Start the song. It's Creep On Creepin' On by Timber Timbre.

Going back to school was a lot easier when Josh wasn't sick or fighting with his husband. It was still stressful to worry about Ashley though. Imagining her sitting in a puddle of blood all alone made him feel inhuman levels of disgust and anger. He'd pulled one spouse out of the flames just for another to fall back in.

Josh jumped in surprise when someone dropped down into the seat next his. The last person who'd done that was Tyler, and he knew for a fact that his husband wasn't here. Brendon didn't say anything as he opened his math book and notebook, beginning to work on their assignment. Josh watched him in silence. The rest of the class did too.

Brendon looked at Josh finally. "Do people always stare at you like this?" He asked. Josh shrugged in response, looking back down at his book. Brendon shook his head. "That's embarrassing for them."

"How?" Josh asked.

"Just proves their lives are so boring that they have to obsess over yours," Brendon replied a bit too loudly.

The stray eyes were instantly redirected back to their notebooks. Josh was in awe. After five years of being watched like a hawk in school, no one was looking at him.

Brendon waited for conversation to pick up around them to whisper to Josh. "Did you give it to her?"

"My sister did," Josh replied quietly. "She's in a place that only girls can go into right now."

"The creepy sister with mysteriously missing fingers?" Brendon asked plainly.

Josh shook his head. "No. My other sister. Ash isn't the creepy one either. Abigail is a lot worse," he replied.

"I'm going to need proof in order to believe that," Brendon replied with a grin.

"Challenge accepted," Josh replied, unzipping his backpack and pulling out the doll he needed to fix today. She was still gutted and eyeless. He dropped her on top of Brendon's book, taking great delight in the look of absolute shock on his face.

"What the hell is this?" He asked, lifting his hands off of his desk to avoid touching the doll.

"That is what's currently left of Abigail's doll. I think she used to be a poppet, but my mom gave her to Abigail so she'd learn compassion. It didn't work," Josh replied honesty. "Her name is Batibat."

"Why?" Brendon whispered. "And what the hell is a poppet?"

"Batibat is a demon from the Philippines that kills people in their sleep and brings nightmares. Apparently that's comforting to my sister," Josh informed him with a smirk. "Poppets are for cursing people. You hide them in chimneys until it's time to use them. They're a lot like voodoo dolls. The thing that tied this one to a person was burned a long time ago though. I think it was my grandma's."

Brendon was watching him in absolute shock. "Yeah. Definitely creepier than your other sister."

"In her defence, she's never left the community, so everything she knows about the world is limited to that."

Josh wasn't really sure why he was still talking, but he was glad he'd managed to keep his voice low enough to not grab anyone's attention. He took the doll back and shoved it into his bag. Brendon watched him zip it up.

"Your life is the type of thing horror movies are based off of," Brendon whispered.

"Tell me about it," Josh sighed out.

"Have you ever seen a horror movie?" Brendon asked curiously.

Josh shook his head. "I've only seen movies in school. We don't have that kind of stuff inside the fence."

"What about, like, recorded music?" Brendon asked, sliding his books away slightly.

"Nope."

"Radio?"

"No."

"Video games?"

"What's that?" Josh asked curiously.

Brendon didn't respond. "Phones?"

"No."

"Books?"

"Religious ones."

"Dude, you are living in a literal cult!" Brendon laughed out, gaining the attention of the rest of the class, who all looked over anxiously.

Although by definition that was true, Josh couldn't admit that to all of them. "Not really," he muttered.

"Do you at least have running water?" Brendon asked, eyes wide with interest.

Josh rolled his eyes. "Yes, we have running water."

"Electricity?"

"In some places," he replied quietly, feeling the eyes of the other students slicing into his skin.

"What about-" One warning look from Josh shut Brendon up.

Once again, the classroom was quiet for a moment before conversation kicked in again. Josh did his best to tune them out so he could finish his work and not have to do it at home, where it wasn't even allowed. His mind couldn't focus though. He'd known he lived in a cult for quite some time now, ever since they'd learned about colonialism and Salem and things of the sort. It was still strange to consider that though, especially when an outsider was pointing it out.

"They're still safe?" Brendon whispered suddenly.

Josh nodded. "Yep."

"And you haven't had to do the thing that will make everyone wish they were dead?" He asked.

"I shouldn't have told you about that," Josh muttered.

The other boy sighed. "So, yes or no?"

"No, I haven't," Josh replied defensively. He hesitated before adding quietly, "and Tyler got exempted from that by the elders anyways."

"Why not Ashley?" Brendon whispered back, looking just as defensive.

Before Josh thought to filter his words, he replied with, "Because her skull isn't cracked." As soon as he saw Brendon's eyes widen, he realised what he'd said. "Shit. I just meant-"

"What happened to him?" Brendon asked in a low, dangerous voice.

"I can't tell you that, but just know it's taken care of," Josh muttered quickly.

"Who did it? I swear to God, I'll kill them," Brendon fumed quietly.

Josh swallowed hard. "It's a little late for that."

"What? Why? Don't tell me the son of a bitch got away with it! I want him dead. I want him to-"

"I already killed him," Josh whispered so quietly that it took a moment for Brendon to register the words.

When Brendon did realise what he'd said, his eyes widened. "You...What?"

"It's part of how our system works. He broke something of mine, so I broke something of his," Josh whispered.

"But Tyler is a human being. He doesn't belong to-"

The bell rang, signalling the beginning of lunch. Brendon shoved his stuff into his bag while Josh did before grabbing his sleeve and pulling him out of the room and down the hall.

"We have to talk about this. Where can we talk about this?" He whispered to Josh.

It was a terrible, dangerous idea, but Josh stopped Brendon. "Follow me."

Brendon did as he was told, too frazzled to argue or worry about being seen walking with Josh. It was dangerous territory, and technically Josh was forbidden from coming here, but he did it fairly often anyways. He led Brendon towards a classroom.

"Josh, someone's in there. There's a teacher. We can't-"

Josh ignored him, walking in. The man sitting behind the desk looked shocked to see Josh, just as he always did when he stopped by. This was a different circumstance from his usual visits though.

The English teacher sighed as he stood. "I'm going to make you two some tea. Your friend looks like me might be in shock. I'll be right back."

Josh smiled weakly at the man as he helped Brendon sit down in one of the empty desks. "Thanks, Dallon."