Bloodlust 2022

 Dressed in their finest, most expensive tuxedos, the old men watched as the new initiate received his indoctrination ceremony.

He was in his mid-twenties, tall and muscular and filled with the vim and vigor that they once possessed but was long gone. He stood blindfolded and bound by his hands with no clothing to keep him warm. He was tense, yes, but also curious as to what was to come. The large tiled floor was lit only by a single spotlight illuminating the initiate in its brightness. 

"Kneel," the disembodied voice called beyond the parameters of the light. "Pledge your devotion to us, and all will be revealed, and the world will be yours."

"I pledge my devotion to the Nashvahreen, that all may be illuminated before me, and that the world will be mine," the candidate repeated out loud. 

"Your first order will be to go to the meetings of all other secret societies, where you will initiate yourself into their ranks and gain their trust and level them to the ground from within," the voice commanded. By achieving this, you will make the Nashvahreen the only society of its kind to rule from the shadows." Once you have done this, someone will reach out to you for your next task. Do you understand that if you reveal any of this, the lives of your family and friends will be forfeit?"

"I understand and obey," the initiate spoke.

"Very well, proceed, and do your worst," the voice concluded. "The very worst."

...to be continued