--=-Chapter 65: Look Out--=-

The majority of the kneeling people just covered their heads and ears as the shotgun blast rang out, but Buck stood from where he knelt and started to raise his pistol. Kay was gone, so I didn't need to hold my Glamour in place, and I assumed Buck felt the same about me as she did. Drawing my lips back in a snarl, I pointed the shotgun at him and pumped it to load my last shell.

"Drop it," I growled as I released the terror Glamour on him.

He didn't drop the gun. Buck's eyes widened in alarm, and rather than flight, he chose fight. I probably should have predicted that particular drawback to using a fear illusion. Despite his panic, he still got off two shots before I pulled the trigger on the shotgun. I didn't plan it, but I had a fair amount of fear coursing through my own system.

One of the bullets grazed my arm, and the other clipped my ear, but I'd gotten off light. Buck, on the other hand, had fallen back against the wall and left a bloody smear on the wall as the light left his eyes, and he slid to the ground.

"Dammit!" I swore as I threw my gun to the ground. I'd really hoped to use that last shot on Kay.

I could barely hear my own voice over the ringing that was becoming constant after the repeated gunfire in enclosed spaces. I wasn't alone; covered heads had become covered ears, except for Jessica and Maebe, who were catatonic, and Anderson, who was tied up.

With the ringing in my ears, I couldn't make out the words, but one look showed me that most people in the room were fervently praying and rocking in fear. Hopefully, the rest of them would be smart enough not to get in my way, but I'd already learned my lesson when it came to fear. Afraid didn't mean cowed, and I wouldn't leave Buck's weapon lying around to be used against me.

Pulling Jon's pistol from my pocket, I circled around the kneeling congregation. They'd been much less hesitant to attack Nia, but I supposed Kay and Buck had led that charge. Plus, a little height and demon cosplay on a kid wouldn't be as intimidating as a full-grown werewolf, with or without a gun. Of course, that willingness to attack the helpless only pissed me off more.

I didn't want to put my back to the Shadow, just in case Kay came back through. I'd surprised her with that Glamour, but she wasn't under its effects anymore, so she could return anytime.

The cultists moved out of my way when I got close, not that I was getting close enough for them to reach me anyway. I walked between the kneeling congregation and the catatonic Maebe and Jessica. With my back to Anderson, I paused. "Hey, Anderson, you alright?"

"Um, yeah," he said. "Are you Sam? We, uh, read a comic about you."

"Oh shit, so you managed to keep it intact last loop after all." I was surprised; even just Alice's little note card required a shard of crystal. Maybe since it was brought in from the Shadow and didn't have a respawn point, it didn't reset?

"This has been the craziest day. I'd be sure I was dreaming if everything didn't seem so familiar. One second, we were mid brain-surgery; the next, we were in the Chapel, and Alice found the comic in her lap."

It made sense; when I'd changed my spawn point, everything on my person had changed with me.

"Are we really in a time loop?" Anderson asked. To me, his voice seemed hushed, my own voice quiet as well, but the ringing in my ears meant we were probably talking loudly enough to be heard from the hall if there was anyone around who hadn't been deafened.

"Something like that," I told him. I had my doubts that any actual time travel was happening; there were too many inconsistencies, like the spawn points and the Gremlin's hut, not to mention our memories. If time was reversing, there shouldn't even be fragments of memory left; all those changes to the brain should be undone as well.

"Listen, I'm going to go grab Buck's gun," I said in Nia's voice. Anderson apparently didn't recognize it, whatever memories he had. "Do me a favor and keep an eye on that Shadow. If Kay comes back, give a shout."

"Anderson, you bastard, you damned traitor." Denis tried to snarl from the floor. Blood covered his face, and his voice was nasally from pinching his nose closed. Apparently, I'd smacked him in the face when I shoved open the door, the poor lamb.

"Fuck off prick. Look at what she did to Alice, her own stepdaughter. You helped her! You let her convince you the werewolf broke Maebe and Jessica, but we both know that's not true now, don't we? She did it, and you helped her, and I was next. So fuck off."

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Denis spat, bloody spittle flying from his lips, near madness in his voice. "You don't know! Kay was right not to trust you. How can you talk to that creature like it's not obviously evil? Look at it, Anderson! It killed Buck right in front of you, and you're still talking to it like it's nothing."

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"Alright," I interjected. "That's enough of that. You don't like me? leave." Denis wasn't the only one who seemed on the edge of sanity, and I decided it was safer not to get close so I could take Buck's gun. He'd dropped it when I shot him, and it was closer to the rest of the cultists than I wanted to risk. "That goes for everyone. Everybody out."

"We can't leave!" a terrified voice spoke up.

"It's death out there!" Someone else said.

"It's the end of the world. Pastor said we had to pray, to be ready as good brides of Christ."

"We're waiting for the redeemer!"

None of the speakers would meet my eye, but they all seemed more scared of leaving than of me. It was almost nice that I wasn't their biggest fear.

"You're all so fucking stupid. According to Kay, I'm a demon, and you have to stay and pray if you want to be saved. Well, guess what, here I am on 'Holy Ground.' Either I'm not a demon, or you're not safe here. Actually, I know you're not safe here. I don't trust you behind me, so anybody who doesn't leave will get the same treatment as Alice and Anderson."

I wasn't sure what was wrong with Alice. Unlike Jessica and Maebe, she still had an aura, but it was weak, and she hadn't moved that I'd seen. Whatever had been done, I saw the unease come over their faces as they looked between me and the open door.

"Now," I said, taking a step and aggressively pointing my gun at the prone Denis.

At my gesture, he scrabbled to get his feet beneath him and almost bear-crawled out the door before managing to stand up. As I'd hoped, it started a mad scramble for the door.

They weren't wrong about there being dangers out there, and some of them very well might die looking for somewhere else safe to hide. Glancing over my shoulder at the people behind me, I couldn't find it in me to care overly much.

I wanted to be empathetic. I knew they were just scared, but— congregation or cultists— they had eyes. Anderson was tied right in front of them and not even gagged. They might not understand what was happening, but they were clearly willing to let Anderson and the others pay the price for their illusion of safety.

When the last of them had scuttled out of the room, I put my pistol back in my pocket. The waistband was too loose to hold it tight. Or maybe my fur was just that soft and soft.

My steps heavy and my heart angry, I walked back to Anderson and began working at the rope. I didn't have a knife or anything to cut him free, but my claws were pointed enough that I should be able to make quick work of the knots.

"You said you found yourself here suddenly," I asked the man. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"It... Things went bad almost right away." Anderson started. He was tied at the ankles and wrists, as well as another rope around his chest, holding his body to the chair. Looking closer, I saw it was all one uncut rope. I guess they didn't have scissors, either.

"We weren't the only ones who were disoriented. Denis, Alice, and I were sitting next to each other. Some people were kneeling and barely seemed to notice anything had changed. Others were like us, and were looking around, trying to figure out how they got here. Then Kay started trying to calm everyone down, but I knew something was off. Everything in me screamed that her smile and calm voice was a charade, a mask. I leaned over to say so to Alice and saw her flipping through the comic about you."

"It took a few minutes for her to get everyone calmed down. She claimed this was the rapture, but I couldn't shake the feeling that she was lying to us, or not telling us everything. Then Alice spoke up and said, 'It was you, not Oberon. Not Sam.' She accused Pastor Kay of making Jessica and Maebe like that. But Kay said she was being hysterical and had an officer shut her up."

"Jon?"

"Uh, yeah, that was what she called him. She said God told her his name, and I guess he believed her because he threatened us, claiming we might start a panic if we didn't quiet down."

I listened as Anderson finished telling me what happened, untying him little by little. Kay was using the Shadow to make drones, just like Sori had claimed. Anderson hadn't called them that, but what he described fit.

"What are you going to do? Can I help?" Anderson asked as he rubbed his wrists. I pulled out my pistol and looked at the Shadow dancing in agitation behind the projector screen. Before I could respond, though, Anderson's eyes widened in alarm.

"Look out!" He said, tackling me unexpectedly.

I hadn't gone for Buck's gun after the cultists had run from the room. It hadn't seemed important with the threats gone, and I didn't want to loot his corpse any more than I did Jon's. It turned out the mistake was not making sure no one took the gun with them.

A shot rang out as Anderson hit me, and by the time we hit the floor, he was dead, a bullet in his brain.

It was just bad luck.

I didn't know how he'd gotten it, but Denis was standing in the doorway, Buck's gun in his hands, his mouth agape. "Wait, no-" he said, his eyes on Anderson's corpse. I didn't let him finish. I pointed Jon's pistol at him and pulled the trigger several times.

Denis collapsed to the ground like a puppet with his strings cut.

"Fucking Denis," I swore.

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