Chapter 15: Scene #$ – Prayers Heard

A Malice's influence could be felt through a prickling on the back of one's neck. When you are inside a Malice's domain, the sky begins to shift and change in hue, and fear settles where uncertainty once was. For most who would enter a Malice's territory, this triggers a primal urge to flee and find yourself somewhere, anywhere else.

For Holly, that same uncertainty drove her forwards. A curiosity settled in that gap inside her soul; how could she not heed the call of mystery? There was only a prison waiting for her outside the Amusement Park. She couldn't believe in those arrogant Warriors to protect her. If she were caught because of this Malice, if the Divinity found her things, she would be shipped off alongside all the other packages of meat. Locked in the cruelest prison system on the planet, side to side with cut-throat murderers and misguided teens having a nervous breakdown.

She'd seen the insides of the prison once on a television screen— around the time she was nicking some food from that corner store, Holly could see the horror awaiting her if she'd slipped up. The States had put a big smile on the whole project and tried to sell these new prisons as a positive thing. Small, individual pods, smeared in pink and smiling yellow stickers, padded with the thinnest of cloth. They kept their victims sedated. Each one of those prisoners smiled as that yellow juice slipped into their veins, no doubt some kind of heroin or painkiller.

A liquid to make them forget the hell they were in, the pain they were being subjected to so the kind-hearted and ordinary people of this city could live without fear of Malice. It made Holly want to spit. Not on the Malice surrounding her, for reasons that should be obvious, but the system which threatened to take her each day she stayed out in the cold. To take away that part of her that made her feel alive and stick her into a happy box with the others.

The worst that a Malice could do was to kill her. She'd still leave this world intact.

The amusement park was physically unchanged. The merry-go-round had collapsed since she left for supplies and scraps; that could be explained easily. The fact that nothing remained where the merry-go-round once was but a half-bitten chunk of rubble? Her senses started to run red alarms. Whatever Malice was here was hungry. Great!

She didn't plan to feed it, but she could certainly try to learn more about it before meeting her maker. Her path took her by the House of Mirrors. Someone had done damage to that place. Windows were shattered; shards of mirrors lay strewn along the floor. She walked up to a mirror, seeing herself through cracks twisted and waxy in the reflection.

That wasn't a good sign. The Malice might be fairly angry and destructive. Her finger traced against the wax, only to hiss and pull back. It was still warm, hot enough to sear her fingers at their tips. "Three ways I could go. Shattered against the pavement like the mirrors, melted like wax, a bite taken out of my teacup," Holly muttered. She left the mirrors alone; something else had caught her attention.

A large, flashing metal arrow had leaped forth from the ground, followed by another. "I must be in a pop-up book." Holly followed the arrow, watching as new signs sprung along a path, leading her back towards a ticket booth near the entrance. She had to stop and read the illegible, arcane script. Against all odds, not knowing the language did not prevent the woman from understanding what it had to say.

"Oh. I must have started from the wrong place; I'm sorry." Holly followed the direction of the arrow, treading the path she was offered. The rituals Malice presented to their prey were important. In her senior year, they'd talked about how to avoid being killed by Malice; the first thing they'd discussed was participating in their rituals. Following their rules would ensure they couldn't kill you.

It was strange to imagine Malice not behaving violently towards one of their prey, but Malice were generally docile creatures. Malice do not act except in response to rulebreaking; they are malicious creatures hoping you slip up and violate those rules. Malice even went so far as orienting the guidelines unfairly towards their players. Even so, there were many examples of Malice survivors who had made it through the artificial gauntlets, answered the questions correctly, met the Malice, and lived to tell about it.

Some of those who survived even went on to become Magical Warriors. Wouldn't that be nice? 

Better than being homeless, Holly reasoned as she read the next sign.

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A short and stout sign burst from the earth, a happy little arrow pointing at a space below her forehead. Holly straightened up. Was the Malice measuring her? It had noticed her intrusion, so this next step didn't come as a surprise. Wherever this ritual led, she could only hope it was going somewhere pleasant.

"It seems like I am tall enough to ride." After a moment's hesitation, Holly decided to lean into the madness and accept what came next. "What now, Amusement Box?"

Taking deliberate steps to follow the path, Holly stopped next to a ticket booth. Behind the booth, a wasp made of mirror shards seemed to be struggling with the machine. When she saw it, she recognized it was a creature of darkness. This must be the Malice! "Nice to meet you?"

The Malice buzzed, and a new sign popped up.

Holly felt deep in her heart that the display in front of her was a little sloppy. Maybe the Malice hadn't thought things out, but the mirror wasp and the ticket booth did not go together. If she were running this place, she'd have something humanoid in the entrance to greet invaders like herself. Digging in her hoodie pocket and putting those thoughts aside, Holly could find a few crumpled dollar bills. She placed them on the countertop.

The wasp merely looked at the pile of cash in disgust. The sign shuddered, and the wording changed.

Holly was left at a loss for words, silently retrieving her cash. "What is good here?" She was glad to have her money, but she wasn't sure she liked where these rules were headed. What was it going to ask for, blood? Her soul? Teeth?

"You want my faith?" Holly blinked. She'd only ever heard of Divinity asking for faith all her life. Even then, Divinity had only popped up since that fateful press conference four years ago. What use would Malice have with faith? "Alright. I'll give you some faith; just give me a moment."

Holly let out a huff and puzzled over her next move. Looks like she'd have to find something to believe in after all.

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