Cults that Kill
Tina Feeny (16) was keenly interested in ritualistic killings. She studied them like a grim scholar but regarded them as entertainment, an interesting hobby. That’s all. People in her family felt that she was clearly troubled and obsessed. Her interest in such unhealthy things made her parents nervous. They forced her to take down (and destroy) her stirring poster of naked Squeaky Fromme and Sandra Good. They thought it was pornographic in more ways than one. She loved that poster. It was sexy as hell. They let her keep her charcoal portrait of Richard Ramirez because they had no idea who he was. She told them he was a stand-up comedian. She wouldn’t be able to fool her folks forever.
They didn’t like it but they let her keep her true crime books, Cults that Kill, The Children of Jonestown, Helter Skelter, etc. because they were books and they wanted to encourage reading. They let her keep La-bas, and de Sade and The Torture Garden too. They were somewhat progressive that way.
They placed her in therapy against her will. Tina hated her therapist, a smug, self-satisfied man named Eugene Plax (52). His office was small. She noticed a poster of Sigmund Freud eating a banana. There were other things in his office too. Diplomas and whatnot. He asked her why she was interested in such morbid things.
“Why are people interested in collecting stamps?”
“Are you comparing postage stamps to ritual murder?”
“Yes. Yes I am. They’re both harmless hobbies that most people can’t understand the appeal of.”
“M-hm.”
“Ha! I knew you’d say that.”
“So, you see ritual killings as harmless?”
“Not the murders themselves. The information is the harmless part. I’m just the third party, learning stuff secondhand.”
“M-hm. And what goes on in these ritual killings that you find so interesting and worthy of study?”
“The human sacrifices, the blood play, the charisma of the leaders. The devotion of the followers. You know, the usual stuff. Symbolism. Belief systems. Violence. The pomp and circumstance. Candles. The question should be why aren’t you interested in this stuff.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You’re interested in psychological stuff. You’d think things like this would be right up your alley.”
“M-hm. And do you want to join a cult?”
“I want to start one.”
Raised eyebrows.
“You wanna be my first member, doc? I’ll tell you what to do.”
“Well,” glancing at his watch. “I’m afraid our time is up.”
“M-hm.”
She could think circles around this guy.
***
From: Everything Dissolves
Horror Sleaze Trash 
Interesting and well written short story.
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