(Her) Divine Punishment

3 - Dusk

The eerie darkness that crept within the hearts of the two individuals stalked, watching every moment they would perform. A chill wind would make itself known, forcing Trinity to hug herself as her body shivered. Vince was too determined to notice the ice cold sensation resting upon his bare arms, too focused on what was ahead. He stopped just behind a long tree that held an assortment of different bushes around it as if the tree was milking the bushes.
          "Shh..." Vince shushed Trinity as he grabbed onto her and forced her into hiding.
With a confused look on her face, her eyes would follow the direction of Vince's pointer finger. Just passed the bushes, ahead of the two by mere footsteps, sat a small group of children who stood around a large campfire. An odd stench took the air hostage, making Trinity hold her nose shut. The children would chant odd sayings, as if they were speaking a different language all while wearing these baggy black coats which disguised their identities almost entirely.
They suddenly stopped their chanting as they all faced a certain direction. The circle they created with their own selves would open up as four kids moved as three other kids proceeded into the opening circle, dragging along a bloodied sack. The sack was moving, as if it was twitching every time the sack would drag over something hard and painful. A trail of deep red blood showed the trail of where the three kids had traveled.
          "What's in that sack?" Vince asked, oddly amused and interested in the event.
The kids threw the sack next to the large campfire as the circle was reformed, keeping the ritual that was soon to commence at bay. The kids stayed quiet and watched the moving sack. Soon, the living being inside the sack was able to free itself, making Vince gasp.
          "W-What!?" Vince quietly shouted as his head jolted toward Trinity's last known location, seeing that she was no longer there.
Trinity's head poked out from the sack, her face looked as though she was beaten senselessly; she had one blackened eye, scratch marks all over her face, a bite mark on her next, and her nose poured an endless blood trail that looked like she had been crying tears.
          "This is the wench, the slutty wench!" One of the kids shouted as he pointed at her.
The rest of the kids shouted, "Ooo! He said a naughty word!"
          "All is forgiven." One boy spoke more calm as he approached the group from the dark forest that surrounded them. The boy was different than the other kids; he wore a pure white coat, unlike the others who wore a pitch black coat. He also wasn't afraid of showing his face, unlike the others. He proceeded into the opening circle where he kneeled down in front of the harmed Trinity, taking her face in his hands, "I can already sense the sin just by looking into your eyes. The tears, they hurt?"
Trinity growled and pulled her head away from the boy's grasp, "Yes..."
          "She doesn't like this." The boy spoke as he stood up and frowned down at her, "She already has the stench of death. Take her away, to the village."
          "No!" Vince screamed as he jumped from the bushes and aimed his handgun at the children, "Now you're all going to lay on the ground against your stomachs. Take down your hoods, as well!"
The boy tilted his head as he watched Vince, speaking in a more dark tone of voice, "Take down your hoods? But she says that their faces are irrelevant. They have the thirteen faces of upcoming death. Would you like to witness such thing, with the risk of obtaining their curse?"
         "Shut the hell up with the damn witch talk, boy!" Vince yelled, "Get on the ground now!"
Trinity looked over at Vince, "Vince, just go!"
The boy laughed, "Vince, huh? You're the one looking for Sophitia, I presume?"
           "S-Sophitia?" Vince asked, his intimidation lowering as he heard her voice, "Where is she, you little shit!?"
The boy smiled and crossed his arms, looking toward the left side, the same direction the rest of the cult of kids looked. Vince quickly looked in the same direction, seeing a reflection of a female walking through a small light deep in the forest. His grip on his handgun softened, his desperation showed just as he would run toward that direction with no hesitation.
          "V-Vince!" Trinity screamed, "Vince!"