I stared at the open door. I could just step out of this room and follow her. And I'll see Cana and Indigo again.

  I looked to the lamp table again, where the journal containing all their members, their location, lies undisturbed. She intentionally left it here. The guy I shot did want me to have this. Come to think of it, I don't think I saw her picture in the journal. Who is she? Or is it possible that she's just a relative? But she didn't deny being a cultist when I called her one. A new recruit, perhaps?

  I shook my head. None of that matters now. What matters is that I have to find Cana and Indigo.

  "Wait!" I shouted. I grabbed the journal and the amulet and rushed outside the door. She was standing with her back to me, only her neck turned to face me.

  "I want to see them," I said.

  "Well, who do you want to see first?" she asked. "Cana's sleeping upstairs, in my room. Indigo's down here. "

  My guilt made me anxious to see Indigo first. But I find myself hesitating. What if I go see her now and find her awake? She won't know anything. All she knows is that she woke up in this random place with a stranger treating her. That will lead to questions. Which leads to the dread I'm feeling right now.

  I'm scared of looking Indigo in the eyes, telling her the truth—how we left her there, unconscious, and hurt, to save our skins. I'm scared of her accusatory look, her venomous words, which we surely deserved.

  "I'd like to see Cana first..." I whispered. So I won't have to face Indigo's rage alone.

  "Come along then," she said, gesturing with her hand for me to follow here. She said nothing about the sharp edge I'm still holding. Only this time, I'm no longer pointing it towards my neck.

  My neck has been itching/in pain as we walk the empty, narrow hallway. My hand went to my neck. I touched something wet and sticky. When I pulled my hand away to inspect it, my fingers were smudged with blood. Oh well. At least it doesn't seem to be flowing now.

  It looks like this girl isn't lying. We are high up. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, I could make out the cars passing by from the distance. But this unit, this room, is to spacious to be the same as the ones we were abducted from. So maybe this is their base?

  There's no one here. I thought. But I did smell the mouth-watering aroma of Tinolang Manok simmering on the stove to our right. My stomach grumbled. I placed my free hand over it as if that would make it shut up.

  "Where is everybody?" I asked. "Seems pretty bone dry for a cult base."

  "That will take a long time to explain," she said. "And I'd rather explain it to all three of you at the same time than do it over and over again."

  I don't know what to think of that so I just followed her up the stairs in silence. All this time, she just kept walking ahead of me, completely exposing her back. Not even worried if I can escape. Maybe she probably knows that I won't escape without them. But I'm also armed. That should warrant some caution on her part.

  We've reached the second floor, which is just another short hallway of doors. We reached the first one, thinking that that was the door Cana was but instead she just passed by it. When we reached the last one, we finally stopped.

  She didn't knock. She just grabbed the doorknob and turned it open.

  My heart beats a hundred miles per hour with anticipation as the door opens. But unlike in my room, where the lights were on, we were only greeted by darkness and silence.

  "That's strange," the cultist girl finally said. "The lights were on last time I was here."

  "And when was last time?" I asked.

  "Minutes before going to your room," she responded. She felt around the wall and finally hit the switch on.

  The room is compact like the one I found myself in. But Cana wasn't here.

  I went inside, thinking that maybe she's under the bed covers. But I heard a creak behind and turned around. I saw Cana alright, as she pounced on me with a book bursting out of a closet.

  She only stopped when she saw me.

  I waved my free, non-bleeding hand, saying "Hi."

  That made her slowly lower her book. "Vergil, you're..." Then her eyes went down to my neck and hand holding a sharp edge. "You're not okay." Then she brought her book up again above her head.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  But this time, I grabbed her hand before she bring her book down on cultist girl's head. Cultist girl had both her arms in an x over her head.

  "Cana," I said, shaking her hand, making sure she's looking at me. "Indigo's here."

  Her eyes widen from the news. "Indigo...But—"

  "She's downstairs," I interrupted. "At least, that's what the person you're about to knock unconscious said."

  "And you believed her?" Cana said glaring at the cultist girl.

  "Well, she didn't lie about bringing me to you," I said.

  She glanced at the blade I'm holding. "You're holding her hostage, of course, she'll cooperate. For now."

  I blinked. "I...I'm not."

  Cana stared at me for a bit, checking to see if she heard me right. "You're holding a blade at her. What are you talking about?"

  "I'm not holding her hostage," I said. "She offered to take me to see you."

  "Really?" Cana said. "Then what's the knife for?"

  "He threatened to kill himself with it!" Cultist girl said, who was still hiding behind her arms.

  "What?" Cana asked. "Why would you do that? Wait, so they didn't hurt you or anything?"

  "...No," I said. Suddenly, I was concerned about Cana. "What about you? Did they hurt you?"

  "...No."

  Cultist girl studied us for a while and decided that it was safe now for her to drop her arms.

  She cleared her throat. "I know it is confusing but I will explain everything later. For now, wouldn't you want to see your friend, Indigo?"

  Cana looked at me.

  I nodded.

  "Fine," Cana said to cultist girl. "Lead the way, then."

  I left the blade at a nearby table and we flew down the stairs and turned right from the dining table into another hallway with just two doors on the left and the right side. Cultist girl opened the one on the left and we followed her inside.

  "Perfect timing," the lady, who I assumed is the family doctor, Dr. Yap, cultist girl was talking about, said. "She just woke up."

  "Vergil! Cana!" Indigo greeted us with a smile. But that same smile disappeared when she took a good look at me. "What happened? Are you okay? Where are we? What happened to the cult chasing us? Where's Major Coleman and the others? She won't answer any of my questions."

  I looked at the doctor. She shares the same features as cultist girl except her straight black hair was pulled into a slick ponytail. And she was wearing make-up.

  "That's a conversation for you three to have," she said.

  She didn't tell her, too. No wonder Indigo was so happy to see us. Remembering her innocent and trusting smile just now seemed to twist my heart into a pretzel. I really wished they weren't this considerate. I'd really rather they had told her. So that I won't have to. Because I don't want to. Because how am I even supposed to start?

  Dr. Yap went to cultist girl. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

  "We hurt her?" Cana said in disbelief. Then she picked up a scissor lying on the doctor's table. "We hurt her?!" Cana repeated, pointing the scissors at the doctor and cultist girl. Anger was rising in her voice.

  "Cana!?!" Indigo exclaimed, clearly shaken by the scene unfolding in front of her.

  "What about Demi? Huh?! What about Kent? Eris? What about the countless soldiers and that night guard— people who were just doing their jobs that the Shade killed?!"

  She took another step forward. The scissors just inches away from the doctor's neck. "And you have the nerve to accuse us of hurting her, you stinking cultist!"

  Indigo gasped, covering her mouth with both hands. "They...they're the cultist? What's going in!?"

  The doctor stepped forward to the point that the edge of the scissors was practically digging into the skin of her neck.

  "I'm sorry to hear that," the doctor said. If she was acting, I would give her an award because pity was really in her voice. "But it's not us."

  "How do you expect me to believe it's not you!" Cana snapped. She dug the scissors even deeper that the doctor started bleeding but neither the doctor nor Cana moved. "If you tell me someone copied you and managed to actually summon the Shade, I'll bury this deep!"

  Cultist girl stepped in front of the doctor. "You're right. It's the cult. But it's not us, personally."

  "If you're involved in summoning back Daniel," I said. "You're just as guilty."

  The doctor and cultist girl exchanged looks. From the looks on their face, I'd say they looked surprised. Or is it more like...afraid? I get it that what we told them was so unbelievable, so terrifying but to elicit fear from the cultist themselves? I don't buy it.

  "Playing dumb won't help you," Cana said in a steel voice.

  "But that's the thing," cultist girl said. "We weren't involved in any way. In fact, we tried to stop them."

  "Who's we? And why on earth would you even stop your fellow cultists?" I asked.

  "I'll tell you everything you want to know," cultist girl said. "But please, put it down." She said to Cana. "If you kill her, who's going to change the dressing on your friend's wound?"

  "My dad's a doctor," Cana said. "I won't need help with that."

  "And what if her sutures opened?" Dr. Yap said. "They are still out there looking for you. Which means you run around a lot. Would you know how to stitch wounds without getting it infected?"

  "Of course not," Cana said. "That's for professionals."

  "Which I am," the doctor said. "And if your father is a doctor, he may have mentioned the Hippocratic Oath that doctors take?

  "The cultist who abducts and sacrifices children to summon a supernatural power is talking about causing no harm?" Cana asked.

  I'm not really familiar with the Hippocratic Oath but I'm guessing it involves not murdering children for power.

  "The old cult was like that," cultist girl said. "Not us. If you would just hear us."

  "Wait!" Indigo yelled. "Someone explain to me what is happening! They're the cult!?! What?"

  Dr. Yap looked back at Cana. "Before we continue, don't you have something to tell her first?" The doctor said, nodding at Indigo. Cana bit her lip. Then she lowered her hand. Suddenly, I couldn't look at Indigo. Instead, I watched cultist girl apply bandage on the small cut on the doctor's neck.

  "Tell me what?" Indigo ventured.

  I let the question linger in the air instead of answering.

  Cana and I exchanged looks.

  "We'll be in the dining room," cultist girl said.

  I watched her and the family doctor walked out of the room in silence and closed the door behind them. I wanted to follow them, I wanted out of this room, of this situation but as much as I wanted that, my shame, my guilt glued my feet to the floor.

  "Cana? Vergil? "Indigo asked. "What's going on?"

  Her voice, so innocent, so trusting, sent chills up my spine.

  I have to come clean, I thought. I have tell her.