TRAPPED IN DARKNESS
Chapter 11: Ministry Explanation
Mark had a hold of Amanda's hand guiding her through the house until they came to a door which led to the basement. Mark opened the door and flicked on the lightswitch on the wall to his left. Amanda saw a stairwell leading downward. She looked up at Mark before stepping inside the doorway.
"Go ahead. I'm right behind you."
Amanda slowly descended down the steps. She continued walking down until she reached another door. She looked up at Mark again, whom stood directly behind her on the steps. He gave her a nod as his way of saying 'Open the door, Amanda, and step inside.' She reached out and placed her hand on the doorknob, gave it a twist and the door opened away from her. It was pitch black until Mark flicked another lightswitch flooding the room with light.
An audible gasp escaped Amanda's lips; her eyes were as wide as saucers. She stepped into the basement and couldn't believe what she was seeing. She took a step into the basement and walked around. What she saw struck her with fear. The walls were painted black and she saw several standing candelabras. The decor was very dark and somber. Chain, whips, daggers, were on display on these walls before her. Satani-like art, pictures of cemeteries, symbols of upper-cased 'T's with a lower-cased 'x's graced these walls also. She had never seen such a sight. She didn't know what to think.
One side of the basement held a bookshelf with books of hell, witchcraft, spells. Such horrifying reading material. She ran her hand along the covers of these books reading the titles. Amanda looked at Mark again whom stood in the middle of the room. As she looked at him, he quickly turned his eyes away from her turning hs gaze to the floor.
Amanda then noticed the cell a few feet from the bookcase. She walked over and looked inside. The door was opened and she stepped inside the cell. It looked, to her, to be just a regular prison cell. The floor was covered in hay. She'd had enough and walked out of the cell. To the left of the cell, on the wall beside her, words were painted in red. She went to read it, however it was in a different.
"A..." she began attempting to read it. "A...nail...Mark what does this mean?"
Mark kept a few feet distance just behind her. He walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders before walking up to the wall. He walked up to the painted lettering on the wall and ran his hand over the words. He began to read the description to her. As he spoke, his voice was calm and deep that it gave her goosebumps on her arms and sent a cold chill down her spine.
"Anail nathrak. Dorthnei diednei. Bathnal nathrak de era. It's a druid chant."
"What does it mean?"
"It mean, 'Accept the lord of darkness as your savior. Allow the purity of evil to guide you.' The Ministry represents hell, darkness, hate and fear striking fear in the hearts of many."
"How many members are in the Ministry?"
"Six. You met one of them in the kitchen earlier today." As he spoke, he kept gazing at the words in front of him. "The man you met, Vince, is known as the Higher Power of the Ministry. However, that doesn't make him the leader of the Ministry."
"Even though he's known as the Higher Power, he's not the leader?"
"Precisely."
"Well if Vince is not the leader, then who is it?"
Mark pressed his forehead to the wall with a sigh and eyes closed. He opened his eyes and turned his whole body towards Amanda. He lowered his head a brief moment, then looked into her eyes regretting the next words about to come out of his mouth.
"You're looking at him."
Amanda gasped and took a few steps backwards away from him. "What?"
"It's me. I am the leader of the Ministry of Darkness."
Amanda began panting and backed up faster before turning around and running up the stairs leaving the basement and Mark behind.