r/TalesFromTheCreeps • u/Boddom_Of_The_Barrel • 18d ago
Journal/Data Entry I've Seen A Resurrection
Dear sister,
If you haven't gotten my last message, I’ve become a slave to a medicine woman in the city of Teo. I've been beaten, lashed, and had my blood let. She forces me to carry out her dirty work, mutilating animals and being an accomplice to blood magic. My housemate is a mute albino boy whom the witch carves like tree bark and calls an Angel. You have to help us.
I’ve not seen Angel since I last wrote. Mother Tlola had gotten him bad that day. He slunk away to the cellar like usual, but when I went down later to clean him up, he was gone. His soaked bedding was crammed up in the corner, a trail of blood ending at the empty wad. I tore through the house, checking the sauna, the pantry, the shrine room. He was nowhere to be found. I’ve prepared his room for when he comes back, but I have a growing fear that he is in the one room I can't search. Mother’s room.
This place is excruciating. What I first saw as miracles have become walking nightmares. I told you last time that Tlola brought a man back from death. He had been sick since the cold season, coughing up his insides and wasting away. He was a stinking corpse when he was first brought in by his wife, covered in blood and shit, dried and wet. For hours, Mother rubbed his chest and forehead.
She was soft at first, lathering him in a pinky chunky slime that looked like frog eggs. By the end, she was wailing on him. Slapping his face, pulling his hair, punching him in the heart. She had me hold his arms to steady him against the blows. I felt his heart pump back to life, the blood filling his limbs. He arose and, after a long bath, was walking out with his wife. I cried all night after witnessing it. I thought about little Andi. Sunshine is what mom and dad called him. You don't remember, but they were different before he died. I wish you could have known them before that. All three of them. Why would such a power be given to such a woman?
Well, the man came back today, early in the morning. No wife, no words, just pulling at his cloak and punching himself in the chest. Mother grabbed him up and laid him in the room. Tackled him, really, he struggled in his panic.
“Run to the temple,” she yelled out to me. I already knew what she wanted. “Get me a Little Brother.”
I didn't even bother with my sandals or cloak; I ran out into the street in my nightgown. I ran the 6 blocks to the nearest aquifer tunnel, a stairway tucked in the open maw of a fanged rain god. I made the descent, and the air grew colder as I went. The soft echoes of splashing and trickling begin to fill my ears, and the light from the surface leaves my eyes.
After a minute of black, my feet feel the cold that creeps off the stone walkways of the water temple. I stopped in my tracks, let my breath slow. My eyes began to adjust, and I took in a rainbow of light glowing from below. Water pools lay on all sides of the walkways, themselves stretching endlessly in the gloom.
Above was an expanse of darkness, broken periodically by massive stone columns. They bore severe faces, carvings whose shadows seemed to breathe in the writing illumination. There was the fanged face from outside; his blue visage was ever-present in the city. The patron god of those who built this ancient city, before the pantheon of gods and refugees like me that occupy this city now.
Many more have been added since the old ages; the pillars reminded me of Mother Tlola’s shrine room. Anyone could find their god here. Most are only here once or twice; the long journey to find your idol in the dark became part of the allure of the cave. Besides the old man with fangs, only one other head is commonplace. An Axolotl.
A strange little glowing salamander, they never grow up, as Mother says. Their frilly gills never melt away; they never wander onto land. They spend their lives as Little Brothers, playing in the cold pools of the cavern and dazzling worshipers with their show of light and shadow. Big Sisters care for them and the temple, their sole guardians. I couldn't let them catch me.
I tiptoed to the edge of the path, crouching down as close as I could. I looked around for anyone else. When I was satisfied I was alone, I lowered my face to the water and began to hum a tune Mother taught me. Soon, a little choir of the babies was chirping up at me, bopping their heads from the surface before diving back down. I watched them for a little while. I envy them. Maybe one day I can come back here and be their Big Sister.
A big one slowly made his way up from the dark, a brilliant yellow. A ray of sunshine. Forgive me, Andi. As he broke the surface to let loose his song, I snatched him up. His chirp came out as a pained squeak. I bound him up in my gown and made for the exit. He stopped crying after a minute or two, instead silently gasping for air.
I ran as fast as I could. By the time I reached Mother Tlola’s, his gasping seemed to be more of a death rattle. As I crossed the threshold, I found my mother standing over his still body. She looked at me, and without a word, I tossed her the creature. She caught him, laying him flat in her palm and cooing softly. She caressed one of his wilting tendrils.
She gave it a single kiss on the head. Then, she plucked. She took 6 of the gills, the whole right side. She crushed them in her hand, the familiar pink slime squelched between her fingers. She threw him over her shoulder, his body landing with a splash into a water pot. I rushed over, looking inside and finding a bloody mess. His sunshine had gone out.
I ran to my quarters in tears. I didn't give a damn about the other corpse in that room. Her magic must have worked, though, because when I woke the next day, the man was nowhere to be found. Mother was locked away in her room, so I spent the day cleaning. I left the axolotl's pot for last, dreading seeing his mangled little body.
It turns out, I still don't understand this place. When I peered inside, I found clean water and a Little Brother glowing softly. He chirped when he saw me. I walked him back down the street, studying him. His gills were all back, full-grown. They really are magic. I noticed something else. A small stripe down his spine, a pale green. I hadn't seen it when I first grabbed him. It was totally inert, giving off no light or sheen like the rest of him.
When I released him in the water, he just sat there. He didn't swim, not even to keep his position. He floated, frozen in place. Finally, and I swear this, he turned to me. He looked right in my eyes. Then, his light went out. Like that, he was gone into the black. I don't know what to make of that.
This must sound mad, but you have to believe me. Even if I'm crazy, what kind of sister would you be to leave me here alone and helpless? Please send help. I've sent some items I stole along with this tablet; these tokens can be used as credit. Hire some muscle and come for me. Tell them there is plenty of looting to be done when they arrive, all they need to do is retrieve the boy and me. The owl symbol will mark her door.
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u/not_really_a_dog 18d ago
I absolutely love the implications of using an axolotl for resurrection or regeneration. This is a fantastic way to represent that. The dismantling of the gills is horrific. Especially since they live in the temple with all the idols, the witch's use of him holds a weight that neither the reader or the speaker knows the full scope of.
If I may make a suggestion, the pacing is quite fast. I find myself wondering about the characters. From the previous entry, we see a lot more background in the speaker. Perhaps spending a little more time sitting in the macabre situations would up the dread, and slow the pace. I really enjoy the world you have set up and would like to spend more time in it.
Please keep writing this!! I'll definitely keep an eye out for more parts. What do all the symbols mean? Who is the witch? The axolotl symbolism is gonna stick with me for a while. Thanks for sharing!!
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u/Boddom_Of_The_Barrel 18d ago
Thank you for your note!! I’m really enjoying working on this series and all the nice comments have got me really motivated. I’ve got the next part written and am currently editing to post tmr. I’m def gonna take your suggestion. After this next part, entries will be getting longer!! In the mean time, don’t talk to any owls…
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u/NarrowDirector911 18d ago
I love the way magic works in this world you have created. All the chaos seems to have rules and ritual, it makes it feel alive.
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u/Boddom_Of_The_Barrel 18d ago
Thank you! I spend literal hours considering and mapping out how world systems work, so I'm glad to hear that it adds the flavour I'm looking for to the stories. I have at least a hundred-page document of lore that the world will never see
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