Right or Wrong || Daniel Fanfiction || Camp Camp

I

Daniel could feel his bare feet freeze as he walked on the cold tiles of his church. He looked around at the rows of former friends looking at him in disgust to his left and right. Every step he took inflicted a sharp pain, but Daniel tried to not let people see. See the agony he had endured during the last week. He felt the rope around his wrists grate his skin, but there was no way of escaping the pain. His arms were tied behind his back. Two tall men in all black robes walked beside him. Although their faces were covered, he knew who they were. The taller one, whose grip around Daniel's elbow was a lot tighter, was his cousin. He was a few years older and had been granted the honor of being the elders' right hand. Daniel could still remember his family's joy over him being 'promoted' by Zeemuug himself. His chest tightened. The other hooded man was a childhood friend. If you could call anyone in this cult a friend. Empty shells walking around, doing anything to please the old galactic deity, even if it meant shunning a family member, a companion. The path towards the thrones of the elders felt like an eternity. It gave Daniel time to think about the week that had passed. About how he had come home, still sick from the poisoned Kool-Aid. He had just wanted to see his family again, his parents, his friends. But not one soul had talked to him. Not one single word. The only communication he had gotten was passive aggressive conversations from others about him when he was around. He had failed his sacred mission and had to bear the consequences. 

You deserve this. Daniel could hear the all too familiar voice in his head speak to him. You are getting what you deserve. The voice drowned out everything around him. He tried to concentrate on the sensation of the cold floor, on the piercing pain on his feet, just to stop the thoughts from overpowering his mind. Daniel didn't want to accept this. He didn't want to think he deserved death. For the very first time in his entire life, he didn't want to obey. These negative feelings, the feeling of being rejected by his own family, these didn't come from space. They came from this group of people. From this religion that seemed to have conquered the minds of every single person born into it. Even his family's. 
The feeling of his knees meeting the ice cold ground as he was pushed down woke him up from his thoughts. Daniel inhaled sharply, producing a hissing sound. He looked up to the altar where the elders were sitting on three thrones next to each other. They all glared at him from above. Intimidated, Daniel had trouble breathing steadily. This was the situation everyone in this society was afraid of. The ultimate worst case scenario. Being judged by the elders. Daniel lowered his head and looked at the ground that now made his whole legs ache. He knew he didn't have the right to speak, so he waited for the elders to start talking. After what felt like an eternity to Daniel, the elder on the middle stood up and cleared his throat. "Daniel Gregory" he began and Daniel's throat seemed to clog itself up. 
"You are being punished for the ultimate betrayal of our saviour Zeemuug. These kids were promised to be his sacrifice, however you chose to denied him what he wanted." 
David resisted the urge to laugh bitterly. That had never been his intention. It had been an accident. He tried to speak up. 
"I didn't choose to-"
"You are to remain silent!" the eldest one yelled at him with pure rage in his voice. "You are sentenced to death. The execution will be held tomorrow morning and will be performed by the only one who can take your life" he explained and Daniel's eyes widened. He looked back up to the eldest one and slowly shook his head. He couldn't possibly- 
"The one who gave it to you to begin with. Your father."
That's what you get, traitor  the voice inside Daniel's head scoffed as he was pulled away from the altar by the two henchmen. Daniel didn't dare say anything about it. Deep down he wanted to yell at every single one of them, to curse them for killing off a member that had always been loyal, who had come back even though he had known exactly what was going to happen to him. 
You deserve death, traitor. You should die, it's just fair.
Daniel knew it wasn't fair. Nothing about this was fair. 

Like a sack of rice he fell onto the hard floor of the dungeon cell. "You can't do this to me!" he yelled desperately at the tall hooded man. "We're family!" The man stood there for a little longer than the smaller one, but eventually left as well, without saying a word. Daniel groaned, his arms still tied to his back. He couldn't move. Everything hurt. The cultist gathered all of his strength to stand up and walk towards the stack of hay on the corner, where he sat down and leaned against the wall. That was it. That was where it ended. As he drifted away into sleep, the one thing that came into his mind was Camp Campbell. How beautiful it had been and how David had genuinely cared for him. Daniel fell asleep, dreaming of his day at the camp, and how he had not appreciated anything enough.