There's a knock on the door

One thing you aren't expecting is a knock on the door... which is what happens.

"Fuck," you say. "Do you think it's your cousins or whatever?"

You open the door and see a young couple. The woman is blond and has a great figure... she'd be hot if she weren't wearing something out of the 50s with a weird cloth bonnet covering most of her hair. The guy wears a suit he probably bought a year or two before he stopped growing. His wrists stick out of the sleeves and about four inches of sock appear between where his slacks end and his shoes begin.

"Have you accepted Jesus as your personal savior?" the guy demands.

"Not interested." You try to close the door... only to find the guy's foot is stuck in it.

"Move your foot or lose it," you say.

"Satan is making you talk like that because he fears if you listen to the good word, you'll forsake him and return to oneness with the Lord." He's peering past you, obviously trying to make out who else is in the cabin.

You notice the girl is on her phone. Should she really be texting with someone when she's supposed to be on a missionary quest? Something about this situation is making you uncomfortable.

"You're right," you say. "I do need to get some good news. Why don't the two of you come in."

"Have you gone crazy?" Crystal demands. "And if you're thinking I'll experiment with Jesus-boy here, you can think again."

"I'm not thinking of you experimenting with anyone but me," you say. "But I think we should listen to these people. They want to testify on their personal relationship with the divine. Isn't that right, son."

"Uh, yeah."

"You, too." You grab the girl and drag her into the cabin. "But put away that phone. I'm not comfortable with high technology."

Crystal giggles at that.

"What?" you demand.

"Just your mastery of understatement."

"Now," you say, "sit down. Make yourselves at home."

You notice that the young man's attention seems drawn to Charlotte. It could he recognizes a fellow soul, considering that, until yesterday, Charlotte was caught up in the whole cult world. But you don't think so. You think he recognizes her because he's looking for her... because he's somehow connected with the asshole minister who wanted a virgin bride.

"Can I see that phone?" you ask as casually as you can. "I've always heard that cellphones are tools of the devil. But, obviously, if you're using them, they're not."

The girl shakes her head.

"Wow. I guess that talk about 'give to every man that asketh of thee,' didn't sink in, huh? Maybe your church isn't one of the literal ones."

"That isn't what the Bible means," the girl says.

"The devil can quote scripture," the dweeb adds. "And now, I think we should be going."

"Oh, no. Do you see that woman over there?" You point at Anna. "She's both a scientist and a Russian. I think you need to save her from, you know, science."

"You may think you're belittling us but you're belittling yourselves in the eyes of the Lord."

"How lucky you are to know what he's thinking," you say. "Especially when you don't think what the Bible says is what it means."

"What the hell is this about?" Crystal demands.

"It isn't coincidence that, the day after we have a run in with some cult leader, there's a sudden influx of missionaries going door to door, peeking into people's cabins trying to see who's there, armed with descriptions of Charlotte, at least but maybe more."

"We must kill." Anna grins. "Is too bad. Look like nice people."

"We're prepared to be martyrs for the Lord." The guy would be more convincing if his voice hadn't squeak."

"You can see my phone." The girl's hand shakes as she hands it to you. "They know where we are. They'll come after you if you kill us."

"You're not into the martyr thing, then."

"I'm ready when Jesus calls."

"Does he have a special ring tone."

"That isn't funny."

Actually, you thought it was pretty good.

Still, you flip through her recent texts (sure enough, she reported your address), and then call up her photo album.

What you find is disturbing.