Alex shakes his head, just like I kinda knew he would. “I can’t. Cloud didn’t ask for me. It’s against the rules.”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “You are allowed to make your own decisions, you know? You are in charge of you.”
I don’t know why I even bothered, of course Alex is going to look at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“Never mind, don’t worry about it. I’ll just go and speak to Cloud by myself.”
Cloud...honestly. I wonder what his real name is. Obviously he wasn’t given the name Cloud when he was born. I can’t imagine any parents naming their child Cloud and if they did...well, he was always destined to end up doing whatever it is he does here.
Should I have knocked on the door? Probably, but I’m not in the mood for niceties. I storm into Cloud’s room where I find him lying in bed, probably naked.
“Er, maybe I shouldn’t be here.”
I avert my eyes because the last thing I want is a glimpse. Not of him anyway, I was only planning on seeing my boyfriend naked tonight.
“Why would you go?” I can hear the smile in Cloud’s voice. “When I’m expecting you. I want you to climb in bed with me.”
“Why would I do that?”
I’m already edging my way towards the door, looking forward to my escape.
“Because I’m introducing you to our group properly tonight. Alex wants you to stay with us fulltime, which means me and you have to get to know one another.”
“Well, Alex never said that to me. I’m just here to meet his friends, so actually I’m going back home now.”
“He didn’t tell you that you’re the offering?”
Offering...why does he keep saying that like it’s a thing?
“I’m just Juliet.” I force a fake smile on my lips. “No offering, nothing like that. I don’t even know what an offering is...”
Cloud bolts upright, showing me far too much of his body. I don’t want to look but I can’t resist a little peak. He’s surprisingly ripped and I wasn’t expecting those tattoos either. But I can’t be caught staring or he’ll try and get me in bed again.
“Oh, only the most important thing to us.” I don’t enjoy Cloud lighting up. He’s too enthusiastic, it’s unnerving. “The offering is our way of appeasing God. If you listened to my speech before you would know that he is angry because of the ugly place his world has become. We make offerings to him so he doesn’t unleash his wrath upon us. It’s our job to keep the world safe.”
“You know that’s bonkers, right?” I snort and shake my head. “God isn’t even real. The world has always been an ugly place. You aren’t doing anything.”
Cloud stares intently at me, like he’s trying to see into my soul or something. Knowing this idiot, he probably is.
“Such a beautiful offering. God will be pleased.”
“I’m not being offered to anyone.” I reach for the doorhandle. Thankfully, he doesn’t try to stop me. “I want to go home. This isn’t my thing at all. I mean, I love Alex and everything. He’s the one for me, but this...he can do what he wants but I’ll have no part in it.”
“Alex won’t want you if you don’t.” Cloud’s voice changes. It’s darker, more gravely. “You think he loves you enough to change his whole way of life? He doesn’t. If you walk away from this now, you lose him.”
This does give me pause for thought, but only for a moment.
“No, that’s where you’re mistaken.” Now it’s my turn to be smug. “Alex loves me. He loves me more than you guys. Just you wait and see.”
I don't know if I feel quite as confident as I’m making out as I stalk away, Alex does seem pretty invested in this nonsense, but he’s the one, isn’t he? I can make sure that he picks me over anyone else.
“Come on.” I grab his hand hard. “Let’s go to your tent. I want to see what you’re hiding away inside of there.”
“Wait...but you weren’t very long with Cloud at all. What happened? I thought...?”
“What?” I snap, turning to face him head on so he can see the redness of my rage. “That I would have sex with him just because he’s the leader of whatever this is? Alex, I haven’t even had sex with you...”
“Because you have to sleep with him first. That’s the rule.”
A snort of mirthless laughter erupts from me. “Is that what makes me your offering? Or am I really just a sacrifice to appease God?”
Alex pales. “He told you about that? Did you agree?”
I throw my hands in the air in frustration. “Do you even hear yourself? This is madness. Sheer insanity. Are you guys killing people for a God that doesn’t exist? Doesn’t that bother you? It’s murder. Full blown murder.”
“You haven’t seen what I have.” He pales. Even more so. “You don’t know. Not like I do. If we don’t offer God something, the world will descend into chaos, into Hell.”
“Some people might suggest that’s already happened.” My joke falls flat. Figures. “Come on, Alex, let’s get out of here, away from this. You can’t expect me to stay now knowing that crazy Cloud wants to kill me. Would you? If I’d had any idea this was what meeting your friends was going to look like, I wouldn’t have come.”
“Don’t I mean anything to you?”
“Don’t play the guilt card, Alex, you know you mean everything...”
“Then why won’t you stay? Let me be ‘the one’ tonight. The person who brings the offering and saves the world. Let me stop demons from roaming the planet.”
“You want to become ‘the one’ by killing me?” I reply flatly. “Isn’t being the one for me enough?” I tug him closer to me. “I want to be your wife, Alex, I want us to have a future together. I don’t want to die here.”
“If you don’t die, there won’t be a future.”
Okay, I’m not getting through to him at all. I need to try something new.
“It shouldn’t be me. It shouldn’t be anyone new. I should be someone from within the cult...group.” I correct myself quickly so as not to offend. “That will be a real sacrifice. And if it’s Cloud, then it might appease God forever.”
“But he’s our leader! How could you even suggest that, Juliet?”
“Because he’s your leader. That’s what makes it so good. It’ll free you from the shackles of God’s oppression.”
I don’t want to seem like I condone murder, but getting rid of Cloud will free all the people here. They’ll finally get their lives back, stop this madness, so it can only be a good thing. And if it keeps me alive, even better.
“I don’t know, Juliet.” Alex backs away from me, looking afraid, like I’m the monster here. “What you’re suggesting is insane.”
“Not as insane as killing me.”
I don’t know if I can convince Alex. This is years of him being brainwashed that’ll need to be undone. I can try, but I don’t have time to stick around in case I lose out and end up dead.