No Control (Chris Motionless)

Chapter 20 - Vice's Virtue

As I stepped into Chris' hotel room I saw that the bed was littered with scraps of notebook paper and opened journals, his handwriting covering nearly every page. 

"Were you working on your book?" I ask as my eyes scanned over lists and notes, gaining a sense of organized chaos. 

"I was until you decided to call and freak me out."

I gave him an apologetic smile murmuring, "Sorry about that."

"What was even going on?"

I sat down in the chair in the corner of the room, letting out a long sigh. I bit at my lip, unsure of how to explain this to him. I ended up deciding that it would just be better to come out and say it.

"It turns out that there's a cult that worships Jack the Ripper and they think that all these recent killings have some sort of divine purpose." I explain before swallowing hard and added, "I only know this because I just left one of their meetings."

Chris's jaw dropped as he questioned, "How did you even find out about something like that existing?"

"Kamaria's brother, Darien, is in it and he saw me with the book that explains quite a bit about what they believe, but not all of it. So, when he invited me, I went along." 

He kneeled down in front of me as he shook his head slightly when a tiny smile tugged at his lips, "You should have told me you were planning to do something like that. I could've tried to help somehow. I'm the one that pulled you into this shit in the first place, so making sure you get out of this in one piece is the least I can do."

"Trust me, I didn't plan any of that out. It probably would have went much better if I had. I saw an opportunity for some answers and I went after them without putting much thought into it."  

"Did you at least find anything that might be useful?"

I sighed heavily, "Nothing other than even more questions and now I have a cult leader suspicious of me on top of everything else to the point I'm sure he had some of his people follow me." 

"We'll figure out a way out of this mess, one way or another." He reassures me as he places a hand on my knee. He appeared to be in deep thought for a moment before asking, "What is there to even worship about him anyway? What can a serial killer that has been dead for more than a hundred years do for a group like that?"

"They see him as some sort of God. I don't understand all that much about it, but what I have grasped terrifies me."

My thoughts drifted back to what might happen to that unborn baby and the way those people were alright with innocent women being brutally murdered in the name of their Lord. It was mind bottling to me that they could believe that it would allow them to live in paradise because of it.

Out of nowhere Chris pulls me to his chest in a gentle embrace, softly pointing out, "You're shaking."

I rested my head on his shoulder as I returned the hug, pressing my fingers into his back. "I really do think that they might have something to do with the murders, Chris. The things they talked about were truly horrible."

"So, do you think it's not Hudson after all?"

"I don't know what to think." I admit in a small voice, but then I sat up and let go of him to announce, "But I'm going to go back with Darien and see what else I can learn."

"Even with the leader having you watched? Amber, I have a feeling that you could get yourself in a lot of trouble if you keep bringing yourself to these people's attention."

"Well, I made it out alright this time." 

"Yeah, this time. You don't know if you'll be that lucky twice in a row."