“I was terrified. I laid in the darkness of my room, trying to hide under the covers, while my brother slept contently in the bunk above mine.
“I wanted to call out to my parents, but no sound came out no matter how hard I tried. He squatted next to my bed, looking into my eyes. No words came from His mouth, but I heard everything clearly in my mind. When He spoke to me, he brightened, filling my lower bunk with purity, telling me not to fear Him. He had chosen me to deliver His word.
“He laid His hand on my forehead. The warmth I felt was not like anything I’d felt in my seven years, nor anything I’ve felt from another person after.
“Safety and protection were in his touch. And most of all there was love and adoration. His love. His adoration.
“I’ve wandered through life, forgetting what the touch felt like. I had forgotten what He had asked me to do. I hid from Him. I hid from me. I denied myself Him. What I didn’t realize until I returned home, was there was no way to hide from Him truly. All I did was pretend that He no longer noticed me.”
Another sip of water allowed the man in the front row to slide back down in his chair. Belphegor beamed from behind the curtain.
"I am not rich.” Cody fixed on the woman. “Spoiled. I have been. But, I grew up like many of you in working-class families, and I’m proud to say I’m a local boy.
“Yup, I grew up right here in Shoshoni.” Bergen’s sparkling eyes caught his attention. Had the child grown since they had met a few months ago? He pulled his investigation from the distracting features. “I know what it’s like to not have. And I know what it’s like to have.
“I’ve been blessed and honored to tell you about God’s love. The only thing I ask of you.” He glanced at the man in the front row. “Which has nothing to do with money.” He paused, taking in their expectant faces.
“Look deep inside. Find you. Love you. Allow God to flow through you. Take His love, and spread it. Move forward with His grace. The first step to ending the hardships is allowing Him to be with you. Thank you.”
Cody bowed his head. The curtain moved steadily across the stage from both sides until he was hidden by red velvet. He wrinkled his nose, thinking it strange to say thank you, and the curtains closing were too dramatic. He would be shaking hands with them in the lobby in a few minutes.
Mr. Bel’s smile was approving as he joined him behind the curtain. Before Cody asked him what he thought, the man’s arms were firmly wrapped around him.
Cody had not received this type of affection from Mr. Bel since his arrival, but he wasn’t complaining, this was the embrace he’d wished to have. His strong arms around him was precisely what he had needed, and was better than he had dreamed the night he had received the tattoo.
When the arms released him, he wanted to cry out to have them stay. The feeling of them lingered, tingling his arms as their exchange teased him with the promise of further contact.
“Exceptional,” Mr. Bel congratulated. “I have no question as to why you are here. I am proud.” He stepped away. “You should go outside. They want to shake your hand.”
“You’re not coming?”
“Not this time. I don’t want to steal your limelight. Maybe next time.”
“Ok?” Cody said, moving across the stage to the steps at stage right. “I’ll come up and see you when they’ve all gone.”
“If it’s not too late. You need to rest. We can talk in the morning.” Mr. Bel moved to the black wrought-iron railing marking the location of the spiral staircase at the back of the stage. Before he took the first step, he turned his head to Cody, and said, “I think God took notice.”
Cody watched him twist down the steps then disappear.
His stomach growled as he crossed the theater. Some of the audience stood in the lobby, while others had escaped to the warm evening.
Hands grabbed him as he entered. Some patted him on the back. All faces were smiles and tears.
The woman, who had spoken out, stood near the door, mascara trails ruining her face. In the light, he saw the worry lines etched across her forehead and puffiness below her dark eyes. Her rich-brown hair had been tied in haste into a loose French braid trailing midway down her back.
“I’m sorry,” she cried as he approached. “That was rude of me.”
“No apologies needed.”
“Lisa.” They shook hands.
“You said what was on your mind, Lisa. You were honest.” He glanced around the room. “Can you wait until I’ve talked with the others?” Her drawn on brows wiggled. “Oh, I bet not. Your kids.”
“Yeah.”
“Can you come by in the morning? Say ten?”
“Sure, why?”
“I want to help you. I think I have the perfect job for you.”
“I’m not…nothing dirty.”
“No, nothing like...” Cody blushed. “I need an assistant.”
“Oh!? I don’t have any experience. I clean houses, and stock shelves at the grocery store in Riverton, and—”
“I think you have the right experience. You know how to schedule your time, I’m sure, and talk on the phone.”
“Yes,” Lisa replied, her penciled brows trying to meet her hairline. “I’d be honored.”
“I know tomorrow is Sunday, and you don’t have anyone to look after your kids, so please bring them with you.”
She didn’t fight the uncontrollable impulse to hug him tightly, then released him with the broadest smile she’d had in several years.
A hand took Cody’s, taking him away from Lisa. Knowing he’d be caught with the others, she walked out into the darkening street.
Eli followed her down First Street, picking up his pace to catch her before she reached her car and drove away.
“Excuse me,” he said before she closed the car door. She glanced up at him. “Don’t take his job.”
“What?”
“You don’t want to be mixed up in this.”
“I don’t know who you are, but I need—”
“No, you don’t.” He handed her a thick bundle of cash.
“What’s this?” She stared at the money.
“An advance on your pay.”
“I don’t understand. Who are you?”
“Eli Thompson, your new boss. I need some help at the ranch, and heard what you said in there.”
“Doing what?”
“My secretary is retiring, and I need someone to take over.” His smile bobbed the tufts of his mustache. “Your kids will love it.”
“Wow, he was right. I feel His blessings already. Oh, thank you so much. When do I start?”
“How’s Monday?”
She took the money and drove away. Eli watched the dim taillights of the car turn the corner. The time his father had warned him about had arrived. And whether he was prepared or not, he had a job to do. The brothers, especially Cody, were intelligent, educated men, which baffled him how they were drawn in so easily.
He’d seen Cody’s Watcher become more frantic in her pleas for Cody to take flight from Shoshoni, but everything she did and said was ignored.
Now had come the time when Eli had to step forward and do what he needed to do. Nothing was going to be easy. Fighting a Fallen Angel would be strenuous for anyone.
He had a few others on his side; the ones at the four corners of town, the pillars of light as they called them. Though only three houses remained, the one had been burned to the ground, but the land was still powerful. And the child was an important piece, so long as Bergen didn’t decide in Belphegor’s favor things might not be as rough as he had expected, but he didn’t know for sure where the child stood.
Bergen waited with Nathan and Leona across the street from the Shoshone Theater. Nathan had had enough being on the block and wanted to go home, but Bergen was insistent in speaking with Cody before they retreated for the night. When Bergen decided to do something, there wasn’t any way to change the child’s mind until the task was finished.
So they waited
as darkness swept down the streets and the meager street lights did little to cut the gloom and angst the block brought. Cody knew they were there. His scrutiny flicked to them, checking whether they remained, then flew away with disappointment finding them.
He’d talked with everyone who had come to see him, leaving the small family waiting patiently across the street. Bergen ran fingers across the surface of the grass in the small park. He couldn’t ignore them any longer.
He hadn’t seen or spoke to them since the morning after he’d run across town, and hadn’t thought much of their absence in his life until he had found them among the number in the theater. Crossing the street, he forced a smile.
Extending his hand to Nathan, who didn’t take it, he said, “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Bergen insisted,” Leona replied, smiling down at the child, who stared up at him from the damp lawn.
“I expected more burn in hell,” Nathan added, his silver eye glowering at Cody; he hadn’t called him Boogla Ba.
Cody’s smile faded at the naysayers he’d talked about. “Well, I’m glad you came.” They stared at him, causing a strange sensation of angst to well in him. “I know what you think. I don’t agree. How can this be wrong?”
“Right and wrong share a thin, jagged line,” Bergen said, the sparkle in the dark orbs of the child’s sparkling eyes had not faded in the night. “Sit with me a moment.”
His contemplation moved from Nathan to Leona, as he conceded to the child’s request. Reminiscent of his dream, they watched the theater in silence. The glory of the block was impressive, even at night. The letters of ‘Shoshone’ brightened the faces of the connected buildings, fading gradually down the block. Merriment carried across the street from the Top Hat.
“I should join them.” He started to rise, but the child’s hand caught, pressing it softly into the moist grass.
“I’m glad you remembered when he planted his seed in you. It is imperative in understanding.”
“God came to me when I was a kid.”
The child breathed lightly and chased a bug with a small hand which had flown near. “It wasn’t clear to me. I’m glad you saw the epiphany better than I.” Another pause as the following words were calculated. “I didn’t see Belphegor, but I know he was there. Did he approve?”
“Yeah, he approved. I don’t understand where this conversation is going.”
“It’s where you’re going,” Bergen replied faintly. “You don’t know what has started. And none of us know where it will end. I still haven’t decided.” The child stood, leaving him on the ground. “I shouldn’t put it off any longer. See you soon.”
When the delicate fingers were bound with Nathan and Leona, they trotted away. Cody rose. What hadn’t Bergen decided?
He watched them disappear into the night down the hard-packed street. Hector pushed his back, trying to force him to follow. Her screams at him to go with them went unheard as did her attempts to move him away. Tyler approached, unsure why Cody stared across the rail tracks to the south.
“You see a coyote?” Tyler asked, causing Cody to jump, unaware he’d joined him.
“Nah, I think it was a jack-a-lope.” They howled with laughter.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Likewise, also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
Jude 1:8, KJV
“You’re up early,” Jen said, leaving the laundromat as Cody left the apartment. “I didn’t expect to see you until at least one, after your grand performance last night. Meeting with Mr. Bel?”
“Not yet.” He eyeballed the lobby. “I was expecting Lisa.” Jen’s blank expression told him she didn’t know who he was referring. “The woman from last night.”
“I haven’t seen her. Maybe, she’s rustling her kids together.”
“Yeah, maybe.” He glared out the window. “Or she isn’t ready.”
Jen nodded, heading upstairs to clean the rooms. She didn’t blame her, it was a lot to take.
In her drone state, she moved without much thought, straightening the beds and replenishing the towels. One guest had placed the ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ sign on the knob to Wayne’s room. Her memory whirred, finding who had taken the room. Her hand found the smooth surface of the door as though the single touch told her what was playing out inside.
“He’s not in there,” Becki said, seeing bright-pink color Jen’s cheeks. She was relieved the passion they had shared wasn’t being passed to another woman. “Neither is she,” the girl continued. “She went to the basement.”
“What? Why?”
Becki shrugged, not knowing the reason. Jen watched her turn away, skipping into the sitting area, and then disappearing into the light shining through the window.
The woman—what was her name?—shouldn’t be down there. Jen still didn’t feel comfortable going down there, much less sending guests into the murky depths. The other rooms had to wait while she investigated.
Cody knelt on the floor in the lobby facing the window. Jen’s brow scrunched with curiosity at the strange place to pray.
The squeak of the floor brought him back from the peace he had been experiencing. Leaning her head to the side, she approached.
The reflection of the window stood out in his glassy, hazel eyes, giving her detail of what lay outside in a way they shouldn’t. The healthy rise and fall of his chest was nonexistent. He is choking popped into her mind, and out of reflex, slapped him on the back.
“What was that for?” he said in a growling voice. His head had snapped toward her, and the glaze covering had dissolved.
“I thought you were choking or something. You weren’t breathing. I freaked out,” she blurted without taking a breath herself.
“It’s called meditation.” He stood. “And I get a hit in the back for not doing it in my room. Lesson learned.”
“Sorry,” she whimpered.
“I thought you were cleaning the rooms.”
“I was, but Becki told me the woman from three had gone into the basement.”
“Maybe she knows someone you rented a room to down there.”
Jen began shaking her head before he finished. “No one down there.” She stared at him, tears welling—it’d been a while since she felt emotion. “I don’t sell those rooms.”
Without her asking, he volunteered, “Ok, let’s go check on her.”
A sigh burst from her. Something in the basement made her skin crawl and her stomach revolt. Cody had no idea how much it meant to her he was coming along.
At the bottom of the stairs, they waited three seconds, adjusting to the pale light from the fluorescent bulbs. He found the basement unsettling as well. The openness of the one side with the rooms against the opposite wall. The faint musty smell. The way the shadows moved.
The door to the washroom was partially open. A sliver of golden light snuck from the opening into the darkness.
Convinced she hadn’t gone in there, they moved to the far end where the bathroom hid at the back wall. The light glowed over the sink. The woman was apparently not inside the small enclosure.
They crept back to the foot of the stairs and stopped. Neither wanted to go through washroom to the open chamber of the boiler room.
Jen grabbed Cody’s hand; he was glad for some warmth against him. The coolness of the basement seemed to have had intensified on their short journey.
Cody swallowed; his saliva fought going down his throat, and both wondered whether the other heard their hearts racing.
Tapping the door, it swung inward with a slight squeak. No one waited for them. Their minds must have had the same expectation—the woman standing in wait, armed with what? Maybe with a gun or knife, and she waited for their slaughter to begin—because each chortled as they released hands. The same thought filled their minds, ‘what was she doing in the basement?’
They glanced at each other for a second, then entered the dark cavernous room. His hand flicked up to the switc
h near the door. The light didn’t respond to the request. Pushing it down, then up again didn’t give a different result.
Their hearts pounded in their ears. Cody didn’t like coming through the boiler room to enter and exit the tunnel. The night before, he’d taken the alley to the backstage entrance; his nerves had already been on edge, and he hadn’t wanted to cause himself further stress by coming through here.
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