Sequel: Oh, Catastrophe
Status: 6/1/2013 Completed.

Immaculate Misconceptions

Act Fifteen: Walk Through The Valley of the Shadow of Death

“Get up!”

The air was knocked out of him as a swift kick to his stomach woke him from his sleep. The ground was warm as result to the sun’s rays that streamed through the hole in the ceiling. In any other situation it would’ve been comforting... But in this particular setting, it was mocking. As Chris pushed himself up from the ground, his breathing was unnaturally heavy and it was now that he realized just how weak he truly was. His fingers pounded with numbness and were twisted and cut up unnaturally. His skin was pale and leathery, stretched over his ribs that were beginning to show themselves (he was skinny as is, the lack of food only made it worse). His burns have yet to heal properly, adding a disgusting texture to his arms and thighs. He was almost skin and bones, his back covered in deep gashes bleeding and sometimes secreting puss. He wasn’t bloated again... Charlie must’ve treated him at some point. Every movement hurt and his head felt heavier than usual. He could feel his heart pounding behind his eyes and out of instinct he reached up to rub the pain out of his temple. He hissed as his hands were met with sharp thorns that were embedded into his skull adding to the pain of his broken fingers.
The man who woke him seemed to laugh and made no movement to help Chris to his feet as he staggered. The new weight on his head made it hard for him to stay balanced in his fatigued state. He snapped his fingers and Chris was met with 3 large splashes of ice cold water which allowed some of the grime to vanish from his body but he began to shiver.

Everything moved quickly as two women with their faces and heads covered in hijabs wiped Chris down with soft sponges until his skin was spotless of dirt and dried up blood... Although their treatment did crack his burn scabs and reopen the hot wounds on his back. His hair was left alone, only having a few buckets of water thrown over it which made the crown move painfully. His pants were removed earlier leaving him uncomfortably nude but unable to do anything about it as the women wrapped a white cloth around his waist.

“Walk.”
The man commanded, pointing to the darkness at the far right of the space. Chris shivered, giving him a weak glare before he dragged himself forward in an odd limp. He walked like a zombie, his posture slightly bent over and his breathing ragged.
“Faster.” There was a loud crack and Chris cried out as the sharp leather licked at his calves causing him to fall forward as new gashes were open.
Chris crawled forward to gain momentum as he slowly pushed himself back up and staggered forward a few more steps before he regained any posture. He tried to walk a bit more faster now, he feared the crack of the whip on any other part of his legs. His stomach churned as the wounds that were opened during his “washing” bled. His body was beginning to be covered in dark red veins of blood that began to stain the cloth around his waist.

In a short few minutes he was greeted by a crowd of men, women, and even children. He was horrified as he looked into a child’s eyes and they stared back coldly. These people were insane... A part of him wanted to reach out and shake the child awake from this horrifying nightmare but he knew the child was lost... Lost to the ways of these people. There was no hope here.
There was no God here.
Only a mock silhouette of what they believed was God. The biblical beliefs and terms of a God have been twisted and tortured in this place to create something so dark as to justify what they were doing. They do not know God. They have forgotten God.
Chris tore his gaze from the child as his mother put an arm around her possessively. He refocused his attention on the Priest, Charlie, and Blue Jeans that stood in the middle of such a large crowd. He was horrified to study the men behind them, hammering feverishly at large slabs of wood that formed a large, heavy cross.
All they did was stare at Chris until suddenly the hammering stopped and the Priest opened his book of Hymns and in a low, depressing tone began to sing.
And his people joined him.
The tone of the song carried sadness... and death.

Chris was moved toward the cross that was held up by several men. No one spoke but Charlie moved forward and began to wrap a heavy braided ropes around Chris.
He quickly began to whisper so no one could hear, “I-I’m s-s-s-orry. Y-y-you must carry the c-c-cross on your b-back where they t-t-tell y-y-you to. I will t-tie it o-on your back.” His eyes flickered and Chris hissed as he felt the weight of the object almost bring him to his knees. The singing grew louder and some even threw their hands up in praise. A rope with knots tied along it was thrown over his shoulder and Charlie scurried in front of Chris, working quickly. Time was running out.
“H-h-here. T-t-this w-way y-your hands w-w-won’t hurt. P-push like t-t-this.” He pushed his hands out with his palms and then slipped Chris’ hands between the knots so the rope crossed over the palm of his hand. This way, Chris didn’t have to grab the rope and pull, his palms would provide a stable pressure and help him pull the cross.
Suddenly, two gongs sounded and Charlie was lost amongst the crowd who began to sing a different tune.
“Walk!” Chris was pushed and with a long hard grunt he took a step forward. For a minute, the cross didn’t move... With another loud grunt, Chris lunged forward and with an odd scrape the cross dragged along the dirt floor.

One foot after the other... small surged of strength. That’s how Chris moved through the dark tunnels he was led through. It seemed like an hour passed before Chris was blinded by sunlight.
He was outside.
The crack of the whip across his calves made him yelp and surge forward again. There would be no breaks as Chris, half naked and barefoot, dragged the cross through empty fields of weeds and dead trees. A mob of people dressed as if they were from another time following him and singing in quiet voice, hymns in other languages. Chris only knew where to stop because the air seemed to grow colder and the grass beneath his feet was grey and lifeless. In front of them stood two other rotted wooden crosses, pitched into the ground. But, there was no sign of anyone ever being nailed to them... They were bare.
With a loud crack, Chris’ ankles were cut and he fell to his knees. The cross’ weight only caused him to fall even farther and his face made harsh contact with the dirt.
A gong marked the beginning of The End.

~~

The boys were dressed plainly in jeans and t-shirts but it did nothing to change their character. After a lot of talking, the boys convinced Chris’ mom it’d be best for her to stay behind since they didn’t know what or if they would find anything. Kuza nibbled on his nails as he studied the police cars with detectives bent over them, scribbling things on paper while other forensic scientist were gridding the area with white ribbons low to the ground.
“Here’s how it works: We all are assigned certain plots on the grid. The grids are there to keep things organized. Inspect each grid for any evidence such as scraps of clothing, pieces to that cell phone, footprints, anything that might be a sign of where Mr. Cerulli might’ve been.” The detective pointed at certain grid points as each boy was given a map with highlighted grid points for each of them. Other officers were already getting started.
“What happens if we find anything?” Devin looked down at his map nervously.
The officer shifted his posture slightly, “We can take further steps. Further the search in this area, get bloodhounds involved.”
The boys nodded silently and it was a short few minutes before each boy was left with their own thoughts as they expected grid points and crossed out anything that turned up blank.

Angelo sniffed, wiping his runny nose with his sleeve as his allergies began to act up. Every plot only darkened his mood more and more as nothing popped up. A part of him wished Ryan was here but he was being detained for the stupid stunt he pulled the other day.
Josh was side by side with a forensic scientist seeing as he found a scrap of the broken cell phone but the more the looked around the less they found.
Devin on the other hand was edging towards the trees where the grids ended. He hadn’t found anything yet and glanced behind him to see Kuza studying the area.
“Kuza!” He hissed in a whisper causing the boy to make eye contact with him. He waved him over and the boy looked around before hopping between grid points to reach Devin.
“Found something?”
Devin shook his head, “I’m gonna look in this... forest. There has to be more in there than this empty space by the highway.” He gazed at the thick set of trees blocking whatever was beyond them from view.
Kuza was quiet for a moment, studying the area with the same hungry eyes. “You’re right.” He moved out of the grid points and over some thick shrubs looking back to make sure Devin was following him and he was. Together they snuck away from the group into the trees. There was nothing around for at least a half hour.
“Maybe we’re missing something... You know, overlooking something important.” Kuza touched the thick, rough trunk of a tree.
Devin scratched the stubble on his chin, “Remember how they said there was that cop car missing? How did they get through all these thick trees? I mean, it’s the perfect place to hide a car if you think about it. You can’t see shit unless you actually get in here... But where? And how? There’s no way you can drive through these fucking trees.”
“Then there has to be a road... I mean, not like some concrete shit but dirt. Something well used.”
Devin shrugged, “Let’s look for a break in the trees then. There has to be other clearing here that aren’t just weeds.”

The sun was blazing way over head as the hours passed by as Kuza and Devin maneuver through trees. Just as Devin’s phone began to ring Kuza let out a shout.
Devin answered as he followed Kuza’s calls and was greeted by an irritated Josh.
“Where the fuck did you guys run off to?!”
“We went into the forest if you wanna call it that. I mean seriously, is no one paying attention to details? Why would there be any evidence out in the open? Besides, they said there was a missing patrol car. Where could it be other than somewhere here? And how did they get it here? It’s common sense.” Devin’s eyes brightened as he caught Kuza leaning on a tree with a hopeful and triumphant smile with a barely visible dirt road behind him.
“How far in did you guys go?” Josh seemed a bit calmer, taking in their information.
“Oh... I think we went far enough. There’s a dirt road here Josh! A dirt road!” He looked down the path, “It’s rarely used but it looks like it’s somewhere South of where you guys are.”
Kuza motioned Devin to follow and the boys walked slowly and carefully down the dull road. There were faint tire tracks in them but they looked old so it was hard to tell if this would lead them to anything.
Devin chatted feverishly on the phone with Josh as they tried to figure out how they could get the rest of the guys and the police unit onto this “road.”

“Kuza tied his bandanna to one of the trees... You should see it if you’re on the road-”
“Is it grey and black?”
“Yeah!”
“Found it.”
“Alright follow the road, you guys are maybe 30 minutes behind us. Kuza and I kept walking. So far we can’t find anything-”
“Dev!”
Devin ran over to where Kuza was standing stiffly. He could feel the tension... The blood pumping through his veins. He wanted to throw up unsure of what waited at the end of the road.
They stood together quietly studying the dull, grey warehouse that laid in front of them. It looked abandoned like no one has been there for years.
“Look,” Kuza’s voice was just a whisper as if they were scared that someone would hear them.
Simultaneously, the boys approached the large cloth that concealed a car. With shaky hands, they tore the cloth away.

Devin gulped, answering Josh’s demands for a response. “You might want to hurry up... I think me and Kuza just found the missing squad car.”
♠ ♠ ♠
Cause I know how much you guys love the cliff hangers... ;)
I'm currently sick with the flu so I managed to write this up for all of you. We're getting closer and closer to the conclusion of all of this madness.
To answer SugarxSkullxDaze's comment, Yes there will be an Epilogue which ultimately is the follow up of how everything is after this story ends. Angelo leaving Motionless will be a part of it (Miss you Angelo :X)
Thank you for the comments:
Fade away i am Jade
SugarxSkullxDaze
and foREVer-a-creature

It's nice to see I have a little circle of regular commenters c: I really appreciate it.
So, what are your thoughts on this chapter? The story so far? Comment, Comment, Comment. I love to hear what you guys are thinking/feeling.
I'll let you guys know now that the "Author's note" for the Epilogue will explain why I created the story since I do have an overall intention. I'll explain the background to it, my thought process, and what I overall wanted from it. I'll let you know, I've been getting the reactions I've been seeking.
It'll be sad to part from the series... Since it's the only series I've really worked hard on and put a lot of thought to it. But I'm excited to be approaching the end although it may be sad.
Thanks for the journey.