Optimistic, Matthew says, “So these visions, how far do they go?”
“You have to believe me. I have seen the end. I have seen what happens to mankind if she isn’t stopped, and I pray not only that we’re in time, but that I am right and that the answers we seek are, as I believe, on the land.”
“Are you suggesting that we cannot defeat her?”
“I’m not suggesting anything, I’m merely saying I have seen how the end of the world happens. And I have also seen the only possible way that this won’t be our reality.”
“So, you do know how we can defeat this?”
“Like I said, I haven’t been to the tainted Valley of Hinnom, but from my visions, I believe I know exactly where the answer awaits.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Hermon looks Matthew dead in the eye. “Matthew, I tell no lies. There is only one sure way to defeat this entity and I believe it’s you who has to see this through to save us all.”
In shock, Matthew says, “Me…? I have to…? Wait, are you sure you’ve seen that right?”
“Never been surer about anything in my life.”
“Well, I guess we best get driving to the tainted Valley of Hinnom, then,” Phil says, leaning over the seat and patting Matthew on the shoulder.
Matthew has always wanted to have his day and take out the bitch who stole his daughter from him. But now, just knowing that the fate of the world lies solely with him – well, that’s kicking up all sorts of emotions and nerves. Not knowing whether to cry or jump out of the car and get the first flight home, Matthew decides it’s best to say nothing for fear of saying the wrong thing. Figuring he’s asked enough questions, and fearful of any further answers, Matthew falls silent for the remainder of the journey.
Chapter Fourteen
“What’s the Truth and What’s the Lie?”
Eve and Lewis are curled up in bed. The room is gloomy, and the black curtains have been drawn around the bed with a gap just large enough so that Eve can see Honey inside her crib and feel assured that she is okay. Eve is patiently waiting for her husband to stop mumbling and fall asleep. Her forehead becomes slightly sweaty as her nerves kick in. Tonight, she took a very risky move. One that could potentially get her killed or, worse than that, put her daughter in harm’s way. Yet, even with the high stakes, Eve knew she couldn’t miss this opportunity to gain clarity and get answers.
Lewis continues to ramble on about his successful possessions of the night and how he cannot wait for their ownership of the universe to begin, but Eve doesn’t engage. Eventually, he tires of the one-way conversation and quiets down.
“Night, baby,” Lewis whispers.
“Goodnight, handsome,” she replies.
Eve peers up at the clock above the crib. The time is five-thirty in the morning, and her thoughts are racing. Her head is jam packed with unanswered questions and fear. Thomas’s words haunt her: “Your name is Evelyn Jade Honey, and you were born, not created.”
Born and not created? After all this time, could she really be human? Surely not. There’s no way that can be true. Eve gently extracts her hand from Lewis’s. She gets up and steps softly to the foot of Honey’s crib. With one last glance at Lewis, she reaches inside the crib and lifts the bottom part of the mattress. Placing her hand underneath, she collects a hidden item: a phone that she took from one of the children’s bedrooms during a possession earlier that night. She had returned to the orphanage before Lewis and was able to hide it from him.
Eve cannot stop her hands shaking. Petrified that she’s going to drop the phone, she swiftly moves to the rocking chair and sits just as the phone slips from her grip... and lands inside her lap. Feeling nauseous, Eve places her head inside both her hands. A pain like no other hits her like a bolt of lightning through her brain.
“Go on, check it,” she hears.
And just like that, a tingle travels down her spine and the pain stops.
“Check it.”
Opening her eyes, Eve sees there is no one in the room besides her, Lewis and Honey. Putting her head back, she looks up high and takes a deep breath before staring at the phone in her lap again.
“Okay,” she whispers.
She clicks the button on the side and the screen lights up. Sliding the button to unlock the phone, she locates the internet app icon. Her thumb hovers over it. Her chest has gone tight.
“What am I doing?” she whispers.
Fear has taken over from curiosity, and she’s now unsure whether she has the courage to look for answers. If what Thomas has said is true, then what can she do about it? Absolutely nothing! Eve knows that she would be torn down from the inside out. She couldn’t possibly go against Jezebel – could she?
“But what if he’s lying?” she breathes.
Just then she hears Thomas’s voice again. “There’s only one way to find out, kid.”
“Where are you?” she says, raising her voice slightly.
This time there’s no answer.
She hits the internet icon button and quickly types Evelyn Jade Honey before she can change her mind. But something warns her not to click the enter button. Eve closes her eyes and sobs quietly. When she opens them, she jumps as she sees Thomas kneeling on the ground besides her.
“You can do this, Eve,” he whispers.
“I… you…” Putting her head back inside her hands, Eve can’t bring herself to say the words she wants to speak.
“Just take a look. What’s the worst thing that can happen?”
“You could be telling the truth, and my whole existence has been a lie. How about that?”
Lewis begins to stir.
The pair fall silent.
Eve’s voice is now so quiet she’s practically mouthing. “You shouldn’t be here.” Pointing up high, she continues, “She already knows something suspicious is happening.”
“Are you not curious about who you truly are?” Thomas pauses. “Like why is your daughter called Honey? Did you not think that deep down somewhere you had an internal impulse of some kind to name your daughter that? Now that I have told you your birth name, can you not see how something deep within you clearly chose that name? I can, and it’s because it forms part of your human identity. And that identity is still living within you.”
Scared out of her mind, Eve decides it’s best to say nothing.
“I know you sense that something’s wrong. Why else would you have stolen that phone from a child’s bed?”
“I’m going to put it back tomorrow. I’m just using it for now. And yes, so what, I might be a little curious about the things you’re saying, but only to prove that you’re lying and so I can hand over my daughter to the right side without wondering if I am human.”
“You don’t honestly believe that dribble that’s just come out your mouth, do you?”
“You’re going to get me and my family killed. So that’s honestly the only thing I care about right now.”
“Is this what you believe you were destined for? To live in fear. My darling sister, you were created to leave a legacy. You will save the world and mankind.”
“Shut up,” Eve snaps.
“Please, listen to me. Your daughter, your beautiful Honey, is an extra gift to the world. A beautiful, innocent and joyful gift that is ready to continue your legacy after you’ve gone. She will achieve great things and change lives.”
“After I’m gone?”
“Eve, I have told you all I can for now. If you do as I ask and you see that I am telling the truth, I will trust you with the rest.”
“But…” Eve says.
It’s too late. Thomas has disappeared.
She shifts in the chair and the phone slips from her grasp. It hits the floor with a huge bang.
Lewis bolts up from the bed. “What was that?”
Eve quickly collects
the phone and hides it behind her back. “Oh, nothing,” she replies. “Erm, I was just checking on Honey. I dropped her toy on the floor.”
Glancing at the crib, Lewis sees Honey is still sleeping. “She’s fine,” Lewis says. “Come back to bed.”
Opening the covers, he pats the empty space.
“Sure, just let me put her toy back inside her crib.” Eve says as she steps towards the crib. She lifts the mattress and slips the phone underneath.
Lewis kisses Eve on the head when she crawls back into bed. “Why are you sweating?”
“Oh, erm, nothing. I’m just a little hot, that’s all. I was thinking about this evening and how intense it was. I got a bit of a kick out of it and started sweating.”
“Oh, okay. Night, baby. I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” Eve replies.
Eve peers over at the crib. She didn’t have a chance to turn the phone off! If the phone rings, she’s most certainly going to be in a whole load of trouble. She’ll have to wait for Lewis to fall asleep again and then get out of their bed to collect the phone. As she watches the hands on the clock tick by, the rhythm puts her in a trance. Her eyes slowly begin to close. And just like that, she’s fast asleep.
Darkness is upon her. She sees nothing but a blanket of black.
“No!” Eve shouts as she throws herself forward.
But Eve is not inside her own room. This room is bright.
Panicking, she calls out, “Honey.”
But her daughter is nowhere to be seen. Neither the crib or a picture of Honey is in sight. Looking to her right, she sees Lewis isn’t there either. Confused, she notices a bedside table. And on the table is a framed picture of a girl who looks identical to her, with an unknown woman smiling in the background on a bed. Retrieving the frame, Eve inspects it further.
“How is this possible?”
Slowly glancing around the room, Eve feels a strange connection with the space and all the items within it. To her left, she sees a tiny little bear on the pillow next to her. He looks worn and either over loved or uncared for. Turning her head to the wall behind her, Eve gasps. She’s staring at a huge heart mosaic of pictures. Each image contains the girl and the woman from the picture in the frame. In some of the images, a man is present, and they all look super happy. A proper family.
Putting the picture frame on the bed, Eve gets up on her knees and touches each of the images, scanning them with great intensity. Her heart begins to race as she notices a specific picture in the centre of the heart. The girl is sat in a chair with a party hat on her head. She appears to be blowing out the candles on a cake. All appears to be normal. Behind the girl’s head is a banner. And on the banner, it reads: “Happy Birthday Evelyn Jade”.
Eve scrambles to get up, her legs tangling in the bedsheets. Her eyes on the images, she stumbles back, and her butt hits the desk. She turns quickly, her heart racing. On the desk is a thickly bound leatherback diary with an open lock on it. She flicks the front cover open and jumps back slightly, as if something might leap out at her. When nothing does, she pulls out the chair and sits down. Her eyes are drawn to the bold writing on the front page in black marker:
This Diary is Property of Evelyn Jade Honey
Do Not Read or I Will Know.
Stay Out Dad!
Turning the page over, she sees an entry written with blue ink. Some of the ink is smudged. It appears to have been damaged by drips of liquid.
Dear Diary,
Well, I guess it’s just you and me from now on. My first year of high school has been awful. Just awful. Not only have I had to try and meet new friends, learn new skills, but my mum died too. Yeah diary, my mum DIED. She’s DEAD and she isn’t coming back! And now I’m coming to the end of my first year at high school and I’ve realised one thing: I can’t tell anyone my feelings and I can’t possibly try and make friends because I get teased. I have tried and tried and tried to get people to understand my pain, but instead they look at me like I’m weird. Someone has started a rumour about me. They say that I pushed my mum into the road, and they all call me the “Mum murderer”. They say that I killed my own mum on purpose. I get told at least five times a day that I should just go and kill myself and diary, if I didn’t think it would destroy my dad, I would do it in a heartbeat. Why should I live when my own mum doesn’t have the privilege? The woman who brought me into this world and gave me nothing but love… because of my stupidity she died. I know you won’t have the answers for me, but I thank you for listening.
What does all this mean? Suddenly Eve hears laughter coming from outside the room. Cautiously making her way to the door, she puts her head to the wood. A radio is playing, and a woman and man are singing along. They sound happy. Hearing the clanging of pots and pans, Eve concludes that they must be in the kitchen. She twists the doorknob. Opening the door a fraction, she pokes her head outside. There are multiple closed white wooden doors in a bright and airy hallway. As she steps out of the room, a floorboard creaks. Eve stands still to be sure she wasn’t detected. When no one makes an appearance, she bravely continues to walk towards the staircase where she can hear all the commotion taking place.
Dropping to her knees on one of the steps, Eve peers down through the gaps in the banister. She can see the handsome man from the pictures in the kitchen. He smiles and grabs the hands of a girl who is of a similar height to her. The girl is laughing as the man sings and moves her arms.
“Dad, stop it!” the girl says with a giggle.
“What? Too cool to dance with your dad now you’re in high school.”
And just like that, he twists the girl around. Gulping, Eve sees the girl’s face. It’s her!
Chapter Fifteen
“We’ve Arrived.”
“This is as far as I can take the car. We need to walk the rest of the journey to Mount Zion,” Hermon says as he pulls up the handbrake. The car is parked at the side of an oversized sandy coloured mountain.
“How far is it?” Matthew asks.
“Not far. It will only take around an hour or so. Be prepared, it gets quite hot. I packed us all some iced water. This should keep us going.”
“Are you okay?” Matthew says, turning to look at his friend. “You’ve been quiet the whole journey.”
“Yeah, mate, I’m fine. Just nervous, I think. I mean, if he’s right, then she was created here. Like, will she know that we’re sniffing around? You know what I mean?”
“That’s a very good question,” Hermon replies. “But we do not know the answer. We must pray before we step foot on the land. We must pray for protection and camouflage so that we can enter undetected. We will promise, in exchange for safety, that we will be quick and will not disturb any artefacts that we find.”
“What, and you think your God is going to protect us from that when he hasn’t even protected almost one hundred children from this evil—”
“Phil!” Matthew says.
“What?”
“No, Matthew, it’s okay,” Hermon says. “I understand. I know that your faith has been hindered by the terrible events of your life. But right now, I really need you to just have faith in me. I’m trying to help.” Turning to face Phil, he stares him directly in the eyes. “Can you do that for me, Phil? Just have faith in me. Please.”
Rolling his eyes, Phil says, “Sure, mate.”
“Thank you,” Hermon says with a sincere smile upon his face.
Matthew doesn’t know what to expect out of today. His palms are getting sweaty. His nerves are slowly getting the better of him. And he could do without Phil having one of his moments and kicking off.
“Okay, let’s get out of the car. I know my legs can do with a stretch after three hours of driving.”
As the door slams shut, Phil grabs Matthew by the shoulder.
“Mate, what if this doesn’t go to plan? What if he’s, like,
using us as bait or something?”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“Come on, it’s a bit weird. He’s got some magical gift where he can see into the future. And that bullshit story about his grandfather predicting the holocaust. I mean, if that ain’t a slap in the face to every person who lost someone in the biggest murder spree ever known to mankind, then I don’t know what is. And now what – this guy just knows how to get rid of this entity? Nah, something just isn’t sitting right with me, mate.”
“Look, Phil, you don’t have to come. You don’t have to believe this guy at all. That’s totally your right. But me, I’m choosing to go with him, because you know what? I’ve got nothing to lose. I have looked in the face of evil and if evil is going to come at me here, then bring it on, because I’m ready and waiting.” Getting out of the car, Matthew pops his head back through the door. “It’s up to you what you do from here, Phil. No one’s forcing you.” Matthew slams the door shut and makes his way across to Hermon.
Hermon holds a huge map in his hands. “So, what’s the plan?” Matthew says. “Where do we go from here?”
Pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, Hermon says, “If my calculations are correct, we need to head up this way.”
Staring out at the never-ending sea of sandy-coloured rocks and hills, Matthew lets out a huge sigh. Placing his hands on his hips, he sets off, panting. His nerves have subsided. All he can think about now is how blooming hot it is! It’s practically the desert, and he’s been forced to cover his whole body. And not only this, but he’s also wearing all black.
“Aw, mate, it’s hot innit?” Phil says as he steps out of the car and slams the door shut behind him.
“Aye, bet you’re glad you’ve got that ridiculous hat on your head now, ain’t ya Phil?” Matthew sets off laughing.
“Ah, shut it. You won’t be laughing when I use it to fan myself down.” Making his way over to the pair, Phil glances at the map. “What’s the plan now then, lads?”
The Broken IV: Vengeance Page 13