||The Secrets We Keep|| - Salvis

Chapter XII

       Sal and Travis walk around, the usual darkness that was around the area last time gone, replaced with lit candles all over the place. Travis looks around the room in concern, unsure if there was anyone present this time, and if it was the wrong time to come here. "Sal, I don't think-'' Travis starts, before Sal takes his hand, walking with him to the writings on the wall before Travis can protest.
        Travis makes sure to keep an eye on his surroundings as Sal stares at the writings, and Travis every so often looks at Sal, making sure he doesn't run off. Sal reads over the writings in his head before looking at Travis, seeing him look around cautiously. "You said that your father talked a lot of this kinda stuff?" Sal fixes his bangs, tucking stray strands of longer hair from his braid behind his ears.
         Travis nods, answering him. "Yeah, he said we– they were planning something big happening, I'm unsure as to what that is though." Travis corrects himself quickly, setting off nerves, acting as if it had never happened.
           Sal takes a mental note of it to tell Todd about later, although acting as if he never heard it. "Is your dad a big part of the cult thing that is going on here..?" he mumbles.
           Travis looks at him, pausing his examination of the walls, and he realizes that he had already said too much to him. They make eye contact, and Travis breaks under Sal's gaze, feeling as if he cannot lie to him. "I– yeah. He is the.. Er, leader of the cult.." he whispers, looking around just in case no one was there to eavesdrop or overhear their conversation.
          Sal's heart seems to drop at the new information, his breath catching in his throat at the thought of Travis's dad being the leader of the cult. Another thought dawns on him, making him take a step backwards from Travis, on edge. "Sal? What's wrong?" Travis asks, seeing the panic in Sal's eyes and movements, not daring to take another step forward in fear of scaring him off.
         "Doesn't that mean you're involved as well? Travis, your father is a part of a cult. The devourers of god. You've told me that he was pushing beliefs onto you–" Sal starts, crashing sounding in the area over.
         Both Travis and Sal look to the direction, and without missing a beat, Travis grabs Sal's hand, earning a yelp from the bluenette. Travis runs the opposite way from the noise, to another hallway, and eventually into a packed room. He shuts the door, his back leaning against it and his chest rising and falling quickly. Sal yanks his wrist away from Travis, looking around the small room quickly before back at Travis. "Well, are you?" Sal asks, and Travis perks up, staring at him.
       "Huh?"
       "Are you involved in the cult as well?" Sal mutters, keeping a considerable distance between the both of them, worried to get any closer.
        Travis sighs. "I am connected with the cult, yes. However, I do not want to be like them, I want to help you, sal. Please believe me when I say I am not here to hurt you." he admits, pleading for him to trust him.
         Sal doesn't move from his spot,  trying to make sense of it all. "Okay... I'll give you my trust. But, you will continue to prove through your actions over time that you can stay trusted. You hear? Because your father is part of a CULT, Travis. a leader of an dangerous one. I'm just–..." he trails off, pain ringing through his head before he could say anything more.
        He puts his head in his hands, groaning, and Travis tilts his head in confusion. Travis walks to him so they are close enough to touch, Travis slightly extending his hand to him in case. "Sal? You okay?"
       "Yeah.. my head just hurts..." he says, starting off his sentence, before everything going blurry, eventually seeing black and collapsing, energy quickly depleted. (Oopsie this went from 0 to 100 quickly :P)
        Travis catches him quickly, Sal out cold in his arms. Travis holds him up, slowly sitting down with him and sighing. He feels against his upper neck, which had started to burn. He holds onto the smaller boy, Sal leaned against him completely, and he stares down at the limpness of his body. "Please be okay.." he whispers, listening to Sal's heavy and uneven breathing.
        Unsure of what to do in this situation, Travis takes one hand off of him, feeling Sal's phone rubbing into his side and taking it out of Sal's pocket. Travis takes his hand, pressing his thumb into the home button of his phone, unlocking the touch id and opening messages to one of his emergency contacts, named 'Lisa'. He vaguely explains what had happened in the messages, no lies but not telling enough to know what is going on. He also manages to send a quick text to Larry, despite his reluctance to. Lisa messages that she is on her way, also thanking him for telling her and staying with Sal, while Larry's message isn't nearly as kind. Travis sends Lisa the location, and she doesn't question why they are at the church, seeming to just accept it. Travis stands, picking up Sal and walking out of the room after making sure no one is outside, cringing to admit to himself that it is a lot easier when it's only his quiet footsteps, walking briskly to the exit. Once he gets outside, the light blinds him for a moment, and he sits Sal against the wall of the church and reboards up the entrance to.... Whatever that was. He sits down next to the bluenette (with pronouns ><), moving him so Sal is leaned into him, and he feels the slight quiver of Sal shaking. After a few minutes pass, he spots a run-down car, instantly seeing Larry in the passenger seat and standing up, picking up Sal as he does so. The car stops in front of them, and Travis walks over, opening the backseat door with a careful hand and putting Sal down in one of the seats, unsure if he is able to come with until Larry speaks up. "Hop in, Phelps. You've got some explaining to do."

||(Authors note:) Sorry I took so long with this chapter, I got sick and some other stuff happened at home, as well as writers block. I should be able to get chapters out as normal again though! Good luck to Sal and Travis through this however 😰||

Word count: 1117 with authors note 1063 without