Chapter 50: Cult:
Nancy's POV:
Dad and I were watching Cult.
"I wonder if they'll ever stop that Billy Grimm," says my Dad.
"You got me," I said.
"Hey, we better see if Shaun is alright," says my Dad, "he's been in his room for a long time."
. . .
We got to the room and Shaun is not there!
. . .
My Dad called the police.
"It's weird," says Det. Tamura, "there's literally no sign of what happened. Whoever did this, they knew what they were doing."
I then took a look at Shaun's room. "This is weird," I said, "it kind of looks like how they would do it on Cult."
Det. Tamura laughs. "What you think that someone's imitating a TV show? This isn't Gotham."
"Weirder things have happened," I said.
"Look, we'll find your brother," says Det. Tamura.
. . .
I told the crew what happened.
"If anything happens to Shaun..." Ned then hits the table.
"You really think someone could be imitating Cult," asks Bess.
"I know it sounds weird, but in the last episode I saw, Billy Grimm captured his victim and left no trace."
"It could just be a professional criminal mastermind," says George, "then again, why would they take Shaun?"
"To get to our best detective," says Bess.
"I think it's something else," I said.
. . .
I was in Shaun's room again. My Dad's real worried. Then I found something strange. It was a card. "It can't be," I said. It was the symbol of Cult!
. . .
My crew and I decided to visit the studio that makes Cult.
"Steven Rae. I created the show."
"I'm Nancy, this is Ned, George, and Bess."
"What can I do for you," Asks Mr. Rae.
"Mr. Rae, this may sound weird, but... my brother has been kidnapped and-"
"The True Believers," says Mr. Rae.
"What," I asked.
"Oh, nothing." He was nervous and left.
"I can explain. I'm Roger Reeves."
"You play Billy Grimm," I said.
"The True Believers are a Cult fan club," says Mr. Reeves, "a Cult that worships Cult. They are so obsessed that they imitate the crimes committed on the show."
"Now that is dedication," says George, "in the worst way."
"But why did they take Shaun," asks Bess.
"Because that's how they work," I said.
"Steven likes to pretend they don't exist because he worries people might connect him with the crimes," says Mr. Reeves, "and I don't blame them. Some people think I'm doing them!"
"Some fans have trouble telling fiction from reality," says Ned.
"Mind if we get a list of your fans," I asked.
. . .
We took a look at the list and one of them was Nathan Gomber. There's a surprise.
"Maybe Gomber did it," Bess suggests.
"No, there would have been a ghost involved," I said, "but we could check out Stuart Reynolds."
. . .
We then found Stuart Reynolds' apartment and entered... weird that the door wasn't locked.
"Guys, check this out," says Ned.
It was a shrine dedicated to Cult.
"That's disturbing," says Bess.
"Ahll of ziss ovair a ridiculous wahrk of fiction! Whaht nahnsense!"
"I don't think Reynolds is our guy," says Ned. We found him dead.
"Why am I not surprised," I asked.
. . .
We then took another look at the list.
"I wish we had another clue," I said.
Bess then looks at the card. "That's odd," says Bess, "there's another place where I've seen this symbol!"
. . .
Bess took us to a store that uses the same symbol. 'Piper's.'
"What are the odds," asks George.
"Pretty good if the owner of this place likes Cult," says Ned.
"Let's move," I said.
. . .
We were in the store. "Piper's is a weird name for it," says George.
"Well, it fits for two reasons," I said, "number one, the owner could be named Piper and number two, Billy Grimm liked to quote the Pied Piper tale."
"Welcome to Piper's, I'm Piper."
"So, you like Cult," asks Ned.
"No, what's that," asks Piper.
"You use the same symbol," says George.
"What symbol," asks Piper.
That's when you know she's hiding something. "We're just going to look around," I said.
"Okay," says Piper.
. . .
We then took a look around. For a woman who claims to never have heard of Cult, she sure has a lot of Cult based merchandise. I then found a strange sphere and when I touched it, it opened a secret door. "That's interesting," says Ned.
We then went through.
. . .
Now we're in a strange underground room. It's making me think of the Hidden Staircase. We then saw Shaun tied up.
"Shaun," I said. I then removed the gags.
"They're right behind you," says Shaun.
We turned around and saw Piper and the True Believers behind her. "Confession time," says Piper, "my real name is Kirstie."
. . .
Now we were all tied up with Shaun.
"Who are you guys," I asked.
One removes his hood, and it was Felix Raybolt, another was Joseph Svenson, another was revealed to be Linda Moore, then the last one removed his hood. "You've never met me before, Edison Ford!"
"Why are you doing this," I asked.
"Cult is an inspiration," says Ford, "but no one else understands it!"
"I know my husband doesn't," says Felix.
"So, we're bringing it to life," says Ford.
"You guys watch too much TV," says Ned.
"We're dedicated fans," says Joseph.
"You're all obsessed," I said.
"I don't think they get it," says Linda.
"Let's make them understand," says Kirstie.
I managed to cut my ropes with a nail file and hit them with my chair. I then untied the others and the True Believers tried to attack us, but we used chairs to fight back.
"These guys grabbed me when I was playing Cyber Wars," says Shaun, "I don't know how they snuck past you and Dad."
"Admire them later," I said.
We had to keep knocking them down.
. . .
The Police took the True Believers in. One thing's for sure, I might not watch the show for a while.
Cult is a show about a show called Cult. I have never seen it. In fact, I've never heard about it until today. In the next chapter, Gomber begins the ritual.