"All Hail."

2 - A discovery.

📍Old Malia, Oregon, USA

6 hours of driving alone weren't all that bad. I guess I got a bit of time to myself, to think about what I was going to do with my life, from this point forward. I enjoyed those hours. However, everyone knows how it goes. All good things have an end, and now here I am. Along the final stretched-out freeway I go, waiting for that welcome sign into this mysterious town.

I'll try to give you some context. You see, one night, the first thing I typed into my search bar was: 'Towns with friendly people'. The day I realised I needed to get out of Seattle, live my own life, and choose my path. The first area I saw was a lovely place that most people know of, Salem.

It's fascinating, however, holds quite an eerie history. Witchcraft, trials, all the shit that I've never really been interested in. It was cool, don't get me wrong, but did I truly need that energy in my life?

There was also New Orleans, a popular city in Louisana. But it just wasn't... what I wanted.

Searching for 10 minutes turned into 30 minutes, an hour, 2 hours, and 4 hours.. until the early period of morning. I'd gotten nowhere. I decided I should probably consult elsewhere...

- 26 January, 2010.

I never really bonded with anyone during my time in Seattle. Sort of just bided my time there. However, there was one person.

Max was.. practically my only friend if I could even call her a friend. I decided to ask her about where I should move, considering the fact she took a gap year during university and did a shit ton of travelling.

'KNOCK! KNOCK!'

"Nooo!!!! Emi why would you leave us?! This shit hole is barely surviving, how's it gonna stay intact when you move away??"

Did not expect this reaction from her. Max lived by herself most of the time, her parents travelled a lot for work so she had the house to herself a lot. It was a massive place, I didn't know how she could get bored. When she let me in, she was overjoyed to see me, but the moment I told her I'd made up my mind to move away, her face dropped.

"Honestly Max, I'm sick of this place, and I'm 23 and still living with my mum. I most certainly am not going to look for an apartment here. That's practically ASKING for Mum to be coming to my place every day just to annoy the shit out of me. I just want a complete cut-off. That's all I want, and need."

"Okay, Emi. I get it. When are you thinking to leave...?"

"..As soon as I can?"
No lies there.

"Well... I suppose you'd miss Laila right? You'd want to visit at least sometimes?"

"I mean.. yeah. I guess. But I don't want to be close enough for my mum to be visiting ME."

"What do you think about Oregon..? I heard they have this beautiful little community, it's called something like.. Malia? Old Malia, New Malia. I wanted to visit for a while. I know someone who lives near. It doesn't have the largest population, so it may be what you're looking for...? I know you Emi, I know what places you like."

"Honestly, Oregon itself is amazing, I'm pretty sure Mum wouldn't drive six hours to find me."

"Surely not. And I know you love long drives, so when you decide to visit you may enjoy the drive."

"Max, thank you. So much. I really appreciate it, I'm gonna check out the town online and I'll let u know if it's what I'm feeling."

"Sure Emi, I just get the vibe that you'll like the place. I saw a few photos and it looks really homely and has a welcoming community. You could make more friends!"

When I got home, I immediately opened my laptop.
'Oregon-'
Old Malia immediately came up. Hmm, must be popular..?

Hitting the search button, I realised that this town was... really fucking popular. There were so many news articles, also one called :
'The true meaning to being a Divine Malist'
A 'divine... malist'???

Now, what the fuck is this? I clicked on the website, wondering what I'd find in this place where I was searching for a new home.

I immediately got sent to a long page, with a blood-red backdrop, no patterns, just colour.

Curiosity got the better of me, as I scrolled down, away from the big bold white letters reading the same title;
'THE TRUE MEANING TO BEING A DIVINE MALIST'.

As I near the end of the page, I finally found some context to this perplexing article.

The text is white and tiny, I had to almost squint a bit.

"A Divine Malist must establish belief in the fundamentals of his culture: worship, acceptance and love. A Divine Malist must recognise that Mother Malia is One and saved their community, enabling their future. They must take no credit for their happiness or good fortune, crediting everything to The Mother, and must lead a way of life that is following the teachings of Malism. A Divine Malist has obligations towards The Savior Malia, himself and the community of Old Malia. A Divine Malist is expected to perform their obligations such as the daily appreciation, attending lectures at the House of the Light, and paying their religious taxes, r̸e̸g̸u̸l̸a̸r̸y̸ m̸a̸k̸i̸n̸g̸ s̸a̸c̸r̸i̸f̸i̸c̸e̸s̸. He must treat others as he equals in humanity, and show them the light.
All hail the Mother!"

Ummmm..... Okay? This was interesting indeed. I was starting to have second thoughts. I immediately closed the website and replaced 'Old Malia' with 'Old Malia religions'.

As the little box of answers came up, I read.
'Population: Approx. 500
79% Divine Malist - Folk religion,
12% Other faiths,
9% Agnostic/Atheist'

Hmm.. not bad. I didn't really care about a small religion that they have in a tiny community. A little more research is all I needed, to be honest, this place could've been quite fit for a story or something.

My fingers typed and typed, going on and on.
'Old Malia crime rate'
'Old Malia safety'
'Old Malia recent news'
'Old Malia festivals'
'Old Malia scenery
'Is it a good idea to move to Old Malia?'

All of this led up to a final search.
'Old Malia best housing areas'.

Didn't save myself before I could, haha. This place drew me in. It's pretty views, vast mountains, a quiet suburban setting, and friendly-looking people. What would some minor folk religion do to me? This wasn't Salem, they hadn't conducted a witch trial here or a paranormal series of events. From the news, it looked fine. That one website I came across kind of got disregarded from my mind, because it was just some stupid little thing, probably citizen-made to look all creepy, by some dumb kid.

I suppose I'd finally found the place. Old Malia, my new home. I spent that entire night watching videos about the community, and little introductions, to small youtubers who had visited. I quite clearly ignored the alert at the top of my monitor screen.
'Some of these videos may be hidden due to violation of community guidelines.'

I was blinded in awe. I fell in love with this place. Not to mention the housing was cheap. A few old retired couples, and lots of young people around my age and a bit older, who also loved the area.

Old Malia. What a town.

My body worked faster than my mind. Before I knew it, I was saving up my money for the first rent instalment, picking out the cheapest yet nicest apartment, jobs in the town, outdoor clubs to join, and so much more.

Everything I'd be looking for in a new home.

I keep referring back, but I just wonder sometimes, how I could have prevented myself from falling down this rabbit hole. Maybe if I hadn't listened to Sadie. If I'd gotten out of the town in time to save myself. If I'd caught onto when the sparkle in Max's eye turned different when she mentioned Malia. Everyone has a regret in their life.

Mine is ruining my life before it truly started.