The Eyes of Fate (Currently in Rewrite)

Past, Returned

Sentinel

The Church of The Guarded Heaven (Hidden Compound)

Oklahoma, USA

December 5th, 2019

Sentinel and Stellan were led through the field by the crowd, with Wist in the lead. People in the crowd were punching them, kicking them. Somebody slammed a fist into his kidney hard enough that it knocked him over, and somebody else drug him back up by his hair. He was sure that he could already feel bruises forming on his skin, and they hadn't even reached the buildings yet.

Stellan was wearing the hits better than Sentinel was, the punches barely jostling him. Even when a man stepped out of the crowd and hit him right across the face, Stellan barely reacted. Sentinel did his best to mimic the agent, but he had never been beaten like this before. Ranger and Fang hit harder than these people did, but they had never just constantly hit him like this.

They were led to a building in the middle of the squat cluster Sentinel had seen when they left the van. It was the only building taller than one story, and Sentinel noticed the steeple pointing towards the sky on the end opposite them. The double doors opened, and more people spilled out to look at them. These ones didn't beat them, didn't even approach them, merely stared. As they were led past, Sentinel noticed several of them whispering to each other, but there was too much other noise for him to hear what they were saying.

The doors opened up into a long hallway of cream-colored cinderblocks and wooden floors, and somebody shoved Sentinel to get him to keep walking. He marched down the hallway with Stellan on his left, somewhat grateful that the crowd had decided to stop hitting them. He noticed that nobody had gone ahead of them and started to wonder about running for it. If they could get far enough ahead to unbind their wrists, could they fight their way out? Or sneak out to the van they had been taken in?

Sentinel glanced at Stellan, but the other man just gave a subtle shake of his head. He must have been riding the same train of thought that Sentinel was, and had seen that there wasn't a good way out. They'd have to wait for rescue.

Wist stopped them in front of a door, which another man opened using an old-fashioned skeleton key. Inside were several wooden chairs, two of which had plastic sheeting under them. Sentinel didn't have to guess which one was for them, and started walking towards them before somebody shoved him again. Several people grabbed him to hold him still as the cuffs on his wrists were undone, then shoved him into the chair and held him there. He was tied down with rough rope around his wrists, ankles, waist, and neck. When the people holding him stepped away, he could see Stellan fastened similarly.

"You guys really do know how to make your guests feel welcome." Stellan said cheerily. Wist turned away from Sentinel and punched him in the stomach, and Stellan sagged in his chair.

"Shut your mouth, heathen." Wist spoke through gritted teeth before turning to the same man who had the key to their room. "Go get the Professor."

Stellan laughed, even though his voice sounded rough. "Heathen? Seriously? Wist, don't tell me that you actually buy into all this?"

"Buy into it?" Wist punched him again, in the thigh this time, and Sentinel saw Stellan's leg cramp for a moment before it relaxed. "I 'buy into' the lord our God, and I believe that he put us on this Earth to cleanse it of evil. I believe that the righteous shall prevail over the wickedness of this world. Most importantly, I believe that we are going to start with monsters like that." Wist pointed at Sentinel as he finished his sentence. Since he couldn't do much else, Sentinel stuck his tongue out at the other man. Wist crossed the floor towards Sentinel, arm raised to hit him, when a voice stopped him.