No Control (Chris Motionless)

Chapter 19 - New Faith

Without a second of hesitation I yanked my hood onto my head. I had to depend on the shadowiness of the room to conceal my face more than my coat could as we went further in. I was relieved that Darien chose to stay in the back of the crowd, so I would at least have a better chance of escaping if I needed to. 

The sound of happy chatter threw me off, these people were obviously excited to be here and that was probably the scariest part. 

Darien pulled my focus back to him as he asked, "So, outside of my sister letting you borrow the Movement's book, how did you learn about all of this? Someone else from here clearly told you about the New World Order, because Kamaria doesn't have a clue about its existence." 

I quickly came up with the most reasonable lie I could manage, "I met a guy at Cambridge that had seen Kamaria give me the book. We had been discussing it and he mentioned the term 'New World Order' in passing. He refused to explain it to me when I asked, so I've been dying to know ever since."

"Do you know his name?"

I shook my head no, "But I would know his face if I saw him around."

I knew that was the most believable answer I could give him. My story wasn't all that far-fetched and thankfully that answer seemed to satisfy him. From the little I knew about cults, I knew that they liked to target college aged people. They were the one's just starting to figure out the world on their own. They were looking for purpose, meaning, and something to belong to. Cults prey on that kind of thing, they thrived on their vulnerability.   

My eyes scanned the room we waited in, finding that that some people were covering their faces like I was, while others were on full display. I took a hold of this fact as a way to change the subject.

"Why do some of them show their identity and others don't?" I question in a whisper. 

"The new comers are asked to do it because it helps everyone know who is who. You don't have to wear a hood if you don't want to, I just figured you'd be more comfortable without someone approaching you already thinking you know what they know. It can be a little confusing at first, but it doesn't take too long to pick up on things thankfully."

"I think I'll just keep mine on for right now then."

He nodded in understanding and yet again I was puzzled by his kind behavior. This whole group of people had my head reeling, they were glad to be a part of something that celebrated murder and I couldn't wrap my head around why. 

"So, what brought you to this place, Darien?" I question since he had done the same to me. 

He seemed to mull over the question for a minute before speaking, "Well, I guess it has a lot to do with my mom..."

He trailed off as his eyes drifted to the front of the room and an excited expression replaced the somber one he had just seconds ago as he murmurs, "Finally, we're about to start."

I followed the direction of his gaze as a hush fell over the rest of the crowd. A man with dark brown hair and glasses moved to stand before all of them. 

His smile was oddly pleasant and his voice came out in a confusing mix of deep and raspy, like he had smoked too many cigarettes recently, as he said, "Good evening, friends."

A chorus of responses came back, but I managed to pick up that his name was Roy. 

He waited until the noise died back down before continuing, "I truly appreciate that you could make it this evening. I'm sure you are all curious as to why I asked to have this meeting on such short notice, but there was something that needed to be discussed. A few nights ago, there was an event that was mistaken for our leader's work."