Featured Horror / Occult Tale: Sister Talia’s Adventure
Scene 1: The Ritual at Blackwood Clearing
Location: Blackwood forest clearing
The Blackwood forest holds its breath. Moonlight barely penetrates the dense canopy, casting twisted shadows across the clearing where ancient stones form a jagged circle. A figure in a frayed cassock kneels at the altar, his fingers clawing into the mossy stone.
Sister Talia: “Father Hannes. You are far from the chapel.”
Father Hannes: “The resonance is deafening, Sister. Can you not hear the earth weeping?”
Sister Talia (thinks): His eyes are clouded by something other than cataracts. The air here tastes of ozone and old metal. There are three spirits circling him, tethered by his frantic incantations.
Father Hannes: “They demand a vessel. If I do not provide one, the forest will burn. Reach into your kit, Sister. We must bind them before the eclipse completes.”
A low, rhythmic thrumming vibrates through the ground. The spirits shift, their translucent forms coalescing into a singular, elongated shadow behind the priest. Hannes reaches out a shaking hand, gesturing toward Talia to join the circle.
Sister Talia (thinks): If I step into the circle, I risk tethering myself to the ritual, but if I stay back, the entity will surely consume him.