The Cult (2 page)

“
Annullo
!” the Spirit of Entitlement ordered in a booming, raspy voice. “They will be mine!”

The Awakened Ones
nodded and formed a circle around the man and the woman. Julia clutched Jenna’s hand as one of the
Awakened Ones
grabbed the screaming baby and held it up by its leg, smashing his scepter into the woman’s face when she tried to grab the child.
 

Jenna blinked as the scepter clicked and a blade slid from the staff. She wanted to avert her eyes but sat frozen to the spot as the man jabbed the blade into the child’s torso, once, twice, three times, then tossed the dead body to the ground. The mother’s anguished screams echoed through the large space.

More clicks and blades appeared on all the scepters, the
Awakened Ones
stabbing and jabbing at the man and woman, blood spattering their white cloaks.

Thirty seconds later, they turned around in unison and slammed their scepters on the ground and stood to attention, both hands gripping the scepters in front of them. “
Factum Est!
”

Jenna stood up as he bile rose in her throat, choking away the tears. She blindly stumbled up the stairs, away from the stage, vomiting as she ran.

“You!” a voice boomed from behind her.

She swallowed, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, then slowly turned around.
 

The Grand Master held up an outstretched staff, pointing it at her. “You, stay right where you are.”

A murmur swept through the crowd, and she shrieked as her arms were grabbed by a pair of strong hands.

“Do you have a problem with the wicked being punished for their sins?” the Grand Master asked with a booming voice.

She shook her head, swallowing at the dryness in her mouth, coughed. “No,” she said feebly.

“I cannot hear you!” his voice thundered.

She clutched her hands to her sides and lifted her face to the heavens. “No,” she shouted at the top of her lungs. “No, Grand Master, they got what they deserved.”

She glanced around at the scared faces in the crowd. The place was eerily silent.
 

“Very well, then. Report immediately at Master Lamont for a cleansing,” he ordered. He turned to the crowd and lifted his arms in the air. “Until next we meet,” his voice reverberated and he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The spotlights went on in the darkened amphitheater and the big man holding Jenna’s arms shoved her away. “Consider this your lucky day.”

She sobbed and embraced Julia as her friend ran up the stairs.
 

“What’s wrong with you?” Julia whispered into Jenna’s ear, glancing around.

Jenna sobbed as she clung to her friend. “I’m a sinner. Please forgive me.”

Julia held her at arms length, her lips pursed, a sympathetic look on her face. “Don’t worry, Master Lamont will help you.”

Jenna closed her eyes and nodded. “Yes, I need to be cleansed. I do.”

Julia smiled and pulled her friend closer. “We all do, from time to time.”

Interpol Headquarters

Lyon, France.

General Alain Laiveaux steepled his fingers. He looked up at the teleconference screen. “You sure it was her?”

Alexa nodded. “Yes, it was definitely one of Yumi’s sisters.” Her voice was delayed by half a second. Why had Interpol implemented all these fancy new gadgets, what was wrong with a simple phone call?

Laiveaux studied Alexa’s face. The young woman was distraught, shiny tears on her eyelids. “Have a name?”

“We’ve sent some tissue for DNA analysis. We should have it back pretty soon,” Neil said.

Laiveaux nodded slowly, poured himself a glass of Cognac. Alexa and Neil had saved these…,
girls
, clones of each other, during their previous mission in South Africa. They had been used for experiments, injected with a variety of diseases, and then used to experiment upon with unapproved drugs, like lab rats. They had been found in squalor, locked away in jail cells, before being released by Alexa. “You’re taking this too seriously,” he said and took a sip of his drink. “These girls are bound to get into trouble, you can’t protect them all.”

Alexa glanced up at the general, a tear finally spilling down her cheek. “We saved them,
we
put them back in society.”

He found it easier to concentrate on her voice than her face, the words didn’t match the movement of her lips. Laiveaux drummed his fingers on the table, leaned forward. “Would you rather have kept them in the disgusting environment where you found them?”

“That’s not the point—“

Laiveaux stood up and threw his hands in the air. “That’s exactly the point, Captain. You saved those girls from a certain death, it’s not your fault if some of them get killed out in the big, bad world.” He shrugged. “That’s life.”

“Excuse me, General,” Allen said.

“What is it?”

“Do you mind sitting down, it’s kind of difficult having a conversation with your crotch.”

“Bah,” Laiveaux exclaimed and flopped back into his chair. He swiveled around in his chair before glancing at the screen. Alexa sat forward in her chair, her lips pursed; the determined look Laiveaux had come to know so well. Alexa had taken an exceptional liking to one of the young girls - Yumi - and had decided to adopt her, raise her as her own. And Laiveaux was Yumi’s godfather. He sighed. After all, he had a moral responsibility toward these girls. “Go ahead, investigate the damned murder.”

Alexa stood up and saluted smartly. “Thank you, General.” She glanced at Neil. “Come on, let’s go.”

Neil looked at the screen questioningly.
 

Laiveaux slapped the table with the palm of his hand and waved him away. “Find out what happened, Superintendent.”

Neil Allen nodded, saluted. “Thank you, General,” he said and bustled away from the camera, hurrying to catch up with Alexa.

Laiveaux quaffed his glass and refilled it. He picked up the phone, punched in a number. “Bruce, Laiveaux.”

“Good day, General,” Bruce Bryden answered.

“You have given due consideration to my proposal, I assume?”

Bryden kept quiet for a while. “Look General, I appreciate the offer, I honestly do. It’s just…”

“Come now, Major. Please don’t tell me you’re thinking of retiring?”

Bryden chuckled. “Something like that.”

“It’s about Yumi, right?”

“I’ve never had a granddaughter, Laiveaux. It’s so much fun spending time with her, you know? Not having to worry about her safety, always being on the run like with—”

“Alexa?”

“I want to spend some quality time with my granddaughter, General. Is that too much to ask?”

Laiveaux ran his finger around the rim of the glass. “I guess I understand what you mean, Major.”

Bruce Bryden chuckled his throaty laugh. “You care to join me today?”

“You on the Busted Flush?”

“Yep.”

“With Yumi?”

“We were thinking of heading to Corsica, spend a couple of days exploring the beaches and towns.”

Laiveaux stood up, grabbed his jacket from the coat peg against the wall. “Where are you moored?”

“Marseille. You coming?”

“Give me three hours,” Laiveaux said and disconnected the call. He stomped out of his office and slammed the door behind him without looking back.

Alexa scanned the DNA report from Interpol Forensics. The dead girl’s name had been Mika Wattana, daughter of Doctor Thak Wattana. And she had been Yumi’s sister.

She punched a number into her cell phone. It was answered after a couple of rings by a cheerful female voice. “Happy Sunshine Adoption Agency, how may I direct your call?”

“Doctor Dylan Buckley, please.”

“Who may I say is calling?”

“Captain Alexa Guerra, Interpol.”

The phone clicked and a xylophone tune sounded in her ear for a couple of seconds. “Good day, Captain,” Buckley said. “So good of you to phone, how is Yumi doing?”

“Yumi is fine, thank you. Doctor…” She hesitated, trying to find the right words before blurting out, “we’re investigating the murder of Mika Wattana, one of the previous residents at your facility.”

The man went silent, but Alexa could hear him breathing. “Mika is dead?”

“Yes, we found her murdered in an alleyway in New York.”

Buckley said nothing.

“I’m so sorry, Doctor,” Alexa whispered.

“Shit.”

Buckley sucked in a deep breath, sighed. “Shit. I had such high hopes for that girl.”

“I understand, I’m truly sorry, Doctor. Could you give me some background on her?”

The man hesitated. “She was brilliant, like all her sisters are.”

“Off course. How old was she?”

“Nineteen. She went to the States to study Social Sciences. She wanted to become a social worker.”

“Where?”

Some tapping on a computer keyboard. “Steinhardt.” He sighed again. “She received a bursary. Such a waste.”

“Thank you for your time, Doctor.”

“No problem. I’ll email you her file. Not that it contains much.”

“Thank you, Doctor, that would be brilliant.”

“Captain?”

“Yes, Doctor Buckley?”

“You’re going to get the bastard that did this to her, right?”

Alexa snorted. “What do you think, Doctor?”

“Good. Make him pay.”

She disconnected the call as she grabbed her leather jacket from the back of the chair.
 

“Where are we going?” Neil asked, looking up from a Lee Child paperback.

“New York. Hurry.”

Benjamin Lamont smiled at the pretty girl seated on the confession chair. “Tell me what is bothering you, my child.”

She glanced up shyly, a finger twirling a lock of her curly red hair. “I am oppressed by a rebellious spirit, Master Lamont.”

“What happened?”

“I felt the spirit of rebellion in my heart when Grand Master Di Mardi ordered the traitors to be punished.”

Lamont nodded thoughtfully. “Could it have been because your were misinformed about their sins, child?”

The girl shrugged, pouted. “I guess.”

He pulled a chair forward and sat in front of her, placing his hands on her knees, squeezed them. “What do the Illumenex stand for, what is our founding principle?”

Jenna Sands looked up at the ceiling, reciting what she had learned. “The Illuminated and Exalted Church of Isis strives for religious harmony, battling the spirits of evil and assisting the messenger angels to spread the word of our conquests.”

Lamont nodded, pushing his hands up her thighs, hitching her dress above her knees. “And how do we conquer evil?”

Her lips parted slightly as she whimpered. “By eliminating the Antichrist.”

“That’s right, my girl.” He dragged her chair forward and pushed her legs open with his knees. “The Buckley’s had given birth to a demon, Satan reincarnate. The boy would have gone on to cause worldwide strife and heartache.” He rubbed his hands up and down her calves. “And do you know how I know that?”

She shook her head, eyes wide, her tongue licking her upper lip. “Because—“

He didn’t wait for her to answer. “Because Grand Master Di Mardi told me, that’s how.” He slid his hands beneath her dress and pushed them up her thighs. “And do you know how he knows?”

She nodded slowly as he grabbed her bottom and squeezed. “The Goddess of Justice drew the Sign of Cain on the boy’s body.”

Lamont chuckled then sat back, folding his arms. “Now, why would you rebel against the truth, child?”

She swallowed. “Because I’m a sinner with a rebellious spirit.”

He stood up and loosened the woven corded belt around his confession robe. “It seems that there is only one thing left to do.”

The girl nodded, undoing the buttons to her blouse. She pulled it over her head; she wasn’t wearing a bra. She had voluptuous breasts with large, pink areolae and a full figure. A milky skin covered in ginger freckles. She stood in front of him, her chin jutted out and her shoulders pulled back. “Do you approve, Master?”

She was cleanly shaven, like all the women in the compound were ordered to be. He walked around her, inspecting her. “I do.” He stopped in front of her and cupped her breasts. “How many times have I cleansed you?”

She glanced up at the ceiling again. “Twelve times.”

He nodded and showed her to the berth of forgiveness.
 

She clambered on top and crouched on the bed on all fours as he pulled off his robe. “My name is Jenna,” she said as he moved into position behind her.

Lamont frowned. “So what?”

She glanced at the older man over her shoulder. “I just thought it would be important that the angels knew whom you were cleansing.”

He twisted her hair around his hand as he entered her from behind. “Oh, they know, child,” he groaned. “Trust me, they definitely know.”