He found a clearing about four hundred feet away and he saw the corroded wooden sign for helvetica, it was dangling off of a tree and the wood was overgrown with moss and various bugs. He walked into the field and continued into the dilapidated center in which they worship and hold meetings, something felt when dead silent throughout this property. Although they cancelled the building of Helvetica and most of the land goes unmaintained there was a group of people that lived here, they followed the idea of being isolated from society and having Helvetica as their home. This members of this group had never gone to the police over any disputes or crime that occurred near them, instead they went to their leader who was rumored to be able to communicate with the higher powers. 

As he opened the doors to the community center he could not believe his eyes, there was a group of bodies that covered the floors in wine colored blood. He counted over ten bodies before he had to get some air outside and smoke to stay collected, the image of the multiple figures in red, dripping ceremonial gowns stained with their vitality of life would stay within his mind for the rest of his life. Barter called for backup and as he was smoking a man across the field caught his eye, his skin looked charred and flaky, he was standing emotionless looking at Barter with cold, dead eyes. Barter sprinted towards the man to find some answers, or at least get some understanding of the situation yet, the man disappeared into the dark, menacing woods. When backup arrived they investigated the whole crime scene and scoured the area for survivors or witnesses, Barter was not prepared for this case. He decided to retire back to his house yet could not stop thinking about what he saw at Helvetica, gorey animals and humans tarnished the land, no one had any answers and the only person he saw looked like a figment of his imagination that vanished into the trees and undergrowth.

He awoke very nervous and unprepared for what he was about to go face to face with, there are sometimes when knowing the truth is more fearful than staying in the dark. He went to the station to see if they had any additional information, Barter was immediately motioned to meet with the chief of police who briefed him on the new information, the chief was sitting cross-legged in his chair with a look of confusion, he seemed as though he had a lot on his mind. The chief opened his mouth to speak as soon as Barter sat down across from him, he said “We are still in the dark about where the survivors of the group are, or if they are even alive at this point. The cult leader’s body aka Tobias Lovecraft has not been located yet and neither has his right hand man named Jeffery Carter, seems rather odd that the leader of this religion did not follow what the group did, just seems odd. We need to have someone down at the grounds often so go see if you missed anything, if we have any new information you will be briefed.”

The beaming sun blocked his sight as he was driving, the warmth creeped through the glass of his windshield as he rode the roads of southern Utah. He had arrived back at the forest and walked the gravel and dirt paths back to the city of reparations, however, as he started to near the entrance he noticed that the deer carcass was gone, there was not even any blood he could follow to locate the culprit. He entered back into the field and started to walk towards the various closely knit buildings when he heard a gunshot in the distance, Barter suddenly ran across the field and into the forest on the other side. He finally got out of the wooden maze and found the edge of the cliff that the forest resides atop of, Barter was more concerned with the dead baby cub.

 There was a large man wearing a large hunting coat, lined with the fur of his countless victims, his rifle was leaning against a tree about twenty feet away so Barter did not need to disarm him. He shouted at the man “You have no business here sir this is an official crime scene, drop all of your weapons and walk towards me slowly with your hands where I can see them!” The man quietly laughed in a dead tone and dropped a revolver and a large hunting knife, every step he took you could hear his boots clap against the stone cliff. He debuted “I was merely hunting sir, is that illegal in this time of the year or on these grounds? I do not recall a time I have been guilty for getting myself some food for the week the good old fashioned way.” Barter started to get suspicious when the tall man seemed guilty and tried to seem innocent when he had done nothing. When the man got close to Barter he was asked for his name, to which he replied “My name is Jeffery, Jeffery Carter. If you know the last name it is probably from my father he was rather famous around these parts, ‘The Hunter’ they liked to call him.” As soon as Barter processed the fact that was the cult leaders alleged right hand man he drew his weapon.

Jeffery tackled the officer with a running start and proceeded to swing his hands at him, he then drew a revolver he kept hidden and said “I do this for Calamity, I do this for peace.” Barter suddenly grabbed a nearby handful of sand and blinded the criminal, he drew his own weapon and was finally about to learn the truth about this psychological hell disguised as an assigned case. The criminal backed up to the edge of the cliff and did not seem to comply to Barter’s commands, “I suppose I must be the one, I apologize lord” muttered Jeffery as he stepped off the edge and into the cold grip of death. Barter was now dumbfounded, he truly had nothing to go off of and just witnessed one of the many suicides that had occurred in the area. He walked back to his car expressionless, numb and just a pure shell of himself. The sun was now leaving, the darkness creeped back and the chilly night tore at the depressed and hopeless officer. He then saw a shadowy dark creature rustle in the distance, he hid behind a tree and peered into the dark forest, a strong, massive, beast of a figure moved towards the cliff with what looked like 3 faces on one head. Barter ran to his car and started up the ignition as fast as he could, he could not tell if this energy came from fear or his desire to just escape back to his house without this beaming stress.

He awoke in a dreadful and empty mood, the phone was ringing so loudly he could feel his brain vibrating. He picked up and the chief of police said in a relaxed tone “head down to the station, we have an idea to solve this.” Barter was not excited nor sad, he merely just wanted all of this to be over no matter what. Regardless he still cruised over to the station and was met by the chief and another man. The other man was about 6’3 and had dark piercing eyes, his hair was slicked back and jet black yet there was the occasional grey hair within. “This is Detective Pink, his father and my father go way back in the force and actually worked a case with this exact cult. We can go over some of the old documents but the detective is well informed about this specific group, now hopefully we should have some new leads to go off of and some new reasoning.” said the Chief. Barter was rather confused as to why they did not call him in before the previous events but regardless appreciated having someone to help him. They drove together down to the site and to break the awkward silence Barter asked him where he had been before. The detective chuckled a bit and said “Now is that really your business to be asking where I was before this? I clearly was not around the area so they did not call me immediately but I am here now, do not be nosey on our first day Bart.” Barter was beyond irritated after Pink had said that, he ignored the fact he called him Bart but it was rather rude to not inform his new partner.

 They parked on the side of the road and silently exited the car, as they approached the normal entrance to the forest Detective Pink said he had a detour they would be taking before they reached Helvetica, they entered the same way into the woods. Barter was rather excited to reach Helvetica as he seemed very unlucky with finding answers for this case, he needed something concrete to run off of before he lost his mind. As they strolled throughout the shaded path they arrived at a fork in the road, this time Pink motioned for him to go to the opposite side. The path ended after about a quarter of a mile, they were now walking through heavily overgrown weeds and plants. The detective seemed as though he knew where he was going so the officer blindly followed him, the feeling that they were being watched encompassed both of the men.

Finally they had arrived to a small camp, there was a Native American tribe that seemed rather friendly and welcoming, perhaps they had just known the detective. Pink introduced them to him and the native americans immediately looked very awkward, it was almost like they had not met an officer before. “These people have lived on this land for centuries, it is their home and they are very familiar with Calamity and all that the cult stands for.” said the tall detective “In case you don't know what they stand for let me inform you, but first let us all go sit somewhere my legs are starting to tire.” They all entered the tavern of the camp at once, they sat together and as they drank the detective decided to tell the real story to Barter. He slowly swallowed his beverage and looked up slowly “The cult is known as ‘The Children of Calamity’ yet they do not mean the word calamity, they mean the being. Calamity means destruction and disaster, although that is what the being represents they follow him willingly. Regardless they worship an ancient being known as Calamity, it is a three-faced strong shadowy looking figure, he almost resembles a cross between a bodybuilder and a goat.” Barter looked rather confused and asked “What does this being stand for, like why do they worship him and why did they have a mass suicide. I am still lost.” The detective took another sip and responded with “This being stands for disaster, he is the reason it occurs so they worship him to calm him down essentially. See, according to what they believe every 66 years he will cause some disaster or sort of destruction, they think that if every 66 years they will sacrifice 15 bodies to him so he will leave them alone. So far there are 13 bodies if you count Mr. Carter who jumped off the cliff by the way so I suppose they were close.” Barter still had questions, after all this was all that he thought about since he first was informed about the situation. “If they were going to have all of the sacrifices done at that point this means there is two survivors left, the cult leader and another member perhaps. It is rather peculiar, I swear I saw this thing when Jeffery fell to his death, that is impossible though right?” Detective Pink seemed as though he was hiding some information because his mood had changed once Barter mentioned seeing the beast, Barter had noticed yet diffused it and decided to call it a day and head back. After all, he knew the motives of the cult and the history of the group, all he needed now was to find the two survivors if they were still alive.

Barter seemed to get a better time getting to sleep than usual, however his dreams were more menacing than ever. He fell into the slumber and was met by a dark pair of eyes, he tried to focus more but could only make out a shadow. The figure looked to be about seven feet tall and extremely muscular, he could not decipher its facial features because it looked as though it had three different faces. The being continued to penetrate his soul with his stare until it finally spoke, it did not open its mouth but rather spoke telekinetically. It said “The village you visited and I have made an agreement that will never be broken, they are not to share my secrets nor tell outsiders about me. I only have respect for my children, continue to seek their location and I will be forced to take action, they are looking for replacements for their sacrifices so do not bother interfering or you will be one of the replacements.” Rather than the dream or rather nightmare ending, for what felt like twenty minutes being continued to stare down barter within his slumber, not uttering a word or moving a muscle.

Barter now awoke rather distraught, he knew that he was now on a timer and did not have much time to act, he needed to finish this. He called up Detective Pink and went to the grounds once more, hoping to find more evidence within neighboring forests and fields. They arrived and started to walk towards the forest near the cliff, suddenly Barter noticed that his colleague was not following anymore. He turned to see Pink standing and examining a carving into a tree, he opened his mouth to speak
“I carved my initials into this tree five years ago, it was when we were doing one of the daily ‘spirit walks’. You know it’s funny Barter have you ever heard the phrase ‘if you cannot beat the opponent, than join them’? When my father ran an investigation of the cult many years ago he found out what they were doing was for a better reality, he taught me that too. Regardless, the reason why I am an expert is I am the survivor you are speaking, I give my all for Calamity and I am done with this facade, it is over for you Barter you merely cannot win against a being like this. You will be the fourteenth sacrifice and I will find another, I am the savior from disaster, they should all thank me.”

Barter was unsure what to say, deep down he knew that Calamity existed and he knew that the only way to stop it is 15 sacrifices. At the same time he knew that innocent people should not be roped into this, there is no one who deserves to die without complying. Barter replied saying “Pink, I understand, yet you should not kill innocent people, you are creating disaster and despair.” The detective started to laugh and noted “George Welch, an innocent man who was nice enough to give his life for Calamity yesterday. Sure, he may have not understood but I gave him a quick and painless escape from this earth.” However, little did Pink know Barter had turned on his phone and called the local station, they were aware of the situation and had men on the way. Barter needed to stall, he continued to ramble about how these deaths were wrong and just made the situation worse, yet still there was a feeling that Pink was right within his brain. Suddenly a group of men with flashlights on their weapons dressed in SWAT gear diffused Pink, the detective was ushered into the car at gunpoint and was disarmed.

“You comin Officer?” asked one of the men, but barter knew what he had to do. Barter said he would meet them back at the station and he decided to walk onto the cliff where Jeffery had jumped. As he carried on throughout the tainted land he suddenly had rushes of thoughts take over his mind, he was contemplating so much and did not know what he would do when he reached the cliff. Barter had decided he will know the right thing to do when he arrives at the jagged drop, his palms were clammy and his anxiety was through the roof. He kept on seeing the sacrifices in his head, he felt so sorry for those who died for people that will never be able to understand what they did for them.

As Barter arrived at the rocky edge he took a deep breath and came to a conclusion, the officer knew what he had to do. He called out for Calamity and started to insult the beast, yelling slurs and degrading the powerful being. The world started to get colder and Barter started to shake, it was almost as though the world froze in place and all was focused on this moment. A deep voice emerged from the fog that encompassed the environment ahead of him, Calamity bellowed “Your time is over Barter, the war is lost….” Barter already knew his time was over, he had no family members or friends that would miss him, what was the point of living regardless he thought. He looked up at the three faced creature and spat in its face, he chuckled for a second and fell backwards into the grip of death. As he was soaring off of the edge he thought about his purpose, he may have had no one but he served his own purpose, he was fulfilled with his life and knew sacrifice was the next step. Calamity gladly took his final prize, he gently picked up his body and went into a slumber, waiting until the year 2001 to come back and claim more victims. For now, however, he was fulfilled much like Barter, they received what they needed, closure.