Ascending Life - Halloween Story 2019

"I have been telling this story for many years and hopefully I will be telling it for many years to come before my soul will die. Back when the great and mighty Uul created our world, he had first created Paradise. Paradise was a wonderful place where our souls could live with no fear, pain and harm. We wouldn't grow old or weak and we wouldn't experience loss or sadness. Paradise was a perfect world where we could have everything our hearts desired. But Uul made it too perfect. As we couldn't grow old, we couldn't grow up either. As we couldn't feel pain, we lost many essential life lessons and experiences. And most of all we couldn't create new life, it would just be a small group of souls for eternity. So Uul decided to create another world, this world and this earth. A place where our souls could be born in these fragile and growing bodies. A place where we could grow up and mature. A place where we could experience and learn of both bad and good, of pain and pleasure and of sadness and happiness. And when we reach our twenty-first birthday we are granted passage to Paradise. But this as this world is flawed and imperfect the path to Paradise is only open for passage on the day our souls turns twenty-one. If we don’t ascend to Paradise our souls will be stuck here on earth until the day we die and then it will wither away in horrible pain and agony. When I was about to ascend an eternity ago there had been a mistake and the passage was closed and I was denied passage to Paradise. The great Uul came to me to apologise and asked me to take care of all of you. He appeared in a dream giving me my purpose to teach and prepare you for a life in Paradise. And tonight one of our sisters will ascend. Alice turns twenty-one today and is currently preparing for the ritual tonight. Let us all pray for her and that her ascension to Paradise will be easy”

Father Leopold stands preaching to his congregation as he does everyday. Hundred young men and women sits in this carved out mountain room listening to him. Nearly everyone over the age of eight shows up to these sermons even though they have heard it many times before. Father Leopold finishes his sermon like always by delegating the assignments of the day. Today the ten oldest who has not turned twenty-one yet, are to prepare for the ceremony and ritual. The ascension room and Alice must be cleansed so the soul does not get contaminated while ascending and they have to prepare the ascension party that is held after the ritual. The others over nineteen are to manage the housekeeping of their small society and teach the young kids. Those between nineteen and fourteen are to tend to the farmland and the animals. Those younger than fourteen have school where they are taught the necessary skills they need to keep this society alive while they wait for their time to ascend and they have to help take care of each other. As Father Leopold finish up the congregation slowly disperses to tend to the days work. Corin, who turns twenty-one in two and a half months, has to prepare for the ritual which means that he for the tenth time must scrub the ascension room absolutely clean. Tanna, Clemt, Berin and Gorra follows him down through the mountain tunnels to the ascension room one floor down in the north corner. It is a big circular room big enough to fit everyone inside. In the middle of the room is a round stone plateau with a silhouette carved on top of it. Many small canals leads from the top to a small bassin.

Corin takes the lead as he is the oldest “Clemt, Berin and Gorra you three sweeps and washes the floor and when you are finished go find Molin in the ballroom. She will give you the next assignment. Tanna this is your first time preparing for the ritual and I have chosen you as the next plateau cleaner. This is the last time I will be cleaning the plateau so I am going to teach all you need to know about it” he says. Clemt and Berin nods acceptingly to Corin’s directions and immediately leaves the room to pick up cleaning supplies in a nearby closet.

Tanna joins Corin at the plateau “are you excited for when it’s your turn to ascend?” she asks conversationally while they wait for Clemt and Berin to return “I’m so excited, I can’t wait to see my family again. I haven’t seen my mom and dad since I was five and they ascended. And I can’t wait to see Tork, my son’s father, I miss him so much. He was my love and he comes to me at night saying he misses me too and that I should take care of our son” she continues before Corin could respond.

“My dad ascended when I was one and my mom ascended when I was three. I don’t remember them but I am told they were very nice people and definitely deserved to ascend. But enough about that, we need to clean this plateau so Alice can ascend safely. Grab that bucket and scrubber. You see all these small canals? You have to scrub those extra hard and use these long metal chenille stems. If you don’t get all the dried blood and dirt out they will clog up and contaminate the ritual” Corin instructs while showing a two metre long chenille stem “after scrubbing the easy open canals with the brush, you dip the chenille stem in the cleaning resolute and show it down every single canal. Best to do it systematical so you won’t lose track of which you have and haven’t cleaned”.

“That sounds like a lot of work” Tanna says and starts scrubbing.

“It’s not so hard. After the ritual has been done Father Leopold will let you back in so you can rinse of the plateau. I recommend you do that as it almost completely prevent dried blood in the canals. Which makes it easier when you have to clean it before a ritual” Corin smiles.

Clemt, Berin and Gorra finishes cleaning the room in just three hours and leaves to find Molin in the ballroom. Corin and Tanna spends five hours on cleaning the plateau. They finish by disinfecting it with burning alcohol.

“See it’s not that hard to do, it takes some time but not hard” Corin laughs as they look at the burning flames that cleanses the plateau “though I was told a story when I was young about man called Albleit who wasn’t able to ascend. I’m not really sure what happened but it was something about the plateau not being clean enough. And instead of the blood draining out through the canals it started flowing over the sides of the plateau and down onto the floor. They said it corrupted the ritual and his soul melted instead of ascending” he says.

“That sounds horrible” Tanna looks at him horrified by the story.

“It does. But I’m unsure about how true it is. I think it’s a story they tell us to make sure we do the job properly” Corin places his hand on Tanna's shoulder "let's find some food in the kitchen before our next assignment".

The kitchen is one of the few places that is top side in this mountain society. It is placed right between the farmland and the livestock area with a view over the outside area. The outside area is of a good size containing a vegetable garden, a cornfield, several cows, pigs, sheep and hens and a large impenetrable wooden wall to protect them from the dangerous wild. Many dangerous beasts and things sprung to life in this imperfect world so Uul created this haven to keep them safe until ascension. Noone has ever been outside the wall not even Father Leopold. But by standing on the kitchen roof one can see over the wall and see a forest of trees surrounding them. As Corin and Tanna enters the kitchen they find it empty except for the sixteen year old Vail scrubbing some pots and pans.

"Why are you in the kitchen cleaning today Vail?" Corin asks her conversationally.

"Molin asked me to pitch in as she is busy in the ballroom. I just have to clean and keep an eye on the food. What can I help you two with?" Vail says melodic.

"We missed lunch so we just came to get a snack" Corin says and moves towards the refrigerators they have been gifted by Uul.

Vail drops the pan into the water and hurries to the refrigerators before Corin gets there and starts pulling out food "let me" she smiles.

Tanna discretely bumps into Corin and teasingly whispers "I think she likes you".

Corin had not spend much time dating, there were always work to do and things that needed to be learned. Like taking care of babies, taking care of the animals, tending the vegetables, learn how to help the pregnant and the birthing, cleaning the ascension room, cleaning the altar of Uul and learn to use the gifts he provides. Everyone has to know everything, so all can help out when needed. The only thing that is not taught is how to date. They always just said "you know when you know" and everyone seemed to know except him.

"Are you sure?" he asks back a bit hopeful and uncomfortably straightens up.

Vail comes over with two sandwiches and hands them to Tanna and Corin “I hope you like them, it’s not like the meal the others had but I put some slices of tender and juicy meat in them. Please enjoy” she says with a smile and goes back to the pots and pans.

“She is definitely into you and you kind of have to find a love soon if you want someone to be with in paradise” Tanna says and sits down at a table.

“And what should I do then? Go up to her at the party tonight and ask if she wants to dance and see how it ends?” Corin says dismissive and hoping for some actual advice on how to date.

“That is exactly what you should do. That was how Tork and I met. We danced all night and had so much fun drinking us drunk on the wine Uul had gifted us for the party” she says wisely eating her sandwich

“What if she already has a love? And if she doesn’t why would she pick a love who ascends in just a few months. We won’t get that long together”

“Hey Vail” Tanna suddenly calls through the kitchen “do you have a love yet?” she continues to ask as Vail looks at them.

Vail blushes by the sudden direct question about her personal relations “what? No, no I don’t have a love, why do you ask?” she says a little flustered.

“Oh, I’m just curious” Tanna smirks teasingly to Corin.

“Well I think you better get going and find Molin” Corin says and Tanna smiles at him. He turns to Vail as Tanna leaves through the door that leads down to the ballroom “thank you for the sandwich it was good. You seem quite skilled in the kitchen” he compliments.

Vail blushes again “it was nothing, I’m just glad that I don’t have to be outside and work in the field” she says smiling.

“I have to go. There are more to be done before tonight but maybe we’ll see each other at the party” Corin follows Tanna out of the kitchen.

The ballroom has been decorated with colourful banners hanging under the ceiling. Round tables are placed in one end for people to sit and talk. In the middle are two punch fountains on each side of the room. Opposite of the tables is there a designated dance floor with flower decorations in the corners. And a big picture of Alice has been placed on the end wall looking over the dance floor. Just adjacent to the ballroom is the dining room where the long tables have been decorated with small flower decorations that Alice has made herself.

"I can see you are almost done decorating. How is the plan holding up?" Corin asks Molin after taking a moment to enjoy the room.

"Everything goes according to the plan. Alice is currently saying her goodbyes to her love and child and in just an hour we will start cleansing her. You can go and check the altar room and see if Uul has brought us gifts like he normally does. I hope he gift us wine. I love when we get wine" Molin checks her list.

"I'll take Clemt with me. It will go easier with his strength" Corin says and Molin nods in agreement. "Clemt come with me" he calls to Clemt who is rearranging some tables.

Clemt follows Corin downstairs to the altar in the far east end "what's the job?" he asks conversationally.

"We just have to see if Uul has gifted us anything. And if he has it will be easier to carry with you helping" Corin slaps Clemt on his biceps.

"Oh yeah I am strong. They are gonna miss me when I ascend" Clemt laughs and flexes.

"You are going to miss your big bulky muscles when you ascend" Corin teases back.

The altar room is different from the rest in that way it has a metal door that sometimes closes. Making the altar room unusable for all. It often happens before Uul grants them gifts. Father Leopold says that it is because Uul's magical powers are so mighty that it could create chaos if they were let out in the tunnels. Inside the altar room is the altar that leads to an inactive portal which Uul opens when he wants to visit. Noone but Father Leopold has ever seen it open. This time Uul has gifted them wine. Eighty bottles of red wine surrounds the altar.

"Thank you great Uul for this gift" Clemt and Corin say simultaneously and takes an honourable bow.

"Lucky Molin, this was just what she had hoped for" Corin smirks and grabs some boxes.

"It's way better than when we get cleaning supplies" Clemt also grabs some boxes.

After a day of work the time has come for Alice to ascend. She has been scrubbed clean and cleansed from head to toe. They had a lovely dinner sharing their best memories and stories about her. She was not allowed to eat as her body should remain clean. She has not been eating all day. And now everybody is standing in the ascension room waiting for her to step through the door. Father Leopold waves his hands above the plateau mumbling some weird words. Alice walks through the door wearing only a silk robe. A few discrete tears roll down her cheeks but she tries to hide it with a smile. She steps up to the plateau like she has seen so many before her do. The crowd starts humming a soft melody. She takes of the silk robe and completely naked crawls up on the plateau and sits in the carved silhouette. She can not hide her tears any longer.

Father Leopold hands her the ceremonial knife "oh great Uul on this day Alice turns twenty-one and is thereby taking her turn to ascend into the paradise you have created for us. Please guide her soul and protect her while she travels from this world to the new" he says in a dramatic voice and lights the essence on fire.

Alice places the tip of the knife on her left wrist. Big tears rolls from her eyes and she looks conflicted. The tension in the room rises as everyone waits for Alice to pierce her skin and let the blood of her body flow.

"You have to do it if you want to ascend and meet your friends and family in paradise" Father Leopold says encouraging.

"I can't do it. I want to stay here with my family" Alice cries and looks through the crowd for her love and child.

"It is just the fear of the unknown talking. Remember your family will soon join you in paradise when they ascend" Father Leopold says but he can see the words does not have the right effect on her "don’t worry my friend we will help you. Clemt, Corin and Marten hold her down and together we will ascend her" he grabs the knife out of her hand.

Clemt, Corin and Marten grabs Alice and forces her down holding her arms so she can not move. She screams in desperation and pain. She looks begging at the boys with heavy tears flowing. Father Leopold stabs into her wrist and cuts five centimetres up the arm. Alice screams in pain and desperately fights to get free. Her blood flows and drains through the canals to the bassin. Corin looks away horrified. He has seen many ascensions before and it is not the first time Father Leopold has helped people ascend. About half of the time people have needed help to complete the ascension. But suddenly it all feels so close and scary. He is the next to ascend and what if he can not do it. Father Leopold has cut the second wrist and Alice's screams slowly silences and she lies sobbing heavily.

"And now cover Alice with ice so her soul wont turn back to her body and recite the farewell prayer" Father Leopold says.

Together everyone starts mumbling the prayer and Alice gets covered with a clean sheet of plastic and several buckets of ice. People slowly leaves the room after having said their goodbyes. Parents and caretakers scatters to their rooms to put the children under the age of twelve to sleep before joining the party later. Everyone over the age of twelve are welcome at the party. But only those over the age of fourteen are allowed to drink. These ascension parties are a big part of creating a social life. For many this is where they start forming romantic relations. Corin and Tanna waits outside the ascension room waiting for Father Leopold to finish the ritual. Just like after every ascension Father Leopold locks himself inside the room and after twenty minutes he opens it again and the body of the ascended has disappeared. It is said that the great Uul comes and releases the body back into the world to be part of everything. When  we are born we borrow our bodies from the world and when we leave we have to return them. As Father Leopold leaves the room he lets Corin and Tanna inside so they can clean the plateau again. Alice’s blood is gone and only a little residue is left in the canals and the bassin. They soak the plateau and starts scrubbing as fast as they can. The sooner they are finished the sooner they can get back to their rooms and get ready for the party. The water quickly drains out through the canals and they have to re-soak the plateau several times but eventually they get the worst cleaned up. They are both soaked in sweat and water from the vigorous cleaning. Corin pours the cleaning alcohol over the plateau and Tanna lights it on fire to cleanse it. The room lights up and they get ready to leave but something catches Tanna’s eye on the wall opposite the door.

“What is that glistening on the wall over there” she says and walks closer to examine it “it looks like … blood? Why is there blood on the wall and also … on the floor?” she asks confused looking to Corin for answers.

“I don’t know. Maybe Father Leopold got blood on him when he ascended Alice” he suggest trying to think of a reason why blood could have spilled all the way over at the wall “just wipe it off quickly” he continues.

Tanna does as she is told and wipes the blood off with a wet cloth. They can now leave and get ready for the party.

Corin takes his time getting ready for the party. He does not feel completely in the mood for partying as Alice’s screams still echoes in his ears like a bad melody stuck in his head. On the other hand he does not want to be alone either. He could really need someone to comfort him but most of the people he actually talked and hung out with has already ascended. In the ballroom the party is swinging with a warm rocking melody filling the room. Many have moved out on the dancefloor dancing and having fun. Corin puts on a smile and heads directly for the table with all the wine. Maybe he will get into the mood if he can just get a good buzz going. He quickly downs one glass and takes another to an empty table in the corner. Tanna is dancing with her friends Molin and Gilly. Clemt is having an arm wrestling competition with the cocky young men who are trying to impress girls. Gorra is sitting at another table having a conversation with her friends about something but he never really clicked with them. He sips his wine listening to the music that changes to a slow romantic melody and the single people on the dance floor makes room for the couples.

Some soft feminine hands covers his eyes "having fun?" a voice asks.

"Vail?" Corin guesses. He did not see her approaching.

Vail moves her hands and sits down beside him. She usually hangs out with a group of friends but this time she is alone. "So are you having fun?" She asks again.

"Of course" Corin says with a forced smile "where are your friends?"

"Over there dancing" she points to a group of five slow dancing together "you don't look like you are having fun" she continues.

"I'm getting there. Alice's ascension just shocked me a bit" Corin confesses there is something about Vail that makes him feel he can say anything.

"Then let's get some more wine and talk about it. Just a second" Vail grabs a bottle of wine and a glass and sits back down beside Corin "so what's up?" she says with a smile.

"It just hit me hard when Father Leopold ascended Alice. I have seen him do it many times before but now I'm actually next. What if I can't do it? What if it goes wrong?" he says.

"It won't go wrong. Father Leopold is there to help us through it and we get to see our family again" Vail tries to comfort.

"I know but I never knew my family and what if I don't like them or this Paradise world. I know this place. I like this world" he says. He never really had these thoughts before but now they are rushing through his mind like they have always been there.

"Wow! That is some heavy thoughts" Vail goes silent and he can see that she is trying to find something to say.

"Sorry I didn't mean to bring you down …" Corin starts but she interrupts him.

"No no it's fine. I was just … those are some big thoughts and you are right it is kind of scary. We don't know what will happen. We only know what Father Leopold have told us and I think we can trust him. Maybe you should try and talk with him" Vail says with a comforting smile.

"Maybe I should try doing that" Corin smiles he decides to take Tanna’s advice "but tomorrow. Tonight we have a party. Do you wanna dance?" he empties his glass and takes Vail's hand and leads her to the dance floor.

He feels a little better now but it may just be the wine taking effect and spending time with Vail that did it. 

With a splitting headache and a dry throat Corin finds himself in a warm comfortable bed. He does not remember how he got here but at this moment he does not mind. He is too tired and nauseated to open his eyes. He just wants to stay here in this warm bed and sleep. This bed that sort of smell sweeter than it usually does. But he lets it go for now and tries to fall asleep again before his body realises that he has to pee. He wakes again later as an arm grabs around his waist and someone cuddles up to him. The person feels soft and warm against his skin and Corin now realises that he is naked. Confused he slowly turns around in the bed to see the person next to him. He smiles as he recognises the face of this beautiful woman that cuddles up to him. He looks around and notices that this is not his room either. Somehow after spending the party dancing with Vail he ended up spending the night in her room as well.

Vail opens her eyes and looks up at him “did you sleep well?” she asks both happy and slightly worried that he might regret it.

“I think I got a little too much wine last night and I don’t remember much after our dance” Corin confesses but he can not stop smiling “how are you?” he tries to ask not sure what he should say.

Her smile fades a little “so do you regret tonight?” she asks insecure.

“I only regret not being able to remember it fully. It seems like I missed out on something beautiful” he says and caresses her cheek “maybe we can meet up tonight and have a real date?”

Vail lights up at his suggestion “I … I would love that” a tear rolls down her cheek and she cuddles up to him. After a short moment she sits up “we should probably get up now. We have chores to do”.

Corin enjoys the view of Vail picking out a set of clothes and get dressed. He would have liked spending the whole day in bed with her but those romantic-lazy-couple days needs to be scheduled ahead of time. He slowly gets out of Vail’s bed and grabs his clothes from the night before and gets dressed. Always keeping an eye on her afraid of missing a moment. He follows her out and as he splits ways with her to get back to his own room Alice’s scream starts ringing in his ears again. This time the screams are louder and more terrifying. His body starts feeling colder and the hallways closes in on him. His heart pounds harder for every step he takes away from Vail. He only has twelve weeks left here in this world with her before he has to leave. If they get a child he will be gone before it is even born. He will never meet his child, just a grown soul that will claim he is its father. How will he be able to leave when there is so much left to do and experience. His soul is not ready. He starts running but instead of running to his room he changes direction and runs to Father Leopold’s office.

Corin burst in through the door “Father Leopold …” he says and stops in shock.

Father Leopold stands at his table with his pants around his ankles and his old white ass shining in the light. On the table is Keylee, she sits up in shock over the door opening.

Father Leopold turns around surprised by the interruption “Corin what the fuck are you doing?” he exclaims with his penis hanging out in the air.

Keylee tries to cover her body with her hands ashamed by being naked in front of Corin.

“What … I, uhm … what” Corin tries to find some words but this vision has silenced him. He had no idea this was part of Father Leopold’s job.

“Corin can you come back later. I am currently busy with a private tutoring session” Father Leopold says and shows Corin out of the door again.

Corin sits down in the hallway still shocked by what he just saw. He sits there unaware of how much time that passes him by and eventually Keylee comes out of the office hiding her face in shame from Corin.

“Come in Corin we can talk now” Father Leopold says now fully clothed “what is on your mind my boy” he continues as Corin carefully takes place in the chair across the desk.

“What, what … what was that private tutoring?” Corin asks as the thought seems to momentarily have blocked out his fear.

Father Leopold lets out a soft sigh “as I teach you all so much of this world that the great Uul has created. How to create children is also part of my burden to teach. Uul has instructed me that every woman over the age of fourteen needs to know how to make a baby so that when she has found her love she will know what to do. So whenever one of our young women turns fourteen they are to come to my office and I teach them all they have to know with a practical lesson. I also make sure that their body is healthy and I inform them of who of you young men that will be a good fit for a love. For one of the flaws that is with our bodies is that they can not make good babies with people that we are in close family with” he explains “but that was not why you came here today. So what was the problem?” he explains.

Still trying to wrap his head around the information that Father Leopold has had sex with every woman of their society for the last many decades Corin looks at him “I, came here … because…” he starts slowly and then the fear hits him again “Oh yeah I came because I am scared of ascending. I don’t feel ready. My soul don’t feel ready. There are so many things I still need to experience and learn. Like love. I haven’t had a love yet and I have no children. And what is paradise even? You always say it’s the best place there is with everything we desire. But right now this is the place that got everything I desire. Right now I want to stay here” he says as new thoughts starts to form in his head.

“It is okay to be scared. Many are scared before they ascend. You know this as you have seen me help many ascend as they were afraid. And you will always feel like there is more to learn and experience. I have learned a lot since I was twenty-one a long time ago but not everything is necessary or useful to know. The great Uul trust that I teach you everything you need to know before you ascend. Some learn it early and some learn it late. Like you with love. You say you haven’t had a love yet. But I have heard that you and the young Vail are currently exploring that experience together” Corin is surprised that Father Leopold already knows about him and Vail but maybe Uul has informed him “and Paradise is a wonderful place that will feel just as right for you as this place will. And remember that all of your friends and your parents will be there waiting for you. Think of them every time you have doubts. They would be awfully sad if you didn’t join them for they have waited so long for you to come” he says in a calm and empathetic tone.

“But if my friends and family wanted to be with me so much why didn’t they just do that then. They could have had a long life with me if they had stayed. I mean you have lived forever and so could they. They chose to leave me and ascend” Corin is not sure what he says before he has said it but he can feel that he is a bit angry that those who love him have left him.

Father Leopold looks worried at him like he is in trouble or something “you know that is not how it works. If we don’t ascend at age twenty-one we will not be able to come to Paradise at all and our souls will die. This was the only way Uul could make it work between the two worlds” he says in a final tone.

Unsatisfied by these answers Corin slowly gets up from the chair. He wants more answers. He wants to discuss this more. But he does not want to make Father Leopold mad. It is not he who has made this world wrong but the great Uul did. As he is about to leave he turns around “what is my chores for the day?” he says defeated.

Father Leopold looks at him for a second “go take the day off. Take some time to relax and spend some time with Vail. You have worked hard for so long and haven’t had that many days for fun” he says.

With a set of mixed feelings about Uul, their society, Father Leopold, ascending and Vail, Corin finds it hard to relax. Thoughts keep running through his head changing his mood from happy to sad to scared to confused to angry and back again. He even considered stopping his relationship with Vail before it even gets started that way he would not have to miss her the next five years until she ascends. But the thought of giving up his chance of love, the thought of giving up Vail just made him angry and sad. If he is to wait five years in paradise he wants the memories with him. In the end he set up a small picnic on the roof of the kitchen with warm blankets and the beautiful nature around them. He picked up Vail just before dinner and lead her to their date. The hard thing was sneaking everything onto the roof without her finding out especially since she had farm duty all day. The sun sets and bathes the world in a golden red light as they finish the cake he got them for dessert.

Vail leans into Corin’s arms and looks out over the farm “this is really nice. When did you find time to do this” she asks with a blissful sigh.

“I went to talk to Father Leopold about my worries for ascending and he gave me the day off. He told me to go and relax and spend time with you. He already knew about us” Corin covers them both with a blanket.

“That was nice of him. Did he say something that could help you?” Vail asks hopefully as she wants him to be happy.

“Not really. He said what he always say. Think about your family and friends who misses you and you have to ascend or you won’t be able to. But what if I don’t want to ascend. What if I want to stay here with the people I love. I don’t have to live forever somewhere else. I just want to live with you for now. And it’s my life, it’s my soul so shouldn’t it be my choice when or how I want to die” he says just to let out the thoughts that had been building pressure all day.

“You don’t mean that do you?” she asks worried. For how can he say something like that. How can she give her heart to him if he is not going to be waiting for her in Paradise. Or should she leave her family just to stay with him.

“I … I don’t know what to believe anymore. But it’s not like I have a choice anyway. Even if I don’t want to ascend Father Leopold will just ascend me like he has done with everyone else” he says as the last sunlight disappears in the horizon and the stars starts to shine “but I did learn something new today. Father Leopold has taught you girls how to have sex and get children. And he told me that he tells you who is a good partner” a hint of jealousy and anger colours his voice as he talks about the private tutoring and then he turns insecure “did you choose me because Father Leopold told you we didn’t share family and we would be a good match?”

“No, no, nononono, no I didn’t choose you because he told me to” Vail sits up facing him and touches his face “I have always liked you for as long as I remember. You were always so good and nice when we were small. You helped take care of me after my parents ascended and you have taught me so much. When Father Leopold started talking about finding a love and family relations I immediately asked if I could choose you. He said it would be fine but he recommended someone closer to my age to lesser the years we would be apart” Corin kisses her and takes her back in his embrace “but that private tutoring session is the worst thing I have ever experienced” she shivers at the thought of it “feeling him touching me everywhere and his old body. I spent the whole day showering trying to get that feeling off me. I think it was unnecessary of him to teach us about blowjobs, handjobs, rimjobs, anal, the positions and all such things. We could easily have learned all that on our own” she says disgusted.

“I don’t even know what those things are. We boys didn’t get any private tutoring session which, by the look of Father Leopold’s white ass, I am really happy we didn’t” Corin says wondering what a rimjob could even be.

“Well maybe I will show you some of the things if you stay with me tonight” she says in alluring tone and catches his eyes.

Three headless men at the size of Clemt carries Corin into the ascension room and places him on the plateau. He tries to scream but his mouth has been sewn together. His arm and legs gets bound and stretched out. It feels like his body gets pulled apart. The room is filled with dark wailing figures, silhouettes of people with blood dripping from their wrists. Father Leopold steps out of the dark crowd surrounded by fire above his head hangs a laughing smile in the air. And behind him is Vail and a small girl at the age of five. Vail slowly caresses Corin and kisses him on the cheek with a proud smile. Father Leopold hands the blood dripping knife to the girl and she crawls up on the plateau sitting across him. She stabs him in the right wrist and drags the knife all the way up his arm to his shoulder. He wants to scream in pain but he can not open his mouth. The wailing of the crowd around him grows louder and the walk closer. He can see red flowing from their eyes.

The girl bends in closer “it’s time to ascend father” she says and cuts his other arm open she laughs maniacally and her head detaches from her body and floats in the air. “I can’t wait for Father Leopold to teach me everything when I turn fourteen” she laughs and then she cuts his throat.

Corin sits up in bed with a small scream. His heart is pounding like it is trying to break out of his chest. He looks around the room with panic trying to understand what just happens. This is his bedroom and his bed. He examines his wrists and arms. There are no wounds or scars.

Vail sits up and hugs him “another nightmare honey?” she asks and can feel he slowly calms in her arms.

While his eyes still runs around the room scanning for anything in the dark he holds her protectively tights and kisses her forehead “sorry about that. it … it was just … our daughter ascended me” he finally says.

“Oh sweety, she can’t do that. She hasn’t even been born yet” she says and shows her tenth week big pregnant belly “she is right here with us”.

Corin smiles and kisses the belly “I will try and talk to Father Leopold again. I mean it’s tomorrow I ascend maybe Uul has told him something new that can help” he lies down. They can still get a few hours of sleep before they have to get up today.

“I love you and I will take good care of our child” Vail says and cuddles up to him. Though their time together have been filled with horrible nightmares she love the two and a half month they had. She will miss him so much when he ascends but it is not like he can stay with her.

Just after lunch Corin finds time to go see Father Leopold in his office. He knocks on the door to make sure he does not walk in on some private tutoring lessons again. He knocks again but there is no answer. He opens the door just to check if he is there maybe as he could be sleeping at his table. The office is empty. Corin turns to leave but maybe the answers to his questions are in one of Father Leopold’s books. He goes to the bookshelf behind the table and starts looking at the titles; Atlas of Human Anatomy, The Bible, Obstetrics and Gynecology. He has not heard of any of those words before. How is he to know which book on this shelf that can help. The wall to his right opens up like a door into the room and he can hear voices. It is Father Leopold talking with someone else. Someone Corin has never met or heard talking before. He hides under the table as he suddenly feels like he should not have seen this.

“Now Doctor Perus remember we have an organ harvest tomorrow evening. We can finally get rid of that damn Corin. He has started asking too many questions” Father Leopold says as he enters the office.

“My team is ready to operate. But I wanted to talk about your successor. You are eighty five years old and last week you had a heart attack. You can’t keep pretending to be Father Leopold and what will be of this whole operation when you die. This pays too well for me to go back to being a normal doctor” the man called Perus says.

“Relax Doctor Perus it is not hard to find someone who wants to be my successor. Who doesn’t want a job where they can fuck an endless stream of young women. And I have two young candidates in training. I just have to make sure they can live up to the task and keep the story of Uul alive before I choose. Your job here is secured” Father Leopold says and closes the wall.

Corin is shocked and mortified by what he just heard. He had his doubts and questions but never thought that it could all be a lie. That it is just some trick to fuck women and harvest their organs. He feels sick and disgusted. Father Leopold leaves the office shortly after. Corin slowly crawls out from under the desk. He needs to do something. He needs to get away before Father Leopold ascends him and they harvest his organs. And Vail he needs to get her with him. He can not leave without her. But she will not believe this. How can she believe this. This is unreal. He looks around the room trying to think, trying to find something to help. He needs proof that this is all a lie but what. He starts opening drawers in the desk and looks through it all. There are a lot of papers with names. He pulls it all out and throws it on the desk. How can he find proof when he has no idea what all of this is. There is a red book between the papers. He opens it and it is a long list. A long list of all their names and all their organs with large numbers written beside. He has never seen numbers this large before but they must be important numbers.

“Corin what are you doing?” Father Leopold had entered the office without Corin noticing.

“Stay back. I know what you are doing. You are killing us for our organs but why” Corin says keeping some distance to Father Leopold.

“You just had to find some answers didn’t you? And the answer is I do it for the money. All of your organs sells nicely on the black market and I have created the best organ farm there is. You are all just pigs waiting to get slaughtered thinking that there is something better on the other side. You of course doesn’t know what money is but out in the real world it is more powerful than the great Uul” Father Leopold explains “now I just have to keep you locked up until tomorrow where I can kill you and everything will turn back to normal” he pulls a knife out of his belt and points it at Corin.

Corin grabs the chair and throws it at Father Leopold who falls over as it hits him. He then grabs the red book and the papers from the table and runs out of the room and back to Vail. They need to get out of here now. He runs to their room hoping to find her there but no the room is empty. He throws the papers on the bed and starts packing some clothes and affects he knows she would like with them. He puts it in their pillow cases and binds a rope to the corners to make it easier to carry.

“Corin love, what are you doing?” Vail asks surprised as she enters their room and sees Corin maniacally packing things in their pillowcases.

“I’m sorry honey, I’m so sorry but we have to leave. I tried my best. I tried talking to Father Leopold but this is all a lie. There is no great Uul. There is no Paradise. He is killing is just to harvest our organs and get something called money for them” he rambles with big tears coming from his eyes. He feels like he has failed her.

Vail looks at him scared and confused “what are you saying? What. Why. What. Slow down honey slow down” she tries to understand what he is saying but it sounds like gibberish.

He takes some deep breaths to try and slow down before talking again “I. I … I was just at Father Leopold’s office to talk with him but he wasn’t there. So I looked at his books and suddenly the wall opened like a door and he came out with another man. I hid under the table and heard them talk about how this is just a lie to harvest our organs. I couldn’t believe what I heard so when Father Leopold had left the room again I started looking through his papers. See” he holds up the papers and the red book “this is a recording of all of us and how many of these money he has gotten for each of our organs. He caught me reading it and then he explained that this was all just a farm where he raises us to get slaughtered so he can get more money” he desperately needs her to believe him. He can not leave without her and their child. He needs her, she is his love.

She looks at him mortified and scared. He has clearly gone mad but on the other hand he has never lied to her and he has always confided his fears to her. And these papers looks like they have been written by Father Leopold though she does not understand what they mean. He looks begging and pleading at her. “I … I can’t believe this, this is too much” she says and Corin is about to lose hope “but I believe in you. I believe you will protect me and that you wouldn’t say this unless you were sure of it. You were willing to ascend for me even though it scares you more than anything else” she says and takes his hand.

It is knocking on the door and Corin quickly hides under the bed. “Is Corin here?” Clemt asks through the door.

Vail goes to open it “I haven’t seen him since this morning. Why? Is he missing? Is something wrong?” she asks convincingly.

“Father Leopold says he’s gone mad. He says that Corin attacked him and he desecrated the altar of Uul. We have to bring him to Father Leopold before he can bring this madness to Paradise” Clemt informs “well if you see Corin you are to bring him to Father Leopold or kill him. I know. He was like a brother to me but we can’t have someone as mad as him in Paradise” he says as he sees Vail’s surprise.

Vail waits until Clemt has left before she closes the door and turns to Corin “you attacked Father Leopold and desecrated the altar!” she exclaims.

“He pulled a knife on me and said he would lock me up until tomorrow. So I threw a chair at him and ran to here. I didn’t even touch the altar. But honey didn’t you hear. Father Leopold told them that they have to kill so I don’t ascend tomorrow and ruin Paradise. I don’t even want to go to Paradise. I want to stay here with you, so why would he want to kill me” Corin argues he really needs her to believe him and they have to get going now.

“Oh my Uul, you are right. Father Leopold has no need to kill you to keep you out of Paradise he just has to keep you alive until the day after tomorrow or exile you from here. You need the ascension room and someone to perform the ritual to ascend” Vail gasps realising that maybe something is completely wrong.

“Love I am glad you believe me now but we have to get out of here before he kills me or even worse kills you” Corin says and grabs the pillowcases with their belongings. 

“But how are we getting out of here? The wall is too high to climb” she says looking at him for answers.

“Yeah the wall is definitely too high. But I think there are more ways out of here. I mean Father Leopold has a hidden door in his office so maybe there are more” he says trying to think of something.

Vail slowly caresses her belly waiting for Corin to continue his thoughts and then a thought hits her. If they are leaving they are going to need more than just their clothes. They are going to need food and she is already starting to feel hungry “honey we need food” she says and he stops with a confused look.

Food how could he forget food. This all just happened so fast. Everything the last two and a half months has happened so fast all starting with Alice’s ascension and the wine at her party “I think. I got. If Uul is all a lie then how did we get gifts like wine on the altar and how did he take our bodies away after ascension. There must be doors in those rooms as well and I think I know where one of them is. After Alice’s ascension Tanna noticed some blood on the wall and down on the floor” he exclaims and kisses Vail “go grab as much food as you can carry and meet me in the ascension room”.

“Are you sure? Shouldn’t we stay together?” she asks.

“We need food. You need food. And they are only looking for me right now so you can safely get food. If I go with you to the kitchen I bring us both in danger. But please be careful” he says trying to hide his worries.

He gives her a big intense kiss before she leaves the room. He then waits a moment before he also leaves the room carrying their pillowcases. He has no idea of where everyone is or how best to get to the ascension room without being seen. But he has to get up one floor and across it all deeper inside the mountain to the north end. He runs past all the bedrooms, the nursery and the medical area. He sneaks up the stair and looks down the hallway to his left that leads to the altar room where the metal door is closed. He looks to the right down the hallway that leads to Father Leopold’s office where Sonnen and Kahn stands watch. Those two always acted like Father Leopold’s personal guards.

Clemt turns around a corner and walks down the third hallway that is right in front of the stairs. He sees Corin standing on the stairs looking around “Corin. Corin stop right there” he yells and starts walking faster towards him “he’s at the stair between the altar and Father Leopold’s office!” he calls out in the halls.

Corin has no time to explain Clemt everything and he runs left to the altar room. Both Sonnen, Kahn and Clemt storms after him and others quickly joins the chase from other rooms and hallways. Knife and rocks flies at him from behind. He turns a corner and everything turns black. His head is hurting. His hands are bound behind his back and he is blindfolded.

“Where is Father Leopold?” Clemt asks “go tell him we have Corin”.

“Let’s just kill him like Father Leopold told us. He attacked him and desecrated the altar of Uul. He got the madness” Kahn punches him in the face.

“Father Leopold said we have to kill him so he can’t ascend to Paradise” Sonnen says and stabs him in the stomach. It was only a shallow cut but it still hurt.

“Will you two stop it. Maybe Father Leopold can cure him. We were only to kill him if we couldn’t catch him” Clemt says and takes the knife. Several voices starts arguing in the crowd.

“Good job boys” Father Leopold voice sound and cuts through the chatter “put him on the altar of Uul so we can cleanse it with the blood of the person who desecrated it” he says and Corin gets lifted in the arms and carried inside the altar room.

Someone removes his blindfold. He is kneeling in front of the altar which has been smeared in something sticky. There are at least twenty people standing around him chanting a prayer.

Father Leopold takes the knife out of Clemt’s hand “great Uul, we have brought you the soul who has dishonoured you and desecrated your altar. We bring you this sacrifice to restore your faith in us. To restore your belive in that we deserve to come to Paradise” he says dramatically “say your last goodbyes” he places the knife of Corin’s throat.

He can feel the knife slowly moving over his throat opening a wound. It feels like time has slowed down. This is his end. He is just glad that Vail was not with him when he was caught. She can still find a way out and escape before it is her time to ascend. He closes his eyes. The room lights up in flames. People starts screaming. He opens his eyes again and moves aways as Father Leopold is distracted. Vail is running towards him through the flames. She pushes Father Leopold to the side and pulls corin up standing. Kahn tries to stab Vail but Corin blocks the knife with his shoulder and headbutts him. They run out of the altar room and Vail throws a bottle of cleaning alcohol that shatter and sets the hallway in flames behind them. They run to the ascension room and she shuts the door behind them.

Vail unties Corin’s hands “so where is this door?” she says hoping with all her heart it is true or she just burned her friends for nothing.

Corin runs to the other side of the room and starts feeling around trying to remember where Tanna wiped the blood off.

“OPEN THE DOOR” Clemt commands and bangs on it as hard as he can.

“Hurry Corin please” Vail whispers “STAY OUT OF THIS CLEMT. FATHER LEOPOLD HAS LIED TO US ALL. HE IS USING US” she commands back through the door.

“I SAID” Clemt punches a whole in the door “OPEN. THE. DOOR” he smashes his head through. It is horrible burned and blood drips from his face.

Corin runs his finger over the spot where he thinks it should be and can feel how it is different. It feels softer like it is made of something else than rock. He presses it and the wall opens up to a new and different room. It is like the medical area just whiter and more clinical. Corin and Vail runs inside as Clemt rips a big piece of the door off. They run through the room and out in a hallway with painted white walls unlike the crude mountain stone walls they are used to. Holding hands they follow the hallway down to the end and through a door. They keep running through a couple of doors without looking back and suddenly they are outside on another side of the mountain. They stop for a moment to take in the view when a loud annoying sound gets blasted through some speakers. Dogs starts baking and they can hear people running and yelling from somewhere. They look at each other and smile. They made it out. They kiss and then runs for the forest now they just have to run until they are safe.