Sinister Ego : Dangerous Minds

14. Rin

Rin.

That was his name.

He showed up while I was sitting alone in the cell, lying in the cold metal bed in my stylish new uniform. I had completely lost track of time. I had no clue how long I had been inside this cell, or if it was dark or light outside. I jumped a bit when the door to the cell was pushed open, when he appeared in the small room in his dirty, ripped jeans and filthy plain white t-shirt. He was Asain, and his hair was a bit on the long side, growing a few inches past his ears. He reeked with the distinct smell of body odor.

And he looked just as confused as I was.

"Who are you?" He asked the question in a low whisper, and I noticed the white uniform in his hands.

"Ricky," I whispered back. I didn't want to talk to anybody here. I didn't want to trust anybody here. I couldn't know who was against me. I didn't know anything about anybody here except that they were part of some insane cult, and no one deserved trust.

Yet.

"Rin," he looked down at the floor with a distinctly horrified look on his face, avoiding eye contact with me. He leaned back against the wall and slid down to the floor, resting his head in his hands and rocking back and forth. "What the fuck is this place?"

I looked again at his confused and terrified facial expression, and my mind briefly flashed to what I had seen. To what could happen to me at any time. I shook my head vigorously, and washed the image out of my head.

And I looked at him with an intrigued expression. "You've seen some fucked up shit, haven't you?"

"I don't know what the hell I saw," he snapped at me, finally looking me in the eye.

"Me neither."

"It was some horror movie type shit, man," he sobbed. "This is a nightmare. I'm dreaming."

He was breathing heavily and speaking in a dramatically brisk pace. He was acting exactly how I had been for however long I had been in here. Maybe he was in exactly the same situation as me, ripped away from his life and friends. I suddenly felt a pang of grief for him throughout my chest.

"I know, dude!" I whisper yelled. Maybe this was good. Maybe I wouldn't be alone in this. Maybe there were others like me besides him. Maybe the entire cult was like this.

Somehow, I doubted that.

"Did you see it, too?"

I sighed. "I saw something pretty fucked up."

He sighed as well, and just stared at me for a minute. Then his face tuned distinctly angry. He stomped his foot against the storm floor.

"Church service, my ass," he growled.

I felt my eyes go wide.

****

Rin, who I supposed was my cellmate, changed into the uniform after being in the cell for probably about an hour. He and I offered each other the occasional horror filled and confusion ridden small talk, but mostly just kept to ourselves. Kept to ourselves as our minds raced and explored all the horrifying possibilities. What he said about the "church service" was still on my mind, but I didn't ask him about it. Catherine was also on my mind, and the thought that she might have dragged him into this place too.

A heavy knock rattled the door, and we both jumped. A low, deep voice filled the air, and the lock jingled. Before I knew it, the door was pushed open, and there was the huge guards in their flowing red satin gowns. They ushered us out of the cell and pushed us down the hall. The only thing I could think of was a Judas Cradle as we were led down the hall, one guard behind us, and one in front of us, leading us.

The one we were following began knocking on and unlocking other doors, other cells. Other people began to file out of them, forming a line between the two guards. Their faces all looked so bland and cold, their walk almost robot like as they turned the corner at the end of the hall. Ricky turned to look at Rin, whose face was far from bland. It was unreadable, impossible to know what was running through his mind.

They filed into a large room in a very orderly fashion. Several Long tables lined the room, with plates at each seat.

A cafeteria.

Not torture. Just a cafeteria.

The guards stood in front of the door to the cafeteria as the neat line split apart and people began sitting at the tables. The plates already had food on them: bland looking white rolls of bread, a chunk of some kind of meat, and a dark brown soup.

Rin and I sat at the end of one of the tables, hoping no one would decide to sit next to us. A low murmur began to fill the cafeteria as people began conversing with each other as they ate. But none of it was frantic as Rin had been. In fact, it all seemed...normal. No one looked afraid. No one looked nervous. They just looked like average conversations. On the other side of the room, one table even burst into laughter as someone was talking. There were probably almost a hundred people occupying the cafeteria. It was just like a school lunch room.

Except it didn't feel right. No one here felt right. Something about the laughter, about the talking, felt...fake.

And looking at Rin's face, I could tell he had similar thoughts.

I sighed as I stared down at the plate in front of me, not even touching the food. Rin was doing the same, just staring down at it. People began filling the seats beside us, all talking about what great sleep they had had the night before and any interesting dreams they'd had.

"Are you new? I don't recognize you. You'll love it here!"

Rin and I turned to see a blonde haired boy, about eighteen, smiling widely as he look at the both of us. He held his hand out for us to shake. "I'm Casey! Father's favorite."

Someone across from him, a brunette girl, laughed. "Very funny, Casey. We all know I'm his favorite."

Casey laughed, then looked down at his extended hand expectantly. But I just batted it away and turned to face the other direction. I could practically feel his smile fall.

And I just shook my head. What was this place? And why did these people think it was good? What the hell was wrong with them?