Peggy ran as fast as she could. Her soft blonde curls flowing behind with the speed , her breaths heavy and loud , narrowed eyes only aimed at the road ahead of her . The dirt road seemed never ending as she prayed silently in her head. They were hot on her trail. Ever since Robert had confided in her the secret of where the kidnapped children of the town were, those people had started haunting her dreams until they appeared in her life for real.
The Shadow Ring was a secret cult that had been run over a decade in the small town of Shenington . Children aged between 6-12 were since then reported going missing to never to get found. Peggy had been brought up in the city and had only come to the town for dealing with the property she had inherited from her grandma. She had spent enough time to befriend a local policeman ,Robert. Being a very inquisitive soul herself, Peggy hadn’t missed how unusually protective the townspeople were towards their children. She pursued Robert into telling her about the unsolved missing reports and thought of doing some further research into it.
Peggy visited all the old buildings she could, the schools, hospitals, the Town library ,every place except for the abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the town . She searched all the newspapers dated back to a decade , made notes of the missing children’s details she could get . It had started with a general curiosity but now, she was giving all her attention to it. This didn’t go unnoticed by her friend. Robert soon approached her with the topic ,stating his concern for her safety.
” Pegs” he called her by her nickname he had coined for her “ Listen, you shouldn’t get involved with all this. This can get you in a grave danger.” They were sitting in a small coffee shop , at the corner table . The shop was old and smelled like it. Old and dark ,much more in the corners.
She let out a small laugh which quickly left her lips as she noticed he wasn’t really joking. Clearing her throat ,she said
“Robert, I can’t believe its YOU out of all the people telling me this. Its actually your job but you seem very indifferent to any of it.” she said, shaking her head in disappointment
“Its not really about that Peggy, its about your safety. You think I haven’ t tried to solve this mystery with all my young vigor? Believe me , the people involved in all of this are extremely dangerous. They don’t spare anyone, they won’t spare anyone.”
Peggy’s eyes widened .
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! You know who they are? You know what is happening? Do you??”
She noticed how a bead of sweat trickled down his temple, how his eyes couldn’t meet hers and his hands didn’t seem to know where to rest.
After a while of having an inner conflict ,it seemed, Robert finally let out a long sigh before telling her the history of the Black Ring cult which had haunted the town and its children for years. They were a secret society worshipping a devil they referred as ‘ Gionna’ ,who fed on children’s blood. This information was enough to send chills down her spine.
“Do the townspeople know about it?” she asked, gulping down.
“Pegs, some of the towns people are the one involved in it. No one is supposed to take their names let alone discuss it in open. And here I am , putting you in danger with all of this information.” he said ,concern and guilt lacing his words. “Please, don’t discuss this with anyone. You never know who is a member and who is not, okay? And please abandon this “ He said looking at a conflicted Peggy ,rising up from the table with the coat hanging on his shoulder.
“Listen, what do you mean by only ‘me’? You have put yourself in danger too, right?”
At this, he broke into a nervous smile.” Yeah ,never mind “ With this, he left .
Days passed by one after the other. Peggy had spent nights shifting on her bed and then , falling to sleep only to get up washed in sweat due to the nightmares. Whenever she went out, it seemed as if everyone’s eyes were on her. The stares grew so intense that she was confused whether it was all in her head, or was she really in danger. She was going to leave the town the next week as soon as the paperwork was done. It was a matter of few days.
On a usual morning, Peggy picked up the newspaper on her doorstep only for her eyes to land up on the last news she wanted to see. ‘An 8 year old boy went missing from the Silverstone park yesterday.’ Wait. Silverstone park, the one where the first child was abducted. Something clicked inside her head. She immediately went running inside and pulled open the drawer where she had saved all the old newspaper articles she had gathered. It now began to make sense. Most of the places where the children were last reported to be seen or where the dead bodies were found, were near to the only place which was left unexplored by her - the warehouse . It was the perfect place to carry out mysterious activities. The warehouse was surrounded by dense trees which further led to the forest . She had to make a decision now. One part of her told her that she was on the right track and if she went, a child might be saved. Another part screamed at her that if she was caught, she would have a terrible fate. She looked at her family photo , her parents were waiting for her to return , her beloved sister who must have saved all the funny stories of their neighbors’ to tell her when she came back . Then , her eyes flickered over the newspaper bearing the 8 year old’s innocent face. She looked at it intently.
She took her handgun and a safety knife, her camera to collect some evidence and finally called Robert .
“I’m going to the warehouse. If I don’t get back in about an hour, there are chances that I might need your help.”
“Peggy don’t! I…” before he could complete, she cut the call.
Peggy climbed into her car and started towards the warehouse. Adjusting her rear view mirror, she noticed a shiny black car behind her. She noticed that the car took the exact same turns she took .The car was following her. The road was silent and nobody was to be seen anywhere near .She could hear her heartbeats ringing in her eardrums. Her throat went dry as the black car tried to bump into her. She didn’t know what to do .
She slowed down until the black car now stopped her path . Two people got out with black robes and a dark hoodie to hide their faces. They had a yellow circle on the front. She froze onto her spot as they approached her. “Get out” The man said tapping at her window. She had no choice but to obey. She kicked open the door , hitting the man in the process and made a dash for it.
Now, she kept running towards the warehouse, the people close on her heels. She hoped Robert would soon come to her rescue. He knew her location. She just has to hold on for a while. This was the only hope for now. She reached the warehouse when a sharp blow on her head made her fall down.
Peggy struggled to open her eyes as she realized her hands and feet were tied down. She was in the warehouse. The people dressed in the same robes as the earlier men ,were surrounding her on all sides. The one on the front came forward. He took off his hoodie to reveal an old man’s face she recognized as the postman who was very popular with the kids.
“Wh-where is the child? Let him go.” She said with her dry throat burning furiously.
She grimaced as his lips formed a thin smile.
“You really think we would dare so much as to insult our lord for your sake. You have caused us so much unnecessary trouble. We were going to spare you on behalf of your friend ,but you leave us with no choice. We have already done the sacrifice.” he added with an evil smile.
“Friend?” she was confused.
The old man nodded and backed as Robert came into her view.
“Rob..” she was at a loss of words as the man she had called her friend, stood there looking at her helpless form .
“I told you, Pegs..” The nickname now felt like a piercing in her heart.
The old man then put forth a sword in front of Robert. He took it .
“I can’t help it .I want to live. I’m sorry” he said as he raised the sword.