Start the song. It's Ritual Spirit by Massive Attack and Azekel.

The two boys watched Dallon go, closing the door behind himself. Brendon looked at Josh with wide eyes. "Why did you call Mr. Weekes Dallon?"

"It's a long story," Josh replied quietly. "Do you want answers or not?"

"Yes," Brendon replied. "What the hell do you mean you killed someone?"

Josh sighed, sitting down on top of one of the desks. "His name is Mathias. Well, was. He was in charge of collecting spouses and fulfilling debts to The Family."

"The what?" Brendon asked, looking absolutely terrified.

If Brendon was going to help get Ashley and Tyler free, Josh had to be honest with him. He had to know everything. "The Family. Our cult."

"So it is a cult!" Brendon exclaimed. "And oh my god. So he's like a hitman?"

"More like a bounty hunter. My sister put a target on Tyler's back when we were in a fight. You were there for that though." Brendon nodded. "I tried to help him get out of it. When we were starting to run out of options, I gave him our family crest and told him to show it to Mathias if he came for him. Then he'd think he belonged to me, and leave him alone."

Brendon stopped him. "I'm still not really clear on the whole 'you own Tyler' thing."

"I own Ashley too technically. It's part of our religion, I guess. The husband who's a member of The Family takes ownership of their spouses. I haven't taken full ownership of Tyler yet, and I'm not going to for Ashley. That's what I was talking about-"

"You're married to them?" Brendon exclaimed just as Dallon came back in with two cups of tea.

The teacher simply closed the door again, handing each of them a cup before sitting on a desk and looking seriously at Josh. "You didn't tell me you had more than one. I thought Ashley was the only one."

Brendon looked completely baffled as Josh and Dallon continued. "The day after Ashley and I visited you, I got Tyler too. Mathias knocked him out and left him for me in the basement."

"Sorry, what?" Brendon asked. "What about the crest?"

"You gave Tyler your crest? Wait, Tyler Joseph?" Dallon asked. "That makes sense."

"To protect him from Mathias. Yes. Keep up. Okay, so the crest didn't work. Mathias still captured Tyler and brought him, asking me to verify that Tyler belonged to me. Tyler was bleeding like crazy and Ashley and I didn't know if he'd be okay, but my mom helped patch him up. His skull is still cracked though."

Dallon hummed his understanding. "Let me guess. Since you're the owner, you had to pick the punishment?"

"Satan picked. I had to drink this...this stuff. It let him in and then I...it was bad. Mathias is dead now, though, and that's what matters," Josh told them.

"Invocation juice? Is that why I heard in the teacher's lounge that you were vomiting blood?" Dallon inquired knowingly.

"Someone poisoned it with mistletoe, but that's another story," Josh replied, waving the comment away with his hands.

Brendon looked at Dallon with wide eyes. "Why do you know so much about this stuff, Mr. Weekes?"

Dallon smiled sadly at the question. "I grew up next door to Josh. I used to babysit him and his siblings during rituals."

"But you're wearing a yellow shirt," Brendon replied quietly.

Dallon chuckled. "I left the community after we had some pretty substantial disagreements on how I should treat my wife, which is something Josh can understand. You haven't given in, have you?"

"She's still a virgin," Josh replied. "Like I told Brendon though, kind of, they've decided that because of his cracked skull, Tyler gets to skip that part. We have to, um, consummate by the end of the week."

Dallon shook his head and sighed. Brendon was looked at Josh with wide eyes. "That's the thing you have to do? Sex?" Brendon exclaimed.

"Rape," Dallon replied quietly, making Brendon fall silent. "In order to consummate marriages within The Family, the husband with original Satanic ties has to rape their spouse."

The feeling of Brendon's gaze burning through Josh's skin made his heart race. "I'm not hurting either of them. Mine and Tyler's consummation rules are different, and Ashley and I are putting ours off until we can't anymore. She's leaving there a virgin. We've already decided."

Brendon glared at Josh. "But Tyler isn't?"

"Tyler's consummation requires consent. It wouldn't be happening if he didn't want it too," Josh replied defensively.

It was hard to tell who looked more surprised: Brendon or Dallon. They both seemed completely taken aback by the words. Josh let his gaze fall down to the floor. Anxiety was eating him alive.

"Josh, if you consummate a marriage and then set him free, it will destroy you," Dallon whispered softly.

"As long as he gets out, I don't care." It was true too. Josh would go through any and every type of pain possible so long as his husband was safe. "It's my job to protect him. He'll never be fully safe inside of that fence."

"Do you love him?" Brendon asked quietly. Josh nodded slowly, not looking up. His heart was thundering in his chest. "That's a good thing, Josh."

Dallon shook his head. "Not in there. Love is the scariest thing in the world inside of that community. Anyone inside of that fence can become a sacrifice at any moment. No one is ever safe. If you love someone, you aren't either. They could be the next one to be hurt."

"No one is going to hurt him. I won't let them," Josh replied quietly. "Ashley either."

"She's the one I met?" Dallon asked.

Josh nodded. "Yeah. She used to go to school here too. Brendon was her best friend."

"Is she with Tyler?" Dallon asked curiously.

"She's in the sanctuary," Josh replied solemnly.

"So she's safe, right?" Brendon asked, looking relieved.

Dallon shook his head, sighing. "So she's being punished for wasting gifts she could potentially have given her husband."

"What gifts?" Brendon asked.

Josh was just as interested. He'd never known why they took her away when she started to bleed. What gifts was she wasting? Dallon sighed.

"Children. That's something they don't explain in much detail within the community. The women have it explained to them, but not the men," Dallon replied, looking uncomfortably at Josh.

"She's bleeding out...children?" Josh asked, tilting his head in confusion.

It seemed as though Josh was alone in his confusion. Brendon's eyes widened. "Are you telling me she's being punished for menstruating?"

The teacher coughed awkwardly. "Yes. They see it as her body bleeding out possible children that Josh could've given life to. Since they view her as basically existing to deliver children, care for them, and be submissive to her husband, menstruating is a punishable offence to The Family."

Josh was completely at a loss for words here. He hadn't known any of this even existed. "Does it hurt her?" Josh asked quietly. "The girls in the sanctuary cry a lot."

"They get cramps and headaches and stuff. It's not pleasant," Dallon explained. "I would imagine it's a lot worse when they're being chained to the floor and are forced to free bleed."

Brendon covered his face with his hands and shook his head. "No. They can't do that to her. What the fuck is wrong with them?"

"It's a Satanic cult, Brendon," Josh replied quietly.

"You have to get her out of there," he whispered.

"I'm trying, Brendon. Believe me. I'm trying," Josh sighed.

"Well, try harder! She's being tortured!" Brendon replied harshly, glaring at Josh.

Dallon shook his head. "Brendon, every single person inside of that fence is being tortured, and that includes Josh. He can't magically make this go away. It's going to take time. We'll get them out of there though. Don't worry."

Josh looked up at Dallon in surprise. "You're going to help me?"

"You're family, Josh. Even if The Family won't take care of you and your spouses, I always will. Just let me know when you need me, and I'll be there. Okay?" Dallon's voice was calm and even, which comforted Josh more than anything.

"Thank you," Josh whispered.

"Of course," Dallon replied. "How about this? We already know our goal is to get her out before the next full moon, but what if I can help you and the two of them get out by Sunday?"

Josh's heart pounded excitedly in his chest. "Dallon, that's in four days."

"I know. We can do it though," Dallon assured him. "We just need a plan."

"And what's the plan?" Brendon asked quietly.

Dallon went to his desk and pulled out an old binder. Josh had seen it before as a kid. It used to be in Dallon's room when they'd had him for a babysitter. He set it down in Josh's lap.

"You need to act natural this week. Consummate your marriage with Tyler and get Ashley out of that building. It'll be okay. You're leaving the same way I did."