by Ray Garton
When asked about Mark Schroeder, she looked at Lauren and said, “Ms. Thorne, knows you’re his wife. That’s all I know. He’s another member, that’s all.”
“He’s a member of the Inner Circle,” Jordan said.
“Good for him. I will be, too, you know. Soon. Ms. Thorne says I’m valuable because—” She grinned maliciously at Coogan. “—I’m your daughter. And because I can find out about all of you. Who you are. What you’re doing here. And I’m going to tell her all about this. I am. You can’t hold me here very long, you know. It’s illegal. It’s like … like kidnapping, or something.”
“Do you know anything about Nathan Schroeder?” Lauren asked hopefully.
“Who’s he?”
“My son.”
“He’d be with the children then. The adults and children are kept apart. I don’t know anything about him.”
Jordan asked, “When someone leaves the compound you have behind the hotel, how do they get out?”
“There’s an unpaved road that leads to Greenbend Road. It’s pretty hard to see from Greenbend. I don’t think anyone outside knows about it. Except, now, you. But I don’t know what good you think it’s going to do you. It’s all private property. You’ll be kicked out. Arrested.” She went on that way for a little while—condemning them, laughing at them with a spoiled-little-girl laugh—until Jordan stopped her.
“That’s enough,” he said. “We know what you think of us, we don’t need to hear anymore.”
“Can I go then?”
“No, you may not.” Jordan stood and turned to Coogan. “Marvin and I are going to have to leave pretty soon. Why don’t you keep your daughter entertained until we get back.” Then he headed for the kitchen, motioning for Marvin to follow. He did. A moment later, so did Lauren.
“We don’t have much time,” Jordan whispered. “We’ve got to decide how we’re going to handle this. What do you think?”
“I don’t know. It’d probably be a good idea to catch him before he gets too far. He’s gonna have somebody with him, maybe more somebodies, and I’m sure everybody’ll be armed.”
“Including us. But I’d like to avoid gunfire.”
“Who wouldn’t.”
“Excuse me,” Lauren said tentatively. They hadn’t realized she was in the room and her voice startled them.
“No,” Jordan said firmly, holding up a hand. “You’re not going with us. Not this time. We’ll get him—if we can—and bring him back here.”
“No,” Lauren said. “I think you’re going to need me. …”
8.
Surrounded by dense woods, Mark lay down on a soft mound of earth, inhaled the evening air scented with the sweet smell of the grass beneath and around him and felt himself sliding almost instantly into slumber, felt all his cares, aches, and most of all, the tremendous responsibility he had been given, fading away. But she wouldn’t let him.
“No, no, Mark,” she purred as she lay down beside him. “You can’t sleep. Not yet. Not until you’ve done your job.”
“But that won’t be sleep,” he said. His voice was becoming ragged from fatigue. He hadn’t slept in … he couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept.
“Re-embodiment is like sleep. Like a very refreshing sleep. A brief respite from your earthly cares, and then a fresh start. A new life in a world unified by enlightenment and living under the guidance of a single being of pure light and knowledge.”
“Orrin.” He whispered the name respectfully, once again caught up in the picture Hester painted in his imagination. This was the second time she’d told him of this future since … how long had it been? Sometimes it seemed no time at all had passed since Hester had told him what he had to do and why, told him of his destiny; at other times, it seemed an eternity. But that wasn’t important. What she told him sounded so right, so true. “It’s really … going to be like that.” It wasn’t quite a question.
“Oh, yes, Mark. By the time you re-embody, the New Age will have begun. And all because of what you will have done tonight. Do you see why you’re so important to me?” She stroked his cheek with her fingertips. “So special,” she whispered, her lips touching his ear lightly. “And not only to me, to the whole movement … even though the others involved may never know it. This is what you were born to do, Mark. Every moment of your life has led you to this place, and you must let nothing stand in your way. Do you understand?”
He nodded as she kissed his eyebrow, brushed her lips over his lashes, ran her fingers through his hair. He felt a vague tingling of arousal, but he was so tired … so tired. …
Hester slid her hand over his chest and abdomen and began to stroke his thighs. “I have some disturbing news for you, Mark. Lauren is here in Grover.”
He opened his eyes. “What?”
“Your wife. She’s here.”
“Lauren? Why? What’s she doing here?”
“She’s come to stop you. To keep you from meeting your destiny.”
He thought about that a long time, frowning, as Hester continued to stroke his thighs. Then: “Can I see her? Before I go?”
“I don’t think that would be a good idea, Mark. You must have only your purpose in mind. You must forget your past life. Put it out of your mind. It was simply the vehicle that brought you here and now you have no further use for it. Do you understand?”
“But what about Nathan? Shouldn’t I see him buh-before I leave?”
“He’s a part of the past, Mark. Don’t worry about him. He’s in good hands. He’ll be waiting for you in the New Age … in one form or another. That’s simply the way it has to be, Mark. Understand?”
After a while, he gave her a preoccupied nod.
“But Lauren may come to see you. She may try her best to stop you. You can’t let that happen, Mark, you have to be strong. If that happens, I want you to think of Orrin and of what you’re doing for him. For the world. And think of me.” She kissed his throat as she slid a leg over his hips and straddled him.
As Hester began to unbutton his shirt, Mark shook his head and muttered, “I-I really don’t think I can right nuh-now. I’m … very tired.”
“Don’t worry.”
She kissed his lips …
“Later, I’ll give you some pills to keep you wide awake.”
… his chin …
“But right now, I want to make you feel better myself.”
… his throat …
“I want to make sure you’re thinking of me on your trip.”
… opened his unbuttoned shirt and kissed his chest …
“I want nothing or no one else on your mind.”
… his belly …
“Not Lauren … not Nathan … only the memory of what we do here today, Mark.”
… then she began to unbutton his belt.
In spite of his exhaustion, he felt himself growing erect. He lifted his head to see Hester smiling up at him as she unbuttoned his pants and slid her hand beneath them.
“Mark,” she whispered, “you’re going to change the world.”
9.
A razor-cut line of golden sunlight outlined the peaks of the western mountains beneath a sky just beginning to sparkle with stars. That faint sliver of sunlight would be gone in minutes and the stars would grow brighter.
Mark found the sky especially beautiful this evening because he knew this would be his last evening beneath it. The sky was so much clearer here than back home, the moon and stars so much brighter. He was sorry he couldn’t re-embody here under this sky, where the deep-blue blackness was made of velvet and the stars were diamonds hung from invisible threads.
“You look troubled,” Hester said, holding his hand as they walked through the woods.
He was staring up through the trees and lowered his head to look at her. “Just thinking,” he said.
; “About?”
He looked up again. “It’s so beautiful here. So clear and … close.”
“Just think how much clearer it will be after you’ve re-embodied, Mark. It’ll be clearer than this. Everywhere. Remember what Orrin has written through me?”
He recited it slowly and softly: “When the New Age arrives and the Godbody has become whole and healthy, that which is called by you the earth will be cared for jealously. It will be the first priority and anything or anyone that brings it harm or mars the beauty of it shall be, by the Godbody, abolished. So be it.”
“That’ll be some sky, won’t it, Mark?”
“Yes. It will.” He realized suddenly that they had stopped walking—although he wasn’t sure for how long—and looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“Well, Mark? Are you ready?” She nodded toward something ahead of them and he turned to see the dark grey, nondescript car parked at the side of the dirt road just a few yards away from them. He couldn’t tell if it was an Oldsmobile or a Chrysler and he didn’t really care. All that mattered was that it was time.
“The man in the car is named Dave,” Hester said. “He has everything you’ll need, including more pills like the ones I gave you a little while ago. Speaking of which—how do you feel? Still tired?”
He thought about it. “Better. I feel a little better.” He was surprised by the realization. He did feel better, more alert.
“That’s good. Well. You’re all set, then.”
Mark thought this situation was beginning to sound suspiciously like his mother sending him off on his first day of school. But it wasn’t. He told himself it was much more important than that.
Hester placed a hand on his chest and kissed his lips gently. “Go on. Get in the car.”
He walked around the car to the passenger side and stared at the door. For just a moment, he was overwhelmed by a fear that dug its talons deep into his bones. He looked over at Hester. She smiled, nodded encouragingly. Mark got into the car.
The driver started the engine, smiled at Mark and said, “Hi. My name’s Dave. How are ya?” He was wiry with a rough-skinned face and a bushy black mustache and he wore black leather gloves.
“I’m … fine.”
“That’s good.”
The car began to move slowly over the dirt road. When Mark looked back to see Hester one last time, she was gone.
Dave said, “Everything you’ll need is in the glove box.”
Mark opened it.
“A small packet of pills, in case you get tired again. And of course, the gun. Hester said you know when to use it and how, so I guess we don’t have to talk about that.”
Mark slipped the pills into the side pocket of his sport coat, but held the gun before him for a moment, at a loss.
“Oh, yeah, that’s right,” Dave said. “There’s a shoulder holster in the backseat. Almost forgot to tell you.”
Mark reached into the backseat, got the shoulder holster, then removed his sport coat, and with just a little difficulty, figured out how to put it on. With the gun tucked away beneath his coat, he tried to relax, hoping Dave would not be talkative. He wanted to think. He wouldn’t be thinking again in a while, not like this. He would have to go through it all again: infancy, childhood, adolescence.
But he couldn’t think. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t clear the mist from his mind. Thinking hurt. But he could call up images in his mind and the first one to appear was that of Lauren.
How was she? Was she really here in Grover? Did she hate him?
He couldn’t actually articulate the questions in his mind, but he felt them. They were too disturbing, too painful and he pushed them away, closing his eyes, leaning his head back and making himself aware only of the dirt road’s bumps and potholes. He couldn’t sleep—the two pills Hester had given him were now sending an electric hum through his bones—but he was no less exhausted.
“What the hell?” Dave muttered, slowing the car.
Mark lifted his head and saw Greenbend Road just a few yards ahead. But someone was standing in the way of the car. A woman. She stood motionless, arms at her sides, and the car crept closer and closer. She lifted her arms and waved them.
Dave brought the car to a stop and said, “I don’t like this.”
The woman stepped forward, into the headlights, and Mark gasped.
“What?” Dave snapped. “What’s wrong? Who is she?”
“My wife.” Mark reached for the door handle to get out.
“Uh-uh, no way,” Dave said, clutching Mark’s left arm.
“I won’t be more than a minute. I just want to have a word with her.”
“No, you can’t, we have to go, you’ve got to be at the—”
In one quick movement, Mark jerked his arm away, opened the door, slid out of the car and slammed the door behind him, saying, “Lauren?”
She moved toward him cautiously, but said nothing.
Dave got out of the car.
Mark asked, “Lauren, why are you here?”
Still, she said nothing.
Mark felt gooseflesh rise on his shoulders. Something was wrong here. She just stood there and said nothing.
“Get back in the car, Mark,” Dave barked. “Right now!”
Without taking his eyes from Lauren, Mark held up a hand in Dave’s direction to shut him up. “What’s going on here, Lauren? Why are you—”
There was a burst of movement behind Mark and another behind Dave, and before he could spin around, two strong arms hugged Mark’s chest from behind and—
—Mark saw a man dash from the bushes behind Dave with his arm raised and a large rock in his hand, which he swung down hard and the rock struck the back of Dave’s head and—
—Dave slammed into the side of the car, but instead of going down, he started to push himself away from the car and face his attacker as—
—the man holding Mark slipped his hand under Mark’s coat, slid his gun from the holster and jabbed Mark in the ribs with the barrel and—
—Lauren held up her hands, palms out, and said rapidly, “Listen, Mark, don’t move, okay? Just don’t do anything,” and—
—Dave started to shout but gulped down his voice as the rock hit his head again with a wet crack and he dropped heavily to the ground as—
—Lauren said, “You’re gonna come with us now, Mark, you’re gonna come with us and you’re not gonna try anything, do you understand?” and—
—Mark felt something in his mind kick in and begin to work and he thought, This isn’t right, no, this is all wrong, this isn’t supposed to happen I have things to do important things world-changing things that have to be done and I have to do them so this can’t happen I can’t let this happen, and as the man holding him began to push him forward, Mark kicked his right foot back hard and the heel of his shoe dug into the man’s shin and the man hissed, “Shit!” as the other man said, “’C’mon, we’ve gotta get outta here,” and Mark felt the hold on him weaken for just a moment and he took advantage of it, swinging around fast with his elbow out and his elbow slammed into the man’s chest as—
—Mark caught a glimpse of the gun in the man’s hand which was held high over Mark’s head and he saw it flying downward, growing larger and larger and then—
—nothing …
10.
Grunting from the effort, Jordan dragged Mark across the dirt road, his arms hooked under Mark’s to Marvin’s car, which was parked on the shoulder of Greenbend Road about ten feet away. As Jordan dragged him, walking backward quickly but uncertainly and glancing over his shoulder, Lauren walked with him, wringing her hands and asking, “Is he hurt? How bad is he hurt? Is he breathing? Oh, god, is he breathing?”
“I thought you didn’t care,” Jordan said.
“Oh, shut the fuck up,” she snapped as she opened the ba
ck door so he could slide Mark into the seat.
“C’mon, Marvin,” Jordan called.
Marvin was on his way. The car Mark had been in was still humming, both doors open with the dome light on; the driver lay unconscious on the ground. Marvin had dropped the rock he’d used on the driver and was fishing his keys from his pocket as he walked away when—
—something grabbed his left ankle and pulled hard. Marvin lurched forward and dropped to his knees, shouting, “Jordy!” He rolled over to see the wiry man he thought he’d put out just a moment ago crawling up his legs with painful determination, blood striping his face and clotting his hair. Jordan’s footsteps crunched over the dirt as he ran from the car and—
—the bloody man clinging to Marvin’s legs opened his mouth slowly, as if he were yawning, and screamed in a voice like metal scraping metal, “Helllp! Somebody helll—”
Jordan’s foot cut the word off with a crack, snapping the man’s head back sharply and starting a gout of black blood from his mouth. He rolled the man off Marvin and under the idling car, then helped Marvin to his feet. They were hurrying toward the car when they heard the voice. They couldn’t tell how far away or close it was or whether it was male or female, but it froze them in place for just a moment.
“Dave?” the voice called. “Dave? That you? Mark? Something wrong?”
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Jordan whispered.
They were sliding into the car when the bushes off the road began to hiss and rustle. Someone was moving toward them quickly.
“Now,” Jordan said, “let’s go now, Marvin, now!” Marvin started the car and had it moving before either he or Jordan had closed their doors. He swung the car around in a U-turn as a figure appeared from the woods beside the road. It was a dark figure, no more than a three-dimensional shadow in the murky evening. As Marvin drove away, pressing his foot on the accelerator, he looked in the rearview mirror and saw the figure standing in the middle of the road, motionless and watchful.
“Looks like somebody got an eyeful,” Marvin said uneasily.
“Never mind that now,” Jordan said, picking up the earphone and punching numbers quickly. “I’m gonna call Coogan and tell him we’re coming.”