Post by Sephiroth du Lac on Jan 8, 2010 0:26:48 GMT -6
((Author's Notes: The scenery of this piece of fiction is an actual road and location found in Death Valley National Park. It is maintained by the National Park service and you can actually freely stay in the Barker Ranch which is now open to the public. Though it is ill advised to do so. Many sign the log book to stay but in truth fewer still spend the whole night. To learn more about the Ranch and it's former inhabitants google it. What? Like I'm going to look it up for you. Laaaazzzyyyy!))
"Go with your fate, but not beyond.
Beyond leads to dark places."
- Mary Renault
"Go with your fate, but not beyond.
Beyond leads to dark places."
- Mary Renault
*The camera falls upon the unforgiving desert known as Death Valley, more appropriately the Golar Wash Road, a small simple road leading through the rocky and dangerous terrain of the Panamint mountain range. The road is a treacherous off road excursion through the back door of P52 which leads into the very heart of Death Valley National Park. As the camera pans peaceably over the canyon road a SUV slowly comes into view. An amateur camper and nature enthusiast continues on his excursion. David is a simple boy of 21 years training to be in the military. A simple map reading showed him that this was the quickest route to his next objective from the town of Ballarat and so the would be adventurer found himself on the bumpy difficult road. Suddenly a familiar voice begins resounding, one cold and filled with a sort of silent wisdom.*
Voice (Off screen): Isn't it funny how life sometimes isn't what you think it will be? Your coasting along enjoying the life you have. Then something unexpected happens...
*Suddenly the vehicle pits hard into a ditch and the supposedly reinforced tires shatter with a sudden thud. The SUV suddenly limps to the side and it's occupant, the young David, steps out. He examines the wheel which now is in tatters and curses himself for not bothering to fill the spare.*
Voice (Off Screen): Suddenly you have no plan. You feel lost, frightened. Isn't it funny how we sometimes panic as our safety net disappears. It's in those moments that instinct takes over. Survival of the fittest.
*The young man reaches in his glove compartment and pulls out a flashlight and a canteen as night begins to fall. David looks up and with eyes filled with desperation sees an old ranch house tucked away within the canyon. It is a short walk to it and David begins his slow ascent to the old Barker Ranch.*
Voice (Off Screen): Of course, the ranches previous owner knew all about survival of the fittest.
*The camera flashes the image of Charles Manson on the screen.*
Voice (Off Screen): Charles Manson, the former owner of Barker Ranch. A leader of a psychodelic cult whom believed that the world would end in a vicious race war... an idea Manson dubbed, Helter Skelter.
*The camera flashes back as David arrives at the ranch itself. The building is well put together if a bit unsettling. Laying nearly in the middle of nowhere the only sound that greeted the young man was the blowing of a cold nightly wind starting and the sound of an old oil lamp twisting in the desert wind. The nights in the desert are extremely cold and David knew the ranch was his best bet to keep warm. But something felt off. Spooky about the place and David could swear he felt something, or someone, watching him.*
Voice (Off screen): I wonder, Mr. Williams, if you don't envision such a gruesome end. A world of war and pain. Of unequal equals. Does it keep you up at night, Mr. Williams, thinking of the hardships your own people endure? I imagine you have struggled most of your life, Mr. Williams. You have pushed yourself to achieve so the question arises, Mr. Williams...
*The camera pans the room as David enters. He begins to thumb through the reading materials there, a few books, a magazine, and letters from former Manson family members proclaiming his innocence.*
David: What the *Bleep*?
*As he searches through the strange items which lie on the table the camera catches a glimpse of something in the dim light. A shadow moving about behind the young man. Suddenly sensing movement David turns revealing... nothing but the cabin interior.*
Voice (Off Screen): How do you survive against something that you never thought existed? A predator, perfect in form and intent. Something that should not be but is. A, for lack of a better word... monster.
*David looks back as the sun begins to shrink behind the canyon walls. David sighs taking a pack of matches from his pocket and lighting a nearby candle as night falls around him.*
A little while later...
*David stirred at the noise within the shack. He started up like a deer sensing the impending attack of a predator. He fumbled for his flashlight in the dark. Curse his luck, he thought to himself as he ran his hands along the length of the cold granite floor.*
Voice (Off screen): Which brings us to you, Mr. Mysterio. I have a question for you, Mr. Mysterio, one that you may find enlightening. The question is simple... when does one truly become a monster?
*Finally at length he clutched the handle of the flashlight and with trembling hands illuminated the room. An empty can rolls on the floor as David breathes a sigh of relief.*
Voice (Off screen): Is it when one decides to torment those lesser than him? Is it when one does the unthinkable and commits an act of inhumanity to his fellow mortal beings?
*David pans over the scene and the camera follows his light as it scans. Suddenly a dark silhouette shifts in the light as the final rays of light move from it. David quickly pans back to reveal nothing. Was it his imagination?*
Voice (Off screen): I believe it happens in that moment where one decides one's fate. I believe what we are, be it saint or sinner, humanitarian or monster. It is a choice. We choose who we must be. Monsters we are... lest monsters we become. For what would truly be a worse fate, to rule in hell? Or serve in heaven?
*David breathes heavily. His heart races. Something or someone is in their with him. He clutches his cross around his neck. A gift from his mother and father. David didn't really believe in such things but in moments like these faith is sometimes one's only refuge.*
Voice (Off screen): We all know the path that you have chosen, Mr. Karras. Your "conversion" methods are more like the Jesuits of old. I have seen the "peace of God" and I have heard your screaming in the desert. I have seen the so called "Mercy of the church" and found you and it lacking. Was God's hand in the church when it silently consented to the slave trade? Or turned a blind eye to the suffering of the Jews during World War II? Was it God's divine will that the blood of his lambs be stained upon his holy land? Was it your God that burnt my maker to the stake during the time of inquisition, when the flames consumed kindred and kine alike? You believe in false teachings. You spew rhetoric from your mouth like flies. If you want proof of such things then take this to heart...
*The camera follows the light of the flashlight as it examines the cabin till at length something is seen. Hunched in the fireplace itself. It is the figure of a man in black, huddled in shadows beneath the chimney. His hair drapes into his face as David looks on in sudden shock.*
David: What the *Bleep*? Who are you?
Voice (Off Screen): Look what your God did to me.
*With that the figure looks up and his eyes reflect the light of the flashlight. His fangs protrude as he hisses like a cat and his manicured hands dig into the concrete. David immediately flees knocking over a nearby table to escape. He runs out into the desert wind and the cold unforgiving night.*
Voice (Off screen): And dear Tempestad, do you think such symbols and trinkets as this man's cross shall avert me? Do you not know that we have had centuries to speak such falsehoods. To tell such tales of weakness to misdirect you foolish kine? So, you must ask yourself... is it real or illusion?And if it is real... what then? Su madre Maria le ahorrará? Usted no sabe nada. Usted no es nada.
*With those words David trips and skids himself upon the road. He lifts himself quickly and sprints toward the SUV as if the devil himself were on his heels*
Voice (Off screen): You think you can stand to me as a man. I am more than a man but you are merely another stepping stone. A stepping stone on a road paved with the broken, bleeding, and lost. You four will all be but the first steps on my road to greatness and it is a road paved with the blood of my enemies.
*David finally reaches the car. He rips open the door like a madman hopping in and locking the doors. He looks about the road and finds no pursuer. No strange figure before him on the lonely road before him. David sighs and chuckles to himself.*
Voice (Off screen): Because in the end...
*David sighs a sigh of relief and looks into his rear view mirror only to find the figure of the man known only as Sephiroth du Lac sitting there, his eyes a dim glowing green like cat's eyes and his pale lips bearing fangs as David screams into the night and the camera suddenly goes black.*
Seph (Off screen): I always get what I want.