geist jade

It was the story the entire precinct had been talking about. A group, small, but gaining a modest influence sprung in the dark corners of the city. Typical cult behavior, and certainly something the whole force would be keeping their eyes on. Little was known about the inner workings of the group, or even what their goals were to begin with, but as more and more disappearances linked to what was assumed to be their hiding place, there was only one solution, action had to be taken.

With potential murders on the line, this was no place to hold back caution. They needed a thorough investigation, definite proof before they could just out and storm the place. As regrettable as it was to say, many cults came armed with impressive legal teams. But if they could find the dirt they needed, a shutdown would be quick and easy.

Investigator Jade LeClaire led the charge, reaching the first tendrils into the infiltration of this stronghold. She had hoped that this would be an easy, painless mission. How could it not be? There were no plans to make an arrest yet, though she'd be prepared to call for backup if she had to. All she was going to do was ask a few questions, look around, and leave. Any cult leader worth their salt would at least be prepared for that and not arouse any suspicion.

She made her way to the building, located slightly outside the downtown area. Nice neighborhood, too. A sleek, pleasant looking building. Innocuous and hopeful, like a rehab center. Wasn't this how it always went, Jade thought to herself. Make yourself look nice and no one will suspect a thing. She walked to the door and knocked, wearing her uniform but little more. She pawed over the gun in its holster.

After a few moments, a tall, thin woman answered the door, round-faced and pleasant-looking. She wore a white dress but most notably was the large silvery feather tied in her black hair. She also wore a constant smile

/Wonderful. If this doesn't scream cult I don't know what does./

"Well, hello there, Miss." The woman spoke gently, deliberately, "How can I help you today?"

"Hello to you too. Officer Jade LeClaire," She flashed her badge for just a moment, carefully controlling the tone of her own voice to not seem too aggressive despite her discomfort. "Are you a Ms. Adelaide Hepburn?"

The woman's smile twitched, a split-second movement.

"Why yes, that would be me, though please, call me Ma'at."

"Alright... Ma'at. I would like to ask you a few questions. Do you mind if I came in?" Naturally, the response did nothing to put Jade at ease. But if nothing else, she was a professional. Nothing showed on her face but a pleasant smile in return.

"Of course, of course! Please, be my guest!" She stepped from the door, holding it open into the entrance room to the building. Jade thanked her and went inside.

Everything had been done in dusty whites and sandstone beige, but the gold plating lining the blood red furniture dazzled. The walls were inscribed with hieroglyphs that painted their arcane stories. No time to sit and try to decipher them, but Jade was fascinated all the same. This explains the insistence on the strange name, but what an odd subject to revolve a cult around.

"Please, my dear, have a seat. What would you like to know?"

Jade pretended she didn't hear that request, and remained standing, watching the woman closely.

"What would you say your organization is about?" Jade asked, voice firm. The woman's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Ah, so you're curious, yes? Many are, you know. Here, we espouse the values of what lies beyond. We believe that the Ancient Egyptians presented us with a very important dialog about how to best prepare ourselves. We give hope to those who have none, as so many do. Ours is a promise that better things are in store."

This was exactly the kind of answer Jade had been expecting. Some big hooey about how great their little group was and how only they had the true answers. Textbook cult, with the added convenience of probably being a death cult. This was going to be too easy.

"Of course. Admirable goals, for sure," Jade said flatly, "Our reports have shown that several disappearances have been linked to this building. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

It was at this point Jade noticed a change in her face. Her eyes widened, her smile grew, showing teeth.

"We allow... certain members of ours to make a choice." She spoke, her voice taking on an oily quality, "When this life is unsatisfying, is it wrong to force them to continue it? It is our duty to send them off, down that holy river..."

"But many of these... deaths were unreported," Jade's tone became harder, standing resolute in the face of what she now knew was a murderer. "The bodies still haven't been found..." As she put together the pieces, she knew that there was no waiting. This was enough to make a case for a warrant, easily. But she would need to get the information there immediately. The woman already knew what was going on

"Thank you." Jade said abruptly. "This answers my questions. Have a good day..." She turned to leave.

"Oh, you aren't leaving."

"What?"

As she turned to face the woman again, someone else grabbed her from behind. Jade drew her gun, but it clattered to the floor when she felt a prick in her neck. Her muscles slacked and she was unconscious before she even hit the floor.

--

Jade awoke to frigid water hitting her face. Choking and sputtering, she tried to sit up only to find her arms and legs were bound, her body splayed out and nude on... where? Where the hell was she?

Blinking the water out of her eyes, she finally focused on two faces. One was a man, his face obscured in a mask of what appeared to be a sharp-faced black dog. The other was her target.

"W... what the hell is going on?!" She shouted, fiercely but impotently.

"My dear, you came here to put a stop to our glorious works. I knew that the moment you showed us your uniform. Do you think that I would allow this to happen?"

She leaned in close, wrapping Jade's face in a cloth gag that was scented with fragrant oils and, more distressingly, formaldehyde.

"Your heart has weighed far too heavy." Ma'at spoke, loud enough to echo across the room, "And for such a sinner, a sinner's punishment has been earned. And so, we will deliver you, unclean as you deserve, into the maw of Ammut."

Jade tried to scream, but inhaling the vapors from the cloth left her throat dry and ragged. This was supposed to be easy, not even an arrest, but a simple interrogation. Now she was going to die.

The man lifted a scalpel and Jade winced. He moved to her side and the blade bit in deep, slicing past skin and muscle. The cut itself caused little pain, but he stuck his hand, ungloved, into the wound, stretching it apart, tearing at flesh and nerves. Her eyes rolled into her head, voice bursting out in hoarse wails, all she could manage.

It was a disgusting, alien feeling, the hand groping and grasping where no hand was ever meant to be, pain and shredding at organs that should never be touched. The other hand soon joined it, feeling around until they went to work ripping something out. The bloodstained hands emerged, clutching what had to be her liver.

By the time he had pulled out her stomach, shock settled into her body, and her eyes stared at him working, hazy and detached. Intestines seemed to stretch on forever as they were wound out bit by bit, finally cut loose. Finally, blissfully, it ended, and the world went dark as her lungs were yanked free.

--

She woke up, yet again, to freezing cold. She shivered deeply and saw her breath in the air.

Breath? Cold? /Living?/

She patted herself down, felt over skin that was chilled on the outside but definitely had warmth underneath. Alive! She was alive!

How?

The first thing to do would be to figure out where the hell she was. It was a very small room, illuminated in what looked like flickering firelight. It took a few moments, but she eventually determined she was in a freezer. Around her, cast in shadows, were other bodies, wrinkled and sunken, and the area reeked of preservatives.

Indeed, her feet were standing in a frigid pool of the stuff herself. She examined her own body and found it only in slightly better shape than her dead compatriots.

She shuddered deeply, this time not just because of the cold. She had to escape.

It didn't look like Ma'at had expected any of the bodies to return to life, and for good reason. Jade knew she should be dead. No one could survive having their organs torn out one by one. No one.

She opened the door to the freezer and brighter lights flooded in. It was then that she noticed the shards of clay around her feet. One shard had buried its way into her foot, but she was far too numb from the cold to notice.

What was the significance of this? Who knows, who cares. She pulled her wrappings tighter around her body and broke off running, down the halls, down the road.

All the while, she was followed by her savior. A three-headed beast, taking on the very image of that that had killed them. None of its heads had much in the way of conscious left, but they knew one thing. This woman that they had saved would bring the end of their suffering, and the suffering of others.