The Cornelius Saga Series Box Set 2

by Tanya R. Taylor

  The highway was miles long and enabled travelers to enter new towns on the outskirts of Nirvana. After driving for exactly eighteen minutes, Mira suddenly said, “Stop the car!”

  Barns glanced through the rear-view mirror to see if it was safe to pull to the right. He slowed the vehicle, then drove off the road onto the dusty ground.

  “What is it?” he asked the moment he pushed the gear in park.

  Mira got out of the car and walked over to the edge of the roadway. She was looking across to the southern side of the highway, toward the tall rocky formation, then realized they’d just passed the junction Detective Paige Cleare had spoken of.

  Barns was now standing next to her.

  “They went that way,” she said.

  Barns was sure his eyes were following hers in the right direction, but was unsure of what she meant.

  “That way where?” he asked.

  “Through the rock.”

  He looked at her as though she was stupid. “What?”

  “Doc, I know this sounds crazy, but the bus never went any further than fifty feet down the road—the exact spot we were at when I told you to stop the car.”

  “I’m not sure I follow.”

  “The bus didn’t need to go any further for them to get to their destination,” she continued. “Over there is a passage that only people with a third eye can see. Once you see it, you can pass through it.”

  Barns was flabbergasted by Mira’s assertion. It sounded like nothing short of rubbish, but he knew her long enough to trust that she wasn’t speaking out of her head.

  “Can you see it?” he asked, curiously.

  Staring at the rock again which resembled a small mountain, she replied, “I can.”

  “How did it get there?”

  She considered her next words very carefully before uttering them. “By powerful minds and wicked imposters.”

  “But why? What would anyone want with a bus full of kids?”

  “We’ll know when we get there,” Mira answered.

  10

  _________________

  Barns drove across to the other side of the highway and managed to park the car at least twenty feet away from the side of the road. He and Mira then got out and walked toward the rocky formation, which was approximately another thirty feet down. Keeping her eyes straight ahead, Mira led the way, only stopping when they were ten feet from a spot in the formation which gave off frequency signals and electrical jolts, similar to what she’d experienced when she approached Priscilla’s room.

  “Can I ask you something?” Barns said. “If we’re going through this thing, why are we doing so on foot? Didn’t that large bus ride through there?”

  “It did...” Mira replied, “...because the intention was for them to never return and for no trace of them to ever be found. You plan on coming back, right?” She asked, facetiously.

  Barns nodded. “I’ve gotta tell you, if I start walking through this rock, I might die right in it from shock. I can’t believe any of this! Doesn’t feel real.”

  Mira was looking toward the wall again. She could now see the vibrations on the inside much clearer than before. It was a portion of the formation that was approximately nine feet wide and stretched along the top of the rock where the tallest point stood at least thirty-five feet high. “Take my hand,” she told Barns. “If you’re afraid, you can close your eyes until we get to the other side. Don’t worry. I’ll lead you.”

  “Okay.” He quickly agreed.

  They made two steps forward and Barns stopped. “I have one more question, Mira.”

  She was waiting.

  “Are you sure we’re able to come back?”

  She knew she must be perfectly honest with him. “Once the passageway remains open, I’m sure I’ll be able to find it and we’ll get back. I have a thirteen-year-old daughter, a mother and a fiancé to come back to—all of whom I love very much. Come Hell or high water, I’m coming back and so are you.”

  He liked the sound of those words.

  “Close your eyes. I’ve got you,” Mira said.

  He closed his eyes and they both walked directly into the jagged wall and were immediately sucked in by an invisible force.

  11

  _________________

  “Where are we?” Barns’ shaky voice cut through the darkness like a knife. He could still feel Mira’s firm grip of his hand although he couldn’t see her.

  “We’re here,” she said. “We just need to go a little further in and we’ll be able to see.”

  “How do you know?”

  “In my mind, I can see there’s something out there beyond the darkness.”

  She continued to lead the way, though very cautiously. “From now on, we must speak quietly, okay?” she said. “We don’t know who’s out there.”

  He nodded, forgetting, in his fright, that she couldn’t see him.

  It felt like they’d been walking for hours before Barns saw a flicker of light straight ahead. Then the closer they got, the light became brighter and brighter until they found themselves outside in a large open field, a vast portion of which was filled with vegetation and surrounded by dense woods and mountainous terrain. In the field were a dozen white trailers scattered about, but no one was in sight.

  “What is this place?” Barns asked.

  Suddenly, they heard children singing in the distance in what sounded like a different language.

  “Do you hear that?” Barns whispered loudly.

  “I sure do,” Mira replied. “Let’s go!”

  “Go where?”

  “We have to get out of sight, Doc. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Dangerous?”

  “Just follow me.”

  She was no longer holding his hand. The tall, large man had to keep up with her on his own. The fact that they’d walked through that wall next to Highway 60 and were now in a strange place seemed surreal. He glanced down at his hands to make sure he was really there and actually still alive.

  The singing got louder which meant they were closer and soon Mira spotted something which appeared to be partially covered by overgrown weed, about a hundred yards behind one of the trailers.

  “It’s a school bus,” she said, crouching down near some thickets.

  “I see it,” Barns acknowledged. “My God! They’ve really come here—through that wall!” Mira’s intuition never ceased to amaze him. “It must be the children we hear, but what language are they speaking?”

  “Certainly not one derived from this earth,” Mira answered.

  Further back toward the east, their eyes hit something else. It looked like a little chapel. Mira was sure that’s where the singing was coming from. And approximately fifty yards away from that, stood an old shed with a pond nearby.

  Mira continued on in the direction of the chapel and Barns kept close behind, staying as close to the thickets as possible so as not to be seen. After scanning the area, Mira gestured that the coast was clear and they stealthily made their way over to the chapel and crouched down just below one of the front windows.

  Mira looked at Barns and placed a finger over her lips. Gripping the window sill, she eased up just enough to see inside. Moments later, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped by what she saw. She quickly crouched down again. Barns noticed the startled expression on her face as she pointed upwards, and he cautiously eased himself up to take a look. He quietly gasped and stared.

  The chapel was filled with children—all teenagers—and on the podium were three adults who Barns immediately recognized. He was scanning the room to see if Priscilla was among them, but didn’t see her.

  Mira tugged on his pants and he lowered his head again.

  “You won’t believe who’s in there!” he whispered. “It’s the Principal, Vice-principal and that Religion teacher, Sister Ruth. I remember them from photos I’d seen plastered everywhere when the news first broke of them and the kids going missing. My God, what’s going on here?”

  “Do y
ou see your niece?” Mira was more concerned about that bit of information.

  “No,” he replied, with clear disappointment.

  They both quietly took another look.

  Rosetta Gotlieb, Alan Wales and Sister Ruth King were all on the podium, dressed in plain white robes leading the singing. The children were standing, facing them and seemed to be in an unnatural state of euphoria. Their hands were lifted high and nothing apart from the music appeared to matter to them.

  A minute later, the song ended and everyone took a seat except for Rosetta, who’d emerged at the front of the podium.

  “Boys and girls, we’ve gathered here as we do every day in honor of the one true and living God. I, his servant, have selflessly led you, his flock on this blessed compound for the past three years. Today, is a marvelous day—one that is very special to the one who has assigned great and wondrous gifts to each and every one of us. Today is the day we get to make our yearly sacrifice—a holy sacrifice to demonstrate our utmost gratitude.”

  Mira noticed that the children were all glancing at each other and smiling.

  “Last year’s sacrifice...” Rosetta went on, “...is still displayed, as you know, in the holy shed where this year’s sacrifice will also be kept for a period of one year. The old, as is custom, will be discarded, and the new will take center stage as a daily reminder of our commitment to the cause of unblemished holiness.”

  Alan and Sister Ruth appeared very contented. Mira observed something about them, however, that she knew was invisible to the naked eye—there were actual scales on each of their eyes, but none were on Rosetta’s. A boy happened to glance behind at another child when she noticed the same scales. She was certain they all had them—and a hunch as to why.

  “We will commune together shortly out back, then we will wash our hands and cleanse our hearts for the sacrifice,” Rosetta said.

  Mira crouched down again and so did Barns.

  “I have to find out what’s in that shed,” she whispered. “Let’s go.”

  They quietly ran over to the nearest trailer, taking cover behind it, then moved over to another one several feet away, looking back periodically to see if anyone was watching them. Next, Mira led the way over to a clump of bushes roughly forty-five feet behind the shed. She was certain it was the “holy shed” Rosetta had referred to.

  “Stay here,” she told Barns. “I’m going to see what’s inside there and if there’s anything we can use as a weapon, just in case we need it.”

  Barns nodded. “Hurry back!”

  She dashed across the open yard and made it to the shed. She looked around again, before slowly pushing the door inward.

  Inside the shed was fairly dark and musty. Shovels, pickaxes, and farming tools hung along the wooden walls, as well as an especially long, shiny sword. A rectangular table stood in the center of the space and a little ways off in a corner of the room was something she couldn’t recognize. Slowly, she moved in to have a better look. It was hanging low from the rafters with a large, black plastic covering it. Then an eerie feeling enveloped Mira and she backed away. Her eyes, falling below to where the plastic ended, spotted two feet—completely skeletonized. Covering her mouth to prevent herself from screaming, she then looked in awe as she saw something emerging from the dark area behind the concealed skeleton. It was a young girl—the same one she’d seen at the mental hospital who’d walked straight through the doors of the room where Rachelle Wigby was.

  “Who are you?” Mira asked her. “Are you Priscilla?”

  The girl hung her head to the side and gazed in like manner at Mira.

  “Your mom’s waiting for you to come home. Don’t you know that?”

  Without responding, she turned her head to its vertical position and just stared.

  “I don’t have to tell you that she misses you. You already know that.” Mira studied her in those moments. She knew the girl was no longer the same as she’d been when she left home three years earlier. “What on earth have they done to you?” She glanced over at the skeleton. “Is this their idea of a sacrifice? Is someone killed every year here on this compound in front of you kids, as a sacrifice?”

  The scales Mira had seen before were also in this child’s eyes. She realized they’d all been somehow brainwashed.

  Just then, the girl stretched out her hand toward Mira’s face, but in the blink of an eye, the tip of her finger sent Mira flying back into the back wall of the shed. She crashed into the thick logs at full speed, then slid onto the floor. Instantly, she felt an excruciating pain and thought she’d broken every bone in her back. Struggling to stand, she started crawling on the floor, and hoped by some miracle she’d make it to the door. That’s when she saw the girl walking toward her. The look of fury had suddenly become embedded in those dark, sinister eyes.

  “Please, Priscilla. I came here to find you and to take you home. I know how to get you out of here.”

  Mira wasn’t sure if her words had landed on deaf ears, until she felt her body gradually levitating from the floor, and with a single flick of the girl’s finger, she was tossed up into the rafters where she hit her head. She landed onto the floor with a thump—unconscious.

  12

  _________________

  Barns had heard the commotion inside and was about to step out of the bushes when he saw the large group of children and three adults running toward the shed. Immediately, he crouched down again and observed what was taking place from behind the leaves.

  “Oh God! Please let Mira be all right!” He silently prayed.

  The children were all carrying some sort of weapon—many had machetes and others – knives, baseball bats and hammers. Barns’ heart was in his mouth as he suddenly found himself struggling for air through the large lump that had formed inside his throat. He remembered what Mira had said about having a family to get back to and instantly, he felt incredibly guilty. He’d convinced her to come to Nirvana and now it seemed like none of them would return to Mizpah alive. He didn’t have any family at home—no one to return to except his friends and his medical practice. In his mind, Mira had so much more at stake. He could never forgive himself for luring her away from the safety of her own home.

  Everyone had entered the shed, and realizing he didn’t have anything to use as a weapon, he looked around at the ground to see if there was anything he could find.

  * * *

  Mira was slightly discombobulated when she finally regained consciousness. As soon as she peeled her eyes open, she realized she was looking upwards into the rafters where a single light bulb dimly shone. Instinctively, she turned her head right toward her outstretched arm and as panic started to briskly set in, she quickly looked the other way and noticed the same thing with her left. Both arms had been strapped to the table she was lying on. When she raised her head to check her feet, which she found tied together with duct tape, that’s when they all started to encircle the table, holding their prized weapons.

  The children seemed happy to see her, but not in the way she would have liked. Their eyes revealed evil intent. Rosetta, Alan and Sister Ruth soon made their way through the crowd and stood next to Mira.

  “My, oh, my. Look what we’ve got here, everyone!” Rosetta said, cheerfully. “We’ve been blessed by our master with an alternate sacrifice.” She looked around proudly at the children, then at one, in particular. “Cathy, I know you had been selected for today’s offering, where you will be one again with the universe and the highest form of spirituality bestowed upon you, but the master knows best. You will have to wait a little longer, my dear.”

  The thin, sheepish brunette looked quite disappointed, but accepting.

  “What are you people doing?” Mira exclaimed. “Untie me right this minute!”

  Alan eyed her from head to toe, then leaned in toward her ear, “You must willingly accept that the master knows what’s best.” He blew into her face and a few strands of her hair fell over her right eye.

  “Are we ready?” Sis
ter Ruth asked, clearly annoyed by the delay.

  Rosetta nodded.

  “Remove the former!” Ruth said. Two older boys went over to the dangling skeleton. One used his knife to cut it from the ceiling and the other helped him carry it out of the shed.

  The good doctor saw them transporting what looked like a dead body, but the size of it assured him it wasn’t Mira or his niece, Priscilla. He’d only managed to find a broken glass bottle among the thickets and was trying to muster the nerve to barge into that shed at just the right moment. Although he’d be risking his life, he had to do so in hopes of saving Mira. And in the end, if they both were killed, at least he would die with a clearer conscience than if he decided to run for the hills.

  Soon, he heard a splash and knew they’d dropped the body into the nearby pond. He waited for them to return before dashing over to the shed.

  13

  _________________

  In less than ten minutes, the boys were back and they shut the door behind them. By then, all of the candles were lit inside the shed and Mira was looking straight up at the girl who had perched herself upside down in the beam of the rafter directly above her. Drool was rolling off her lips and falling as soft pebbles onto Mira’s face. She cringed in disgust.

  “She’s our pride and joy.” Rosetta smiled, glancing up at Priscilla. “The chosen one who’s been graced with great wisdom and power. No one here can do what she is capable of and only because she’s accepted her calling to protect and shield this holy community of servants from all danger—near and far. She’ll help you, my dear lady, with your transition.” She told Mira.

  “Is visiting her mother, through means of astral-projection in order to torment her with her loss a part of protecting and shielding you all?” Mira asked, much to everyone’s surprise. “If she was so chosen and embedded in this little crazed community of yours, she would have left the past in the past. But she hasn’t because she’s still angry at her mother because of the lies you told her!”