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| - I had gone to take a leak next to a tree, and Geoff went to see what had been ahead of us. A few minutes passed after I had finished, I thought Geoff had found something. He wasn't anywhere in sight, I called out to him and never got a response. Not too far in the distance I noticed a cave, as I advanced closer to the cave, I smelt smoke. I thought Geoff had started a fire somewhere, but I couldn't see the smoke anywhere. It was sunset, and we should've left the woods by then. The cave had been a few feet away when darkness fell, I wasn't scared of some monster or something. No... I was too smart for that. I was afraid the cave was that of a bear's. "What if the bear got Geoff?", I thought. I had to make sure he was alive since I was the one who drove us there. I, all so carefully, walked in the pitch black and wretched cave. I remember this moment so vividly. I remember the sound of water hitting the dark floor. At that point my heart had been audible, I soon saw a flickering light, along with it some faint chanting. The more I had advanced, the louder the chanting became. To my astonishment, I saw Geoff tied to an alter. Surrounding him, a group of men with Black Robes had been chanting in some language. I didn't know what to do, It had been like Medusa had turned me to stone. They... stopped chanting, and I heard the muffled screams from Geoff as one of the men raised their dagger. He was gone...No, not murdered. He was sacrificed, to the Devil himself, I presumed. I charged at the alter as the men walked away, Geoff was leaving with me. Even if he was dead, I wasn't going to leave his corpse there. The men did notice that I was running, but I didn't understand why they took their time walking toward me. But I started throwing some glass bottles that had been near me. Throwing them had seemed useless since they seemed to be filled with oil. They disregarded anything I did, they started chanting. Their words had sounded so vial, I had to get out of there. I grabbed a torch to help guide me out. I had to get Geoff though, so I threw the torch at the men. I didn't know... I forgot I had thrown oil at them previously. As their sanctuary burned, the fire reached the alter almost instantly. And the men had finished their chant as they burned. I just remember standing there watching Geoff's body burn, something should've been done. But what could have I done? I don't remember running out of the cave that well, but I do remember when I reached the beautiful clear night. The night sky you only see on movie screens. But in minutes, the sky would be masked by the exiting smoke which had followed me. I was never the same. I couldn't tell anyone. I had burned a couple of men to death, so I couldn't go to the cops. I was the only one who knew or would ever know. I couldn't sleep, the image of Geoff burning was cemented in my head. I tried to live like it never happened, but that was an impossible task. I sometimes called Geoff's cellphone hoping this whole predicament was just a dream. Everyone started noticing that I looked different. At the office, everyone could see the lack of sleep in my appearance. And It wasn't a week until after this whole thing when I thought I was going insane. It was something like four in the morning when my cellphone rang. Since I was still tired, I didn't bother looking to see who was calling, I just answered. I simply asked who was calling, It had been Geoff's mother. She had asked me where Geoff was and apologized for calling so late. I had no problem lying to her, It was like I didn't feel anymore. Does a sane man not feel anymore? The next morning, I felt better for some reason. It was about six in the morning when I went to work, so it had still been a little dark out. And I walked to my car, and in my peripheral vision I had seen... the burnt Geoff staring at me. I didn't move the slightest bit. I quickly jerked my head to get a good glimpse of the figure but, it was gone. While on my way to work, the man behind me in traffic kept honking his horn. So I adjusted my mirror to get a look at the driver. Geoff had been laughing in my back seat, I once again turned my head to look at him and he was gone. I kept having these sightings of Geoff everywhere I went. It was destroying me socially, I couldn't be near people without him scaring the shit out of me. That thing it wasn't even Geoff, every time I saw it the more mutated it looked. I had been talking to a female co-worker when my life completely changed for the worst. But it seemed the creature that had once been my friend, had evolved. He no longer existed in my peripheral vision. As I was talking to that woman, it appeared right behind her. It looked like it was about to attack her, I yelled, "What Do You Want From Me?" Everyone at the office looked at me, and I looked back at them. I heard Geoff's malevolent laugh, I turned my head to look back at him and it was gone. Because of my huge outburst, I ended up getting fired. I couldn't take it anymore, I needed to be sure that this entity was real. When I returned home after getting fired, I sat on my couch to reflect. After reflecting on what had happened, I tried to think of a way to prove this Demon was real. I didn't want to prove it to another, I had to prove it to myself. After a few minutes, I saw and heard drops of blood hit the floor. As the trail of raining blood got closer, so did the demon. I could feel its presence, like the usual chills sent down your spine. "Geoff, What Do You Want From Me You Fucking Blood Devil!" I wanted a response, but it just did as it always did and laughed. This mental torment was unbearable, I had to go back. I had to return to his origin, where those fucking heathens turned him to a monster. But I was responsible for his burns, he was dead before I burned him. I couldn't think straight, my mind was in a heated debate for responsibility. It didn't matter, the next day I returned to the cave. It reeked of burnt flesh, I had to prevent myself from vomiting multiple times. The alter was surrounded by a few skeletons, which I had kicked angrily to the side. When I reached the top of the Alter, nothing of Geoff remained. It had been like... Satan himself had... Oh, no that was preposterous. How could the Devil? He could... Those fucking men must have offered Geoff to Satan. At that point, I had a bad feeling about what was to come. What the fuck is this, I thought as I noticed drops of blood fall on my hand. I looked up... "Geoff! NO!"
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