The Shattered Genesis (Eternity) (124 page)

             
“Go on, sweetheart. We'll meet you there.” Mary told us with
the grin a fox would wear upon finally sneaking its way into a rabbit hole molded on her thin lips. I heard her whispering furiously to Maura but I blocked out her words.

             
“Maura says her face will be better soon. She says it doesn't hurt anymore. Don is
so mean! Why did he do that to Maura, Vi?”

             
“I don't know.” I replied vaguely. All of the lies that were being told by so many different people were beginning to jumble together. While I wanted to keep Penny as deep in the dark as I could in regards to the
precarious situation we were in, I was finding it difficult to keep everyone's tall tales separated. I would have a hard time recalling the details at will, which made protecting Penny even more challenging.

             
“Come on. I know you must be starving.”

             
“I am
! And Maura said that they have lizard berry pie!”
             

             
“Lizard berry pie!” I exclaimed, mirroring her excitement.

             
“Yeah!”

             
“Well, let's go, then.”

             
For the duration of our walk to the Temple, Maura stayed several steps behind us, her head down. I knew she w
as on the verge of tears and my heart broke for her. I was done pretending that her
suffering didn't impact me. What she had done didn't matter anymore. Every glance, every movement of her body betrayed her great fear of those people she was being forced t
o cohabitate with. My eyes scanned those walking past me and my heart dropped even further into my stomach. The men sauntered like kings while the women kept their heads down like lowly servants. At least in Don's camp, everyone greeted each other warmly a
nd happily. People smiled even while they were ramming a knife in your back or reaching behind you to snatch your belongings right off of your person. But in the Bachum camp, the men traveled in packs while the women avoided even a glance at once another.

             
A phrase came back to me from Bible school: wolves in sheep clothing. A Brynna-ism, as James called them, came back to me as well:

             
“If it seems like it's too good to be true, you're probably two steps from the edge of total catastrophe.”

             
I received both
of those messages timidly.

XXX

             
After an awkward prayer, dinner was eaten in silence. I tried not to observe those around me too closely, out of fear of giving myself away. Penny stared around, unabashed, her brows furrowed in confusion.

             
“Why is no one
talking?” She whispered to me.

             
I shushed her and squeezed her hands under the table.

             
After an awkward dinner, we were a part of an awkward religious ceremony that involved speaking in some unknown language, gesticulating wildly to the sky, and singing in
monotonous vowels for three hours. After everyone was exhausted from all the rigorous worshiping, we fell into our seats and watched as Tyre took the podium from Rich. Rich clapped his hands and everyone joined in immediately. When I saw Tyre glance at Pe
nny hungrily, I nearly jumped out of my chair and charged him. Nick’s hands tightening around both of mine stopped me.

             
You cannot imagine the suffocating feeling of suppressing your true nature. You cannot imagine how difficult it is to stifle even your p
rotective instinct that will guarantee the longevity of a child. I would become uncomfortably familiar with the stifling weight of keeping the beast down over the following days.

             
“Ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased to stand before you today with joyo
us news. Abba's group has split. The battle was won in your favor. Congratulations.”

             
There was a rumble of applause so deafening, I feared briefly that the wooden walls would cave. I saw every display of happiness one can observe in human beings; everythi
ng from a small smirk to screaming thanks at the ceiling and jumping up and down in ecstasy.

             
“The war is not over yet, however. We still must take back the city from Adam.”
             
Now, people muttered darkly amongst themselves about evil incarnate and
damnation. I stifled the urge to roll my eyes.

             
“Jesus...” Nick murmured in disgusted disbelief.

             
I looked at him, silently urging him not to speak.

             
“I know!” A woman in front of us turned around, smiling gigantically. “God is so great!”

             
“These people d
on't know anything about God or His so...” I began to whisper to Nick but Maura smacked my hand, not looking at me. When I gasped in response to the slight pain, I also looked over at her. She gave me an almost imperceptible shake of her head.

             
“Richard an
d I believe that it is time for you all to know the great truth behind the bloodshed that has claimed the lives of so many of my people and his. Only through this great truth will you truly understand.”

             
Jeez, were they going to dim the lights dramatically
?

             
“Thousands of years ago, when the Earth and Purissimus had just come into being, human-like creatures were shaped in the image of the One God. His rules were simple; you all are familiar with the
Great Ten. The war with Adam began with the building of t
he Shining City. While my people and I wished to continue worshiping in order to show our profound thanks for the powers that He had bestowed upon us, Adam wished to harvest the world for resources in order to build an empire.”

             
Anger was pulsing through t
he crowd. Penny looked at me, her eyes widened slightly in fear. I pulled her into my lap and held her close.

             
“The greatest gift that was given to us was this pure land that we inhabit. Adam was destroying it mercilessly. As more of the land died, his pow
ers only grew more potent while ours began to die away. We did not grieve the loss; we only realized that if Adam, in all his infinite evil and his love of destruction, possessed them, then surely, they were not of God but of the Beast. Our fight had been
raging for many years when from out of the sky, came your ship. Our numbers had been lessened by his brutality. We were fortunate that there were those who know the Great Truth on board your craft. You all know the Truth.” He beckoned out to the audience w
ho were hanging onto his every word. They were thrilled to be complimented by him. There was not a shred of doubt amongst any of them.

             
“While Adam embraces the powers of the Beast, you all are our gift from the one God. You all will aid us in achieving ou
r victory. From out of the ashes of a ruined world came the faithful warriors I had so long asked for. Together, we will overthrow Adam. Together, we will claim the city and restore Purissimus to its Godly glory. It is the will of the all-mighty Creator, f
or this war to be fought. It is His will for us to win. Never fear defeat, my friends. We are the Chosen Ones.”

             
“On the note of never fearing defeat, I'd like to add this, if you don't mind, Tyre.”

             
“Please...” Tyre stepped away and Rich took the podium.

             
“I'd like all of you men who fight to remember this: God gave his one son to die for our sins. If you are grieving those we lost yesterday, just remember that they died serving God. They died fighting in the name of Him and his Son.”
             
I watched as people
nodded with tears either brimming in their eyes or streaming rapidly down their faces. One man even pumped his fist into the air. Rich was eating up the adulation and the show of unity amongst his people. He stepped away from the podium, beckoning for Tyre
to take it again.

             
“Now, because we have won such a spectacular victory, we must make an offering.”
             
Silence. Forget a knife; a chainsaw couldn't have cut through the tension in that room. All around, people glanced, wide-eyed at one another. A woman in f
ront of us put her face in her hands, stifling sobs. What the hell?

             
“Please don't fret, my lady.” Tyre told her kindly but his eyes were glinting with malice. “It will not be one of you this time. It will be one that is consumed by the darkness. It will b
e one that we took from Abba. Gentlemen...”

             
He gestured to the door at the far right end of the hall. From out of it, two male Old Spirits dragged Eric, one of the men responsible for keeping our fires burning, from the back room. Though he fought to free
himself from their grasp, he did not scream obscenities or call those people on their blind, pitilessly stupid devotion. My heart raced as I turned Penny away from the scene.

             
“It's Eric!” She cried to me. “What are they going to do?”
             
I shushed her again
, my entire body trembling. Eric had been a friend to everyone; he was always ready with a joke or to laugh at one told by someone else. He and his wife had been very much loved. I wanted to run forward, throw myself over him, and beg them to stop their se
nseless violence. I wanted to scream, reminding them that no God in the western canon demanded ritual sacrifice, at least according to Brynna, who knew everything. Were they really so blind? Were they really so stupid in terms of the faith they claimed the
y followed down to the letter?

             
They slammed Eric down on the altar at the front of the church. People were standing, craning their necks to get a better look. I turned my head away, fighting tears and my own faltering breaths. Nick wrapped his arm around
my shoulder, pulling both Penny and me closer to him. His eyes were averted from the carnage in front of us.

             
Arms raised to the sky and swayed back and forth as people hummed in an ominous monotone.
Maura's hand snaked around my back, grasping a handful o
f my shirt. Even her eyes were cast down. As others screamed and cried for the sacrifice, we prayed for something,
anything
that would stop it. A light would fill the hall and the booming voice of the Lord would demand that they stop their pitiless bloodsh
ed. Jesus Christ would chastise them for embracing such brutal methods of worship and claiming that they were following His code.

             
But the hall remained dimly lit by the torches. The only sound came from the worshipers risen from their seats, crying out to
the heavens and stomping their feet, shaking the foundation of the structure we were in. For a moment, I prayed that the roof would collapse on our heads. Penny's tears ran down my neck and I grasped her even more tightly, squeezing my eyes shut as Tyre r
aised the knife above his head…

             
Cheers erupted and through my half-opened eyes, I saw people embracing before raising their hands to the sky in triumph and thanks.

             
Look anywhere else! Don't look, Violet!
My mind whispered in a desperate, shaky plea. Even
my brain knew that seeing Eric's mangled body would weaken the already fragile grip I held on my sanity. To lose it there in the church meant not only my death, but Penny’s and Nick’s, and maybe even Maura's.

             
There is truth to the belief that a subconsci
ous part of our minds is fascinated by tragedy and gruesome sights. That part of my brain pulled my protesting eyes to the sight of Eric's body. Blood was dripping down the altar, pattering against the hardwood floor like a grotesque rain. His eyes and mou
th were still wide open in his final scream of terror.

God grasped the top of the building and spun us in fierce, powerful circles. My legs were knocked out from beneath me. I hit the ground hard, feeling Penny flying from my arms.

             
The darkness in the he
arts of those people snuffed out the light from the torches.

             
I closed my eyes.

XXX

             
“I am so sorry about this, Rich. I just don't think she's used to it yet.”

             
“Don't apologize, Dan. It's alright. It's always shocking the first time. But I'm sure she
knows that it was necessary. If she doesn't know now, she will soon enough.”
             
Yeah, I'd know that soon, alright… Right after I realized that every evil act of man ever committed on Earth or Pangea was for the greater good...