by Nina Smith
“Tell me where you are. I’m coming to get you.”
“Is that a threat?” Magda followed Kat’s example and sat nearer the phone.
“It’s a promise, child, if you are even in there anymore. I will always come to get you. I will spend my whole life dragging you out of Satan’s grasp, if that’s what it takes to save your immortal soul.”
Magda rolled her eyes at Kat. “But Preacher, as I understand it, won’t you be a little too busy for that?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean all the outreach centres. All over Hailstone. Aren’t they going to be keeping you busy for the next few weeks? Years, even?”
“What do you know of this?”
Magda watched Kat, partly for strength to go head to head with Preacher, partly because her top button was undone and the way her lip curved was pretty.
“Magdalene?”
“Oh, sorry Preacher, I got distracted.” Magda grinned at Kat, who blushed slightly. “I know you have real estate all over Hailstone. I know you’re planning to open up outreach centres everywhere. Aren’t you going to be too busy converting everybody else to worry about little old me?”
“You come first.”
“What, are you planning to put me in one of those places? What will you do if it drives me to suicide, like it did Jonah Sand?”
“That won’t happen!” Preacher’s voice rose. She’d touched a sore spot.
“How can you be sure? You’re using John’s methods, aren’t you?”
“The methods were given to us by God. They are perfect. It was their use by an imperfect man that caused the problems.”
Magda faked a silent gag at Kat, who smothered a laugh. “Are you perfect, Preacher?” she said.
“I am guided by the hand of the most high. So are the people I have handpicked to run the centres.”
“And is it your plan to convert the whole city, Preacher?” Magda leaned toward the phone.
“Why are you suddenly so interested?”
“Because I’m concerned there’s going to be a repeat of what happened in Gibson. What are you going to do when people realise your plans? What will you do when the protestors picket your centres?”
Preacher’s voice went cold. “They will be dealt with. And so will you. I know what you’re trying to do, Satan. You would use my daughter to undermine me. You know I am your greatest enemy in the fight against God. Your only hope is to tell me where you are and give up my daughter.”
Kat moved across to the couch and flipped the phone shut. “Christ, how do you stand it?”
“I don’t.” Magda stuffed the phone and everything else back into her bag. “Why do you think I’m so god damn screwed up with valium and alcohol?”
“It does explain a few things. Come on, let’s go. No, wait a minute.” Kat went over to the coat rack and chose a brimmed hat and long black scarf. “I can’t take you out on the street looking like yourself,” she said. She wrapped the scarf around Magda’s head and jammed the hat on top. “There, now you look like a movie star doing a terrible job of going incognito. Put your sunglasses on.”
Magda dug the sunglasses out of her bag and put them on. She looked at herself in the mirror and found nothing to smile about, even though she looked ridiculous. “One day I won’t have to hide,” she said.
*
The drive to Kat’s office was quiet. Magda leaned her forehead on the window and watched the streets go by. It wasn’t far from Adam’s house to the city centre; just a few suburban streets. She counted the two storey houses, and as they came to the inner city, the flats and flashy apartment blocks. The streets were quiet for a Monday morning.
Kat pulled into the car park in front of the Hailstone Herald office building, a small, white establishment with a huge sign bearing the masthead of the paper.
Both women got out of the car and stayed for a moment in the car park. Shards of glass crunched under Magda’s shoes. She stepped tentatively over them.
Kat wasn’t so careful. She bolted for the door and unlocked it, even though they could have simply walked through the gaping hole in the window.
“Kat be careful,” Magda said. She dug her nails into her palms, wondering if they’d be waiting in there for her. Her whole head throbbed for the first time since she’d walked out of her house last night.
“Careful? Whoever did this had better be careful. If they’re still in there I’m going to ram my computer down their throat,” Kat said. She slammed inside.
Magda followed. They went down a hall, past an empty reception desk and through a door into the newsroom. It was smaller than she’d imagined; four or five workstations crowded the centre of the floor. Every computer had been smashed. Newspaper sheets lay all over the floor. A front page was pinned to the wall; beside it were three words scrawled in red paint.
You were warned.
Kat stared at the graffiti, her mouth set in a grim line.
Magda plucked the front page from the wall. Police target pro alcohol protestors, the headline yelled, and there was a picture of several officers laying into a group of youths in the square.
Kat’s voice broke the silence before it pressed them both down with its weight. “I guess they were serious then.”
Magda smoothed the paper between her hands. Her heart thudded uncomfortably. “How did they get here so quick? Didn’t this paper just come out today?”
Kat shook her head. “It gets distributed at midnight. They could’ve picked it up anywhere.”
“Where are the other journalists?”
“I come in earlier. Good point though, I need to make some phone calls. Just give me a minute, okay?”
Magda wandered the office while Kat made phone call after phone call on her mobile, explaining the situation over and over again. She noticed the landlines were cut at the power cords. Every monitor was smashed, but the towers had been opened up and the motherboards removed. Modem cords were cut. Filing cabinets had been left alone. A huge photocopier had a dent in the side, perhaps from a baseball bat. Magda touched the dent with her fingers, as though the act could show her who did it. She couldn’t credit anyone from the Congregation with it. She just couldn’t believe they’d be capable of it.
Kat finally put her phone back in her bag. “The boss is coming down to meet the police,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”
“What are we going to do?” Magda trailed after her, grateful to leave the cold, depressing place.
“Nothing you’re going to like.”
Magda made a face. “Please tell me you’re not taking me to church.”
“That all depends on what your father is really up to. It seems to me we need to break into one of these outreach centres and find out what’s really going on.”
“Break into an outreach centre?” Magda stopped dead in the middle of the car park. “Are you serious?”
Kat threw her bag into the car. “They broke into my office. I feel it’s justified.”
“Yeah but look what they did! What if they catch us?” Magda caught up to her and gripped the edge of the passenger door so hard her knuckles went white.
Kat gave her a look. “I’ve known you for barely a week, and in that time you’ve been the baddest Preacher’s daughter you could possibly be. You’ve run off to a gay club, you’ve been screaming drunk, you’ve popped pills, you’ve crashed your car and you’ve tried to shoot your father. I would have thought a little break and enter would be nothing.”
“But these people could really hurt us!”
“They’ve already hurt me. And you. Where are you going to finally draw a line, Mags? I know as well as you do if we don’t find out what these people are up to and stop them, it’s back to church and another exorcism or worse for you, and God knows what they’d plan for me or Adam. Now are you in?”
Magda stared at her. She’d never seen Kat this angry, but the anger wasn’t directed at her. The emotion coloured her cheeks. Sparks practically flew from her eyes. Strand
s of hair had escaped from her bun to fly out from her face as though she’d stuck her finger in a power socket. And everything she’d said was true. She had to draw a line somewhere. “I’m in,” she said.
“Good. Get in the car.” Kat swung into her seat.
Magda sat in the car, put on her seatbelt and closed the door. “Kat,” she said. “I apologise for this in advance, and you can slap me if you like, but I really need to do it.” She grabbed Kat’s face and kissed her on the lips.
It was a full minute before Kat broke the embrace. Her face flamed. She blinked at Magda for a moment. “I never kissed a girl before,” she said.
“I know. `Cos you’re not gay.”
Kat grinned and jammed the key in the ignition. “That’s right.”
*
They’d gone back to Kat’s house and changed into plain clothes; black slacks, long-sleeved shirts and coats. Magda knew good and well they stood more of a chance if they dressed in the Congregation uniform, but the thought made her sick to her stomach, and Kat refused in the name of good taste to wear one of the collars even if she did have one. So they opted for looking anonymous, picked an address from the paperwork and went there. Magda picked the centre that claimed to deal with alcoholism; it turned out it was only a few blocks away.
Now they sat in the car and watched the place, crouched low in their seats every time somebody went in or out. A low white fence, a garden with pansies, a neatly trimmed yellow daisy bush and a red brick path led up to the veranda. There was a cross on the wall and a sign saying hope. That was it.
“This place is just creepy,” Kat said.
“We’ve sat here for an hour and you only just figured that out?” Magda shifted in her seat to stop her leg from cramping. Things had been pretty quiet so far. A couple of people had come and gone, nobody she recognised. What worried her was the bulk of building behind the unassuming frontage. She’d chosen this one because she assumed Preacher would put most of his resources into the centre dealing with alcohol; it looked like she’d been spot on.
A white car cruised to a stop outside the centre. Magda and Kat crouched down and watched a collared, suited, long-skirted couple get out of the car. The man opened a back door for a girl of not more than fifteen to slouch out and join them.
Magda pressed a hand to her mouth. She knew the girl, although she couldn’t remember her name. She sometimes followed Joseph around like a lovesick puppy.
Her father and mother flanked her and headed down the red brick path. Halfway there, the girl stopped dead and appeared to argue with the pair of them. The father grabbed her by the shoulder and forced her onto the veranda. They disappeared through the door.
“Well she didn’t want to go in there,” Kat muttered.
“I know how she feels.” Magda shifted again. “I hate to say it, but I think we should go in there too.”
“Agreed.” Kat shoved the car keys in her pocket. “Round the back. I’m not keen on walking in with you, since you’re the most recognisable face in Hailstone after yesterday. We’ll see if we can get in unnoticed.”
“You’re the boss.” Magda slipped her sunglasses on and tied a scarf around her hair to tone down the colour.
They crossed the street, skirted the garden and followed a narrow alley between the centre and the next building. Their shoes crunched on loose gravel; neither building had a single window to show what went on inside. The rear was little more than a small, enclosed brick area with steps leading up to a wooden door.
Kat pushed at it gently. It nudged open; the women peered into a dark, long hall.
“Come on,” Kat whispered.
Magda clenched her teeth to stop them from chattering while she walked down the hall. Her heart pounded against her ribcage. The hall smelled of dust and wax. Muffled sounds came from behind closed doors. She stopped to peer through a keyhole. Inside the room, three people sat on chairs, hands joined, apparently praying.
She made a face and moved on. Kat pushed open another door a crack; they peered in to see the Congregation couple they’d watched arrive deep in conversation with a man who might have been a counsellor. The daughter was nowhere in sight.
“...just don’t know what to do with her anymore,” the woman said.
“You’ve done the right thing bringing her to us,” the counsellor replied. “She’ll be a new girl once she’s been through the program.”
Kat softly shut the door. “I feel sorry for her already.” Other rooms held little interest; some were empty, some were set up with beds, tables, crosses and bibles, one more held people engaged in hand-holding prayer. They reached the end of the hall. Beyond, a woman manned what was probably a reception desk.
“There’s nothing here,” Kat said. “Let’s go.”
Magda couldn’t have agreed more. They went back down the hall, treading softly, hardly daring to breathe when they went past the rooms.
At the end of the hall Magda noticed a door slightly ajar. She peered in on a darkened room. Across the way she could see another door and hear raised voices. She tugged on Kat’s hand.
They tip-toed through the room and stopped at the door. Another hall lay beyond. It appeared empty, but the voices were clearer here.
They glanced at each other. Kat squeezed her hand. They crept a few feet in.
Magda inched open the closest door and found the missing daughter. She watched a woman in Congregation dress push a glass across to the girl and order her to drink.
The girl folded her arms and shook her head.
“Drink,” the woman said.
“Get fucked,” the girl retorted.
The woman leaned over her, wrapped a hand around her ponytail, yanked her head back and poured the liquid into her mouth. The girl choked and spluttered.
Magda tensed, ready to throw open the door and rush in there, but Kat pulled her back. “Not yet,” she whispered. “If we don’t get evidence, we can’t help anyone.” She got out her mobile phone, put it on video and handed it to Magda.
Magda peered through the door again. She tilted the phone until it was focused on the girl, who still coughed and choked. The woman straightened and set the glass on the table. “There now,” she said. “That’s a good girl. Now you’re going to see some people who want only what’s best for you. We want you to have a good Christian life. The first thing you need to learn is obedience.”
The girl tensed. She appeared to have trouble speaking, but she forced the words out. “Screw you bitch!”
The woman tut-tutted. “Cursing is not allowed either.” She grabbed the girl’s ponytail again and yanked her head back. “Ask God to forgive you.”
Kat pulled Magda away again at the sound of footsteps. They hurried down the hall, peered in the next room and slipped inside when it appeared to be empty. Magda found it hard to unclench her teeth. “This is monstrous,” she whispered.
They watched a man walk down the hall and disappear into the room with the girl. Magda handed Kat back her phone and got out her own. “Let’s get everything we can,” she whispered.
They moved up the hall. A door further up showed a man watching TV. He didn’t look like he came from the Congregation. Magda trained her phone on him. There was something odd about the way he stared, unblinking, at the screen. What she’d thought was a movie appeared to be a montage of disconnected scenes and words in which Satan, the crucifixion, crosses and fists figured largely. He wore a big set of headphones. Magda set the flash and took a photo to show his arms shackled to the chair. He didn’t as much as flinch.
Raised voices came from the girl’s room. Magda and Kat went back there and peered in, to see the man who’d crossed the hall standing over her with a bible.
Magda took a step away, unable to watch. “Exorcism,” she mouthed at Kat, who filmed the scene.
More footsteps. They retreated further down the hall and took refuge in another empty room.
Magda glanced around. Then she locked the door behind them and pointed Kat at a set
of filing cabinets. She went over to a big desk and went through the drawers.
“Whose office do you think this is?” Kat said in a low voice.
Magda glanced over the desk. “I don’t know, but there’s a lot of stuff here with Preacher’s name on it.”
“What do you think they made that girl drink?” Kat leafed through a pile of papers.
“Holy water.” Magda yanked open a drawer and removed a bottle marked holy water, identical to the one she’d seen in Preacher’s desk.
“Holy water? That’s so kitsch. What do they think she is, a vampire?”
“I think the real question is what’s in the holy water?” Magda put the bottle in her pocket. She felt sick at the thought Preacher would sanction drugging his Congregation, but it would explain a lot.
“Hey Mags do you recognise any of these names?”
Magda went over to Kat, who held a long list of names, some ticked, some crossed, some with notes attached. She scanned it. Her left eye throbbed. “Some of these are from the Congregation,” she said. “Mostly younger ones.” Her finger hovered over the name Joseph Georgiou. The note next to it said procedure successful.
She took a deep, shaky breath. “That’s the boy I told you was a friend the other day,” she said. “Right before he forced me into that car.” She turned the page over to find more names on the back. Her own name was written with an asterisk next to it, and the note, priority case.
“You’re on the list,” Kat said.
Magda handed her the paper. “We take these.”
Kat nodded. “Let’s get out of here.”
“What about that girl?” Magda followed Kat to the door.
“What are we supposed to do?” Kat checked the hall was empty before setting foot in it. “Legally, only her parents can take her out of here.”
“Like any of this is legal?”
They paused at the door to the room. Magda felt sick. The man had his bible pressed right down on the girl’s forehead while he exhorted the demons to come out of her. She wondered if they’d stick her in with the other guy to watch the brainwashing movie right after they traumatised her.
