Creepy - I Used to be in a Cult, and We Did Something Horrible

Episode Date: September 16, 2019

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Creepy presents. I used to be in a cult and we did something. Something horrible. Written by user Zacharias Frost. I didn't grow up like most people, because my late teens from mid-20s were spent as a devoted member of a cult. It's not quite what you think, though. I know.

That's probably exactly what you'd expect an ex-cultist to say, right? Truth is, it's only now, some 30-odd years since I last associate with them, that I can even recognize the group for what it was. Cults don't always involve a higher power. Sometimes just a group of people whose noble intentions are used to justify as the most horrendous actions. There was no God in our cult. No stringent religious doctrine, child abuse, mass suicide, or anything else one would normally equivalate to a cult-like behavior. There was, however, a strong emphasis on adhering to the prevailing narrative.

Dissidence was not tolerated, and heresy was. punished with excommunication, which to me was worse than death. I always loved nature, animals, and being out in the wilderness in general. I've dedicated the majority of my life to conservation efforts and preventing disruption of wildlife ecosystems in whatever way I can. Some will probably call me a hippie. And I suppose I am. But we called ourselves Earth Protectors.

You're probably rolling your eyes at all pompous that sounds. and I wouldn't blame you. It was pretty cheesy, but I always kind of like that. It was the title I adopted for over a decade when I was a part of the Earth Defense and Environmentalist Network. Eden, as it was known, was initially a localized group of like-minded individuals who began at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

I was a freshman there when I first met a guy by the name of Tiago Lemiree. Lemery was much like me. enthusiast of nature and passionate about the conservation of it. He and I hit it off right away and quickly became close with our group of friends. Lemery was a born leader, strong spokesman and a visionary perhaps to advance for his contemporaries. He seemed to gain a following wherever he went and used his profuse charisma to enthrall others to his mission. We dedicated most of our weekends back then to environmentalist efforts, whether he was picking up Trash from a local beach, helping to transplant trees and logging areas, or volunteering in

animal shelters. Anything and everything we could to help nature survive and thrive, we happily did. There's not long after that, Eden became the unofficial title of our group. There are nine of us in the beginning. As time went on, more members joined, and things began to grow strained. Several members of the group wanted to legitimize the group and make an official organization. Pilemerie, myself, and several others disagreed. It was our belief that if we became a legitimate business entity, it would take away from our initial goals.

Lemery argued that it would prioritize profit rather than conservation, and many of us agreed. The group split soon after that, unable to mediate our differences. We lost over two-thirds of our members, who then went on the phone to a rather higher-profile organization that still exists to this day. It was then I first began to notice a change in Lemery. he was always an upbeat guy, always friendly and welcoming. But after the split, he became more bitter. It seemed like with every cleanup, he became more resentful and spiteful. He'd scowl of people frolicking on the beach as we used our pikes to impale candy wrappers and soda cans.

It's really disgusting what people do to this planet, you know? He stared at me with narrowed eyes as he took a swig from Jose Cuervo bottle. It had been a long hot dish. shoveling trash from the canals of Rio de Janeiro. He passed me the bottle, and I took as swigs he continued. Life with all the beautiful things on this earth. People are content to just fuck it up. Like no one even cares about it.

I lowered the bottle as the rush tequila to send in my throat. I do. I handed the bottle back, wincing. My romey scoffed. Yeah. We can only do so much, though. He stared away from it. the campfire and into the dark of the night.

That's what happens when the ecosystem is unbalanced. Another voice broke our conversation, and Larissa strolled up to the fire. She was another long-standing member of our group. She took a seat across from us, and Lemery handed to the bottle. How many people on this planet? Six, seven billion? She took a swig, and her eyes glinted at Lemery. He glared back.

I went to bed not long after that, but that should have been my first warning sign. Most of our conversations took on a much more sinister under tone after that, as if a great storm was approaching. But I was young and blinded the danger on the horizon. A man by the name of Ruben Cavali joined the group soon after that. He wasn't like the others, though. The others were passionate, easygoing.

But Cavali, he was somber, really spoke. His eyes seemed dark and brooding at all times, like whatever lingered in his mind was something he dared not say. He and I rarely ever talked, but both Larissa and Lemery seemed to take a unique liking to him. I'd always see them chatting and laughing amongst themselves. I don't think he trusted me much, because whenever I came around, he'd suddenly become stoic again.

Limerie seemed to get worse, growing more hateful and contemptuous. He'd lash out for the smallest things, and more than once he made another member the team cry for the tiniest of errors. I didn't understand this sudden change, but one night, our conversations made things much clearer for me. Did you know if bees went extinct, the entire world would basically die? He suddenly asked the question after he and I had been conversing for a while. Keep in mind, this was back in the 80s. and the whole bee phenomenon was not yet widely known. No, I didn't know that.

Limerie nodded and stared at the ground. Yep. They wouldn't be here to pollinate flowers anymore. Crops would suffer as a result and struggle to reproduce. The animals they eat the plants would then be hard pressed to find them, so on and so forth. He paused and gave a slight chuckle. Amazing how delicate the balance is, you know. One single organism disappears in where,

We're all pretty much fucked. I nodded back at him. Butterfly effect, I guess. Lermy nodded. Something like that. But, you know, if humans disappeared, every other species on the planet would flourish. I laughed and nodded back. I wouldn't get your hopes up for that.

That's what happens when you're so far above the food chain that there's almost zero risk. Population grows out of control. I mean, be honest for a second with me. How many people on this planet do you think are absolutely necessary? I didn't have a good response for him at the time. But now I've got a hundred. I wish I would have argued. I wish I would have changed his mind.

But I may have believed he'd had some of the guilt. I didn't say anything because I, like Laramie, I began to hate humanity. And so I was content to let the cold chills slither down my spine unheated. A couple weeks after that conversation, something happened. Two people were caught in an oil refinery about an hour north of us with a van full of explosives. They had over a dozen homemade pipe bombs in their possession. That led police to assume they were attempting to detonate them and sabotage the pipeline.

Those two people were also members of Eden. I never knew of their plans to do anything like that. That discovery really caught me off guard. Number I didn't seem to be fazed by it, though. The cops investigated us, but we denied any and all involvement. I still don't know whether or not that was true. Things got a lot more divided after that. The media spotted as some sort of eco-terrorist organization.

It was false for the most part, but it was enough to scare away nearly half of our members at the time. That should have been the moment I called it quits as well. But it wasn't. I didn't have a whole lot going on for me at the time. No real family left and no other ambition to do anything else. I also wholeheartedly believed in Tiago Lemory and the message he spoke. So I stayed, convinced by my peers and determined to continue our work. That event really galvanized Lemery and began to speak in terms of frantic measures we needed to undertake.

He cursed those who had left his treasonless cowards and assured us that we were on the path to something incredible. His rhetoric became far more radical from that point on. He could almost see the flames in his eyes. Taste of venom form his words as he angrily lectured about the disgusting human species. He spoke of a bizarre wish that he held, of his desire to see an apex predator to keep human populations in check. He said he wished he could revive dinosaurs or other ancient beasts to help slash human populations or call the herd, as you've called it.

His cracks began to show. But I, of course, downplayed the sentiment because it wasn't like his fantasy was actually going to happen. I was young. I was naive and foolish. And I bought it into his message, hook, line, and sinker. I began to truly hate human beings outside of our group and became convinced that the world was doomed

if we didn't do something to save it. Back then, I would have done anything to save the world I loved. At the time, Lemery owned about a dozen acres out in the woods just outside of Berthos. It was there that most of us made her home, a small compound away from the city, in which we would all work together to survive off the land. I realized now how cult like that sounds. But at the time, it was just a community like-minded people who cared about nature. Lemmria quickly began to grow more radical, though.

You've seen the lies they've told about us. You've seen other rich tycoons who plundered the natural resources, point their finger at us and dare to accuse us of being the problem. As if protecting the planet is a bad thing. But we all know. We all know what the real problem is, don't we? The members of his audience nodded back, and in the corner, I saw Ruben Cavali leered with a wide, eager grin.

Humanity. They rape, pillage, and destroy this beautiful world. slaughter animals and death camps to feed their insatiable appetites, poison oceans with filth and eviscerate the force to accommodate more of their parasites. They are the real problem. They, satirapt food chain with nothing to keep their numbers at bay. He paused and let his words roll amongst the crowd for a moment. Another member then stood and posed a question.

What can we even do? People just don't care about this enough to change. Lammory paused at his podium. and a meager smile crossed his lips. We must show them the danger of not caring. Lemery then locked eyes with Cavali and seemed to share a silent secret together. The congregation questioned him how we planned to do it, but Lemery didn't say much more. For months we were subjected to the barrage of misanthropic propaganda,

while Lemery, Cavali, and others began to sow the seeds of malcontent. I remember the night it happened. We prepared for months. gone over the details of the procedure ad nauseum and recited the details again and again. I thought it was only a ceremony of some kind, or a right of initiation. I had no idea what I was in for. Our group stood there, garbed in black robes, and our arms spread out and cross-formation. We spent hours applying the intricate patterns of our faces with red and white paints.

I felt like a fool standing there, as the same. The pyre of flame bellowed in front of me. But I didn't dare question it. I didn't even think what I was about to be a part of was anything out of the ordinary. Lemery had spent years studying the customs and teachings of local tribes and men of the wild. Turns out they knew a few things we didn't. Specifically, things I never had thought possible. The fire burned bright and hot, at least ten feet high as our group awaited the appearance of Lemery.

long before he finally showed, accompanied by Larissa, both of them wore the black robes. The opulent necklaces embroidered with scarlet jewels, their eyes were wild yet unfocused as if in a trance. Then he came after. The man who for years had been a constant anxiety for me. Ruben Cavali, a renowned practitioner of the blood arts. Heretical things that have been outlawed by local authorities. But there were those who continued to dabble. He held a scroll of parchment in his hands, and upon it something eerie was depicted.

I hadn't the faintest idea what to expect, but it held my position all the same. As the fire grew taller and hotter, as Kavali began to chant, even as the shadows began to twist around me, Kavali laid the mural on the ground, and even now I find it hard to describe. An ancient thing. Instruction from those whose origins had long faded into oblivion, Upon it there was a beast of otherworldly appearance. Razor sharp claws on its hands and legs,

centoid scales upon its back and chest, covered by a blanket of black feathers, a whip-like tail that ended in a vespite stinger, and a long, slender neck topped with the mammalian snout with jagged and mismatched teeth. An abomination, by all accounts, anything that should not have been. Cavali continued to chant as the maddening sounds of the chorus serenaded the forest.

Somewhere far off, I heard the agonized cries of animals, as if they were deeply opposed to what was transpiring. The winds bolstered, blowing a flangell out the vicinity and sending shower sparks in all directions. Then I heard something deep in the woods, which to this day makes me shudder. Laughter from something that enjoyed the dance of heathens. Tiago Lemery and his lover Larissa both entered the respective coffins. Lemery looked to me one last time. I saw no shred of hesitance in his eyes, only hatred. Other members of our group placed the lids on the coffins and rolled him in the position atop the open pits.

The other members then lugged in the two offerings. Two men. Rich business types from the city. They were bound and gagged in their faces, were rife with terror. They pleaded and indiscernible voices for mercy, but none listened. Lemery had diligently convinced his congregation that they were the enemy, and no mercy was to be shown to them. They were held in position, and the locks upon the sides of the coffins were secured. Kavali then laid his hands upon each of them and began to speak as blasphemous words.

I've never heard a language like that before. I hoped I never hear it again. The carved ruins which decorated the coffin seemed almost to glow in the light of the fire. Cavali's words grew louder and his eyes rolled back into his head, leaving only white slits. The flames seemed altogether unbearable and lashed back and forth, up and down like a sea in the midst of a cyclone. Several of the others suddenly fell to their knees while theirs began to ride about as if intoxicated by ecstasy and agony, cried, cackled, moaned and screamed hysterically. I then felt it. A creeping madness nibbling at the back of my mind.

I tried to resist it, but the feeling was altogether overwhelming. Vision struck me like bolts of lightning, worlds burning, oceans boiling, and in an innumerable number of people suffering in ways too grotesque to even mention. I knew that was wrong. My eyes began to flutter and I fell to my knees. like the rest head. With all my strength, I managed to look towards Kabali. Just as this acolyte slid the throats of the two men. They gurgled and flail before being tossed into the coffins. Blood poured from their gullet, staining and saturating the lids and soil. The coffins began to shake about and I heard terrible screams coming from inside. Something then changed within me and I watched

the breath drained from the two men. A horrifying realization struck me. And I realized what I was. No. No, stop this. Kvali, this isn't right. I begged and tried to force myself towards them, but all the strength had fled my body. I could do nothing but watch and cry as my two friends were lower down into the pits. Coffins still adorned by the fresh corpses of the businessmen.

The last thing I remember before fading out entirely was Tiago Lemery screaming from within his coffin. The last words I ever heard him. speak. More! My eyes opened, and daylight greeted me. I sprung up to a seated position and coughed in the oppressive smoke. The once raging pirates smoldered into ash and cinders. Around me lay the other members of Eden, still fast asleep.

I didn't realize the coffins were gone. At their position, I realized the pits have been filled with dirt. I scrambled toward the mounds and franticom began to dig with my hands. I had to get them out. A familiar voice called out. I looked back to see the Catayan eyes of Ruben Kavali staring back at me. What the hell did you do? Cavali dusted the ashes from his robe and looked at me with a devious smirk.

I made them what they needed to be. Others in the congregation began to stir around us then. No. No, we need to get them out. They'll die! screamed as I resume digging. And we will, but not until the time is right. He and I stared, a mutual disdain simmering between us.

I thought they were both dead, and I thought I'd witnessed their murders and been able to do anything about it. I don't know how, or even if I could rationalize what I saw that night. All I know for certain is that when I put my ear to that mound of dirt. I could hear a rhythmic pulsing, almost like a heartbeat. For three entire days, I questioned my own sanity and everything that had happened that night. I wanted to go to the police, but I knew they'd never believe what had happened. I didn't have anything else to go on.

And more than anything, I feared what the repercussions would be if I betrayed Eden. That moment was a true crossroads for me. And for those entire three days, I couldn't eat or sleep a wink. It was like I knew what I had to do, but I hated the idea of doing it. Finally, as Don broke on the third day, I left it all behind. I just couldn't get over the guilt. And I didn't want my life to solely consist of hatred and vengeance. I once straight to the police and told them everything I have here today.

They were skeptical to say the least, but agreed to accompany me back to the compound. I returned to my former home with the police the next day, The primitive wooden homes came into view as we crested over the hill, but immediately something seemed different. The cop sprung into action and swarmed into our small village. They screamed orders for everyone to eggs with their hands up, but no one answered the call. I could see the confusion began to swirl in their eyes, and after a couple of minutes of searching, the police chief approached me. Where is everyone? Everyone was gone, but something found in one of the houses seemed to offer a clue.

There was a large hole turned in the side of the small building and within it a spackling of blood coated the floor. I began to inspect it with them until the other officer called for our attention. He was up on hill, towards the area that our strange ceremony had taken place. His face had gone pale and his rifle quivered in his hands as we approached. Once we crested the hill, I saw what it was that had terrified him. There was a girl there, what was left. of her anyway. She was missing her right arm and had a large hole in her sternum. Her name was Rosa, and she couldn't have been more than 20 years old. My knees grew weak beneath me, and I turned

to vomit as I saw her. The cops do seemed incredibly disturbed by the sight. Flies buzzed around the vicinity and the hot sun had begun to rapidly degrade her corpse, leaving a horrendous smell. I don't think anyone expected to come across something like, but the worst was yet to come. Show me the spot. The police chief turned to me with sharp and hateful eyes. I held myself up from the dirt, and although I didn't want to, I had to know. We continued along the trail for some time, and soon a powerful stench began wafting through the air. The smell of rot was so harsh it made my eyes water, and as every step I grew more nervous of what we were about to see.

Finally we entered the small clearing, and I felt my heart covered. completely deflate. There were more bodies there, at least half a dozen by the looks of it. But they were so mangled it was difficult to be sure. Some were headless, others were missing limbs and large chunks of abdomen. Some even looked like something had taken a bite out of them. The pyre stood as a blackened pit upon the ground and around it the vegetation seemed to have retreated from the spot.

It was as if even the plants feared that place now. In the center of it all, though. It was the most disturbing sight of all. The two coffins sat upon the ground, wide open, mangled, and empty. The two men killed the sacrifice were in order to be seen, but beside the coffins I recognized a familiar face. Ruben Cavali, dead like to rest with an enormous hole where his chest had once been. Others in the police brigade began to gag, wretch, and few dropped to their knees to say hell mary's. The police chief took a look around.

and even he seemed entirely appalled. What in God's name did you do? Once again, I didn't have an answer. But as I pondered my eyes fell upon something sitting in the dirt. Kavali's mural. That parchment that displayed that wretched creature. Both of us just stood there staring at it for a moment before something split the very air of the evening.

A scream. A sound so wretched and painful it seemed to rip the bark from the trees. My blood turned to ice in my veins as the inhuman cry blared out like thunder. The cops threw their rifles and formed a defensive blockade around the camp. Their hands were shaking and I could see their pupils double in size. We must have stood there for at least ten minutes, cowering and awaiting whatever terrible fiend had made that noise. It had to have been dumb luck,

or perhaps their appetites had already been satiated, because whatever made that dreadful sound never showed its face. We finally left sometime after it, but the damage could never be undone. My memory after that point is a bit clouded. There were cops, investigations, trials, and oh, so many questions. They must have interrogated me at least a dozen times, and in my desperate stupidity I told them everything I have written here today. Seven of our members lost their lives.

that day, and five others have never been found. Tiago, Lemery, and Larissa, a via are two of them. Some members of Eden had escaped, and a few of them were found and brought in for questioning. Their stories ended up being remarkably similar to mine. They spoke of the two monsters that had arisen from their coffins and slaughtered every one they could get their hands on. Another girl named Mara Rose had a massive wound across her chest. It looked an awful lot like claw marks.

to me, but the police were unwilling to even entertain the fables. After a lengthy negotiation process and unwillingness for the police to substantiate my story, we were all tried for manslaughter. After my testimony, I was deemed to be mentally unfit, and was ordained to an asylum. I spent the next 17 years there, and every day I questioned everything I had seen and heard. I probably never would have been allowed to walk free if I didn't abandon trying to tell people the truths. No one believed it, and I don't blame them. I'm an old man now, and I wish for nothing more than to erase those memories.

But this is my life, and these are the things I've done. I don't expect forgiveness for what I took part in. I just hope others can learn from my mistakes. Don't assume that your benevolence will yield positive outcomes. Because there are those who use it against you. Be smarter than I was. And beware those who seek to use your kindness against you. I still spend most of my days cleaning up litter.

It's the only thing that really brings me peace. As you may have imagined, they never found any trace of those things. Some nights when I'm alone back in my house, I can swear I hear the wretched howl once more. Every once in a while, we get a story. here in Brazil of something being horrifically mutilated by an animal attack. It's not animals, though. It's monsters. They're not Lemery and Larissa anymore.

They are the apex predators they always wished for, hunting down humans just as they had wanted all along. I doubt he'll ever be found. But for the sake of all of us, I just hope they can't breathe. For more information, including pictures and videos of the stories told on this podcast, or to suggest stories for future episodes, please visit us at Creepypod on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, or email us at creepypod at gmail.com.

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