The Cult Of Seven Devils

Chapter 2: It stalks.

[6:57 June 20, 1989]

The teens began to search the old watchtower. Walking up the old planks was a hassle as the place was pretty old and it had been abandoned for quite a while. They reached the top and suspiciously the door was already opened and revealed the old worn-down watching room. Lots of old equipment was found but some seemed fairly new and looked as if someone was there not too long ago. The place gave a sense of nostalgia, but the teens had never stepped foot in this place before. Many things just didn't make sense or seemed out of place. There were some pretty useless things but they did find an AK-47 casually sitting on the made-up bed. Why was the bed made up? Does someone still live here? Maybe vandalizers come here every so often. It's pretty common in old run-down places like this. Itsuki was jotting down notes of what they found so far. But beyond the noises of everyone talking and rambling through old cabinets, he heard noises in the distance. It sounded like sirens. But they were miles away from the highway and this place was deserted, so what kind of police officer would be here? He thought. He became paranoid because all he saw surrounding the horizon were the tips of tall thick trees and a few buildings, what could be out there? 

 Itsuki closed his book and turned his attention to everyone else. "Guys," he quaked, "do you hear those noises?" Everyone looked at him confused and some even brushed past it because Itsuki was known to be paranoid of every little detail and thing. It got to a point where even his parents were concerned about his mental health. Even his mom thought he could hear voices and could talk to ghosts. "No? Why?" Hunter replied not even looking at Itsuki because he was more intrigued by the gun he found under the bed. His face was covered in excitement which sort of worried everyone else as they stopped and stared at him. Itsuki took a glance outside the door of the watchtower. He observed the horizon and peaked over the sun as it set quietly upon the forest. "I guess I'm just paranoid again," Itsuki answered but he knows what he heard, and this time it may not be his brain playing tricks on him."That's what you're good at" Ali joked. After looking around the room for a while Dahlia was bored so she sat by an old closet. She spotted something on the wall behind it. It was a note and it was written in blood. The stench coming from the paper wreaked of decaying flesh. The smell was so bad she didn't dare touch it and gripped her nose tightly as her face collapsed in from disgust. She read it to herself and it said:

"THE CULT HAS RISEN

                  THE CULT HAS RISEN

THE CULT HAS RISEN

                   RUNAWAY

GETAWAY

                 FOR SHE WILL SEE YOU"

Dahlia's heart dropped as she wondered what she just read. It scared her so bad that she moved away from the note and didn't even want to lay an eye on it again. "Guys...what is this..." she trembled, staring at the paper with fear swimming in her eyes. Everyone stopped what they were doing rush over to see the disgusting paper after seeing the horror in Dahlia's eyes. "The cult? What cult?" Quinn asked. "I- I'm not sure..."Dahlia stammered still filled with a feeling of worry. She remembers her mom telling her before leaving on the trip to watch out for cults as they have become widespread in the last few years. Her mother would go on about how the news loves to talk about children going missing and never being found when venturing into the wild. She didn't want to see her daughter become one of those children on the news. "Should we take it as evidence?" Ali suggested. "Ew, I'm not taking that!" Dahlia exclaimed while walking away still holding her nose. "Itsuki you take it, "she suggests. Sakka sighed, "No one has to take it. Just- just leave it be, for now." They all walked away from the paper letting it russul in the cool breeze that ripped through the front door. They began to search for more clues throughout the tower when suddenly, the sound of shuffling papers muffled the sound of a van driving away. They all stopped and looked around to make sure it wasn't just them being paranoid but it became clear when they heard the run-off gas. "Guys..." Sakka gulped as he looked around at everyone trying to fully make out if it was something he hoped it wasn't. "Was that..." Itsuki asked with a worried face, looking at Hunter. "It couldn't be..." Hunter mumbled with a shake in his voice. They all rushed to the window with no hesitation. It was dark and quiet, everything was pitch black as if the world had gone into a mass slumber. Suddenly, Quinn looked off to the side to see the van in the distance driving off past the old welcome sign. She felt her heart sink into a pool of fear and disbelief. "Guys, look over there!" Quinn shouted pointing her finger into the distant void. They rushed to Quinn and spotted the van in the distance riding off into the pitch darkness. "Hey! That's our van!"Dahlia shouted while banging on the window. They all ran onto the balcony of the watch tower and began to yell for the person to come back. But all hope was lost when the person drove so far, the taillights were no longer visible. "It's no use...we're stuck here now," Itsuki mumbled, looking at the damaged floorboards as his face dropped into immediate sadness and worry. They all painfully walked back into the interior of the watchtower. "How do we get home now...we're now stuck in an abandoned town, with no access to others," Sakka says while flopping back on the bed with his hands on his face making a sad expression.

Everyone looked sad and confused about what to do, their expression made the room cold and quiet with the thought of death looming over their heads. Itsuki looks up to see a phone on the counter. "Wait, look, a phone." He rushes to the counter to check it out. "Maybe we can call the police or at least someone to come get us," Ali says. Itsuki dials "911" but suddenly he hears something...foot stomps from outside. With each stomp the tower shook, water droplets played with the stomps, the light shook...then the stomps stopped. Itsuki looks back to see everyone frozen in fear. They hear breathing from the top door on the back. Ali grabs the gun that sits on the bed and whispers to Itsuki "Dial it now, hurry." He tries to dial it but as soon as he does the tower begins to thrash around like a kid playing with a doll violently. Everything shook as whatever started shaking the tower made loud static noises which caused them hearing blockage for a point of time. Itsuki tries to run to a corner but ends up getting hit by a book tumbling off a shelf, he blacks out on the floor. After a few minutes, the shaking stops and it's quiet as if nothing just happened. Itsuki wakes up from being knocked out cold and looks at the light flickering as it slowly shuts off. Everyone is still startled by what just happened and slowly comes to their consciousness. "What was that?"Dahlia says weeping in the corner next to an old pipe. Hunter gets up and looks around, "I don't know, but it knocked out the power...now what...". "We have to go fix the generator that's located outside right there," Sakka says pointing out the window. "We have to go outside," Ail says walking towards the trapdoor. "But we still haven't tried calling the police!"Dahlia shouts, "The powers went out, how do you think we're supposed to do that?" Hunter exclaims. "I don't know, but I don't wanna go out there...". "Dahlia, we have to fix the electricity to call the police, you can stay in here in the darkness, or you can come with us to help, your choice, "Sakka explains. "Sakka's right, we have to go, and if we're outside maybe we won't be prone to getting knocked down," Quinn says. Dahlia looks to the side, "Fine, I guess you're right, let's go."

They made it to the generator which was close to the tower. It was badly damaged from the violent shake earlier which caused pieces to be lost and wires to snap. "What do we do now?" Itsuki says with a worried look. "It seems as if the parts that were once here have been broken," Dahlia says. "Yea, no shit." Hunter added, "We have to go look for more parts but where because I doubt those old buildings will have some,"  "Or maybe they do," Itsuki argued, "I know this is dumb but maybe we should go looking?" Itsuki says. "Are you crazy!?"Dahlia exclaimed, "Who knows what's out there. It's the middle of the night, we've been out here far too long and we can't just wander around, we might run into that thing again...". "Yeah, but we also might die staying here as whatever that was that attacked the tower knew we were there and is bound to attack again if it thinks we are still located in the tower," Itsuki says confidently, "Besides, Ali has the gun, we'll be fine for the most part. Trust us," Sakka says, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Hm, fine, where too." She sighs. They all looked clueless but then Itsuki remembered the paper that looked like a map next to the sink a while ago. "Wait a minute..". He opens it, and it reads at the top "Seven Devils Tour Guide Map". He folds it out even more and to his dismay, it reveals a map. "Woah, nice!" Sakka shouts with excitement. "Is it usable?" Ali asked. "I don't know but let's find out," Itsuki replied. "So, we're here at the watchtower so maybe let's go to the hunting cabin to find more weapons," he suggests. "I doubt it will have weapons, maybe let's go to the Ski Lodge and find help there," Hunter says. "And I doubt there will be help there, let's just go to the hunting cabin that way it'll probably be useful with weapons, a good shelter, and it's not a long walk" Quinn suggests. "Ok, I guess you're right," Hunter grunted. Itsuki points in the direction needed. "Ok, let's head Northeast."