Maddox Price has been implanted with a chip, allowing an ancient deity to control every thought that crosses his mind. Be it unwillingly, he's tasked with protecting someone "special," a smart-mouthed girl deemed the "healer of humanity."
Claire Ad...
Come to think of it, Maddox hadn't heard Anaia's voice in the past few hours. Surely she would've said something when he met with Claire earlier.
But she'd been silent, and it all makes sense now.
The cult continued their chanting, getting louder each time they repeated the words. "Take the Devil, make her bright. Show her to the morning's light."
Anaia looked sickly. Maddox wanted to feel sorry for her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. She'd been too deceptive. Evil.
He and Wesley inched closer to the chanting cult while Claire kept her distance, chewing on her fingernails as she stood, rocking back and forth, oblivious to the cult.
Maddox's blood began to boil as he saw Anaia in her true form- weak and sickly.
Her mask was torn from her face, thrown onto the ground beside her within the circle, along with the vibrant dress she'd worn before. She was clothed in a dark tunic, red around the edges. She foamed at the mouth, shaking as if being electrocuted.
Her limbs moved in a way that was far from human. They twisted; turned. Looped.
"Do you see that?" Wesley's eyes grew wide. In his thirty-one years of living, he'd never seen anyone move like that.
Then again, he'd never seen a cult in the midst of their chanting and rituals, either.
"Yeah. Let's go a little closer-"
Wesley stuck out his arm in front of Maddox, not letting him move any closer to the cult than he already was. "Do you know what they'll do to you? Going any closer to them is asking for a death sentence," Wesley spoke in a quick, hushed voice. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"If she wanted me dead, I'd be dead already." Maddox glanced toward Anaia, but Wesley didn't seem to notice. He'd never seen the woman before, he'd assume Maddox didn't, either. Getting any closer to people chanting about the Devil and making her bright didn't seem like the brightest idea he'd heard all day.
"Huh?"
"I'm going in there, whether you want me to or not."
Maddox grabbed Wesley's arm, pushing him out of the way. "You're making a mistake," Wesley growled.
"If I die, I die."
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Maddox walked closer to the chanting cult, their words becoming louder with each step he took toward them.
"Take the Devil, make her bright. Show her to the morning's light."
Anaia's eyes wandered to Maddox, holding his gaze as he walked toward her. She pleaded for help without saying a word.
But Maddox had other ideas in mind. He didn't come this far- this close- to help Anaia.
