‘Tell us about this cult Janice.’ Qwerty said.
Janice nodded. Sitting down as she began to speak, ‘I don’t know their origins but what I do know is that the leader is very charismatic. He can find your weakness and well, if he does he can twist it so it appears he has all the answers.’
Qwerty asked, ‘You’ve met him.’ It wasn’t a question. He was good at guessing from people’s tones and body language what they really meant.
She nodded; she spoke in the third person as if she was uncomfortable about talking about herself.
‘They prey on the weak,’ She continued, ‘you see they need a lot of volunteers. There are a lot of insecure people here. People searching for more, they search, perhaps feeling lonely or feel they never fit in. When you meet Phelian the leader, at first he’s so nice. You feel like you are part of something at last. Life has a purpose,’ Janice’s expression changed from joy to fear, ‘then he tells you God is calling you; that you can never be happy here on Earth. God wants you home.’
She began to cry. Only as she got upset did she start to talk about herself, ‘I tried to say no but they became insistent.’
Qwerty knew only one thing: they had to be stopped.
--0--
Arlene didn't like that plan, ‘Let’s see if we can broaden the plan a bit. We can’t afford a struggle. We can’t afford any weapons. All we have is ourselves, plus the contents of this room. It’s eight in the evening, the shops are closed and unless you know of any contacts - we can’t get anything else. I only have eight pounds fifty and my return air ticket.’
Qwerty grinned, ‘We offer Phelian our tickets in exchange for them.’ It was a joke.
Arlene smiled, ‘Brilliant idea except I’ll think he’ll want more. He’ll want more money. Know any rich benefactors?’
That triggered an idea in Qwerty, he looked at Arlene and smiled. Yes, a rich benefactor but not for them - for Phelian.
Arlene laughed, it sounded so crazy it just might work. They spent an hour designing her looks. Selecting from her make-up bag what would be best to alter her appearance. She also filled Qwerty in on her trip to the police station. He was intrigued to hear that no bodies were ever found and that any survivors were put into asylums mumbling about monsters. <>< body="">