Page 3 of The Cult

The stifling heat of the day begins to get to me, and I wipe my forehead of sweat beads that are forming at my hairline. I’ve never been jealous of the leader of The Golden Light, but I’d give anything to be shirtless like him at this moment.

“Gentlemen, we have a problem.”

My stomach drops at those five words. What problem could he be talking about? Adam and I rarely spend any time around each other, and I’ve racked my brain to think of what I could have done that would deserve reprimand. I’ve come up with nothing.

Micah is a master of manipulation, and meetings like this show his particular ability to keep people on edge. He stares at us without saying a word, and I don’t know about Adam, but terror builds inside me second by second until it’s almost unbearable.

I’ve seen what happens to people when Micah is displeased with them. The box. Whipping. Sometimes a person will just disappear. One day they’re adoring him in every way required of a Golden Light member, and the next they’re gone and no one dares ask where they are or what happened to them.

Questions are not part of life here.

Finally, Micah smiles, and the effect is like the sun appearing after days and days of nothing but dark clouds and rain. “Maren has left our loving embrace. I want her back here with us, along with that little friend of hers. Go get them for me.”

I can’t explain how much I want to laugh or cry or simply show some kind of emotion at this moment. I don’t because it’s not allowed, but it takes every ounce of self-control to keep my expression placid like it needs to be.

Nodding, I bow but say nothing. There is no response required. When Micah tells you what to do, you do it without comment and hopefully the way he wants you to. If not, then surely punishment will follow.

“Nash, you take the lead. Adam, he’s your superior and acting on my behalf. Remember that.”

Talk about an emotional rollercoaster. A minute ago, I feared I’d done something to displease Micah and wondered what punishment I’d have to endure. Now he’s just made me the boss for this job, ensuring that Adam must follow my orders or suffer the consequences.

Adam and I both say in unison, “Yes, Micah. As you wish,” and then wait for him to dismiss us. With a wave of his hand, he sends us on our way, and I hope as I make my way to the door it isn’t obvious how much I want to get the hell out of this room right now.

Just as I walk outside, I turn around and see that pretty blond girl named Katie being escorted in through the back door. Ramon leads her to Micah and is quickly excused, giving me a smile as he hurries out the way he came.

With her big eyes full of awe as she stares at the leader, she’s exactly the kind he likes. I leave before I see anything happen between them, but it’s the worst kept secret here what he expects from her.

2

Lara

My sister’sphone rings and rings like it has for the past two days whenever I call. I silently pray this will be the time she answers, but just as every other time, I hear her soft voice say, “Leave me a message, and I promise to get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks!”

I pull the phone away from my ear and jam my finger into the red button that says END. Frustrated, I toss it onto the couch and lean back against the cushion, sighing in frustration. Where could she be? It’s entirely unlike Rina to not call me when she sees I’ve left a message. It’s almost Pavlovian the way she has to answer, even if it’s with only a text to let me know she’s crazy busy but she’ll call when she can.

The past few weeks flash through my mind while I attempt to find some answer as to where she is. That idiot boyfriend of hers sent her confidence crashing to the floor three months ago. Correction: ex-boyfriend, the jackass who threatened to kill her when she told him she planned to go away to college in the fall. I never liked him, but she was crazy about him, and I’d never seen her so terrified as when he said he couldn’t live without her so he was going to kill both of them.

I didn’t think much of Jamie, but I wouldn’t have guessed he’d ever say he’d kill her because she wants to get a good education. Not that long distance relationships usually work, but he could have at least tried.

Then again, maybe he knew the Rina train was leaving the station and had no place for him on it. One semester of college and she would have been way out of his league.

Truthfully, he probably did her a huge favor by showing his true colors. She’ll see that someday. Now, though, I know she’s hurting.

That’s probably all that’s going on. She’s laying low, hanging out with some rom-coms on Netflix and enough butterscotch brickle ice cream to last a month. Typical Rina behavior to treat a broken heart.

I think I’ll stop over and check up on her. She could use a visit from her big sister. I just have to swear I won’t start bashing that asshole ex-boyfriend of hers.

After knockingon her apartment door for nearly five minutes, I turn to my last resort. My sister and I have a longstanding rule of never calling our parents unless it’s something serious. We love our mother and father, but once they get a whiff of anything to worry about with either of us, they become the world’s worst helicopter parents. No twenty-year-old needs that kind of concern constantly hovering over every phone call and visit, and I know Rina would be furious with me for taking this drastic step.

My mother’s cell phone rings twice before she answers nearly out of breath. “Hello?”

“Why do you sound like you were running? You don’t run. You barely move, unless you have to,” I say, knowing my mother would prefer to have a hot poker stuck up her behind than actually exercise.

“I do move around, Lara. I’m not completely sedentary. You know, you could take a page out of my book. My doctor says that I get just enough exercise to keep me young. All that yoga and nonsense you do to your body is only going to make you old before your time.”

Rolling my eyes, I sigh, already unhappy with how this call is going. “Mom, yoga is one of the best ways to keep your body limber and young,” I explain, feeling the need to educate her once again on why my chosen form of exercise is, in fact, good for a person.

Something she knows already since we’ve talked about this very topic dozens of times.

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