stanford

Turned 18 today. Hoo-fucking-ray. Only now do my parents choose to acknowledge I exist. They want to take me somewhere real special, they say.

I guess my upbringing could have been worse, as I look back. Less horrible and more really weird.  For me and my brothers and sisters, we were like latchkey kids on steroids. Ever since I can remember, we had to do everything on our own, and most of the younger ones were pretty much raised by me. Sure, our parents would show up every now and then and throw some food and supplies at us, but even those rare occasions they were actually there, they were... weird. Like they were barely human. Any kindness they showed felt scripted, and more than anything they just wanted to go back to whatever they were doing. None of us knew where they were all day. I assume they had jobs because we usually had food, but the house was always dirty and cold. Least they weren't beating us or anything.

The most fucked up thing though, is that sometimes, they would take one of my siblings with them, around their 13th birthday. The kid they took would never come back. That, more than anything, freaked us out. No one knew why those kids in particular were taken, or which one of us would be next. Every time they would tell that kid that they were going somewhere special. Just like I was today.

Maybe I'll see them again, get reassured that they're even still alive.

I'm in the car with them right now, some beat-up old station wagon that kind of stinks like wet dog and... is that blood? Yeah. It's faint, but there's some dried blood on the floor. I'm starting to get freaked out, and I ask them what's going on. They tell me that everything's okay, and that I'm finally going to get to understand my "purpose."

What the fuck does that mean? What purpose? Were mom and dad just fucking cultists this entire time? Wouldn't be surprising, but I don't want any part of this. I can't get out. My heart is pounding in my throat and I'm scared as hell.

They finally pull over in front of a surprisingly nice-looking silver building. There's a name printed on it in big silver letters, MAGODON or something, but honestly I couldn't give less of a shit considering what else is going on. They order me to follow them. Fuck this. I try to struggle, but dad grabs my arm hard, hard enough that I can feel the bruise start to grow in the shape of his hand. For a second, I swear I see a flash of patchy fur rippling up his arm. What the fuck? I'm going crazy.

They drag me inside, and no one even bats an eye at me or my parents. They just glance over, smiling. Holy shit, this really is a cult. I didn't even think such things were real, but here I am, being shoved down, down down what seems like endless flights of stairs.

It's dark. There's a bunch of other people here, some of them normal humans, some of them massive. Wolves on two legs, with twisted grins and patchy fur. Just like what I saw before. They're all... staring at me... laughing... as they pull me further in. Everything fucking reeks, the smell of blood becoming overwhelming, some disgusting, nauseous heat worming its way into my stomach as I spiral down further.

And further.

And-

<collapse the pit>
---
Those words ring through my head, a constant, soft whisper, but I don't know what happened. I'm covered in blood, and clutched in my hand is a metal bar, covered in bits of fur and muscle tissue. More importantly, I'm running, only now aware that my chest aches and I'm out of breath from running up stairs. I almost fall on my face as I skid to a stop, try to assess what happened. But the stairway is dead silent except for my panting, and slowly the voice in my head starts to change its words.

<Good work.>

Good work? What the fuck did I do? Did I, some dumb kid, really kill that entire pit with a stick? I try to ask the voices, but they don't have an answer for me, content to just let me stand there stupidly in the dark.

Whatever. I guess the important thing is, I'm free now, and I escaped whatever freak cult ritual or whatever they were going to subject me to. I should just get the hell out of here as soon as possible.

When I reach the top, I see the secretary with a dumb, stunned look on her face... Except she's not human. She's got the same stink on her as was down in the pit, doesn't she? A twisted, horrible monster. Not important. I have to get out of h-