by Naomi West
They headed into town and back out the other side. Vera hadn’t been this way since Rascal had saved her from the seedy guys in the canal, and she realized as they rode that she hadn’t paid much attention to the town or anything around it on that ride. There had only been Rascal and the potential he had held for her. She felt a momentary pang of guilt for getting angry with him but dismissed it just as quickly as it had come.
Her stomach lifted as Donovan dropped the bike down onto the gently sloping confines of the concrete canal. She watched the ground go by, but it disappeared as memories flooded her mind. She had been here before, which she already knew, but there was suddenly so much more. It was as though her mind had finally shoved back open a door which had been locked tight for several weeks. She was in a car, feeling dizzy and confused. The man next to her in the driver’s seat was familiar, but not in a good way. The vehicle had come to a halt at a stop sign, and she had taken her chance to stumble out the door and start running. She remembered tumbling down this slope, not expecting the ground to drop out underneath her feet. It had been painful, but her adrenaline had kept her going. The only thing that mattered was to keep going, and she headed for the distant glow of a fire. She didn’t know who would be there by it, but she could hold out hope that someone would help her.
But the night came crashing in on her vision, swirling darkly around the edges and slowly pulling toward the center until it dimmed the flames that she drew closer to. Her eyes were open, she was certain they were, but they couldn’t see a thing. Her legs suddenly went missing from underneath her, and there was nothing but blackness.
“Vera?” Donovan had slowed down, pausing on the even surface of the bottom of the canal. “Are you okay?”
She swallowed. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Where do you want me to go?” he asked, gesturing vaguely at the whole of the canal around them. It was a big structure, and viaducts stretched over it both on their left and their right. But there was something about the one on the left that pulled at her.
“Over there, I think.”
He motored slowly forward. Despite the fading light, Vera could see the same encampment of vagrants she had woken up in. She couldn’t be certain that everything was in the same place or even that the same people were here, but it felt the same way it had on that first night. The smell was also unmistakable, a heavy fog of burning trash and unwashed bodies.
Donovan pulled to a stop and turned to look at her. He had taken off his sunglasses, and his dark eyes watched her with curiosity. “What now?”
“Would you mind walking through here with me? Just for a little bit? I know it sounds crazy, but I think I’m finally starting to remember a few things.” She was terrified of the memories, but she also knew it was time to face them. As much as she enjoyed the peace of Lorenna’s house, she couldn’t stay sheltered from the world forever.
His eyebrows lifted. “Really? That’s great! Yeah, anything you need.” He helped her off the bike and walked alongside her. He kept his back straight and his shoulders wide, clearly on guard in this place.
She took a long, slow inward breath, trying to relax and allow the impressions to come to her. “When I woke up here and Rascal found me, I had no idea what had happened. He tells me that someone drugged me, and that’s why I don’t remember anything, but I’m not completely convinced that was the case.”
“What do you mean?”
Vera sighed. “I think maybe I didn’t want to remember. I haven’t had much choice lately, because between my dreams and a few things that have been coming back to me today, I’m not sure I can avoid it anymore. But I have no doubt now that I was running from someone. I didn’t know the canal was here, and I just sort of fell down into it.”
Donovan braced next to her, ready for the unseen enemy to jump out at them from behind a pile of trash. “Who was it?”
“Nobody here, I don’t think.” She was surprised to find that she didn’t feel all that uncomfortable here. Eyes watched them from the shadows under the viaduct, but nobody made any move to approach them or harass them. Maybe it was because she had Donovan at her side, but she didn’t think so. He wasn’t as intimidating of a man as Rascal was.
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon enough,” he said soothingly. “And then we can do something about it.”
Vera pressed her lips together, walking slowly next to him. “Maybe. Your mother and Rascal had a theory that I had come from a cult in South Dakota. I didn’t really understand what they meant by that, and it was like my mind refused to even acknowledge the word. But the phrase ‘Brotherhood of Light’ has been running through the back of my brain ever since Rascal brought up the idea of a cult. I’m not sure what it means.”
“Well, Brotherhood of Light is the name of the cult that the feds broke up in South Dakota. So it could just be that you heard about it on the news,” he reasoned.
“Can I ask you a stupid question?” She had known Donovan for less than a day, but already she was beginning to think of him as a friend. There was no need to worry about impressing him.
“Of course.”
“What is a cult?” The shadows were deepening around them, falling swiftly down in the canal where the sun no longer reached. It would be completely dark in a matter of minutes, with only the light from the fires to guide them.
“Oh. Um. Well.” He cleared his throat. “Usually it’s a religious group, and they keep themselves separate from the rest of the society. From what I understand, they keep the members brainwashed with threats or other harsh treatment, and they don’t let them go to regular doctors or schools. I don’t know much about them, but there are several of them that have been in the news over the last several decades.”
Vera furrowed her brow. “And is it always because the government is raiding them?”
“No, not exactly. There have been others that have been accused of murdering or enslaving people, and I think there are a least a few that have committed mass suicide.” He spoke softly, looking uncomfortable at telling her such information.
That awful brown dress came to the front of her mind. Even though she hadn’t worn it since she had woken up in the canal, she could easily remember the way the scratchy cloth felt against her skin. Was that a memory from her dreams or from reality? She was beginning to think she knew. “Do you think they might force several women to marry the same man?”
“Sure. That’s pretty common.”
Sweat prickled on her forehead as she pictured the evil man from her dreams. He was the same one who had been in the car with her, and the same one who had been in the bar. His face was mixed with feelings of panic and a distinct feeling of running away, only to be brought back. “And that they might force their members to stay with them even when they don’t want to?”
Donovan sighed. “I’m no expert, but it sounds to me like you’ve figured things out.”
“I think so.” When she had woken up, she had wanted so desperately to know what had happened to her and why she was here. Now that she knew, she wished she had never even been curious.
He took her hand and pulled it toward his body, holding it safely against him. It was a gallant gesture, but one purely of friendship. “I want you to know that my mom told me about the pregnancy. I hope that doesn’t upset you, but she only did it because she’s been so worried about you. She always gets a little attached to her tenants, but it’s never quite been like this before.”
“She’s a very sweet woman,” Vera admitted.
“She thinks the same of you. We both do. And no matter what has happened before with this cult and this weird guy or what might happen in the future with Rascal, I want you to know that you’re protected and safe. We’re all going to get through this together.”
The tears she had held back earlier in the day threatened to spill over now. She never needed to be alone again. Vera wasn’t sure who she had left behind in South Dakota and what kind of family she might have had at one point, but she knew she ha
d a family now. And it was only growing. “Thank you. That really means a lot to me.”
“Of course. Now—” But Donovan never got the chance to finish his sentence. A shadow detached from underneath the viaduct, a fist flying out to land squarely on Donovan’s jaw. He fell back in slow motion, his hand letting go of Vera’s as she screamed.
The same hand that had punched her friend covered her mouth, and she was yanked back into the murkiness under the bridge. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t my scared little rabbit. Tell me, Vera, how long did you think you could hide from me?”
She struggled in his arms, gagging behind his fingers at the smell of him. It was the man from her nightmares, she knew that much. Her eyes focused on Donovan’s still form on the concrete, a gentle trickle of blood seeping out onto the concrete. Vera kicked at his legs and yanked her arms away from her attacker, but he was too strong and too determined.
“Don’t bother fighting. That’s what got you in trouble in the first place. You were constantly running away from the compound, making me take my men off other more important tasks to chase you down and bring you back. Despite my better judgement, I had chosen you to become my seventh wife, but you fought against that as well. Nothing was ever good enough for you.”
Managing to shake his heavy fingers off her mouth but unable to escape his grip on her waist, Vera turned to look at him. Yes, there was no doubt that this was the man who had been haunting her. She recognized the squinty eyes that watched her as though they possessed her. His stubble, which had now turned to a scruff of a beard, was two shades lighter than his hair in the glow from one of the fires. “Roland Briggs.” Her lips formed the words on their own.
He grinned. “I’m glad to see that you haven’t completely forgotten about me after all this time.” His voice was too smooth, like oil on water.
She remembered him all right, but that wasn’t a good thing. “Leave me alone,” she commanded. “I don’t want anything to do with you and your stupid cult.”
His wicked grin turned instantly to a frown, bringing a menacing look to his eyes. “Don’t call it that!” he roared. “That’s a term that the misguided have used because they’re not lucky enough to be one of our fold. They have no idea of the love and happiness that we experience as one big family.”
Vera couldn’t imagine that she had ever considered this man to be part of her family. “Love? Is that what you call it when you convince everyone that your way is the only way? When people aren’t allowed to make their own choices? When they have to run away from you just to find a little peace?” Another memory came rushing back to her, one of her running full-tilt into the bus station and breathlessly climbing on the next bus scheduled to leave. She hadn’t known at that time where it was going, but that was of no consequence. It just needed to be going away to be headed in the right direction.
“Peace? What kind of peace have you found in the outside world, Vera? Just look at you! Your face is covered in the filthy dirt that people call makeup, and you’re not even properly clothed. You’ve done nothing but run, but what are you running to?”
She recognized the cadence of his words. That was the way he spoke to her or the others in the compound when he was trying to get them to do his will. She had seen this happen before, but she had blocked it all out. Now she understood why. It was hard for most to turn away from him and say no, but for her there had always been a driving force to go against him. “Anything. Anything is better than you.”
Roland yanked at her, pulling her against his body. “It’s a shame that you feel that way, and that you still did when I gave you the chance to become my wife. You were the last pure female in the Brotherhood, and I knew that the two of us would do great things together. I wanted you to rule the compound at my side. I didn’t care what our rules had been in the past about the ranking of wives; I would have made the rest of them take a step beneath you because I knew how special you were. Vera, you were to be my one true wife.”
“I will never marry you!” She spat in his face, getting a certain amount of satisfaction from seeing him flinch even if it was just for a moment.
He wiped it off and flung his hand. “Oh, don’t worry. There’s no chance of it happening now.”
This gave her pause, and she squinted her eyes at him. “If you don’t want me to be your wife, then why the hell are you here? Why didn’t you just let me go?”
Roland sighed and shook his head. “Oh, Vera. As special as I know you are, you can be awfully stupid sometimes. It wasn’t hard to follow you to New Mexico. You thought that the miles would be enough to keep us apart, but you underestimated me. You always have. And I just about had you in my grasp again once we left the Jackrabbit. But I heard what that young man was just saying to you, and I know you have his spawn growing in your belly.” He glared hard at her stomach. “You’re not pure anymore.”
The baby definitely wasn’t Donovan’s, but this wasn’t the time to bring that up. “Good. Then you can go away and leave me alone. I don’t ever want to see you again, Roland.” Vera turned, trying once again to get away from him.
He yanked her back. “Oh no you don’t, Vera. I have other plans for you now.”
Chapter Fourteen
Rascal
Rascal had waited long enough at Lorenna’s place, and it was becoming clearer by the minute that Vera wasn’t there. He held onto the vain hope that she might have gotten a lift into town to get away from him and everything associated with him, including Lorenna. He cruised up and down the side streets on the side of town closest to Lorenna’s house, hoping to catch a glimpse of her dark hair, but to no avail. He checked several restaurant and gas stations, asking for a girl who fit her description, but the most he got were shrugged shoulders or suspicious glances.
“Damn it!” he said as he fired his bike up once again and roared to the clubhouse. He wasn’t ever going to find her this way. He needed a fucking helicopter and some way to track her, but it wasn’t as though he had put a GPS microchip under Vera’s skin. There was only one other option, and he pulled into the garage the Dark Vultures’ clubhouse.
“Hey, man.” Tat was just stepping onto his motorcycle, but he stopped when he saw Rascal. “You look pissed.”
“You have no idea. Where’s the prez?” He had no time for small talk.
Tat gestured over his shoulder toward a room just off the garage. “He got in about an hour ago. As far as I know, he’s still in his office.”
“Perfect.”
An hour later, Rascal and the president had assembled all the available members of the club in their meeting room. He felt a little silly asking for help, but he reminded himself that these were the men who had always been there for him. They had helped him make a life for himself when he didn’t think he could ever be somebody. They listened as he told them about Vera and his concerns for her.
“So, you’re telling us that a girl from that Brotherhood of Light cult made it all the way here from South Dakota?” asked a burly man with one eye.
“Yes.” Rascal understood just how hard it was to believe, and it would have been even tougher for the men to fathom had they met Vera. She was a tiny slip of a thing, and she looked far too innocent to be able to make it across the country on her own.
Fender, the president, stepped forward. “You said she got pissed at you and ran off. Could it be that she’s just hiding out somewhere? I mean, do you have any reason to believe that she might be in danger?”
“It’s possible.” Rascal had perhaps told Vera too much after their tryst in the wilderness, but there was one thing he hadn’t told her. Now, he wondered if he should have. “I’ve been reading up on this cult a lot. Roland Briggs was the leader, and he’s quite a fanatic. The police are still looking for him, and I have reason to suspect he was here when Vera showed up. If he was the one she was trying to get away from, then it only makes sense that he had pursued her.” It was an uncomfortable thought, but it was information worth sharing with the men.
> “We can’t have some bastard like that roaming around our city,” Rattlesnake protested. “They tore through his place in Dakota, so there’s a possibility he might try to start a new cult here.”
Rascal didn’t care what their reasons were for helping him as long as they did. He had to get Vera back. “I honestly don’t know exactly what his motives are. I only know that he’s bad news.”
“All right.” Fender clapped his hands twice to make sure he had everyone’s attention. They had listened to Rascal’s stories, but they had quickly erupted into conversations of their own as they speculated about the man who was after Vera and where she might be. “I think we all know what we need to do. I recommend splitting into small teams so we can cover the most ground possible. Keep in contact if you find anything relevant, and let’s get this taken care of!”
The sound of dozens of motorcycles leaving the clubhouse was nearly deafening, but it was a sound that gave Rascal a certain amount of comfort. He had felt as though he was wasting time while they gathered the men and he told his story, but he knew that it had been worth it. As much as he wanted to find Vera himself, at least he knew that he wasn’t completely alone.