Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone) (52 page)

“Luca? I dreamed of him,” Will said. “Something told me I’d meet him, and I did.”

“
Something.
Not God, though, right? Because God doesn’t speak to you?”

Will wasn’t sure what to say. There wasn’t much room for navigation. He could tell the little weasel wanted to pick a fight; it was all Brother Rei could do to keep his fist from suddenly swinging at Will. This man was a bully, a power-hungry one at that. Will had seen his kind, dealt with his kind, plenty of times before. He was a petty little man with inadequacy issues, looking to make a name for himself, however he could.
 

Brother Rei was looking for a reason to spar with Will, but Will was smarter than the weasel by a wide berth. Will wouldn’t give in to the attempts. He would remain calm in the face of Brother Rei’s fury, no matter how quickly it rolled to a boil, or how high the bubbles rose.

“So, tell me, Brother Will. How
close
are you to Luca?”

Will didn’t like the innuendo in Brother Rei’s voice or the arch in his left eyebrow when he said ‘close.’ Had Brother Rei discovered his secret, or was he simply guessing? In any event, homosexuality didn’t equate to pedophilia, and Will would have to hide his outrage if that’s where Brother Rei was going with this.
 

“What are you asking?” Will met Brother Rei’s dark eyes, almost daring him to voice his ugly suspicions.

“Just trying to figure things out, is all,” Brother Rei said with a devious smile. “Do you think Luca is possessed?”

“What?! That’s crazy.”

“Do you not believe in demonic possession? Have you not seen enough of what’s happened outside, or been paying attention enough to know what it means?”

“Don’t you have better things to do with your day than spend it asking me questions about my faith? What is the point of all this?”

“The point, Brother Will, is to determine which side of eternity you and your little group are standing on. Brother John may have been fooled by your act, but I’m not so naive and trusting as he.”

“If you don’t trust us, then why have us here?”

Brother Rei smiled at this as if it were some kind of joke, and that it was all he could do to keep his laughter contained. He leaned across the desk, lowered his voice, and said, “You’re right; you shouldn’t be here. Please, let yourself out.”

Will was confused, “Out of this room, or leave The Sanctuary?”

“Both. Go tell your friends their time is up. The Sanctuary offers no solace to sinners.”

Will felt the acid churn in his gut.

What have I done? I can’t get the rest of them kicked out.

“Listen,” Will said, trying to smother the flames of his reckless behavior. “I don’t know what I’ve done to cause offense, but it wasn’t intentional. I’ve abided by your rules.
 
All of them. And I’ve not spoken a word against your customs. I’ve helped in every way I’ve been asked. So, if there’s something I’ve personally done to you, please forgive me. But don’t take it out on my friends. If you want me to leave, I’ll leave right now.”

Brother Rei stared at him, then sat back and folded his fingers on his desk. Whatever the weasel had expected to happen, Will had thrown him with his offer. Brother Rei’s eyes, and the uncertainty lurking like fear within them, said he was contemplating his next step with caution.

“You will leave? Just like that? Right now?”

“I’d like to take a few of my things, and tell the others I’m going. But yes, I’ll leave.”

“And what will you tell the others? That I pushed you out, made you go away, gave you an ultimatum?”

“No, because then they’d leave here with me, and I don’t want that. I don’t have to believe what you believe to think they are still safest here. I even told them so when The Prophet asked Mary to choose here or outside. I’ve never been one to stay too long in one place. They know that, and aren’t likely to think much of it.”

Brother Rei leaned forward a second time. “The Prophet and Brother John are kind men. The Prophet has already once allowed the wrong people into our Sanctuary. I, however, was not a kind man before coming here. And I have no problem tapping into that darkness to preserve the light of this holy place. I will allow you to leave, but you must do so today. And you must convince the rest of your friends that this was your idea. Because even though The Prophet gave them a choice, I will never allow them to leave, at least not with the child.”

“Luca?” Will asked.

“Yes. He is a gift from God, and it would be an affront to allow him to be corrupted by your world. If they attempt to leave with him, they will die. Each and every one of them, including the girl.”

“I can’t believe The Prophet or John would allow that,” Will said.

“The Prophet isn’t doing especially well. He’s come down with something vile. To be blunt, I’m not sure he’ll live to see the completion of his church.” The corner of Brother Rei’s mouth crinkled, just enough to make Will certain he had something to do with The Prophet’s sudden illness.

“And John? Certainly you don’t think John will stand by and let you take control of this place, let alone murder his friends?”

“John is not a concern,” Brother Rei said. “I have won the loyalty of my brothers. If there’s a war for heart and soul of The Sanctuary, have no doubt, I will be the victor. I have God, and the men, on my side.”

Will stared at him, then smiled.

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“You’re leaving,” Brother Rei said. “And I have two guards outside this room right now to ensure my absolute safety. These men will be your shadow until you leave. And you will leave promptly after dinner. I’ll make a big announcement, let everyone know how truly sorry I am to see you go. You will be given a car and some supplies. Then we’re done here, do I make myself clear?”

“Yes,” Will said, anxious to get the hell out of the tiny room.

Will stood and headed for the door, tempted to turn back, and put a bullet in Brother Rei. Maybe three. But that would be changing things, and Will knew that was forbidden. Brother Rei was in the dreams of what was to come, so that meant he was still alive. Even if Will were to get a shot off, fate would intervene long enough to keep the weasel breathing.

Will was strapped in, committed to the roller-coaster ride, all the way to the end. He knew all too well the dangers of attempting to change fate.

* * * *

LUCA HARDING: PART 1

Luca wasn’t feeling well before lunch, but he didn’t say anything to anyone until he had a mouth filled with meat he couldn't chew, let alone swallow. Everyone gave him looks that said they were sorry he was sick, except for Brother Rei, who gave him a look Luca didn’t understand, even though it made him feel a little bit black inside.
 

Luca excused himself from the table, then crossed the courtyard and went into his room. He slipped into bed and turned toward the wall with his hands cradling his stomach. Since Scott was gone, Luca had the room all to himself. The woman who cleaned the house, Sister Louise, was scrubbing the hallway on the other side of his door. Luca could hear her thoughts and they were making him sad. Louise was nice on the outside, and always smiled whenever she said hello, but today Luca could hear her thoughts, wondering if Luca were indeed possessed.

He turned
 
toward the window, wanting to find Rebecca, since he lost her in his dream last night. He’d been worried about her all day, and was glad that the funeral took place outside The Sanctuary so she didn’t have to hear Brother Rei talking about Scott’s “Heavenly reward,” which he got when he was fighting the bleakers, or the Demons, as everyone at The Sanctuary always called them.
 

Luca kept listening for the sound of Rebecca’s thoughts, but her thinking was nowhere to be found.
 

Listening for people’s thoughts, he’d discovered the prior day, was like TV channel surfing, like his dad used to do. Sometimes his dad would know what he was looking for and go straight to that channel. But most times he didn’t. When his dad didn’t know what he wanted to watch, he would point the remote at the screen, press the arrow, and flick from show to show until he found a station that looked promising. Often, his dad would watch the channel for a few seconds, lose interest, then move onto something else. When he finally found something entertaining, he’d drop the remote in the “Remote Boat,” then sip his glass of water, smiling. Picking up on people was the same way, but less entertaining.

If Luca knew whom he wanted to hear, or when he was looking at the person directly, getting in their thoughts was easy. But when he didn’t know, he had to do a lot of
dipping
.
Dipping
was what Luca called it when he had to go into someone’s thoughts just long enough to figure out whose mind he was inside.
 

He kept trying to find Rebecca’s thinking, but he couldn't go dipping since the only person he could hear thinking was Louise.

“He picks his nose . . . and all that urine around the toilet! That’s all bad enough, but it’s his eyes that are the worst. That boy’s been branded by the Devil as sure as he misses the bowl.”
 

Luca didn’t want to be inside Louise’s head anymore, but he still couldn't find Rebecca. He was almost ready to turn back to face the wall, since his tummy hurt less in that direction, when he heard her.

“Are you trying to find me?”

“Rebecca!”

Luca heard her think in a giggle.
“Yay! I found you,”
she thought.
 

“How long have you been looking?”

There was a moment of silence, then Luca heard,
“All morning.”
There was another moment of silence then she added,
“How was the funeral?”
 

“Terrible. I left at the beginning. I was crying like a big baby. Everyone probably thought I was stupid.”

“That’s not true,”
Rebecca thought.
“No one thought you were stupid. They understand that you’re just a kid.”

Luca thought.
“They didn’t understand that you are just a kid.”
 

Rebecca went quiet.
 

He said,
“I’m sorry”
in his head.

“It’s okay.”

“Where did you go last night?”
Luca wondered.

“I’m not sure. I think I went into a different part of the dream. I looked for you but I didn’t see you anywhere. I kept looking, but I couldn't find you. I was lost for a while. And I couldn't escape from the man who was watching me. He was watching both of us, actually. At the same time, too. Like he had eyes all around him. I wanted to follow him because I thought he might show me where you were. But I was too scared. I ran away when he saw me behind him.”

“That’s The Man in the Middle,”
Luca thought.
“Did he say anything to you?”

“He said, ‘you can’t watch the watcher, unless your eyes are made of sky.’ He disappeared into the snow after that. Is The Man in the Middle bad?”

Luca had to think before he thought his answer.
“Yes, I think he is. But since I’m not scared of him, I don’t think he can hurt me.”

“Why?”

“Because the voices didn’t say anything bad was going to happen. I think The Man in the Middle has to stay inside the Terrible Scary.”
Luca didn’t want to think about The Man in the Middle or the Terrible Scary anymore, so he wondered if Rebecca wanted to go on another trip. She said yes, and the next thing they knew, Luca was back in Las Orillas, in the middle of a freshly mowed lawn, looking at his old house with Rebecca beside him.

“Is that where you used to live?”

Luca nodded.
 

“It’s really nice,” she said. “We didn’t have anything like that. What did your parents do?”

Luca thought about it, but then felt bad that he couldn't remember. Then he wondered if he’d ever known. Was eight old enough to know what your parents did for work? Yes, of course it was. It had to be. Did he not know, or could he not remember? Luca finally said, “I’m not sure,” though saying it out loud made him feel like he lost something important.
 

He said, “Come on!” then took Rebecca by the hand and ran inside the house. No one was home, but that was fine. Luca wanted to show Rebecca his toys, not his family. He showed her his Lego collection, including his TIE-Fighter and his newest prize, the Ninjago Fire Temple.

“Isn’t it awe-awe-awe-awesome?” Luca sang, just like he did all through late September and early October of the previous fall, back when the Lego Ninjago Fire Temple was the pride of his bedroom.
 

Luca caught his reflection in his closet mirror, then dropped his Lego dragon on the floor where it shattered to pieces.
 

He had expected to see his eight year old self. They were in his house and his dream, after all. But the young man looking back at him hadn’t been a boy for some time.
 

“It’s okay,” Rebecca said. “You can still like Legos.”