Loop Two - Chapter Thirteen - Probably a Cult

Amber searched across the roof of the factory for some way of seeing within, but there weren’t any convenient skylights for would-be snoopers to use. Still, for now, the people in the black cloaks were lurking outside.

“Can we move lower?” Amber whispered into Cassy’s ear. “I can’t hear them.”

“Sure,” Cassy said. She brought them down until Amber’s feet could reach the warm tin roof. It was set at a slight angle, not too sharp that she would worry about standing on it. The only issue was the tin buckling and making a small pinging sound when she put any weight on it.

Amber leaned to the side, eyes closed as she focused on every scrap of conversation she could overhear. There wasn’t much.

“Sounds like they’re talking about their days,” Cassy muttered. “Kinda expected them to be all hush-hush about some conspiracies, but they’re literally talking about which bakery sells the best bread.”

Amber sighed. She was picking up similar snatches of conversation. “I don’t suppose buying bread is a code for anything,” she replied in the same low tone.

“I mean, maybe. Doesn’t ‘getting bread’ mean ‘to get a load of cash’?” Cassy asked.

“Uh, yeah, I think so. They’re probably talking about actual, boring stuff though.”

Cassy sighed and leaned down across the front of her broom. “What a boring cult.”

“We don’t know that they’re a cult,” Amber said. “They’re just people talking in a creepy alleyway while dressed in black cloaks.” Cassy twisted around to stare at Amber. “I didn’t say they weren’t a cult, I’m just saying we don’t know for sure.”

“Right,” Cassy said. “If they start praying and sacrificing virgins, can we label them as one then, or do we need to ask first?”

Amber poked Cassy in the short ribs, earning herself a pouty glare in return. “Don’t be that way. This could be a serious situation.”

Cassy’s pout turned into a grin. “Hey, I’m great at being serious. You know that.”

It’s so hard to resist rolling my eyes. Or laughing along with her. “I think more of them are arriving,” Amber said with a gesture to the edge of the roof.

Cassy moved them sideways, slowly and gently, so they wouldn’t alert anyone below. Once they were closer to the edge, Amber peeked over it and pulled back a moment later. “See anything?” Cassy asked.

“Three more of them. One opened the door to the factory.”

“This is a factory?” Cassy asked.

“There’s a chimney over there,” Amber said with a gesture to said chimney. It was stubby and made of reddish bricks, the topmost part of it blackened by soot. “It could just be a warehouse, or a showroom or something, I guess. I don’t know.”

Cassy shrugged. “They’re going in?”

Another quick glance over the side revealed those by the edge stepping in. Another group ducked into the alley at a light jog, paused to mutter to the doorman, then ran in too. “Looks like it,” Amber said. “I don’t think we can just sneak in through the front door.”

“There are windows all around,” Cassy said. “Hang on.”

Amber grabbed onto Cassy before they zipped to the end of the roof, then off the edge. They were behind the factory, and a glance down revealed another empty alleyway with nothing but a rusty dumpster at the back and some old newspapers turning into so much mush in the corners.

The back wall of the factory had a few windows on it, big square things that didn’t look like they’d budged in decades. Cassy hovered down next to one of them, then looked up. “Okay, we don’t have the sun behind us or anything. No light inside either.”

Amber nodded and leaned to the side, hands pressing into the rough bricks. “Closer,” she said, and Cassy flew them to the wall and backwards. Amber only needed to stretch back to peek into the room. She ran a hand through her hair, hooking it over her ear before she looked in.

Dusty floors and a few strange machines were all she saw. The room she was peeking into wasn’t large, maybe the size of their dormitory back at the academy. Not much light, though there was a faint glow from beyond the closed door at the end of the room.

“It looks clear in there,” Amber said. “Can you back me up a little? I’m going to try to get the window open.”

“Breaking and entering, huh?” Cassy asked.

“Do you mind?” Amber asked. This is a bit… much. We were supposed to hang out for coffee.

Cassy snorted. “Hell no, this is the best da— day I’ve had. Come on, break the glass.”

Amber flushed but didn’t comment on anything; rather, she put things aside and focused on the task at hand. “That would make a lot of noise.” She grabbed at the edges of the windows, wooden frames with that old kind of glass that always looked warped. She tapped the frame, and it rattled in place. “I can’t see anything holding it down,” she said.

“Most thieves can’t exactly fly,” Cassy said.

Amber grunted as she grabbed onto the very edge of the window frame and shoved it up. It scraped against the edges, wood rasping against wood, but it did move up with some effort. She let go with one hand and grabbed the bottom edge so she could pull it the rest of the way up.

“Alright, that should be big enough for us, right?” Amber asked.

“Sure,” Cassy replied. “Hang on, I’m twisting us around.”

Keeping hold of the window while Cassy turned the broom around was a little tricky, but Amber managed, and soon enough Cassy was flying them in through the opening, even if both of them had to squeeze in tight to fit.

She lowered the window back down, careful not to make any noise. It dropped shut with a dull thud that Amber hoped wasn’t loud enough to carry out of the room.

Cassy lowered them to the floor, which creaked when their weight was added to it.

“Textile stuff,” Cassy whispered with a gesture to the machines.

“What?”

“They’re machines to make cloth,” Cassy said. “Old ones, obviously. Look, there’s the crank thing, and that bit spins lines of cloth out.” She pointed to a few parts. It was all a little complicated for Amber, lots of wooden parts and little gears and rods.

Amber tested her weight on the floor, then started towards the door, each step slow and careful to avoid as much of the creaking as she could. Cassy followed after her, hovering above the ground.

“So, we sneak over and listen to them for a bit?” Cassy asked.

“I guess so, yeah,” Amber said. She pulled out her phone and tapped through a few menus until she found a recording app.

“What’s that for?”

“If we hear something interesting, I want it recorded for later. Jade and Morgan might want to hear it.”

“Oh, neat,” Cassy said. “I’ve got my phone too.”

“I think one should be enough. I’ll tell you if I’m running out of space or something,” Amber replied. She tucked the phone away into one of her skirt’s pockets, then leaned against the door. No sounds on the other side that she could hear. Reaching down, she carefully turned the handle, and pushed the door open a crack.

The moment it was open, she could make out some faint murmurs of a distant conversation, and a small corridor lit by distant lights. No one was around though.

She poked her head out, then moved into a plain corridor, with some open rooms on either side. The corridor ended on a catwalk, light filtering through the grated floors. “That way?” she asked.

Cassy grabbed her shoulder, then pointed to a room across the corridor. “There’s a window in that one, looking down.”

Amber nodded and followed Cassy into what was once an overseer’s or manager’s office. A desk was shoved up against the far wall, and there were chairs stacked on another. Dust covered the floors and shelves, thick and well-settled.

The windows at the far end were grimy and old, and one square was outright missing, but they overlooked the main floor of what seemed like a packing area. The Black Magi were gathered below, lamps filling the room with twitching shadows. Rows of wooden benches were laid out, acting like pews, and at the front was a small dais on which a person in a more elaborate robe was standing, reviewing some papers.

The other Black Magi were either sitting down, or chatting to each other in small groups. Obviously whatever was going on hadn’t started yet.

“I don’t see any virgins to be sacrificed,” Amber muttered.

“Just you,” Cassy replied.

Amber held back a laugh and poked the girl next to her with her elbow. “Think we’re safe up here?”

“Eh, so-so? If they’re all normies, I’m sure I could take them.”

“They’re literally called magi. I bet they know at least some magic. Besides, remember what happened with Morgan?”

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t be too overconfident,” she muttered. “I can learn a lesson, especially when the lesson hurts.”

Amber huffed. “Sure.”

There was movement below, people taking seats and others standing by the rear when all of those filled up. Amber took a quick head count while the person in the nicer robes moved up to stand behind a podium.

“Twenty-three,” Amber muttered.

“Is that big for a creepy cult?” Cassy asked.

“I have no idea.”

“Brothers,” the man at the front said, his voice deep and carrying. “We are gathered here in a time most dire, when our traditions are slowly falling away, when the world as we knew it is changing before our very eyes. We are being invaded, by culture and materials, by new ideas and powerful foreign magicals. And yet, all of this pales in comparison to the terrible fate that awaits our world. Let us begin this meeting in chanting, joining our voices together to ward off the sight of those who would slight our righteous actions.”

“Oh,” Cassy whispered. “Yeah, that’s definitely a cult.”

***