Living The Way (The Way Trilogy Book 1)

by Ellie Aiden

  For some reason, I feel like I’m missing something. Like I’m missing a really important piece of the picture, and I have a horrible feeling this whole situation is far bigger than we know.

  I should probably be more concerned about what’s going to happen to me. Self-preservation and all. But instead I’m mostly worried about the people I love. Ash, she’s in this situation because of me. If not for me she would have been able to conform enough to fit in. I just feel it in my bones that’s true. Elder Thompson knew if I walked in to that Placement Ceremony and didn’t come back out, Ash would never let it go.

  Then my parents. I might be more concerned about them than Ash. It won’t be easy for them outside these walls, they aren’t spring chickens anymore. But what terrifies me more than that, is what if they know? They certainly aren’t higher ups in the Church, but with my Father’s position as a doctor, well, that comes with respect from the Elders. What if they know, or suspect something isn’t right, and they still planned to let me go through with the ceremony? I’m not sure I could ever forgive them for that.

  No. I refuse to believe they would do that. Innocent until proven guilty.

  Now, I know I said I was more concerned about the people I love, love being the key word there, but I can’t stop thinking about Luke. Is he already dead? The thought makes my heart hurt. I didn’t even know that was a thing. I guess that’s why they call it heartache. It’s worse that I know there is absolutely nothing I can do to help. I just have to keep telling myself he’s lived out there, in this Mad Max version of the world for this long, he can take care of himself.

  That’s exactly what I’m telling myself when Ash gets back to my room tonight with Chase in tow. Holy crap. Why is Chase here? If he gets caught, he’ll be sold right along with us, or killed. Again, it’s still unclear which is worse.

  “It’s really cute that you two are in love now, but this seems like a really bad idea,” I say.

  It’s also cute how both of their cheeks turn the exact same shade of crimson, how both of them open their mouths at the same time to rebut my statement, and then how they seem to come to the conclusion at the same time that there is no point denying it. Really cute I tell ya. But again I say, horrible idea.

  Ash reaches for Chase’s hand, her cheeks turning an even darker shade, if that’s possible, and the two love birds make their way to the foot of my bed. Whatever, I guess we’re doing this.

  “Chase has some information; I think you should hear from him directly.” She sits, patting the bed beside her, and gestures for him to fill me in.

  “Okay. So, I did some digging after Ash told me what you heard. This whole selling girls’ situation, it looks like it’s been going on pretty much since the compound was built.

  And I think Ash is right about Vater Henry, I don’t think he realizes the full extent of what’s happening. None of the documents I stole are on his letterhead.”

  Wait what? “Hold up, pump the breaks buddy. You stole documents?”

  “Yeah well, I didn’t have time to look at all of them while I was there, so, well, I just took them.”

  Well this just keeps getting better. “Okay, you do realize someone is going to realize they’re missing, right?”

  Shaking his head, he squeezes Ash’s hand before letting go and answering my question. “I don’t care honestly. At least fifty people work in the Medical Department. It could have been any of them. And even if they did find out, it wouldn’t matter. They plan to sell Ash, when Ash leaves, I leave. End of Story.”

  These two kids are too adorable for words, but I don’t have time for that right now. “Fine. Then if he doesn’t know, who does?”

  “So, this list isn’t all inclusive. It’s certainly possible we are still missing pieces of the puzzle, but from what I can tell, Elder Thompson and Michelle Hoya are the ring leaders. I think we all kind of expected that. Gregory McGee is in on it too. Which, makes sense if you think about it, him being in charge of inventory.” Chase shakes his head, as his shoulders slump.

  That does make sense. It would be really hard to explain how a large influx of supplies comes in each month, without anything going out as payment. Nothing is free in this world. “Okay, anyone else?” I ask.

  “Yeah, Elder-Wife McGee is definitely in on it too. I found a note between her and Elder Thompson. And I’ve saved the best for last.”

  Before he can say it I interrupt, “Let me guess, the Enforcer.” It’s not even a question, I already know. That man is pure evil.

  Except, apparently I’m not as smart as I thought, because Chase is shaking his head. “No. Surprisingly, I didn’t find anything with his name on it. But at least half the documents I took were on Mutter Vera’s letterhead.”

  “Seriously? How is it possible she is part of this, but her husband isn’t? Plus, Vater Henry is the head of the Church. No way something this big has been going on since the beginning, right under his nose, and he didn’t know. Especially if Mutter Vera is in on it.”

  It’s not Chase, but Ash who speaks next. “That’s what I said, but you have to admit, we’ve never gotten an evil villain vibe from Vater Henry. Mutter Vera though? That woman is the stuff of nightmares.”

  Valid. “Well, now that you’ve laid that truth bomb on me, anything else I should know?”

  Chase runs a hand through his hair, clearing his throat, and it’s clear there’s more I should know. “I could be wrong but, I think this Roger guy, the one they are selling the girls to, I think he’s a Vater of the Church of The Way. His Compound is on the west coast. Use to be called California.”

  Okay, so if Mutter Vera being involved was a truth bomb, this, this is a nuke. I was not expecting that. I’m not even sure how to respond, or where we go from here. If Roger is a Vater on the west coast, what the hell is he doing with all the girls?

  The three of us spend the next hour going over everything we know, and trying to line out everything we still need to figure out. Chase even mentioned he might have a way to get a message to Luke. If he can, I just hope it’s not too late.

  ***

  We only have two weeks left to figure everything out and find a way to stop it. At this point, I’m no longer satisfied with saving myself and Ash. This is much bigger than us. We could run away, even take Chase with us, maybe find Luke, but then Elder Thompson and his cronies will continue to get away with what they’re doing. I just can’t let that happen.

  It makes it worse that we have no idea what exactly happens to these girls once Vater Roger gets them, and if he really is over a sect of the Church, then how does he explain random girls coming into his Compound every month. Wouldn’t his members think that was suspicious? And how does he keep those girls from telling the other members where they’re from and what happened to them? Too many unknowns.

  I can’t even concentrate on anything else with everything that’s going on. I’ve had to remove and re-sew this button on three times in lessons this morning. Not to mention, I’ve stabbed myself twice, and to make matters worse, the shirt I’m repairing is the Vater’s, and I just got blood on it.

  “Anna, what’s going on with you? Here, let me help.” My mother’s concern is etched on her face, as she takes the shirt from me and sits back down.

  I’m not really sure how to answer that question. You have no idea how badly I want to tell her everything, but what would happen if she didn’t believe me, or if she knows already?

  I look around the sewing circle and my mother and I are the only ones left for the day. The rest of the ladies must have finished their assignments and gone to get ready for dinner. No one is even lingering in the hall outside the open door. What could I say to test the waters?

  “I just have a lot on my mind, I guess. What with my Placement coming up so quick. I’m more nervous than I thought I would be and things are just weird right now.” I pause, looking her in the eye, searching for any sign at all that she hears me, that she understands what I’m getting at.

  She nods
and smiles. The cutting of her eyes toward the door is the only sign it’s not genuine. “You just have to have faith sweetheart. I know that’s hard to hear sometimes. It was hard for me too, at first. But, if you have faith, everything will be fine.”

  Well that’s not helpful, at all.

  Finishing the last stitch, she sets them aside, and moves over to where I still sit, patting me on the back and leaning down to place a kiss on my cheek. Her signature scent of lavender comforts me, despite all my worries, but it also makes me deeply sad. What if I never smell that scent on her again? What if this is one of the last times she comforts me?

  Before she pulls away she quickly whispers, “You’ll survive this, I know you will.” Then, making her way to the door to leave, she turns back one last time and through glistening eyes says, “I love you.”

  My Mother knows.

  ***

  “I don’t know how much she knows, but she definitely knows something.” I whisper to Ash and Chase behind the barn that evening.

  “Yeah, I agree, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s pretty clear, that whatever she knows she doesn’t plan to do anything about it. Otherwise, I think she would have said more.” Ash looks to Chase, who’s squatting near the ground next to her, seemingly lost in thought. She nudges him with the toe of her flat and raises a brow. “What about you? Anything new?”

  Standing, Chase places both hands in his pockets and nods a confirmation. “I got a letter out to your friend Luke.”

  When he doesn’t elaborate right away, I am not havin’ it. “Nu-uh, spill the tea, right now.”

  An utter look of confusion crosses his handsome face, and I realize he isn’t cool enough to know the lingo. Ash takes pity on him and explains, “It means, tell me everything, or like, dish the gossip.” Sighing she shakes her head, clearly disappointed in her new man. “We gotta get you caught up. You just lost 4 cool points.”

  Or eight, but whatever.

  He doesn’t seem at all impressed with the wisdom she just imparted on him, or concerned that he lost so many points. When you get to zero its game over man, but at least he doesn’t make me wait any longer. “My cousin, Andy, he’s on day security. He told me last month that there have been more attacks during supply runs recently. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it’s definitely what he was told. Anyway, he’s been asked to go a few times, and when I saw him yesterday he said he was going on tomorrows run.” Pausing, he takes a seat in the dirt leaning back against the metal of the barn. Ash and I both take that as our cue to follow.

  When we’re all seated he continues, “Listen, don’t be mad okay?”

  Shit, “What the hell did you do Chase?” This could be bad, really bad.

  I think he might be afraid of me, if the look on his face right now is anything to go by. “Look, I trust Andy. He’s my family, and he’s only four years older than me. I remember when he was assigned a wife. He was livid. Said he couldn’t stand the idea of some poor girl being forced to marry him. After they got married, even though they got along great, he said he felt like he was raping her, every time. I mean, I think they grew to love each other, which is great, but there’s no love lost between Andy and the Church.” He turns to look at Ash, grabbing her hand and pressing the top gently to his lips. “I would never do anything to hurt you, or put you in danger.” Glancing at me he adds, “Either of you.”

  That I believe, but it’s still scary adding more people to our group. The more people that know, the more likely something will go wrong, but there’s nothing that can be done about it now.

  “Okay. Andy knows. Got it. So, what, did you write Luke a letter or something?” I can only imagine what it would say; Hi I’m Chase, you don’t know me, but I’m in love with the best friend, of the girl you saved from being horribly raped, and while you probably don’t remember her, FYI: The Church put out a hit on you.

  “Not really a letter, more like a note,” he answers. “It just said, beware of the Church, and I signed it, the girl with the lamp. That’s the best I could do, and I didn’t want to risk someone finding it and it having any of our names on it.”

  I told Chase about the Lamp incident when I told him everything that happened in Bonham. Kind of funny that’s how he chose to sign it, and more likely Luke will remember the girl who said, I had a lamp, than my name anyway.

  I’m pulled out of my thoughts by hysterical laughter coming from my bestie, correction, soon to be ex-bestie. “What the hell is so funny?”

  “I had a lamp.” She can barely breathe as she adds, “Gets me every time.”

  I mumble bitch under my breath, which only makes her laugh harder, causing me to shush her, because honestly, we are trying to be sneaky right now. Damn.

  Let’s get back on track. “Okay, so now what Chase? Andy takes the note to town tomorrow, and let’s assume he gets it to Luke. Then what?”

  With a shrug he says, “That’s it. Nothing else we can do. I needed to keep the note short and sweet. So it’s not like I could ask him if he wants to be pen pals.”

  When did Chase become a smart ass? I think Ash is rubbing off on him, and I do not like it.

  It’s pretty dark out here, but I hope he can see the daggers, I’m throwing.

  Scooting back to put another foot between us, Chase places his hands out in a calming gesture. “Whoa, don’t kill me.” Okay, he saw the daggers. Good. “I didn’t have time to consult with you beforehand, I had to make a quick decision, but I did describe Luke to Andy, so if he gets to give the letter to Luke directly, and if it’s safe, I told him to ask if he’s heard anything about The Way, or about the sect on the west coast.”

  “What do you mean, if he gets to give it to Luke directly, who else would he give it to Chase?” The way Ash asks the questions, is sweet and soothing. She never talks to me like that.

  “They have a post office in Bonham. All you need to know is someone’s first and last name, and if they are someone known to live in this territory, they’ll get it to them. I described Luke just in case, but most likely it won’t be safe for him to talk to him in person. So we just have to pray Luke is someone who frequents Bonham enough that they know him, and that they get the note to him in time.”

  God, please let him get it in time.

  CHAPTER 10 — TEAM GLITTER UNICORN

  The last twenty-four hours have been the longest hours of my life. I don’t even know if Andy will have any information for us after his supply run to town today, but waiting is killing me. I have never wished more that cell phones hadn’t disappeared back in the twenty’s. Being able to type out a quick text and get a reply back minutes later, would be super helpful right now. But instead, I’m going to have to spend the next three hours of my life in my only sex education lesson before I get married. Well, that is, if I get married. There is no way I’m going to be able to pay attention, and I might actually need to know some of this stuff one day.

  The Church doesn’t believe in sex education until it is absolutely necessary. Why educate us on sex when its forbidden until you get married anyway. So instead, they wait until about two weeks prior to your Placement ceremony to dish out the good stuff. Under normal circumstances, I might actually be excited about this. The only education I’ve had on the matter up to this point, is the little bit Ash and I learned from the two YA Reverse Harems novels she found hidden in the back room of the library. There were a few things in there that can’t actually be real, and since both of those books had Vampires in them, probably not.

  The only bad thing about Sex Education lessons you ask? Mutter Vera. Now that I know she is heavily involved in the sale of girls to another compound, I can’t even stand to look at her. Plus, ew, can you imagine being taught about sex from the head of your Church’s wife? Yeah, not looking forward to it.

  It’s only myself and one other girl in the room, waiting on Mutter Vera to arrive. Tara Calloway and I, are the only two girls turning eighteen this month, and so it will be just the two of us going throu
gh our Placement Ceremony together. Well, not together exactly. We won’t be in the Ceremony Hall at the same time, so it’s more like, together in solidarity.

  Tara and I don’t really know each other. She didn’t arrive at the compound until she was fourteen, and by then, she had already gotten her first period. Usually, that would mean schooling was over, but since she had been living on her own since she was eight, she hadn’t really had any kind of education. She couldn’t even read. The Church let her spend a year doing private lessons of reading, writing, and math, before graduating to womanly lessons. Because of all that, we never went to school together. The only time we have ever been around each other is on Tuesdays, when we both work a shift in the kitchen, but the Hag runs a tight ship, so that’s really not an opportunity to get to know someone.

  Ninety-nine percent of the things I know about this girl, I learned in the last ten minutes, because oh my god, she will not shut up. How does she even breathe?

  The door to the classroom swings open and in walks Mutter Vera. Finally Tara takes a deep breath and stops talking for the first time since I got here. The two of us clasp our hands, and place them on the center of each of our desks in front of us, while Mutter Vera sets out everything she needs for the lesson. I’m confused, why does she need a plastic banana and a real peach? Do we get to eat the Peach? Because I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan.

  You know, when they said sex education, I thought it was actually going to be about having sex. This is bullshit. Every time she said the male sex organ, she held up the banana, and then the same for the peach when talking about the opposite. It wasn’t even useful information. More along the lines of, when a man loves a woman, and they serve God as they should, they are rewarded with procreation, but it’s never to be done to benefit yourself, only to benefit God and the repopulation of the planet.

  Let it be known, I plan for it to benefit me very much, and my husband better get on board.