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Chapter 3 - Believers

Short chapter

"On October 15, a group of 5 men were murdered in a mysterious way in the woods placed at Kampung Paya Ngeri. Apparently, these men were involved in a satanic cult known as Believers. The people involved are Zainuddin bin Rashid, Shahrul bin Mohd Naim, Vinod a/l Raju, Wang Yong, and Halim bin Abdul Mannan. All of them were 24 years old. That night, they murdered a 9 years old boy named Wafiq bin Saiful as an offer for a sacrifice. He was impaled multiple times on the chest and lower abdomen. He then were thrown into the river near them. May Allah granted more patience and faith for late Wafiq's family."

..

It's 7:10 p.m. A 20 years old boy went out from the rental house to take an exam at his nearby university. He locked the door and got onto his bike. He decided to take the shortcut route since he was afraid of being late for the test. He was carefully riding his bike until he was hit by an Alphard car. The car stopped at the side of the road. He fell as his bike was sliding off on the road far from him. He groaned. His elbow was bleeding. Good thing he wore a helmet. He tried to get up when two people came from behind and knocked him down. They carried him and placed him inside the back of the car. They took his bagpack, leaving only his bike at the side of the road. They make sure no one sees the bike and none of his personal information left on the road.
"Got him." One of them said as they went inside the car. She started to drive to the forest, where the sacrifice would be held.
The boy grunted as he woke up and found himself in a forest. His hands and legs were tied tightly to each wooden stick. He brought his head up and saw himself lying on a pentagram with candles lighthened up around him. He was freaked out. Then, he saw 4 people standing around him in black and long cloth with hoodie, covering their faces.
"Uh, what are gonna do to me..?" the boy asked. Four of them didn't respond. He can feel that they were just staring at him. He felt so frightened that he started to pant. One of them stepped inside the circle, standing beside the boy. Three of them smalled the circle and began to chant something that the boy couldn't understand.
"Please.. let me go.." He was so scared, panting. The chanting became louder, and the forest suddenly became windy. He started having a panic attack, and it was hard to breathe, and they were still chanting. The one who was in the circle with him kneeled down. He took out a long, sharp knife. The chanting became even louder. As the chanting went to climax, the person held up the knife.
"OH POWERFUL SATAN! WE OFFER TO YOU A YOUNG, GIFTED ONE!" He impaled the boy on his chest. The boy was groaned in pain as he was stabbed.
"Please..stop.." The boy says, short of breath. His mouth was full of blood. The person then continued to stab him on the chest two times and lastly on the heart. He was wide-eyed and slowly died with his eyes open. Blood splurted everywhere. The sacrifice ended that day. They just wrapped the boy's body and threw him into the watercourse nearby. They made their way out of their private property in the forest and got into the car. Before that, they took off their long hoodies and kept them. He quickly drove them back to their gathering house.

It was almost 9 p.m. They had their dinner and were sitting in the living room. They frowned, watching the news. One of them sighed and looked down.
"How..?" Emma says in a low tone as she is sitting down on the couch. Her eyes were still on TV.
"Uh.." Naufal didn't know what to respond. He was still confused about the news.
"We told them not to go there." Emma said again, looking at them.
"And when was the last time they'd listen to us?" Daiyan said. Amir sighed.
"Don't you guys think that maybe we have to stop doing this.. stuff?" Naufal asked in a low tone. Amir frowned and looked at them.
"Wait. Our ancestors started this cult, and it has been going on for generations. Are you suggesting that we bail just like that?" He asked. Naufal sighed.
"Okay, think about it. Their bodies were chopped off by itself, and their head exploded. Maybe they messed up with the spells." Naufal shook his head, disagreed with Daiyan.
"Alright, you made your point. But how can we know they messed up?" Emma says as she stands up, going to the counter kitchen to grab a drink. Daiyan was about to reply to her, but she hesitated and thought again. Daiyan rolled up her eyes as she didn't know what to say.
"Ugh, okay. But my point is we can't mess up. Just follow the rules and -"
"And what? Wait for us to get chopped off or.. d-decapitated?" Naufal raised his eyebrows.
"We won't." Amir said. Three of them looked at Amir. He's still sitting on the couch.
"I'm not getting out of this. What do you think our parents would say? Besides, the news didn't say there're more members of the cult, right?" Daiyan says as she is still sitting down on the couch. Naufal then looked at Emma. She shrugged while holding a mug. Naufal sighed again.
"We signed up for this." Amir was trying to convince them.
"Fine. But if something happened -"
"Nothing could happen, Naufal." Amir said.

Naufal and Amir went home. Their house was not far away from the girls'. They're getting ready for bed since it was getting late, and they don't wanna be late for class tomorrow. Emma was done brushing her teeth and did her skincare routine. She laid down on her bed. She's just staring into the ceiling, thinking about getting out of the cult. She immediately woke up and got to her study desk. She sat and brought out the book. Apparently, the books contained information about the cult they're in. She's flipping the pages but finds nothing that could relate to the effect of the activities. There's not enough information. They've been in the cult for 3 months, and that night was the third time they sacrificed someone. Their parents were still in the cult, and all of them would gather when needed. She frowned and closed the book. She then remembered that the other book was her parents' house.

The next day

Their class were dismissed. They went to a cafe to grab some lunch. Emma brings out the book from her bag as soon as they're done eating, except for Daiyan. She got up and went to buy a piece of cake before Emma brought out the book. She just loves having dessert. They're wide-eyed as they see the book.
"Wh- why did you bring the book to class?" Amir whispered while pulling the book slowly to cover it from being seen.
"Let me explain first, Amir." She raised her eyebrows. Amir glared at Emma.
"You can't just bring it to some places -"
"Oh my God, just let me explain..!" They're arguing, still whispered. Daiyan rolled her eyes while eating her cake. Naufal just frowned, looking at them both.