Part Ten: Welcome To Your Life

	Two figures walked alone together in the moonlight, their features obscured by the veil of relinquishing night. All that showed was the outline of the bodies themselves, the long black shadows that followed them, and the ever present red glowing eyes of one of the figures. All that could be heard as they passed by was the light sound of their footsteps and the howl of the wind blowing through the limbs of nearby trees. A lone wolf then howled far in the distance, and several owls began hooting among themselves. All in all, a fairly typical evening in the life of Caleb. Not so much for his companion however.

	"Where are we?" he asked, finally bringing up the courage to speak again. He himself still had very little idea of why he was following the man, and even less of an idea of what the future would have in store for him. Still, he knew of nowhere else to go, and this man seemed to be the only one standing up to the cult. In among all of the anger, violence, and hate their was a certain charisma that Johnny found himself to be strangely drawn to, a sort of asserted self-confidence that made any apologies for the man's terrible acts not only seem unnecessary but utterly foolish.

	"No idea" Caleb grunted in response, keeping a steady pace forward. Johnny tried his best to keep up, but he was weak from being locked up for so long and kept finding himself lagging behind. Caleb did not care in the least, and Johnny did not really expect him to. He was just a tag along, and Caleb really had no place for tag alongs. Johnny looked down at the flare pistol he was still gripping tightly in his right hand. He would try and prove himself soon enough. Much to Johnny's relief Caleb suddenly halted, the path they were taking now leading out of the forest and off into open ground. Caleb peered ahead, noticing the silhouette of large buildings in the early morning skyline.

	Caleb simply shrugged and continued to walk forwards again. Johnny once more tried to keep up with the old gunslinger, still wondering where they were going to end up. At least they were not in the middle of nowhere now, although upon taking another look at his companion again Johnny began to wonder if it might have been better for some if they were. Caleb certainly did not seem to be all that inviting, and Johnny himself was still wearing only the rags that were once the clothes that he was captured in. He was going to have to change that at some point. Before long the city limits became clearly apparent, the path now widening and becoming lined with deliberately planted trees. Beside these were several gravestones, with elaborate engravings and sculpting. Clearly this was where the well off people were buried.

	Johnny was dismayed to see that from one of the graves a long arm had somehow managed to pop itself out to wave at them. He shuddered and realized that he was already falling behind again, so he promptly redoubled his efforts and focused on the path. Then he thought he saw a movement come from the grave, and quickly turned back to stare at the arm. It stayed stiff as a twig. Maybe he had just imagined it? His thoughts were then disturbed by the sound of moving metal, as Caleb opened up the city's entrance gates and strolled inside. Johnny ran up behind him, staring around the open street. Several people could be seen walking down the sidewalks, entering buildings, and even still drinking at the bar nearby. Luckily for them, Caleb's attention was directed elsewhere. A brown robed figure was staring back at them from across the street.

	"We have been spotted" Caleb muttered, checking to make sure his shotgun was loaded. Johnny tried to do the same with his weapon, but knew next to nothing about how it worked. The two ran towards the Opera House that the Cultist had spotted them from. It was actually quite clever of the Cabal to inhabit such a place, as they could appear in full ritualistic clothing and no one would know if they were eccentrics or just in costume. It certainly helped make sure they did not draw attention to themselves.  As they approached the entrance, the man behind the entrance booth gestured for them to come and pay for admittance. Caleb simply ignored him, opening the main doors and running inside, Johnny following quickly behind.

	"I am going to alert security!" the main said angrily, turning to exit the booth.

	"It's okay" a robed man said calmly, also approaching the booth. "I'll handle it." The angered man was dubious but nevertheless shrugged and let the robed man go about his business. He was obviously with the establishment after all; why else would he be in that ridiculous get up? The Cultist strode calmly into the Opera House and proceeded to walk up the stairs to the upper level. He then walked into one of the balcony ledges near the stage, where a man in ornamental red robes sat watching the events on the stage unfold.

	"The Phantasm of the Opera is one of my more favourite musicals" the Elder commented contentedly, fully aware of the fact that culture was probably the last thing on his underling's mind.

	"Sir, the betrayer is here" the Cultist informed him quietly.

	"As we expected, go and inform the others" the Elder replied, making no attempt to hide his own voice. "And try and make this as precise as possible. We do not want to draw attention to ourselves by disturbing these fine peoples’ evenings."

	"Yes Elder" the Cultist acknowledged before leaving the room. The Elder then returned his attention back to viewing the opera that was still being preformed on the stage before him. Because of this, he did not notice the two figures walking towards him. Neither did he notice the weapons that they carried in their ready hands. It was not until he felt the feeling of cold metal on his neck that he realized that the two men were even there. He was eventually going to wish he had never made that mistake.

Hamish Paul Wilson
May 11, 2014