Keith's Shame

[Second of three. Written Round Robin style on 16 Feb '17. JM & WW coauthors. Some small corrections, but mostly untouched.]

Keith was never very good at dealing with shame.

"I can't fucking believe she'd share that," he groaned. His secret life as a cult leader had crept into his normal, ordinary life in this suburban town. It seemed everywhere he went, all eyes were on him.

Inspiration Art by WW

It was all Betty's fault - she had introduced him to the group and she should have known he would make it his home. Keith's first order of business was to build a massive structure. Portal technology being what it was in the early 2020s, this would require quite a bit of time and money, not to mention some help.

"I'll show her - I'll show them all!"

Keith's structure would span several miles. They told him he was overdoing it, but Keith had a very specific scenario in mind and needed plenty of room.

"I'm going to make you all gods," he told his assembled followers.

"And you will thank me when you are done. But first, fire up the portals!"

Keith knew, however, that 90% of them would die - the better to hid his shame. Keith needed to kill the followers so he could make his way into a new story.

All at once, with the hum of thousands of portals, his plan came to fruition. One by one they jumped, some surviving, most being sacrificed to the God of Blood. The God extended his arm through one of the portals and dropped a map.

"Blood for the Blood God," Keith murmured, beginning his stroll through the abandoned beach left behind. As he strolled, the sun set in the east, chicks returned to their shells, and he checked his phone to see if Betty's Facebook status still existed.

"The ceremony will take place at our place, tomorrow at 5," her status said.

"Fuck," thought Keith. "There's no one left to help me."

"Blood for the Blood God," he said as he stabbed himself in the chest. Keith was never very good at dealing with shame.