i don't remember if i already posted this story so sorry if i did?? i wrote this months ago for another book

tw: guns, murder, cults, implied child s*xual abuse

People always joked that Samantha Anson was born in her thirties. That she was never really a child, and always had that serious, practical demeanour. Of course, Samantha Anson was once a child. They just didn't have much of a childhood.

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Samantha was six years old the first time she saw a dead body. In all fairness, Jason warned them. He told her to cover her ears and close her eyes, but she was only six, and her curiosity got the better of them. Their brother was only nine.

They saw the blood on the wall, the look the man gave as he fell to the floor, how the lifeless body was just an object, not like how they looked in the movies. This was empty, hollow. Dead.

The man didn't make a sound as he died. The world seemed to stop for a moment, and everything was quiet. Then, everything started again, far too quickly, and they ran from the store to their van. Samantha didn't say a word on the trip home. Neither did Jason.

She asked him why that man had to die later. He just said that it was because Lucian wanted him dead, and Samantha knew that because they saw him pull the trigger. They didn't fully understand why their brother said his name as if it was taboo back then. It made sense now. If Lucian wanted something, or someone, he would get it.

-

Years later, Samantha saw a psychologist on the TV say that cult leaders were motivated by money, sex or power.

Lucian Lyons loved power.

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Samantha was raised to be obedient. No one questioned Lucian and no one dared to leave. They only left the compound for supply runs with her family - with Lucian present, of course.

On one of those supply runs, they drove for hours to get to an army surplus store that was going out of business, and everything was on sale. They bought just about everything in stock, including as many guns and as much ammunition as they could afford.

"I'll have to teach you two how to use these." Lucian smiled at Samantha and Jason. Jason looked at his seven year old sister, and then back at Lucian, wondering if he was just making a weird joke. He was not, and he taught the two Anson children how to fire the weapons as soon as they got back to the compound. Jason questioned why they needed to learn, but Lucian was quick to respond. "Kids, we stay in the compound for a reason. The outside world is dangerous, and it's filled with dangerous people. They don't like what we're doing here, and we have to protect ourselves. It's what God wants us to do."

They went to plenty of sketchy gun shows that didn't ask for ID or paperwork or record the sale or care that there were literal children negotiating the price.

Everyone's social security checks went to Lucian, and he provided everything. Their meals were cheap and tasteless, and their clothes were more functional than fashionable. So, it came as a surprise when, on one of their "shopping trips", Lucian offered to buy a nice dress for Samantha. He always called her Mimi. Her parents were flattered by it, of course. As far as they were concerned, God himself had just validated their daughter.

As the years went by, Lucian's 'interest' in Samantha started to grow. She was helpless. They were trapped. She was only a child, after all. Lucian wasn't the only man to do it, cults aren't exactly known for treating kids well. It all became a blur, fast yet slow, shocking yet expected.

They thought it would never end.