Carson brought up his notes on his laptop. “The Tetrachordian Temple has been around for awhile. They’re a very small cult with little known about them. Their leader—Erik Sangale—supposedly channels a spirit guide, Erithkalia. She’s known as the “Mother” of the group.”
“Who founded the temple?” I asked.
“That’s also interesting. Erik Sangale founded it. Over one hundred years ago.”
I blinked. “But…he can’t be human, then.”
“Right, either that or he’s got one hell of a health routine. What’s also odd is that cults like this usually fizzle out or rise, they seldom just stay small like the temple has. But apparently all members abide by the Mother’s teachings.” Carson shook his head. “They have some freaking weird beliefs, but I guess no stranger than a number of organizations.”
“Like what?” Dante asked.
“I’ve only been able to find a few. Apparently they believe that there will be an event similar to the apocalypse or Ragnarok in the ‘near’ future. It’s always the near future, regardless of what cult you’re examining. Anyway, the members of the temple will rise to power once the old order is thrown down. Same old stuff as most other cults. And initiation to be a full member costs twenty-five thousand dollars.”
I thought. “Twenty-five thousand. Mark took twenty-five thousand out of their bank.” Which swayed me more toward the temple being responsible, instead of a vampire.
“Have any other people who belonged to the temple been reported as missing?”
“It’s hard to say. Apparently the most devout disciples quit their jobs and devote their lives to the temple and the Speaker.” Carson shook his head. “Usually, it’s easy to find people who’ve split off from groups like this. Often, we can get them to talk about the secrets of the cult. But here…no. I can’t seem to find any ex-members. That seems suspect in itself.”
“Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice said.” Sophia tapped her pen on the table. “Does the temple have a presence on the Dark Web?”
Carson cleared his throat. “Well, there’s another oddity. The temple doesn’t seem to have an official website. Most of the mentions of it that I’ve found are people looking for loved ones who joined the temple and vanished. In almost every case, they stole money before they disappeared. Then there was the site that Kyann and I found, in a language that can’t be translated.”
I stared at the series of links he’d accumulated. There weren’t many, but that most of the mentions were from family members searching for their loved ones was one big fat red flag.
“Well, something’s going on for sure,” I said. “Anything else?”
When Carson said no, I took a deep breath and said, “There’s another possibility that Penn and I came up with. She did some psychometry on his watch and the flier. We think that there’s a possibility that Mark’s been turned into a vampire.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“What makes you think that?” Dante asked.
I told them what Penn got off the watch and flier. “Penn and I talked, and latched onto the idea that maybe, just maybe, he was fooling around as a bloodwhore.”
“That would account for his lack of interest in their love life,” Carson said. “Bloodwhores are addicted to vampiric energy, and the kink of being someone’s play toy.”
“True that. But it takes a special type of personality to become a bloodwhore,” Dante said. “I wonder how we could find out.”
“I thought we might ask Lazenti for some advice. Sophia, can you give him a call and see if he’s available to talk?” I asked.
She nodded. “Will do.” She moved away from the table while we continued to discuss matters.
“What do you think about our idea?” I asked the others.
Dante frowned. “You know, you could be right. But the money that he took does align with the initiation fee, and the reports of members vanishing and taking money with them. We need to keep the temple on our radar, regardless of whether it factors into Mark’s disappearance.”
“I’m tempted to go in undercover and see what’s there,” Orik said.
“Dude, you’d stand out like a sore thumb. I’m sorry, but you just don’t look like a peace, love, and light kind of guy. Nor do you look like you lack self-confidence.” I laughed. “Dante or I would be better suited. Or Carson.”
Carson looked up. “You talking about me?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Because remember? You hired me as your IT guy. Yes, I’m a researcher, but I seldom go out on cases, and there’s a reason.” He shrugged. “I wouldn’t know what to do.”
“You would, but you just don’t want to.” I shrugged. “No worries, though I would like to get you involved more in the investigative side of things. Anyway—” I paused as Sophia returned to the table.
