The Compass Rose

They walked with a purpose to their step. Some unknown secret behind every movement, some darker knowledge that shows through their lighter eyes. The man sitting at the table in front of them bows his head over his cup of coffe, as they walk to him he does not notice.

They sit, and he looks up from his coffe. The three men who have sat down keep their gaze constant, as if speaking only through their stare. The first of these three men is tall and lanky, his hair is a short shade of brown and his wire framed glasses fit horribly to his longer face. He is serious and his frown is catching the attention of some of the people in the coffe shop, his name is Brian. The second is tall and lanky as well, Not quite as tall as the first and slightly thinner. His head is shaved and he is wearing almost entirely leather “the lack of hair and the leather does not fit him well.” His name is paul. The third sits slightly apart from the first two, as if he feels that he is to good to come in contact with anyone at the table. His hair is wavey and covers just his ears, he like the second is entirely covered in leather although it fits him. He is wearing sunglasses, and it is dark outside. His shirt says in large block letter “I’M SO GOTH I’M DEAD.” His name is Scott. The man they sit across from is dressed like the typical goth. He has long dark hair that hangs like a drape on his shoulders. His face is knowing almost kind. His appearance looks completly different from his face. A large floppy fishermans hat sits on his head, he wears it to upset the hippys in the store.

Scott leans closer, his hand coming up to cover his face “its tonight.” He sits back in his seat, and flips a coffee cup right side up on the table. Micheal’s expression never changes “i’m not going.” Noone at the table acts like they are upset, but they are, the tension grows and everyone smiles and noone notices. “You don’t have a choice you coward, try to back out and i’ll kill you myself.” Scott never raised his voice, in fact he said the words as if he was telling Micheal how much he liked his floppy had.

Micheal nodded his head, “after this it is over…i quit” Scotts never smiled but everyone at the table felt how happy he was. “thats good Micheal, I knew you would see reason.” The three men stood up and began to head for the door. Micheal let his head fall back down, his cup of coffee hitting the table just hard enough to make a small thump. Scott stops just short of the door and returns to the table, his two friends are left standing at the door. Micheal looks back up at Scott who stands just in front of him. “You better show Mike…you..” Scotts puts his hand in front of him, nearly two foot in front of Micheal’s head. Scott shuts his eyes for just a moment and the cup of coffee shatters into shards of broken glass. “..you dont want to upset me.”

The room goes quiet, faces turn to the table to see what happened. Scott smiles and pats Micheal on the back. “Good one, next time drink the coffee before you drop it.” He turns and leaves, and noone knows what happened. The room goes back to normal, and Micheal is left sitting at the table. Small drops of coffe drip off the end into his lap, he sits perfectly still, his hands still holding the shape of the cup of coffee that lay in broken splinters in front of him.

He arrived at “the place” at a quater after midnight. Micheal let out a breath and the steam pours from his breath into the cold night sky. Shaking hands helping him guide his way through the dark woods. He walks up to a large mound of wood, stacked after it had been cut down by the loggers. It makes a larger wall that streches for nearly a hundred feet. The logs are cold, and as he climbs his fingers grow more and more numb. His breath comes in short gasps as he reaches the top. The voice comes almost the moment he comes into view. “He’s here!”

Micheal looks down at the large group of people who are below. Small fires have been made, totaly hidden from view by the wall of wood. Micheal climbs down the wood into the large clearing, he stands by one of the fires and lets his body begin to warm. He takes this time to look around, most of the faces he does not know, maybe twenty people in all. Their faces illuminated by the lights of the fires, their voices covered by the sound of the crackling fire.

Scott steps from behind one of the fallen logs and walks to Micheal. “We have to start soon, everyone is getting cold.” Micheal’s look is of pure disgust ” i’m sorry if i have inconveinced you Scott, why dont you kiss my ass its pretty warm.” The anger in Micheal made Scott smile, Micheal seemed less amused.

Micheal steped into the center of the clearing, “i don’t want to do this.” A voice came from the crowd “to bad just fucking do it.” The group of people formed a circle, only Micheal and Brian remained in the center. Brian’s face still held the same constant frown, his body was less relaxed, his glasses were now gone.

They looked at each other for a long time, The people of the crowd stared with anticipation. Brain raised his hand much as Micheal had seen Scott do. Micheal stayed unmoving. The energy moved from Brians hand like a cold wave, strikeing Micheal who still remained motionless. Wave after wave of energy poured through the circle of people. The temperture of the air growing warmer, enough so that some people removed their coats. The flames of the fires danced wildly and Micheal goes to his knees. The crowds cheers could be heard from the road that lay not to far from the grouping.

Small drops of blood fell from Micheals lips, his once grey shirt now stained with blood. Brian walks closer “fight back!” The waves of energy move faster now, beating at Micheal. What were once drops of blood turned into flowing streams. Micheal pounced forward onto Brian knocking them both to the ground. The fight was short and brutal. In the end Brian lay on his back, Micheal sat on his chest blood covered the ground.

Micheal stood and began to walk back to the piles of logs. Scott moved to stand in front of him “its not over, you have to kill him.” The group moved in around them, “it is over, and now everone can know what the truth is.” Scott moved closer, “You are not as smart as i thought you were Mike. Kill him or i will kill you myself.” Micheal smiled “I die for a cause.” Scott shut his eyes and lightly touched Micheals arm, Micheal let out a small gasp before he fell limp on the ground. “No you die for stupidity.”

Micheals younger sister ran through the woods, the video camera heavy in her hands. The car waiting at the end of the road started, and The woman in the car could barely understand the sobs of her child. ” Why did he have to do this mommy why” Because, people need to know about the truth to the world around them, people need to know who the monsters realy are.