JOSHUA
I was so tired of that arrogant prick who thought what he was doing was God’s way. For so many years, he’d led the family to believe that he was holy. I hate to admit that even I’d been fooled by his smooth, proud voice and promises of salvation at Heaven’s gates. My parents still believed it, as did the rest of the family, but I wouldn’t be fooled any longer.
How he’d convinced us all of his power was simple enough, only because he kept us weak, kept us blind and kept us separate from the world around us. He drove fear into the hearts of every person who lived in that compound and had convinced them all that the only way to God was through him. And even during all the small excursions into town that he’d allowed, he wouldn’t allow us to stray far, wouldn’t allow us to pick up a book or watch a television claiming that all the knowledge thrown out in the world around us was placed there by the Devil to deceive us.
I’d gone against his rules on the day I swiped a bible from a vendor’s table at the market. Elijah had been too focused on Eve to notice what I’d done. After stuffing the book into the bag I carried, I’d smiled and pretended like business was the same as usual. We were there to pick up a few items we couldn’t produce on our own and within an hour we were walking back to the compound.
Always with the walking regardless of how exhausted we all were. It seemed like we were starving more than we were fed, but he’d told us to ignore the way our stomachs grumbled.
It’s the demons making you believe God hasn’t provided, he’d claimed. But if you place your faith in the power of the Almighty, you will see the truth of their deceptions.
Lies, lies and more lies, yet the family sucked them up and truly believed that everything Elijah did was for their own good. I was tired of the lies, tired of being tired and hungry, tired of wearing the same thing day in and day out while I sweated to work the gardens and train the dogs that were intentionally kept starving just like us so that they were bloodthirsty.
I wasn’t an avid reader, I’d only been taught how to read until my parents had dragged me to the compound, so it took me a long time to work my way through the pages of the Bible I’d stolen. Elijah would have claimed my desire to read was prideful, and maybe it was. I noticed that he was the only one who knew what the book said, and I figured that’s what made him so holy and powerful. I wanted to be as loved by God as him, and I’d wanted some of that power for myself. But after struggling at night when nobody was looking, reading against the glow of candlelight, I realized that many of the lessons Elijah was teaching were just plain wrong.
God loved every human equally, we were all his children on this Earth and not one person was placed above the other when it came to his love for us. The savior wasn’t the man leading us to his version of the light, it was the one who died on the cross for all our sins, promising that if we would just love each other as much as him, we too could receive God’s favor.
So, why was it that Elijah was teaching us to judge every person who wasn’t like us? Why was he filling us with so much hate? And why did he think it was right to use the words written in the Good Lord’s book to commit evil in God’s name?
None of it made sense and I wished it hadn’t taken me so long to see it. I could blame that length of time on the fact that I was a slow reader, but it didn’t excuse me for my ignorance and what I’d already allowed to happen simply because Elijah told me it was right.
He’d pulled me under his wing after deciding to marry my sister. He’d promised me that she was meant to help him begin the war that would rid all of us of the evil infecting this world. After instructing me to run her off on the night he was supposed to officially marry her, he’d convinced me to stay at the compound and let her run off by herself into the woods. For a full week I didn’t know what was being done to Sedra, or Eve as he made us call her. I didn’t realize until it was time to collect her from the parish that Elijah had allowed her to sleep with his own brother. It wasn’t until we walked to the parish that day that he’d told me the truth of what he’d done, but even then he’d convinced me it was all God’s plan, that her sacrifice was as beautiful and holy as God’s own Son.
Slowly, the truth had come to me, and during that time I’d watched my sister become weaker and weaker with the teas she’d been drinking. I realized over the week that she was at the compound and Elijah stayed at the parish that if I didn’t get her away from him, eventually she would die.
After watching the service today and seeing what he’d convinced a child to do to another child, I was finally to a point where I understood that there was no other choice but to run away. I didn’t know where we would go or how we would get there, but I had to believe we’d find our way. So while Elijah was distracted by the townspeople talking to him, I approached Eve where she stood silently waiting.
“Hey, Sis. How are you feeling today?”
She turned to me and the light pouring through the windows sparkled in her green eyes. I noticed her health was returning ever since Elijah claimed to have purified her by crucifying that man at the compound. What most of the family didn’t notice was that at the same time he’d purified her by killing another, he’d also stopped giving her that tea. I noticed, but kept my mouth shut. I had to keep pretending I was still the ignorant believer in the lies he’d spread since the day I’d met him. Speaking up would only position me directly in his crosshairs and I’d never be able to escape with Eve. I couldn’t even tell my parents because they were so far gone in their belief in Elijah, they would run to him in the misguided belief they were saving their daughter from the evil that infected me.
“Joshua,” she wrapped her arms around me and gave me a strong hug. It made me happy to notice that her bones were no longer as obvious beneath her skin as they had been just a few weeks ago. “I’m so happy to see you.”
Laughing, I reached up to rub at the back of my neck, my muscles were tied in knots because I knew this might be my only chance to get her away from Elijah. “Me too. I was wondering if you’d like to take a walk with me? You know, just so we can talk and catch up.”
Turning immediately to look at her husband, Eve’s mouth twisted with indecision. A few tense seconds passed before she looked back at me and smiled. “Elijah looks like he’ll be busy for a little while. And I’d like to go outside and get some fresh air. But we have to stay on the parish grounds. I’m sure he’ll be looking for me once he gets done talking to all those people.”
Thankfully, the backyard of the parish was large and bordered by the woods. If I could get her far enough away from the building, there was a chance I could quiet her while dragging her off. If there was enough distance between us and the building, nobody would hear her arguing as long as I covered her mouth. I hated the thought that I might accidentally hurt her just to drag her away from the true danger - Elijah.
“That sounds good.” Offering her my arm, I waited for her to wrap hers through mine and allow me to lead her from the building. My heart was racing with worry, but I wouldn’t let it stop me from at least trying to save my sister.
Stepping outside, the warmth of the sun brushed my cheeks, birds singing from their treetop perches as people shuffled off to their cars or to walk down the sidewalks toward their homes. Fortunately, nobody noticed we’d wandered out and I led Eve around the side of the building and across the yard toward the line of trees at the back. I knew of an old hunting lodge that was hidden deep inside the forest, one that would only be a roof over our head and nothing more, but it would have to be enough until I could figure out where to take Eve to keep her away from Elijah.
My beautiful sister was silent as she walked beside me, completely comfortable beside her older brother that had always looked out for her. She’d never been one for constant conversation and I was thankful for her silence because it gave me the time to think. Was she strong enough to walk the distance to the hunting cabin? Would she complain and fight against me once she found out I didn’t intend on letting her return to the compound?
It couldn’t matter. If I had to knock her out and drag her, I would.
Approaching the forest, her arm tightened on mine, her head swiveling back to glance at the parish. “Aren’t we going a bit far? Elijah will worry if he can’t find me.”
I patted her hand with mine, a friendly smile pulling at my lips. “Elijah knows you’re with me. I told him before I found you inside the sanctuary.”
The lie appeased her and she kept pace with me, unconcerned by the distance we traveled away from the safety and security of the building.
While my thoughts were distracted by the questions racing through my mind, I felt Eve break away from my hold suddenly, her eyes rounding and her mouth pulling into a smile as she hurried her steps toward the woods. Confused, I chased after her, my eyes locked on her rather than on what she was running toward.
I should have paid better attention to my surroundings, should have listened to the name that fell from her lips the instant she let go and ran away from me.
If I’d done so, I wouldn’t have been taken by surprise when the hard barrel of a gun was pressed to my head and a deep voice growled, “Either you two are coming with me, or I take Eve and leave your dead body for the family to find.”