The Wolf Cult
The Sounds of Safety

Jaelynn’s head rang as she came back to reality.

The scent of the room smelled like musty, old flowers. For a second she thought she was in her old room, when she was seven years old, living in her deceased grandmother’s home with her momma chain smoking on the porch waiting for the place to be foreclosed and owned by the bank. She felt a pang of sadness when she thought about how momma had let herself go after Grannie had passed. Grannie was the only person in the world who kept momma in line. Otherwise she would be with the next man that would be bad for her, loving her like fire, eating away the wood and being gone just as fast. Another heartache that would take her through another bender.

Jaelynn went to think about whether momma was with a new man, but that was as far as it got when she realized there was a foreign sound. She fought to figure out where so was.

She felt comfort as she listened to the steady beep of the machine monitoring her heart rate. She must be safe. A faint memory lead her to believe she was in the hospital, and she almost ignored the beeping to sleep some more. However, when she opened her eyes, her blissful sleep was short-lived. There was no way she could fall back asleep. Especially knowing the glimpse of the walls did not have the same sterile white wallpaper as most hospitals.

Her eyes shot open, and she immediately regretted it. They landed on a man rocking in a rocking chair, looking sternly at her. Even in the dimly lit room, his facial features were hard not to notice. It was him. It was Daren.

She quickly sat up in fear, but didn’t get too far. Sounds of chains rattling matched the sight of her left hand handcuffed to the bed. She looked at it in curiosity. Then looked to the other hand to see it matched. Heart pounding, she looked to where her feet should be, covered by a blue-flowered quilt so old it was probably someone’s great grandma’s quilt. She felt the ropes tightly bounding her feet to the bed.

The room smelled of dust from the lack of use. The walls had old flowery wallpaper, and the floor ratty brown carpet, probably from the 50s. Light shone into the room, but only through the spaces of the windows that were boarded up. Her heart sunk as she looked back at Daren.

Should she talk? Would that help her out of this situation? She didn’t know. So she just remained quiet, swallowing her tears and looking back at him, trying everything to read his expression.

He had none. His face was completely blank as he stared back at Jaelynn, rocking back and forth casually. He lifted his hand to pet his beard and looked at her, deep in thought. Her eyes caught on the tattoo of the four dots above the upside-down triangle. Before she could think too much about it, he interrupted her thoughts.

“You left so abruptly at the diner… I didn’t have the time to talk to you properly.” He continued to stare at her, but knew she wouldn’t respond. Instead, she stared at his tan skin, noting the slight wrinkled under his eyes. They told a story of a man who was outside every day.

He sighed, “I am sorry you were brought in the way you were. That was not my intention… I suppose we have a lot to talk about, but first, let’s get something straight. Lying is not tolerated in the compound,” he paused, looking at Jaelynn with such disappointment she feared him all the more. “Do you have something to come clean about?”

Jaelynn watched his every move down to the twitch in his jawline. This couldn’t be happening. Being kidnapped is only something that happens on television, not in real life. Not with her. She felt like this must be a nightmare, but it felt real... very real. She swallowed her shaky breath, “I…I… don’t believe I have lied.”

He stood abruptly, took his fist, and pounded into the wall four times. Jaelynn gaped at the wall that now wore a large hole in it. She calmed her breathing as he hissed in his angry breath. “You have,” he grunted, pissed that she didn’t come clean right away.

She watched as he pulled from his jacket her wallet, and her heart sunk. “Unless you are walking around with a fake ID.”

“I… I… I’m sorry, I… I… honestly forgot about that. I shouldn’t have lied. Please forgive me.” She stuttered out a plea before letting her brain think of what to say.

His cold eyes looked towards her. “And the phone number?”

Jaelynn didn’t want to add to her deathbed by admitting she had lied on purpose, so she decided she’d have to lie again. “A complete accident. I swear. I was scared. I messed up.”

Daren curled his teeth back as he growled in anger at her. It was an odd reaction, and it made him look even more like an unhinged maniac. “I can tell… when you’re FUCKING lying!” He shouted at her and paced towards her.

Being chained, she was vulnerable to him. Still, she tried to scurry away from him. “I’m sorry!” She screamed back and then, in a sob, “I’m so sorry. I was just trying to protect myself. I was scared.”

He stopped with his face in front of hers. Jaelynn could smell pine needles and his mouthwash on him; he was close. He slowly came up to pet her forehead. She jumped a bit by the touch. She was not oblivious to the sting of pain it caused her. She knew she was hurt, probably why her head was ringing.

He spoke softly, “you have nothing to be afraid of now, my moonlight.” She shuttered at his voice. “The Goddess has chosen me to protect you.” He kissed her forehead. The unwelcome touch of his warm lips caused bile to sit just before her throat. Daren’s callused hand guided her chin up to look at him. She met his brown-eyed stare before setting her gaze on his right ear, noting the black hooped earring and the tiny corn row that was tied off with a bead. “From now on, only the truth, okay?”

She heard what he was saying, but couldn’t process it. The Goddess? What the hell?

Jaelynn nodded her head as she cringed a bit. Tears spooled from her eyes.

“Are you in pain?” He asked her, and she wanted to lie. She didn’t want any drugs to blur her mind.

She was scared to lie to him, scared of what he might do. So she chose to nod her head yes.

“Let me get the doctor.” He walked to the wooden door and poked his head out.

“Get Marshal.” He snapped outside the door, and within seconds, a man about an inch shorter than Daren peered through the door.

He wore little to hint he was a doctor. If she had to guess, they both worked the same job outdoors. His shirt and pants wore the same specs of dusts and grease stains. His face was a longer than Daren’s but his features remained rough.

Following behind him were two girls. They wore long flowery dresses that practically matched the old wallpaper. The dresses were modest and covered their whole bodies.

Jaelynn looked down. She wasn’t wearing much, but a see-through white gown a grandma would have worn to bed at night.

Jaelynn wished she was more covered like the girls. The girls were silent and kept their heads down, mostly. They snuck little glances at her as if to plea for Jaelynn to feel comfortable and safe. They both wore the same piggy tail braids, making them look more innocent and younger than they probably were.

Daren caught the one with darker hair making eye contact, and he grunted at her, scolding her for looking Jaelynn’s way. She bowed her head and fiddled with her dress. The girl with the blonde hair jerked her head slightly, revealing a terrifying red patch of skin surrounded by horrifying brown and purplish colors. As if she knew Jaelynn was staring, she meekly covered her neck with her braided hair again.

“Good afternoon, Jaelynn. Happy to see you are awake. I am Dr. Marshall. Can you look here for a moment, please?”

Jaelynn complied and was rewarded with a bright light shining in her eyes, causing the ringing in her head to turn into a full-blown migraine. She tried not to squint away. Still, it didn’t stop her from noticing the oddly placed scar that rippled through his skin, whiter than the rest of him. As he examined her eyes, she examined his scar. She was shocked when she could get a better view of it and see. It was four dots with an upside-down triangle, the same symbol Daren had tattooed on his hands. Only except Marshall’s was not tatooed it looked like it was burned into his skin and because of that it appeared with wavy lines of puffed up skin. She couldn’t help but to wonder whether Daren was also branded in a similar way.

“Open your mouth for me,” He said, pulling a pop sickle stick from his pocket. Jaelynn hoped it was cleaned before he decided to use it on her. She opened, and the stick got pressed to her tongue as he looked down her throat.

Then he grabbed a stethoscope and searched for her heartbeat. Daren shuffled loudly from foot to foot as if he was struggling with himself. His hand went through his hair, giving him a savaged look. His eyes locked with Jaelynn’s, and the glint of the light caused them to be a lighter shade of brown. She stared back, trying not to feel this other man’s hands on her. It made her feel even more vulnerable.

“Well, Daren,” the supposed doctor said, sitting back on his heels. He looked down at Jaelynn, giving her a brief look.

“Give her something to sleep, and let us step outside to talk,” Daren spoke as he motioned the girls to leave.

“No!” Jaelynn shouted. Everyone froze; Daren glared.

“You need rest,” He grunted.

“Please, I don’t want any more drugs,” she pleaded.

He ducked his head. “I’m sorry, maybe next time.” Then he left the room.

She was left alone with just the doctor, and she watched in horror as he took a needle from his pocket. It was already filled. She screamed bloody murder.

“Please! Please! Please!” She shouted repeatedly as he approached her. He tried to coax her to calm down, but she wasn’t listening.

One girl ran back into the room and grabbed her arm. She spoke, “Jaelynn. It’s alright. No one is going to harm you. You’re safe! You’re safe!”

But all Jaelynn could think was, how safe could she be if they were the ones to put her here?

Thank you so much for reading the third chapter of The Wolf Cult!

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