The Children of Red Peak

by Craig DiLouie

  Not what they’d lost, but what they’d gained.

  He was self-aware enough to realize this was more do as I say, not as I do parenting, but he wanted Alyssa and Dexter to avoid his mistakes, not repeat them. He wanted them to be better than him, not become him.

  His daughter smiled. “I’m going to keep this ball forever then.”

  A car honked on the street next to the park. David looked over and recognized Claire’s Toyota. “There’s Mommy. Let’s go see what she wants.”

  The kids ran ahead, David lagging behind. By the time he got there, they were already climbing into the backseat.

  “I’m taking the kids to my mother’s,” Claire said from behind the wheel. She wore sunglasses that hid her eyes and made him anxious.

  On the phone with her at the hotel, he’d told her the documentary producer was lying. He had nothing to do with the Family of the Living Spirit.

  I’m done trying, she’d said and hung up.

  “For a visit?” David licked dry lips. “See you around dinnertime, then?”

  She turned and shifted the car into drive. “Yes.”

  “Bye, Daddy!” Dexter yelled as the Toyota sped off.

  He waved them out of sight. The car’s growl faded into birdsong. He suddenly felt small and alone and resentful. He wanted to blame Claire for not leaving his past alone, but in the end, he couldn’t. She couldn’t be blamed for being upset he’d kept an incredible secret during their entire marriage, even if it was for everyone’s good. He felt sorry for her. He’d been losing his connection to her for years, but the idea he might lose her nearly immobilized him with despair. At the same time, he wanted to do something. Something that would fix this.

  Inspired by a brainstorm, he decided he’d finally get to the yard work and lose himself in the labor. When Claire returned, she’d find everything perfect and be reminded that he was a provider who would go on providing. She’d understand that his past wasn’t the man he was today, and therefore didn’t matter.

  For an hour, he paced his lawn with his reel mower, grooming the grass to just the right length. This done, he got down on his knees to weed the flower beds in front of the porch. Sweat soaked his T-shirt, not the sour flop sweat of anxiety but the clean, honest sweat of hard work. Once done with the beds, he intended to expand his garden in the backyard by planting herbs in wood boxes.

  Kneeling in the mulch pulling weeds, he heard a car humming down the street. His kids were back, which brought a smile to his face.

  He raised his head to squint at sunlight glaring along a dusty windshield. Not his wife’s car, but another parking in front of his house. His smile turned to surprise as the door opened.

  Angela stepped out and slammed the door. As usual, she wore a simple black T-shirt and jeans, no makeup, her wavy hair tied in a sloppy ponytail, her face and toned arms tanned by the Nevada sun.

  David rose to his feet. “Hey. What are you doing here?”

  She stopped in the middle of his manicured lawn and scowled at him. “You fucked things up real good, little brother.”

  His sister marched past him and sat on one of the reading chairs on the porch. He was curious what she wanted, but a ritual had to be completed first.

  He went into the house, pulled bottles of cold beer from the refrigerator, and returned to hand one over.

  “You drove all this way just to tell me that? Tell me something I don’t know.”

  “We need to talk.”

  He sat on the other chair and popped the cap. “Okay, what did I do?”

  She said, “They’re all dead.”

  His stomach lurched. “What do you mean? Who is dead?”

  “The group you talked to. The Restoration.”

  “Oh. Jesus.” It lurched again. “How do you know?”

  “I keep tabs on the mountain. The sheriff called me.”

  “So stupid,” he raged. “I tried to talk them out of it. They wouldn’t listen.”

  “You should have called me.”

  “They were role-playing, but crazy enough to take it very seriously. I didn’t want you mixed up in it.” He grimaced. “Are they going to want me to go out there and make a statement? Help them identify the remains or anything?”

  Angela barked out something approximating a laugh.

  “There are no remains,” she said.

  She shared the story from the police report. The Restoration had rumbled into Medford in a happy caravan, stopping for snacks and to top their gas tanks. They’d disappeared into the Inyo Mountains, searching for their mystery.

  The sheriff’s department had missed their arrival. Tourists and other travelers passed through Medford all the time, but because of David’s warning, a deputy drove out every few days to check on the site, but not that day, nor the next.

  That night, the sky glowed over the mountain, a sliver of crimson visible for miles. The fire department rushed to Red Peak to investigate what they believed was another wildfire that might spread and devastate the area.

  The firefighters found cars and minivans at the base. The stairs leading to the top, sections of it in disrepair. On the summit, dawn revealed blood splatter everywhere, but no bodies.

  Kyle had gotten his wish. He’d solved the Medford Mystery by becoming part of it.

  “Somebody in that town is screwing with us,” David said.

  Angela took a long pull on her bottle. “How do you figure?”

  He shared his theory about the Wardites and Beth’s diagnosis of narcissism and split personality disorder. Knowing the Wardites’ story, Jeremiah Peale had heard a voice in the wilderness because he’d wanted to hear it. That voice became a second personality he’d projected as God, and then—

  “Bullshit.” His sister barked another harsh laugh.

  “I know, I know. The bodies. Peale was obviously working with somebody in Medford, who disposed of them. That’s where you come in. You can—”

  “No, David. Whatever you’re about to propose, I’m not doing that.”

  He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Don’t you want to…?”

  “I already know what happened to the bodies. I’ve known all along.”

  His bottle thudded against the porch to spin foaming across the floor. He snatched it up and poured the rest onto the flowers.

  “What…” He struggled for words.

  Claire pulled into the driveway with the kids. Alyssa and Dexter flew out of the car clamoring to see their aunt.

  Whatever Angela had to tell him, it would have to wait.

  Claire had brought pizzas home for dinner, which the family shared around the dining table. Alyssa and Dexter hadn’t seen their aunt since Christmas and bombed her with questions about the police and life in Las Vegas, which she answered with tall tales. David gazed at them all with an indulgent smile, though he wasn’t listening.

  The kids adored Angela, who was beautiful like their grandmother had been. On the rare occasion David saw his sister, he tried to recall what Mom looked like before she’d cut herself with a knife. All he could ever remember now was her disfigurement. For weeks, he’d had to look at that scarred mask and pretend it wasn’t hideous and terrifying until one day, it became normal.

  “Do you want to watch a movie with us after dinner?” Dexter asked.

  “Not tonight,” Angela told him. “I have to get back on the road.”

  “Aww.”

  “Sorry, Dex. I hope we can do it next time.”

  “It’s okay.”

  At the end of the meal, the kids ran off to watch their movie.

  Claire turned to Angela and said, “So what brings you all the way to Fresno?”

  “I had to see my little brother about something.”

  “It must be a painful time for you.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “The fifteenth anniversary is Friday, isn’t it?”

  David flinched but knew Angela would cover for him.

  “That’s right,” his sister said. �
�I’d like to go to Medford and drive out to the site to visit Mom. I’m hoping David will come with me.”

  He stiffened, ready to jump to his feet and walk out, but Claire beat him to it.

  After she’d gone, he wheeled on his sister. “Why did you do that?”

  This was his home she was messing with. His family. His castle and sanctuary. He was dug in here.

  “I’m done lying to protect you,” Angela said.

  “You’re screwing with my life,” he fumed.

  The Family, Red Peak, the Medford Mystery, it was all a bad dream nobody would ever let him forget.

  He was sick of ghosts.

  Angela stared at the pizza crusts on her plate. “On the last night, I knew what was going to happen. I told Mom I didn’t want to die. We argued until she was literally dragging me toward the Temple, with me fighting her every step of the way. I told her she was murdering her own child. In the end, she just broke down. She told me she’d let me go. She’d even help me leave.”

  “It’s in the past.” He crossed his arms. “I don’t want to hear it.”

  She stared past his shoulder into the nightmare of memory. “Josh was with us. We found Anna Tibbs, who also wanted to escape. She’d gotten the key to one of the trucks from her father. Mom was pushing me into the truck, but I wanted to find you and get you out too. I had to find you and then convince Mom to come with us. Josh was yelling at me to hurry. Freddie Shaw came over and asked what we were doing.” She clasped her hands over her chest. “He shot Mom right here.”

  “What? You told me Mom drank the poison along with everybody else.”

  “I told you,” she said. “I’m done lying.”

  “Freddie killed her?” David bowed his head, fighting tears, struggling to process this sweeping revision of his past.

  “Josh had the truck running. He yelled again, but I didn’t hear it, I was screaming. He was trying to distract Freddie from shooting me. Freddie fired every bullet he had left in his gun at him and Anna. Josh’s head just flew apart.” Angela splayed her hands and grimaced with an insane giggle. “I can still see it. It’s still happening. Every day, he dies again. His head explodes onto the windshield. If I hadn’t argued with Mom, he would have survived. But I wouldn’t leave without you. And you hid in the one place I couldn’t look.”

  “I was scared,” he said. “I was twelve.”

  “I ran. I thought maybe you’d followed the plan and were waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.” She glared at him. “You weren’t there. Nobody was.”

  David was sobbing. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know—”

  “It was too late to go for help. I thought everybody was dead. So I went up. I climbed the mountain. I went all the way to the top.”

  “I didn’t know.” He needed her to understand.

  “It was horrible.” Angela’s face had gone blank again. “They’d crucified the Reverend and lit him on fire, and he was somehow still burning. The men who’d nailed him up there had drunk cyanide and died around a big stone cut in the shape of an altar. That’s when it happened.” Her eyes blazed at him. “I was going to tell you what happened to the bodies. I saw it with my own eyes. Are you ready for the truth?”

  He buried his face in his hands. He didn’t want to hear it, not really.

  Then he nodded. The mystery. He had to know. It was the key to everything.

  “The stone burst into fire. The fire reached up and up and up into the sky. I knew right then I was seeing the thing that talked to the Reverend.”

  David jerked his head to look at her through a blur of tears. She’d gone back to staring over his shoulder, her face transfixed by her private horror.

  “I stood there, mesmerized,” she whispered. “The most beautiful light. The shooting had stopped, and it was so quiet. Then that fucking horn ripped straight through me and pushed me right off my feet. I had no control of my body. I pissed myself. I thought I was dying. After it quit, the bodies of the three men who’d crucified the Reverend rose in the air. Their arms and legs and heads wagging around. Like some invisible force hauled them up by their belts.”

  “Emily and Deacon saw something similar,” he said. “It was some kind of mass hallucination—”

  “I got back on my feet and thought about grabbing them and pulling them back. I thought if I did that, I could save them.” She cackled without mirth. “I wasn’t thinking straight. It didn’t matter. I couldn’t move. I was too petrified. Then a hand brushed my hair. I jumped away as Mrs. Kowalski floated past. Behind her, all the bodies rose out of the dark and into the light. I saw Deacon’s mom, then Mrs. Chapman and Shepherd Wright, then Beth’s mom and dad, and Mom and Anna and Josh. They were dead, David, but they flew. They whirled and tumbled through the air around the fire, always up and up, like moths around a flame. That’s when the Reverend broke free of the cross and shot up after them.”

  David shook his head. “See? That’s not right. It proves it was all a hallucination. Peale said the Spirit told him he wasn’t allowed to ascend.”

  “Another fucking test,” she said. “Whatever that thing was, and I doubt it was really God, it had mercy on the Reverend. It wanted him too.”

  If his sister was right, the mystery wasn’t a mystery at all. The answer had been staring him in the face all these years, if only he’d accepted the impossible.

  He heard sobbing behind him and turned to see Claire standing in the hallway. Angela had told her story to her as much as David, and in so doing, David’s story as well.

  “Claire!” His chair crashed to the floor as he jumped to his feet.

  His wife was gone.

  He glared helplessly at his sister. “Get out.”

  “David,” she said. “Listen to me.”

  “Just get out of here. Get out! GET OUT!”

  “Tonight, I’m going to Bakersfield. I’ll wait for you until Friday. Beth is meeting me, and she’s working on getting Deacon to go. We’re all going to Red Peak. I’m going to visit Mom. I’ll climb the mountain again. And I’ll find the thing that did this to her and Josh and finish it.”

  “Count me out. You need help. Nothing is out there except bad memories.”

  “It’s there. We’re still the Family of the Living Spirit, and we made a deal. It’s waiting for us, and it wants us all there together.”

  “Even if that’s true, why do what it wants? What good would that do?”

  “Because I want it to suffer the way it made us suffer,” Angela said. “Whether it’s God, Satan, or something else, I don’t really give a shit. If there’s a way to kill it, I’ll find it.”

  David found Claire dressed in workout attire, sitting in front of her vanity in their bedroom. He thrust his hands in his pockets, unsure what to say to her.

  “Are you going out to the gym tonight?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m sorry you heard all that.”

  Her vacant eyes settled on his reflection. “She doesn’t seem to be well.”

  David wasn’t so sure this was true. In fact, he had a sneaking suspicion Angela might be the only sane one among the survivors.

  “I can tell you that if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

  “How so?”

  If Claire knew about the last night, she might as well know all of it. He wanted to keep her talking, afraid of what would happen if she stopped. “Angela warned us. She wanted to save us. She always protected me. If she hadn’t planted the idea that what the Family was doing was wrong, I would have drunk cyanide with the rest of them. I was just a kid. I didn’t know any better.”

  “How could she have seen what she thinks she saw?”

  “I don’t know. A false memory, maybe.”

  “The other things she said, though. That part was true, wasn’t it?”

  David sighed. “I wasn’t with her, but yes, it was like that.”

  “Josh was her boyfriend?”

  “He was.”

  Claire wiped away another tea
r. “I’m so sorry. Why did you keep it a secret all these years? Why did you shut me out?”

  “I don’t know.” He sat on the edge of their bed, twisting his wedding ring. “You had a hard life, and I didn’t want you to ever worry about me. I thought I was protecting you.”

  Liar, he thought. You know exactly who you were protecting all these years.

  Her eyes probed his. “Will you tell me what happened now? Everything, from the beginning?”

  He turned away. “Wasn’t that enough?”

  “David, you need help. I want to help you.”

  Heat filled his chest. “I’m fine. I’m not broken. Whatever happened, it made me, and I made it work for me.”

  “Oh, David. It’s not working. Not anymore. Don’t you see that?”

  “It helped make this life for us. A good life.”

  “And ever since we got it, you started shutting me out.”

  “That’s not fair. You escape plenty.” Over the years, she’d channeled her own angst into obsessive exercise and chasing spiritual and self-help fads that sometimes alarmed him because he knew a charlatan when he saw one.

  “When I’m with you, though, I’m present. I’m not scared of my own life.” Claire turned on the bench to finally speak for what she wanted. “The kids have a father, but I need my husband. I need you. Something needs to change, David, before you start shutting out the kids too.”

  “I can…” He shivered as an overwhelming helpless exhaustion overtook him, leaving him barely able to keep his eyes open. “I don’t know what you want.”

  You’re doing it right now, he told himself. You’re shutting down. You’re going to blow up everything that’s important to you.

  “I want you to do something about it,” she said. “I want to be in your life.”

  “I love you.” He did, desperately, even if it was sometimes too heavy for him to carry day after day. In the end, perhaps his son was right that love was something you had to believe in, a constant act of faith. “I love our kids. Okay?”

  “David…”

  “You’re my wife. I don’t want anybody else except you. That has to count for something. That has to be enough.”

  She was right to be irritated. He just didn’t know how to change. More than that, he didn’t want to change. What Claire had begun to see as stifling and empty, David found comforting and safe.