CHAPEL HILL, NC - Moving from a table to the bar, I manage to grab a stool next to a man named Spencer Pertwee, a local model train dealer and amateur taxidermist. Cutting right to the chase, Pertwee confirmed, with one word, a fear I'd had for months. "Cultists." After quickly suppressing a shudder at the utterance of a word that curdles my blood, I pressed on. "That Kevin guy you were asking about? He was real interested in cults. My friend Bo owns a local bookstore and he told me about a guy who'd come in there asking about any new books about cults, chemistry, biology, especially blood and...well... birds." There it was! Blood and birds! I pressed on....

It was then that Pertwee told me about his hobby. "I met him, Kevin, a few times, which is why I could tell that Bo was talkin' about the same feller. You see, he, I mean Kevin, said he was workin' on an important performance piece and wanted to know how to make it so it would look like he was killin' a bird on stage, but really wasn't, right? I figured it was weird, but no harm done, right? It wasn't 'til I spoke to Bo that I put it all together. I bet he wasn't any kind of an artist, but was auditioning for some kinda cult, you see?" I did at that. Books on cults and blood and birds. What else did I need?

This is exactly what I was afraid of, my friends. We're descending deeper into the darker regions of human existence. There's nothing more dangerous than a cult. But don't fear my loyal acolytes, Eddie Pope carries the bright white light of freedom and goodness wherever he goes!