Chained

Fifteen

Rachel's face twitches. "I don't—"

"You can't!" Freddie breaks in. "Speaking with an outsider might interfere with his awakening."

"I think having wild fits that are liable to get him killed is what will interfere with his awakening," Robert says.

Freddie narrows her eyes. "You would think you don't want more people to find our way."

"Certainly not random shits you find on the road," Robert said rudely. "Everyone else here is for a higher purpose."

"Finding Jason was a higher purpose," Freddie argues.

My head is swimming as I listen to their intergroup politics. It means nothing to me. I focus on Rachel, hoping that she'll show some humanity.

"He can call his girlfriend."

I freeze. The words aren't spoken by Rachel, but Michael. He walks over to me and looks at me with his dead eyes.

He leans in close—far too close—and shakes his head. "But you have to stop fighting us, Jason Hill. For your own good."

It would be easier to make that promise to Rachel. I manage a nod to Michael, unable to trust myself to say anything to him.

Michael gestures to Robert. "Let him go."

Robert scoffs. "He's still out of it. He'll end up trying to bash your head in."

"He will not," Michael says.

My skin crawls at his certainty, but relief rushes through me when Robert releases me. I sway for a minute, my body feeling as though it's deep underwater.

The scent of decaying fish isn't helping right now.

"Follow," Michael tells me.

I want to give him the finger, but everything is swimming. And I'm more aware than ever of the line of people staring at me. They hadn't moved.

"What...what's with all these people?" I huff, walking beside Rachel.

"These are followers of the Lost Way," Rachel says.

"Why aren't they moving?" I ask. "You do know it's fucking creepy, right?"

She gives me a sidelong look, her expression suggesting a struggle for what to say. "They are waiting. I imagine they're a bit scared of you."

"Of me?" I burst out.

Rachel shrugs. "You wouldn't be the first stranger who was brought back to our haven, only to try to destroy us."

"You all have a fucked up backwards way of seeing the world." I shiver. "You're the victims and I'm the monster?"

"They just don't know," Rachel says. "They wouldn't know what Freddie was going to do out there."

I roll my eyes, but our somewhat normal if ridiculous conversation is broken off as we approach a large stone.

"What is that?" I ask.

"A rock," Robert says. "Did Freddie damage your mind that much?"

I am so unnerved that I can't even be annoyed. "Why are there red stains?"

"Mr. Hill?" Rachel sighs. "Sometimes it's better not to ask. Not to know."

Robert smiles. "I could tell you, Hill."

I look away from the stone.

We approach a house. It looks normal enough—too normal to be in Cult Town. "What is this?" I ask warily.

"It's our temple to the Demon God," Robert says seriously.

I freeze.

Rachel rolls her eyes. "It's our home, Mr. Hill. And Robert? Stop messing with him. This is difficult enough."

I clear my throat. "I still want to talk to Emily."

Rachel nods. "I know. That's why we're going into my house. Most places around here don't have phones."

Freddie runs her fingers across the front door. "We shouldn't have a phone. Phones chain us to the false world. We need to completely let go and embrace our true natures."

Rachel'opens the door—I'm not even surprised they don't lock it—and shakes her head. "We're all aware of your views on everything, Freddie. But you do not speak for us or them."

"Who is them?" I asked, my feet going stubbornly still at the threshold.

"The Demon Collective who wants us to harvest hearts," Robert says, pushing me into the shadowy house.

"What?"

Before I can run back out, Rachel grabs my hand. "There is no such thing as a Demon Collective and Robert? Shut the hell up. You're not helping."

Rachel is the only one who feels almost normal. But something is bothering me and I can't put my finger on it as she leads me through the house. Freddie skips over to light candles, an eerie ambiance filling the place.

"Come on," Rachel urges me, pointing to a door. "The phone is downstairs."

A basement door. Perfect. There were stains and scuffs on it, one particularly disturbing group that resembled claw marks.

"Why is it downstairs?" I ask.

"Because that's where we pray to the Demon Children," Robert says. "Sometimes we need to call for help when someone ends up a little disemboweled."

Rachel scowls. "Robert, I swear to..."

I stop listening. Everything has an underwater echo distorting it. Dark water seeps from the basement door, but that doesn't bother. I know it isn't real.

Something else is bothering me.

"Wait," I say, as Rachel unlocks the door.

Unlocks a basement door while the front door is unlocked.

"What?" Rachel asks. "Don't you want to call Emily?"

I do, but something is wrong. "The only phone is down there?"

"Phones are chains of the false world," Freddie says helpfully.

Rachel pushed her hair back and opens the door. "Yes, Mr. Hill. Don't you want to make a call."

"Well yeah." I step back. "But that's not your only phone. Michael said he had one."

"I do."

Cold breath brushes on my neck and I turn back to find Michael looking at me with his eyes of death. Before I can work out what's happening, he shoves me forward. I stumble past the door and down a few steps. I look up and see Michael in the doorway.

I shake my head. "What—"

The door slams shut.