Page 106 of Charlie
I had no choice but to walk back and be swallowed up in hugs by Atlas, Maximum, and Lumi’s mom, Aisha, who kissed me on both cheeks.
“Where’s Lumi? My daughter loves a good party.” Aisha’s voice was slurred and she leaned against me with her arm around my waist.
Conor fed on their adoration and support. “Raise your hand if you’re ready to go with me to the next level.”
People jumped and cheered.
“They cannot control us.”
“They cannot control us.”
“I’m a hundred percent loyal to all of you, but are you loyal to me?” Conor screamed to the group, hyping them up.
The hairs on my arms stood up from memories of what happened the last time he used those words.
“My family. I have a way for us to stand up to the tyranny of the establishment. Who’s with me?” Conor’s eyes shone with fire and determination as he jumped with Carlos, Sara, Estelle, Ciara, and all the others.
In order not to stand out, I swayed and smiled too when Conor screamed one more time:
“Who’s with me?”
Loud whistling gave the impression that Conor was a rock star who had just asked if his audience wanted another song.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up when Conor bent down and pulled out a bag from under a chair.
“We’re going to leave this level and go the next where we can be free to be together and live our lives as we want to.”
My eyes doubled in size as he took out the first gun, and then the second, third, fourth, and fifth. Some of the members moved closer to him asking questions while others had confusion written on their faces.
“I need a group of pioneers.” While talking Conor handed out a gun to Sara, Estelle, the twins, and Carlos, who batted his eyes and smiled at Conor.
“Darling, you’re honoring me. You know I was born to be a pioneer.”
“I’m selecting you five to go first on this journey. The rest of us will follow right after.”
Under the pretense of a sneeze, I turned and spoke into the phone. “Get help,now!” My words were muttered and I was unsure if Kit would understand what was going on here.
Conor put down the empty bag, and gestured with his hands for everyone to stand up. “I want you all to give space for our five pioneers. Yes, that’s right. Sara, you sit down on the floor. I want you to lead the first group. The rest of you will sit behind Sara.” The twins were having a hard time getting down on the floor with the guns in their hands. They were giggling like it was a party game while I was freaking out on the inside. What if these guns weren’t empty like the last time he’d told Sara to shoot herself?
My mind was racing to find a way to interfere.Where’s the fire alarm?My eyes darted around, but this wasn’t a public building and there was no glass to break nor did I see any smoke detectors or sprinkler systems. I could run, but then what about the children?
The selected five sat linked together with Carlos in the back and Sara in front.
“I don’t know, Conor, I would have preferred to have a man between my legs,” Carlos joked and it made people laugh.
Don’t they understand what’s going on here?
I stared around me, hoping to find an ally among the drugged cult members, but they were caught in the mass psychosis and were oblivious to what was really going on.
“Give them space.” Conor got us all to move out of the way so that we were standing in front of them.
“Your job is to prepare for the big welcome party that we’ll have on the other side,” Conor instructed them. “The rest of us will be right along.”
“Oh, leave it to me to arrange a fun party.” Carlos slurred and gave an exaggerated laugh while his movements were slow from the drugs.
“We’re all going to count down from five and then you’ll press the triggers.” Conor turned up the music, which blasted with a heavy bass, and then he raised his hands in the air and did a few dance moves.
I couldn’t believe how easily he controlled the minds of the poor people around me who danced along with him with uncoordinated movements revealing just how intoxicated they were. It was mindboggling how quick they’d been to accept this impromptu meeting as a party when it was anything but.
