Chapter 48: Who Am I?
In the cult’s underground city, Angelo was still in the laboratory monitoring Julio. Julio was still unresponsive but appeared to be in a stable condition.
Suddenly, Angelo heard whistling. He looked up. Maskameera walked through the laboratory door. She was in her real form.
‘You shouldn’t be here,’ said Angelo as he stood up.
‘I’m always where I’m supposed to be,’ replied Maskameera.
‘Guards!’ shouted Angelo.
‘Don’t bother,’ chuckled Maskameera. ‘They’ll soon become skeletons in their own closets.’
‘What do you want?’ asked Angelo as he moved backwards and away from Maskameera.
‘I want you,’ chuckled Maskameera. ‘I’ve wanted you ever since I saw you in that cute photograph you let us find. You’re truly beautiful.’
‘I’m flattered,’ remarked Angelo as he continued to move away from Maskameera, who was closing in on him. ‘No offence, but I don’t date psychopathic monsters.’
‘I want something far more intimate,’ replied Maskameera as she trapped Angelo in a corner. ‘You’re a clone. Take me to the bones of your original.’
Angelo led Maskameera back to the temple. He took her into his personal area. Maskameera looked around at the artwork and decorations within his area.
‘This place is oddly beautiful,’ remarked Maskameera. ‘Despite living in a cave, you’re truly cultured.’
‘Thank you,’ said Angelo as he approached a large case containing a skeleton. ‘This is him. This was me.’
‘Wonderful!’ chuckled Maskameera as she picked up the large glass casing. Angelo slowly walked backwards towards his control panel.
Maskameera leaned forward to sniff the bones. ‘Hmm, I smell truth,’ she sighed.
‘How would you like to be inspired by some music?’ chuckled Angelo. He pressed the button on his control panel. The music began to blare at a frequency that only Maskameera could hear. She dropped to the floor, groaning in pain as she clutched her ears.
‘Every time,’ chuckled Angelo as he looked at Maskameera. ‘How dumb can you be?’
Maskameera began laughing as she leapt to her feet. Angelo stared at her in shock.
‘I told you, I’m always where I’m supposed to be,’ said Maskameera as she grabbed Angelo’s arm.
‘But why?’ asked Angelo.
‘Oh for this moment,’ replied Maskameera as she pulled Angelo over to the skeleton. ‘This version of you is cute, but I want much more for you.’
Maskameera grabbed the skeleton with her other hand. Angelo felt an incredible force shoot through his body.
Angelo groaned loudly as his whole body began to glow. His eyes turned bright red and burnt deep within his head. Memories from the Linap, who he had been cloned from, began to flow into his body.
Angelo began to experience fragments of the life of this Linap. Angelo saw this Linap's world from the perspective of when he was a boy. The experience started from when this boy was in the West Region House of Divine Knowledge. Books and scripture surrounded him. A tall shadow figure demanded he spend his entire day reading them. At the end of the week, he was required to recite whole passages from memory. Every mistake was met with a hard slap from the shadowy figure. Over time, these slaps were replaced by lashes from a whip.
The boy was forced to sleep on the hard floors of the temple. The hard floors caused him severe back pain, but he was not allowed to complain. By the time he was a young teenager, he could recite entire chapters directly from memory. He avoided the whip but was not praised. Instead, he was treated with disdain by the shadowy figure. He was now forced to sleep on the dirty floors of the crypt.
The boy’s fear of the shadowy figure turned to hatred. He rubbed the dirt from the floor of the crypt into his skin. After hours of restlessness, he slept. This was the beginning of his vivid dreams. He dreamt of demons and monsters. They circled him while screaming at him. The first few nights, he woke up screaming. Every night he became more tolerant of their screams.
At the end of the week, the boy met the shadowy figure for his recital. He was covered in the dirt from the crypt. The shadowy figure demanded he wash his face. The boy said nothing. The shadowy figure grabbed the whip and began to lash him. This time the lashes were not painful. They felt warm and even embracing.
After five lashes, the shadowy figure stopped. The blood oozing from the boy’s body warmed his cold skin. The shadowy figure moved back into the darkness and vanished.
The boy continued to dream each night. The demons and monsters continued to scream at him but now kept their distance. The boy pursued them. For the first time, they now appeared afraid of him.
A week later, the boy returned for the recital. He was once again covered in dirt. The shadowy figure did not mention the dirt and insisted he recite a ten-thousand-word scripture. He did so flawlessly. The shadowy figure was about to move back into the darkness, but the boy continued to talk. He added new verses to the scripture. The shadowy figure was enraged. He was about to strike, but the boy lunged at him. He bit the shadowy figure’s neck, tearing out a chunk of flesh. The boy continued to attack the shadowy figure aggressively, ripping chunks out of him.
The shadowy figure morphed into a Linap. He recognised him as his father. He smothered himself in his father’s blood. It filled him with joy and power. The demons and monsters from his dream danced around him in glee. He stood up. He looked around at the demons and monsters. He gave out a terrifying screech. The demons and monsters disappeared into the darkness behind them.
The boy got down on his knees and began to eat his father. He chomped and chewed on his father’s flesh. Once he was done, he began smashing the bones and devouring them too. Soon, all that was left of his father were his blood-drenched clothes.
From that day onwards, the boy had a powerful aura that brought terror and fear to whomever he met. The Head Philosopher knew there was something terribly wrong with him. The boy spoke to the shadows around him. He self-mutilated his arms and legs. He refused to sleep in the same room as the other orphans. However, his knowledge of scripture was unparalleled.
The Head Philosopher felt compelled to promote the boy to senior philosopher. Thus, making him the youngest senior philosopher in Sapey. The boy now led sermons and lectures. He spoke with great intensity. Everyone felt compelled to listen. No one dare interrupt or leave.
The boy’s craving for blood and flesh grew stronger. The demons and monsters in his dreams became bolder. He believed it was because he had not fed. He started leaving the temple at night to attack and kill Sapes. He drank their blood, but it did not satisfy him or the demons and monsters that taunted him.
One night the boy decided to visit the orphans in the building next to the temple. He lost control and began to slaughter them one-by-one. The children were completely frozen in fear. They did not move. They did not scream. They just waited in their beds to be slaughtered.
The boy rolled in their blood. He desperately sucked the blood from their blood-drenched clothes. The demons and monsters surrounded him. He looked at them. They were now filled with terror. He splashed in the blood of the children, which covered the floor around him. The demons and monsters sunk into the ground.
The next day, the orphanage was filled with the screams from the staff. The Head Philosopher called the enforcers. They briefly entered the room of the slaughtered children. However, none of them could remain more than a few minutes. Lisa, who was Maskameera’s persona at the time, arrived at the House of Divine Knowledge. She entered the room of the slaughtered children. Even she felt the atmosphere to be suffocating.
On her way out, Maskameera encountered the boy. She was filled with a strange and almost terrifying emotion. She was desperately struggling to maintain her form. He stared at her menacingly. It was as if he knew who she was. She felt both threatened and excited by his presence.
A few weeks later, in the main temple, the boy approached the Head Philosopher. He began aggressively reciting scripture. The Head Philosopher felt very uncomfortable, but he found himself unable to speak.
The boy raised his voice louder and louder. The Head Philosopher panicked and started to run towards the entrance of the temple. He tripped over his robe and fell to the ground. He tried to get up but felt paralysed. The boy shapeshifted into a huge, terrifying monster. The Head Philosopher was desperately gasping for air. The Head Philosopher’s panic had become so intense that he had a heart attack and died immediately.
A few weeks later, there was a vote on who would become the next Head Philosopher of the West Region. In a very odd turn of events, the senior philosophers voted to appoint the boy as the new Head Philosopher of the West House of Divine Knowledge. This made the boy the most powerful leader for the House of Divine Knowledge.
The darkness of the boy's aura quickly spread. The Head Theologist of the West Region and the Head Theologist and Head Philosopher of the Capital Region were put into a strange trance. They became extensions of the boy.
The boy introduced the black robes for all senior members of the House of Divine Knowledge. Both the West and the Capital Temples had sacrifice tables installed beneath them. He invited the Head Theologist to join him in the sacrifices. Anyone he was not satisfied with was placed or dropped onto the alter. After the sacrifice, he would drink the blood.
This horrendous practice continued for decades. The boy believed the blood gave him powers to defeat the demons and monsters that often haunted him. He also had visions of a brilliant, angelic-like creature he had come to believe was the higher power. He believed the higher power only communicated with him because he drank the blood.
The boy encountered Maskameera once again. She was using her Charlene persona. He immediately recognised her. She told him about the prenatal termination of babies. She promised him their blood. He believed that the blood of babies was even more powerful than that of adults. He was filled with his memories of killing the orphans.
The boy also encountered August, who was using his Cromley persona. He filled August with fear. August saw him as a threat that needed to be dealt with.
August made a deal with the boy to give him a huge quantity of baby blood for him and his inner circle to bathe in. Instead, he sent him Sape Manure. The boy and his inner circle were buried alive in the manure and killed.
Maskameera released Angelo’s arm. Angelo flopped to the ground. Then he shuffled into a corner. He was breathing heavily in exhaustion.
‘It’s a lot to take in,’ sighed Maskameera. ‘Don’t worry. Your reincarnation is inevitable. You’ll be better than ever and you’ll be mine.’
Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide
Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide is the final book in the Sapien Loop trilogy. It continues directly after the events of the second book. The world above and the world below merge into one world. The conflicts in the underground world are brought to the surface. The new ruling elite attempt to crush any resistance from above and below in an attempt to create a new global empire.
Currently, three books from the series have been published on Amazon; see the links below:
All individual chapters can be found on my 