“Aren’t you excited?” my father glanced back at me from behind the wheel while we were driving on a narrow road during winter. My mother sat beside him. “A new life, leaving that old town behind. You’ll have tons of new friends, a new school…”
“Yeah, I know,” I responded. To be honest, I was more stressed than excited. I was happy to leave everything behind. The school, the bullies, and the shit weather, but at the same time, it was a big change. I spent my whole life there.
“Don’t worry, Tom, it’ll be great,” my mother smiled at me.
“Yeah,” my father agreed. “But before we arrive there, we have to find a gas station.”
“Where are we right now?” I asked. I tried to look for some signs from the window, but I couldn’t see anything because of the snow.
“Near Harwich,” mother replied.
“Never heard of it.”
“It’s just some small town, nothing significant. It’s really old, and I think it’s full of criminals. I don’t think we should stay here for too long, to be honest.”
“Don’t worry,” father said. “Just five minutes, and we’re going. If the GPS is right, there’s a gas station just around the corner.”
He parked the car there, then looked at me.
“Wanna come?”
“Yeah, I think I’ll buy a bag of chips for the road.”
“I’ll check out the store, too,” mother replied.
As we were approaching the store, we saw a homeless old man sitting near a bench, drinking some rum.
“Watch out, this place is full of murderers, hah,” he laughed. “You wouldn’t want these Supreme God idiots to kill you.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“Don’t worry, Tom, just a drunk homeless man,” my mother dragged me away.
“Yeah, of course,” the old man sighed. “Don’t listen to the drunk, homeless man, kid. But remember me if you’re dead. I warned you.”
We reached the store. The door creaked as I opened it, and a musty smell hit me as I stepped inside. The store was dimly lit, with rows of dusty shelves and an old, dirty counter. Behind the counter, there was a man the cashier, a blonde guy in his 30s. He looked awfully skinny, I could see the shape of his skull. He was also pale, I think he looked sick.
“Good evening,” I greeted him.
“Evening,” he glanced at me for a second, then looked back at his phone. What a rude person, I thought.
I noticed cobwebs on the corners of the room, and the floors were creaky beneath my feet. Some windows were boarded up, which made the store feel even more claustrophobic. The neon “open” sign flickered dimly, adding to the eerie atmosphere. It was clear that the store hadn’t been well-maintained in quite some time. The feeling of being watched was overwhelming and made the experience of being in the store even more unsettling.
As I walked deeper into the store, I noticed that the aisles were cluttered with a variety of items, some of which seemed to have been there for a very long time. The products looked like they had been forgotten, and their packaging was discolored and worn. The air felt thick and heavy.
The lighting in the store was poor, and I had to squint to make out the labels on the products. The walls were lined with grimy posters and signs that had become faded with age. I saw a corner of the store that was blocked off by a tattered curtain, I couldn’t help but wonder what was behind it, but I didn’t dare to investigate.
My mother walked behind me, and placed her hand on my shoulder, leaning closer to me.
“Do you see that guy, there?” she whispered. “I don’t know what or who is it, but it’s freaking me out.”
I looked out of the window, and at first, I couldn’t see anything in the dark parking lot, but soon I saw what she was talking about. Near an old car, there was a tall figure wearing a strange, black robe with a large hood. The creepiest thing was his mask, or at least I hoped it was just a mask, and not a real moose skull. It had large horns, my blood froze as I saw the guy.
My dad came inside too, walking to the cashier to pay for the fuel. When he was done, he came to us.
“So, are you ready? Can we go?”
“Do you see it?” mother asked him. In a few seconds, my dad saw it too.
“What the fucking hell?” he whispered slowly. “Okay, it was enough of this town, let’s just leave.”
We nodded, following him out of the store. I was glad we could finally leave this gas
station behind. As we approached our car, however, I had a strange feeling. I felt like someone was watching me. And it wasn’t the creepy guy in the moose mask near the other car.
My dad opened the car door, then immediately jumped back. At first, I didn’t know why he did that, but then I saw another tall figure in a robe getting out of our car, rising above my dad. The guy had a human skull mask on his head. I don’t know if he was the scarier one, or the one with the moose skull.
“What are you doing in our car!?” my father shouted at him. “Who the fuck are you?”
As we looked around, we could see even more hooded figures around the gas station. We were surrounded. As we came to this realization, I think we all started to think about what to do next. Maybe we could jump into the car fast enough, then drive out of there. But we couldn’t do that, as the hooded guy was still standing between my father and our car.
“Run back to the store,” father shouted, and we all started running at the same time as fast as we could. When all three of us entered the building, we looked back. The hooded guys weren’t following us. They were just standing there. At least twenty of them.
The cashier walked to us. We hadn’t noticed this when it happened, but now, looking back, I remember him being in a dark robe.
“Please, sir, call the police,” my mother said to him. “Who are they?”
“Sacrifices need to be made to the Supreme God,” the cashier said, then put a horse skull on his head, wearing it as a mask. He then raised his hood.
“What the - ” my father couldn’t finish this sentence, as the cashier cut his throat with a quick swing of a knife. My father looked at him and then at us with wide us, not understanding what had happened, unable to talk. I could never forget that expression. He looked at us for a few seconds, but it felt like hours went by. He then collapsed to the ground, a blood puddle started to form around him.
My mother screamed at the top of her lungs. I just couldn’t react, I was unable to comprehend the events of that night. It was like a nightmare. I hoped I could wake up right at that minute.
As I looked out the windows, I could see the other hooded figures had started approaching the store. Then they came inside. One of them grabbed me, another one grabbed my mother.
The cashier with the horse skull raised his knife, then pointed it right at my mother.
“Tom, look at me,” my mother said, crying. “You know I love you, right?”
As soon as she said this, the cashier guy stabbed that fucking knife in his throat, killing her in just a few seconds.
“May the Supreme God take care of you in the afterlife,” they all said at the same time. He then pointed the knife at me.
“Wait,” I shouted. My survivor instincts kicked in. I couldn’t even cry, as I was still in shock. I lost both my parents. Just because we didn’t have enough fuel. “Who is the Supreme God? I want to learn about him. I want to join you!”
They stopped. There was about half a minute of silence. The one with the horse skull looked around, some others were nodding toward him. He then looked at me.
“The Supreme God is welcoming everyone who has an open mind.”
Now I’m trapped with them. A fucking cult. A bunch of fucking murderers, and I have to pretend to be a part of it. I have to pretend that I don’t care about the death of my parents. Please, if someone near Harwich is reading this, call the police. I don’t know exactly where I am. I think they want to do some ritual to make me a part of their cult. Please, help!