Destiny of Sin

_Chapter Begins_

William slowly let go of the giant wooden door, making sure it didn't make a sound that could alert the dangerous cult.

Once the door was finally shut, he stood still for a moment, scanning every inch of the massive church interior before taking even a single step forward.

Thankfully, thanks to at least some basic survival instincts, William had chosen to come in the morning. Sunlight poured through the broken windows and cracks in the walls, lighting up the cursed church and making it much harder for anyone to hide.

That light was both an advantage and a disadvantage.

It was an advantage because it made it harder for a cultist to ambush him — but also a disadvantage, because if William encountered one, it would be almost impossible for him to hide.

So the battlefield was equal…

Well, almost.

William was just one person.

The cult had over twenty members.

After thoroughly scanning the inside of the church, William was sure of at least three things:

First, there were no cultists hiding nearby.

Second, the cultists seemed to have abandoned the church. All the strange tools, symbols, and weird markings on the walls from his last visit had vanished completely.

And third — even though the cultists were gone, the church was still as creepy as ever.

The inside of the building was huge, at least the size of three houses from the entrance to the altar where the cult had performed their twisted rituals. Almost all of that space was filled with rows of hundreds of small wooden chairs, meant for people to sit and pray.

To the sides of the church, along the scorched stone walls, were a series of tiny wooden doors — bathrooms, William guessed.

He began to walk slowly forward, weaving between the rows of decaying chairs.

As he moved closer and closer to the altar, a question started to echo in his mind.

"How did this church catch on fire?"

He glanced around at the burned walls, a slight frown forming on his face.

"Maybe I shouldn't be asking how... I should be asking why."

He shook his head and continued toward the altar.

"Dang, why can't I just mind my own business?"

As much as William wanted to deny it and suppress it, his curiosity was too demanding. That hunger for knowledge had always been part of him — ever since he was a child.

But over the years, he'd learned how dangerous that hunger could be. Knowledge often came with a cost, and chasing it meant diving into other people's business…

Which rarely ended well.

He tried to suppress it, bury it. But sometimes, it took control.

And when it did, it led him into some of the worst decisions of his life.

Caught in those thoughts, William suddenly realized he had reached the altar — the place where he had hidden his precious fifty dollars.

He scowled, remembering how badly his last visit here had gone.

After a few seconds, his expression relaxed. He stepped up the small platform, approaching the wooden structure used by priests to hold books and preach.

William knelt down and peered into the gap behind the wooden stand — the exact place where he'd stashed the money.

A few tense seconds passed.

He kept searching.

Then he froze.

He slowly lifted his head…

And looked around the church with fury in his eyes.

The money was gone.

_Chapter Ends_