cult.

FOUR: three

before leaving his own house, renjun made sure to grab a baseball bat with him for protection. sure it wasn't wooden or made of good metal, and he hadn't touched it for what seemed forever... but he needed something to defend himself. if these people were actual murderers, then he wasn't safe at all. it almost made him not want to go at all, really.

but he knew he had to. he had to see for himself what happened. he needed to give himself that sense of closure, and hopefully prevent any more deaths from happening.

renjun regripped mark's letter in his hand before he pulled up chenle's contact information on his phone. since he's noticed his absence, he's called him more than several times. each time, it's gone to voicemail. he figured he would try calling one more time before heading out in hopes that he would find chenle to be alright. he additionally hoped that chenle would offer a little more insight regarding mark's cult so he at least knew what he was walking in on.

and yet, when he called him for the umpteenth time that evening, he was greeted with the familiar voicemail. he sighed in defeat and put his phone in his pocket. he looked up at the house before him: mark's house.

it was just about 7:00 by the time he arrived, and he felt his stomach flail around with nervousness. after all, he wasn't sure who lied behind that door, and what they might do to him.

he snuck around to the backyard, climbing up to the slightly short porch.

the lights to the shed had switched on as soon as he stepped on the back porch. despite being so far into the woods, the shed could be seen from yards away. from renjun's view, it seemed as if it was glowing. its golden glow was so bright and shiny that it seemed unreal to him. he was so taken aback by it, he was nearly terrified. he felt the wood beneath him creak as he went down the steps. every slow step down sent his stomach to drop. he didn't know what was lying ahead of him. he didn't know what would happen, and in a way, he was too afraid to find out. but he wanted to know who stood behind that worn down shed door. he wanted to know who had committed such devious acts on his friend.

on his last step and he began to feel the crunch of the autumn leaves from the bottom of his shoe. he continued forward into the woods, his heartbeat getting faster by the minute.

part of him wanted to turn back around for his own safety. he wanted to steer clear from any danger that was waiting for him in that shed. but he knew he had to keep going.

renjun clenched his fists as he saw the shed in a clearer view. his palms were beginning to get clamier, making his fingers loosen on him. he kept trying to clench his fist, but the sweat in between each finger would not let him.

he began to hear some type of noise coming from the shed. it was almost sounded like a rhythmic hum. but he noticed the harmony of each hum and wondered how that would be possible. so now he knew the cult was in there for sure. no one could perform such harmony on their own.

the humming was comprehensible from where he stood, which was face to face with the door. he shakily exhaled before placing his hand on the rusty doorknob. he hadn't turned it just yet, momentarily hesitating as he told himself to back out now.

but alas, he turned the knob, slowly opening the door.

his guess was correct. There wasn't one person, but actually three people in the shed. they all wore maroon cloaks and sat with their backs to him and on their knees, their heads looking down at the floor. candles were placed around the shed, and he guessed that was why the shed was glowing so bright. still, they continued their harmony as if renjun wasn't even there.

as he opened the door a bit more, he noticed that there was a sort of a long table at the front, where another cloaked figure stood. his back also faced renjun, and he noticed that this person was holding some kind of bowl. he hovered over something that laid on the table, mumbling some words that renjun couldn't figure out.