Mae was taken aback. All that stuff they had said about needing new blood or whatever. They were seriously going to try to get Mae and Bea on board with the cult. Alright then, give them the sales pitch.
"What do you mean?" Bea asked.
The cultist chuckled, "Don't y'all remember? Ma speech I gave when we last met?"
"So wait, you're trying to get us to join in your weird, terrible cult?" Bea responded, folding her arms.
"Well, one, maybe don't call it a 'cult'. Two, we're tryin' to get little Mae here to join more than you," the cultist said, motioning towards the quiet Mae.
"What?!" Bea angrily shouted, "Haven't you bothered her enough? Do you really need to torment her any more?"
Mae looked over to Bea, who didn't look back.
"We're tryna' do the opposite, actually," the cultist explained.
"How exactly could you do that?" Bea continued.
Mae was too tired and anxious to defend herself. She just wanted to sit down on the cold elevator floor and stop thinking about the cult. But she had gotten herself into this so she was gonna figure it out. Or maybe Bea would.
"Mae, we know exactly how you been feelin'. Outcasted. Sent to doctors who don't understand ya. The dreams. The headaches. We've all had 'em," the cultist said.
Mae looked over towards the cultist. Her eyes widened.
"We tried to explain it before. We gone through everythin' you have. Nightmares. Migraines. Visions." the cultist elaborated, pausing before continuing, "Shapes."
Mae felt a rush of… everything. Emotions. Adrenaline. Fear. Serenity.
"We've told others about it, only to be sent to doctors who send us to session after session, only to take our money and to give us drugs we don't need. One of us even remembers bein' locked in an asylum," the cultist continued.
Mae didn't know how to feel. She knew what the cult did. How many they'd murdered. Who they'd murdered. But, she felt that she had finally found someone who understood her. And she was scared of this part of her that accepted this.
"And all of those things are things caused by 'im." the cultist said, pointing back towards the hole, "He does those things to tell us we're different. That we're supposed ta help him. He gives us hard times when we disobey. But when we listen… it all goes away. We lose our nightmares, our headaches, our 'insanity'. And we gain health, wealth, glory. And we know what it's like to have all those terrible things."
Mae continued to stare at the cultist, her jaw beginning to drop. Bea looked over to Mae, nervous as to how Mae would respond.
"So what I'm tryin' to say is, this is somewhere where you can belong. Somewhere where you fit in. Somewhere where you can live happily, helping your town, your friends, your family," the cultist explained.
The cultist grabbed the sides of the hood covering their face and pulled it down, revealing the person underneath. It was Bea's dad.
"Dad?!" Bea yelled.
"I've been tryin' to help us after yer mom died, and this was the only way I could. A few guys got me into it, and it's been workin'," Bea's dad explained.
"You couldn't just work at the 'Ol Pickaxe? You had to get into a murdercult? You had to kill people?" Bea shouted.
"I tried to help. And I made you tougher, stronger," Bea's dad continued.
"What you did was destroy my dreams! Keep me in this stupid town!" Bea said.
"I tried, and it's been workin', Bea," he elaborated.
"Come one, Mae, let's get out of here," Bea grumbled, grabbing Mae's arm.
"No," Mae resisted, pulling her arm out of Bea's grasp.
"What?" Bea asked, surprised and confused.
"I mean no," Mae said.
"...Are you really considering this?" Bea shouted.
"I want to stay here," Mae explained.
"What?! You— give us a minute," Bea grumbled, pushing her dad out of the elevator before sending the elevator back up.
Once the elevator had made it about half of the way up the shaft, Bae began talking.
"Are you really considering joining this cult? The same one you've been fearing for days now? The same one that you feared months ago? The same one that killed Casey?" Bea shouted.
"It's where I should be," Mae said, blankly and quietly.
"It's not where you should be!" Bea continued.
"I can get all these nightmares out of my head. I can finally live a normal life," Mae explained.
"A normal life where you fucking killpeople!" Bea yelled.
The elevator made it to the ens of the shaft.
"I can stop paying Dr. Hank! I can support my family! I can help everyone I know! I can stop this town from dying!" Mae said, her tone and volume changing in seconds.
"You'll be killing people! You'll be saving a town with no one in it!" Bea explained.
"I'll be able to live life. Stop worrying about shapes or nightmares. Help my family keep the house. Help you go to college," Mae elaborated, quieting back down.
"How?! How will you do any of that?!" Bea asked.
"I'll fix the town. I'll get wealth. Etcetera," Mae continued.
"What?! No you won't! None of those things will happen and you don't belong here! This is just a group of insane people!" Bea yelled.
"Well, I'm insane, aren't I, Bea?" Mae said.
Bea gasped shallowly. This was all her fault, wasn't it?
"You're not!" Bea disagreed.
"You said so yourself," Mae explained.
"I didn't mean that!" Bea continued, desperately trying to deter Mae from joining the cult. She began backing up out of the elevator.
"You did. I know it." Mae said, "This is what I want to do, Bea. 'You might not think it, but I'm trying to help you.'"
"Mae, if you go down there and join that cult I won't be able to talk to any more! I won't be able to love a murderer!" Bea pleaded, tears welling in her eyes, her sadness coming out in the form of rage.
"Well then, goodbye, Bea," Mae said, sending the elevator down.
Bea watched, with her eyes full of tears, as the red light coming from the elevator went down, eventually disappearing.
Mae tried to distract herself from what had just happened. She had a cult to integrate herself into. She was simply trying to help her friends. This would fix everything. This would save her, her friends and family, and the town.
The elevator hit the ground below, and Bea's dad walked up to Mae.
"So what happened?" he asked.
"I'm joining, Bea's leaving," Mae briefly explained.
"Well, alright. Follow me," he said, beginning to walk down the dark mineshaft.
The made it to the end of the tunnel, ending up at the hole they'd seen last time. Rubble covered most of the room opposite to her. It seemed that they had barely made it to the hole before Mae showed up.
"Alright, so now's your initiation or whatever," Bea's dad said.
The rest of the cult came out from the shadows.
"This is our least favorite part of the job, but it must be done, and we must all share the burden," he explained.
One of the cultists carried someone. It seemed to be a crusty. He was unconscious, but definitely alive.
"What are you asking me to do?" Mae asked.
"In order to reap the benefits from 'im, we must keep 'im fed. None of us like doin' it, but we got to, so we share the burden between us. Now's your time to do it," Bea's dad said.
"So, you want me to kill this guy?" Mae questioned, pointing towards the unconscious drifter.
"That's not what we'd call it, but yes," he said.
"...Okay," Mae quietly agreed. The cultist passed the knocked out crusty to Mae, who struggled to hold him. But, she continued regardless, walking over to the hole.
This would fix everything. No more disasters to destroy Germ's roof. No more distracting Bea from achieving her dreams. No more job hunting. No more visits with Dr. Hank. No more trouble.
She dropped the person in, leaving her alone among the hidden, disguised cult.
She felt alone. But she could make a difference. This would work out.
Real quick note: there is a sequel to this story currently, check it out!