I hired a cult leader to brainwash me to kill. I didn’t think it was possible.

Last Saturday, I checked out a ‘services for hire’ thread on the dark web for the first time, and it didn’t look anything like I expected.

There was no black background and no pop-ups or threats. It was just a plain white forum with threads that read like job listings.

I scrolled through them as I lay on the couch with nothing better to do. Most of them were nonsense – things like data scraping and account recovery. ‘Reputation management.’ The kind of vague shady services you couldn’t verify even if you wanted to.

Then I saw one that caught my attention.

Behavioural persuasion services. No coercion or threats, results-based payment.

I raised an eyebrow and clicked into the profile.

Just a PGP key and a single line:

Luther.

Further down, buried in an older thread, someone had asked what he actually did. His response:

I run a network. Some call it a cult.

That should’ve been enough to close the tab, but instead, I kept reading out of curiosity.

Getting access took longer than I expected. There was no sign-up page – you had to message a moderator, submit a key, and wait. When I finally got in properly, the interface didn’t change.

I sent him a message, grinning to myself.

“I want to see if you can convince me to kill someone. No force or threats.”

He replied two hours later.

Half upfront. Half if you follow through.

We met the next night in a quiet bar, and sat at a corner table with low lighting. It was almost empty.

He was much younger than I expected. Late twenties, maybe. And slightly disorganised, like he’d come straight from something else and forgotten he had this scheduled.

He sat down, then we ordered drinks.

“Kevin?”

I nodded. He pulled out his phone and scrolled for a bit, then looked back up.

“Sorry,” he said. “I get a lot of these.”

I exhaled, part amused, part exasperated. Should’ve known this was a waste of money.

“So,” he began, “you want me to get you to kill someone, Kevin. Why would you want to do that?”

“I don’t. I’d never kill anyone, unless it was for self defence, but that’s the point. Just wanted to see if you could make me.”

“Fair. Let’s begin.”

He took a breath.

“Is there anyone you’d kill, if you had the chance?”

“No,” I replied immediately.

He nodded. Then he reached into his bag and placed three folders on the table.

“Take a look inside, Kevin.”

I opened the first one and began reading.

Three names, dates and their charges – horrific crimes against children. Gruesome details. I felt my stomach turn. By the end of it, I could barely look at the folders.

“Which one is worst?” he asked.

“The third.”

“Do you think he deserves to die?”

I exhaled.

“…Yes. I do. But I’m still not gonna kill anyone.”

He watched me. Then he pulled out a second phone and put it in front of me on the table.

Three red buttons on the screen.

“I know some people,” he said. “Got them to set up a remotely controlled IED in each of their prison cells. One linked to each button. If you press a button, a device explodes. No trace.”

“No.”

He sighed.

“Shame. They’re all being released tomorrow from a procedural failure. It’s already signed.”

I frowned.

“What?”

“If nothing happens,” he said, “they walk.”

I stared at the folders again. At the names and the details I hadn’t asked to see. More innocent children would suffer. I clenched my fists.

“It’s not the same,” I finally said, trying to justify it. “Pressing a button isn’t killing someone. It’s… indirect. So even if I pressed it, it’s not really me. But no. Still not doing it.”

Even as I said the words, my hand twitched. Luther leaned closer.

“Why not? Just to prove a point?”

I said nothing, but I glanced towards the buttons.

“Guess they’ll just have to be released then,” he finally said.

He reached for the phone and took it off the table, but I stopped him. He glanced at me, and put it back down on the table.

Then I pressed all three buttons at once.

My eyes widened as I stared at the screen as it sank in.

I had just killed three men.

And he’d made me do it without forcing me…

Within ten minutes.

I waited for something. Guilt, panic, or anything. But nothing came except for a strange sense of relief.

“Fine,” I muttered. “You win. I’ll send the rest.”

“You didn’t kill anyone, Kevin.”

I frowned.

“What?”

He tapped on the phone.

“Not real. Just wanted to see if you’d actually push a button. Didn’t think you’d push all three.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“You made all that up?”

“You said I couldn’t force you. No rules against making things up. You really think people can just sneak IEDs into prisons?” He grinned slightly.

“But to answer your question, yes. Except one.”

He pointed at the third envelope.

Then he pulled out his other phone and opened a news article, which matched the details. The man, the crimes, the release date – tomorrow – all matched.

Only the third one was real. The worst one.

Luther reached into his bag again and put another envelope on the table.

“Open it,” he said.

Inside was a slip of paper with a time, an address, and a route, marked in pen on a map.

“He’s being released tomorrow,” Luther continued. “That’s his exact route home.”

He pointed to the map, then to the side of the route.

“Fourteen-second gap between two council cameras.”

He showed me documents this time. Official, and stamped. Then he opened the maps app on his phone. The gap was there. Everything aligned.

I exhaled and shook my head.

“Why don’t you do it then?” I asked.

“Am I obliged to?”

“Guess not.”

“Then it’s up to you now, Kevin,” he said. I sighed.

“I don’t think I could,” I said. “Even if I wanted to. And trust me, I want to. But not… like that.”

“If someone broke into your house to kill you,” he said, “you could.”

“That’s different.”

“So you’re capable,” he said. “You’re just deciding when it applies. Why not here?”

I didn’t respond. Luther smiled, sensing my internal conflict.

“Alright, forget about that for a second. Let me ask you something,” he said, “would you ever hire me to make you harm a child?”

I frowned.

“No, of course not.”

“Do you think a priest would ever hire me to make him kill someone?”

“I’d hope not, if he was a good priest,” I replied. He nodded.

“That’s right. People don’t come to me to become something else, Kevin,” he said. “They come to confirm what they already are.”

He smiled.

Then he stood up and left.

I sat there for a long time, just staring at the sheet of paper in front of me. When I got home, I glanced at the slightly open drawer in my kitchen. The gun was inside.

It no longer felt like a decision. It had to be done.

I took the day off work on Monday and drove to the location, keeping the news on my phone. As soon as they confirmed he was released, I got out and headed to the space he’d pointed to between the two cameras.

Then I hid and waited, gun in hand. There was no one else in sight.

My thoughts were quiet, but my hand was shaking.

It’s just one bullet. You already decided this.

When the man appeared, I hesitated. But only briefly.

Then I pulled the trigger.

The sound was louder than I expected. He dropped right there, and I dragged him back towards my hiding space. My hands were still shaking slightly, but inside I felt nothing. No panic or regret. Just glad that it was done.

But then he moved. A faint sound.

I froze.

A voice spoke behind me.

“He’s not dead.”

I turned, and Luther stepped out.

Of course… he’d known I would be here. I looked back towards the man, who was twitching violently now, making a gurgling sound in his half-dead state. My hands started to shake harder.

I closed my eyes and handed him the gun.

“I-I can’t.”

He looked at it, but didn’t take it.

“Why not?” he asked.

“J-just finish it!” I yelled at him.

“Don’t you think he deserves to suffer?”

I paused and opened one eye. He pulled out the envelope, then the paper inside it, and began reading out some of the details about his crimes.

Things I already knew.

My hands stopped shaking. I looked back towards the man.

“Yeah,” I said. “He does.”

Then Luther reached into his bag and placed a knife in my hand.

“If that’s what you think.”

This time, I didn’t hesitate long. My fist closed around the handle, and I plunged it into him. Over and over. I didn’t want to stop.

After, there was silence. I felt satisfied.

Then the realization dawned. I looked at my hands. Then at Luther.

I didn’t just cross the line…

I kept going.

Without force or coercion. Something just came over me. My heart began to race.

“If I asked you…” I said slowly, turning back to Luther, “to make me hurt a child… to make me do anything… could you do it?”

“You wouldn’t hurt a child,” he said.

“How do you know?”

“You didn’t come to me for that.”

He reached into his bag again and handed me a card with a symbol on it.

“You know, there are more like him,” he said.

I took the card.

“Well, if your cult is just killing child predators, then honestly… I’d be happy to.”

He smiled.

“Among other things.” Then he paused. “But you don’t have to come alone.”

He left after that.

I sat with the card for a long time, and opened my phone. I scrolled through my contacts, then stopped on a name.

Then another…

Then another.

The type of people that would love to give monsters what they deserved. Those names came to mind pretty easily.

So I guess that’s where we’re at now, two of my friends are going and we’ve got a date in the calendar for next week.

We’re all pretty excited to see what he’s got going on with that ‘cult’ of his. If it’s more getting rid of people the world doesn’t need, I’ll be down regardless.