Misinformation Can Be Deadly

Chapter 2: Oh God! Well... That's Technically the Opposite of God

CW: blood, sacrificing someone to a demon, gore, death

Waking up after being knocked out is nothing like it seems in movies where the protagonist blinks their eyes and lets out a small groan before immediately sitting up. Well, okay, Virgil certainly groaned in pain. But that was after what felt like an hour of trying to force himself awake. His head spun and it felt like his eye had been split open.

He tried to move, but his arms felt like lead and it took some time. And when he was able to move them, sitting up was almost impossible and made his headache even worse. He tried to open his eyes but winced at the pain in his left eye. He was definitely hit there, and it was definitely swollen.

But his right eye worked just fine, and part of him wished it didn't since the first thing he saw were the chains on his arms. Then he realized he wasn't wearing his hoodie, or his shirt! Somehow that wasn't even the worst part, which was really saying something, but the pentagram was definitely worse.

Virgil somehow managed to sit up more even though his head was doing it's best to make him regret it. There were candles around the circle, though they weren't lit, and salt surrounded the outside of it. He heard footsteps from upstairs, making the wood creek horribly as a voice traveled down.

"As soon as we summon him, I'm sure he'll take the sacrifice. Everything will be fine, you chose a good sacrifice Cecil."

It felt as if the temperature had dropped ten degrees. The back of Virgil's neck burned and his blood had turned to ice as he registered what was said. He was a sacrifice for a demon that probably didn't exist. He was asked out only to be some sacrifice. His life was messed up but even Virgil didn't think something so... random yet horrible like that would happen to him.

It took him a full second to realize the door that was above a staircase had opened and people were walking down the stairs. But when his mind seemed to latch onto it, his breathing stopped completely.

They were all wearing red cloaks, and Virgil only recognized Cecil. There was a girl though, and two other guys, one looked older and his cloak seemed fancier, the latch on it was a metal hawk head. He was probably the head cultist, not that Virgil cared at all.

"He's awake, that'll make this harder," the girl said.

"I can knock him out again," the other guy offered, making Virgil whimper and try to move back, but the chains were short.

"No, the demon will want him awake," the head cultist told them. "Besides, it'll actually make things easier."

Virgil watched with wide eyes, slowly curling up in an attempt to hide himself. Or at least hide his chest. Where was his shirt anyway? And, oh yeah more importantly, how will he get out of here? He had a lot of questions but that was the most important one right now.

The cultist walked over to an... alter? Well, that's what it looked like, and it had a golden goblet, a book, and two other things on it.

It took a moment to find his voice, but when he did all Virgil could say was, "C-Cecil...?"

The boy turned back to look at him, but Virgil couldn't find any sympathy in his eyes. "I said sorry, Virgil. You're cool, maybe we could have been friends, but oh well. Duty calls." He picked up one of the objects Virgil couldn't see, revealing it to be a golden dagger.

The girl picked up the other dagger, and the head cultist picked up the book, turning to a page. The last guy picked up the goblet and took a sip of the black substance inside before bringing it to the others to let them take a drink.

Virgil tensed up when they walked over to him, holding the cup steady. "Pl-please," he begged, trying to hold his arms in front of himself but the chains stopped him.