Calixto is imprisoned by the Inquisition, on charges of heresy and witchcraft. He's huddled in his cell, awaiting the priests.
The door banged open and he was seized by his wrists and dragged out of the cell. They drag him down a hallway to a torch-lit dungeon and snap his ankles into shackles.
He is shivering with terror, biting his lip to keep from whimpering, and to keep his lip from trembling.
A strong man starts hauling on a chain and Calixto is pulled up by his ankles into the air, hanging upside down. Several other men push a large metal tub of water underneath him. A priest approaches him. "Do you wish to repent?"
Calixto is shaking so badly he can hardly speak, but he manages to stammer, "Repent for what? I've done nothing..." in a faint whisper.
"If you do not confess to me of your dalliances with the devil, you cannot repent and your immortal soul will burn." The priest's voice cut over the sounds of screaming from a contraption in the corner.
"Ohgodpleasedon't!" he cries in a rush, horrified tears running up his face. "Please, I don't even know what I'm being accused of!"
"Witchcraft." the priest intoned.
"Witchcraft?" he says, trying not to sound incredulous. "I know nothing about witchcraft. Please, there's been a terrible mistake..."
"You will not confess?"
"I-I can't confess to something I haven't done! That would be a lie!" he cries, his voice rising with panic.
The priest nodded to the man at the chain and Calixto was lowered into the water.
Calixto screams as he's lowered, the sound cut off by the water. He thrashes as much as he can, churning the water--he hadn't even had time to take in a proper breath.
After what seemed like an eternity, Calixto was pulled back up from the water. The priest asked his same question again.
Coughing, his eyes running so badly he can hardly see, he can only dangle there, gasping and trying to breathe.
"Confess!"
Calixto is frozen with indecision--on one hand, he can't confess to something he hasn't done, but on the other, these men are priests, men he's been taught from birth to respect and obey. If only he could think clearly, if only he wasn't so frightened.
*Do you really think they aren't going to kill you?* murmured a quiet, laughing voice in his head.
The terrified young man cries out, startled by the voice. "...what?" he asks, glancing around, deciding it must have been one of the priests.
"I asked you to confess, boy!" the priest grabbed him by his soaking wet hair.
*He doesn't care if you're guilty, he's enjoying this.* the voice snickered. *You can see the bulge in his robes.*
Calixto cries out again at the sharp jerk on his hair, staring around him in confusion. "No! That's not true!" he screams. "Stop it!"
"He is posessed by a demon!" cried the priest.
*Hah! The man doesn't even know a god from a demon.*
"Please...stop talking...you're confusing me..." he says, helplessly. "A demon! No...I just..."
"Lower him!"
*Ah, finally some quiet.* the voice sighed once Calixto's head was lowered under the water. *Now, do you want to live?*
"Yes!" Calixto cries, forgetting that he's underwater. He tries to cough the water back out and almost drowns himself right there.
*Ah, good. Corpses are never as much fun.* the voice sounded delighted.
Calixto was raised back out of the water and suddenly the tub rocked and fell, rolling. The water poured out, knocking the priest off his feet. The chain holding Calixto's ankles up snapped and he found himself tumbling to the earth.
*Get up and run.*
He obeys without thinking, running almost blindly for the door.
*Up the stairs.* the voice commands.
Not stopping to question the voice for now, he keeps running up the stairs. When he gets to the top, he stops, panting. "Who are you?" he says out loud.
*Don't stop. There are keys on the table there, they'll open the outside gate.* Calixto could feel his body being almost physically pushed. *There are men following you.*
Calixto cries out at the strange feeling, but does as he's told. He grabs the keys and runs for the gate, and this time he doesn't stop running until he's in some nearby trees. "Am I safe here?" he asks.
*For now. I'm Coyote.*
"...Calixto..." he says, hesitantly. "...where are you?"
"In you." the voice said, using Calixto's voice.
The young man feels the hairs on the back of his neck rising. "...you are a demon!" he gasps.
"I expect an apology for that. I'm a god." his own voice rings out angrily.
"I'm sorry!" he cries, wincing at the powerful voice. "I didn't mean to offend you. ...thank you for saving me..."
*Good. Apology accepted. And you're welcome. As long as I'm hitching a ride on a Spanish boy, I may as well keep him alive. I'm not sure what you do with your dead in this heathen part of the world, but it can't be terribly interesting.*
"...please..." Calixto says, helplessly. "What's going on?"
*I found you when you were in the jungle, Calixto. You took me home with you.* the voice chuckled. *And please, stop speaking aloud, there are men looking for you.* "...how else should I talk to you?" he whispers, ignoring the rest for the moment.
*Think, boy.* the voice commanded him.
"Think what?" he says, sounding increasingly desperate.
*Think what you'd say to me in your head.* the god laughed.
*oh* he thinks, laughing nervously. *like this?*
*Yes. That will do.*
*What do you mean, I found you in the jungle? What's going on? Are you a demon? Why did you save me?*
*I am an Nahuatl god.* the voice boomed in his head, forcing him to his knees. *I am Old Coyote and you will not call me a demon again.*
Calixto covers his ears, as if that will help with something in his head, bending forward until his face is almost pressed to the ground, biting his lip to keep from screaming. *Yes! I'm sorry! Please, I'm just very frightened!*
*Good boy. Stay down, they're close.* As the men passed, the god murmured quietly in Calixto's ear. *I liked the look of you, you were like a frightened deer in your armour. I've followed you since I saw you marching. You've noticed your dreams changing, haven't you?*
Calixto flattens himself to the ground as quietly as he can. He finds himself blushing--somehow, this innocuous statement sounds...naughty. Frightened deer sounds much more predatory and sexual than the words alone imply. *Ah...changing?* he asks.
*What did you dream of last night?*
*Ah...I don't remember...* he lies
*Did it involve kneeling in front of a beautiful dark man and taking his cock in your mouth?* the god chuckled.
The young man gasps, face bright red. To his horror, he finds himself getting hard at the memory. "No!" he cries, aloud.
*Now they've heard you. You should run.*
Calixto scrambles to his feet and starts running wildly through the trees. *Please help!* he begs the creature--he can't think of the voice as a god--in his head.
*Help?* Coyote asked innocently.
*Yes! Where can I go? I can't go home, they'll just drag me back here!* he thinks as he runs, not sure where he's going.
*This isn't my home, it's yours. You have no ideas?* the god laughed.
*Don't you have some sort of...god powers?* he asks, screaming in his own mind. He wonders, briefly, if he's going insane.
*Of course. I've already reversed your fate, what more do you want?*
*What do you mean 'reversed my fate'?*
*I tipped over the tub and broke the chain.*
*How was that reversing my fate? That was...I don't know...* He finds himself on the road, and comes to a stop. *Should I stay on the road, or keep going through the woods?*
*You were meant to die. I reversed your fate and allowed you the chance to make your own. Go through the woods.*
*Thank you.* He keeps running through the woods, still thinking furiously to the strange voice in his head. *What do you mean, meant to die? They were going to kill me, I wasn't...you know...meant to die. And I couldn't have been, because you saved me, and everything happens because God wills it.* His head is starting to hurt.
*There are many gods, boy, and I willed that you lived. You were going to die in that water within the next day. I could have waited longer, but if I had, you wouldn't have had the strength to run.* Coyote said simply. *If I hadn't intervened when I did, you would be hanging there still, waiting to die.*
Calixto swallows hard, suddenly humbled. *...thank you...* he thinks, not sure what else he can say. *But why did you save me? If you are what I think you are...wouldn't I be your enemy?*
*I am a god, men are not my enemy. Only gods have that honor.* he chuckled. *Though I do not understand the Spanish and I adore my Nahuatl people, I do not believe they will ever be conquered. Therefore I have no reason to hate you.*
*Oh. That's good. Thank you...* He thinks for a moment. *What do you want?*
*You.*
This answer is not at all what he's expecting. *Me?! Why? I mean...don't you want to go home, or get worshippers, or something?*
*I have all the sustenance I want. At the moment, I desire you. I enjoy virgins and you're quite exotic.*
Calixto realizes he's blushing again. *Ah...that's...inappropriate! And hardly the time for that kind of talk! I need a plan, not...*
*There's a little cave, would that do?* Coyote interrupted him, chuckling darkly.
*...I'm going to assume you mean to hide in. And yes, I think so...but I'll need food and things eventually.*
*We can deal with that when we need to.* Coyote laughs. *Go on, Calixto.*
*...you say...think...my name funny...* he thinks with a little frown. *But it's...pretty. Where is this cave?*
*Left. Duck down. And that is the way your name should be said.*
He laughs a little at being told the way his name -should- be said, after 23 years of being alive. *...alright...* he thinks, trying to keep the amusement out of his voice, and following the instructions until he reaches the cave. He pushes some shrubbery out of the way and creeps in, pushing the bushes in front again.
*You can rest, they're a ways behind you.* Coyote told him.
*Thank you, again. Now...could you tell me more about why you're here, and what's going on, and what you want with me, and what's going to happen, and what your plans are...please?*