The Shattered Genesis (Eternity) (127 page)

             
“You're not sleeping.”

             
“I woke up when I heard the knock on the door.”

             
“Penny is tuckered out.” He observed. “What book is this?”

             
My eyes widened and that uncomfortable drop in my chest almost left me
squirming. His smile vanished at the sight of the cover. He turned to me, his eyes blazing.

             
“Did you bring this from your house?” He hissed at me.

             
“No. I didn't bring anything. I was brought here against my will, if you recall.”

             
Cowardice and timidity
held no purpose anymore. We were leaving whether those people liked it or not; if I had to change over and kill that man standing before me, then I would. Nothing would stop me from getting Penny, Nick, Maura and I back to Brynna and Elijah.

             
“I know that
we logged this down in our storeroom. We labeled it as contraband.”
             
Contraband. I tried to remember the exact definition of the term. I recalled the word “smuggle.”

             
“People brought all sorts of things that were forbidden. We gave everyone a chance to for
feit things like
this
.” He held the book up as though he was grasping a bag of week-old garbage that had been left to rot in the sun. He grimaced at the smell.

             
“Do you have any idea what this book is about, Violet? I'm going to assume that you don't, othe
rwise you would never let Penny even glance at the cover.”
             
“It's about a boy whose bedroom turns into a jungle. He meets huge monsters that make him their king. They recognize and respect his mischief. It's about standing up to what scares you. It's about
conquering your fears.”

             
The expression of disbelief on the man's face was almost funny enough to double me over in hysterical laughter. Luckily, my common sense dictated that I should remain silent.

             
“This book is about convening with
demons
, Violet. The
author himself said so.”
             
You don't know how difficult it was not to counter such a ridiculous lie with the truth.

             
“The man who wrote it was a homosexual. Do you know what that is? I'm sure you do, considering that you've grown up in the twenty-first cen
tury. You all have been exposed to that and so many other poisons.”

             
Rich enjoyed asking loaded questions he already knew the answers to. He was sly and conniving, much to my surprise. Through hearing Brynna's opinions on the matter, I had always believed
that people who buried their noses in religion were blinding themselves to the reality of the world. They allowed hate and bigotry to fester in their hearts, morphing them into unrecognizable beasts far more dangerous than any Shadow or Reaper. They were s
tupid, plain and simple.

             
It was not all religious people, certainly not. But it was those who found hate in the ultimate message of love. The message was simple, Brynna said: Love others as you love yourself. People who justified their prejudice with the
words of the Lord were sinners in His eyes. People who understood the true meaning and modeled their lives after Him were both brilliantly intelligent and faithful, deserving of their place in Heaven.

             
“Now, all of this is assuming that there is a God. I
do wish that I believed.” Brynna had told me through the thick cigarette smoke that swirled around, encasing her in a dense, dark fog.

             
Rich and his people were neither brilliantly smart nor faithful; they read the words but lost themselves in the meaning
they created and imposed on the world. But saying that he wasn't intelligent shouldn't suggest that he didn't possess the cunning instinct of a wolf sauntering around a doe's den.

             
“Our people were infected with popular culture. That fascination with vampi
res was disgusting. Children, just like you, were reading those books and watching those shows. God, it was terrifying for Mary and I, as parents. To see children so enamored with becoming one with the darkness, of being fed on by creatures that were, in t
heir most basic element, missionaries of Satan...” He shook his head at the memory and looked to the ceiling for Divine comfort. “You can't imagine what that's like. One day, when you and Nick have children of your own, you'll understand.”

             
I assumed his t
irade against the infectious abomination that was modern day entertainment was over. I could not have been so lucky.

             
“It wasn't just new things that we made people get rid of when they agreed to take our oath. In one family, the father was a literature pr
ofessor. He had brought so much filth like this to give to his children. I'm trying to remember their titles. Gosh, why can't I think of them? I'm sure you'd know them, unfortunately.”

             
Brynna had given a passionate speech in school about banning books. He
r two friends had said that the teacher and students had erupted into cheers at the end.

             
“You should have seen how bad she was blushing...” Her guy friend whose name I couldn't remember had told me enthusiastically that night.

             
Years later, I had somehow
convinced her to perform the now-famous speech for me. It had truly been an art of persuasive communication. In the speech, she had briefly described ten books that were commonly challenged by faceless groups or raging, biased individuals. They pushed thei
r way to the forefront of my mind as I stood there with Rich. The temptation was too great; I rattled them off much to his horror.

             
“
The Catcher in the Rye
by Steinbeck
, Brave New World
by Huxley
, 1984
by Orwell
,
Huckleberry Finn
by Twain...” I stopped, switching gears in my mind to contemporary literature. I could see that Rich was becoming more on edge as I depicted my vast knowledge on the books he had deemed reprehensible. “
And Tango Makes Three
,
The Perks of Being a Wallflowe
r, Har
...”

             
“Oh yes!” He interrupted me loudly and aggressively. He was struggling to exert control over the conversation. “Those awful books about wizards and magic, we took a lot of those.” His eyes lit up in malicious glee to match his smile.
             
Brynna's
favorite books...

             
“Witchcraft is a sin, Violet. I know that to you, it seems like just an innocent book. Most of these things do seem innocent but they’re not. The influence they hold…” He shuddered in genuine disgust. “Kids were running around, wishing t
hey were witches.”

“And wizards.” I added.

He scowled darkly at me but continued, undaunted.

“That's what Don and his people are, when it comes right down to it and I will not suffer a witch to live. Neither will Tyre. Mary and I both are genuinely repulse
d that this same man, the literary professor, I mean, was allowing his children to read those books. The whole family was exiled for that reason alone.”

             
“So you, the good and faithful leader of these people, threw an entire family out onto the slopes of t
he mountain, knowing that they would starve or freeze to death.”
             
“You make it sound terrible when you say it like that. No, Violet, that's not how it happened. We gave them a rations box and a knife. There are plenty of mountain animals to hunt. Anyone ca
n make a fire.”

             
“How very generous of you.” I whispered icily. The animal inside of me was rearing its head, clawing to the surface to escape the darkness that was slowly extinguishing its life. I had been in the Bachum camp for under twenty four hours an
d was already sensing the destruction of the evolutionary force I had allowed to thrive within me. Now, the predatory instinct, fueled by the fury of a guardian grieving the loss of innocents, was coming out to play.

             
“That family was a danger to our group
. Mary and I had to do the same to many others who didn't follow our laws. They were pathetically stupid people who were holding onto tokens of the past that are irrelevant now and were always disgusting in terms of morality. Things have been better since
we burned all that garbage and threw out those people that brought it to our camp. Don't you see why Mary and I had to take action?”

             
“No, I don't, Rich.” My voice was trembling and my hands were bawling into fists. “I don't believe what you believe. Does
that mean that I'll be exiled?”

             
“No.” He whispered as he walked closer to me slowly, his eyes blazing. “All that means is that we'll have to break you the same way we broke Maura.”

             
No fear. Not an ounce. Not a whisper. I closed the gap between us and gla
red up into his eyes.

             
“I am taking Penny, Maura and Nick. We are leaving tonight. For your own sake, don't try to stop us. You disgrace the code you claim you follow. You know nothing of God.”

             
“And you do?” His hand grabbed my chin in a painfully tight h
old. He was spitting his words at me through clenched teeth. “Why? Because your sister is a mutated freak who put these ridiculous ideas into your head? If I have to beat that filth out of you myself, then I will.”

             
“You won't touch me!” I barked at him. A
ll suppression failed; my eyes turned white as I prepared for the fight.

             
“Don't you dare look at me like that! Don't you look at me like I'm something to eat! I am your leader! You will do as I say! Or you will be...”

             
We were standing so close together t
hat only one fighting action was prudent; I brought my head back before lunging forward abruptly yet forcefully. After my head slammed into his, the grip he held on my face released and he stumbled backwards, grasping his nose. I could have sworn that I he
ard a whimper escape him.

             
I was going to kill him. Outside, thunder rumbled overhead. The clouds in the sky were stabbed by lightning bolts, bleeding snow onto the earth. One particularly loud burst of electrical energy split the roof of our home in two.
The wood of the roof burst into flames. Rich stared up, eyes wide in giddy adulation; he believed his warped perception of God was going to strike me down with one perfectly aimed lightning bolt.

             
Unfortunately for him, he was very, very misguided in that
belief.

             
Rich propelled himself backwards by rapidly kicking his feet. Each time he scooted away, a bolt of lightning struck the hardwood floor just in front of him. He was narrowly avoiding being fried to a crisp each time. Penny's arms were wrapped aroun
d my legs as she watched through her fingers. The fire was beginning to fall around us as the roof caved in. I kicked open the bedroom door to find my father, Maura and Nick staring wide-eyed at us.

             
“They're my feelings,” My voice conveyed my surprise.
“They make things happen...”

             
“What did you do?!” My father shouted before running into the room where I'm sure Rich was huddled in a corner, praying for my swift demise. The cabin dropped sideways as one of the stilts split in two, sending us all hurtling
into the far wall. Nick's body slammed against the window, breaking it open.

             
“Nick!” I shouted after spinning Penny around so she could attach to my back. I could hear Maura sobbing.

             
“It's okay!” Nick shouted to me over the blazing inferno that was clai
ming the cabin. “I'll land on my feet and you will, too! Come on!”

             
I looked back at Maura and reached out to her. Tears were falling freely down her face as she looked between my father and me. I was offering her an escape from the torment those people wo
uld continue to subject her to as long as she lived. My father was more than likely going to burn to death or die on impact when the cabin crashed onto the pathway below us. I didn't quite see how any deliberation was necessary. The fire engulfing the hous
e and the smoke filling the air didn't aid my patience or understanding. I mentally noted that I would give her a mere ten seconds to make up her mind.