Fall of Adam

by Rusty Ellis

  “I’m assigned to the grounds today. We are expanding the garden area,” she said with a punchy grin. “Adam wants us to work toward more self-sufficiency. Isn’t it wonderful, sister?”

  Megan nodded in return with a half-hearted smile. She returned to her bed and straightened the covers. The door creaked open behind her as the women began to file out into the sunlight. The glow of the sun through the doorway cast a shadow across her and stretching across her bed. She stared at the shadow until the door closed and extinguished the sun’s rays.

  She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. The smell of the wooden cabin walls and plywood flooring reminded her of home. Not her apartment in Mountain Home, but her parent’s home in Montana. Her parent’s home had started out as a one-bedroom stick-built home, but soon morphed into a two-then-three bedroom home. Their home itself didn’t smell of wood and timber, but she could recall stepping out on the front porch and being met by the smells drifting up from the wooded acreage behind the home and along the river.

  Megan opened her eyes and changed into her jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. She folded her pajama bottoms and the t-shirt she’d been wearing and laid them neatly at the end of her bed. Stepping back to the small desk, Megan picked up Anna’s brush and ran it several times through her black, shoulder length hair. She attempted to focus on her hair and avoid her own eyes. Locking eyes with herself in the mirror caused too much anxiety. For now, she attempted to succumb to the numb emotional tone interweaved like a blanket across the Community.

  She placed the brush back on the desk and slipped on her tennis shoes. At the door, she looked down at her hand as she reached the handle. She didn’t trust her eyes, but she trusted her hands. She had faith in what they could do. Her father had taught her and her brother the basics of defending themselves. Chase taught her to trust her hands and always listen to her intuition.

  What she would give to have Chase here now. But he wasn’t here. And he didn’t know she was even here. And he didn’t know Haley was here—somewhere.

  Megan pulled in a deep breath and twisted the door handle. She squinted as the sun bathed her in the doorway. She looked out to see several people exiting their cabins, moving in straight lines toward their assignments. The greetings of “good morning, brother” and “good morning, sister” bounced around the open space, nulling the need to learn names or establish individual identities. They’d left their identities and lives at the front gate, choosing to submit to becoming a part of the Community, a cog in the workings of the Holy Light Community.

  She was part of the Community, or rather did her best to fit into the mold of the Community. Chase wasn’t here. Among the smiles and well-wishes of the Community members, she was alone.

  The dining hall emptied as Megan and several other ladies worked to clean the dishes and wipe the tables. There was always a hurriedness in the morning to get the breakfast chores completed in time for Enlightenment.

  The first time Megan was told it was “time” for morning Enlightenment she was unsure whether to be curious or scared. It relieved her to find out it was nothing more than a daily devotional, a gathering where their leader delivered a daily sermon to his sheep—the Community.

  That first morning she followed the other’s to a clearing toward the middle of the wooded property. They had cut the trees back, leaving a bare circular area on the ground. There were sections of large logs set end-to-end in circular rows of rings, culminating into an eight-foot empty circle in the middle. A four-foot wide path was cut through the rings leading out of the circle and continuing down a path where it quickly disappeared into the trees.

  At her first Enlightenment, she found a seat next to Anna and watched as their leader, Adam, appeared out of the woods on the path and strolled casually through the opening in the logs to the center of the rings.

  Other than his entrance, Megan found nothing special or luring about him. Except for the worn off-white robe he was wearing, Adam looked like a typical northwestern hiker ready to hit the trail for the weekend. The robe’s sleeves stopped just short of his wrists and revealed a white cotton shirt underneath. The bottom of the robe hung just below his calves. She could see he was wearing a pair of dark green hiking pants and brown hiking boots. His shirt had the top and second button undone, hidden mostly by a black and white beard extending down over the second button. Adam’s beard blended upward into a matching entanglement of curly shoulder length hair. His robe was kept loosely shut at his waist by a blue satin sash with gold tassels hanging off the two ends. His ensemble was topped off by a black set of round glassed perched high on the ridge of his nose.

  Megan’s fought back the urge to smile at Adam’s appearance. Overall, he looked like an accountant who was lost in the woods and was told to be dressed for a Biblical Halloween-themed party.

  She turned her attention to the Community members sitting around her, looking for at least one other person seeing what she saw. Nothing.

  His followers smiled. Some cried. But most squirmed as if fighting back the urge to spring to their feet and run to him.

  Megan jumped at the feeling of someone touching her leg. She looked down to see Anna’s hand and looked up to see a childish smile on Anna’s face. Megan did her best to return the smile and waited for Anna to turn her gaze back to Adam.

  The group quieted as Adam began, “My children…”

  9

  The Jeep continued north on I-84 approaching Boise. Chase tightened up his distance as traffic increased. He watched patiently, prepared in case the Jeep turned off on one of the exits passing through the city. Instead, the Jeep continued north, snaking through Boise and continuing onto Highway 54. Traffic began to thin again as they distanced themselves from the city. Chase again loosened the distance, back far enough to keep the Jeep in sight but close enough to speed up and catch up to them when they reached their exit.

  Chase glanced at the clock on his stereo. They had been on the highway for about 50 minutes. He considered calling Brett to update him, but he really didn’t have any concrete information to report at this point. It was definitely alarming, but the information was not actionable beyond what he was already doing. Calling Brett would only shovel a load of unnecessary stress with no actionable plans his way. Basically, hurry and wait. He considered having Brett run by the apartment and take a peek inside but Chase was unsure if more men would show up and complicate matters. He didn’t intend on putting Brett in harm’s way, especially with a lack of direction and not knowing why or where Megan and Haley were.

  The right blinker on the Jeep began flashing just before it turned off onto the Banks Lowman Road exit. Chase slowed and watched from a distance as the Jeep turned right on Highway 17 along the Payette River, marked by a sign saying so.

  The two-lane highway coursed around a bend and continued northeast. Chase followed at a reasonable distance for another nine miles when the Jeep turned off on South Middlefork Road toward Crouch, Idaho.

  Reaching Crouch, it surprised Chase to find the little town hidden back in the mountain terrain. A gathering of shops and restaurants were huddled together along the center of what could generously be called a town. The Jeep turned right on Market Street, then right again on Old Crouch Road. With traffic close to nonexistent, Chase backed off a little further than he would have preferred.

  The road deteriorated from pavement into dirt and gravel. Chase continued to follow the winding road, peering ahead to catch occasional glances of the Jeep’s bumper and its plume of trailing dust.

  A mixture of trees and dried patches of high-desert brush were scattered about the landscape and thickened as they drove further up the road. Makeshift gates were littered about, capping and identifying individual properties and stopping entry down their long dirt driveways. The drives disappeared into groupings of trees, giving their homeowners a sense of safety and disconnect from the main road. The gates were generously spaced enough for each home to have their fair share of acreage, an award for inki
ng out a living this far from the bustle of city life.

  Chase watched as the tufts of dirt neared in the distance. He slowed and turned left in time to see the Jeep make a hard switchback right and slow to a stop. Instead of stopping, he continued at a slow lope in his truck and neared the Jeep. He looked ahead and decided he could continue straight up the road and past where the Jeep’s taillights were stopped and glowing through the dust it had kicked up.

  As he neared, he saw a sentry standing by a small wooden shed. A long metal beam with reflective tape crossed the road in front of the Jeep and blocked its path. As Chase passed, he could see a man—dressed in the same uniform as the two men in the Jeep—leaning on the frame of the driver’s window and talking to the occupants. The sentry ignored Chase’s truck and stepped to the shed where he reached in and tapped something on the wall just inside the doorway. The metal beam groaned and stood at attention directly up in the air. A hand from the Jeep poked out the driver’s window and waved as the Jeep passed under the beam and disappeared the opposite direction of Chase.

  Chase continued driving and checking his rearview mirror. He took a left on the next available road drove a short distance out of sight. He flipped his truck around and nosed back toward the main road, parking just far enough back to be hidden by a small grouping of trees. He reached down and fished a pair of lightweight binoculars from the bag on the floor and peered back toward the sentry and the wooden shed. Chase watched as the man drew a walkie-talkie from his waist and raised it to his mouth briefly. The man returned the radio back to his belt and stepped into the shade of the shed. Chase rolled the focus nob between his thumb and forefinger on the binoculars and inspected what he could in the shed’s doorway.

  The guard was sitting down at a metal desk and writing something on a clipboard. Chase twisted the focus a tad more and saw a black outline leaning against the wall behind the man. One last twist of the focus brought the black metal object into clear view—an AK-47 assault rifle.

  Chase dropped the binoculars into his lap and leaned back against the headrest. What had started as following two suspicious security guards had turned into a 100-mile trek into a secure compound. Secure compounds existed for two reasons, to keep people out, and more importantly, to keep secrets in. Chase wasn’t concerned about them trying to keep him out. He was more concerned about what they were trying to keep hidden inside, and why they were hiding Megan and Haley.

  10

  The rumble of an approaching vehicle woke Chase from his fitful sleep. He’d decided to stay put in the spot he’d found and sleep in his truck for the night; not the worse place he’d ever slept.

  Chase picked up his binoculars from the seat next to him and peered at the front gate. The guard was standing in front of the small shack talking to the driver of a black SUV. The guard looked uncomfortable, standing straight, almost at attention. Whoever was driving the vehicle demanded some level of status.

  The guard stepped from the driver’s window and reached into the shed to raise the beam from impeding the vehicle’s entrance. Chase looked at the rear plate on the SUV and made out the Idaho tag: “HLC1”.

  A movement on the road to the left of Chase’s truck grabbed his attention. An older model Ford Bronco was coming down the road and kicking up a substantial cloud of dust behind it as it passed him and headed in the gate's direction. He looked back to the shed and saw the guard disappear back inside.

  Chase dropped the binoculars back on the seat and started his truck. He put it into drive and held his foot on the brake. As the Bronco passed, Chase switched his foot from the brake to the gas and slipped into the vehicles dust-clouded wake. He inched closer and strained to monitor the Bronco’s bumper to make sure it didn’t meet his own.

  Chase glanced through the cloud at the shed and could barely make out the outline of the guard's head as it popped out the open doorway, inspected the Bronco, then popped back inside.

  Chase kept close to the Bronco long enough to make it around a bend and out of sight of the guard. He could finally ease off the gas and put some distance between him and the Bronco’s bumper. He rubbed his eyes and grabbed a water bottle from the drink holder in the center console and drained the last sip. Looking at the bottle, then at the gas gauge, Chase made his way back into Crouch and to the quick-stop he’d noticed on his way through the small town. He needed three things, gas and water, and information about the compound standing ominous on the edge of their town.

  11

  With the dishes washed, dried and placed into tall stacks on the counter, Megan followed the other sisters out the front door as they chatted excitedly. Though they wouldn’t admit it, the sisters walked a little faster to the Enlightenment Circle than they did to their daily assignment of morning breakfast.

  Megan hurried to keep up with Anna’s brisk stride and willingly accepted her hand to pull her along. Anna located two spots together so they could sit next to one side of a ring’s openings leading to the center of the Enlightenment Circle.

  The openings were cherished locations, always the first to fill up on either side of the aisle. The rest of the seating began to fill from the flow of Community members streaming in from different corners of the grounds; every direction except the main path leading into the circle.

  The group craned their necks in giddy anticipation as they looked toward the spot where the path dropped into the trees and expected Adam’s arrival. A cracking stick gave away Adam’s entrance and a subtle inhale resounded through his followers. Megan watched as Adam scanned the crowd and sauntered through the outstretched arms of his followers as he made his way to the center of the Enlightenment Circle.

  Anna patted Megan on the leg several times, snapping her attention back to Adam and rejoining the group’s gaze. Adam continued to pass through the outermost layers of the rings and ran his fingertips through the outstretched hands of his followers.

  The closest few near the path opening struggled to keep their seats and reach far enough to touch his hands. Anna reached up and was able to temporarily take Adam’s hands in both hers as he continued to walk, his hands drifting in and out of his follower’s as if entering the sea and his arms freely riding the waves.

  A strange feeling tingle the back of Megan’s neck, as if someone was watching, somewhere behind her. She traced the path back to where Adam had appeared from the woods and saw a man standing on the path, just inside the tree-line. The man’s eyes were locked on Adam’s progress. He was wearing black military styled BDU pants, and a black polo shirt. The bulky figure was clean shaven and had close-cropped hair. An air of military precision surrounded the man’s look and presence. Megan watched the man as he stood there, unflinching, feet shoulder width apart with his head tilted slightly downward and focusing on Adam’s movements.

  Megan looked closer and could see a dark metal firearm in a holster on the man’s hip. He held his hands in front of his chest, one fist curled inside the other. A cord ran across his chest, connecting the top of a walkie-talkie to a mic attached to the upper part of his chest. Megan watched as he reached for the mic and dipped his head for a second, before returning to his previous stance. To this point, the only security she’d ever seen were the guards at the gate leading onto the property. She knew they were there, or at least she assumed they were there, patrolling the property, but they did a good job of staying out of sight.

  Megan turned back toward Adam and his followers. She glanced around at their faces to see if anyone else had noticed the ominous man on the trail. Nothing. They trained all eyes on Adam. Not a single person noticed or cared to notice anything beyond Adam’s presence.

  She shook her head and looked back toward the man again. Same stance. Same focus on Adam.

  She stared at the man and was about to turn away again when he turned his head and locked eyes with her. His expression remained indifferent. A cold look of passive indifference.

  His stare sent a chill down Megan’s back, causing her shoulders to twitch and pull
back. He continued to stare at her and reached up again to the mic on his chest and spoke into it. He continued to speak as he locked eyes with her. He ran his eyes up and down her body before locking back on her eyes. As she was about to look away, he released his hand from the mic and turned his attention back to Adam.

  Megan slowly lowered her head and swung it back around to the middle of the ring where Adam was now standing. He was standing at the center, his arms at his side, his hands outstretched in front of him, turning in a slow circle to address all 360-degrees of his sheep.

  “How far will you tread toward heaven? Will you choose to travel half-way? Three-quarters of the way? Or will you give all and travel to the top of the Holy Garden with me, where you shall receive joy and rest?”

  Adam’s voice drew his followers closer. Megan looked and watched as the group edged closer to the edge of their seats with every utterance out of Adam’s mouth. A few stretched their hands in the air toward Adam, nodding in agreement and a willingness to climb to the top of the Holy Garden as Adam encouraged them. Megan was unsure what Adam meant by the Holy Garden, but the others reacted to the reference with devotion and hope.

  If they’re willing to follow him up here into the woods, following him to a Holy Garden isn’t much further of a stretch, she thought.

  “You are divine by His choice, my sons and daughters. Choose this day the path you will walk, beside me so I can guide you, or perish on the uncut path in the wilderness of the world.”

  Megan couldn’t help herself and turned her head slightly toward where the man had been standing. He was still there. A dark observer and sentinel.

  Adam’s voice continued, “The world awaits your return, miserable at the loss of another soul to the Light. Jealous at your choice and ability to turn away from its vices and carnal offerings. Choose ye this day who you will follow. The world and its vile splendors?” Adam paused briefly and turned a full circle, catching as many eyes as possible. “Or he who would return you back to the Holy Garden and rebirth?”