Ten years ago, everything changed in his life, his thoughts, his beliefs, and definitely his emotions too.
Seth woke up that Tuesday morning to loud screams in his home.
He had been with his aunt Rosa for two days while his parents were on a business trip. His aunt was on vacation from her work, and she decided to pay them a visit.
At that young age, Seth adored his aunt a lot because she always treated him right; she never came here without presents in her bags, his aunt cared about him enough to spend a vacation with him, she was the only person that treated him kindly.
Rosa was a beautiful girl with black eyes filled with kindness and a contagious smile on her face. She was twenty-one at the time; she worked several jobs growing up to be independent of her brother's control.
She was a free spirit and didn't like how controlling Seth's father could be. Whenever they met, they always argued.
Back then, Seth knew nothing... but now? He understood that Rosa loved him enough to sacrifice the world for him.
They were both alone in that big house that resembled a mansion.
From the outside, his house looked impressive. The two-storied manor had tall, expansive windows that let in plenty of light and were added to the house in a primarily symmetric manner. It was built with red and black stones and had statues of elves for decorations.
The house was equipped with an updated, modern kitchen and three upscaled bathrooms; it also had a spacious living room, six bedrooms, an ample dining area, and an enormous basement.
The basement was treated as a forbidden area, and everyone knew it; from family members to servants... everyone stayed away.
The building was fashioned like a square. The house was surrounded by numerous trees on both sides.
The second floor contained several bedrooms with several balconies, and a beautiful, well-kept garden decorated the front of the house.
"Aaaaaaaaah"
Another scream burst forth throughout the manor. Seth looked at the clock indicating 6:00 A.M. He turned, looking at the empty space in the bed next to him. Rosa had been sleeping next to him all night, but he recalled the scream, so he got out of bed, then walked out of his room and followed the path of the voices, barely able to discern where they were coming from.
The voices led him to the basement; he stood there for what felt like an eternity contemplating what to do before deciding to descend the stairs. He was scared, yet he thought that if he chose to not enter the basement, he wouldn't be able to face Rosa.
Seth ran towards the voices with his bare feet to see what was happening.
His aunt was pale when he reached her; she covered her mouth in shock, and her whole body trembled with fear.
Her eyes were fixated on something... He didn't dare to approach her at that moment and chose instead to follow her gaze and figure out what she was looking at.
The basement floor was filled with dead animals, and their blood was splattered everywhere. Seth was dumbfounded; it wasn't logical to him how blood ended up on the ceiling, but at the time, that scared look on his aunt's face was clear; something was wrong for sure.
When Rosa noticed him, she ran towards him and hugged him tightly, covering his eyes and carrying him up the stairs.
His parents were gone for the day, so he watched as his aunt, who should have been staying for a month, frantically packed her belongings silently.
Despite only being six, he could tell that something was wrong; it wasn't how she usually behaved, so he asked, "Auntie, why are you leaving?"
Rosa failed to hide her tears, so she answered, "I'm not leaving you... I cannot forget you, you're coming with me, my dear
."
"D-d-don't c-c-cry, aun-aun-auntie..." He struggled to reply as he started sobbing.
Rosa pulled him into her lap and cuddled with him while wiping the tears from his cute little face, stating, "I'm not crying, love
." Those were tears in her eyes, he wasn't mistaken, but he didn't say protest.
Rosa changed his clothes later and packed his belongings, and the next thing he knew, they had left his home. Half an hour later, a car was recklessly following behind them on the road.
The boy's aunt was driving extremely fast, driving like a lunatic; she was definitely crying...
The next thing he knew, he awoke a week later in a hospital room.
He knew there was a car accident and that Aunt Rosa was no longer amongst the living.
Too much information…
With time, what he had seen and what transpired were buried by his subconscious... Until the meditation parties began and the hell gates were flung open for his suffering to resume.
He realized that his parents were different from others; two years later, what began with his entourage was not moral or ethical. Going to school helped a lot with teaching him right from wrong.
He wasn't bullied throughout elementary school, not because he was strong, but because he cared for everyone around him
. With what he was learning about his family day after day, he tried his best not to be like them; he believed his gentle actions were atonement for their sins.
He knew that what they were doing was not purifying their soul, and instead, they were committing sins… countless sins...
However, when he began high school, everything changed; his parents' movement started to gain recognition and shortly afterward became famous.
Yet, no one knew what was happening behind the closed door of the cult.
The members were chosen with highly selective standards and bound in blood to secrecy.
He hated the success the cult saw. He was frightened and upset at the same time; he planned on running away; actually, he did once before, but somehow they found him, only to hold him against his will.
Seth hated the concept of their movement; they were okay with committing harsh sins as long as they atoned for them by sequences of purification.
Not to mention that that purification sequence was full of despicable sins itself.
He looked at his parents for one last time, closed his eyes, listening as the disciples continued their chant, "WE SINNED…."
Seth sighed; they were asking for forgiveness while shamelessly continuing to commit sins…
"We SINNED... WE SINNED… THIS PURE SOUL IS ATONING FOR OUR SINS
…"