Now though, the fairy dust has been wiped from my eyes.
The Path is a cult.
One that preys on peoples’ fears and makes them feel great about themselves, so long as you donate enough money to the cause.
I’ve spent the past seven years stuck here as a non-believer. Seven long years of feeling the stone in my gut growing larger. Of feeling an increasing sense that I’m tainting myself by sticking around.
“Now, turn to your other side and tell that person how grateful you are to be here with them. Eight thousand souls will be touched tonight, all thanks to you folks.”
I want to stab my own eyes out. Instead, I dutifully turn to Gerry, the guy who sorts tickets and acts as one of the doormen, and I tell him I’m grateful he’s here.
I’ve done this so many times before, I can do it by rote and let my mind run through all the things I need to get done. I paste another bland smile on my face and act like I’m not itching to move, to grab the duffle bag that’s stored in the trunk of my car right now and get the hell away from here.
... But then my eyes catch again on the Herald’s mic.
Something feels off about him wearing it already.
I continue to scan the room, taking in the giddy looks on everyone’s faces and the slight glassiness to their eyes.
And it hits me why he’s wearing the mic so early. Every person in this room is getting hit by a steady dose of magic right now. They’re being manipulated without even realizing it.
Except for me. I’m not knee deep in the positivity and gratitude being thrown around the room.
And, sure, part of that’s because I no longer believe any of the shit the Herald is spouting.
But the other, bigger, part is because it’smymagic he’s using to manipulate them.
I’m the one with the power to affect people’s emotions. I can make you feel anything—happy, sad, angry, guilty... whatever I want.But my magic is normally only strong enough to influence one person at a time.
Unless my magic is imbibed into something, like some kind of tool or machine.
That’s the reason he’s wearing the mic right now.
It’s choc full of my power and is set to release a steady ebb of emotion throughout the Awakening.
First is a thick sense of unease as he explains how the world has been overtaken by greedy and power-hungry people who are willing to suck you dry for their own gain.
He’ll demonize the non-human members of our society. Explaining how the shifters, the vampires, the witches and demons, all make the humans more vulnerable.
Then almost immediately, he’ll share comforting words as the audience is hit with a heavy dose of assurance and just a hint of hope. As long as you’re following The Path, you’re heading in the right direction. He’ll explain how The Path is headed away from devastation and toward Transcendence to a higher place where humans have taken back their power. That part comes with a heavy hit of confidence.
And as the audience listens to his words, they’re gonna go through an entire roster of emotions and they’re going to trust him and believe what’s coming out of his mouth.
He’ll then pause. Let everyone take a moment to gather themselves and he’ll open up the donations. And when he does, the audience will be filled with this sick sense of dread that’s hard to wade through.
They’ll justknowdeep in their gut, something bad will happen if the Awakening doesn’t reach its target.
That section of the evening can drag on for hours with the Herald only flicking the switch to lighten the emotional load once his own mental target has been met.
I catch the Herald’s expression as he scans the room from the other side of the circle. There’s a satisfied smile on his face, one that distracts you from the hard look in his beady eyes.
Swallowing my unease, I try to push down the rising panic swirling in my gut.
Just for the next few hours, I need to go through the motions once more. I need to get this ship sailing and tonight’s Awakening underway.
Because once the eight thousand souls find their seats and the Herald starts his spiel about bringing them to new heights of enlightenment and solving all their problems, I’ll be in the wind.
Tonight’s a big night. The biggest in the Herald’s career.
