shouted and suddenly all eyes were directed at me.
People gasped, their eyes wide open in horror. The man in the front cleared his throat. He was bold and wore glasses much too small for his round face. “I am bringing the teachings of the holy book to the people. Do you, son, doubt the sacred words?”, he said in such a loud voice that his words echoed from the walls. “I am not your son”, I said, while my father sat in the front row motionless. I stared back at the man who was not ready to break eye contact. He motioned for me to step forward. “Come here, son, let me enlighten you.”
I glanced at my mother who gave me a reassuring look. She knew that I was smart, she trusted me. I slowly walked towards the front, trying to avoid peoples’ accusing gazes. While I was still walking, the man started reading again. “No human is without sin. We are all sinners and we must repent our sins. If we do not, what awaits us is eternal suffering. But those who believe can be saved. We who believe can guide you so you all will be saved.” “That is not what’s written there”, I interrupted him and pointed at the passage in the book that he pretended to be reading. He flinched, slightly, only so much that I, who was standing directly next to him, noticed. “What did you say?” Two other strangers in the front row who looked like him with the same small glasses and bold head shot up from their seats. “How would you know what is written in the holy book?” His eyes blinked suspiciously.
“I can read”, I replied sullen. Before I could say another word, I was held by the two men who were stronger than they looked for their age. “Who taught you to read?”, asked the man in front of me. I glanced towards my mother. Her eyes were filled with tears but she did not move or say a word. I bit my lip to hold my tongue. I could not betray her. As long as she was safe, I would be fine too. It was the first time then that I heard his name. “The devil”, said one of the men who were holding me. “The devil taught you, don’t you deny it!” I am sure they saw the confusion in my eyes but they still kept spilling their accusations. “Your mind is corrupted. It is too late for salvation. You are the devil’s!” People first looked as confused as me, but soon started whispering excitedly until I was accused of unspeakable things from every direction.
“You seduced our daughters!” “You always had these evil eyes, I knew it.” “You devoted yourself to the devil, that’s why you refused marriage, didn’t you?” “Am I even your father or is it the devil himself?”
I looked at my father in shock whose eyes were filled with hatred. It was him who, along the three strange bald men, led the flock of people down the hill deeper into the forest until we arrived at a sort of shrine, built from three big stones lying on top of each other. People were holding torches up their heads to illuminate the night, but also as symbols of my soon to come punishment. I was dragged along in their middle by two men whose sons had been my friends when I was a child. That didn’t mean anything of course. Suddenly, all the villagers had turned against me without me even really knowing why.
I saw my mother for the last time when I passed her sitting in the last row of that forsaken church crying her eyes out, only a shadow of her former self. I gave her a smile before I was escorted outside. She should not see in how much fear I was. It would have broken her heart. My last moments as a regular person I spent lying on a cold stone shrine in the dark forest, surrounded by torches and people with hateful eyes. The three strange men were reciting songs in an ancient language from their presumably holy books. With every word, I felt the air around me get hotter and heavier. I was bound to the stone shrine by thick ropes. I did not even try to break free because I knew that I didn’t take a chance. I had surprisingly fast come to terms with my fate. Even seeing my father’s face in the crowd of angry villagers through the burning flames of the torch lights did not unsettle me too much. I had been wrong. Human kind was cruel. Too lazy and comfortable to think for themselves. The complete opposite of nature, not part of it. When the heat became almost unbearable, I closed my eyes and waited for the end to come.”
I shuddered, partly due to the cold, partly due to the story. “And then, what happened? You’re alive!”, I remarked. Damon shook his head sadly. “No, I’m not. I felt the flames cover my body, the air leave my lungs, saw the world disappear before my eyes until everything was… nothing. And then I woke up.”