32. The Initiate

*In Denver, Colorado*

 

*There is a room, moreas a chamber. There are torches set aflame with fires, and there are clusters of teenagers dressed in ceremonial robes gathering together with a young boy, probably fifteen, in the middle. He, too, is wearing ceremonial robes, but it’s different than the others, making him stick out. His face is framed with dirty blonde hair that is slick with the sweat that’s emanating from his forehead, and his left hand is stuck out over one of the flames of a extra-marked up torches. There are symbols written in what looks like blood on the wall, and the teenagers gathering are chanting in a strange, foreign language beneath their breath. The boy is trembling with trepidation, also chanting softly under his breath, and he looks unsure of himself and not sure if he wants to do whatever he’s about to do*

 

Leader: *steps forward* *stands a few feet from the boy* Do you accept the challenges in which you are about to join, initiate?

 

Initiate: I… I um…

 

Leader: *is impatient* Do you, or do you not?

 

Initiate: I, uh… I think I do…

 

Leader: *shouts, taking a step forward towards the Initiate* I NEED A DEFINATE ANSWER, INITIATE!

 

Initiate: Okay, okay! I do! I do!

 

Leader: Then you have been accepted. Prove your loyalty to me and to the rest of us. Touch the flame and it will inaugurate you. We will make sure that it harms you no more than it must.

 

Initiate: *nervously bites his lip* Here goes nothing… *sets his hand on fire*

 

*The pain is immediate. The Initiate screams out in pain, the fire slowly spreading to the rest of his body. He falls to the floor in the attempt to put out the hungry flames. The gathered teenagers watch anxiously, screaming their chants now, the Leader raising his hands above his head to the Heavens, shouting words in a alien language. The Initiate screams for the gathered teenagers to help him and save him from the flames, but they do nothing to help. He screams and burns until his charred corpse lies with dying flames and lifeless limbs*

 

Leader: Take IT away.

 

*The teenagers take the body of the dead initiate away. The Leader, the Chief (who is in charge just below the Leader), and the right-hand men that take their places if they are somehow unable to lead are the only ones remaining in the chamber after. The Chief is looking solemnly at the bloodied spot where the initiate died. The right-hand men and the Leader are chanting loudly still, but they falter slowly, then end on a quiet note. The Chief looks over at the Leader nervously, as if he is unsure if what is going to say would get him to take the place of the dead initiate in flames*

 

Chief: Another, taken care of. We are on a roll. *sighs* Leader, are you sure we should be doing these things?

 

Leader: Whatever do you mean?

 

Chief: Killing people is wrong.

 

Leader: We’re doing it for the good of the world.

 

Chief: But… what if we’re turning into something that’s NOT good for the world?

 

Leader: Like what?

 

Chief: Like… serial killers?

 

Leader: Preposterous! We have no pattern. We’re only ridding the world of the people not liked.

 

Chief: Sir, with all due respect, are you sure? I mean, the first time was an accident. We told Jeremy Burns the wrong place because we wanted him to harm himself. We never intended murder. And after he died, and he covered it up and got away with it, we thought we could do it again, to all the kids in school we felt didn’t belong there. But what if we get caught? Then, the cult will be stopped.

 

Leader: Please, do not call it that.

 

Chief: Then what do we call it? *hesitates* Sir.

 

Leader: It is a religion. And we will never be caught. We did not give them any leads.

 

Chief: They found the bodies…

 

Leader: After a week.

 

Chief: They could trace the bodies back to us.

 

Leader: How?

 

Chief: I don’t know! I’m not the FBI!

 

Leader: We only have the local law enforcement to deal with.

 

Chief: That’s what I’ve b-been trying to tell you, s-Sir. I, uh, saw the jet and the SUV’s drive in this morning.

 

Leader: *stares* The FBI is here?

 

Chief: Yes! Maybe this is a sign we should stop.

 

Leader: No, we will never stop. We owe it to the world.

 

Chief: What does the world owe us?

 

Leader: We have taken too much from it.

 

Chief: What have we done?

 

Leader: Oh, so much. We kill because we must.

 

Chief: *mutters* Tell that to the FBI…

 

Leader: *smacks him across the face* You will not speak with me like that, Chief!

 

Chief: *is shaking* S-sorry, S-s-Sir.

 

Leader: You WILL be sorry. *leaves*

 

Chief: *turns to his right-hand man* What do you think?

 

Right-Hand Man: #2: It’s the Leader’s call.

 

Chief: *mutters* No wonder you’re a right-hand man…

 

Right-Hand Man #2: What?

 

Chief: Nothing. *leaves*

 

*silence*

Author's Note

A dedication is in order to Jossy Sterling for waaaaiting~

Reviews

[compositionc]

AMAZING.
That's just epic.

[Aurora Lynn]

YAY SOMETHING HAS BEEN DEDICATED TO ME!
Amazing, as usual. I like this 'cult' *is smacked across the face* Excuse me, RELIGION, already. Great job!
NOW
WRITE
MORE