Malefic Society

6. The Journal

The Wrights triplets reached home with a heavy feeling. No matter how many times they had gone through the same experience, it was always painful to see everyone in that condition.

"It's always the same every night. It's the children who suffer without knowing anything," Catherine said softly, taking off her coat and hanging it on the coat rack. Her siblings did the same.

"That's the more reason for us to quickly find a way to break this curse," Crane replied heavily.

Chris walked up to the table and put the basket of bread down before sitting down on the sofa leisurely. Although he looked like he had no care about what was happening, the other two knew that their brother was feeling the same as them.

"So Cath, you just have to get stronger, right? After that, something will happen, right?" he asked expectingly.

Crane took a piece of bread and walked up to the bookshelf next to the wooden chair. With one hand eating the bread, he pulled a book from the top shelf with the other one after making Thompson stand by his side for lighting.

It was a worn-out brown book with no title on it. The book was not thick, and the pages looked tattered. Crane opened the book and sat down.

"Let's read father's notebook one more time just to be sure," he said seriously.

Catherine took a piece of bread and sat on the sofa beside Chris, listening to her brother.

Flipping open the brown book, the back of the cover revealed characters that looked different from the writings on the other books on the shelf. It was as if the book was written in a secret language. The first page was torn, as were a lot of the pages after that.

"Robert Wright's Journal" Crane read the character written behind the cover.

"I wonder when dad started writing this?" Catherine asked curiously. The other two shrugged.

Crane skipped through the torn pages, as there was no writing left on them to be read. He finally opened a page with the mysterious characters written disorganizedly like the writer was experiencing a strong emotional turmoil at that moment. Some strokes were bolder while some others were faint, almost invisible.

"This land is cursed! The people are cursed! How is this allowed to happen? Did the Gods forsake this land, or did they do this out of spite?! This is too cruel!"

The rest of the writing was covered in ink as if deliberately done to cover what was written.

Flip...

The next several pages were also torn, rendering the writing unreadable.

Flip...

Finally, Crane arrived at the page where the characters were arranged neatly. The writer's state of mind must have been better when he wrote that.

"Crane, Chris, Catherine, if you are reading this, it means I'm already gone. Just know that I've always loved you and your mother," Crane paused. A sudden feeling of nostalgia and sadness struck the siblings.

"You three should be the only ones able to read my journal, so I am confident that my message will reach you."

"I've found clues to undoing the curse, but I cannot do this alone. It's not just about the curse either, but it's about something much greater than that. Much greater. The fate of mankind is on the line."

"Because of this, although I really don't want to give you three this fate, I can only ask that you understand my decision. Please know that no parents would want to deliberately make their children walk the path of Votaries. It's a path of pain and suffering. If I could, I just want the three of us to live leisurely somewhere the curse doesn't affect you. But with my current power, it's impossible."

"Never trust the Gods. They grant power, but they also ask for something in return. Those Gods are never on humanity's side. They are using us, but for the sake of humanity, we will also be using them."

"The key to breaking the curse lies with the Cursed Goddess, the Twisted Goddess, and the God Behind the Curtain. Make a contract with those three and reach Tier 2, and the path will reveal itself."

"I won't dictate how you should do this, but at least heed my advice."

"Crane, you show the most affinity with the God Behind the Curtain. You are calculating and intelligent. Even without working too hard, you will be able to gain favor with this God quickly due to your nature. That way, you will be able to advance faster."

"Chris, you should make a contract with the Twisted Goddess. You are lazy, but you like entertainment, similar to this Goddess. Just be careful not to show too much affinity to this Goddess, or you will just be her pawn. This also applies to Crane and Cath."

"Lastly, Catherine. You are always sensitive to the supernatural ever since you were young, and I can sense the most amount of spirituality within you compared to your brothers. The Cursed Goddess sounds terrible, but believe me, this Goddess will grant you the most power compared to the other two."

"Remember that in order to advance, we need to gain favor with Gods by acting as their 'messengers' in this world, that is to say, you need to live as the Gods dictate. You will feel it within you when you are doing it the right way, as the power you will use is borrowed from those Gods."

"But never lose yourself. Always remember that ultimately, you are your own person. Losing yourself will make you corrupted, and that is the last thing a father would want to see their children become."

"The materials needed to advance to Tier 1 and Tier two are all available on this cursed land. I don't know if that is a coincidence, but in this world, I don't believe in coincidences. It must be a sick joke from those Gods and Goddesses,"

The rest of the writing was describing the detailed materials and rituals needed to advance to Tier 1 and Tier two of each God and Goddesses.

"I have left the Contract Parchments for you to advance all the way to Tier 2. Don't ask how I got my hand on these, but know that if I could, I would pave your path smoothly all the way to the top. Currently, this is the extent to what I can do."

"Although I'm sure you already know this, you can get the Contract Parchments by killing the respective Votaries, or waiting for them to die. There is no other way, as the number of Contact Parchments is limited. It's one of those sick Gods' ways of making us kill each other for their entertainment. You also should know what this entails..."

"And here I go blabbering again. Crane, Chris, and Catherine, I hope with this much help, you can advance to Tier 2 as quickly as possible and get closer to breaking the curse. I cannot do this alone, and I need your help."

The journal entry ended there. The pages after that were all torn, so there was no way to read whatever was written next.

Crane closed the notebook and turned to his siblings, who were looking at him with anticipation.

"Why did dad disappear?" asked Catherine, opening the discussion. The other two shook their heads slowly, "No matter how many times we read that journal, there is no other clue, is there? There are too many pages torn away..."

"Why do you think dad tore these other pages? If he really wanted to help us, shouldn't the information on those torn pages be useful as well?" Crane asked.

"Beats me. Maybe dad thinks we are not worthy of knowing the information?" Chris replied casually, "Like, maybe it's a super dangerous secret or something."

Catherine leaned back on the sofa and said, "Maybe Chris is onto something for once. Knowing dad, maybe the information can indeed bring us danger, that's why he tore the other pages?"

There was a cheeky grin on Chris's face, listening to his sister agreeing with him.

"It does make sense, what Chris said..." Crane paused and thought for a few seconds, "We know that the world of Votaries is a dangerous one. It's not impossible if knowing something can harm someone. At least that's what I think..." he paused again, "...or maybe dad went crazy and decided to tear all the other pages," Crane theorized.

"I don't think he went crazy, but anything can happen, really," Chris gave a glance at his brother.

"We can only speculate right now. What about the thing where dad mentioned the path opening once we all reach Tier 2? I honestly don't understand as it's too vague," Catherine changed the topic.

"Nope, no idea here either. Maybe he was referring to an actual path, like the road would open somewhere in the town?" Chris put his hands on the back of his head and leaned back, "and that road would take us to the place where we can end this accursed curse."

"Or maybe that path is a person. Maybe it'll be someone that will tell us how to end the curse," Crane added his own theory, "Again, that's not impossible. The fact that the three Deities will be the key means the curse was done by someone or something and it can be undone by someone or something too."

The three siblings fell quiet as their minds were running. The room became silent, but strangely, the darkness brought comfort instead of suffocation.

Previously lively, the town also quickly became quieter and quieter as dawn was around the corner. The sounds of children playing, which had been replaced by the sounds of them crying and fighting, had also disappeared. Only remnants of metals clanking were audible in the night.

The two dolls were sitting on Crane's shoulders lifelessly. Their beady eyes reflected the candlelight that Thompson was carrying. They were there as if waiting for someone to break the silence.

"Eh, I cannot think of anything else right now. We just need to do Cath's ritual and see what happens, no?" Chris finally spoke as he looked at the wall clock. It showed 5 in the morning, "The sun is also rising soon, so we'd better get ready."

Crane stood up and looked out the window. The night was still as dark as ever but in the west, he could see that faint light had started penetrating the seemingly-mighty darkness.

Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong!

It was the menacing sound of the town's bell ringing from the bell tower in the center. It was the last warning for the townsfolk to get everything set and prepare for the morning.

"Make sure everything is locked," Catherine got up from the sofa and started checking the windows in the other rooms.

Drag...

With the help of his dolls, Crane dragged a heavy wooden plank and barricaded the door, inserting the plank into the slots that had been prepared beforehand. It appeared that the setup had been created deliberately for the situation.

Chris also locked the windows and barricaded them with smaller wooden planks, making sure nothing could enter, or go out, to some extent.

After making sure their house was secured, the three of them entered their own bedrooms, which are adjacent to each other. They got changed quickly to very loose robes, barely clinging onto their bodies. The robes looked more like blankets wrapped around their bodies instead of actual garments.

With the preparation done, the Wright triplets, followed by Thompson, entered a large room down the hall, just next to the ritual room, before locking the door and barricading it with yet another wooden plank.

It was an empty room with no windows and no source of lighting, except for the candle that Thompson was carrying. The wooden floor creaked as they walked on it and the wall had all kinds of scratches as if something was kept locked up inside there and wanted to break free.

There were three large cages placed in the three corners of the rooms, creating a large gap with one another. The cages were made of iron, and there was a kind of faint mysterious glow emitted by the bars. They looked similar to the cages that the children were forced to go into, and each cage was spacious enough for an adult to stand up straight or lie down comfortably, although the bars were placed very tightly that the gaps were only big enough to see through, but not for any limbs to go through.

Besides the cage, there was also a small end table on the unoccupied corner with what looked to be an incense holder with incense sticks, some still intact while the others had been used.

"Even I don't want to go into one of those, let alone those children who knew nothing," Catherine lamented, looking at the cages with unexcited eyes.

"I agree, but there is nothing we can do about it," Crane replied, his tone heavy.

Creak...

The metal cage door was opened and each of the siblings entered their own cages. Crane entered the one in the far left corner, Chris the one on the right, while Catherine entered the one closest to the door. After that, Crane controlled Thompson to light one of the incense sticks.

Pshhh...

The flame from the candle lit the tip of the incense stick; smoke quickly rose and filled the room. It was a mix of the smell of moonlight lavender combined with other ingredients. The moment the siblings inhaled the calming scent, their consciousness began fading and they gradually fell asleep.

As they were sleeping on the floor inside the cages, the sun began rising slowly from the west.