Part 2: The Putrescent Church

A candle is lit, flickering in the darkness on the table, casting shadows of the candle. Peaceful with the crackling sound of the flame, as if it's whispering to itself. The only thing lit up, and the only thing apparent and soothing, is warmth, the only thing alive in the cold, dark world.  

"Why must we punish ourselves with the sins, when we can cleanse ourselves and never look back..." 

A dream Michael has, but this time it was a bit different. It was him with four other individuals in robes standing in front of an abandoned church, with flames around them. In front of them was an airship, while it was snowing suddenly. The man appeared, with a broken face, rashes everywhere, looking visibly sinister. He throws a magic spell at Michael. He wakes up. 

Sweating, grunting, and gasping. He looks over at the clock. 6:55 A.M. 

The alarm didn't wake him up. He quickly gets up, dresses, and his mom comes into the room. 

"Oh! I was just about to wake you up." she said, stopping by the door. "Hurry up, your bus might leave!" 

"Yeah! Just give me my apple and I'll make my way." 

He quickly takes the apple, wears his jacket, and then leaves. Waving at his mom and then leaving the house. 

Michael goes to his bus stop, and his bus is already there. He runs and runs, making it there last. 

After the bus ride, he steps out and he wants to check out the church right after school, but then he sees Randal, with his new round glasses, puffy hair, and those big lips, looking stupid walking to school. 

Michael then makes his way around this pole he was hiding at, and Randal sees him. Michael then runs away to the nearby forest to hide from him. 

Hearing strange noises and branches breaking, he believed since he was already here, why not just check out the church really quick, and then check out more after school. It was still dark, as the sun was still rising, so this made it extra spooky for him. But he didn't care. He just wanted to check it out. 

After searching for minutes, his school had already started, and no signs of any church were found. 

"The dude was probably just lying...why did I even trust him?" he said, adjusting his backpack. 

It was a big forest, so he must have missed a few routes, so deciding to check it out after school was probably the best idea. 

But then, when he was heading back, he saw a few flame torches. Upon running up there, he saw this old abandoned...building? It might have been the church, but his gut instincts were telling him otherwise. 

"I mean, I guess I'll check it out?" he said to himself. 

He knocks on this giant door. No answer. He knocks on it again. Still no answer. He then decides best to just leave as it was probably abandoned. But then the door opens, in which two members of the church showed up. 

Michael gasps. It was the same person with the same crow-like mask he saw both in his visions and in reality. His heart skipped a beat, with no expressions, he couldn't tell how they were feeling upon his presence. They let him in with a cold entrance, stepping aside, but he was skeptical at first. It seemed off, in the middle of a forest, no authorities, no one in sight, people dressed up in robes. But the curiosity took the better of him. 

"Uhh, hey...is this a church? Where can I hopefully talk to a pastor?" he said to them. 

The two gave glances to one another and then looked back at Michael. One of them points to the right, giving Michael the directions to where he wanted to go. 

He goes in anyways, taking a foot in the place, thinking nothing less. Maybe these visions were just telling him to come here. Randal was right. This might be the church he was talking about. 

The atmosphere became very eerie, with his footsteps being loud, and those two hiding behind the doors. The hallway was long, but Michael could see an entrance to somewhere on the left. He felt uneasy, almost like something terrible was going to happen. His gut instincts were telling him to go back, but his heart felt like it was in the right place. 

He heard chattering, loud chatters. After walking, he goes on the left hallway, but before entering, he knew this was something special. The room was lit up, bright, and this is where the chattering was coming from. He enters it. 

His eyes became wide open when he realized that there were long benches with a few of these people sitting down and standing up in the same robe. The robe was black, with gray patterns around it, scarcely visible with what it was. 

These people had these long swords on their side, with their long daggers pointing out. It was easy to poke someone with that by just walking. These people don't have the same bone crow-mask as those two at the entrance, or in his visions, but they were a part of...something. 

 The room was, again, long, but at the front, there was a giant throne with two more of those people on the side, but they have bone masks, almost like they are special. Nobody was sitting on the throne, but there was a prominent person standing up at the front. 

"Uhh, is there a pastor here?" he asked, looking at one of them. 

The person doesn't say anything. None of them talk. He gets creeped out, but he persists, believing that the person in front is the pastor. He walks the hallway, with those weird looking people looking at him. 

Scared and nervous, he looks around the hallway with creepy looking statues, a giant chandelier, and random designs on the wall; the same designs on those people's robes. 

 He looks down, and his feet are following the red carpet. The red is almost too red, like blood red. As he was about to make it to the front, the pastor looks at him. 

"Ah," the pastor says, hands behind his back, standing firm, "welcome to 'The Sins of Ashes' where lost souls like you leave their temporary life to join a life full of responsibilities. 

"I see you want to enter a new opportunity, a miracle, something that you can be forgiven with, child. You want to step towards a new life with brothers and sisters alike, one that you are committing to fulfilling the needs of the Ashland's." the pastor says, finishing his speech, trying to give Michael a new perspective, a new chance in life. 

His voice sounded eerie, but wise-like, someone old. Very old. Michael observes him, looking up and down, noticing his long gray beard, with wrinkles around his skin, wearing a giant robe with a color scheme of red, orange, and black, having some sort of clock on his wrist, like a watch, but it is not. 

"Oh, so this is a cult," Michael thought to himself. "I should leave..." 

The pastor looks around, then looks back at him. "I see you're afraid, this is a common response for leaving a new life. I am pastor Merek, and I expect you to conform to every rule and what I say. We can commence the oath later, but first, state your full name, lost soul..." giving a glaring look at him. 

Michael, at first, freezes in response at the thought of this being a cult, but takes a deep breath, looks at him, and says his name. 

"Michael." he responded. 

"I asked for your full name." the pastor responded with a deep voice. "Don't lie to me about your name. I am watching you." his voice appearing sinister, looking deep into his eyes. 

Michael wanted to lie about his last name just in case, but the thought of his superiority and authority scared him more. He did not want to sin. Not in church. Not in front of him. 

Becoming nervous, sweat building up. "Michael...Sapphice." He says while taking a few steps behind. 

Upon hearing the full name, the pastors' eyes widen, startled by his LAST name. 

"Look," Michael says, turning his back and walking backwards, "this was a mistake. I wasn't supposed to come here, I was just lost, as in, looking for my school. So, I'll see you later." he says, pointing his finger at him, then speed walking his way to get out of this room, but... 

"Wait!" The pastor yelled out. He puts his hand out. "Come here, Mr. Sapphice. And that is an order..." 

Now Michael feels trapped. Trapped within his own thoughts. Trapped in this church. He slowly turns around, sweat exposed all over his face. Shaking and whimpering, he listens to what he says. Making his way again, in front of him, and holding his hand. The pastor then brings him up the base he was standing on. 

"What sins have you committed that you are willing to share?" the pastor says, sounding demanding. 

Michael stutters and is unable to answer. 

"I-I did some messed up things that I want to take account for." he says, old ending off on that. 

"Mr. Sapphice, I know that is not all that you want to say." he says, looking disappointed. 

Michael sighs and nervously says, "I used to do bad things with my friend, like bullying others, and want to get closer." While clenching his fists thinking about the old memories. 

The pastor gives him a stern look into his eyes. "What else? That is not all..." He then takes out a golden plate with ashes. 

It was as if the pastor knew his sins and was secretly judging him. He had to spill it out due to the pressure. 

Michael quickly says his sins. "We both threw cereal at random people at our school and annoyed them. That's all. I just want to get closer." he says, looking away quickly and feeling a weight of guilt. 

The pastor drops the ashes around Michael when he said that. Closing his eyes and murmuring some sort of language. 

"Very well. Thank you for your answer, Michael. Now let's commence..." he said. 

"What...what are you doing?" he says confusedly, backing away. 

The pastor doesn't say anything, with one of those people in the back telling him to not fight it. The pastor then pulls out a golden cup and drops ashes into it, demanding him to drink. 

"What! No?" He then steps away. "You sure that's even edible?" Pointing at the dust in disgust. 

"Drink this and become a part of the ashes. Home of The Forsaken in this putrefied church. Now abide by the rules for this is your abode. The Sins of Ashes will redeem you, and now you are one step closer to being an apprentice, mister...Sapphice." 

Michael takes his phone out. "Like this isn't creepy at all." He is about to record. "Now let me out or I post this online everywhere. Can't pull me in here like th—" 

The pastor then immediately snatches his phone away, raising the tension between Michael and this church. 

"No phones, child!" the pastor says, looking at two of those people with masks and giving them a signal. 

They then take come and hold Michael's arms. 

"I would not force you to drink this, but you are not comprehending the truth. We will now drop these ashes on you, and try not to resist." he says, pouring the ashes right after on him, the dust, the gray powder, covering Michael in them with him coughing. 

Michael tries to plead out and scream, as pastor Merek starts chanting around, circling him, with his hands still being held by those two people. His eyes start to get heavy, and he gets dizzy, until his vision becomes black, and he faints. 

He starts falling into an endless hole, as he pleads out screaming over and over again. But no one is listening. His voice becomes an echo, and no one can hear his screams. It is as if you are screaming in a dream, but no one can hear you. There is a portal above him, a portal of the actual reality, while he is still falling endlessly in pure darkness, as if he is going into Hell. 

His body shivers and turns into darkness. His leg starts being embodied with darkness, then to his other leg, and then up to his body, his hands, spreading all the way to his face. The only thing he can see is the portal above, the portal in which the pastor is doing weird circular motions with his hands. The only thing he can hear is the chanting of the pastor and the other members. And then, at once, his face becomes embodied with darkness fully. Darkness... 

He wakes up in an unfamiliar room, with his vision still blurry, he feels weird. His head hurts, light-headed. As his vision slowly becomes clearer, he is in a small wooden bed with a raggedy blanket, and the room was small with four other beds sectioned oddly in there. The room looked dull and almost red-like, as if he can see the whole room in red. He knows he is not going crazy, otherwise he would have woken up into his bedroom. 

But what caught his attention immediately was when four other of those 'people' walked in. One with a mask, the other three with just those robes, covering their faces and their entire body. 

"Oh! He's awake." one said, going up to him. 

One of them takes his bone mask off, saying, "He seems really confused, we should not startle him. Kai, hand me that bag he gave you." He brings his hands out, getting tossed back by another member. 

They all took off their robes, with one looking joyful with short brown hair, brown eyes, and a bit goofy, looking confused when seeing Michael, walking closer to him and then immediately sighing while looking sad. He then looks back at him and waves. 

"Hi! My name is Jake." he says. 

The other one walks up to him who is tall, a bit skinny, looking aggressive and already bored, with black spikey hair, black eyes, and a noticeable scar on his right eye narrowing down. 

"Ugh. Hey, newbie. Alright, go to the pastor. Let's get this over with..." he says, grunting and shrugging. 

"Relax, damn it." Another one scoffs, walking up to Michael and telling him: "Don't worry about him, Kaisen's a bit of a nutjob and a jerk. But we will—" Looking back at Kaisen, "—all be nice to one another, alright?" Looking at everyone, reassuring this. 

"Can you shut up and stop making a fool out of yourself." Kaisen yells out to Blake. 

Blake was tall with messy black hair with blue eyes who seems chill and out-going. He has an asymmetrical face, with his left side of his face looking happy, his eye is big and bright, and is donning a half smile, with the other side of his face looking depressed and miserable, with his other eye being half-shut almost closed, like if you got punched in the face kind of eye, as his half smile seemingly fades away on that part of his face. 

The last one steps forward, the one with the bone mask. He reveals himself looking to be more mature and serious, having no smile on his expression, stern mood, revealing his black eyes with short hair. 

"Guys, what did we talk about?" he says, looking at them seriously. 

"Pfft, fine, whatever." Kaisen responded back to him. 

Michael is still dizzy and is confused, in shock, and frozen. But he does not like the sight that he is seeing. 

"I am Dukaja, the wisest one, hence the mask I have." He then points to each of them. "That is Kaisen, the one who cannot keep his mouth shut. The other one that talked about being nice was Blake, and the first one that came up to you is Jake. We are the Ashlander's and we hereby stand with pastor Merek and we, as followers, must unite to get redeemed as sinners, kid. Welcome to the church." Dukaja says, bestowing everyone, and revealing themselves just a bit more. 

"Am I in hell?" he murmured, staring at each one of them. "How-how do I leave?" 

Jake says, "Ugh, this guy is going to leave like our last member..." 

They all pause for a second, and Dukaja steps up to say: "Well, just talk with pastor Merek first. He should be in The Halls of Ashes. It is where you came from, and he needed to talk to you." 

Michael, still really confused, looks over to his right and notices a bag on his bed. 

"What is this?" he asked them.  

"Oh, do not worry about that. That is your belongings and what you should be wearing for the code of conduct. But I am not so sure if you are to be wearing that as of right now." Dukaja says. 

Kaisen puts his hand on his head and lets out an exaggerated sigh. "Dukey, please...stop talking like you're the 'king', it is honestly so aggravating..." 

Dukaja sighs and orders Michael to go talk to the pastor. "Let's go guys," saying in an exhausting manner, "the quicker we go the faster we can get this over with." 

They all make it to the pastor; in the same hall Michael was in before being fainted. 

As they are walking, with Dukaja taking the lead, Michael behind him, Jake just behind Michael, with Kaisen and Blake being last, Kaisen looks at Blake while grinning. 

"What?" Blake said to Kaisen in a disgusted manner. "That grin usually never means anything 'good', what are you up to now?" 

"What? Can't a man smile?" Kaisen responded, pushing into sarcasm. 

Blake sighs and lets out an exaggerated eye twitch. "Yeah...but there is nothing to smile abou—" 

Kaisen then lets his foot out and trips Blake in an instant and starts to laugh, showing just how annoying things can get here. 

Blake gets up angrily, wiping the dust off his sweater. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes and then lets it out. 

"Be cool, Blake...be cool." he said to himself. 

"Hah! 'Be cool'? What happens when you get angry? Another fit of rage?!" Kaisen said. 

The whole group is already ahead of Kaisen and Blake, walking slowly and making a fuss. 

Blake then pushes Kaisen, making him almost fall forward, and then he angrily pushes Blake in which Blake falls, and a coin drops out of him. 

Dukaja turns around with the heat of trouble and gives them a serious look. "Guys!" They look, giving attention to Dukaja. "Please...behave properly, we're meeting with the pastor." 

"Whatever." Kaisen said while eyerolling. 

They make it to the pastor, which he is standing tall and firm, facing behind them. 

"Pastor Merek, your new student wanted to see you and wants to ask for guidance." Dukaja said. 

"Well, uhm—" Michael stammered. 

The pastor turns around "Ah! Michael," he said, throwing his hands in the air like he is praising someone, "You are awake. Welcome home." he said in a soothing voice. 

Michael becomes nervous upon talking to a prominent person of power. "I just want to leave. Where can I leave?" he asked, hoping to get an answer. 

Dukaja sighs, with Blake and Kaisen looking at each other. Jake looks down in a sad mood. 

The pastor clears his throat. 

"This will be difficult for you to comprehend. You were brought here yourself. This church is for redemptions and preparing for the worst, and you have something special inside of you that speaks to me." 

"Like what? What is going on?" Michael says, now being even more confused and scared. 

"We must prepare ourselves with protection and strength from these evil doers known as 'Rogues' who try to bring down our church and quite possibly expose us. This is not a cult, nor is it a place of rituals. We are simply preparing ourselves and experimenting a little with magic. 

"This church also has a little story...and I am sure you have seen those creepy looking statues, particularly this one being a bone-like figure. This is not a demon, this was one of the main creators of this church, known as Derik. We support and praise this symbol as we believe Derik to be cursed from fighting with his partner. 

"After it got cursed, we used to follow orders from that creature before it got killed by past Rogues in an area outside of the church, also known as Ashland's. The Ashland's is a place of battle, a sacrifice, a battleground between life and death, used to test out powers and spells, and a place to defeat enemies that want to hinder our ability and who believe this is a 'cult'. 

"We wear these Ashland attires as this is a dress code in the church, as we must fend off the Rogues, the sinners who believe this church is a cult. This attire was used to protect us from the faulty people. These Rogues came long ago, but they have their twisted ideology all wrong! 

"We had to kill these Rogues, and that is why we have these long swords. We then must purify their souls in a fire as their souls go up. If we do not, they will come within and burn this church down. Or worse, expose us to the public eye. We have in total 22 students in this church who are true believers, and I hope you are one too." 

Michael, now even more perplexed, hesitates and stutters. 

He then begs the question: "Why haven't the authorities come to like to check out this place? One of my frie—enemy knows about this church, so I am assuming that this is some sort of 'conspiracy' going on in the public?" 

"The police are too afraid to check it out. We must stay hidden. That is why our church looks abandoned and not lively, due to the rust overtime but also to look as it is. This forest is big, you will be surprised at what kinds of messed up things you have not yet discovered in big forests. We believe only the true believers will find this church for their own destiny and end up here. True redemptions happen away from the distractions and amusements of life." 

"Well, why can't you interfere with the Rogues? Just track them down or attack first." Michael said. 

"We cannot interfere as this church's old teachings prepared to only defend and attack if they are a threat in sight. We also must never leave the church as we do not know what to expect." 

Kaisen then steps in, saying gleefully, "Which is why we got in trouble for being in the public." 

Jake then folds his arms. "This was all Dukaja's idea!" 

Dukaja then steps in. "Okay, I do apologize for putting you and the church at risk. But we already heard enough from pastor Merek." 

Michael then connects the dots. He saw these guys earlier, and it was...them. Was it all really destiny? 

"But wait!" Michael then stepped in to ask the pastor. "What happens if you like...leave? Or disobey a rule?" 

Pastor Merek takes a deep breath and sighs. 

"You then get put in a trance, like a coma, and get tortured by your worst fears repeatedly. It is the only way one soul can learn to never make the same mistake again." 

"What the hell?!" Michael turned around to his group. 

Dukaja sighs. "I mean, we ran out to find one of the Rogues and just...end them off." 

"Which was a terrible mistake." Pastor Merek responded. "Now, let us move on to The Book of Spells, an extremely powerful book which in NO CASE you shall pick up, admire, or destroy. This book has spells that the previous founder had to make powers. I have been experimenting with spells and powers to give to every group. There are bad spells and good spells in the book, and I mix them with previous spells to make new ones. 

"You must study these spells, which so far, we have made 5 different spells. You will receive strength and use your long sword to throw away magic at the Rogues, or any sinners. This book is hidden away, locked in a cage." 

"Yeah, just don't be a doofus unlike our previous member and try to do anything with the book." Kaisen says to Michael. 

Pastor Merek then smiles and sighs. 

"Now! Let us get to the rules." He claps his hands together. "You are not allowed to date in this church, everyone here is brothers and sisters united! There will be no swearing, no tomfoolery, no messing with spells, no exiting the church, no disrespect, no fighting one another, and no phones if I say so." 

Michael now gets really nervous, ignoring all the rules, and not understanding a word he just said. He just wanted to leave and go back to his home. 

"But wait! Were there any more members previously who escaped? What happened to them?" 

"They either had joined the Rogues group and became very sinful, or we had caught them back. The majority have stayed and are true to their faith." 

Hearing this, Michael cannot smile. He cannot think about anything else. His heart is racing, he is sweating, and his hands tremble. 

"Now...the reason why we have confiscated your phone is so that you would not be able to contact or screenshot OR video record anything in this church. Simple. We also put you in a trance and checked you for any belongings or weapons that can bring harm. 

"At last, the routine. You will be woken up at 8:30 AM every day, come to the main Halls of Ashes for a routine check for any weapons, then eat breakfast, pray, study for spells, and enjoy out in The Courtyard or talk with your fellow members. You will then sleep at 9:30 PM. We will educate and strengthen your soul, mind, and body. Welcome to The Putrescent Church. Any questions?" 

Michael is unfazed, unable to move or speak. 

Kaisen then looks around and is baffled at something. "Pastor, how did you not mention the ranks?" 

"Oh yes, the ranks! Thank you for reminding me, Kaisen. You, Michael, have been placed in a group of other sinners. Each person has different ranks, and so far, since you are new here, you are a Beginner. Jake is an Acolyte." 

Jake does a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I mean I barely study, but I do try to." 

"Kaisen and Blake are in the Adept." 

Kaisen gets all excited for no reason. "That's why studying makes the dream life!" 

Dukaja scoffs. "You literally study the spells to do harm. You tried to kill Jake last time." Dukaja says. 

Kaisen, in disbelief, dismisses that. "It was a joke, and I was aiming for the wall!" 

Blake sighs and slaps Kaisen on the head. 

He then pulls on Kaisen's hoodie. "Joke? Aim? Which one was it?" 

Kaisen then pushes him away. "Shut up, dumbass!" 

"Kaisen!" The pastor yelled, staring dead into Kaisen's eyes. "Refrain from cursing. Or you will lose yourself again." 

Ugh, so these guys curse in this church? What kind of church is this? Michael thought to himself. 

Michael can't help but notice something on Kaisen's face that scares him. 

"What's that on your face? Is that a scar?" Michael asked him. 

"Oh, this?" Kaisen points towards his face. "Y-yeah, but it was through a battle. I had to fight someone and then someone sliced me on my face, but I killed them, so don't worry." he says calmly, grinning all the while. 

"You sure that's what happened? None of those guys have any swords to attack us with, though? You literally had this scar the moment you came to this church." Blake said. 

Kaisen grunts and looks at Blake angrily. "Man, shut up." 

Pastor Merek shakes his head. 

"And here is Dukaja," Dukaja stands firm and tall, "the rank is Leader as he studies almost every day and obeys most of the rules. Once you get to this rank, you receive this bone mask which is what he wears. There is one more rank called The Redeemed which is where you are fully redeemed of your sins and are the most trustworthy. No one is in this rank yet. 

"There are 5 groups, which is you guys, two groups of 3, a group of 4, and another group of 5. Two are my assistants who help introduce the church to newcomers if I am busy. Once you are official, you will be called Ashlander's. 

"But did you all get to introduce one another, learn more about each other?" 

"Yeah! We learned our interests, our passions, our hobbies, what we do every day, what our life is like, how our family is doing, our favorite cartoon shows, and we even sang 'twinkle twinkle little star' to one another. How awesome!" Kaisen responded in a serious sarcastic manner. 

"Sorry about Kaisen's behavior. I have warned him to many members outside of this group as we are all brothers and sisters. He is a bit of a hothead. Blake also has a bit of issues with himself, so—" 

"With...with myself?" Blake then nervous laughs. "What do you mean?" 

Kaisen then laughs at his face. "This guy has WAY more issues than me!" 

"Sometimes he can get a little dangerous for no reason. But we are working on that to ensure he is perfectly fine." pastor Merek says. 

Michael then finally had something to ask. "How old are you all? How long have you been here for?" 

Jake stepped up to say first. "I am 17 years old, and I have been here for about 8 months." 

Kaisen then stepped up. "I guess I'm 17 and a half and been here for 10 months." 

Then Blake. "Also 17 and a half and been here for 10 months." 

And then lastly Dukaja. "I am the oldest, the wisest of them all," Kaisen rolls his eyes and grunts. "I have been here for one year." said Dukaja. "What about you?" 

"Oh, I'm 17..." Michael said. He then looks towards the pastor. 

"But what if I want my phone back?" Michael says to the pastor. 

"Now, you will still be able to call your parents or guardians. But you will NOT in any circumstance use your phone or contact your parents without my permission. If you are to call, you will stand in front of me. And any mishaps or location revealing will result in a serious trauma inducing coma state. 

"You will, of course, lie to your guardians and say that you are on a trip. That is what they all said, and so far, no suspicion. But any contacts or suspicion from the guardians will result in gaslighting them. You are able to make up to 2 phone calls a day. You will intend your guardians phone calls if they were to call to not make it suspicious. You must sound happy and relaxed and make it sound as convincing as possible. There have been no missing posters and no guardian's complaint." 

Dukaja and Kaisen exchange looks, terrible and sad looks as if they know something that Michael does not know...almost to the point where Dukaja feels like stepping up and adding onto something but dismisses the idea. 

Michael already feels fear even more and now wants to truly end his life right here. He believed everything was escalating so fast. Yesterday he just cut all ties with his best friend, and now he is cutting all ties with his mother?! Even his life is taken away. 

By having an amusement life, I did not mean like THIS! This is more like hell. He thought to himself. 

A loud bang is heard in the church, which startled everyone, but Jake reacted the most, whimpering and having a panic attack. He covers his ears and then quickly looks and notices that one of the Ashlander's dropped a metal bowl. 

Jake then quickly uncovers his ears. "I-I thought it was a gunshot. My bad." 

"Well...what are you all waiting for. Keep an eye out for one another and remember 'We Are Brothers in Church, Never Leave One in Lurch.'" the pastor rephrased. 

Kaisen then grunts and clenches his fists. "Yes, we know!" 

Blake then suggests an activity they can do. 

"Let's go to The Courtyard. Hopefully that can calm down Michael's nerves?" 

But Michael is frozen, unable to move from all the terror. Part of him wants to die, but the other part wants to leave and hug his mom. He does not like any ideas so far. What if they kill him? Skin him alive? Burn him in a fire? 

They go to The Courtyard, a yard built outside of the church, covered with fences in the forest. The Courtyard has a roof built-in, so no authorities can come in. The Courtyard has its own benches and tables at the front, and then the rest is just the forest. 

Michael is seemingly confused by all of this, wondering why no authorities have grown suspicious of this. 

"I don't understand. What if one can just break down the fences with their superpowers? There had to be an instance where an authority had investigated this." Michael has said. 

Jake steps on a branch, looking up to him. "Trust me, no one can hurt you in here." 

"That's not what I meant! I meant from escaping!" Michael said. 

 Blake had pointed out that, "No one can use their weapons in The Courtyard. Once you enter here, the pastor confiscates it. The reason why we don't have it is because of the incident we had when we ran out." 

Michael is still scared and disgusted by all of this. "You do realize that we are in a cult!" he exaggerated, throwing his arms around. 

"Pfft, I don't really care if we are. Nothing bad even happens. I just stay around for the action." Kaisen said, laying his hands on his head. 

Dukaja sighs and looks towards Michael. 

"We are not in a cult. It may seem like that with the various things going on, but it is nothing like that." 

"Not buying it. I plan on leaving very soon..." Michael said. 

"Like to see that!" Kaisen responded. He starts shivering, warming up his hands up and down. "Why is it so cold?" he asked himself. Blowing air into the wind. "Nah, what the shit it's really cold!" 

"Well, yeah, obviously. It's November, close to winter, dingus." Blake had mentioned. "Also, how are you still cold? You're always wearing that giant red hoodie." 

Jake makes remark about his hoodie too, saying, "Yeah, and why don't you ever take it off? It is like hot in the church?" 

Kaisen's mood quickly shifts to worry. "I-it's nothing. I just really like this hoodie...!" he says, his tone sounding very suspicious. 

They all continue to awkwardly walk. Michael was still worried, following where the rest were going. 

Okay, so maybe once I get my superpowers, I can break away from this fence and possibly free everyone? Michael thought to himself. 

"Say," Michael looked at them, with them looking back at him, "when am I able to retrieve my long sword and get my powers?" 

"Oh." Dukaja paused for a second. "I think you still need us to trust you, and you to trust Merek. You'll be ready when he says so." he says, looking away afterwards. 

Michael is shocked and confused. "I don't understand? Why do you guys need ME to trust you?" 

Kaisen then sighs loudly, amplifying his boredom, and starts to yawn. 

Jake puts his hand on Michael's shoulder. "Look, so far, you seem like a pretty decent guy. And every newcomer needs a few days to relax and comprehend what's going on. It is a part of this church." Jake exclaimed. 

"On a further note," Dukaja makes a remark, "you are not quite ready. We need to see your performance. We all do weekly spell attack checks in The Ashland's, and it takes a lot of strength and will-power to achieve something like this." 

Jake then looks at Michael again. "Yeah, and it took me like 4 months to get to this Acolyte rank. I only learned two spells, and can perform them accurately, unlike Kaisen over here who forgot most of the actions..." 

"Hey!" Kaisen nudges Jake, "I KNOW how to do them, I just focus on the last two the most...and I can accurately perform the Terum spell!" 

"What...?" Michael asked confusedly. 

"Also," Dukaja snaps his fingers at Michael to get his attention, "it takes a lot of precision, skill, and practice to perform ONE accurate spell. Sometimes practicing at night can help too, but it requires great attention. And you need to accurately move your sword or move yourself in a way that is prescribed by the book and say it in the correct sequence with the correct sayings." 

"It's like learning a new language." Blake had broken down. 

Michael starts to get this whole spell thing, which may seem cool, but being stripped away from your life and getting hypnotized and being at risk of dying without his consent was NOT the future he was planning to see. 

Michael then looks at everyone one by one as they are walking side-by-side. 

Michael then walks a bit faster than them. "So, what kind of sins have you guys made that made you come here?" 

"Oh, uhh..." Jake said, feeling a bit embarrassed to say. 

"You tell first, kid." Kaisen said. 

Michael looked at them once more, and then looks at the ground, spaced out, he takes a deep breath. 

"Well, it wasn't that bad, more of a personal choice. But me and my now enemy used to throw cereals on top of students and laugh our heads off, and sometimes do name-calling for fun. I just wanted to be more religious, so I ended up here...in this cult..." Michael said. 

An awkward pause with birds chirping in the background, a branch gets snapped in half with Jake's one footstep, as they all then immediately pause and stare at Michael with a shocked expression, especially Kaisen who had his mouth all the way out. 

"T-that's it...?!" Kaisen stated loudly. 

"Yeah...? Wait, why, what did you guys do?" Michael asked nervously, looking at each one of them. 

"Oh, uhh..." Blake scratches the back of his head and awkwardly smiles. 

Kaisen starts whistling while his hands lay behind his head, and Dukaja looks down and clears his throat, as Jake looks at them and awkwardly chuckles at Michael. 

"I'd rather...not say." Blake said, looking towards Michael. "I want to forget the memory." Blake nods his head in affirmation towards Michael. 

Michael unsurely looks even more nervous towards them, wondering what they even did to end up in here and feel fine about it. 

"So, you guys don't get to leave, and don't go to school?" Michael said. 

"Pfft, haven't been to school in AGES before coming here." Kaisen made a remark. 

Blake sits down on the ground with both knees up and his hand on his knee. "Well, what's the point in going to school when we are technically in a school, this church, learning about things that can ACTUALLY be useful and help us in the long run...of course, the con being a higher chance of dying." 

"Who even wants to go to school anyways when we can stay here." Kaisen said nonchalantly. 

After a few minutes of walking and talking, they reach the end of the fence. 

"Well, let's go back inside and play some poker with cards or something in The Lounge, we'll see." Dukaja says while heading back. 

But Michael is still looking at the fence, banging on it to feel its durability. 

"It's not going to break down that easily. We can't even bring our swords here otherwise we could have broken this long ago." Kaisen says, crouching down towards Michael. 

Michael sighs, looking down, and then towards Kaisen, giving a sarcastic smile towards Kaisen who has his big grin out, and then walks away with the rest of the group behind. 

They head back inside, and go to The Lounge, with other Ashland members in their own groups. They all take a seat at this round table and play a few games of cards. 

Kaisen looks at one of the other groups and waves at them with his eyes squinted and his big grin out. The other group looks at him and ignores him, with one of them whispering something about him. 

Those group doesn't know how to feel about Dukaja's group, as they all hate Kaisen, and they all act dysfunctional together. 

Kaisen then waves at them, getting their attention again, and blows kisses at them to tick them off, with one of the members from that group sticking out the middle finger. They are all wearing Ashland attire, but their hood isn't on. 

Kaisen gets a bit pissed, like a bit, so he stands up as his chair gets moved back a bit. This draws Michael and Blake's attention as Dukaja and Jake are focusing on their game. Kaisen then throws one of the cards at them vertically fast so that it hits one of them. 

One of the members from that group stands up and makes a comment. 

"Hey! Weren't you the guys who betrayed Merek's order and went outside without him knowing?! Hah, you can't even beat me in the Spell Battle now!" 

"You can't beat me! Say that to my face, I DARE you!" Kaisen now angrily says. 

Blake looks embarrassed, looking towards Kaisen and tapping his arm. "Kai, stop." 

The group gets irritated with the other person sticking out the middle finger and then promptly leaving. 

One of the members yells out to them. "Good luck on your next member...he'll be gone by the next day..." 

Michael looks irritated and annoyed, looking at the ground. 

"How are people so hostile in this church. There is something going on." 

Dukaja understands what Michael is saying but tells him to dismiss this. 

"See." Blake murmured to Kaisen, "You got to relax, control your anger...this is not a good first impression of our new member. Don't want it ending up like our previous member leaving, and then because of it causing problems!" 

"Ugh!" Kaisen furiously sits back down, and his head resting on his hand while looking mad. "Let's just get this over with." he said. 

Michael stands up, as the chair slides back. Both of his hands on the table and looks at each one of them worried. 

"I'll...I'll be RIGHT back..." he says, and then walks out casually and nervously, legs trembling and hands shaking. He then looks for the exit door. 

He finds it, the gigantic two doors, and starts opening them, but it is locked, and two Ashlander's come and use their swords to push him back. Michael raises his hand and runs away. 

There was no way out. The door was blocked off and locked either way. There are no windows. The Courtyard is unbreakable probably, and now everything was falling apart leading to insanity. 

Michael starts scratching his own body from the feeling of anxiety and loneliness. He wanted to cry but didn't know what to do. He starts running the hall, and is looking back, but then bumps into one of the Ashlander's. 

"Ugh...!" Michael fell and groans, feeling his head, he gets back up. 

"Oh, hey!" one of the Ashlander says. 

Michael gasps and wipes off the dust off his clothes. "I'm sorry..." he said in a soft tone, almost whispering to her. 

"Oh, don't sweat it. I'm Macy, the main assistant of Pastor Merek, and you are..." 

"I'm...Michael." he said nervously. 

Great, another interaction with not only a girl but one of the MAIN members of this church. This is Hell for me. 

Michael is obviously anxious around girls, but now more due to the adrenaline rushing through him. 

Macy was a tall woman with brown wavy hair and green eyes. She looks sweet and not how Michael was expecting her to look in a place here, almost too kind-looking. She was beaming with joy and had a bright smile. Macy was 20 years old, older than Michael. 

"Great name, Michael. So, I see you're new here. Did you already get a tour?" 

"Y-Yeah...well, most of it, from my group?" he said. 

"Ah!" She walks up a bit closer to him to appear comforting, as he stands back. "Well...if you want more tours, just let me know. I am usually the tour guide for many newcomers, but it seems like you got almost everything caught up. Have you seen The Ashlands yet?" 

Michael shakes his head. 

"Well, let's check that out since it is pretty compulsory in this church." she said, letting her hand out. 

They then go to The Ashlands, a deserted place literally in the forest with ashes and skulls all over, a place of battlegrounds. There are no trees in this area. 

Macy can see Michael looks nervous and tries to calm him down. "You won't be participating in this for now, just wait a couple of weeks. But this is where the Rogues would usually come, and we would have to fight them. This is also a place for practice and battling." 

Well, one can just escape here and go back home...right?" Michael asked her. 

"Well, uhh, if one does that, then they will face a grievous punishment when caught. It is not easy to run away here as this is access restricted and only for true believers." 

Michael felt the urge to run away, but something was stopping him. He was scared and knew he would get caught as she was right next to her. Maybe another good time he can leave this place. 

"Well, what about the front door? Why did they open the door for me when I could've been an authority?" he asked. 

"There is a peep hole on the door that allows you to see outside the door. Usually, they wait a long time and see how an individual knocks. Also, even if it WAS an authority, they wouldn't open the door and pretend it IS abandoned after all." 

"And, what about the phones? Anyone can steal them?" 

"Hah. I see what you're doing, you want to do these things and want to know the punishment. There are different punishments for different scenarios. You would not be able to take the phone as Merek has it hidden and there will be guards nearby." 

"Oh." the only word Michael could have said. He takes a deep gulp and wants to get away from here. "Why not just destroy all our phones and the pastor can keep a phone for us?" 

"Well, pastor Merek will actually give us our phones back once we gain his trust. Some of the ones ranked as Leader with the bone masks have received their phones, but only for a limited amount of time and only for entertainment during break. So, pastor Merek have deleted all their apps so they cannot break the rules. The pastor just needs your trust. I'm pretty sure your leader, Dukaja, have rejected getting his phone back, he said he wanted to focus on his spirituality." 

Michael felt unsure about this but was not questioning this. 

"Oh, and there is also a room for The Book of Spells, I am pretty sure pastor Merek mentioned to you." 

She takes him to a hidden compartment within the church, a dark room with a cage in the middle, trapped in a book with a key lock.  

"Do not touch it or admire it. This book is what the pastor uses to make new spells. Bad spells are forbidden, and only he has the key. Do not try doing anything with it, otherwise the punishment for this is likely the most severe" 

They quickly get out with Michael still perplexed, closing the room, and walking out of it. 

But then another assistant comes and scares Michael. "Boo!" said another one. 

He came up behind him and startled Michael, making him jump and gasp a bit. 

"Dev!" Macy said to him. "Don't do that, he's new!" 

"What? He'll get used to it...heard they BRAINWASH you!" he said to Michael. 

"Dev...stop!" She looks towards Michael. "Don't listen to him, he'll only get into your head. He plays for jokes too." 

Doesn't sound reassuring. Michael thought to himself. 

"I'm Dev...nice to slice you." He brings out his hand to handshake Michael in which Michael refused to. 

"Ooh, cold burn...!" Macy said to him. 

Dev was a 22-year-old man who looks way older than his age. He had wrinkly skin, almost like he's pale, and messy hair, and he looks groggy, as if he just woke up. 

"Dev is another assistant like me who helps other newcomers...but you're glad you met me first!" said Macy. 

Dev rolls his eyes and grunts. "You should not listen to her. She will come and eat your brains!" 

Michael had nothing to say. "Alright...?" 

"You got him?" Dev said to Macy. 

"Yeah, you get out of here, already." Macy said to Dev in a nonchalant manner. 

Dev then takes one look at Michael. "Make sure to get out fast...they come and haunt you, they then take your head, and then hang it up on the wa—" 

"Alright, stop!" Macy interrupted him, pushing him away as he walked away laughing at Michael and making silly gestures. 

Macy does an embarrassed chuckle at Michael, obviously feeling bad for him but nothing to do about it. 

"He is just a bit...out of the head!" She says while rolling her eyes and rolling her finger pointed towards her head to show Dev is out of his mind. 

"Mhm, well, I got to go." he says in a hurry. Wanting to know everything and then finally escape. "But thanks for showing me around, I'll catch you later, maybe." He then speedwalks his way. 

Macy feels a bit sympathetic for him, obviously knowing that he feels uncomfortable here, but then she waves at him. 

Kaisen, Blake, and Dukaja are still in The Lounge, and are listening to Jake's story. 

Jake is sitting in the couch, and says: "Then this whisper I heard made me follow to the hallway...it was weird, and then I jumped up and fainted..." 

"Probably another panic attack, not gonna lie." Blake had to say. 

"No, but I just fainted...it was like it was calling to me, it was creepy! See, ghosts are real!" Jake exaggerated the saying. 

"I mean, you're not far off from what is happening in this church, but probably the Rogues doing as we are safe, bro. When did you experience this?" Blake said. 

Jake rolls his eyes and shakes his head. 

"It was like yesterday. I couldn't go to sleep, Blake!" Jake exclaimed. 

Kaisen is hanging by, leaning against the wall, checking his fingernails, and looking bored as usual. He scoffs and sighs. 

"It was probably just a dream. Like how we experience those." Dukaja made a remark, he wasn't paying full attention and was reading a book on the couch. 

"No, you don't understand!" Jake said. 

Kaisen rolls his eyes and stands up normally. "Just lay it off, like Blake said, probably another panic attack or a nightmare...either way, I don't care." 

Blake doesn't smile at Kaisen and shakes his head to show his disapproval. 

Kaisen looks miserable and unamused. "You sure it wasn't something Merek did? You probably did something stupid, like you always do...shouldn't come off as a surprise." He looks around at his group to see if they agree with him. 

Blake then stands up. "Yeah, maybe pastor Merek had something to do with this? Did you ask him? You sure you weren't trapped in another psychotic mental breakdown coma?" 

Jake was about to answer, but then Kaisen interrupted him. 

"Honestly, as much as I deal with a lot of bullshit and do silly stuff, I got used to all the punishments thus far he gave me. Usually just nightmares, and most of the time, he just gives me warnings to lay it off. So, I'm chillin'" Kaisen said. "After a while, you do get used to it, it's fine. Makes me stronger, makes me not afraid too." 

Blake then sighs and looks towards Jake and shrugs it off with Jake doing the same thing. 

"Yeah," Dukaja changes his sitting position on the couch and grunts, "I do barely get any punishments. Most likely because I abide by the rules and listen..." He said while looking at each one of them, causing Kaisen to angrily sigh and roll his eyes away from him. 

Kaisen then walks closer to them, stomping his feet on the ground. 

"Enough of this shit-shat, you guys wanna go grab a shake? Let's ask Merek." 

As he said that, Michael comes speedwalking from the hall and makes it into The Lounge with Kaisen's eye being wide, and everyone else looking up at Michael. 

Michael is breathing a lot and heavily, almost like he ran a marathon, but due to his anxiety it was just him panicking and wanting to get out of this place. 

Kaisen then looks disappointed and more bored than usual. 

"Oh look, there's that turd." Kaisen said nonchalantly, looking at him. 

Jake looks at Michael instantly and waves at him with a big smile, with Michael awkwardly waving back at him confusingly. 

"Where's the pastor?" Michael asked. 

"This is the wrong place, kiddo." Kaisen responded. 

Blake shrugged confusedly. Dukaja gets up and looks at him. "He should be in The Halls of Ashes...the one where you came from before. Why?" 

Jake then got excited thinking he was finally ready to ask the pastor for practice. 

"Ooh! Are you finally going to prepare? We can then go on adventures, have lots of parties, and then we can practice fighting as a whole group, and then even partake in some battles. Ooh, we can then learn more about you, and see just how mu—" 

Kaisen closes his eyes and puts his hands above his face. 

"Holy, for crying out loud, mush mouth...would you just shut up...please?! Is it too much to ask for, always talking and talking with your stupid high-pitched tone, it always hurts my ears." Kaisen then looks directly at Jake. "Get back to telling your pathetic story to those two. Can't believe, I just can't believe...I always endure it, and it is SO painful." Kaisen yelled. 

Jake looks terribly sad and looks down; it was like his weight just got heavier with priorities and now with Kaisen's constant bicker, it pushed him down deeper, spiraling into depression and making his cheerful mood go away quickly even more. 

Michael sees this and feels almost sorry, but then he quickly shakes his head and startled by all this he runs to The Halls of Ashes, where he sees the pastor standing tall and firm, but faced back as always. 

"Pastor!" Michael cried out. The pastor turned around. 

"Ah, what is it, Mr. Sapphice?" said the pastor. 

Michael stammers a bit from fearing his authority and power. 

"I need to use the phone. I want to call my mom." he asked. 

"Oh. Well, if you really do, and you really want to. Lie. Tell her you are on a long trip and talk in front of me, do not go anywhere!" he advised him, looking deep into his eyes. 

Michael, still fearing, reluctantly nodded. He had to somehow get his mother to come here. 

"What did it look like? Your phone?" the pastor asked. 

Michael took a deep gulp. "A OnePlus...One." 

The pastor walks away, presumably by finding his phone. He then comes back, with his exact phone, but a sticky tag stating his name on the phone. 

"I guess I already wrote your name on here, but here you go...and remember, stay here." As Macy and Dev come up from each of his side to catch him if he does anything wrong. 

Michael then gets handed the phone and hesitates to ask something. 

"Can I just go outside to talk? I don't like to talk in front of someone, it will get pretty personal...please?" 

The pastor holds off for a bit but then agrees and sends Macy to go and observe him as he talks. Michael did not expect this, and his plan failed to tell his mom. So, they go outside the halls. 

"Please," Michael said, holding both hands together, begging her, "let me tell her where I am so she can come pick me up, or at least let her know. I don't wanna lie...I can't." 

Macy sighs. 

"Look, I cannot do that obviously. If I let you leave, then I will get punished. You will also be hunted regardless so there's no point. I'm sorry, but once you're here...you're just here..." 

Michael's hope was falling, but he doesn't give up yet. 

"I know, but I beg of you, she is my mother, and I love her...I didn't even get to tell her that! We can both escape together and tell the government about this, trust me." 

"Ugh, Michael, look," she wipes the sweat off her forehead, "I know it is sad, and it can be very arduous, but trust me, you have a call to your mother, so just tell her everything you want and lie, you will always get a chance to talk to her." 

"No...you don't understand, I don't even have a father, and she helps comfort me, unlike you guys. She also needs help; she is probably suffering from depression." 

"She suffers from depression?" she asked, worried. 

Michael scoffs and puts his hand to his face. 

"Look please, you probably do not understand. She is my mother, and I need to get home. This was a mistake. Randal was wrong, why did I even trust him...don't you feel for me? Don't you understand the pain I am going through right now?" 

Michael was looking angrily at her with his grip still on his phone. Macy looks sad, almost like it was her fault, but she understands Michael's situation. People have different stories. But most people here relate to Michael, and all had to make a harsh decision that changed their lives. 

"I understand..." she said, softly. 

"Also, weren't you the one that held my hands down together during the 'ritual' thing you guys did that put me in a paralyzed coma? I don't trust you, not one bit..." 

Macy nodded and looked down in shame. 

"It was my duty. I can't disobey. You will understand. You will once it is your time. Go call your mom now." she said softly, almost like a whisper. 

He then angrily looks away and dials her mom's number. It is ringing, and she picks up. 

"Hey, sweetie. How is everything? Are you okay?"  

"Hey mom, yeah, I'm doing fine..." 

"Oh, that's great to hear. Well, why did you call me? Is Randal bothering you again?" 

But then, in an instant, Michael felt so nervous and just wanted to tell her, but he was scared. 

"Mom! I'm in a cult! Find the location, fast, it is in a nearby fo—" 

Macy then snatches the phone in an instant and puts it on mute. 

"What are you doing?!" she asked, with the phone in her hand. "Tell her RIGHT now that you are lying, make up something on the spot." 

She then holds the phone and looks deep into his eyes, making him more nervous and pressing the unmute button. 

Michael takes a deep breath with his eyes filled with tears, one teardrop coming from his left eye. Macy sees this and blinks fast, stepping back just a little with this sudden mood switch. She feels bad for him. She really does. 

She then mutes the phone again. 

"Just...tell her the truth, and I won't tell Merek about this...trust me." she says, unmuting it once again. 

"Mom, uhm, sorry that was a prank done by one of my new friends..." 

"Oh wow, you scared me! I was about to run out of the house! Also, a new friend? You made one already...wow, congratulations!" 

Michael takes a deep sigh. "Thanks, mom...also, I am on a trip that you signed...without you knowing, so I will return in a week...without you knowing, it'll be a surprise." 

"A trip...I don't remember signing a form?" 

"Y-you did, you just uhh forgot...it was a few days ago, remember to an arts gallery show? We're going to stay in a hotel over there for a week, but that's it, it is for our assignment too." 

Macy gives him a thumbs up and mouths the word 'good'. 

"Oh, well I must have forgotten then. Pardon me for my forgetfulness, you know how your mother is, haha...well, I will miss you." 

With that lie, he felt like his stomach was sinking, almost like he was sick. He held onto his stomach and started whimpering. Heart was racing, and he looked like a complete mess. 

"Yeah, same...well, how are you, how have things been recently?" 

"Hah, things have been stressful. Weird how you are suddenly asking me things, you know I am here for you, right?" her voice softening. 

"Yes, mom...I know," Michael looks like he is about to burst into tears, "I just wanted to let you know that I am always here for you, even if dad wasn't there, just help yourself and don't hurt yourself." he said whispering. 

Macy looks at Michael with deep sympathy, hearing every conversation, as her head leans a bit, and her expression shows sadness and loss. 

There was no response from the mother. 

"Well, mom, I just wanted to say that I love you..." he said one last time, sniffling in tears. 

"Oh, aww, sweetie...I am here for you too, and I love you too...have fun on the trip!" 

"Goodbye, mom..." 

"Goodbye!" 

He ends the call and wipes his tears. He sniffles, as tears fall to his shirt, and Macy just stands there with his phone, completely still, trying to comfort him. 

"Are you okay...?" asked Macy. 

Michael then just ignores and gets up, he then leaves the hall, leaving Macy alone and questioning the sudden atmosphere and mood change. 

Michael is in the room where he woke up in, lying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He was planning on ways to escape but now he just fully gave up, waiting till the right time. As for now, no thoughts, his head is empty. 

That is until a bunch of noises is heard, yelling and stomping from outside. All the Ashlander's rush to The Ashland's and noticed that the Rogues have raided them again. 

The pastor orders everyone to go out to The Ashland's and fight them off. 

Kaisen goes on his knees and puts his hand together begging for his group to go to The Ashland's. 

The pastor dismisses this, telling him that they deserve this punishment for leaving before and that they need to build up the trust again. The pastor then defends the church, leaving Kaisen hopeless with sorrow in his eyes, as he looks to his right with his group members looking at him, waiting for an answer. Kaisen shakes his head and they all scoff and sit back down. 

Michael goes to investigate what is going on and sees that Ashland is full of people. He goes over there and sees the Rogues for the first time. A bunch of broken people with their own tools and weapons, wearing leather jackets, and a red flag behind their back with an R symbol. Michael goes in and sees...magic! 

His innocent eyes spark up in light, his weak hands reaching for the light, his fragile body frozen in the state of watching. 

The Ashlander's use their spells and powers, a foreign undiscovered language that Michael can hear but cannot comprehend. The fast pace of the saying becomes a physical product. The way one of them jumps up and make a move with their sword up in the sky, unleashing a fiery whip, like a belt, a rush of a fire wave, about to hit one of the Rogues. 

Michael feels amazed and scared by this. His eyes get wider, and he plans a way to escape, as he sees the whole area in conflict, people fighting, yelling, and getting hurt. Random magic thrown everywhere. It was cool to watch, he thought, but terrifying to be in the situation. 

One of the Ashlander pierces its sword through the Rogues as blood is poured out. Michael then felt a heavy weight, he started getting dizzy, his breath started to get heavy, and he almost fainted. 

Macy sees this and completely abandons her fighting to go and pick up Michael and help him go to his room. She lays him down on the bed and tells him to rest, as she rushes back to the Ashlands. 

Michael then was awoken with Kaisen, Blake, and Jake standing in front of them. 

"Damn, you're awake. What happened?" Blake asked him. 

"I-I must have fainted..." 

Kaisen gets confused by this. "So how did you get on the bed?" 

"Oh," as Michael feels his head, "Macy, I think that was her name, she helped me on the bed." 

Kaisen gets startled as he looks in shock. 

"You? In the church? Woah...I didn't know you were like that, Mikey..." 

Michael then feels puzzled by this. "She helped me on the bed?" he repeated this to him. 

"Yeah, I know," Kaisen laughs annoyingly, "getting more plays than me! Was it your first time?" 

Blake then comes up and smacks Kaisen on the back of his head, with Kaisen in pain feeling the back of his head. 

"He meant that she brought him over here and lied him down on the bed still unconscious. And then she left for the battle." Blake reiterated. 

Kaisen then amusingly becomes disappointed at Blake. 

"I'll be right back," Michael said, "I need to go use the washroom." 

He then walks out of the room, with Kaisen still feeling the pain on the back of his head and him exchanging glances with Blake, shrugging it off. 

Michael then makes a run for it, back at the Ashlands. He entered such dangerous territory that he was afraid he was going to lose himself again, but he kept going. 

He starts running, and running, panting all the while. But then bumps into someone, falling weak on the ground. His eyes get heavy, and he gets back up with his head dizzy. Looking straight ahead it was a figure. A random mysterious figure. 

This figure was more like a shadow, something he hadn't seen yet. Maybe it was a part of the church? Maybe a higher-up, but it was looking directly at Michael, holding a briefcase. Michael blinked, and in a blink of an eye, the man disappeared. Michael was confused, and did not feel like going in that direction. 

He looks behind, and as they are fighting, this can be his one chance to escape finally as everything is in a dilemma. He then starts running to the direction where he saw the man. Running, running, running...stepping on wood branches, avoiding all the spells, getting away from the noise, and he could feel he was getting close out of this area and into the main forest, but then... 

Someone yelled behind him, but before he could look behind and see, he got pulled away by someone. 

Being held by two Ashlander's again, he starts begging for forgiveness, screaming for help, tears rolling down his cheek. He could feel his stomach sink, but what scared him the most was the unexpected punishment that was awaiting him. 

The pastor tells him to calm down, with Macy and Dev holding his hands down. Michael scurried and tried to bite their hands, moving around in a hurry, grunting and yelling. 

Macy and Dev were wearing their Ashland attire and their hoodies, covering their faces, so Michael could not see their faces. But Macy felt sick, like she was doing something stupid and cruel. She and Dev had done this a few times with past Ashlander's, but she could feel the pain that Michael felt and reciprocated that energy. 

Inside the hoodie, she felt nervous and scared, eyes were filled with tears, and her grip weakened just slightly, but she felt incredibly sorry for the connection between Michael and his mom, that was what caused her discomfort at this moment. 

"You should not have gone to The Ashland's and try escaping. That would have attracted authorities by you telling them, and you could have gotten hurt in the battlefield!" 

The pastor's tone sounded mad and in obvious disappointment than before he met him. 

He walks closer to him, his footsteps making loud echoes each step, until seeing face to face with a cup in his hand and with special ashes. 

"I specifically warned you NOT to do anything like that. Now you will receive your punishment. This will only benefit you in the long run. Just try not to fight it, it will only be difficult slightly...you will comprehend what is going on. Welcome to The Ashland's." The pastor said in a deep and slightly off-putting tone. 

He then throws the ashes at him, causing Michael to have bad coughs and blink rapidly. 

The pastor then starts chanting, his eyes going upward, and doing circular motion with his hand on him. Macy and Dev then start humming the tune, with Macy's singing slightly off and sounding worried. 

Michael starts screaming and moves around, but then his eyes get heavy, and he then faints completely. It is complete darkness. 

Michael wakes up. Everything is quiet and he sees everything in red. 

"Hello?" he said, very loudly. 

"Please, let me out!" Michael yelled out, but no response. 

Everything he said was echoing around the room he woke up in. He then walked outside in the halls, and the hall was longer than expected. Still in red, and at the end of it? Complete darkness. 

He knew something was wrong; he was going insane he thought. The hallway then started pulsating in rhythm, and he stopped walking, stopped in one spot. He then tried to head back, but as he looked behind, the room was gone. There was another hallway and again it led to complete darkness, and that was when he knew he was either dreaming...or got hypnotized. 

He was shaking, super nervous, hands trembling, he couldn't even walk, like he thought he was frozen in place, but due to all the nervousness built up he just could not say or do anything. 

But the more the hallway pulsated, the louder the clashing noise came. 

Until it kept pulsating and wouldn't end, and then the clashing got louder, and louder, and LOUDER, and LOUDER! 

Until it stopped. Michael then looked at both sides and started breathing heavily. The only noise was his breath. Then he started falling into a hole, consuming him whole. 

Inside the hole, the gap closed, and it was pitch black with nothing but just him. 

"Please...please stop this, I am sorry! I won't ever do this again..." 

No response. Nothing even happened. 

He started walking in a clear open space. But then what appeared in the darkness was a giant skeleton with the bone mask on. It roared so loudly; it felt like the whole area was shaking and so was Michael. 

Michael started crying, tears coming from his eyes. He started crying and pinching himself for him to wake up. 

"I can't move," he said, "I can't do anything! I can't move!" he yelled, hoping someone could hear him. 

He kept crying and he closed his eyes. The monster came closer to him, as he could feel the breath on his face, giving him goosebumps everywhere. 

The monster then opened his mouth, with his eyes still closed, kept repeating the sentences: "Please, wake up, please wake up, please wake up." 

The monster then swallowed him whole making a giant screech, and Michael was, again, falling down an endless hole, and his eyes are still closed. He felt like he was falling in his dreams and then woke up right away, but he just couldn't wake up right now. He knew it was another nightmare; it was his prominent schedule every night. 

Then four other members appeared. Kaisen, Jake, Blake, and Dukaja. Kaisen started swearing at him, sticking the middle finger, and throwing rocks at him. Jake made creepy silly faces, his tongue overstretched, his eyes bulged out, and his teeth sharp enough like a shark hungry to eat its prey. 

Blake was holding a gun at Michael, walking closer and closer. With Dukaja finally with a distorted bone mask and his long sword, ready to attack him. 

"No, please, no! I'm begging you, just stop!" Michael yelled out to them. 

Then behind them appeared pastor Merek, looking very pleased. 

"Haha! Looks like he is out! Attack him..." said the pastor. 

Michael begged for them to stop, as he ran away. But when he started running, he wasn't running. He was just walking normally, but he was running. It didn't make sense. He wanted to run, he could feel himself sprinting, but he is so slow. 

They then started to catch up to him, and Dukaja finally pierced his sword through Michael, making him feel physical pain lasting for 5 seconds before falling again. 

He got up, gasping and sweating, grunting and crying. In front of him...was his mother. 

His mother was in a red dress, lying down on the ground with flames around her. 

"Mom!" yelled out Michael. "I missed you so much! Please...save me." He ran to her. Running to her felt like eternity, but he finally made it to her. 

As he got closer, he realized his mother was...pale, unlively looking, and blood was around her. The flames vanished, and when he went to check up on his mother from the other side...his mother had no eyes, mouth was wide open, and her nose was bleeding. She then exploded, and Michael closed his eyes from the impact. 

And when he opened them, she was gone. 

"No! Mom!" he yelled out, "Nooo!" he yelled out again. 

The only words he can say was 'No!' in denial and sadness. He knew this was a trick, a cult, a deceptive ideology that the pastor put into them, and he screamed at the top of his lungs, until he felt like he was coming back, flying up again, until... 

He woke up back into his group's bedroom in his own bed. 

I need to get out of here instantly...