Chapter 506: Some Bad News
There was a silence that felt heavy and suffocating, one that was hard to breach. The women of the Cult of the Risen sat in a circle, digesting what Mercy had told them. She wasn’t a full fledged member like the rest of them, not having gone through the process to become one. It wasn’t something that just anyone could enjoy, despite the number of there members being considered large. Instead, Mercy was more of an outer member with a unique gift, one that was helpful in them accomplishing their goals.
And she had never once fail.
With that in mind, although they wanted to, they couldn’t fault her. Nor did they believe that she was lying to them either.
"What the hell?"
It was a feeling that was shared, although only one of them spoke. The leader, a tanned skinned woman with long, auburn brown hair just sat in silence while lost in thought.
"Mam?" Her right hand woman said before falling silent. While the rest of the prison thought that their lack of irises meant that they were blind, only they knew the truth; their vision could see through most things. Looking at their leader lost in thought, they stayed silent for a while and let her mind work.
She was their rock and their connection to the divine entity that was their god. They hadn’t known their god before arriving here, but once they came in contact with her, they all fell down to worship her without hesitation.
As for this brown haired woman, her name was Trixy, a name that they wouldn’t allow others to besmirch, even if it meant killing.
After all, she had been the one who introduced them to their god.
"We need to make contact with him. It might be dangerous, but as he is an unknown factor, we must at least take stock of him if we wish to move our plan forward," Trixy finally said after some thought.
"But... what of what he wants us to do?" Ask another woman.
"I see no reason not to. Although I don’t know of what it is he speaks, at least it will give us a reason to keep in contact with him and possibly learn some information about him. I will contact the goddess as soon as I am able and see what she can gleam or what instructions she has for us regarding this. I know she doesn’t want to be disturbed, but a situation such as this should be reported. If we fail to live up to her expectations... Even I don’t know if we would be spared her wraith..." Trixy trailed off, ideas forming within her mind only to be dismissed soon after.
"Who shall be the contact?" The question was posed, causing all the members to think.
It would be better to use an outer member who wasn’t marked by the goddess. As such, while the number was limited, at least a connection couldn’t be established. They would also need multiple members to do such as Laz wouldn’t be stationed in the same position day after day.
"How about we keep Mercy on it for now since she has had the most contact with him?" One of them suggested, but she was shot down quickly.
"I’m sure that if she keeps doing that, someone will notice it sooner or later. The guards already fear her to a point and I don’t believe they will think her getting close to the new guard is an innocent thing," Trixy said, explaining the problem.
"What about Carla? She should be free now that Jennia is back up and walking around?"
No one said anything at first, thinking it over.
"Carla... is a decent idea. I will speak with Jennia as well. If she can get a hold of her contacts, maybe we can get some information about him from the outside. Her network is far larger than ours after all," Trixy decided after a few moments.
"Are you sure it’s wise to trust someone who isn’t even an outer member?" One of the women asked.
"She had already bleed for our cause. Even if she isn’t one of us, the goddess has granted her the position of trusted ally. She has her own cause and beliefs, as the great goddess had said. I know that she doesn’t wish to make contact with the outside world, but considering the danger that has been thrust upon us, perhaps she will make an exception. The black rose is something that all of you have heard about, even before coming her. If we can gain the support of the entire organization, then we will no longer have to worry about if we will succeed. It will just be a matter of when," Trixy said before getting up from their circle in the yard.
It was time to go back to their cells and complete their tasks.
Laz was currently at the small training ground the guards used within the facility to learn tactics and team work.
Taking careful aim, Laz leveled the rifle, spotted the target, let go of his breath and pulled the trigger. 2,000 meters away, a hole was punched into a wooden target that had been staked into the ground.
Running over, the men on that side of the ranged radioed back, "HEAD SHOT!"
Cheering erupted around Laz as the men and women gathered around him either yelled with praise or growled in anger as cash changed hands quickly from the bets that had just finished.
Looking out, Laz lifted the rifle with one hand and set it down on the case next to him.
"DAMN! I didn’t think it was possible," Vera said, as the guards around him nodded in both shock and approval.
"If you didn’t think it was possible, why did you bet on me? Laz said back with a smile.
"Cause you’re my partner and it would have made shit pretty weird if I better against you. Hell, if I did and you missed, people would just say we conspired against them. Want to blame someone, blame yourself for even putting me in this tar pit and not bothering to give me a paddle," Vera said with a laugh as everyone around her laughed as well.
Laz joined in on it, honestly just as surprised as they were that he had hit the target with a headshot. Laz didn’t have a ton of rifle training and it had been a while since he had fired one, not needing a rifle when he fought. But since this was their first day in the joint training yard and Laz did have that made up record, several of the guys from the men’s side had gotten jealous that he was the only male guard on the women’s side and thought they would make things difficult on him.
Needless to say, those guys were now broke as many people bet against him, but only a few bet on him.
As for how he had made this shot, it was easy. Laz just focused his spiritual sense on the target and injecting a little bit of energy in the gun, he was able to make the bullet go straight without having to consider the wind or any other factors. The only way anyone would be the wiser about it was if one tried to go finding the bullet which was now buried so deep the in ground, it would take a crew a day or two to even get deep enough to find it.
"Damn brother. Even if I count the best shot I’ve ever made, it was only 1,500 meters. How the hell aren’t you in special forces with a range like that? Or working at a private security company? They would pay a lot better than this hell hole?" Luke, the head of the specialist team, asked.
"Why do many of us give up on what we want to do to do what we have to do?" Laz shot back, a half smile on his handsome yet aged face.
"Family eh? Yeah. I don’t blame you on that one. Well fuck. I guess I would give you my spot but no way in hell I’m giving up my pay," Luke shot back, laughing as the other’s joined in.
"HA. No worries brother. I’m just the new guy here anyway, looking to do a little quiet work before retiring in style. You keep your high stress position while I just get to look at dangerous women all day. How’s that?" Laz said, keeping the jokes going.
"You mean the prisoners or us? EH, NATE?" One of the female guards next to Vera asked with a half threatening, half joking look on her face.
"If I answer that wrongly, I’m afraid you’ll make the point yourself there Less!" Laz said, holding his hands up in submission while everyone else burst out laughing at Laz’s antics.
...
In the ivory office tower that the prison warden occupied, she was currently observing the proceedings in the officers training yard with a slight smile.
"I didn’t think you could smile," one of the females gathered said.
Warden McKnight didn’t respond right away, watching the guards try to get Laz to shoot again before turning around to the ones who had gathered.
There were nine people who had joined the warden’s meeting. Besides her secretary Millie, there were four other women and four men, all of which projected strong waves of energy that felt different depending on the person.
But each of them were respectful to the warden, despite their obvious level of power.
"I’m just amazed at how these peasants are able to find amusement in such simple activities," Warden McKnight said after turning away from the window.
"Is that something to be envious of?" One of the men asked as he downed the contents of a flask.
"Of course. After all... when was the last time any of you were happy?" Warden McKnight asked with a sly smile.
"Meh. Let’s not go there. If it wasn’t for the stupid press getting involved, we could still be happy in our own personal playground."
"Well that was your own mistake. If you were doing your jobs, you would have known what had happened and took care of it before the journalist was able to transmit the information. But now, thanks to all of you, I had to take steps to make things right for the public while getting my ass chewed out by Mistress Annie."
Just by hearing that name, those gathered in the room shuddered as though a freezing wind had just blown down their backs. No matter what kind of strength they were projecting before, it was gone with just the mention of that name.
"Good. Glad to see none of you are that far gone yet. Now then, for the bad news and the reason why I called you all here today. Mistress Annie will be coming by for a visit soon..." As soon as Warden McKnight said this, eight chairs hit the floor as a wave of human flesh hit the door at the same time, only to find out it was locked.
"And she will be ’talking’ to each one of you individually. So if I were you... I would prepare myself. After all... I know I will have to be ready too..." Warden McKnight said with a sigh.
The group of eight hit the floor at the same time, cursing their own stupidity.
Millie couldn’t help but hide a smile, feeling glad she wasn’t in a position of power for a change.
