Chapters She woke up with a jolt when she heard it. It was very soft yet forceful, knocking on her door. Standing up from her bed, she put on a robe to conceal her nude body and grabbed her phone that was on the bedside table.
Then she heard it again, the knocking. This time, it was more forceful than gentle.
In annoyance, she walked out of her bedroom and made her way to the front door of her small one-bedroom apartment. But before she opened it, she checked through the peephole to see who was there.
Surprise tickled her as she saw a man she’d never seen before. But he wasn’t alone, beside him was her partner Twilight Sparkle. They were both wearing protective gear over their arms and legs, but nothing over their faces.
Unsurely, she opened the door and let them in. They were alone from what she could tell, but from the look on Twilight’s face, it was urgent. Closing the door she turned to face them.
It was rather strange that Twilight was here with … whoever he was, in high gear, it’s almost like she is going somewhere dangerous on her first day on the job. Or well, the second month on the job.
She still couldn’t believe she had become a cop.
Before she could ask what was going on the man beat her to it.
“Are you miss Sunset Shimmer?” He asked in a gruff voice that told her that he was here on business and wasn’t fooling around.
“Yes, sir,” Sunset answered simply while her eyes slowly caught Twilight’s who made a motion that they’d talk later.
“Alright, now miss Shimmer, you have been with the police department for about,” the man had pulled out some papers that Sunset guessed were profiles of the newest recruits. “Roughly two months. How does it feel?”
“It feels good, sir.” She couldn't understand what this man wanted with her. But whoever he was, he had Twilight with him who didn’t seem shocked or surprised by the question.
The man had asked the same questions and turned up in the same fashion as they did now.
“Well, it’s not surprising considering that you two are rookies.” He mumbled loud enough for them to hear but he didn’t sound mean.
“Anyways,” He caught Sunset’s eyes. “Is it okay if we sit down? What I have for you might come as a surprise.”
Not knowing what to do or say, Sunset nodded and led them to the living room where there was a small coffee table, a sofa fit for two people, and a chair across from the sofa.
Sitting down on the chair, Sunset kept her eyes peeled on the man as Twilight went to make tea which she had asked Sunset before she came into the living room.
The man sat down on the sofa while he looked through some papers he had with him. Sunset only caught a few glimpses of profiles and words that didn’t make much sense to her but for now, that wasn’t important.
Coming out of the kitchen was Twilight with a tray of three mugs of hot tea that let out soft smoke into the warm summer air. Picking up her mug, Sunset enjoyed the warm feeling she received while Twilight and the man grabbed their cups of tea and began to shuffle the paper at a faster pace.
“How have you been, Sunset?” Asked Twilight while she looked through the papers, dropping one of them and picking up another just to do the same thing again.
“I’ve been good,” curtesy was something that Sunset was not normally known for being, but she did have her moments when she needed to.
Still shuffling the papers, the man decided to take a small break and have a chat with Sunset. The man had his military-grade gear on him as if he was going to war. His aqua blue skin tone had some white marks and lines stretching from one place of the body to the next.
Sunset was not exactly sure what that was, but if she would have to guess; it had to be old marks from either knives or bullets that hit him over the years. The man did look to be in his mid-forties, but he could either be older or potentially younger.
“So, miss Shimmer, as I stated earlier, two months on the job … have you had any exciting cases?” He had a small smile that graced his lips, but the toning of his words didn’t sound friendly.
“Nothing worth mentioning, but … we did solve two murder cases, albeit those were big crimes,” Sunset spoke with a neutral tone.
The man’s smile didn’t vanish, if possible, it widened slightly almost as if he heard excellent news.
“Good …” He muttered slightly. “Good, it means you have some experience in doing police work. You don’t happen to have had military training do you?”
Sunset was stunned by the question. Why would he ask that? After everything—
“Yes, she has,” Twilight responded folding some papers while placing the ones she found important on the table. “She has been to Afghanistan twice and she had a tour in Irak …”
Twilight trailed off when she saw the murderous look Sunset gave her. She looked down to the table, feeling her cheeks heating up. Sunset didn’t like to talk about her experience with the army and had only told Twilight the need-to-know basis because Sunset had suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. At first, Sunset had refused to speak about what happened until Twilight threatened with sending her to the doctors.
Sunset had told her what she could know as a civilian and nothing else which made Twilight slightly upset but understood the severity of her fire-haired friend telling her sensitive information.
Sunset was technically already in trouble for telling Twilight where she had been stationed.
The man could sense the tension rising from Sunset and decided to change the subject.
“Interesting, well, you might need those skills again. However, that is only if you accept the job offer I have for you.”
At first, Sunset felt a little offended by the change of subject, but let it slide as this was her first encounter with him and she did not know who he was. Knowing that she had to say something, she raised an eyebrow to let him know he had her attention.
“What kind of job?” She further pushed.
The man smiled and took a file from Twilight and handed it to Sunset. Upon grabbing it, the fire-haired girl felt as though she would regret it.
Ignoring the emotion, she opened the file and saw a picture of a pretty handsome dude. He had green spiky hair, he wore yellow sunglasses that reminded Sunset of those the hunters use during the warm summer days. In the picture, he wore no shirt, but he did have tattoos of different kinds.
She started reading over his profile.
“So,” muttered Sunset as she read through his profile. “You want me to take down a priest that pretty much runs a cult?”
The information she received from the profile was indeed interesting like what schools he’d gone to, and what he’d done with his life before he moved to Hope County where all of the cult activities were taking place.
She would be lying if she said that she’d never heard of him; the news a decade or so ago spoke always about that, a crazy cult leader taking over Hope County and speaks about the ‘Great Collapse’.
Everyone had been talking about it. But that was the time she had been stationed overseas. No one at the base had initially believed it but when their commander told them about it … she had never seen her friends there look so shocked before. The leader of her team, Rainbow Dash, could not believe what had happened. Never in their wildest dreams had they ever suspected something like that would happen back home.
And then the years went by, Sunset returned home and was then sent overseas again and then back home where she then got an early pension and she enlisted in the police academy.
The county was on the map, but it was never spoken about. The news very briefly would speak about the small county but otherwise, nothing was ever said or done about the matter. Most likely due to fear of revealing it to the rest of the world.
Now … the man and Twilight were showing her a profile of the man behind the whole ordeal; Spike Seed.
“Yes,” came the response from the man. Surprised, Sunset turned up to look at him. She was just a rookie, sure, she has military training and all, but even with her training, she is new to being a cop. The military and the police are two separate things like how they operate and do things while in the army, as long as your not doing things for fun they won’t bother you.
“No offense, but I have been with the—” Sunset was cut off by the man.
“Yes, you have only been with the police for two months. But you have the experience to take down a very bad man that has hurt a lot of people, families, pets, and anyone that stood in his way. He’s brainwashed his followers including his two brothers and sister.”
She had to admit, the argument he was making was quite enticing but she still felt that it was wrong to just use military-style arrest on a civilian.
“What makes him any different from all the other cult leaders?” She boredly asked, hoping that they would give her some kind of hint. This must be somewhat worse than they made it out to be.
Yes, a lot of cults do kill the ‘unbelievers’, as they would call them but it’s an easy arrest if they know what they’re doing. Then it hit her.
Being careful as to not show emotion, she started thinking about different questions as to why they would show the cult leader and ask her to use military-style arrest—which they were pretty much asking of her—on a religious fanatic.
Was there something unique about Spike Seed that made them afraid to fight against him?
Because of the questions raging inside her head, she never saw the look Twilight and the man shared before they glanced back at Sunset who still did not show any emotions on her features.
“What makes him different …” the man trailed off as if he couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Is because he has an army, not just other fanatics like him but an actual army that holds weapons, explosives, and vehicles ranging from trucks, cars, helicopters, and planes.” Twilight finished.
“That can’t be true can it?” She tried to downplay it to see if this was some kind of sick joke. Twilight wasn’t prone to do such things, but you never knew.
Sadly, the response she received wasn’t pleasant.
“I’m truly sorry, miss Shimmer,” the man replied. “But it is indeed true. Which is why we came to you for help.”
They needed a mindless soldier to do their dirty work. Sunset came to that conclusion because she had been a brainwashed foot soldier like the others. It was easy to control someone who was below their rank, easier to boss around and do the work that would have the higher-ups in trouble.
“Okay, what do you need me to do, if I decide to join?” The emphasis was so clear that even someone with half a brain could sense and understand the danger behind her words.
Twilight and the man did not look surprised.
The man took a large gulp of his tea that had slowly over the time of their conversation, cooled down. He had a small, satisfied, smile on his face as if he hadn’t tasted anything that good in months.
“Well, we want you to take him down. We have an arrest warrant on him so by law, he cannot say ‘no’ to it. Not that I believe he’ll listen to it, if anything he will just sprout about how God will not let you take him or some gibberish like that,” The man rolled his eyes in such a fashion, that he gave Sunset the impression that he had arrested other cult leaders.
“I can understand that, but why precisely me?” At this, the man stiffened. “Do you expect resistance?”
She knew he was keeping something from her, and she did know that there would be resistance not just how much there’d be. She leaned forward from her chair and stared right into the man’s eyes.
“Yes, we do.” Sunset turned to Twilight who didn’t seem fazed by the ‘interrogation’ the amber girl had with the man. “They will most likely try to kill us which is not surprising, but they have weapons that we do not indicate to even understand. So, we arrest Spike Seed and try to take the cult out.”
It sounded simple, but it wouldn’t be.
“Weapons that we do not indicate to even understand? ” Sunset asked with a frown.
Twilight sighed. “We have seen them use some kind of chemical or toxin that makes them see things and even do things that no normal humans could do. Sort of like a drug but this one is permanent because it exists and is farmed all over Hope County.”
Sunset released her frown, giving a look of understanding spread across her features as the lavender woman explained the weapons.
“Okay, I can understand that,” Sunset confirmed with a nod. “I accept the job.”
Twilight and the man stared at her in shock. Did she just agree to the job? Why would she accept it so quickly?
“Sunset, didn’t you—” Twilight tried but was cut off.
“Twilight, you and the man over there wouldn’t have stopped until I said yes, so I decided to simply accept it and not live with the guilt that you may have died because I simply did not accept a job.” The voice had clear emotion that the amber woman usually tried to hide from the world, but today it was out in the open.
The lavender woman felt her heartache slightly but not painfully. It was something else that she couldn’t put her finger on.
Glancing over to the man that she still had not learned the name of which she probably wouldn’t for a long time, she asked the million-dollar question.
“When am I leaving?” At the question, the man sat up straight.
“We will be leaving in three days, I have prepared a helicopter that will take us to the county and I have also prepared the weapons and gear that we will use.” Abruptly, he stood up but he continued to look at Sunset. “If there is anything you need, just come by the station, I will be waiting there.”
Sunset gave a slight pout. “Oh, leaving already?” She knew that his only purpose was to get her to accept the job which would pay her fairly well because of the dangers she was bound to face.
She had to admit; that he didn’t need to entice her with money, she was already interested when she heard ‘Hope County’.
The man chuckled heartily.
“Sadly, my job was to make you accept the job by any means necessary and so my job is done.” He stated. “Well, at least the, get you to join part.”
Twilight chuckled at the two. She had been afraid that Sunset would turn down the offer immediately when she would need to use her military skills, but that didn’t happen. Sure, she had been alarmed. Understandable.
But she also should have known that Sunset would have maybe been interested in what the job would be. Sunset enjoyed the thrilling life no matter how much she tried to deny it; first as a soldier and now as a police officer. Both jobs had dark sides that many overlook. But Sunset either didn’t care or there was something she was trying to achieve with her career choices.
Now, she couldn’t deny the fact that she was relieved. She had mentally prepared for a well-thought-out argument that would last a few minutes or hours. Sunset after she returned the first time, had not been the same. She has—and still is—a shell of her former self.
It’s like her mind tells her that the enemy is somewhere inside a building or is following her.
The first time Sunset had returned, Twilight and her amber-skinned friends went to a café. That’s when Twilight noticed her friends’ paranoid behavior, always glancing at everyone as if they would attack at any moment.
She had tried to make Sunset tell her what happened, but she only got the need-to-know basis which her friend by military law isn’t allowed to disclose such information unless it was with other soldiers.
Besides that, Sunset refused to have anything to do with the military when she received her early pension.
Twilight finished her tea and also, stood up while she had grabbed the profiles and other important papers.
“Well, then I congratulate you on a job well done.” Sunset mockingly teased before standing up herself to show them out.
The man left and didn’t wait for Twilight outside the door. Before the lavender woman had left, Sunset held her back for a slight moment to talk.
“No offense Twilight, but why did you accept the job?” They were standing in the kitchen while Sunset was cleaning the mugs in the sink. She looked over her shoulder slightly to see her friend better
Baffled, Twilight replied; “What do you mean?”
“Well, I know you can handle this kind of job, but it seems to me that there is something more going on inside your pretty little head.” She might’ve sounded cruel, but she was curious to hear her friends’ responses.
“Oh,” Twilight’s voice was close to a whisper. “Well, originally I wasn’t supposed to. But, I wanted to … know what you experienced, or at the very least have a good understanding.”
Sunset sighed. She should have known it would be something like this. Now, she will be forced to take down a cult and make sure that Twilight doesn’t get herself killed because she wants ‘understand’ what she went through.
Turning to face her friend, she sighed tiredly.
“Twilight, you do realise how bad that sounds, right?” Twilight looked down on the floor, knowing that it was bound to be said sooner or later.
“Yes, I know but that isn’t just why I accepted the job.” It wasn’t a lie, Twilight had indeed wanted to defeat the cult and accepted the job before she even realised that she would potentially understand better what Sunset experienced.
Sunset felt her mouth twitch into a smile. It was good that it wasn’t the only reason she accepted the job.
With that said, Twilight left the apartment and Sunset looked out the small window, watching the small figure become smaller and smaller until she couldn’t see her friend anymore.
Author's Note
Hey guys, I needed a slight break from writing Ghost Of Equestria so I came up with this story that I had planned on writing for quite some time but never got around to it. Now that I have, I decided to take the opportunity. Enjoy!
Preparing for her departure proved to be easier than originally anticipated. From what little information she had received from the man and Twilight, they didn’t say anything of what would be required.
Saying that the cultist have vehicles and heavy artillery didn’t say much, it just either showed that they were great thieves or had deep pockets which probably was a combination of both. But it also showed that she would need heavier weapons than she usually had with her.
However, she could steal one of the weapons the cultist used if the worse became worse.
Sunset triple-checked to see if she had everything she needed for her long “trip” and walked out of the front door of her apartment and locked the place.
The last two days had been rough, she mentally prepared herself for the long battle ahead. The man, from what she remembered, sounded as though the leader, Spike Seed would come willingly. However, his voice did betray the doubt he had.
There was one question, however, that Sunset forgot to ask when they visited her. Why were they interested in arresting him now when they should have done so a few years or a decade ago?
She did not remember the exact date, but it was a long time ago.
The cult leader or the cult itself must have done something very atrocious if the government decided to finally arrest him for his crimes. Before, they didn’t seem interested. The commander that had contacted them when she was stationed overseas did not look the least sympathetic.
Walking through the double doors of her apartment building, she headed for the parking lot where she had her bike. The area did not have many cars, suggesting that Monday morning had kicked the bucket for most people.
When she spotted her bike, she couldn’t help but smile proudly. The colours were matching red and gold just like her hair which shone brightly in the summer when she was riding in the city of Canterlot which hadn’t changed much from when she was a teenager when she moved there with her parents.
Nonetheless, the bike took her from point A to B.
Throwing the bag over her shoulder and putting on the helmet, she got on the bike and loudly rode out of the parking lot.
But deep inside, she felt strange. Sighing, she realized what she was feeling again. It had been the same whenever she would be sent somewhere. The feeling of not knowing whether she would come back alive or not. Maybe this was the mission that would end her?
Shaking her head, she continued towards the station.
The station, as always, was very rowdy with some officers signing paperwork while others pretended to be finished so they could breathe some fresh air. And of course, there were the criminals with petty crimes or more serious that waited for interrogation.
It was a normal day for officers, but for Sunset who was a rookie, she would be sent to war. This time, inside of the country she had made a vow to protect. But it didn’t just feel strange for her, it felt … out of place.
It didn’t feel real like it was in some kind of action film. Sighing, she walked past a few officers who greeted her with smiles and she smiled back. The reality of the situation was that it was reality.
It was by no means a comfort, the complete opposite, but it gave her a sense of purpose. Like she would do—not just the county—but also her nation a large favour.
She was about to knock on the office door where the man was when she was stopped by a voice behind her.
“Sunset!”
Turning around, she saw both the man and Twilight walking towards her with armour covering them like three days ago. But they were also armed. They had pistols in their holsters and packets for a few rounds if things didn’t go smoothly …
“Great timing,” Sunset commented. “I was about to knock on the door and tell you to hurry up.”
Twilight looked slightly proud of herself while the man chuckled heartily. Little did they know, they wouldn’t chuckle or laugh for quite some time.
“So, are you ready?” The man asked, nodding towards Sunset and the bag she had over her shoulders.
“Yes, I’m ready.” Sunset lied slightly but it wasn’t picked up by either the man or Twilight.
“Okay, let’s go!” Twilight slightly shouted which caused some officers who passed by to look at her weirdly, making her blush in embarrassment.
Quietly, they headed over to the staircases that would lead them to the higher levels where the helicopters were stationed. From what Sunset understood, the man had asked if they could use one of the helicopters to capture Spike Seed to which they had been affirmed that they could. Luckily for them, it wouldn’t be a long flight.
Moving up the staircases, the man started to tell Sunset about Spike Seed that the profile didn’t have on him.
“His minions call him ‘The Father’, he claims to have met God and even spoken to him in which ‘God’ told him about the ‘Great Collapse’. He then made it his mission to purify everyone before judgment is upon us.
“From the sources that I read, he was once considered to be a normal priest until the people there attended their first mass … they saw armed cultist, their mark, even our nations flag with their versions of stars.
“By then though, it was too late, most of the people there were convinced by his words, brainwashed and ‘cleansed’ of their worldly sins, and were stable enough to join Spike Seed’s cause.”
The man had a tone of disgust edged on his voice as he spoke about the cult leader.
Twilight listened to the story that she probably had heard before. At least, that is what Sunset was assuming. “From what she had just learned, she wasn’t surprised. A man comes into town and starts preaching about the Lord and no one thinks anything of it, just that he is a priest. Was there any reason to be afraid of a priest?
If it’s a cultist, then yes, but if it’s someone they don’t know then they should meet the person before they make wild assumptions. Of course, there are dangers in meeting strangers, but a priest should be the one person you could trust.
But Sunset had come to realise that history would beg to differ.
“Okay, but why did he decide to take Hope County?” Sunset did know the answer, however, there could be something that the cult leader saw that she wasn’t seeing at the moment.
Turning a corner, Twilight glanced at her friend and opened her mouth to reply.
“It’s a strategic point.” The lavender woman stated. “I’m sure you knew that. However, it could also be because he saw something that we just aren’t seeing.”
The man chuckled bitterly when they made up the last flight of stairs. “He most likely was told by ‘God’ that Hope County was the place everything began.”
Twilight cringed at the tone the man used while Sunset felt slightly amused by the loathsome words spoken.
Walking through the hallways, they came across the door that led them to the helicopters lined up. The helicopters had the same black and white colours with the bold words; Police painted in black while the white colour around it made it more visible.
Looking around, Sunset saw a chubby man wearing a police costume that was greenish. He wore a cowboy hat that reminded Sunset of an old friend she left— The man also wore a golden sheriff star on his left-side chest. He wore glasses and had a long mustache. He looked to be in his forties or fifties.
Sunset saw him look up and focused specifically on the man. There was a look of pleading. She felt her stomach churn. It was strange, she’d never had that feeling, even when she was sent on her first mission.
“Agent, are you sure you want to go through with this?” His voice sounded raspy. The man, Agent as the sheriff called him, didn’t waver or look different than he did a second ago.
“Sheriff, I have my orders to arrest Spike Seed.” The agent spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. “He needs to know that there are laws for a reason, laws that he has clearly broken.”
The sheriff looked like he wanted to argue, but he was cut off by Twilight.
“Look, we can discuss this on our way there.” She said while stepping inside of the helicopter and putting on the necessary equipment for the ride.
Begrudgingly, the sheriff followed along with Agent.
Sunset stood there, contemplating whether to continue or not. Life wouldn’t be the same. She would be haunted by the things she would have to do. The worst part was that it wasn’t on foreign soil that made it somewhat easier to cope.
Looking up, she saw Twilight staring at her intently before smiling motioning with her head for Sunset to come.
Sunset got into the helicopter and put on the necessary gear for the flight before they had their take-off. This time, she felt her body being washed over with determination. There was no going back now.
The helicopter swayed slightly with the harsher wind but the two pilots in the front weren’t deterred. Looking out the window, Sunset could see the city of Canterlot below her, the people walking about their day, having their personal problems they needed to fix. If only they would remember Hope County.
Or maybe they did but chose to forget.
“Agent?” Sunset called. The agent turned to look at her with inquisition in his eyes. “I forgot to ask you this yesterday; what did Spike Seed do that caused the higher-ups to shit their pants?”
Twilight tried to stifle her laughter as best she could. It was unusual to hear Sunset curse but when she did, you knew things were serious. The sheriff was about to speak but the Agent beat him to it.
“Spike Seed has been found guilty of massacres, blackmail, murder, torture, and another whole list of things that he’s done.” The Agent snorted. “The higher-ups—as you say—have been trying to shun the problems in Hope County for years, but a little girl was found dead on the road with her throat cut. Her clothes had been torn off and a sharp object had carved the word on her back; Sinner.”
As they flew, the sheriff decided to retell some stories of when Spike Seed and his siblings grew in power the story’s only difference was that they were a cult that had the most extreme views than someone who was ultra-religious.
“You see, when they had just come to Hope County, no one thought much of them, we welcomed them and they accepted us. Spike Seed created a church by himself and started the preach the same way any other priest would. I even went there during mass and what I saw honestly made me feel unnerved.
“His siblings were there to the side while Spike was there preaching over Revelations . The people there, most of them, wore costumes that looked raggedy for wear. They had long hair and beards but what stood out the most were the weapons they held in their hands.
“Assault rifles. That is what they held while they heard ‘The Father’ tell them how the collapse was ‘upon us’ and how we needed to prepare for the end. After mass, I never returned to that church and instead kept a watchful eye on them.
“However, what no one realised was that they slowly bought up several acres of land from the different farmers around here. They even bought several houses and stores just to tear them down and build whatever they planned on building. They bought the radio stations and media networks all across the county until the only thing we could hear and listen to was their music and ‘news’.”
“That sounds horrid,” Twilight said with fear on her face. She looked a little bit pale and her eyes didn’t have the same spark that they used to have when she was in the academy.
“Oh, it is,” The sheriff affirmed. “Right now, they do everything they can to make other people hear their voices and propaganda.”
The agent didn’t look entirely bothered by the story, but it could be that he was trying to silently gather information. Sunset would have to watch him closely when they try to arrest Spike Seed.
“Has there been any outsiders that have joined their cause?” The sheriff turned to look at Sunset with something that resembled respect.
“Yes …” He confirmed. “There have been hundreds of people who came to join—the Peggies as we call them—and spread the message across to other towns near Hope County or even cities. But usually, they just stay where they are.”
“Good to know,” Sunset acknowledged.
As they neared the church where Spike Seed would be, Sunset couldn’t help but notice the giant statue of what looked to be Spike holding the Bible while his other arm was stretched out as if to give a half-hug.
“There he is,” Twilight quietly spoke.
“Motherfucker …” The agent swore as he glared at the several-meter-long statue.
“He sure seems full of himself.” Sunset coldly said. Twilight didn’t turn away but she did murmur something to Sunset that sounded like; ‘don’t say that while we’re here.’
“He’s not far from it,” The agent spoke. “I have heard the dictator in Kyrat has a golden statue.”
“Really? Where is Kyrat located?” Twilight eagerly asked, happy with the change of subject.
“It’s somewhere in the Himalayas region, I think,” Sunset said while trying to remember the dictator of Kyrat.
“Oh, who’s the dictator?” The lavender woman asked while staring slightly at the ground below where a church was waiting for them.
“We can discuss that another time,” The agent said as they prepared for landing. He took off his headset and checked his gun in his holster to see if he had ammo. Sunset did the same while Twilight looked at her pistol awkwardly.
The lavender woman wasn’t used to holding such weapons.
“You know it’s not too late turning back.” The sheriff tried weakly.
“We’re going in,” The agent said after taking a deep breath, preparing for the worst.
As they got out of the helicopter, the cultist around the area looked at them with either confusion, neutrality, or hate. They walked past a few houses, making their way to the church where mass was in full swing.
Sunset kept her eyes ahead while Twilight looked at the mud on the ground as they walked. The sheriff looked his age and kept glancing at the agent as if he would attack the cultist any second.
As they walked by, they heard the whispers from the cultists around them.
“What are they doing here?”
“Are they cops?”
“Are they here for The Father?”
It was quite a frightening experience for Twilight. She had only been with the police force for two months, so she had no idea how to deal with a whole group of nutjobs. Not that anyone there blamed her, the other also felt unnerved by the cold stares.
When they got closer to the church, they saw several cultists armed with assault rifles who watched them with cold gazes.
‘Spike Seed certainly has many followers,’ Sunset thought with bitterness. It meant that there would be more paperwork than she wanted to spend time with.
Reaching the church, the agent opened the door and was about to step inside but was stopped by the sheriff who put a firm hand on the agent’s arm.
“Whoa, Agent, when we go inside let me do the talking.” Sheriff sounded pleading while Agent simply rolled his eyes.
“Relax, you are about to be on the first page in the paper!” The agent spoke with an enthusiastic voice.
He opened both doors fully, revealing the dark, warm church inside with sitting places from the left to the right while the middle had a large aisle that led up to the altar where a shirtless Spike Seed stood.
“I saw when the lamb opened the First Zeal, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts say, come and see…”
“Step. Forward.” The agent spoke in a cold voice which made the cultists inside of the church glare at him and reaches for their weapons, But Seed put his hands up to signal his men not to do so.
“...And I saw, and behold it was a white horse…”
He walked towards and pointed toward the agent slowly before he looked around and the other officers inside his church. He did not look at them hatefully. He probably didn’t want them there, but he didn’t say anything.
“And Hell followed with him.”
“Now, why are you here officers?” Spike Seed asked in an eerie voice that draped into what could only be described as sarcasm. However, he had the same look someone had when it was a serious discussion.
His sunglasses didn’t make things easier.
“Spike Seed, you are under arrest for several massacres, kidnapping, murder, abuse, abuse of power, and rape.” The agent growled with disdain. “Put your hands where I can see them.”
At this, the cultists stood protectively around ‘The Father’ with their weapons ready. The Agent was about to pull out his weapon when the sheriff shouted at him not to, pulling his arm forward as if to make a point while the cultists told them to go home and never return. Sunset prepared to pull out her weapon when Spike stopped it.
“Enough!”
The cultists immediately stopped and turned to look at their ‘Father’ for answers. The agent pulled his hands away from his weapons while the sheriff still looked at the agent and occasionally glanced at the cultist leader.
The tension was almost unbearable. The room felt hard to breathe in, their clothing and protective vests didn’t do much to help.
“We prepared for this,” Spike spoke with a calm voice as if to calm his ‘children’ from something uncomfortable. He glanced around with a small, comforting smile. “God won’t let them take me,”
He didn’t sound arrogant. It was like he was stating a fact.
“Go.” He said quietly enough for his followers to hear. “Go.” He repeated.
Slowly, the cultists walked out of the church but they kept shooting ugly looks at the cops who were there.
When Sunset looked up, she realised that they were not alone. Behind Spike, stood a tall man with gray skin, black hair, and scarlet-red eyes. He wore a suit that belonged to a businessman. He had a menacing aura around him that made Twilight squirm slightly when his gaze landed on her.
The other one was a red-skinned man with orange hair and his eyes were dark purple. He wore a military-like outfit and he wore what looked to be a dog tag.
‘A former soldier?’ Sunset thought to herself, scanning him as thoroughly as possible.
The last one was a female. She had light pink skin and dark pink puffy hair. She wore a white dress and was barefoot. She had ocean blue eyes and a look of curiosity on her face.
Spike Seed then suddenly started to move. Snapping her attention to the cult leader, she saw him approach her, but stopped a few feet away and stretched both of his hands and arms at her. The sunglasses he wore damped his emotions slightly, but she could still see his eyes.
“Remember child; God is watching.” He said with an intense gaze that made her almost yell at him. She composed herself however and waited for her orders.
“Rookie, cuff this son of a bitch,” The agent growled out the order like a wolf. Sunset saw that Twilight was frozen in fear and the sheriff refused to arrest the cult leader, so she stepped forward and cuffed Spike Seed.
Cuffing him, Sunset felt dread form in her stomach as she walked away with him, the agent in the front along with the sheriff while Twilight was with Sunset.
It didn’t surprise the red and gold-haired woman. When they started at the academy, she saw how nervous the lavender woman was. Twilight was all theory and no practical. So, Sunset decided to help her with how to reload a weapon, who to disarm, how to remove all the parts and reassemble them, and so forth. She also helped her train so she would be able to run after the fast criminals.
Since then, Twilight had always been close to Sunset as she physically could.
Walking outside, she saw how the night sky poured its darkness like a blanket over them with only the moon shining bright enough for them to see. The dirt path looked to be used daily with the number of shoe prints she saw.
While she was walking away the cultists gathered around with shocked looks on their faces.
“They’re taking The Father!” One of them shouted in outrage.
One of the cultists ahead tried to attack the agent but was subsequently punched down to the muddy ground and landed with a thud.
“Stay back!” He ordered while aiming his gun at the cultists. Somewhere during the confrontation, he had somehow pulled it out and made sure they all could see it.
Sunset picked up the pace with Twilight following, while the agent and sheriff made sure they weren’t attacked from behind by any of the loyal followers. The sheriff was too afraid to pull out his weapon while the agent glanced from the left to the right for any possible attackers.
When Sunset reached the helicopter, he made sure that Spike Seed was fully seated and had the safety belts on.
Then, she sat herself down with the other three replicating her actions. But the agent wasn’t able to put the safety on before he was attacked by two cultists who tried to drag him out of the helicopter.
Sunset punched one of them away, her fist connected to one of their noses and she heard a crunch that satisfied her. Before she could gloat, however, she was attacked by another cultist who tried to bite her cheek.
In response; Sunset pulled out her gun and fired into the chest while the helicopter was taking off. What they didn’t anticipate, was the loyal followers who refused to let go of the vehicle that would take them out of the hellhole. Some of them tried to climb inside but were either shot or lost their grip while another one tried to jump on the roof which caused the person to be shredded to pieces.
Subsequently, the pilots weren’t able to fly anymore because of the accident and tried to steer it but couldn’t they shouted “Mayday, Mayday,” over and over while Sunset glanced to Spike Seed who was singing softly, not the least bothered by what was happening.
“We’re going to crash!!” The agent shouted as loudly as he could over the sounds of the engines failing.
Sunset saw how they were reaching the ground at a rapid speed. Closing her eyes she realised one thing; Spike Seed wasn’t lying. God wouldn’t let them take him.
Everything was hurting. Her arms felt like jello while her head was throbbing in pain. She tried opening her eyes, but they were too heavy so all she “saw” was the darkness that surrounded her.
Again, she tried opening her eyes. This time, she saw something.
It was blurry, but something orange danced from left to right. Her eyes became strained for not blinking for some time, so she closed her eyes and opened them again just to see that the orange flames were burning.
Abruptly, the smell of smoke assaulted her nostrils to the point Sunset began to cough. Looking around the small bit she could muster with her head and eyes, she realized that she was upside-down.
Why was she …
“Sheriff?!” Came a voice from somewhere. Getting stronger and feeling her tiredness disappear, Sunset saw a headset floating there with the help of the cable connected to it.
Sunset then felt a surge of memories immerse into her, causing her to panic and try to reach for the headset so she could call for backup. Stretching as far as she could, she accidentally made the headset swing away from her but they then moved back and she was about to take them when a hand grabbed her arm tightly so it almost hurt and another hand grabbed the headset.
Sunset looked up to see the face of … Spike Seed. He looked at her through his sunglasses with no sign of contempt or hate. He regarded her with a look of understanding.
He glanced at the headset. The voice of the woman on the other end sounded hysterical and was sobbing begging for the sheriff to answer and let her know he was alive. Sunset bit back an insult and observed him carefully.
“Dispatch were clear here,” Sunset almost dropped her jaw. He mimicked the sheriff’s voice. It sounded exactly like the sheriff! She was about to demand that he put his hands up when he spoke to the dispatch again, this time, with his own voice.
“Dispatch we will begin the reaping,” Spike said like it was a normal daily occurrence.
Sunset didn’t believe that he’d receive a response at first. She wished he hadn’t.
“Yes, Father.” The woman was different. The woman sounded brainwashed.
Sunset realised what had happened. The dispatch was either a follower of Spike or she was also an expert mimic.
He turned to face her. He was standing on the ground while she was upside-down because of the crash. For the first time, she saw a twinge of anger rise out of him. He tilted his head to the side as if to study her.
Just then, there was a sound coming from an engine outside. Spike turned and saw that it was his followers. He turned back to look at Sunset before he stepped out of the helicopter as if nothing abnormal or dangerous had happened.
Looking at where Spike had left, she weakly saw the outlines of three people. Cultists. They looked at their “Father” in relief while the cult leader reassured them he was okay by hugging them so that their foreheads were touching.
“My children,” He spoke softly as he climbed to the top of the truck his followers had come with. “We prepared for this moment; we were expecting it to happen any day of the month, week, year!”
Sunset momentarily felt fear nag in her stomach as Spike Seed spoke.
“But I knew what would happen,” She found her courage by looking at Spike. He was looking right at her. Not with hate. He looked at her as if he understood. Understood that she was there for something far greater than a mere promotion that everyone chases after. “I knew it would happen. But there was one thing I knew; we knew that they didn’t. God wouldn’t let them take me.”
Just then, Sunset both felt and heard how the others started to stir from their sleep. She snapped her attention back at them, feeling the adrenaline pump into her body with such force, she didn’t even feel the blood that was running down to her head.
“Now …” Spike said with a low quiet voice. Almost a whisper.
“BEGIN THE REAPING!!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, waking the others with no doubt.
In a blur, Sunset saw how one of the cultists turned on fire while one of them was grabbing … Twilight!
She threw herself as far forward as she could, grabbing onto Twilight’s boot but it was no use, the cultists were stronger than she anticipated. However, Twilight wasn’t the only one kidnapped by the cultists; the sheriff had been taken around the same time without her noticing.
The cultists stepped back with their victims and placed the two of them inside a van that had turned up out of nowhere. They were leaving the Agent and Sunset behind. That wasn’t a good sign.
The fire usually would calm her down. At least before she was …
Grabbing the seatbelt, she violently tried to take it off with little success and the fire was spreading so fast she couldn’t keep up with it anymore.
However, with a gamble of miracle, the seatbelt clicked and she was flung to the roof of the helicopter that was still upside-down
Glancing urgently towards where the Agent was once seated, she found him gone. Deciding that it would be best to stay alive, she rushed out to the other side where there was an opening that led to a forest
Like everything in life though, her luck came to an abrupt stop as she heard the cultists shout things that resembled; “She’s getting away!” and “Call for backup!”
The only thing she was lucky about in this situation was her endurance in running and the night that was caressing the world in her darkness, protecting her for a small amount of time from the cultists.
Running through the woods, Sunset kept hearing shouting from behind her and the occasional bullet that was fired either in her direction or somewhere else which frightened her of the possibility of dying. She was by no means scared of death, but what made her afraid was the fact that Twilight would be all alone in this fucked up place.
Sunset dodged a bullet that came from somewhere behind her and continued making her way over to a house, still running madly. The house was nothing impressive, it had four walls and a balcony of sorts made from wood and about two cultists who, at the moment, we're talking about something.
Sunset stopped dead in her track and looked around the area, seeing all the trees, bushes, grass, and leaves. It made her appreciate nature. The beautiful nature that nourishes the earth she has been walking on for the last few decades since she was born …
She had never bothered to appreciate nature before, not even overseas, but now, it was different. She appreciates it.
Suddenly, there was a sound of a bullet hitting the tree, not far from her position. In a haste, she crouched down by some nearby bushes while peeking through the leaves to see where the cultists were.
“I saw her run through here!” One of them shouted.
Sunset continued to peek through the bushes but most of the leaves blocked her vision.
“I need to get to the house,” Sunset thought.
When the cultists were out of view, the fire-haired girl made her move to the house in her crouched state to not make the other two cultists—who were still there—notice her.
Luckily, they didn’t.
Not wasting a second, she moved as quickly and quietly as she could to the window and glanced around to ensure no one was inside before she jumped in.
Inside the house, Sunset glanced from left to right, seeing different foods in cans as if the family or person here prepared for the final day. Standing up completely, she looked at the different items that lay around.
She saw some money, a magazine of sorts, and ammunition on the table. She grabbed it all and suddenly, she heard a sound coming from inside the house with one of the doors that must have been open.
Grabbing her pistol tightly, she made her way over to the room where she’d heard the noise. The house creaked from under her boots. She clenched her jaw in anticipation, her hands holding the weapon until her fingers turned white. Her eyes were bloodshot from all the running she did earlier, giving her a crazy look.
Looking through the door, she saw that there was a cultist that was doing something. He looked to have been rummaging through the different boxes. Just like the others, he had a wild beard with filthy clothes and skin.
Slowly, she made her way over to him, placing the gun in her holster.
She stopped breathing when she was right behind him. Like a wolf hunting, it’d prey, she pounced on him, stabbing him in the heart as he tried to call for help. She pulled the knife out from his heart and stabbed him multiple times before he fell silent and his body went numb.
Dropping him to the floor, Sunset grabbed a communication device so she could contact the Agent. Placing the device in her ear, she twisted and turned the device as much as possible until she heard his voice.
“Sunset?! Sunset?!” He asked frantically as he ran through the forest. That was at least what it sounded like.
“I’m here, where are you?” She asked calmly while looking back every few seconds to where the wood balcony was where she knew the two cultists were.
“I’m making my way to a house near a road, the lights are on I think,” Sunset wanted to pinch her nose in frustration. How would she know where that was?
“Could you elaborate?” She irritatedly asked.
“There … there’s a hill with a house close by, I see two cultists—”
“Nevermind, I know where I need to go.” Sunset interrupted with a huff and ignored the rest of the man’s ramblings in her ear.
Turning towards the two cultists, she crouched and made her way to the door and mentally prepared herself for the bullets to fly. Grabbing her gun, she slowly stood up and aimed it at one of them.
The resounding bullet firing alerted the other cultist as he watched his comrades’ brain get splattered on the ground. He looked towards where Sunset stood and pulled up his weapon. Before he could even aim, however, he was gunned down by Sunset.
The firing of her weapon no doubt caught the attention of the other cultists. She would have to run towards the house as quick as possible.
Holding the gun close to her, she walked out of the house and glanced around her surroundings. The trees felt awfully close to her, making her stomach churn to the point where she felt like vomiting.
Turning away from the haunting trees, she looked forward and saw the house below the hill with its lights turned off. Either there was a cultist that got to the agent or the agent turned off the lights to not be spotted by any cultists passing by.
She started to run towards the house, not caring if the cultists spotted her. She had one goal; leave Hope County and return with an army.
Coming down the hill, she was more than happy that she had built such endurance over the years. But it did feel like an eternity had passed, wondering if she would be shot at any second or if the cultists were mocking her in some way.
But when she reached the house, she felt the tension in her body rise tenfold as she didn’t know who was inside the house. She heard how “The Father” had faked the sheriff’s voice, what is the possibility that they didn’t do it again?
The thought made her hold the weapon tighter.
She looked for a way inside and saw that there was a door that was slightly ajar. Heart beating faster by the second, she made her way inside. Her eyes moved to the left and right without moving her head even an inch.
When she was going to pass by the fridge located in the kitchen, she was attacked.
She tried to fire her weapon but it was smacked out of her hands by the unknown cultist in the house, she brought her fists forward trying to land a punch on him but her hands were caught by the perpetrator. When she looked up, she saw the face of the Agent, she felt his grip loosen as he began to recognise her. Then when he finally let go, he stumbled back.
“Sunset?” He rhetorically asked. “Oh God, sorry I thought-”
“It’s okay, you had the appropriate reaction,” She said, breathing heavily from the struggle the two had seconds ago.
The Agent wanted to argue but shut the notion down when he saw Sunset’s face giving him a pointed look. Instead, he turned around and grabbed two assault rifles from his hiding place. He handed one to Sunset and gave her ammunition.
When Sunset saw the picture of the Seeds’ she felt her anger spike and accidentally let out a wolf-like growl. When the Agent turned and saw the photo hanging on the wall, he hit it with his right fist, making the photo frame break apart and fall to the floor.
“Fucking crazy lunatics!” He said with clear emotion on his face and voice.
Sunset walked over to him and shook him out of his rage. “Hey, they will not get away with this, we get back home we will contact the army and they’ll help us deal with this.”
When let his anger go, he registered what Sunset had said and looked at the fire-haired girl as if she had grown a second head.
“W … we can’t contact the army!” He said walking away from her to glance out one of the three windows.
“And why’s that?” She asked calmly. She’d been lying if she said she wasn’t intrigued by this turn of events.
“How will we look in the eyes of the public?!” He angrily turned to her. “They’ll think we cannot do anything for them, the army is there to protect the people but agents like us are also here to protect them, what can we do if we can’t even bring down a citizen of this country to face justice?!”
Sunset briefly wondered if she should kill him right then and there. She understood what he was trying to get across but how else should they do it then?
“And how will the army look if they cannot protect the citizens of their country when they do not try to take down a cult that is a terrorist-level threat that has an entire county?”
The Agent flinched at the cold tone. Nonetheless, he wouldn’t fall for it.
“No, Sunset, we will not contact the army, we will have to do this ourselves.”
She was about to argue when both of them heard tires stop right outside the house with voices following suit. Without thinking, both of them ran for cover before the enemy could begin the gunfight that was about to take place.
Author's Note
Sorry for the long wait, hope you enjoy.
