Free The Diabolical Conspiracy by Bryan Smith

the house.
    Then she stood up and held a hand out to him. “Give me your keys.”
    Mike stared at her.
    “ That wasn’t a request.”
    He stared at her a moment longer, then heaved a resigned sigh and handed over the keys. “What now?”
    “ Get up. We’re going for a ride.”

9 .
     
    It was a strange thing being driven around in your own car. There was something almost emasculating about it. He wondered if that might not be part of the point. Or maybe it was a way of illustrating how he had surrendered control of his life over to the cult. But as they traveled to various locations within the city it became clear there was a simpler explanation--Marnie knew exactly where she was going and didn’t want to be bothered with the tedium of giving him directions.
    That sick feeling of dread he remembered from the night before recurred as he watched her turn down a familiar series of streets leading to an inevitable destination. Their first stop was a small apartment building. She parked at the curb outside and opened her purse to remove a crumpled pack of cigarettes. Menthols. She smoked one down to the filter without saying anything. Mike normally didn’t allow smoking in his car, but this time he made no protest. He was too disturbed to care. His sister and her new husband had moved into this building only a month ago. He was pretty sure he had never mentioned this fact to Marnie during any of their recent conversations.
    Marnie flicked the cigarette butt out the window, put the car in gear, and drove across town to another familiar location. She pulled into the parking lot outside the retirement complex where his mother lived on the second floor. Again, she didn’t say a word as she lit another cigarette and smoked it all the way down. After that, she drove him to a handful of other locations scattered about town, each of which held a personal significance for him. He wanted to tell her there was no need, because by then he was getting the point, but his anxiety was such that he kept his mouth shut as she finished her tour of the town.
    She remained silent until she returned to Nadia’s neighborhood and parked in the same spot at the curb they had vacated an hour earlier. She patted her purse and looked at him. Her gun was nestled in there next to the cigarettes. “I won’t shoot you, Mike. I like you too much for that. Truly. But I don’t have the same level of affection for your sister, your mother, your fucking grandparents, or your goddamned childhood best friend. Got it?”
    Mike was trying hard not to hyperventilate. “Yeah. I…listen--”
    “ Be quiet.”
    Mike closed his mouth and winced as his upset stomach churned again.
    Marnie reached out and touched his knee, making him jump a little. “You’re one of us, Mike, and you will be until you die. There is no escape. Ever. Understand?”
    He nodded, but he was shaking.
    This wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. He was a free man. A citizen with all the rights and liberties of anyone else. And like any other free person, he should be allowed to determine the course of his own life, including the people with whom he chose to associate. But even as he thought these things, he understood they were no longer strictly true. He belonged to this cult now. This goddamned Diabolical Conspiracy. They owned him. It made him want to scream, to rage against the injustice, but he knew no amount of screaming would change anything.
    “ If you ever give me reason to doubt your commitment to the cause, I’ll return to each of those places we visited today. And the next time you see any of those people, it’ll be in a fucking casket. Understand?”
    He looked at her, trembling as he met her unwavering gaze. “Have…have you killed people before?”
    “ Yes.”
    No hesitation. And was that even a hint of pride he detected in her tone? He thought it was. For sure there was more than a trace of smugness in her hard expression. She had killed people, hell yes, and she was