Chapter Text
Flug thought that when he left his hometown five years ago, he would never return, yet, here he is.
He has no other choice considering the circumstances.
He's gotten in hot water with a powerful crime organization after taking a plea deal with authorities after he got caught.
How was HE supposed to know that the guy he threw under the bus was THE mob boss?!?
Luckily for him, there's a particularly nasty illness spreading throughout his home town, and since he's technically a doctor, it makes for the perfect excuse for him to return and 'help out', all while laying low until a certain group stops looking for him.
The illness also makes for a good excuse as to why he has his face covered!
He's always kept his identity a bit of a secret, but now that the mob wants him dead, and he's not exactly in the good graces of the law, it's more detrimental than ever to keep his face hidden.
He might get a few looks, but with the illness going around, his disguise is easily excusable.
An abrupt stop flings Flug from his thoughts. The bus he was currently riding stopped without warning.
The driver doesn't say a word, but simply grunts at him.
The bus driver doesn't seem to be too happy about the extra stop he had to make that took him an extra hour away from his usual route...
Flug looks out the window, and confirms that he is indeed, in his hometown. and he regrets everything.
He sighs and grabs his bag, he gives the bus driver an apologetic look and says a thank you as he exits the bus, the driver mumbles something under his breath about 'kids these days' before closing the bus door and driving off in a hurry.
Flug feels bad for the man, but hey, it wasn't his fault that this place was over an hour drive away from the nearest major city!
He pulls his backpack strap over his shoulder, and internally cringes at the weight. He's starting to regret packing so much, but he doesn't know how long he'll be here for...
He begins his trek throughout his small hometown, it was going to be a big of a walk, and the hot July weather was not on his side.
As expected, a few curious eyes land on him, some look away in disinterest, some people look him up and down, displeased with this stranger wearing a bag on his head.
He must admit, he probably looks like an idiot.
He's gotten used to living in a big city where 'Villains' and 'Heroes' were more commonplace, and full face disguises weren't out of the norm.
He tries to ignore the glares burning into the back of his head as he walks through his old town and to the place he's going to hide out at.
The church.
The church his father ran, and the church his older brother now runs.
The church his brother begrudgingly agreed to let him stay at as long as he 'stayed out of trouble, and gave a genuine attempt in helping those with the disease.'
His brother never really explained what this sickness was, but he's sure he can do the bare minimum to help.
Just like he'll do the bare minimum to get along with his brother, and the others in town, until things blow over enough and he feels safe enough to show up in public again without the looming threat of death.
He shows up to the church sooner than he thought he would, the church itself was about a 30 minute walk from the heart of the town.
He's walked this path so many times in his childhood that he didn't even notice he walked it while he was deep in thought.
Man, he needs to stop spacing out like this.
But in his defense he was exhausted,
He's always been a stranger to a good night's rest, but it's been worse lately. He's barely slept at all due to the fear that the people after him would find him while he was sleeping.
He takes a deep breath as he reaches up to knock on the door.
He knocks a few times, but, no answer.
He tries again, then he waits a few moments.
Nothing.
He bounces on his feet, unsure what to do. He reaches for the door knob.
He grew up here, surely he can just, walk in, right?
He turns the knob, and it's luckily unlocked.
He enters the church, it's quiet, and it smells like dust. It's also darker than what he remembers, the only source of light being the sun coming through the windows.
There's a small circular stained glass window above the altar where the preacher stands, reflecting reds on the hardwood in front of him.
He looks up at the stained glass as he walks in, this wasn't here when he was here last.
Despite how deserted this place seems, it must be doing well if they could afford to install something like this.
The altar itself looks newly renovated, and MUCH nicer than how he remembers.
He stares at the stained glass, it seems to be a mural of some sort, although he wasn't quite able to make out what it was.
It almost looks like, some sort of hat?
It's mostly red on the outside, with some sort of black shape in the middle.
It would've seemed out of place in the church he knew before, but the entire church seems to have been redecorated in red and blacks.
It seems awfully macabre.
A tap on the shoulder makes him nearly jump out of his skin.
"Hello." An older well dressed man speaks quietly, seemingly unapologetic about the scare he just gave him.
Flug takes a deep breath, and regains his composure.
"Sorry to barge in, but um, the door was unlocked, and-"
"Oh, no need to apologize young man, all are welcome here." The older man cuts him off.
Now that he thinks about it, this man seemed as out of place as he was. He didn't seem to be one of the members of the church as he was dressed in regular clothing, but he also didn't seem to be a regular church goer, as Flug would've seen him as he walked in...
"Yeah, um." Flug continues, "I was actually expected, I think. I was supposed to meet with the head of the church?"
The older man hesitates for a moment.
"Yes, I heard we were supposed to take in a vagabond.
Although, I wasn't expecting someone so..." He trails off.
Ah. he must be put off by the bag hiding his face. Not that Flug could really blame him.
The older man continues.
"Nevermind, I'm sure your help will be much appreciated." He clasp his hands together.
"Now if you'll follow me, I'll show you to the bishop."
Flug has a bad feeling about this.
The way the older man talks made it seem like he was part of the church, although he didn't dress the part.
Who was this? And was it really a good idea to follow him? What if he was a part of the group that was looking for him? Where was everyone else?
The man starts walking away towards the door on the left of the altar.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Flug decides to follow.
After all, he was just one guy, if worse comes to worst, he could take him down.
He walks past the church pews, and he takes one last glance at the strange stained glass window one last time.
And the bad feeling in his gut worsens.
He follows the man and enters the door. It leads to a long, wide, hallway.
He counts five doors on each side, with one ornate white and gold door at the end of the hallway.
Only a few windows between the doors on his left light up his path as he follows the man, he seems to be leading him to the white door.
Of course his brother would have the fanciest door...
The older man turns the door knob of the white door, opening it, and stepping to the side.
He gestures for Flug to enter, but not entering himself.
Suspicious, Flug doesn't enter.
The older man recognizes his hesitance, and gives him a reassuring smile, which comes off more creepy than anything else.
"Please wait in here, I'll fetch the bishop." The older man says, pushing opening the door revealing an empty room.
Still not convinced, but with nowhere else to go, Flug enters the room.
The door shuts behind him, and he hears footsteps receding down the hallway.
Well, Now what.
He looks around the room, in front of him is the only window, a single chair and desk in front of it.
Paperwork spread unceremoniously on the desk, and a few pages fallen on the floor. Two bookshelves on his left and right, packed with a mixture of literature, text books, and books about religion.
Flug looks at the various titles, he doesn't recognize some of them, and a few of them don't have titles on the spines at all.
He squats closer to the floor to get a better look at the books on the bottom shelf, they seem out of place among the other pristine looking books on the shelf.
They look very old and roughed up, and none of them have titles.
He reaches out to pull one out,
But before he gets the chance he's quickly knocked to the floor and lands on his behind.
An earthquake, and a bad one at that.
The papers on the first rattle off to the floor with the others, and the hanging light rattles above him.
Then just as quickly as it started, it stops.
This was strange.
REALLY strange.
Flug was used to earthquakes, he grew up with them.
This town had a reputation for being in a particularly bad spot for earthquakes and bad weather, hence why not many people lived here.
However,
The earthquakes ONLY happened during spring.
They had a whole festival celebrating the start of summer, and therefore the end of the 'earthquake season'.
For as long as Flug could remember, they've never persisted into the summer months.
So, why now?
He hears the door knob rattle, and he quickly stands up.
He's only half relieved when his brother walks in.
His brother gives him a look as Flug dust himself off.
"What the hell was that?" Flug says, only slightly embarrassed.
His brother gives him a scolding look at his choice of words.
"An earthquake." His brother answers bluntly, closing the door behind him.
"In July?" Flug says, raising a brow.
"Yes." His brother sighs.
Flug bounces on his feet nervously. "Why?"
His brother doesn't answer, instead he retreats to desk.
"Many things have changed since you decided to leave." He says as he picks up the papers that have fallen from his desk.
"Do you have all the necessary equipment to treat the ill? If not I'll send for someone to go into the city and gather it for you.
I'd like for you to not leave town for the duration of your stay." The brother says bluntly, returning the papers to his desk.
"Oh? I'm a prisoner here?" Flug scoffs.
"Not exactly.
Not only do I not want you dragging dangerous people into our town, either associates of yours, or enemy's you've made looking for you.
I've also been tasked to keep an eye on you."
"The cops want you to watch me?" Flug deadpans.
"Worse, our father." He warns.
And that gets Flug to shut up.
"This town has been through-" The brother hesitates.
"Many trials... since you left." He continues.
"We've had crops die, droughts, then floods, the earthquakes have yet to stop for the season, and now this sickness is spreading?
I've had my hands FULL and I'd appreciate it if you didn't add on to the list of calamities that have befallen the town." He says strictly.
"I know you're only here to be in hiding, so I don't expect you to be of much help, however I do expect you not to aid in the abundance of troubles this town has. Do I make myself clear?" He says harshly.
Ouch.
"Yeah, I got it. I'll stay out of the way." Flug says annoyed, picking up the bag that has laid abandoned on the floor.
"As for the supplies? I didn't bring much of anything with me." Flug continues.
The brother sighs. "The hospital should have some supplies, we've been trying to keep everything stocked, but the sickness quickly depletes what we have. I'll also send for someone to gather supplies for your personal stash.
I expect you to go to the local hospital once you've settled in and acquaint yourself with the staff, as well as volunteer your time there. If only to keep up appearances.
I've already informed them that I've recruited some outside help, I've told them that I've asked of help from someone who used to live here to ease their worries about an outsider. But I haven't told anybody that you are my brother.
Nobody knows, and I'd like to keep it that way."
"To protect my identity? Or to protect your reputation?" Flug hisses.
The brother makes a noncommittal noise.
"We only have three other people who stay here full time, most of the clergy and staff live at their own homes, myself included.
So you'll have this place mostly to yourself."
"You don't live here?" Flug says in disbelief.
"Not anymore." He says sourly.
"This place has changed a lot since you've last been here.
This place isn't that big, however with the many changes it has undergone,
one can get lost. but I'm sure you'll figure it out rather quickly." He walks for the door and gestures Flug to follow.
Flug rolls his eyes, but follows him into the hallway
His brother gestures to the hall they're in.
"In this wing, the left wing.
there's only 5 bedrooms, some of which lay vacant.
All 5 rooms on the left have been converted to bedrooms.
On the right side, the first and last rooms are bathrooms, the other rooms are being used as storage, and the room in the middle is being used as a broom closet."
"fancy." Flug says sarcastically under his breath.
His brother glares at him, and continues.
"There's also my office, which I ask you not to enter unless necessary.
I spotted you glancing at my books earlier, If you wish for reading material we still have the library.
Also the only three bedrooms that are occupied are the first three,
you can have your pick of the other two."
His brother continues walking, and Flug begrudgingly follows.
He didn't need a tour, he could figure this out on his own, this is stupid.
They walk into the main church room.
His brother gestures to the door on the right of the altar.
"In the right wing, not much has changed. We still have the kitchen which shares a room with the dining room, the library, and the entrance for the basement.
But as I'm sure you can remember,
The basement has always been off limits, that has not changed.
It was never quite structurally sound, And now with all the extra earthquakes, it's off limits to even the members of the church.
You're allowed access anywhere in the church, even my office.
Such access has not even been granted to the other members of the church, so I'm trusting you to behave.
However,
If you're spotted trying to enter the basement, or aid in others accessing the basement, I'll have to ask you to leave.
I take the safety of the town VERY seriously. Understood?"
"Sure." Flug says suspicious.
"Now, I'm going into town. I suggest that You pick a room, and get settled in.
I'll be back in the morning." He says as he leaves for the exit.
He opens the door, and turns to look at Flug.
"I'm serious. The basement is off limits."
Flug opens his mouth to retort, but his words get stuck in his throat.
He spots something on the pristine white sleeve of his brother, a dark red smudge, after his stint with crime, he knows exactly what it is.
Blood.
After Flug fails to respond, his brother leaves without saying another word.
He shuts the door behind him with a loud thud.
"What the fuck?" Flug mutters under his breath.
The bad feeling he's had returns, suddenly prickles up his skin, and his throat feels dry.
What the hell is going on here?
As if fate itself heard him, a man walks through the door on the right of the altar. A man with a dark complexion, only a little taller than Flug, dressed in traditional priest clothing. He was currently shoving an entire bread roll in his mouth.
His eyes meet Flugs, and he looks like a deer caught in headlights.
He quickly swallows the food in his mouth and nearly chokes as he does.
"Um." He coughs as he chokes on his food, and Flug slow blinks at him.
"Hello! don't tell the others. " He says sheepishly as he dust off his hands on his clothes.
He sticks out his now crumb free hand out for Flug to shake.
"My name's Malum, I assume by the full face covering, that you're the new guy they warned us about.
What's up with that? Are you just a misfit like me, or a criminal like the others? Or maybe just ugly, who knows!" He says teasingly.
Flug chuckles nervously, and doesn't reach out to shake his hand.
Malum seems to get the message and puts his hand back down, although he doesn't seem offended by it.
"It's good to see someone new here, not many people show up here anymore.
And hey! if you are a dangerous criminal maybe things will get more exciting around here." He smiles.
If only he knew...
"So what are you in for?" He says jokingly, taking another roll out of his pocket, and sitting down on the pews casually.
Flug, caught off guard by all this, sighs and sits down with him.
"Bad behavior." Flug jokes.
"Oh my gosh, me too!" He says with a mouth full of food.
"I got caught kissing another priest, and they sent me here.
In the middle of nowhere..." He says dejected.
"Damn." Flug says without thinking.
"That's what I said too! Didn't help my case much." Malum laughs.
"I don't regret what I did, I only regret getting caught. But hey, the bread here's good, so it all worked out." He says with a shrug.
"You're weird." Flug laughs.
"Says the man in a bag~" Malum teases.
"What's your name by the way?"
He debates on whether to give him a fake name or not.
"Flug." He answers honestly.
"Cool." Malum says as he finishes off the last of the bread roll.
He stands up, dumping the crumbs on his lap onto the floor.
"So, Flug, have you met the others?
I heard you talking to the big boss man, the bishop.
Don't tell him I said this, but he kinda creeps me out.
Well, I mean the others do too though.
The other priest who supposedly lives here full time, but he almost never sleeps here, which is weird.
Then there's the cook, he actually does sleep here, but he's almost never around, which is also weird.
And me! Do you know which room is yours yet?" He talks quickly.
Flug blinks a few times, his brain catching up to the dump of questions.
"Um, no, I haven't met the others yet. And no, I haven't picked a room yet."
"Oh that's okay, If I had to pick a room, I wouldn't pick the one at the end of the hall, the 5th room.
It's too close to the bishop's office, and it gives me weird vibes.
I've never been inside the bishop's office, but I bet it's also creepy." He walks in places as he rambles.
This guy likes to talk a lot.
"That room also used to belong to the priest who was here when I first got here, about 3 months ago. But the day before the summer festival, he got really sick, and then he supposedly left the church the next day.
Which was super weird.
He was pretty devoted to his faith, I never imagined he would go back to a normal life. But oh well." Malum suddenly stops, and blinks at Flug.
"Sorry, I've just been bursting to talk to someone about all the weird stuff going on, and the others shut me up as soon as I start talking nonsense'.
But what about you? Are you a priest?
Or are you here for sanctuary? Do people still do that?" He says quickly.
"Yeah, not a priest. I'm actually a doctor.
I grew up here, and the bishop told me there was an illness, so I came to help." Flug answers, already exhausted from the amount of energy the other man had.
"Hmm, why are you staying here? Wouldn't it be easier to get a place in town?" Malum asks suspicious.
Flug puts his hands up in a false surrender. "What's with the interrogation huh? I have my reasons, isn't that enough?" Flug says jokingly, but he's hoping that Malum gets the hint and stops asking questions.
Malum's shoulders hike up to his ears, suddenly looking very defensive.
"You're a very suspicious person, you know that?" He says bluntly.
Flug's anxiety returns, he wasn't expecting people to start asking questions so soon, he thought he would have enough time to make something up.
Malums shrugs, his guard dropping, and his playful demeanor returns.
"I like that about you."
Flug's anxiety doesn't go away,
This guy is weird.
When Flug doesn't say anything in return, an awkward silence fills the air.
But Malum's quick to fill the silence.
"Speaking of suspicious, have you heard any strange rumors around town?
I have."
Flug slow blinks at him.
Malum looks over both his shoulders.
"On second thought, it might be best if we chatted somewhere else." He says, suddenly looking nervous.
He starts walking for the left wing of the church, not looking back to see if Flug's following or not.
Should he follow him? This guy was weird, but he didn't seem dangerous.
And even if he was, Flug could handle it, he's held up his own during his time in the mob. SURELY he can take down one eccentric priest, right?
Curiosity gets the better of him, and he follows Malum.
Flug ends up in the hallway again, and Malum open the third door, the door in the middle.
"Hey, you're like, cool right? Like, you're not gonna tell the other priest about all this, are you? You seem like the secretive type, so I don't think you're one to gossip. But hey, you never know with some people."
Malum stops talking and looks at Flug expectantly.
"Oh, um, yeah. I won't say anything." Flug says suspicious.
This guy definitely has something illegal going on.
"Chill." Malum opens his door and walks into his room.
Flug peaks inside the room before he walks in, checking his surroundings for anything suspicious.
It looked fairly normal, a little messy, but it mostly just looked lived in.
His bed wasn't made, a few pieces of laundry scattered on the floor, books thrown across the table without care, and a few pictures hung on the wall of what he assumed was Malum's family or friends, but he didn't really look too hard.
What caught his attention was a gold knife that was laying on his desk, it was elaborately carved with a red jewel in the middle.
It was only a little bigger than a letter opener,
it looked rather expensive to just have laying around.
And how could he even afford such a thing?
He decides to keep his question to himself for now, and walks in.
"And hey, I'm pretty sure you're hiding from the cops, so I don't have to worry about you talking!" Malum says cheerfully.
"What." Flug says stopping mid step.
"Joking!" Malum says, waving his hand dismissively.
"Well, joking about you talking, I trust you. I do think you're hiding from the cops though." He plops down on his bed.
Flug sighs annoyed, and shuts the door behind him.
"I'm not hiding from the cops." He says exhausted.
Technically not a lie.
"Oh, that's good I guess." He says as he sticks his hand between the wall and the bed, obviously looking for something.
"If you thought I was a criminal, why'd you invite me into your room? Alone?"
Flug asks in disbelief.
"Hey! don't make it sound so scandalous." Malum says teasingly. "Excuse me?" Flug deadpans.
"Found it!" Malum suddenly interrupts.
He pulls out a small black book.
"Here, I'm going to give you this. But you have to promise not to show it to anyone else." Malum says, he looks like he's debating something.
Flug reaches out for the book, suddenly very intrigued. But Malum pulls it away before he can grab it.
"Wait." Malum says sheepishly, and Flug looks visibly disappointed.
"Before I give this to you, I feel like I should tell you what's really going on here. Or at least what I suspect, is going on here."
Oh, this just got more interesting.
"Right after I arrived here, I made friends with the priest who lived in the 5th room. He was nice, but weird!
He got kicked out of his old church because he was researching the occult."
Oh now this is getting REALLY interesting!
Flug sits down on the bed next to him, suddenly invested in the story.
"Like I told you before, he disappeared
The night of the summer festival.
They said that he left the church to lead a normal life, but no one has heard from him since.
And there's something I haven't told anyone.
Before he disappeared, he talked to me.
He told me these stories about the occult, which wasn't unusual for him to be honest.
But... then he told me this cult was after him, and of course I didn't believe him.
Then he gave me this book."
He flips the book around in his hands as he talks.
"He told me he was going to die, he said he was going to give his soul up or something like that, and he told me that if he didn't return, to destroy this book before the church could get it."
"Why are you telling me all this?" Flug says in shock.
"Well?" Malum says sheepishly.
"For the same reason I'm not afraid of letting a possible criminal into my room." He chuckles nervously
Flug raises a brow.
"I think I'm going to die soon." he says with a smile.
Flug blinks confused, then he laughs. "Sure."
Malum chuckles, but his laughter doesn't reach his eyes.
Oh shit.
"Wait, you're serious about this?
You really think a demon is after you." Flug laughs nervously
"Pfft no, not a demon.
A cult is after me, they'll kidnap me, make it look like I left on my own accord, THEN they'll feed me to the demon." Malum says matter of factly.
"That's not funny." Flug says seriously.
He was starting to worry.
"I know this is a lot to dump onto a stranger, but I don't know what else to do.
I suspect I don't have much time left, I know too much.
I want at least one person to know the truth of what happened to me." Malum says mournfully.
"Wait, wait, wait. You're just messing with me right? Is this like some sort of prank you pull on the new people? Or what." Flug says, not believing him.
Malum looks annoyed for a second, but it quickly fades into exhaustion.
"No."
"You don't actually expect me to believe all this, right? If there was a cult picking off priests, I feel like the church would do something about it." He huffs.
Malum laughs in disbelief.
"You don't think the church is in on it??"
Silence fills the room.
A sudden pit of dread forms in Flug's gut.
He didn't like the people of this church, but surely saying that they're turning a blind eye, or even worse, partnering with a cult is a bit too far.
Why should he even believe this guy?
He could just be pulling a cruel prank, and even if he did truly believe an evil cult was after him, what's to say he's not just crazy?
But, he can't shake off the feeling of wrongness that's plagued him since entering this place...
"Look." Malum finally breaks the silence.
"You don't have to believe any of what I said.
All I ask, is that if I give you this book.
You don't read it, don't even look inside of it. And don't go poking around for answers like I did."
"Then why give it to me at all?" Flug asks offended.
"I've decided to leave tonight. and if I don't come back, I want you to hide it." Malum talks quickly.
"Why don't YOU hide it, or even better, burn it or something?" Flug asks, still not convinced.
"I've TRIED burning it." Malum hisses, his playful demeanor from a few minutes ago completely gone.
"It doesn't light." Malum says like it was obvious.
"I don't believe you." Flug says unamused.
"You don't need to believe me." Malum says defeated.
"Then why tell me this at all?" Flug says squinting.
Malum sighs.
"Because I'm selfish.
Because I wanted SOMEONE to know that I didn't disappear willingly.
I made a promise to someone that I would come back for them, and when I don't, I don't want them to think I've abandoned them." He says deflated.
Another silence falls.
"Fine." Flug sighs.
Malum perks up instantly.
"Okay great!
I'm leaving tonight at midnight, I'm going back to my old church.
If all goes well, I'll be back in about 3 months.
Then I'll come back to come get the book from you.
I'd feel bad if I ditched responsibility of this creepy book on you forever. You just need to hide it until I come back.
So if I escape, and live long enough, I'll come back for it, and you can just pretend all this never happened.
But if I don't come back in three months, I want you to destroy it.
Okay?"
Malum says with a smile, and sticks out his hand for a handshake.
Flug has a bad feeling about this.
But curiosity of what's in that book was getting to him, and he didn't believe anything about what he was saying anyway, so it's not like there would REALLY be any consequences, right?
Flug sighs, and shakes his hand.
Malum's shoulders drop in relief.
"Alright. See you in three months." He says with a smile as he lets go of Flugs hand, and hesitantly gives Flug the book.
He stands up, and Flug stands up with him.
"I have to pack. And I know that you're probably itching to read that book, but I highly suggest you don't. However I can't stop you.
So just... be careful.
Don't follow in my footsteps."
"I'm just here as a doctor, I don't even know how I got in this situation.
But I'll try my best not to get kidnapped by a cult." Flug says sarcastically.
"Well, that's all I can hope for I suppose." Malum says, amused.
Flug reaches for the door.
"I'll say goodbye to you before I leave tonight." Malum says suddenly.
Flug looks back at him.
"Okay, see you then."
Malum smiles.
"Hey, I don't believe in fate, but, I don't know what I would've done if you didn't show up today.
So thank you, and be careful~"
"Will do." Flug says as he leaves, shutting the door behind him.
Well, that was weird.
Flug walks to the main room, and his thoughts run wild.
He keeps replaying that conversation over and over again in his head.
What the hell just happened?
And how does he keep getting into these terrible situations?
His curiosity was going to kill him one day.
A cold chill runs through him.
He tucks the book under his arm, feeling weird about carrying such a thing out in the open.
And he quickly grabs his bag that was left abandoned by the pews.
He goes back to the left wing of the church to pick a room, ignoring the right wing of the church for now.
He was tired, and just wanted to sit down and unpack. (Physically and mentally.)
He hesitates while he's in the hallway with the bedrooms, the first 3 rooms were occupied, and the 5th room supposedly belonged to a priest that disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
So the choice was obvious.
He sighs and he opens the door to the 4th room.
He looks around the room, and it seems decent enough.
A single bed on the right, a desk and a chair on the left, and a single window with a curtain in the middle.
Behind him, a wardrobe and a bookshelf, with the door leading out in the middle.
A thin layer of dust covering everything.
He plops down on his bed face first, and he's thankful that at least the bed sheets seem dust free, and newly washed.
His feet were hurting from all the walking he's done today, and he was starting to get hungry but he had no appetite, the weight of the day finally catching up to him.
He was back in his hometown after never wanting to come back, and he's only been here a few hours and has already gotten himself possibly tangled up in a cult, which he didn't even believe in, but his curiosity got the better of him and he got involved anyway.
(Because of course he did.)
And if an evil cult WAS after him, he can't even leave town because the mob was after him!
How did things end up like this...
Flug groans and sits up.
He looked down and the black book was laying on the bed.
He was too mentally drained to look at it right now, and for all he knew it could be an empty black book, or possibly the journal of a mad man.
He was pretty sure that guy was either messing with him anyway, either that or he's gone crazy in the isolation of this place.
He has a bad feeling about leaving it out in the open, so he tucks it under his pillow for now. He'll have to find a better hiding spot for his 'evil cult book' later.
He starts unpacking his backpack, putting what few things he brought with him on the bed, and he realizes that he probably didn't bring enough clothes.
He sighs and puts what he did bring in the wardrobe.
He also brought a few books with him, one medical textbook that he was in the middle of reading, a few books about planes, and a novel.
He's read those aviation books at least a hundred times over, but he wasn't going to be able to fly for a while, so reading about flying was all he was going to be able to do. At least until he got out of this place.
While in the middle of unpacking his other items, he looks out the window and notices that it's already dark.
What time was it?
He looks around, but he doesn't see any clocks, which is weird.
Now that he thinks about it, he didn't remember seeing any clocks anywhere inside, which is really weird.
He now regrets leaving his watch behind.
His stomach rumbles, and he's reminded that he's hungry.
You would think that it would be a hard thing to forget, but with everything else going on, it just slipped his mind.
He has no idea what time dinner was supposed to be, or if he was even expected to show up at a designated meal time.
But it couldn't have been that big of a deal if no one mentioned it.
Come to think of it, he hasn't really seen anyone else except Malum and his brother.
Which is quite strange.
But this whole place was strange!
Nothing has really been what he's expected since he's arrived.
Flug brushes the feeling of wrongness off, and goes to look around the kitchen.
He remembers Malum saying something about a cook living here full time, so surely they must be in the kitchen.
He might as well introduce himself and get something to eat while he's at it.
Flug leaves the room, and it feels...off.
It's eerily quiet.
The sun just set, so there's no way that everyone has already gone to bed for the night, right?
There's small lights that dot the walls of the hall wall to light his path, they weren't all working, so it was darker than it should be.
Flug was used to seedy apartments, so he was used to living in places way more run down than this. But the fact that it was a church made it seem eerie.
This place seemed abandoned.
He ran his fingers across the walls, trying to feel his way around in the low light, and he immediately regrets it.
He pulls his hand away, and a layer of filth coats his fingertips.
He looked down to inspect it, it was dust? powdery, but also sticky and black. Now that he looks at it more, it looks more like soot.
It didn't really make sense for it to be soot considering that this place didn't have any fireplaces that he could see.
He saw a few candles in the main church room, but not nearly enough to excuse the sheer amount of filth that has accumulated on the walls.
Flug inwardly cringes and wipes his hand off on his clothes quickly.
He'll have to wash his hands before he eats.
He enters the main church, and he does notice that there are a few candles flickering, but not enough to make sense.
Oh well, he'll just add that to his growing list of mystery's.
He also notes how quiet it is as he walks across the main room, to the right wing of the building.
He turns the knob, but it won't open.
He tries a few more times just in case, but he gives up.
It's locked.
Why was it locked?
Did he miss dinner? Even if he did, why would they lock the entire right side of the building instead of just the kitchen?
He hates it here.
He groans, and turns alway to walk back to his room, maybe he had a granola bar stashed away somewhere in his bag or something.
Or!
He could just ask Malum to open the door!
He owes him one for babysitting his evil book anyway, and it might be a good chance to ask him a few more questions about what the hell was going on around here anyway.
He knocks on Malums door,
But there's no response.
He did say he was packing, but he didn't hear any noises coming from the room.
Did he leave already?
He couldn't have left, Malum said he was leaving at midnight.
And although Flug didn't know the exact time, the sun just went down, so it was nowhere near midnight.
Plus, Malum said that he would say goodbye before he left...
A bad feeling crawls up Flug's back, so he decides to open the door.
And luckily, this door wasn't locked.
He pushes open the door, and to his surprise, it's empty?
Well, Malum was gone, but his stuff remains.
A candle is the only thing lighting the room.
A backpack lays on his bed half packed,
The sentimental looking pictures on the wall are still there, and his laundry was in the same place he last saw it.
Everything is the same except Malum is gone.
It was hard to see in the low light, so he walked into the room to investigate further.
He looks over to his desk, and notices that all Malum's books are gone, probably packed.
The ornate knife is also missing.
Although he's not surprised, if it was worth a lot of money, he probably packed it first.
Flug stops dead in his tracks.
He's stepped in something, something sticky...
He looks down to see what the hell it was, but he can't see in the low light.
He can barely make out a puddle of something dark.
Maybe that's where Malum went, to get something to clean this mess up.
Okay gross, why is this place always so dirty?
At least nothing malicious is going on.
He takes a deep breath of relief, and that's when a smell hits him.
Something familiar, he can't put his finger on what it is exactly, but it didn't smell good.
He jumps when he hears a door opening and closing.
It sounds like it came from the right wing. He didn't think Malum was the one who was making the noise, and he didn't want to stick around to see if he was right.
He takes his shoe off so he doesn't spread the mess.
And he gets grossed out when the sticky dark liquid gets on his hands.
He hates it here.
Flug carefully leaves the room, being careful to make sure he doesn't track the mess anywhere,
and making sure he didn't leave any evidence of him being in here, he didn't want to be seen creeping around in Malum's room alone in the dark.
And it was going to be even harder to explain if it WASN'T Malum he ran into.
He hears footsteps, and quickly runs into his room.
Even if he didn't get caught in Malum's room, he didn't want to embarrass himself by being caught walking the halls in one shoe, and holding his other sticky one.
He tucks into his room and carefully shuts the door behind him, making sure the latch doesn't make a noise.
He stands by the door, and listens.
There's the noise of footsteps, and sounds of stuff moving around.. but, nothing suspicious.
It must've just been Malum coming back.
Flug sighs and moves away from the door.
He never did get his food, and now he feels too awkward to ask Malum about unlocking the door.
He throws the shoe on the floor next to his bed, not even knowing why he was holding it the whole time. Gross.
He flips the light on, feeling like he doesn't need to sneak around anymore.
He was just being paranoid.
His hands had gotten some of that stick on it, so he absentmindedly rubs it on his shirt without looking at it.
A bad habit he really needs to stop.
He plops down on his bed and he takes his other shoe off.
He pulls his backpack onto his lap, and starts looking for food.
He just threw a bunch of random stuff in here to be honest, so he doesn't really remember what he even brought.
And finally, something does go right for once!
He pulls out an apple out of his bag, and to his surprise, it actually looks pretty fresh.
He hesitates on whether or not he should eat it. He has no idea what's touched it since being carelessly thrown in the bag, he would like to wash it first.
Not to mention that his hands were pretty gross.
But whatever, he was hungry.
He throws his backpack to the side, lifts up the cover on his face, and goes to take a bite.
But he stops.
A sharp smell hits his nose when he brings the fruit to his face.
He pulls the apple away and inspects it, it doesn't smell like rot.
A sharp familiar smell, the same smell that came from Malum's room.
Upon further inspection, he noticed that the smell wasn't coming from the apple at all, it was coming from his sleeve.
A dark stain, whatever he had stepped in smeared all over his clothes when he took his shoe off. Great.
In the better lighting, he can finally see that the stain wasn't just black, but was in fact a deep red.
He turns his head to look at where he threw his shoe.
And he was correct, a brighter red stains his shoe, a few spots of the red liquid also spot the floor where it had dripped.
The pieces in his head finally click together.
The sharp smell he was smelling on his clothes, and in Malum's room was iron.
"Ah, This is blood."