𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐧 |~𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚁𝚎𝚒𝚍~|

Chapter Twenty-Five

"To follow by faith alone is to follow blindly." -Benjamin Franklin 

We were in Colorado this time. Reid, Prentiss, and I were going undercover in an isolated chruch community as child social workers. 

The reason why we were investigating was that a 15 year old girl had called 911 reporting sexual abuse by the church's leader, Benjamin Cyrus. 

We got out of the car and introduced ourselves. Benjamin pointed us to the school where the children were. I walked in with Prentiss and Reid. 

We were just interviewing a 15 year old girl named Jessica about her relations with Benjamin Cyrus, who we learned was her husband, when a bunch of men with guns burst in. 

They started patting us down. 

"We just got a very strange call from a news reporter. Is there anything you want to tell me about a raid maybe?" Asked Benjamin. He looked at us and frowned. "They don't know." 

I felt relief flow through me. They didn't know that we were federal agents. We were led into an underground tunnel. I was between Prentiss and Reid as I walked. 

Benjamin gave instructions as the sound of gunshots rang out. I looked around at the room full of people. 

"What's going on?" I asked Reid. 

"I don't know, but we have to be calm." 

Benjamin just kept on rambling about how God would protect everyone before he left again. I clasped my hands together. 

Then, the gunshots stopped and a man said that the officers were pulling out. "Not for long," muttered Reid. 

They cleared the people out of the room, leaving only Reid, Prentiss, and me. I sat down on the stone bench next to Emily and sighed. 

"What are we going to do?" I asked. 

Emily shrugged. "Wait it out." 

I nodded and stared at my hands. I knew that the chance of my survival in this situation was lower than in the typical case. 

We sat there for hours, until it was light outside. We still didn't have much of an idea of what was going on. When the sun rose, we were led to the chapel. I sat with Prentiss and Reid. 

Rossi walked in with a box of supplies. He saw us and I saw a flicker of relief on his face. Then, he left and was gone. 

We stood up and examined the room. "Look at Jessica's body language. The way she looks at him," said Emily. 

"She literally worships him," I commented. 

"There's no way she made that 911 call," said Reid.

After Cyrus had poured everyone wine, he stood at the pulpit and said, "We will be with him soon. We have all drank the poison together." 

I looked at Prentiss, panicking. What were we supposed to do now? We couldn't stop the poison from killing everyone. 

However, I studied Cyrus and realized he was bluffing. He wanted to see everyone's reactions. He wanted to see who actually believed. 

Reid voiced my thoughts to Prentiss soon after. He was thinking the same thing. 

We realized that it was just a stunt. Then, Cyrus admitted it. I sighed and folded my arms. 

They took us back to the room with the benches. I sat down and ran my fingers through my hair. We had only been there a few minutes when Cyrus walked in.