Page 32 of The Cult

“How are we gonna do that?” Two asked.

Everyone’s attention was on me. I had been the de facto leader of our group since we were separated and was still adjusting to the new role. The responsibility of keeping them and our plan safe bore down on me.

“They need to know what’s out here,” Seven said.

I agreed with him, but this was all new. None of the guys who were taken away before us managed to come back. We needed to let them know what was behind those walls and deep in the woods.

We started talking at once, bouncing ideas. It wasn’t until Seven looked up and stopped short, staring at the door with wide eyes and mouth shut. We followed his line of sight. We never heard or noticed the door open.

Tobias entered the bunkroom and the chatter fell silent, our whispered conversations dying out like a gust of wind extinguishing a candle. His eyes swept the room, taking in our shocked faces. He closed the door behind him. “Listen,” he began, his voice low and urgent. He directed his attention to me. “You’re probably wondering why I’m here.”

“It crossed my mind,” I said with a shrug, hoping my nonchalance manifested in disinterest in my voice. We were in the middle of planning; he had to go.

Undeterred, he continued. “I came here because your dad asked me to get you and your family out of this place.”

The guys were speechless. I’d mentioned how I knew Tobias the day he showed up in the cult, but I didn’t think they’d anticipated the revelation of his sudden appearance. How could they when I didn’t?

“What?” My heart sank at the mention of my dad.

“I’ve infiltrated The Creed,” Tobias continued, as if the task was a piece of cake. “I’m not one of the guards. And don’t ever mention this to anyone, do you hear me?”

Choruses of “what the fuck” echoed around the room, confusion written on every face.

My head was spinning. “When did you talk to him? Where is he? Is he safe?” Why did Dad ask Tobias for help? Why didn’t he do it himself?

“I don’t know where he is,” Tobias answered.

“What do you mean you don’t know? You just said you spoke with him.”

“I talked with him last week, but he didn’t tell me where he was. But he wants you and your family out of here.”

That wasn’t news to me. He’d been trying to free us from Orcus’s grip for as long as I could remember.

“There’s gonna be shit coming your way, so I need you to trust me,” Tobias explained, closing the distance between us.

“You want us to trust you?” I stood and met him halfway, a scheme formulating inside my head.

Tobias pointed his finger at me. “I need you to trust me.”

A thought occurred to me. Maybe he could take me back to the North Compound without being noticed. Tobias could be our key. “You want me to trust you?”

Tobias raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue.

“Then you have to do something for us.” It was a long shot, but I had to try.

“I don’t take orders from anyone, kid.” He clenched his jaw. “Not from fucking anyone.”

The guys must’ve sensed danger with the change in Tobias’s demeanor, because they all stood behind me, ready to fight.

Fifteen: Tobias

Who the hell did he think he was? Barking orders like he had a leg to stand on. I thought disclosing why I was in this fucking place would chill him out a little, but he was as petulant as ever; making demands like he was paying my bills. Abel was officially on my last nerve. I hadn’t meant to keep calling him a kid, but I had my reasons. They were all so fucking cute, thinking I could be bullied.

Abel balled his fists; his steely determination was bitter and cold. “Call me a kid one more time and we’ll see what happens.”

I would’ve laughed at his threat if I wasn’t surrounded by a group of young men who dressed like him and sported the same buzzed haircut. They studied me, but my attention was on Abel, who was staring me down. If these punks thought they could intimidate me into surrender, they had another think coming. I’d eliminated bigger threats than these fools.

“KID,” I said, enunciating the word I knew would get to him.

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