When Family Betrays: A Cult's Embrace

d hard on the dirt road, th

her, didn't even look bac

she called out, her vo

that nam

gave me, the name I

wn Sanctuary,

Prophet and Matriarch S

onths ago, found these p

just maybe, they

e remote national forest, was

ed from the driver's seat, his ey

reeking of stale cigarettes and r

I said, m

y doesn't like being

smile thin. "Now, now, ki

in a small, dark clearing. T

you go," Earl said,

ng a chill despi

y backpack fro

t," he said, h

me over, her s

ur phon

hy

family time," she said,

sita

loser. "Give i

over my phone. Brenda'

e, who immediately s

at are y

t's off," Kyle said

da droppe

e found a wonderf

mach t

oice dripping with false concern. "They'll

you talk

. "They're willing to pay good mon

pered, my bre

g my phone into his pocket. "Turns o

contact. A very generous o

shed over me. A "

coiling in my gut. "

ed, a truly

ends of yours, dear. T

ing the dots. Isolated

e said "ol

uldn'

eathed. "Y

uary," Earl said, as if it were nothing.

Da

Matriarch Ser

. The place I though

ptive

"old friends." The

ld. This wasn't

a del