The Cult

The heart palpitations lasted for days.

There was an arrhythmia to my heartbeat, a drug-induced panic that took longer to dissipate than last time. He’d given me a bigger dose, or I was just weaker than before.

I couldn’t recall what happened.

There were flashes of demons on the ceiling. Maniacal laughter coming from beside me. The gates of hell opened, and I saw a sea of fire rush me. When I woke up, I was in my bed, still in my gown and wings.

Nothing looked out of place, and there were no signs that he’d forced himself on me.

The first thing I saw when I woke up was Claire’s sweet face.

It was a nice way to wake up.

It was ironic. These guys worshiped angels, and I thought they were crazy. But Claire had become my angel. She was the only light in this very dark place.

Claire spoke to her mom in their bedroom, the doors between us open. “Mom, can we go somewhere?”

Beatrice sat at the edge of the bed, and despite her physical recovery, her mental state was still in tatters. Whenever Claire spoke, Beatrice ignored her or didn’t register her voice at all. “Go somewhere?” A tone of incredulity was in her voice. She turned her head and stared at her daughter, her eyes mean. “Do you not understand—”

“I think that’s a good idea, Claire. How about you get dressed, and we’ll go exploring?” I needed to study the terrain of this place anyway.

“Really?” She got off the floor, wearing a white dress with her little wings. “Will you make the monsters go away?”

I’d forgotten about those freaks. Oh, how could I ever forget? “I’ll do my best.”

Claire went down the hallway into her closet, out of earshot.

I turned to Beatrice, her perfect cheekbones, her full lips, all mutilated like her back. Her beauty had been chipped away by her depression, her presence an empty vessel, like her soul had already passed beyond the veil and her body remained behind. “I’ll take Claire for the day so you can have some time to yourself.”

“Good.” Her arms were crossed over her chest, one shoulder dropped, her figure more svelte than ever before. Her eyes glossed over once more, and that was it. Beatrice was gone.

Claire returned, in white jeans and a white sweater, ready to go outside and explore the trees, hillsides, and the land.

It was the perfect excuse to take a look around unaccompanied. All I had to do was ask Forneus, and he would grant my request. “Alright, let’s go.” I took her hand. “Say bye to Mommy.”

“Bye, Mom.” Claire waved.

Beatrice ignored her.

We stepped out into the cold, the sky overcast, the chill biting through flesh to bone.

The Malevolent were there, moving closer, wanting to get a look at the two of us.

“Just look at the ground, Claire.”

“Are you going to get rid of them?”

“I will in a bit.” We moved to the stone steps and made our way up the hill, past the black stone church where I’d met Forneus before. The cabins loomed in the gray air, no activity noticeable. Farther up we went, making our way to the luxury cabins that seemed to house the demons. There were twelve.

And there were twelve of us.

At least we wouldn’t have to worry about another poor girl having to join us.

“Where are we going?” Claire whispered, her eyes still down.

I went to Forneus’s cabin and left her by the wall. “Just keep looking at the ground, okay? I need to talk to someone. I’ll be right here.” I didn’t want Claire to see him, to hear him speak with his weird speech pattern, because he was more frightening than the Malevolent in a lot of ways.

“How long will you be gone?”

“Just a couple minutes. I’ll be right back. I promise.”

She returned her gaze to the ground, her forehead against the wood of the cabin. “Okay…”

I went to the front door and knocked.

The Malevolent were all around me, gathered in a half circle, keeping a respectable distance away. I looked over my shoulder then gave a jerk, like I was about to lunge at them. Like a school of fish, they immediately dispersed, only to move back into place a couple seconds later.

Forneus opened the door, dressed all in black, this time wearing a long black coat that reached the tops of his boots. Eyes the texture of stone stared at me, intensive and direct, regarding me like a painting rather than a person just a foot away. He greeted me in silence.

“Tell the Malevolent to stop following me.”

His eyes shifted past me, to the men with skulls on their heads. “Why?”

“Because I want to take Claire to explore, and she’s afraid of them.”

“She shouldn’t be afraid—”

“I told you what I wanted, Forneus. Make them stop.”

Right on cue, that smile emerged. “Of course, An-gel.” He looked at the Malevolent and gave a subtle wave of his hand.

And just like that, they were gone.

When he was this close to me, his smile was terrifying, disgusting. Did he have surgery to make his face move like that? It was like a snake that could unhinge its jaw to swallow prey twice its size.

I turned away. “Thanks.” It hurt every time I had to say it, to express gratitude for the basic human right of privacy, to not be stalked.

“A demon will do anything for his an-gel.” He remained at the door and watched me go.

I took Claire’s hand and guided her back the way we came.

She looked up, giving a small gasp when she saw that we were alone. “They’re gone.”

“Now it’s just us, baby.”

We moved into the forest, surrounded by the tall pines that glistened with moisture. The air was so clean here, like stepping into a row of fresh Christmas trees. The soil was soft with moisture, and the tree trunks cracked the ground to make rivers.

If this was just the location of a cabin in the woods, a vacation spot for some friends or family, it would be a beautiful place.

But the demons ruined it.

Claire was a child again, running around and playing in the dirt, scraping off the bark from the trees, examining the bugs in the soil. She was as she should be, a child that didn’t have a care in the world, just living in the moment.

I examined everything with a keen eye, searching for clues to get out of here. I’d brought a couple pieces of paper and a pencil so I could construct a map, using the sculptures at the settlement to mark the direction.

We moved deeper into the forest, and I did my best to make sure we knew the way back. Our footprints left imprints in the damp soil like breadcrumbs, so all we had to do was follow that trail back.

It was impossible to gauge our surroundings because the trees were so close, so dense, so tall. It felt like evening because they blocked out so much of the sun. It was beautiful, but also scary. Though, for Claire and me, it wasn’t the least bit scary.

Not after the shit we’d seen.

We kept going, Claire skipping and kicking mud everywhere, her white clothes covered in brown.

We eventually reached the edge of the clearing.

And took in the view.

The French Alps stood far in the distance, their tops covered with snow, but soon they would be completely covered in white powder once the winter storms arrived. The rest of the world was flat, with the exception of various mountain terrains and valleys.

But there were no signs of civilization.

Anywhere.

I looked all around, hoping to see a plane pass overhead, a small French village in the distance. Even if I had binoculars, there was nothing to see. No cars. No roads. Just the wilderness.

“Oh fuck.”

“What?” Claire’s voice came from behind me.

“Shit. I mean…ugh.”

She chuckled. “Oooh, you said a bad word. A lot of bad words.”

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. Daddy does it all the time. It’s funny.”

I looked down at the sketch I’d drawn, just a line and an estimate of the distance. There wasn’t anywhere else to go from this point, except onward blindly. When I looked at the Alps again, I knew they were the border of Italy. “That means we’re facing vaguely south…” I marked an S on my map. “Paris is north-ish, so in the opposite direction… The French Riviera must be southwest…” I marked everything on the map. “So…which is the closest?” I’d say the French Riviera. It wasn’t as populated, not until you got to the coast, but there had to be cities in between. So, I was probably about a hundred miles from the closest place. Even if we went ten miles a day without being impeded, it would take us ten days to find help.

But if we got a head start…it would be almost impossible to find us. We could cover our tracks for a while so they wouldn’t know where to begin, and none of these guys seemed like hunters or trackers, so we’d be untouchable.

Then we’d just have to worry about…surviving.

Kind of a scary thought.

Too bad I never took Survival 101.

Maybe one of the other girls knew.

“Are you coloring?” Claire came to my side and looked at the paper in my hands.

“No. Drawing a map.”

“To treasure?”

I released a laugh. “I wish…”

“Then what’s it for?”

“To find a way out of here.”

“But…what about Daddy? He’ll come for us.”

I folded the paper and returned it to my pocket. “I’m sure he will, baby.” My hand went to her shoulders. “But I’m going to give you a life lesson right now, and you better listen.”

“What?”

“Don’t ever wait for a man to save you. Save yourself.”

We returned at sundown.

The torches were lit. The Malevolent lingered.

Then screams pierced the sky.

“Ahhhhhh!”

Claire immediately jumped into my side, gripping on to my arm as she tried to become as small as possible.

The Malevolent turned their heads away from us, directing their attention to the source of the screams.

The screams of a woman.

I already knew who it was.

I grabbed Claire’s hand. “Come on.” I tugged her across the clearing, past the torches, past the sculptures.

“Ahhh!”

I made it to the cabin and put her inside. “I’ll be right back.”

“Where’s Mom?” She ran to the bed, searching for her. “Mom?” She moved down the hallway, her voice breaking because even a seven-year-old could figure it out. “Mom…”

I grabbed my dagger from beneath the mattress, ready to carve a demon and put him on a platter. “I’ll be right back, alright? Stay here and be quiet.”

Tears streamed down her face, her eyes squinting, her arms folded over her body.

I couldn’t console her. Not when those screams were still in my head. “I’ll be back.” I left her behind and jogged past the stone statues and burning torches, a line of smoke rising to the sky.

Her screams came again—screams of agony.

I sprinted up the steps, weaved through the cabins, headed to the place where my hand had been sliced, as quickly as possible. A sea of Malevolent swept across my gaze, white bone, antlers, dead eyes.

I made it to the dais.

Beatrice was tied to the cross, her back exposed, her demon carving a bloody knife into her back.

“Oh my fucking god…”

The other demons were there, sitting together in their black robes, the Malevolent on the stone benches behind them. With stoic expressions, they watched, as if this horrific act were no different from a commercial you watched without really paying attention.

Amon was in flowing black robes, tall and muscular like Forneus, his bloody knife now at his side. He was brutish, with shaved hair that made his scalp only have a shadow. He had small eyes in a wide face, a big mouth, thick cords down his neck.

The dagger was in my hand, but my courage failed me.

I was scared.

I couldn’t pretend that I wasn’t.

This was the most disturbing shit I’d ever seen.

It would haunt me for the rest of my life.

Amon must have been finished because he put the dagger on the dais, the blood dripping to the stone. “I will find your wings, Angel.”

Beatrice collapsed, her body held up by the leather bands.

There was nothing I could do. I stayed in the distance by the trees, my dagger still in hand.

Amon gestured to the Malevolent.

They moved to the cross and untied her, her shirt ripped open and in bloody tatters, her chest bare. They grabbed her and carried her, more a corpse than a person.

I was in shock, unable to process the brutality.

All I could do was breathe.

In.

Out.

Fuck.

But it wasn’t over. Amon watched them carry Beatrice away. “Bring The Divine.”

Claire.

No.

Fuck no.

Oh Jesus Christ.

I took off at a sprint, making myself visible to anyone who looked in my direction, but I didn’t care. The cattle heads turned and watched me, watched me push my body hard, shove aside the branches that scratched my face on the way, weave between the cabins and slip on the mud. I got to my feet and took the stairs, missing my step at the bottom and rolling into the dirt.

I pushed up and kept going.

I wanted to help Beatrice.

But I had to get to Claire first.

The cabin came into sight, and I sprinted to the door and flung it open. “Claire! Come here!”

Claire moved into my vision, wearing a terrified expression.

I held out my hand to her. “Now.”

She was too scared to move.

“Don’t make me ask you again!” I rushed inside and grabbed her by the wrist, giving a hard tug.

She began to cry. “Mommy!”

I started to run, dragging her with me, headed into the darkness of the trees. “I need you to run, Claire. Now!”

“Mom—”

“Now!”

She finally moved. Finally stopped crying.

I grabbed a torch and sprinted into the tree line.

It was dark as shit and I couldn’t see a goddamn thing without it, so I didn’t have a choice.

Run. Run. Run.

Without direction or understanding, we moved, but she slowed me down.

She just couldn’t keep up with me.

I halted and dropped to my knees. “Hold this torch high for me.”

“What’s happening?”

“Hold it high.” I raised her arm. “Don’t drop it, okay?” I picked her up, heavy in my arms, but the adrenaline overcame it and I moved faster than we had before. The torch gave some light, helped me move through the trees instead of smacking into a trunk, but it also illuminated the Malevolent around us.

They were everywhere.

“Fuck.”

I stopped and changed directions, giving it all my all even though I knew how this would end.

I couldn’t save her.

I halted when I came into a line of Malevolent, their terrible eyes reflecting the lights from the torch, their bodies close together like a wall.

I turned around to head the other way.

Malevolent.

Claire cried against me, terrified.

“Get the fuck away from me!” I grabbed the torch out of her hand, set her on the ground, and did the only thing that I could.

I set the tree on fire.

They watched the flames lick the wood before they panicked.

Some sprinted back to the camp.

But the others moved in.

They attacked me for the first time, yanking the torch from my hand.

I couldn’t overpower them, so I hugged Claire to me, protecting her with my body.

“Make them go away…” She sobbed into me. “Please…make them go away.”

I cried…because I couldn’t.

They marched us back to the dais, Beatrice’s blood all over the stone.

Amon watched us, his eyes on Claire.

“No!” I shoved the Malevolent off me and held out the dagger, ready to take down any motherfucker that came for us.

Claire buried her face into my stomach so she wouldn’t have to see.

I held out the knife toward Amon, ready to take on this giant with my little blade. “I swear to god…” Tears blurred my eyes, angry tears. “Don’t you fucking touch her.”

Amon didn’t glance at the knife, not the least bit concerned that I had it in the first place. “I must check the wings of The Divine—”

“Then I’ll check your heart with this knife.”

Forneus rose to his feet, shirtless and in the same black robe. “An-gel.”

I turned my knife on him. “Stop this.”

All he did was shake his head.

“I command you, as your angel, to stop this!”

Forneus stared, and for once, he didn’t have a smile.

Amon withdrew a pill, opening his fingers for Claire even though he was several feet away.

“Come near her, and I’ll kill you. I’ll kill all you motherfuckers!”

Amon gestured to the Malevolent.

The surge of adrenaline was indescribable. I was fucking Kate Beckinsale in the Underworld films. I stabbed the first one right in the neck then got the other in the stomach, throwing my elbow to the guy behind me and breaking his nose. My arm clutched Claire against me at the same time, my knife held out at the ready.

More came.

I did my best to fight them off, stabbing mercilessly, leaving a pile of bodies behind before they removed Claire without hurting me, like their own lives weren’t worth causing me harm.

Claire screamed as she was yanked away. “Constance!”

The Malevolent blocked my path as they took her away, a sea of men that I couldn’t push past.

“Forneus!” I shoved them as hard as I could, trying to get to Claire. “Forneus!”

He just stood there.

Amon extended the pill to Claire.

She was frozen in place, shaking, not sure what to do.

A surge of strength overcame me, and I shoved the Malevolent out of the way. But instead of going to Claire, I went straight to Forneus. I held the knife against my stomach, the tip applying pressure.

Forneus stared, a flash of fear moving into his gaze.

“Protect her…or I’ll do it. I’ll ascend without you—and I’ll never come back.”

His jaw tightened, his face tinted, his breaths grew heavy.

Amon kept trying to push the pill on Claire.

I couldn’t tell how Forneus felt. He looked angry. So angry that he didn’t know how to restrain it.

I pulled the knife away and prepared to plunge it right into my stomach.

“Amon.” His voice stopped everything, commanded the obedience of every single living thing in that theatre. “You hurt your angel…and it hurts mine.”

I almost fell to my knees and broke down in a wave of tears. My body was weak, my knees wobbly, the grip on my dagger shaky. “Anyone touches her…anyone looks at her…” I could barely speak, my breathing was so weak. “And I return myself to heaven—without you. Do you understand me?”

Forneus was furious. It was written all over his face.

“Do you fucking understand me?”

With his eyes on me, he spoke. “Amon.”

The pill was taken away, and Claire was released. Just as I asked, they looked away, turned their backs on her, as if she didn’t exist.

Claire stood there, surveying the scene around her, the tears gone.

It was over.

I grabbed Claire by the hand and led her away from that god-awful place. I took her away, not a single eye on us except those of Forneus. There was no rush, but we ran, getting out of there as fast as we could.