“My children, he came to me last night. He told me of an elixir that will allow us to walk this planet forever! The only thing we must do is leave our physical bodies. Do you hear me Children of The Circle?!” The Reverend asks.
“Yes, Father Michaels!” They all say in unison.
“I do want to take precaution because he told me that the elixir must be done just right! If not, our spirits might not become immortal and we will perish. Cindy here, brave young soul, agreed to be my subject. If we see her spirit, then we have the elixir of immortality. If not, I will ask him once more for his assistance, his guidance. Are you with me children of the circle?!”
“Yes, Father Michaels!” The children of the circle respond.
“Let him be with you all as you travel the road to immortality.” The line William Michaels says to inform his followers that they may leave.
To many, William Michaels is a respected Reverend and husband in the town of Kennedy. Little do many of the townspeople know, Reverend Michaels is the leader of the secret cult, Children of the Circle, a group wanting to walk the planet forever. In a town of 5,000, The father has about 250 “children”. He claims that he has been getting visions of an elixir that will help the circle achieve their goal of immortality, but the elixir is not working as planned. Had Cindy taken the right recipe, her spirit would have exited her body and walked the planet. As everyone is leaving, Father Michaels checks Cindy’s pulse, revealing she is dead, and there is no spirit walking the planet. The Father has always had a right-hand man in Alistair Wingreen and even now, in a time of defeat, Alistair is still by the Father’s side.
“Father, you look distraught.” Alistair says as he notices the concern across William’s face.
“Alistair, he gave me the recipe, I followed it to a tee. Cindy should not be dead; she should be the first of the circle to become immortal.” Father Michaels responds to Alistair.
“The devil is always in the details. You taught me that!” Alistair says to the Father, trying to cheer him up, “You will master this recipe and we will become immortal.” Alistair is about to leave before remembering something he needs to tell the Father. “Father, I forgot to mention, Isabella’s employer is asking we partake in a potluck lunch next Sunday. I know you want us to keep up appearances for the time being.”
“Of course, my son,” Father says with a forced smile upon his face. “Maybe you and Isabella can see if he is worth recruiting into the circle,” He then cites his exit line “Let him be with you as you travel the road to immortality!”
Alistair then smiled as he and his family; wife Isabella, son Calum, and daughter Anna make their exit from the church basement and to their car. After everyone has left, William Michaels exits the Children of the Circle meeting room and goes into a room where he practices his incantations and rituals. He then picks up a cup and throws it across the room, breaking it into pieces in the process. “DAMMIT!” He screams, “She was meant to LIVE!” He then looks at a painting on the wall in the room, “She was being loyal....TO YOU! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!?!” He screams as he punches the wall holding the painting of a demonic entity. He looks down for a brief moment and when he looks up again, the demonic entity in the picture is holding up four fingers with its left hand while pointing at the table next to the frame with its right hand. William sees that he did not use enough drops of the mystery chemical that arrived at his house days earlier. He only used three drops and the demonic entity says he needs four drops. He takes another shot of making the immortal elixir, but he doesn’t have a test subject. He decides to keep the elixir hidden until he can find a new test subject. He then leaves the basement of the church and makes his way home.
Once home, his wife, Cassie, welcomes him with a kiss. Cassie is not a member of the Circle as the Father is wanting to keep his private life just that. He also plans to have a child with Cassie before he and his followers drink the elixir of immortality.
“Honey,” Cassie says, “You look upset. What happened today?”
“Sometimes I feel his presence is needed more than ever. I think everything will be ok though honey.” The Father says as he gives his wife a kiss on the cheek. Before he makes his way to the bedroom to change into more comfortable clothing, Cassie stops him.
“Will, I forgot to mention, Mr. Wingreen stopped by on his way home and asked if you could give him a call when you got home.”
“Thanks honey. I’ll call him after I change,” William says as he continues to make his way to the bedroom.
After changing, William makes his way to his office. He informs Cassie he will be making that phone call, just to make sure she doesn’t go on the internet while he’s talking. He then makes the call to Alistair Wingreen.
“Hello?” Alistair says as he picks up the phone.
“Alistair, it’s Father. Cassie told me you wanted me to call.” Father William responds.
“Yes, Father.” Alistair then continues his reason for the requested call, “After the attempt with Cindy did not work, Calum told me he wants to try the next attempt for the recipe. I told him I’d ask you if you think the recipe is ready yet?”
“Alistair,” William begins, “I think I have the correct recipe, but you should know, if this does not work, Calum will not walk the planet forever, he’ll be dead. Does he understand this?”
“He does Father. He said if it fails then he can be the martyr the Children of the Circle need to further the movement. Not only does my son believe in you, I believe in you father.”
“Ok my son. I will see to it that Calum tries the most recent attempt of the recipe. My son Alistair, let him be with you as you travel the road to immortality.” After saying his concluding line, Father William hangs up the phone. He then goes downstairs to spend some time with his wife.
“Honey?” Cassie asks, “Do you want to try again tonight?” She says with a smile on her face.
“As long as you want to try.” He responds.
Cassie and William have been trying to have a child for the last few months and have been unsuccessful. Father William is making sure he leaves a legacy in the land of the living before going any further in his movement with the Children of the Circle.
A FEW MORE SUNDAYS pass before Father William calls for another meeting for The Children of the Circle. He told the Wingreen family they need to keep up appearances until the elixir of immortality was perfected and that required various lunching dates with Isabella’s employer. Father William Michaels was not going to go forward with his plan without his right-hand man, and his newest sacrifice in Calum Wingreen, Alistair’s son.
While the Father is preaching his sermon to the congregation, Alistair and Calum make a brief exit from the sanctuary to the basement. That way, Calum will be ready for the latest attempt of trying the elixir of immortality. Alistair prepares his son for the sacrifice, then makes his way back to the sanctuary before Father William Michaels concludes the weekly Sunday Services.As they have done for previous meetings, the Children of the Circle wait for the other members of the congregation to leave before waiting for Father to arrive in his hooded attire.
The Children of the Circle make their way down to the basement and Father Michaels shortly arrives and unveils Calum is their newest sacrifice for the elixir of immortality. In previous attempts, the member of the congregation was not someone close to The Children of the Circle. This time however, Calum, a preteen boy is their newest sacrifice and members of The Children of the Circle want to protest to this decision. Before anyone can say anything, Father begins speaking.