by Hart, Stella
“Jolie, why are you laughing?” Martha asked sharply.
“I don’t know,” I lied, gasping for breath as the laughter shook my chest. “It’s nothing.”
“I really hope the Devil hasn’t gotten into her,” I heard Lauren whisper from beside her.
“Jolie, have you seen anything else lately, apart from whatever you’ve seen today? Like visions? Or have you heard voices in your mind?” Martha asked.
Her voice sounded distant. It took me a moment to register her words, but when I did, I stopped laughing. It felt like someone had reached inside my chest and hollowed it out.
My recurring nightmares… could they be visions?
I closed my eyes, trying to process the new idea. My mind was working sluggishly, turning duller and hazier from the pills with every moment that slipped by. It seemed to take a thousand years just to process one thought, but they kept coming anyway, and I kept wondering.
What if my father wasn’t the evil monster I’d recently begun to view him as, courtesy of Mason? What if he truly had visions sent to him by our God, and the gift was hereditary? All the terrible images sent to me at night lately could be the first stirrings of my own visions for the world.
That meant…
Nausea made my head spin all of a sudden. Bile bubbled up in my throat. I got up and stumbled forward before throwing up all over the altar.
“The Prophet once said that’s a sign of the Devil,” Martha muttered. She left the room for a moment and returned with a cup of water. “Here, drink this,” she murmured, pressing it into my hand. There was a troubled yet curious expression on her face.
Lauren fretted nearby, anxiously picking at her nails. “What do we do?” she asked, eyes wide.
Martha cast another curious glance at me. Then she looked over at Lauren. “Let’s wait,” she said. “She might just be sick. We need to be sure before we tell the Elders that it’s a demonic possession.”
“Okay.” Lauren turned her attention to me. “How do you feel now, Jolie?”
I couldn’t reply. I felt too weak. Too dizzy and confused. Perhaps I was possessed.
I crumpled back to the floor and stared up at the portrait of my father again. In my mind, I heard his voice faintly calling to me from the pulpit, telling me how the Devil didn’t come dressed as a demon. He came dressed as everything a person could ever dream of in order to tempt them to the dark side. Once he had them ensnared, he would finally show his true nature, and by then it would be too late to get rid of him.
Mason’s face immediately popped into my mind. He was everything I’d ever dreamed of. Everything I thought I wanted. He was perfect.
Perhaps a little too perfect…
A chill ran through my blood. What if I’d been wrong about him? What if he was the Devil and he’d deceived me all along, exploiting all my weak spots? What if he’d come to me dressed as everything I desired, just to tear me away from my duties as a good woman?
I’d fallen so easily. With his handsome face and honeyed tongue, he’d convinced me to turn my back on everything I knew and commit nearly every sin described in the pages of His Word.
I was sure I had a good reason to believe everything he said, sure I had a good reason to sin with him, but when my mind was so foggy, I simply couldn’t grasp it. It was like trying to scoop up water with a net; the thoughts just slid away whenever I tried to capture and examine them.
Another thing my father used to say popped into my mind as clear as day. Just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your devotion to me.
It made me think of all the snakes from my nightmare, slithering over Mason as he commanded them. I felt a sharp pain in my stomach as I wondered if he was the true serpent, attempting to lead me away from the righteous path. I’d given him everything. Let him all the way in. Let him strip me of my innocence and purity. Why?
Because he is everything that is good in the world and you love him. That’s why, said a faint voice in the back of my mind. He loves you too. Don’t let the drugs mess up your mind. Dreams are just dreams, and Mason is a real man. You know this. You know you love him!
I pondered this, trying my hardest to form cogent thoughts and cling to them long enough to consider them properly.
Until now, I was sure I loved Mason, but I’d never actually felt romantic love before I met him. So how did I know this was it? It certainly felt like it, and it seemed just like the love described in my forbidden romance book… but what if it wasn’t? What if it was all a wicked trap? What if I’d been tricked and led astray all along, and there was no real world out there for me to see? No love?
Now that the terrible seed of an idea had been planted in my head, I couldn’t stop it from growing and sprouting vines throughout every part of my mind.
Mason had never shown me much in the way of proof for his recent claims. It hadn’t bothered me until now. I’d been happy to go along with whatever he told me because he said he loved me, and it all made so much sense when I wasn’t taking the vitamin pills. But I still hadn’t seen the outside world or anything from it, aside from the cameras he showed me and the plane which flew overhead that night three weeks ago.
Those little things could be demonic tricks. He could’ve made me see things that weren’t really there.
I’d asked Mason to show me photos or videos of the outside, but he’d always refused. He said he wanted to save it all for when I was finally free, so that he could take me around the world and show it to me. Let me see it all for myself. He said he thought it would be better that way. More exciting.
He also said he would take care of me for as long as I needed to adjust and learn everything there was to know about the world. He could easily do that because he was rich. Even richer than my father.
What were the odds that a wealthy, handsome man would fall in love with me and whisk me away, always taking care of me when he could have anyone else in the whole wide world? Was I really that lucky, or was it all part of the Devil’s dark deceit?
I blinked rapidly, my thoughts cycling through what would happen if Mason was a truly honest man like I’d always believed he was. I would be rescued from this place and this life I hated, and I would travel the world with him, always loved and cared for. We would lie in the sun and say and do whatever we wanted, and one day we would have babies. Because we wanted to, not because it was supposedly my duty as a woman to reproduce.
Then my mind turned to what would happen if Mason was actually the Devil. I’d let him all the way in, given him full access to my mind and body, and that meant he would be able to send his minions marching in to destroy everything. Soon. My friends here at New Eden would be consumed by darkness, destroyed by demonic forces. It would be worse than anything the cruel men here could ever do to us, and it would be all my fault.
I looked up. Mason was in front of me now, standing on the altar. Only it wasn’t him. It was the nightmare version of him, all teeth and claws and blood. Black and red snakes curled around his arms as he grinned down at me.
I moaned and lurched forward before vomiting again, horrified by the sight. Was it a hallucination from the drugs I took, or a warning vision from the heavens?
Oh, God…
I needed to make up my mind about this once and for all; needed to decide whether or not to keep trusting Mason and everything he told me.
It wouldn’t be an easy decision. If I decided to trust him and it turned out that he was really the Devil, I would doom everyone I knew to fall to his wicked ways when he brought hellfire to reign at New Eden. But if I decided not to trust him and he turned out to be good, I would doom myself. I would destroy my only chance at true love, all because I couldn’t stop doubting.
I was running out of time. The decision had to be made. Now.
I took a deep breath and willed myself to think clearly again. Suddenly the answer to all my questions crystallized in my mind, and I let out a gasp and let my eyes snap open.
; I was sure now. I’d never been more certain of anything in my life.
“Thank you for the drink. I have to go,” I said, wiping my face and standing up again.
Martha and Lauren stared at me. “Jolie, you need more water, and you need to rest,” Lauren said insistently.
I vehemently shook my head. “No. I’m fine. I’m just making my choice.”
“What choice? What are you talking about?” Martha called to me as I dashed out of the church.
I didn’t reply.
I headed for the men’s section of the shelter. I knew my father and the Elders were having an all-morning conference in their main meeting room to discuss some sort of ‘volatile situation’. I’d heard them discussing it when I served them breakfast earlier.
A moment later, I burst into the meeting room. My father was at the head of the table, talking about a passenger manifest, whatever that meant. One of the Elders was holding a black device while another took down notes.
“Jolie!” my father said when he saw me standing near the doorway. “You can’t come in here during our meetings! You know that. What on earth is wrong with you?”
I swallowed thickly. “I’m sorry, Father,” I said. “But there’s something I need to tell you. Something big. It’s about Mason Ashwood…”
18
Mason
“Fucking done.”
I pressed the enter key on my laptop with a satisfied smile.
After spending the entire morning collating all the evidence Jolie and I had acquired over the last few weeks, I’d called the local FBI office and stated my case. I was put on hold for over an hour, but finally someone spoke to me.
I could tell the agent didn’t take me seriously at first when I told him there was a crazy fringe cult keeping women trapped underground under the false belief that the apocalypse had occurred back in 1999, but when I kept insisting I had proof, he began to listen. Then he transferred me to his boss.
She was just as skeptical at first, but I told her I would send over everything I’d gathered over the weeks. Recordings, photos, videos, pages upon pages of notes and observations I’d made. Finally, after listening to a few snippets of Jolie’s testimonial video over the phone, she agreed to review the rest of my evidence. She also said she would send a team out to the ranch to investigate. Right away. No warnings given.
That was all I needed to hear. I emailed her everything I had, and then I posted Jolie’s testimonial video to YouTube just in case. After contacting a few popular blogs with a link to the video, I was finally finished.
Within the next five or six hours, the Path of the Covenant cult would be wrecked. The men would be arrested and put away forever (or so I hoped) and the innocents would be rescued. It would take a long time for any of them to adjust to the real world, but at least they would finally be given the chance to do so; something they’d never had before.
I looked at my watch. It was just after one-thirty. That gave me a bit of time to get some shopping done before the raid went down.
I left my motel room in Amiens and drove down to the main street that ran through the town. It was a little place compared to what I was used to, but it was still big enough to have a sizable women’s clothing boutique. I stopped there and spent the next couple of hours browsing and grabbing every single thing that looked like it might fit Jolie.
Usually I’d hire an assistant or stylist to do this sort of shit, but there wasn’t exactly anyone on hand in Amiens, and besides, I didn’t mind doing it. It was for Jolie. She would need proper clothes, underwear and shoes after leaving New Eden, and I wanted to have it all ready and waiting for her. One less thing for her to worry about.
Once I’d loaded up my car trunk with bags and boxes, I stopped at the small electronics store across the street from the boutique. I figured a cell phone and laptop might be good to have on hand as well, so Jolie could learn to use them.
After that was sorted, I went and grabbed a Coke from another store nearby. I returned to my car and settled into the front seat with the drink.
“Mason!”
I looked to my right. A familiar man was walking down the street toward my car, carrying a medium-sized giftwrapped box. As he drew closer, I saw that it was Tom Anderson from New Eden.
He set the box on the ground and leaned down to the front passenger window. “I’ve been looking all over for you,” he said, panting slightly. “I knew you were doing something in town, but I had no idea where.”
“Everything okay?” I asked, stiffening.
“Yeah, I was just supposed to give you this.” Tom gestured to the box. “I was told to give it to you away from the ranch so the women don’t see. You know how it is. Gotta hide everything from them.” He grinned.
Obviously, the FBI hadn’t shown up at New Eden yet. Any minute now…
I arched an eyebrow. “What is it?” I asked.
“A gift from Prophet Jacob. He said he wanted you to have it before you marry his daughter.”
“How kind of him,” I said, pasting on a big fake smile.
I opened the door, and Tom lifted the box onto the passenger seat. “Careful, it’s fragile. Oh, and there’s a card, too,” he said, removing an envelope from his jacket pocket. He set it on top of the box. “Anyway, I’ll see you back at the ranch for dinner?”
“Yup. See you soon,” I lied.
He walked away. I tore open the envelope and pulled out the card. The words ‘To my future son-in-law’ were written on the front in gold calligraphic font. What a fucking joke. With a snort, I opened the card.
Instead of the long, fawning message I expected, there were only two words in it.
WE KNOW.
It was written in huge red capital letters.
On the other side was a small round piece of plastic. It looked like it was one of those talking greeting cards which would record a message from the sender for the receiver to listen to when they opened it. Just as I realized that, a voice began to emanate from the little audio chip.
Jolie’s voice.
‘I’m sorry, Father, but there’s something I need to tell you. Something big. It’s about Mason Ashwood.’
My heart began to thud painfully fast as a cold sense of dread swept through me. Jolie must’ve gone and told her father about me. About us, and all our plans. She probably couldn’t wait to rub it in his face and let him know what was about to happen to him and his cronies. It was a temptation she simply couldn’t resist.
I slammed my hand on the steering wheel as panic rose in my chest. This wasn’t supposed to fucking happen. She was supposed to keep her head down and stay quiet all day, waiting for the FBI to raid the place. Until then, she wasn’t safe. She should’ve known that. We’d gone over it a million times.
I hadn’t even wanted her to stay behind without me, but she fucking insisted, and her reasoning made perfect sense at the time. So I let her. Now she could be in danger, all because she couldn’t resist the urge to tell her bastard father what he had coming.
I should’ve never let her stay. I should’ve figured out a way to get her out of there earlier today without things looking suspicious. There was always a way.
I turned my key in the ignition. I needed to get back to New Eden right the fuck now, so I could save Jolie from whatever punishment they wanted to mete out to her before the FBI finally arrived.
My mind suddenly snapped back to Jacob’s gift, and my blood ran cold as I wondered what the men might’ve already done to Jolie. The box was about the right size to hold a human head…
I dropped the card on the floor and impatiently ripped off the bow and wrapping paper. Then I ripped open the box, praying I wouldn’t see blood or hair when I revealed its contents.
I couldn’t lose Jolie. Not like this.
The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion. As I separated the two main bits of cardboard covering the interior of the box, I saw an elaborate series of red, yellow and black wires. I’d disturbed the arrangement by ope
ning the box, and one red wire had been ripped free.
Beneath the other wires were several silver packets and a black device with red digital numbers ticking down from five on a tiny screen.
“Oh, fuck…”
It was too late for me to move. They’d obviously designed it that way.
‘I’m sorry, Father, but there’s something I need to tell you. Something big. It’s about Mason Ashwood.’
The card kept playing at my feet. They were the last words I heard before the world ignited in a fiery ball of orange flame, billowing outwards. Then a blinding flash appeared before my eyes, and I was thrown backwards.
Out of this violent shock came a mass of terrible sensations. Blistering heat, agonizing pain, the roar of the explosion, the noise of shattering glass and metal, the engulfing whirlpool of horror.
The last clear thought I composed was made up of three short words.
I’m in Hell.
To be continued…
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Also by Stella Hart
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Dark Dynasty series (Completed)
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