Twisted Roads – Twisted Horror Stories by Matthew Tonks

Padti

“SCANDALOUS!” he shouts at the small room of people. They all look at the ground in shame, their faces red. One man shuffles his feet clumsily, biting down on his lip as he mumbles to himself. He feels a shadow cast over him, followed quickly by something crashing into his stomach, sending him to the ground in agony.

“YOU DARE CHALLENGE ME!” he yells at the fallen man, his fists shaking with anger, his eyes bloodshot, wide, wild.

“P-P-Please, please, Lord Wilton, I-I-I-I, I meant no disrespect. There was no challenge from me. I was, I-I-I, I, I was just disappointed in myself—in us all, as you are. I never meant anything other than that—definitely not disrespect,” he pleads frantically, clutching his stomach.

“But you did, didn’t you, Chance? And in doing so, you showed the others how you cannot be trusted,” Wilton says as he powerfully strides around Chance, looking into the faces of the others gathered around them. “You are not one of us, for if you were, you would not hold bitterness towards your brothers and sisters—towards me, the one who saved you,” he hisses, holding his arms in the air. “Am I not the one who saved you? Am I not the one who showed you the light? Am I not the one you worship with all that you are?”

“YOU ARE, MY LORD!” they all call out in unison.

“Should this betrayal be left unpunished?”

“NO, MY LORD!” they cry.

“How should he be punished?”

“DEATH!”

“NO, PLEASE! NO!” Chance yells.

“The time for begging is over, child. Your people have spoken, Chance, and today, you face your tomorrow,” Wilton says, as a group of them grab Chance and drag him from the room, screaming. “TODAY IS YOUR TOMORROW, EMBRACE IT, CHANCE! EMBRACE TOMORROW, FOR WE WILL ALL SOON BE THERE WITH YOU, FOR WE WILL ALSO BE WITHIN THE TOMORROW!” Wilton screams with laughter as the door slams shut, muffling Chance’s cries. Then, he turns to the followers who remain and smiles. “Now, let us continue, for my disappointment is yet to be quenched!”