The area was completely silent except for the distant rumbling of the speakers Knoth was talking his bullshit out of. Oh shit, Lynn. Where the fuck did they take her, back to the church? But then why did they kill each other? I don't know what the fuck is going on anymore. I just want to take my wife and go home. I was trapped in an adventure I wasn't qualified for, and the job interviewers were them.

Loopy, I managed to rise to my feet somehow, stumbling back a bit from the punch one of them gave me. My head had taken a lot of beating in the past few hours, I had to visit a hospital after this.

I walked over to the boulder where Lynn was lying down near on, flipping the cultist up to see what damage had been done to his eyes. They were utterly maimed and fresh blood was seeping out of them into his cheeks. I turned my head away in disgust and tried to piece together what had just happened.

One of them called them "Heretics," just before they got attacked. I opened the photo of the document where they were mentioned in and read it again. The name Val coincided with Heretics, and they had something to with him/her. My mind reflected back to the prison room where one of them thought I was Val, and promptly connected the 2 dots together:

The gospel letter talked about devil entering Val's soul, and turning him/her against Knoth and Temple Gate, signifying that they were enemies. Then it mentioned Val joining the Heretics, which I assume were the mud covered people that the tall muscular woman was with. Then that must mean... Val was the one who licked me and kidnapped Lynn?

So there were two sides. Knoth and Temple Gate, and the Heretics. I assume me and Lynn were caught in a confrontation between them, and were innocent bystanders they were fighting over. I assume Knoth wanted to kill the supposed baby Lynn was pregnant with, but the Heretics wanted to do... something else with it. But I still couldn't figure out why the Antichrist was so dangerous.

Flashlights suddenly turned on from the direction we had escaped from prior to the ambush, and countryside accent-ish speech became audible. Fuck, Knoth's men were catching up. I reached for my camera to get a better look, only to find the pouch where I kept it to be empty. WHAT? Oh, fuck no. I frantically began to check every pocket my outfit held, trying to locate where I put the damned thing. They were drawing near, and it was clear that my camera wasn't on me. It had to be on the ground, hopefully not in the water though. But I couldn't see a fucking thing without my camera, I knew I should've bought the white version.

My lamp! I snagged the sneaky bastard, running around the place and holding it down towards the ground to locate my camcorder. One of their flashlights shined in my direction, letting me know that I needed to hurry.

"Hey, the outsider!"

Fuck! There it was! I dashed over to it, quickly snatching it up from the ground and turning tail towards the opposite way. I began to pace my breaths, evening my strides with each step and trying to maintain my endurance. I glanced behind, seeing one of them right on top of me. He was quickly catching up, not in the least bit looking exhausted. His hand was occupied with a bloody machete, looking like it was clearly the cause of some brutal murderings this fucker had done.

I had to do something quickly, or else he was gonna knock me over to the ground and stab me to death. Quick Blake, think!

Twisting behind for a brief second, I hurled my lamp towards him at full speed, catching him in the head and cracking it apart. He promptly plunged into the ground, his body going limp. Yes, I fucking got you!

The rest were catching up though, and I had nothing left to defend myself with. I twisted right back around, continuing my gracious sprint away from them. I was glancing behind every few seconds, checking to see if they were catching up.

After a quarter of a mile of running, I began to pick out a few houses above a medium sized pond. Docks with small sailing ships were situated near the residents' houses. I couldn't keep up the chase in the water, I wasn't known for being a fast swimmer. Instead, I submerged myself under the water, hoping they wouldn't notice me. If they did, I'd just try fighting and go out with honor. I simply wasn't getting away from them this way.

I began to swim away slowly while under the water, hoping to gain a head start if they noticed me. Their flashlights were visible from here, they waved them back and forth, looking for me. One of them even thought to point his flashlight underwater, but swiftly pulled it back up when he realized it wasn't gonna work.

They were still searching, but I couldn't hold my breath much longer. I swam under the floorboards of the dock, pulling my head out ever so slightly to breathe in before quickly diving back down. Come on, just turn back. After a few more seconds, they finally gave up and returned back, glancing back a few more times to make sure I wasn't immediately pulling my head out.

Well after they were gone, I furiously pulled my head out, breathing in and out heavily to recover my brain functions. Oh man, I must've lost a few pounds by now surely. Shaking my head to get rid of the water stuck in my hair, I swam up the shore, setting eyes on an open window. Shelter. I slowly hopped in, making sure no one was inside. I was merely passing by to sneak through in case anybody still lived here. I glanced at the bed, spotting 2 child dolls on the bed, leaning against the wall. Sick fuckers. I swear, if one psych ward rounded up all of these guys, they'd be able to make some serious money out of them. It would be the only good thing they'd be for.

I opened a window on the opposite side of the I entered from, hopping out and crouching, hoping to blend in with the tall grass. I wasn't even sure if anybody was even here, but I couldn't afford to be careless.

I turned on my NV, spotting a burned out campfire and some cigarettes lying on a board. I decided to head towards the right, spotting a cultist walking along the docks, a flashlight in his hand. Oh, fuck! I leaped back, swearing to myself. What mess had I gotten myself in? It's like the residents were on a town-wide manhunt to kill me. Not surprising considering that I took Lynn away, the person they wanted. Knoth probably placed the target on me just to get me out of the way. I wasn't gonna let them capture Lynn. Although the Heretics were already taking care of that. I needed to find out where they took her. But I didn't even know where I would be able to gather information on their whereabouts unless I captured a Heretic and made them talk in some way, although I seriously doubted I would be able to do that. Unless Knoth's men did it for me.

Nope, I couldn't see myself achieving that plan. I wasn't in a movie. I shrugged, peeking back out to see what the cultist what doing now. He seemed to be unaware of my presence, he was just wandering around with a flashlight for the hell of it. That was good news. I walked along the opposite side of the dock, hoping he didn't abruptly point his flashlight towards me. I took a left when the floorboards of the dock disappeared from under my legs and got replaced with the sand. There was a door entrance to a house on my right along the path, but I wanted to see what was at the end of the pathway.

Dead end, unless you were a fish. Just some farming equipment crammed in a barrel. I rattled the doorknob of the door I just saw, giving it a gentle push as I gained access to the building.

I quietly shut it behind me, turning around and getting bombarded by the bright light that knocked me on my ass once again. After the flash ended, I slowly opened my eyes back, setting sight to a whole different area. Darkness. What the...

I swiftly grabbed my camera and turned on the NV, setting eyes to some sort of unoccupied classroom. Chairs were rolled over on the student desks, and the whole area reeked of fresh bleach stains everywhere. I put up my collar, hoping to avoid some unknown poisoning I that I wasn't aware of. I slowly began to walk around, my footsteps echoing back several times to my ears. Where the fuck am I? How did that flash of white light transport me here?

No, I must be dreaming. Maybe that light messed with my mind or something. There was no way that a modern classroom was behind a worn down wooden door of a hillbilly housing building. I'm hallucinating, or out of my fucking mind. Fuck this.

Cabinets filled with folders were sitting against the reflective white walls, and a teacher's desk sat opposite of the student desks. Just like a normal classroom. I touched the walls, feeling the wetness of the bleach infect my hands. These walls were recently cleaned, definitely. On the writing boards were music notes scrawled with a white chalk.

I noticed a door leading into another classroom, and a poster beside it saying "Repent!" with the picture of Jesus holding a miniature cross up in the air. Paying little attention to it, I unshutted the door leading out of this classroom, being met with a stronger wave of bleach stenches. My god, who cleaned this place? I seemed to be in music class now.

There was another door leading into some sort of brightly lit area, and to my left was another writing board with some words on it. The person who wrote it had good handwriting, that was for sure.

I'm sorry I have to do this.

You should have loved me.

You should have helped me.

Jesus forgive me,

I don't know what to do.

I'm so sorry.

Jessica

What the fuck? Jessica? But she's dead... Who would...

Recorded

I recorded the words on the board, making sure to present them to the public later. I didn't know how I had gotten here, but my camera would. I walked over to the teacher's desk, picking up a picture with 3 kids posing for the camera. The camera which took the picture seemed old, the picture was half black and white and had random white dots placed on it.

Jessica, and Lynn? And me between them. I remember posing for this picture. My eyes wandered to a model of Jesus hanged on a cross, and I had a morbid realization to where my whereabouts were right now.

I'm back in my Catholic school. You shitting me? Here I thought this day couldn't get any worse.

On the table stood a scissor, some tissue paper in a box and some student assignments crammed in a single folder. I needed to get the hell out of here. I ran to the other doors, swinging it backward and gaining passage to the hallways. To my left was a locked door with no doorknobs. To my right was a few signs hanged on the ceiling listing various terms. The one closest to me said "Responsibility."

Wait, is that a guy? He stood in front of the exit, facing me and watching my every move. I felt unsettled, slowing my steps towards him. Who was that? I zoomed in with my camera, still not picking out any of his facial features. He looked skinny and seemed to be a few inches shorter than my height. But his overall presence just gave me a bad vibe. Blue lockers were all around us, and every one of them seemed to be vacated.

A few more signs passed by overhead as I got closer, my nervousness rising with every second. Fuck me. a clock stationed on a wall let me know it was 10:30 PM, making me even more agitated. Why the fuck does it have to be night every creepy place I go?

He abruptly stopped his silent attitude, sprinting at me with all his might as he blinked in and out of existence. I felt adrenaline rush throughout my body before I put my arms up in defense, flying all the way back to the end of the hallway, nearly slamming into the double doors.

I felt like I was in some sort of acid trip. In fact, this whole thing felt like one long acid trip, and my friends would wake me up in my college dorm in a few moments, and I'd forget this little trip forever. God, I hope so. I checked what injuries I had; My whole body felt like it was on fire. I was most likely internally bleeding, but the adrenaline was in enough dosage to keep me going.

My bruised and battered body. It felt like getting run over by a truck. What the hell? I silently began to weep, my miserable state finally getting to me. Lynn. Jessica. I lost them both, and now I was paying the price.

I stood up, gritting my teeth in anger. Who was responsible for this madness? This... This...

"Why the fuck am I here? Just let me off the hook for a few seconds, please. I just want Lynn to be safe. I don't want to be here anymore, send me back!" No response, as I expected.

More footsteps began to emerge in from the doors strewn around the hallway, getting closer the more I waited here. I needed to get out. Nobody was blocking the exit now. I ran with every ounce of my strength at the exit doors, kicking them open and saying sayonara to this awful school. Don't remind me of her, please.

The cold breeze began to wash over me as I dug my boots in the thick snow, struggling to walk. I remember now, this was around the time where Jessica's corpse was found. It was snowing outside. And I remember seeing a bloody snow trail appearing behind her as doctors carried her to the ambulance.

It was eerily dark outside, and I had to resort to my NV once again. I could see faint signs of brick walls; I still wasn't completely out of here yet. I set my eyes on the exit doors, trying to get as far away from them as possible. The air was starting to become colder, and I put my hoodie up to protect my ears from the cold. Come on, I need to go back to Lynn.

He's coming, Blake.

I'm sorry Jessica, I can't help you right now. My wife needs me. Lynn needs me. I need to go back to Temple Gate. Even though there are people wanting to rip my guts out there, Lynn is suffering worse. Who knows what they are doing to her.

I reached the metal fences that separated the school from the outside world, eager to get out. Just had to pry this gate open. I struggled with the chain lock for a second, seeing as I had not been here for like 20 years, you tend to forget. I swiftly ripped the lock from its gate, swinging it open and stepping through to the outside.

The ground began to crackle beneath right as my foot stepped outside the gate, collapsing under me and sending me plummeting towards... something. I hit my head on something solid and sharp, giving me a swift concussion right before I tumbled onto the rough sand.

Sand? I touched the ground with my hand to make sure I was back. Yep, I was back in the desert. I didn't know what prompted my brain to send me back, but it worked.

My vision was blurry, and I thought it was from my massive pain-inducing concussion before I realized my glasses had flown away. I quickly reached for them and put them back on, examining the sky above. The stars looked especially more beautiful this evening. I didn't know if it was from the concussion or my generally shitty day, but I admired the sight. Might be the last pretty thing I will see in my life.

I was planning on laying down until my concussion healed, but a figure appeared in my view, forcing my body to pump adrenaline again. Oh fuck, I was totally defenseless and injured. He could kill me if he wanted. I quickly did whatever my body allowed me to, which just amounted to putting my arms up in the defense.

Instead, he just stared at me, examining my face and body. Why wasn't he attacking like the rest of this hellhole of a desert?

"You're him, ain't you? The Outsider."

He crossed his hands and fiddled with them. His tone sounded friendly, but he looked and dressed just like them.

"I apparently am,"

I replied, rubbing my forehead to ease the headache.

"Knoth's eye, they slit your tongue didn't they?"

What? I cleared my throat, making sure that I didn't seem like I was mumbling.

"No. Not yet. Is that a thing they do?"

I extended my hand towards him, signaling him to help me up.

"Well, they'll do it if they find you out here. Come on."

He pulled me up with ease, helping me balance myself after I was up. Was this person actually friendly? If they were, I finally had hopes of rescuing Lynn again. Two people are better than one.

"Who are you?" I asked as soon as I was up.

"My name's Ethan." He turned back and motioned me to follow wherever he was taking me. I complied, not wanting to anger him in case he turned out to be crazy too.

"I mean, are you one of them? And which side are you on?" He didn't seem like the type of person who'd be with the Heretics, but he also didn't seem crazy enough to be with Knoth either.

"You mean why I ain't trying to kill you?"

"Yeah... that. Every person I have encountered so far has been hostile. But you aren't. Are you like an outcast?"

"I been... Unborn. Seen too much to keep the faith." He replied nonchalantly, continuing his pace along the path.

"But you aren't one of those other ones, the Heretics."

"Didn't say squat when my wife got scalled. Had to get cast out."

"Cast out? They literally murder every person who isn't a part of their bloodthirsty cult. Why did they let you off the hook?" I stumbled a bit before straightening myself, letting Ethan continue.

"Didn't complain when Knoth... pressed himself on my Anna Lee, and she not but fifteen!"

"I'm sorry." We began to head into a small area of lit houses. I began to get nervous, but Ethan knew what he was doing. I hope. Unless it was a trap.

"But when he said my grandson. The baby he'd put in her, was might the Antichrist and I had to slit her belly and kill the child!" This guy seemed to have gone through a lot hardships. I felt truly sorry. It seemed that me and Lynn weren't the only victims.

We walked for a bit, passing by houses and lit campfires. I needed to ask him something before it was too late.

"I, uh... just came out of some sort of hallucination. I was back in my school and saw the writing of my dead childhood friend, I strolled for a bit there before the ground suddenly collapsed under me and I ended up in the position you found me in. Know anything about that?"

He shook his head sideways, signaling me to follow.

"I saw you hit the ground. You were standing on an unstable cliff before it collapsed on you. That right there is all I know."

"T-Thanks..."

I wasn't standing on a cliff though. I was on solid ground. Did that mean I was walking around in the real world through all of that?

He was waiting for me in the small staircase up to his house. I quickly caught up and let him know he could continue.

"I gave her chance to run. Spun them idiots some stories. I been gifted with talk my whole life, you probably noticed." In the campfire light, I could see that his face was covered with dirt and had a couple small cuts on it. I wonder who put them there on his face.

"Blake." He stopped in his tracks, turning to me with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry?"

"My name's Blake." He nodded and climbed up the stairs, opening the front door to his house. I followed right behind him, eager to know if he had some things that I could use to aid in my survival. I shut the door behind me, turning back to see him swallowing a pill.

"What are those?" I inquired, pointing at the bowl full of pills.

"Those? Just my method to keep the head straight." Okay, I didn't really know what that meant. I held off on any more questions. He was already bothered enough.

Towards my right was a single bed, presumably Ethan slept in. A fridge and parcels full of fruits and vegetables stood beside that. Pans and pots were hanging on the walls, meat stains on their surfaces. Support structures stood around the house to keep it afloat, and below the floorboards was some sort of root cellar area.

"Head down into the root cellar. I got a bed down there." He informed, pulling the hatch into the tight space, motioning me to go inside.

"Are you sure it's safe down there? I could be discovered." I asked as I jumped down.

"It's all right, you just relax there. I'll keep you safe." He shut the hatch behind me with a loud thud, kneeling down to see where I was.

"You rest up and heal. Ethan's gonna treat you right."

He stood back up, walking out of the house and leaving me alone.

Nice, I had a place to stay finally. Ethan seemed like a nice enough guy, it seemed like he just lived off the grid and happened to live in the area of the cult. My headache was also getting better. He said there was a bed down here, but I needed to do some scavenging first. I pushed the hatch back up, climbing out and going towards the fruit parcels to eat some. Let's see... apples, corn, bread and some raw meat. Corn, no discussion. I picked one up and began munching it up until all that remained were the unedible parts. I'm sure Ethan wouldn't mind if he found out. He'd understand that I was just hungry. Also, it wasn't like I was gonna eat it all. Just some. He had to be harvesting these from somewhere too.

I downed a few corns before moving onto the bread and the apples. I still felt bad about eating it all, but I needed to keep my energy up. After a few minutes of food consumption, I began to check the rest of the house for anything useful.

There were 2 rolls of bandages, nice. I quickly picked them up in case I received a knife wound or something. There were no batteries sadly, and I just had one more to keep the camera going. I didn't know where the other one went. Probably dropped it.

Nothing. I checked the kitchen counters, finding a dirty machete among the frying pans. That's what I'm talking about! I snatched it into my hands and swung it a couple of times, trying to get the feel for it. It wasn't gonna save me in a ranged encounter, but I might manage to kill someone in melee if they got too close. But I wasn't gonna try to attack them unless provoked. They usually traveled in packs and were batshit crazy. I was alone, sane and cautious. No way I would come out unscathed. Lynn needed me alive.

I put it on the side of my waist, pushing the hatch back up and going back down into the root cellar. There wasn't a trash can around, so the food leftovers were gonna have to stay on the table. I crouched and passed some truck wheels and leftover car equipment before crossing paths with the bed. I slowly spread my body around as I laid down, putting my glasses on the side of the mattress. I tightened my grip on the pillow, closing my eyes and beginning to fall asleep. The misty odor settled into my senses as I groaned, picking up the faint scent of something burning, specifically biomatter. Churning against the fire, cooking to a crisp. I let the mental images slide as I slipped into my dreams, the static now only a needless distraction in the way between me and my wife. How do I escape it?

Please Blake.

Where are you?

I'm scared.

He's coming.

AH! GET AWAY! HE'S HERE! GET AWAY FAST! AAHH! AAAAHHHHH!

I jolted out of my deep slumber, breathing in and out heavily to remember what I was hearing. Jessica was calling out to me? What was she trying to tell me?

"I ain't hiding nothing." Ethan. I quickly put my glasses on, standing up on my feet and beginning to crawl to the hatch to see who he was talking to.

"Righteousness cannot pass in blood by loins, but the blood of your heart." I stopped dead in my tracks, seeing the pickaxe woman through the cracks of the floorboard. Oh fuck, she was back. She was looking at Ethan and pointing her finger towards the food I ate prior to sleeping.

"I kenn Papa's gospel. I copied 'em a hunnert times. If I knew who ate these goods..."

"The prophet don't need your help finding the devil's whore and her rut-mate. Knoth questions even know other Heretics at chapel. God'll guide him."

"I ate these- AH!"

Her motionless composure was abruptly broken as she grasped her weapon of murder and swung it around the room unrestrained, splitting the table in two. My leftovers flew around the house, one even managing to slip through the cracks and land beside me.

Anger in her tone, she picked an eaten corn piece up from the ground and showed it to Ethan while pinning him against one of those support structures.

"You were out on a mission while these gifts of the prophet were being consumed, the only one who did could be the outsider!" She thrust the handle of her pickaxe towards his neck, making his feet leave contact with the floor and still float.

"Wait, please. PLEASE! I can explain!" He frantically blurted out while trying to struggle out of her hold.

"You know where the outsider is..."

Ethan let out a few yelps of crying and agony as he struggled even more, flailing his legs around wildly in a desperate attempt to escape.

"His seed begat the enemy. God and the prophet both want his blood."

"-Just let me talk to Knoth, I can explain!" She let Ethan go, positioning the tip of her pickaxe towards him, who was still recovering from the chokehold.

"God don't hear dead men." With seemingly all of her strength, she thrust her pickaxe towards Ethan, impaling him in the stomach and dragging him up the structural support.

"Be still!" At that moment, I think me and Ethan made eye contact. He stared at me in fear between the cracks, and I did an expression of "I'm sorry." to him. Fuck!

The brief eye contact didn't last long. She promptly tossed Ethan away, landing him near the root cellar hatch. I crawled towards his position to get a better look. He was making gurgling sounds as she slowly approached him, readying her pickaxe strike once more.

"Take your penance! God loves you. God loves you." She placed her pickaxe behind her as Ethan tried to crawl away to the root cellar hatch in one last desperate attempt to save himself. But it was to no avail. The pickaxe wielding maniac thrust her pickaxe into him one last time, impaling him in the ribs. She struggled a bit to pull it off of him, her breathing hinting towards anger. Ethan flopped on the ground one last time as she managed to unlodge her pickaxe from him and making her quiet leave.

"Catamite to the devil." She busted open the front door with one swing, hunching a bit to get through. The house fell completely silent except for my silent swearing.

OH FUCK! I quickly crawled the rest of the way towards the hatch and creaked it open, not bothering to shut it behind me. Fuck me. Fuck my decision. Fuck everything about to me. He was lying dead on the ground with his blood, multiple pickaxe wounds on his body. His mouth was agape, and his eyes fell back on his head.

I did this to him. If I hadn't eaten all those things, she wouldn't suspect Ethan being with me. He didn't rat me out. Even though I basically caused his death. You didn't give me up to her. Even though I... thank you.

Recording

"That... woman? Whatever she is, beat him to death. Something about finding Lynn. Something about a chapel." She mentioned Knoth interrogating the Heretics at their chapel. Maybe my plan from before could work. One of the Heretics might know where they took Lynn to.

Okay, I was relieved that my next objective was clear. Find the chapel.