Rings of the Divine

“Do you believe in God?”

“What?”

“Do you believe in God?” Lou repeats himself before drinking from his beer.

Matt rubs the back of his head, the fuzz of his black tapered hair feels nice. “I don’t know. I mean I never really thought about it.” he says.

“Come on Matt. Do you or do you not?” Lou persists.

Matt ponders for a moment and looks around the room for a second. His basement has always been a good hangout spot for him and Lou. There are posters of favorite bands and movies on the walls, a 50-inch TV mounted up with a game console hooked up to it and a mini fridge filled with beer next to an old recliner and dusty couch. It’s his man cave and their hangout spots since they were kids. Matt’s parents moved to a new home and left this house for him when he started college. It wasn’t much longer until Lou moved in. There wasn’t much of a change when that happened as the two have constantly been at each other’s side since they were kids.

Matt finally answers. “No I guess not. I mean I don’t pray or go to church. I’m open minded of there being some higher power but I just don’t truly believe in a God.” He says. “Why are you asking Louie?”

Lou pushes away his dirty blond hair from his eyes. “It’s just a question. I’m just interested.”

“What’s so interesting about it?” Matt asks then drinks from his beer.

“I just enjoy asking questions like that. It makes for a good conversation.” Lou says. “What I don’t like is when you call me by my full name!”

Matt chuckles, “Oh okay, sorry Lou.”

Lou finishes off what’s left of his drink. “So! Let’s talk about our vacation. You ready!?” he says excitedly.

“Hell yeah I am! Rome is going to be amazing.”

Matt and Lou have planned a vacation to go somewhere out of the country after they graduated college. After many debates on where to go they decided on Rome and they are both excited that day has finally arrived.

Matt stands from his chair. “We should get some sleep. Our flight takes off early tomorrow.”

Lou stands as well. They’re both about the same height, but Matt is just a bit taller, standing just under six feet. He’s bigger with more fat and muscle compared to Lou who is mostly skinny with some muscle tones.

“Alright, you’ll wake me up tomorrow?” Lou asks.

“Of course, bro. I’ll throw water on you too so be ready!” Matt tells him.

Lou rolls his eyes. “That’s if you even wake up on time!”

“That was one time!

“Uh huh.”

Matt laughs, “Shut up and go to sleep.”

~ᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖ~

The sun peaks over the Rocky Mountains of Colorado as morning begins to approach. Traffic starts to build up. Lou appears to be losing patience as they slowly get through the morning rush.

“This is freakin’ stupid! Why is there so much damn traffic!” he angrily says.

Matt seems calm but annoyed as well.

“Relax. There’s probably an accident up ahead.”

Of the two young men, Matt has always been the level headed one. He was always the one who could see the good in a situation. Lou however, was not. He is usually more tempered and becomes agitated easily.

“Someone better have died.” Lou mutters.

“Dude…”

Lou looks at him, “I don’t mean that. It’s just... we’re probably going to miss our flight.”

“Yeah I get it. But we should be fine. Still have like two hours.” Matt says.

“Yeah you’re right. Sorry I’m just annoyed. I don’t understand why anyone in Colorado can’t drive.”

Matt laughs, he has always been able to calm Lou and he knows how his friend is. Growing up, Lou came from a broken family and had issues talking to people. He always had trouble making friends, but not Matt. He was very charismatic, talking to people came easy to him. He was the only kid in middle school who tried talking to Lou when he would sit alone at lunch and class. Lou wouldn’t talk to him at first, choosing not to look at Matt as he babbled about his favorite video games or favorite shows. However, Matt wanted to talk to him, even when everyone else in school would ignore Lou and give him a look that Matt just hated. It was a look of judgement, their eyes looking down on him like he did something wrong that makes him different and weird. A freak. Matt didn’t know why, but he wanted to be friends with Lou. He knew they would become good friends and had been friends since middle school. They were not just best friends, they were like brothers. Even today, both twenty two years old and going across the world together they keep their bond.

Matt and Lou finally get to the airport. They rush through everything, checking their bags in, getting through security, and barely make it to their gate.

“We have like two hours.” Lou mocks Matt.

“Hey we made it right?” He sneers.

Lou shakes his head smiling then gives his airline ticket to the woman at the gate and the two board their flight. Both are tired, but relieved to have finally made it. Their new adventure to Rome begins now.

ᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖ-ᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖ-ᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖ-ᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖ-ᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖ-ᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖ-ᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖ-ᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖ-ᛞᛁᚡᛁᚾᛖ

There’s a large dome-like room. Visible torch lights run along the circular room, leaving a faint darkness in the center. The smell of blood is strong in the air. Dozens of bodies lay dormant on a marble floor. Lou kneels in the middle of the large room, surrounded by the dead bodies and his arms covered in dark crimson blood. Matt stands behind Lou, frozen and can’t move. The glow from the dim flames barely sheds light on them. All he can do is observe his friend. Lou stands up. Matt can feel a dark energy in the air. It sends shivers down his spine. Why can’t he move? Lou slowly turns around; light from the torches masks most of his face, but it's just bright enough to see dead eyes stare coldly back at him. Matt tries to yell but no words come out. His throat is dry and tightens. Lou slowly paces towards him. The sound of his bare feet smack against the marble floor. As he approaches closer, the light from the torches illuminates his face more. Matt is terrified. Lou now stands just a few feet away from him and he can now really see into Lou’s eyes. They’re hollow. As if there’s no life in them. No compassion. Lou is saying something under his breath but it's quick and sounds like language Matt has never heard of. Suddenly a sharp pain shoots through his chest. Matt tries to scream, but nothing comes out.

Silence.

Blood begins to fill his mouth. He looks down and terror fills him. Lou’s hand is pierced through his chest. He can’t move. Can’t speak. But he feels this tremendous pain in his chest. More blood fills his mouth and throat; he begins to choke on it. Lou shines a terrifying smile, his grin stretches across his face, his eyes are completely black and his teeth are rotten.

“One will die.” He whispers.

Matt jerks back awake. He quickly looks at his surroundings, terrified. He’s on the plane to Rome. Lou is sitting next to him, asleep. Matt takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself. His heart is rapidly beating. The terrible nightmare he had wasn’t the first. He’s been having this dream for a few months now. His dream has been of him killing Lou, or Lou killing him. Always surrounded by dead bodies. Some things change in his dream but it all ends the same. One of them dying and the other uttering the words, “One will die.”

Matt hasn’t told Lou about his recurring nightmare. He doesn’t know how to. The dream worries him because it feels real but he keeps ignoring it. He wipes sweat from his forehead, relaxes in his seat and tries to go back to sleep. He hopes this trip to Rome will help ease his mind.