Join My Cult - Original Falcon Press

other…existence? Hit me… I woke up a completely different person. I
must also say that I was really bummed in a vague, otherworldly kind of
way when I started… Well, I’m still reeling with the implications… I’m
not even sure that it was what they call ‘astral travel,’ but it was something,”
Ken said, staring at the wall now as if back in the trance.
“We’ll talk about this in more detail later, I have a feeling that they’re
going to be here soon, so I’m going to head out for greetings,” Alexi
said, pulling on his trench coat and blowing on his long painted nails.
The moment he opened the door, he saw two other teenagers fast
approaching on the walkway. The boy was slightly stockier and shorter
than he. A green, slightly ragged trench coat, glittering with Russian military
pins was pulled up at the collar. His face was somehow familiar,
although he’d never seen it before. Behind him, a girl struggled to keep
up. It seemed that she wanted to remain nondescript, wearing baggy,
poorly matched clothes, though her pale skin, bright red hair and blue
eyes remained striking. Through the cloud of their breath, Alexi noticed
tiny crystals of ice falling from the sky—neither hail nor snow.
“Jason, I presume. Well met. You look like a crazed communist, if I
do say so myself.”
Jason broke into a goofy smile, his dark brown hair, curling over his
left eye.
“Yes, it is nice to finally meet you. Call me Chairman Mao.” Almost
as an afterthought, he added, “Oh, this is Renee,” motioning towards the
redhead beside him. She nodded enthusiastically. Alexi would have considered
it a cheerful motion, if not for the slightly crazed look in her
eyes.
They headed toward Samantha’s house, just a few miles down the
road. The cabin of the car was plush and comfortable, if slightly dirty.
Ashes clung to everything, and the windows were yellowed with nicotine.
There was a distinctive scent hanging in the air, neither pleasant nor
unpleasant, that triggered an unusual nostalgia. Outside, the last rays of
the sun were falling out of the sky, as the now hard-driving sleet heralded
the first days of winter.
Ken turned on the radio as they tore out of the driveway.
“…in other news, Barbara Dempsey, a waitress at the Devon Lenny’s
was brutally stabbed to death today. The murderer is still at large. And
now, a word from our sponsor…”
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