Start the song. It's Perennials by Widowspeak.

Josh turned a page in his book. He wasn't eating lunch today. His father's newest strategy for getting him to take Ashley's innocence was by restricting him to one meal a day and bloodletting his disobedience before bed. Explaining that one to Ashley was going to be hard.

Instead of eating, Josh was reading up on old and less talked about laws from the old days of The Family. They'd been around for decades, if not centuries, borrowing methods and laws from ancient Satanists. So far, he'd found nothing that would allow him to consummate or annul his marriage in the eyes of Satan without committing unspeakable acts towards Ashley.

Josh jumped in surprise when someone plopped down at the table with him. He looked up, expecting one of his siblings but making eye contact with Tyler instead. His eyes scanned the cafeteria, finding every set of eyes locked on the pair of them.

"Do you have a death wish?" Josh whispered harshly, looking back down at his book to avoid the eyes on them.

"No, but I have a Satanic hitman on my trail so I'm guessing it doesn't really matter if I want to die or not." Tyler was shaking. He leant forward and whispered, "I saw him today. He was watching me."

That caught Josh's attention. "Mathias? Watching you where?"

"I was walking to school and everywhere I looked, he was there. Scar and all." Tyler's eyes were filling with tears, but he was trying to hide them. "Why is this happening to me?"

"My sister was mad. She doesn't see outsiders as people. You just were in the wrong place at the wrong time," Josh explained. He looked up and made eye contact with his sister across the cafeteria. She was fuming. "And now she's going to come kill both of us."

Tyler looked over his shoulder quickly, looking back to Josh in terror once he'd caught sight of her. "What do I do? Josh, what do I do? How do I make this go away?"

"Mathias is under orders from the elders. He's like an attack dog. The only person who can call him off is the prophet," Josh replied calmly, looking back down at his book.

"Who's the prophet?" Tyler asked anxiously.

"Doesn't matter. He won't help an outsider." Josh turned another page in his book, finally finding a section on sex.

"So you're going to let me die?" Tyler asked.

Josh sighed. "Of course not. Ashley would murder me. I can't do much for you though. She's easier to protect than you are. I don't know you. I'm bound to her by blood."

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked nervously.

Josh sighed, pulling up his sleeve just enough to show where Ashley had been forced to carve her initials into his skin. "Wedding rings get lost easily, especially when you live like we do. Some people have them, but most people just use scarification," he explained when Tyler looked at him in fear. "Blood binds."

"So she..."

"She has mine." Josh pulled his sleeve back down. "Anyways, I'm not bonded to you so I can't exactly advocate for you. I own Ashley according to our religion. I get to decide if they kill her or not."

"You own her?" Tyler asked incredulously.

Josh folded the corner of the page he was on and closed his book. "Look. There are things you cannot and will not understand about Satanism. It's not...it's not something outsiders can understand. Ashley tries, but I think she's overlooking some of the worst parts. Being owned by me is the least of her problems. Besides,what we're focused on right now is whether or not I can keep you alive."

"You aren't a glass half full person, are you?" Tyler asked miserably.

"I'm not," Josh replied. "Here."

He opened his backpack and pulled out a black chord with a pendant attached to it. Tyler took it with shaky hands, studying the coiled snake charm, crafted of silver.

"What's this?" He asked.

"Put it on," Josh replied, sliding his book into his backpack when he caught his sister still watching him.

Tyler pulled the amulet on, looking uncertainly at Josh. "What's this for?"

"It's our family crest. With any luck, they'll decide you've been claimed and move on. Until then, start working on losing your virginity. You're worthless to us without it," Josh replied as he zipped his bag.

"Claimed?" Tyler asked, picking up the pendant and looking at it.

"Yeah. They'll assume I either decided to have a second spouse or that you're a pet or something."

Tyler's eyes widened. "I can't believe you can say such creepy stuff with a straight face."

"This is all ordinary to me," Josh reminded him. "Satanist, remember?"

"Your wife said you don't believe in that stuff," Tyler pointed out.

Josh shrugged, ignoring the way his stomach was starting to growl. "It's still all I know. I'd never even left the community until middle school. The state decided we needed government approved schooling, which is shitty. The elders say it's a ploy to take away their youth and disband the cult."

The boy sitting across from him blinked blankly. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"In some ways, yes. In other ways it's the death of a culture," Josh replied.

"A culture that approves of human sacrifice and owning human beings," Tyler replied slowly.

Josh rolled his eyes. "You realise you just slaughtered every chance you had at making friends in this school by talking to me, right?" He asked.

The other boy shrugged. "I'll probably be dead soon anyways. Besides, I've met people like them a million times. I don't want friends like these people."

"Again, just pointing out that a kid raised in a cult isn't exactly the best friend material," Josh replied, trying to keep himself from smiling. He had to hide his emotions from the outsiders as best as he could.

Tyler shrugged and rested his head in his arms. "You aren't eating?" He asked tiredly.

"Nope. Neither are you." He wasn't asking. He was just observing.

"Too anxious," Tyler replied. "What's your excuse?"

"Religious thing," Josh replied.

Tyler looked up in interest. "Like fasting?"

"Like being punished," Josh replied simply.

"Oh." Tyler was quiet for a moment. "So do you guys like, actually worship Satan?"

"Yep," Josh replied, watching Tyler. "What do you believe in?"

Tyler smiled. "My dad's a Baptist preacher."

Josh smirked. "Oh really?"

"Yep." Tyler snickered.

"My dad's a Satanic prophet. What a coincidence." Josh looked back up at his sister. She wasn't looking anymore.

"Your dad is the one who won't help me?" Tyler asked, his face falling.

Josh shook his head. "He wouldn't even help me in this situation. I'm being punished for not consummating a marriage because I'm too scared of the process. As far as he's concerned, I might as well have become a Baptist."

"You're scared of sex?" Tyler asked curiously.

"I'm scared of having to force Ashley to have sex." Josh was surprised that the words left his lips so easily. He'd spent the last sixteen years of his life defending these secrets, yet now he was spewing sacred information out like vomit to a Baptist of all things.

Tyler looked confused. "Why would you have to force it? She doesn't want to?"

"She wants it more than I do, but she's not supposed to. We have to take women's innocence, literally take. She can't give it up willingly. It's part of gaining ownership. If I want to keep her, I have to destroy her first." Josh fiddled with the zipper on his backpack. "But I can't."

"For what it's worth, I think being unable to rape someone is a good thing," Tyler pointed out.

A sigh escaped Josh along with at least a gallon of word vomit. "Could you tell my dad that please? Now Ashley and I are trapped in a lie just to buy ourselves a few weeks time. I'm hoping to get her out of there by then. She thinks being part of The Family won't be bad after she's fully inducted, but she doesn't know how bad it is."

"So leave," Tyler suggested quietly.

Josh chuckled bitterly. "How insightful. That's great advice. Why didn't I ever think of that? I should just leave the satanic cult I was born into. Should be easy, right?"

"Sorry. I didn't think about it," Tyler muttered quietly. He looked down at his hands. "Is Ashley banned from eating?"

Josh shook his head. "I'm the only one who has the authority to do that to her, and I never would."

"Brendon told me you were evil yesterday, but I think he's wrong," Tyler said suddenly.

The words rendered Josh speechless. Each aspect of the statement caught him off guard. He didn't know Brendon. He didn't know why Tyler would think he was good. All he knew was that there was a weird feeling in his chest.

"I should go," Josh decided to say. "My sister is going to murder both of us at some point today, so I should at least go to a couple classes and earn some points back with her."

Tyler nodded, but he looked disappointed. "Okay. Um, so the necklace thing? How is it going to help me?"

"Show Mathias when he comes for you. Tell him it's from me, but you aren't allowed to say anything else. Either he'll let it go or he'll bring you to me for confirmation. Best case scenario, you're in school the next day like nothing ever happened," Josh assured him.

"And worst case scenario?" Tyler's voice quivered nervously.

Josh wasn't sure what was the socially appropriate way to tell someone that they'd be using his blood for prayer for the next few weeks, so he just shrugged. "Don't think about that. I'll help you."

"Thank you, Josh."

"Whatever. Just go try to make friends and stay away from my sister. Keep that amulet visible," Josh told him as he grabbed his bag and stood up from the table.

Tyler nodded, resting his head in his arms again. Josh felt bad for him. He really did. He just also knew better than to think that he could do much to fix this situation. The Family was already pissed enough at him. By not taking Ashley like he was supposed to, he'd destroyed any chance he had at being a respected member. He was too soft and not committed enough. They wouldn't forgive him until he submitted to what was asked of him and consummated this marriage in Satan's eyes. Unfortunately, Josh would rather be exiled than do that to someone.