by Charity B.
Copyright ©2018 by Charity B.
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without approval from the author. Doing so would break copyright and licensing laws.
Editor: Joanne LaRe Thompson
Proofreader: Kim BookJunkie
Formatting: Champagne Book Design
Cover Design: Jay Aheer, Simply Defined Art
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Author’s Note
Dedication
Epigraph
1: Blood of Innocence
2: Soul Cleansing Ritual
3: A Blessed Gift
4: The Prophet’s Son
5: Time of Questioning
6: Box of Repentance
7: Day of Rest
8: The Binding Ceremony
9: Marked with Blood
10: White and Yellow Flowers
11: Friends with a Philistine
12: The Johnson Barn
13: Sins of the Father
14: The New Prophet
15: Sturgis Countryside Meats
16: Two Worlds Collide
17: Changed by Time
18: Personal Cleansing Ritual
19: Baked with Evil
20: A Final Farewell
21: The Prodigal Daughter
22: Speaking with Zaaron
23: Gathering of the Anointed
24: Written on Skin
25: Lies Beget Lies
26: The Binding Plan
27: Benji Johnson’s Bride
28: The Holy Philistine
29: Sealed with Thread
30: The Prophet’s Choice
31: Fitch Brother Three
32: Trials and Tribulations
33: Our Own Wings
Anointed Playlist
Help lines and Websites
Acknowledgements
Books by Charity B.
About the Author
Author’s Note
As an independent author, your ratings and especially reviews mean more to me than you realize. If you enjoy the book, please consider lending your supports by leaving your thoughts in a review.
I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to me that you have chosen to read this book. This is a full-length, standalone novel. The religious group in this book is not based on any real religion or church and is completely fictional. Your support means everything to me. This book is very personal, and I adored writing it. I hope you love this story as much as I do.
Trigger Warning
This novel contains disturbing scenes and sensitive subject matter that may be triggering to some readers.
For Oliver.
May you always follow your heart.
I love you more than anything else on this earth.
Where there is love there is no sin.
—Unknown
“VERY GOOD, CLASS! CAN ANYONE tell me what year and in what form Zaaron appeared to the human vessel?”
Locks of blonde curls are poking out of the back of Sister Madeline Adams’ bonnet, sticking to her neck from sweat. Looking at it intensifies the feeling of my own wet forehead, so I wipe it with the ruffle-trimmed cuff on my sleeve. Philistines may have to suffer a pain more terrible than our human minds can process, but at least they’re allowed to show their arms in the summer time.
Since we older kids can answer most of these questions in our sleep, we don’t usually participate in the closing lesson which, in truth, is just a recap of things we’ve heard endless times. I look over at Zebadiah Fitch who’s about to fall asleep. He’s slouched down at his desk, his chin nearly touching his chest. His hair, the color of warm caramel, is messy from him ruffling it and sticks out from the back of his head. I know Sister Madeline sees him, so I try to find something to throw at him.
While I’ve known Zeb my entire life, it wasn’t until my Pa’s binding to his fourth wife, Sister Mary, four years ago that he became my closest friend. I was picking wildflowers for my crown with my older sister Clary. He walked over to me with a shy smile as he held out a bouquet of yellow and white flowers.
“I thought they would look pretty in your hair,” he had said.
The memory still pulls my lips into a smile. My little sister raises her hand, her long braids hanging down the back of her dress. Sister Madeline smiles at her. “Mia Henderson?”
Although her voice is kind, it’s extremely loud, startling Zebadiah and causing him to jump in surprise. I snicker at him. Everything he does is so…adorable. When he looks up to find me staring at him, he grins. My heart beats fast in my chest, and it makes my stomach feel kind of twisted in a good way.
“In 1906, Zaaron appeared to the human vessel as an ox,” Mia confidently answers without hesitation. I’m really proud of her. She’s a lot smarter than I was at six.
“Correct. Very good!” Sister Madeline scrapes the blackboard with chalk, writing Mia’s response. “In the thirty-sixth chapter of The True Testament, Zaaron prepares us for the Abolition. Does anyone know what this is and when it will take place?”
Serah Johnson, one of Mia’s best friends, reaches her hand high in the air, using the other one to push it up as if it will lift it higher. Sister Madeline smirks, gesturing for her to answer. “Serah Johnson?”
“On May 5, 2055, Zaaron will set the world on fire, bringing us home to the Paradise Star and sending the Philistines to the abyss to suffer for eternity,” Serah responds quickly in her cute, squeaky voice.
With a kind smile, Sister Madeline turns to the blackboard. “That’s exactly right.”
The large, iron bell rings, sending vibrations down my arm to my fingers holding the pencil. My stomach lurches with excitement as every kid in the large classroom scurries to gather their books and papers. Everyone is more than ready to be out of this hot, stuffy schoolhouse.
“Don’t forget, you must memorize 12:7 and 8 of The True Testament!” Sister Madeline calls, “Everyone have a blessed evening. May the holy fire of Zaaron cleanse you!”
“MAY THE HOLY FIRE OF ZAARON CLEANSE YOU, SISTER MADELINE.”
We all say it, though half the kids have one foot out the door. I shove the books I need under my arm and toss the rest into my desk. I look around for Zebadiah, finding him waving at me impatiently by the open door.
Running between the desks, I rush outside to join him, where the fresh Oklahoma air fills my chest. Even with the sun burning down on us, it cools my skin from being inside for the last four hours.
Jogging backward, he hollers, “Hurry up, Laur! Last one there is leech bait!”
I laugh and chase the dirt cloud he kicks up as he runs past the tabernacle. I want to yell at him to slow down, but it will take too much of my breath if I want to catch up. He’s already faster than I am, plus he got a head start. He turns right, and I’m still far behind, chasing him past the various homes of the followers. We reach the tree line, and he disappears. Since I know the way, I won’t get lost, I’m just not going to beat him to the creek. I don’t see him again until I break through the trees.
He turns and sees me. “Come on! I still have a ton of chores I have to do before my father gets home!”
His light brown hair disappears over the hill as I clutch my books in one hand and the floral printed fabric of my dress in the other to keep from tripping.
“Easy for you to say! You don’t have to run in this dumb, heavy dress.”
The wind is loud and strong, whipping the strings of my
bonnet against my face, so I don’t know if he hears me. Besides, it’s his own fault he didn’t finish his chores this morning. I was able to get mine done, and he has way more brothers and sisters to help.
When I finally reach him, he’s yanking down his suspenders. He discards his boots in the sand and grins at me.
“The water is going to feel amazing. I bet it’s over a hundred degrees out today.”
He’s not exaggerating. I was sweating into the washing bucket this morning, and that was at sunrise. I untie my bonnet and yank the strings loose on my shoes.
“Yeah, Sister Mary has been complaining about it all week.”
Sister Mary is due any day now to have my new brother or sister. The heat has made her even more difficult to get along with than normal, and believe me, that’s saying something.
He pushes off his trousers, tossing them next to his shoes. Standing there in only his short-sleeved union suit, he waits for me.
Although we have done this very thing a ton of times, it’s still a sin to see each other like this.
“Turn around. I’m going to take off my dress.”
He snorts, running toward the water. “Just hurry, I only have an hour.”
My fingers pop open enough of the buttons to slip my dress over my head before I push my petticoat down, leaving me only in my bloomers and corset cover. Zebadiah is already swimming when I run down the bank. The cool water instantly gives me relief as it climbs higher up my body the further I walk.
“Are you going to Benji Johnson’s soul cleansing tonight?” I ask him.
While My pa has always preferred that I go, he’s never forced me, until now. Last night the Prophet’s Apostle, Keaton Fitch, came by to announce that Benji’s cleansing would be tonight. Once he left, my pa told me my attendance would be mandatory.
I despise going to soul cleansings, though my feelings on the matter are irrelevant. He is my father, and it’s my duty to honor and obey him. I’ve just always thought it was cruel to gawk at someone getting publicly beaten. It may be what Zaaron requires for their soul, but He doesn’t require us to watch.
“When your father is the Prophet, you don’t get much choice,” he scoffs.
He’s been struggling with Hiram becoming the Prophet. Zeb’s grandfather, Josiah Fitch, died a year ago, and The True Testament states the eldest son in the holy bloodline is to be the next Prophet. That’s Hiram.
“Will you stand with me?” I ask.
He splashes me, and he laughs at my insincere glare. “Of course. I thought that was obvious.”
I smile at him, and his eyes flip to my chest before smirking back at me. My face gets hot, so I wipe my wet hands across my cheeks.
“How did Benji even get a Devil’s box, anyway?”
“Heck if I know. He’s always sneaking out to explore around the edge of the compound. I’m surprised he wasn’t caught sooner.” He shrugs. “A Philistine must have dropped it and he found it.”
The world outside the protection of the Anointed Land is full of evil and sinners. They pray to their science and technology instead of to Zaaron. The Devil resides inside of them and their trinkets, numbing their sense of morality and humanity. They are driven by violence, greed, and pride. There’s only one thing to do when coming across a Philistine, and that’s run.
“I just don’t understand what would make him touch that thing, let alone bring it home with him.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Are you really surprised? His own mother chose to leave and live with those perverse demons.”
Since Zeb is two years older than me, he remembers it better than I do, though I’ve heard the story about how Benji’s mother was possessed by the Devil. She refused the tomb of abolishment, choosing to spend the remainder of her days with the heathens in the secular world.
“Do you think Benji can get possessed by the Devil’s box?”
His hair is dripping water down his face and he shakes his head to clear it away. “I don’t know. My father won’t talk to me about it.”
Benji knew what he was doing was wrong, so I suppose he deserves the lashings. He’s still my friend. I don’t want to watch it.
At least Zeb will be there.
We skip rocks as we lie on the bank to dry our underclothes. Eventually, he sighs and looks to the blackbirds flying across the sky.
“I need to go. If anyone needs to use the oven I’ll be in big trouble. I never chopped wood this morning.”
We stand, and I brush the sand off the back of my bloomers, turning to put on my dress.
“If you would have gotten up earlier and chopped the wood before school, you wouldn’t have to worry about it.” His face falls and his eyebrows scrunch up. I can’t tell if he’s mad or I hurt his feelings. He’s not usually so sensitive. “I’m just joking with you, you know.”
Is he going to cry?
“Laurel Ann…you’re…” He points to my hand. “The blood of innocence.”
I know what he means, yet it isn’t until I see the red on my hand that I realize it’s happening to me.
No…
Terror wraps around me like a wool blanket, making the heat unbearable. I want to cry. I can’t breathe! Why am I feeling this? This is a blessing from my God. This is my purpose. I should be excited, not petrified.
This is the end of my childhood, my life as I know it. Now, I will be placed and bound. Tears burn my eyes when I think of how I will be expected to bear my future husband’s many children. Who will that be? I’m meant to find companionship and friendship with my sister-wives while finding fulfillment in the family we prepare for the Paradise Star. It’s supposed to be a pivotal, righteous point in my life, so why do I want to drop to my knees and purge the contents of my stomach? This is what Zaaron prophesied for us. This is what He wants. It’s a sin to simply be thinking these ungrateful thoughts. I should want to run home and tell my family of this joyous news, yet all I want to do is figure out how to make it stop.
I’m not ready.
Zebadiah’s chest is lifting and dropping fast, and his breaths are short and clipped. Suddenly, he walks past me to the pile of my clothes. Lifting my petticoat, he curses at the apparent scarlet spot on the back. “Damn it.” He drops it on the bank to pick up my dress, turning it inside out to inspect it.
My voice is as shaky as I am. “Wh-what are you doing?”
“Your dress is still clean. We just need to get rid of everything else with blood on it. You have to keep this a secret.”
“That’s a sin.”
His jaw twitches, his fist clenching the fabric of my dress. “So, you’re ready for this, Laur? To lay with a man as his wife? To obey him in all things and bear him as many children as Zaaron will bless you with?” My eyes burn. His voice holds the fear that I feel. “You always talk about it like it’s some far away life, but it’s here, now. It’s happening. Are you prepared for it?” I am shaking my head before I realize it, and my heart is crying in relief for his understanding in this. He reaches down for his socks, handing them to me. “Here, use these until you can get home and figure something else out.”
I take them, along with my dress, and hide behind a bush to take off my bloomers. Tying one sock around my waist, I place the other one between my legs, tying both ends to the first. I bundle up the bloody linens, put on my dress, and meet him back at the bank.
This is really embarrassing, but the alternative has come too soon. He takes the soiled underclothes, bunching them up with my petticoat. Handing me my books, he says, “Go home and act normal. I’ll get rid of these. Ride it out for a couple of days, and then we’ll have more time to figure this out.”
A jolt of fear runs up my body, forcing the tears to rim my eyes. I put my bonnet over my damp hair. “What if…what if we don’t make it to the Paradise Star because of this?”
He frowns and shakes his head. “We can’t think about that right now. Just get home before you bleed through the socks.”
He’s risking his very soul to pro
tect me. While he’s done some amazing things for me these last few years, he has never broken spiritual law for me.
He’s taller than I am, so I have to stand on the tips of my toes to hug his neck.
“Thank you, Zeb,” I whisper.
I quickly kiss his cheek before I turn to run home.
WHEN LIVING WITH FIVE MOTHERS, a father, and eighteen siblings, privacy is a myth. At least it’s still early in the day, so my father, my uncles, and my brother, Benjamin Jr., will still be working the fields. My family runs the largest farm on the compound. We’re primarily responsible for making sure there’s enough food to eat and sell. My father and uncles are in charge, and one day, my brothers will be.
Sister Mary will be resting. For the last month of pregnancy, women are only required to do their chores in the morning. It’s unnecessary to add extra strain to the wonderful gift Zaaron is bestowing upon us.
Everyone else in my family should still be working outside, save Sister Esther, my father’s most recent wife. She’s one year older than me and will likely be in the house with my youngest siblings.
My uncles have fifty-four wives between them. Many of them help my mothers on the farm, and the rest remain at their own homes to care for children and make sure their houses stay pure and clean.
As I run down the dirt road that leads to our farm, I wave to the dark forms in the distance, though from this far, I can’t tell who they are.
“Hello, Laurel Ann! Did you have a good day at your lessons?”
I turn to see my Aunt Ethel carrying a large basket of grains. I have no idea if Zeb’s socks are doing the trick, and I really need to get inside. Usually I enjoy the conversation of my family, so if I show my urgency I may raise suspicion, but if she sees the blood of innocence, it won’t matter anyway.
I tap my books. “I did, although Sister Madeline gave us a lot of homework. I must get studying.”
It’s a lie, and everyone knows lying is a sin, however, it’s a very small lie compared to the one I’m attempting to cover.