Witness

by Lori Darnell

  Jill sensed my unease and smiled at me. The Reverend lead her back from the dance floor, she was obviously manipulating him. I hoped he wouldn’t notice. He seemed puzzled as he helped her to her chair.

  “I can see this has been a long day for you both. I have to meet with James and call Rome as well. Why don’t we walk back to the compound?” He smiled, but his mind appeared to be elsewhere. With that sentiment, I could definitely relate, as I watched the soft sway of Jill’s orange blossom dress on the walk back. I prayed silently for just one moment alone with her, to show her exactly where my mind had traveled.

  Chapter 19

  As we entered the compound, it was clear there was a slight problem. Where were we going to sleep? Obviously, we couldn’t sleep in the Reverend’s office. I looked at Jill and she understood my question. Would we be separated? I assumed we would. If only I knew where James was? Was Dean back yet? Were they safe? Was this a trap? My panic started to take hold.

  “Where is James?”

  “He should be back by now; he may be waiting for us in my office. He is using my computer to send his reports. Your bodyguard, Dean, may be there as well. I hope they are, as we have much to discuss.” He took my hand and led us to his office. Jill had a death grip on my waist. I took my free hand and held it tight to her wrist, trying to hang on as well.

  The Reverend opened the door to his office to find James pacing back and forth across the small space. When he saw us, his entire countenance relaxed. I looked around the space, but didn’t see Dean anywhere. I looked back to James, he understood my question. He nodded once and smiled. I knew Dean was safe, somewhere.

  “Reverend, I hope you enjoyed your evening. We really need to get going, so these kids can be fresh to find your building for you in the morning.” James walked toward us, expecting the Reverend’s compliance. I knew better.

  “I’m sorry if there was a misunderstanding. But they will be staying here at the compound tonight. If you have made other arrangements for yourself, which is fine if you have, you may go.” It was clear now that James was no longer high ranking. He didn’t even fight.

  “I understand,” James answered flatly. “I will see you in the morning. Take care of each other.” He bowed his head in defeat.

  "Cheer up, man - we have a wedding to attend." The Reverend spoke quickly as James was already halfway out the door. James stopped quickly and stared, open-mouthed.

  “Oh, calm down, the council has decided that these two should be joined quickly. They want the marriage to take place as soon as possible. I can see they have affection toward each other, and the Church is most interested in their children. If they start early we could add several children with exceptional talent to the Church’s programs. Just think of the possibilities.” The room was stunned into silence. I was ecstatic and horrified. But I couldn’t decide which emotion was dominant at the moment.

  “I didn’t hear of these plans. Why didn’t the council consult me?” James accused, stepping even further back.

  “Well, I think that they were afraid you would sabotage the endeavor, in order to keep your Marcus to yourself. But I see now, he has grown tired of you, and possibly you of him. That was the second purpose for your visit to London. It was to be my assessment of the situation.” He smiled wickedly at him. Jill and I were still too in shock to say more. James was overwrought with feelings. I could see this was difficult for him to process. I could see many more questions than answers in his eyes.

  “Why are they to stay here, then?” He eyed the Reverend with suspicion.

  “The marriage will take place here, tonight, of course. You may stay and watch if you wish. They will stay in my room tonight. I will sleep in one of the dorms.” I understood before anyone else. My mind flashed back to the day we left the compound. They day James had me help him clear his bedroom of evidence. It clicked shortly after with James. An old expression came to mind, ‘deer in the headlights’ – yes, it was exactly how he looked. The Reverend noticed, and for the first time since beginning his speech, the smug look on his face faltered just a bit.

  “I assume that the girl is intact? If not, well, that would be most… unfortunate.” Jill squeezed tighter. I wished they would all calm down. I already had an idea in my head. Jill looked up as I recited it for her. She relaxed at once, smiling. Brilliant.

  “How would I know - I have never touched her.” James shot back at the Reverend.

  “I didn’t think so, with Marcus around… but you never know. The Church is most adamant about their children. They must be pure.” I understood the sentiment, but it was hard to grasp the concept. James had made it seem as though most children would be considered impure from their training. I would definitely have to ask about that later. It was really bothering me – these double standards that seemed to apply to everyone within the Church, while outside it was martial law. But all of these questions began to fade in light of what all of this meant for me. The Church was giving me a gift, something no one expected them to give. They were giving me Jill.

  “Marcus, how do you feel about this?” James asked the question for form’s sake, even though he knew I was soaring. I fought very hard to remain calm as I responded.

  “If this is what the Church wants, I will comply.” There, that sounded obedient. The Reverend beamed. Jill just nodded once, her silent acceptance to the non-consent proposal, even though our acquiescence was neither requested nor required by the Church.

  “Excellent, everything has been prepared. Please come with me.” The Reverend ushered us down a the long corridor that opened up into a small chapel. A Priest was waiting at the head of the room. Jill and I walked up slowly, hand in hand. She looked frightened to the rest of them, but on the inside, she was beaming.

  The ceremony was very short. We were given rings to exchange. I briefly noticed the rings had numbers on the inside, but I pushed the thought aside. After we kissed and the Reverend cheered, we awkwardly walked back to James and the Reverend who embraced both of us. “I am so happy for you both. Please try to enjoy this,” the Reverend stated. It was a surprising sentiment, but it seemed quite genuine. I smiled in return. James sat against the wall, playing his part of the jilted party. But I could tell he couldn’t wait to leave and tell Dean the good news.

  “Reverend, if I am not needed, I will take my leave for the night. I will be back here first thing in the morning, to restart our expedition.” James looked down at the floor. He may be overacting a bit, I laughed to myself.

  “Yes of course. We will be fine. Please try to get some sleep.” He was genuine in his concern for James. I suddenly wondered whether I had misjudged this man. How was I supposed to tell the good people from the bad people if they insisted on being both at the same time? He was giving me a headache.

  We were led to his small chamber. There were very white, very fresh sheets on his large bed. It was obvious that there was a purpose with that. Jill and I were both scanning the room for the same purpose.

  “I will leave you two alone. Enjoy yourselves… and each other,” he said, laughing at his own wit as he closed the door. Nearly the entire wall behind the bed was a large mirror, just like the one we saw in the restaurant hours before. The Reverend had let us know we would be watched. Jill turned to me and opened her mouth to say something, but before anyone on the other side of that glass could see or hear, I leaned in and kissed her lips lightly and breathed gently into her ear, "they are watching." I looked up to the bed, she looked around the room as casually as she could, to see what I was thinking of. Clever man, we both thought.

  We both undressed quickly. Jill had found what she was looking for. Her dress had a series of small flowers pinned to the waist. She smiled playfully as she took one of the flowers and expertly unpinned it and placed it in her hair… she wrapped the stem in her hair to hold and pulled the pin into her palm. She moved to the bed and laid very still, waiting for me. Very convincing. I pulled the sheet over us as much as possible, trying hard to conce
ntrate on awkward moves and ignoring the fact we had an audience on the other side of the wall.

  Our wedding night was nothing compared to our first night. This was much less satisfying. Having to hurt her was unbearable. She was brave, but it killed me to do it. If there had been any other way I would have gladly done it. But it had to be her blood, just in case. It was over very quickly and we went to sleep as soon as possible. At least they didn’t get much of a show.

  It was well past dawn when I heard the knock at the door. It was a knock of warning. I had the flower from her hair in my hand. The pin was already in place, clean. I moved across the bed to embrace Jill and she reacted as I hoped she would, with a start. She wasn’t used to someone in her bed. “We have to get up.” She moved slowly and walked to her dress stiffly. Everyone seemed to be overacting… unless I had really hurt her. I looked at her and she returned my gaze. She let me know she was fine. She was in no pain. I looked down at the sheet, and there was sufficient evidence. It made my stomach roll.

  She let me know she was fine again, but I couldn’t stop the tears. How could she be fine? I had hurt her, on purpose. She smiled and put her head down onto my chest, stroking my arm with her smooth delicate hand. She was fully dressed at least, as the door flung open. The Reverend sauntered into the room, eyeing the scene expectantly.

  “So, how did your night go?” He looked down at Jill who was still resting against my chest, trying to comfort me. The Reverend noticed I was crying. “Marcus, what on Earth is the matter?”

  I was honest - it was the truth. “I hurt her.” My voice cracked, admitting it out loud. He looked at me like I was insane.

  “I’m sorry, but that happens to every girl the first time. It is completely natural. Don’t worry, she will be ok. In fact, she seems in better spirits than you.” He shook his head in disgust. “Messy business, that. But I have to get you two going… and I have to ask you to get off the bed.” He looked up briefly, and quietly stated, “they are waiting.”

  I got up and walked over to my clothes as quickly as possible. Jill moved with me, blocking as much as she could from the prying eyes. I felt so exposed. As I dressed, I thanked my lucky stars again that Jill was already dressed. She casually stood in front of me as I finished.

  The Reverend pulled back the sheet, saw the evidence, nodded, looked up and then walked out of the room. He waited in the hall for us to join him. I still had Jill’s flower in my hand. She had pulled her long hair up into a high ponytail. I took advantage. I leaned down to kiss her neck and on the way back up I put the flower in her hair again. She smiled and wiped a stray tear away from my cheek. I couldn’t help but return the smile.

  James and Dean were waiting for us at the entrance. Dean couldn’t help it. He was grinning so wide I swear I could have counted his teeth. James was again overacting, subdued.

  We walked out to the car in silence. Jill sat in my lap in the car. The Reverend just shook his head and smiled. “I knew they liked each other.” He looked at James and winked… he winked? What was that supposed to mean?

  “Okay, Marcus. Where are we going?” He was now all business, and kind of intimidating.

  “In the vision, I saw several empty warehouses. There was a sign next to the building we want. It said ‘Red Door’, but there was more to the sign than that. It was round, like a huge dot on the side of the building.” I caught the Reverend’s stare, a stare that was full of recognition.

  “Are you sure that is what you saw?”

  “Yes. The place you’re looking for is underground in the vacant lot next to that building. I can show you once we get there.” I assured him.

  We drove in silence. It seemed to take a long time to get to the building in question but when it came into view, pieces of my vision flickered in my memory. I saw the sign again and again. There was something about this place… something more than it appeared. James blanched as we parked in front of the building. Dean sighed and got out of the car, holding the door for Jill and me.

  The empty lot was a garden of sorts. My memory flashed to the vision again. I saw the woman lean down, beyond the fountain, in the trees. I was sure of it. There was a hidden door. I walked to the back of the garden and saw a small ring sticking up from the ground. I reached down and pulled, it was hard to pull from non use, but it came up roughly. There were stairs leading down. It was very dark and very musty smelling. The smell intensified as we decended, as though since it hadn’t been used in months, the Earth was taking it back.

  “Here is the entrance.” I stepped back so that the Reverend could enter first. I was grateful that he had a flashlight in hand. At least we wouldn’t be blind in the darkness. Jill, still in her flame orange dress, glowed as she walked slowly down the steps behind the Reverend. I was inches behind her, noting haphazardly that we were much overdressed for exploring abandoned underground buildings.

  Even with the flashlight it was difficult to see. The walls were heavy stone with sharp edges. I put my hands on Jill’s shoulders to protect her from them. She shuddered at my touch… I recoiled my hands suddenly and dropped them to my side. She must have been hurt more than she wanted me to know. I could feel the tears begin to well again. She stopped in front of me abruptly and turned around, staring at me with reassurance, and I saw that it wasn’t me. It was her own vision of this place that made her feel anxious. She turned back around to follow the Reverend, but reached behind her to grab both of my arms, securing them tightly to her waist. It was hard to walk the narrow corridor like this, but I didn’t mind. I just wanted this to be over so we could talk, really talk.

  “There seems to be nothing here. Are you sure she knew this as a place of worship?” The Reverend looked at me accusingly. But I wasn’t looking at him. I was seeing, in a flash of memory, there was something right up ahead. She held fire to the wall…

  “Does anyone have a match or a lighter?” I knew that Dean had a lighter in his left side pocket. I held my hand out expectantly for it, and as he placed it in my hand. Urging the Reverend forward, I reached the place on the wall from my vision and I saw a small hole. This is where she had applied it. I lit the flame and held it to the wall. The reaction was instantaneous. The flame caught on the wall and carried overhead. It was a wick. The flames were licking against the ceiling, very close to my head. Not good. But we moved forward and I walked very carefully into the main room below. There were no chairs, no benches. But you could feel it. You could feel the power there.

  There were carvings on the walls. Several of the carvings were painted. The one that caught my attention the most was a figure of a man sitting holding a bird feather in one hand. His head looked like that of a really long beaked bird. Very strange. Below him were little stick figures. It looked like they were waiting for him to do something – regurgitate ritual fish bait perhaps? I wanted to giggle out loud, but I thought better of it. Jill rolled her eyes at my thoughts.

  There were several small doorways that led to other places, and I thought we were going to explore them. I was anxious to find out their secrets. The place felt magical. But the Reverend turned back to us and motioned us out of the room.

  “Aren’t we going to go into the rooms?” I asked, since I saw no one else was going to.

  “No, you have led me to the right place. There is nothing more for you to do here.” He ushered us up the steps into the garden. A second car was waiting for us, behind the Reverend’s. “Your train will leave shortly; your bags are in the car waiting. I bid you good day, and good luck.” He turned around and went back down into the room. James and Dean were already half way to the car. They looked especially eager to go. Jill and I followed quickly.

  We climbed into the back seat. “We should be ready to go in a few moments.” Dean looked at James and he nodded. Jill and I understood. He wanted to be sure the car was safe to talk in. Dean held out his little wand, like he did when I first met him, his back pack was between his feet. He nodded to James and James sighed in relief. He opened the larg
e envelope on the dashboard. The first thing he pulled out was an envelope addressed to Jill and myself. He handed it to me. I held it in my hands, afraid to look at it. The other contents looked like a map and a lot of cash. James looked at Dean and smiled.

  “It seems we are heading in a new direction, and we get to keep this car.” No cramped trains! I flashed my own big grin. Jill laughed - she was of the same mind, apparently.

  “Where are we going this time?” Dean asked, genuinely curious.

  “Siberia.” That was surprising.

  “We are driving there?” That was quite the distance.

  “No, but you will fill us in on actually where we are going after we are on our way.” I looked down at the envelope in my lap, but Jill snatched it from my leg before I got to it. Inside there were a set of gold rings, just like the ones we had, but they were much thinner, and there were no numbers on them. I looked up at James.

  “What is this?”

  “Well you two are going to Siberia, at least the married couple we find who will wear those rings will. But we will go our own way.” They were tracking us! I wanted to pull them off as soon as I realized, it but thought better of it. There was more to this. I just shrugged in response, and stuck the two new rings in my pocket.

  I took off my jacket and wrapped it around Jill, she laid her head in my lap and fell asleep, and I was minutes behind her. I could hear the sounds of James talking to Dean but it was faint, background noise that wouldn’t wake me. So much had happened in the last few hours that I really didn’t think of as a possibility - now our lives had changed again. How in the world was I supposed to keep up? As I drifted into dreams, I decided I wasn’t going to try; so long as I could openly count Jill as my wife, everything in the world was right.