“You’re afraid of him,” Luke pointed out. Jonah just stared at Luke, and then motioned to move to the door with him again.
“Just…Come on,” he said, making his way out the door as well. Luke followed reluctantly, and hesitantly watched Abraham storm his way to the front door of the church. He opened the door, and rang a bell by it several times, then making his way to the podium up front, where both Jonah and Luke now stood.
Moments later, the church was full of people. In just a couple minutes time, it seemed like everybody in the colony was there. They filled every seat, stood in the walkways, and some were on the steps outside struggling to see through the open door. Luke wasn’t sure where this was headed, but he knew he didn’t like it.
“Everyone, thank you for gathering for this sudden, impromptu meeting,” Abraham spoke.
Everybody looked to him as he did. Everybody. Luke was pretty sure he couldn’t see a single eye not on Abraham at the moment.
“As you all know, we have recently gained the pleasure of the presence of Luke, our multi-talented friend. He has just yesterday told me his story, and I must tell you, things are looking to be quite in our favor. So much so, in fact, that I’m making a formal command to soon have all of our checkpoints pack up and return home, and thereafter have all members of our community stay within these walls for the foreseeable future; I believe we are very close to getting accepted into the Father’s heavenly gates, and we are but a few steps now from attaining it!”
Everyone cheered, and Abraham glanced over to Luke, grinning. This was, Luke imagined, what Abraham wanted to show to Luke: A representation of how real this was to all of them. And that was great; they could all choose to believe whatever kind of nonsense that he said all the livelong day, but it didn’t make it any less crazy. It wouldn’t make Luke change his mind.
“However, we are missing a couple key things. Or I should say, key individuals,” Abraham continued, much to Luke’s shock. “Luke’s holy compatriots still wait in their home, and are, as it would appear, held down by it. It’s walls prevent them from even seeing– let alone reaching– the holy light they so powerfully are a part of. And so, my people, before we may travel home, we must rid this cage from the holy heptad, and bring them to us!”
Everyone made loud, almost aggressive sounds of agreement, and Luke glared at Abraham in both rage and fear, unsure what he should– or really, could for that matter– do to stop this.
“So, before they may come home, I ask that four of the surrounding checkpoints nearest Lovell embark on a pilgrimage to the house of the seven, and burn it to the ground! Then, they may return, with the remaining six men, all unharmed, so that we may further our expedition to the holy sanctuary!”
“Abraham–!” Jonah tried to intervene, Abraham held his hand out again toward Jonah, though this time more subtly.
“This must be done, Jonah; we’re too close to stop now, to even hesitate. I know it. If Luke refuses to help our cause, he’ll be forced to,” he muttered, enough so that Jonah and Luke could hear him, but not so for the mass of cheering followers.
Jonah looked at Luke worriedly, and Luke just stared down Abraham, who gazed out at his people.
“Abraham, show us the lights! We want to see the lights!” a man from the crowd shouted.
“Yeah! I want to see his demon’s eyes at work!” another added.
Abraham smiled, and took a small step back, so that he was closer to Luke. Before Luke could even react, Abraham placed his hand violently on the back of Luke’s head, and somehow again forced his eyes to shine blue-silver. And his vision went away from the church, and to the eyes of the Goliath. They were now in Vermont, almost New Hampshire, making their way closer to him still. And they were moving fast.
Luke could feel his heart pounding, adrenaline pumping, his ears rattling, and his breath shaking. He could faintly hear the cheers of the crowd, and they all begged to know what he saw.
“They are closer!” Abraham warned, some people gasping. “And coming closer still, but fear not! We will be far away from them by the time they arrive here!”
Everyone cheered again, and Abraham rather violently released Luke’s head from his grasp. Luke keeled over, and had to get his bearings. Jonah helped lift him up, and as he did Luke swatted his hand away, standing on his own and staring out angrily at all the people staring at him.
He was like an attraction to them. Some kind of carnival freak they didn’t understand. Or no, more like some kind of super-human. They were too blinded by Abraham to see that he was just a man with a curse– a disease– being paraded around by a madman, and nothing more.
All the same, Luke’s mind wasn’t too focused on that in the moment. He was busy going through the millions of worried thoughts about the guys and Snow. There was no way to warn them, and even if they did manage to make it out, there was no way the house could be defended against that many people. Even with all the snow around, if they had the materials, they’d find a way to burn it down.
But Zack was still there. And Lily. And Emily…
Without thinking, Luke lunged over to Abraham, and punched him in the face, then swiping the knife from Abraham’s belt as he staggered to the side. Everybody shouted and gasped, but nobody moved.
Luke dove on top of Abraham, knocking him to the floor, and stabbed him in the shoulder with the knife, pinning down his right arm with his own left. He pulled the knife out of Abraham’s shoulder and put it up to his throat, looking out at the hoard of both terrified and enraged people.
Abraham meanwhile just stared at him in shock, still trying to gather his bearings on what was going on.
“Listen to me! This man is lying to you! I am not some kind of fucking savior, and neither are my people. If you come for them, then I promise you, the only place you and everyone here will be going is the ground! Now, I’m going to leave, and if anyone tries to stop me, then there will be–!”
Jonah swung down at Luke’s head, and almost instantly, Luke was knocked out cold and surrounded by fearful and dangerous individuals, with nothing but pure fear and adrenaline pumping in his heart. And truly, he was alone.
Before – 4
“9:00 p.m.”
Adam clicked his cell phone shut, and hurled it into a wall. By the sound it made, and the indent now formed in his bedroom wall, he assumed the phone was at the very least cracked.
He’d just broken up with his girlfriend, and it was… sloppy, to say the least. Part of him didn’t want to– having never seen the guys anymore, she was really the only thing he had left that kept him in the social world. However, knowing that was part of the reason he wanted to stay with her– and a large part, at that– he also knew he had to do it.
She was angry, of course; he’d expect nothing else. After all, this was sudden and out of nowhere, and especially only a week away from their graduation: a time meant for celebration and togetherness. All the same though, he never felt that whatsoever anymore, and as time went on, he was hardly even able to fake it toward her.
He knew nobody assumed this to be the case, but he actually really hated being alone, and wanted nothing more than for the guys to all get back together again. Adam always acted brutish, and at times hard to deal with– he knew that– but still, those six guys were some of his best friends. Even the girls, even Zack at times! They were all great to be around.
Now though? They never spoke, not to Adam anyway, and he hadn’t done anything social with them in the longest time. So, he felt he wasn’t in the best of headspaces, considering even when he was with his girlfriend he felt lonely, and with that in mind, he broke up with her.
At the moment, however, Adam didn’t feel like he’d made the right call. He didn’t even have anyone to talk to about it. While at one point he would have called Nolan, or maybe even Luke, now he knew he couldn’t. Looking out the window, their cars weren’t even in their driveways. They were probably out.
Granted, a little while ago, Luke did send Adam a text
inviting him to go up to his Maine house with the guys. He apparently even asked Zack– or more appropriately, he overheard Cody and Nolan talking to Luke about it, and rather awkwardly invited himself. But still, Adam hadn’t responded, and he felt as though he couldn’t. As much as he hated it, he was too dug in too deep where he was; it’d probably just be weird for him to be there anyway.
“Ugh…” Adam groaned, his mind now stuck on the same feeling of an empty-anxiety he had gotten whenever the group came into his mind. “Assholes…”
He made his way downstairs, and after grabbing a drink from the fridge in the kitchen, he continued his venture to the basement, where– back in the day– all the guys used to come and hang out. Now though, Adam hardly ever went down there himself other than to remember.
The lights flickered on as he flipped the switch, and Adam slowly made his way around the pool table, gazing longingly at all the pictures hung around the surrounding walls. Some were of family, but as time went on, and the guys had made that area more a place of their own, many pictures of them had accumulated there.
There was a picture of Nolan, with Luke and Adam on either side of him. It was from their Sophomore year’s New Year’s Eve, and Nolan was pretty hammered. Well, he was wasted, there was no getting around that, and it was his first time. He kept wanting to hug Luke and Adam all night, so they compromised with him to take one picture together, and then he had to stop. It was a stupid compromise, but Nolan took it anyway. Luke and Adam were essentially keeping Nolan up as they leant across the pool table, but they all still managed to look happy. Luke was even kissing the side of Nolan’s face, in jest.
Adam moved onto another picture, one of Derrick, Jeremy, Luke, and Cody. Derrick was holding onto the reins of one of his horses as Jeremy was falling off of it. His face was mostly a blur, but what you could make out showed an expression of pure terror. Cody was trying to catch him from hitting the ground, and Luke was busy holding his stomach, his face beat red and tear-stained from laughter. They must have been Freshman, Sophomores at best, when that was taken.
On the adjacent wall, there was a number of small pictures all framed and lined up next to one another on a small counter. One of Chris and Jeremy, sitting at a cafeteria table eating together. One of Adam and Zack on a rollercoaster, where a passenger’s stray phone had hit Adam in the chest right as the camera went off. A picture of Cody and Derrick showing off a massive snowman they had made, next to Nolan and Adam’s small and crappy one. Another of Luke, Emily, Nolan, and Lily on Luke’s birthday: Luke had a fedora on, and it was tipped over his eyes. Emily leant next to the seat he was sat in, dying of laughter, while Nolan held a piece of cake in his hand, ready to slam it into Luke’s face. Lily just had her face in her hand, leaning on the other side of Luke’s chair in disappointment.
On the next side of the wall, there was a picture of Chris, Cody, Nolan, and Adam all posing on the top of a skiing mountain. They had their backs turned to the camera, and were all looking outward to be “deep” and “artsy” in their winter attire. Zack had taken the picture, and he insisted they do it until it looked perfect. They were in that pose for like, twenty minutes!
There was a picture of Cody and Luke playing pool. Luke had sunglasses on, to hide his “pool-poker face,” as he put it, and Cody therefore put Brianna’s scarf around his face like a ninja mask. They were facing each other as Luke prepped his move, and Cody stared him down from the other end of the table.
Next to it, there was a photo of Brianna, Emily, and Lily, smiling and making signals to be quiet above Cody, Luke, and Nolan, who had fallen asleep on a couch next to each other. Cody’s head was on Luke’s shoulder, and Luke had his on Nolan’s. Nolan, therefore, had his head affectionately leant against Luke’s head. The girls put a blanket around them, and even managed to place tiaras on their heads, and a necklace on Luke’s neck.
Then, Adam got to the final wall. The best wall, in his opinion. There, both framed and placed very delicately, surrounded only by those pictures like them, were the ones of all seven of the guys. It was a little rude to the others, sure, but all the same, the boys agreed that space was for them together, and that alone.
There was one of the seven of them at the donut shop they went to after crashing Derrick’s dad’s car the night– or rather, the morning– they all plowed the snow together. They were in loose-hanging winter clothes, and their heads were messy, and drenched in sweat. There were cups of coffee– hot chocolate for Luke, Nolan, and Cody– donuts, bagels, and muffins all around the small table they sat at. And even though they were all tired, and still arguing over who crashed the car, as well as how much trouble they’d all be in for it, they smiled, and came together in an odd sort of huddle as the photo was taken.
Then there was a picture of the seven of them at a beach. It was on one of the last days of their sophomore year, and they all went to the beach with friends rather than going to school. The seven of them attempted to make a human pyramid, with Adam, Nolan, and Luke on the bottom. Then Derrick and Chris were above them, and Cody above them. Finally, Jeremy sat atop Cody, his legs crisscrossed. Nobody looked very happy, aside from Jeremy anyway. Still though, it was a good day at the beach, all in all.
There was only one more after that one, but it was probably Adam’s favorite. The seven of them– as well as a few other friends– went to the town fair on the Fourth of July their Junior year. After the fair, the town put on a huge fireworks display, and the guys and girls all went to a hill nearby where they were going off, and sat down to watch the show. They were secluded, so they could be as loud and boisterous as they wanted. And God, were they ever. At the moment of the picture though, the seven boys were all sat on the tip of the hill, looking up at the display.
Whoever took the picture– it was either Lily or Emily, maybe even Bri, Adam was sure of it– managed to get it right as a firework went off, illuminating the background of the shot, and silhouetting the foreground that was their backs and heads. They were all bunched up, parallel with one another, admiring the show, and each of them were looking up in wonderment. It wasn’t the most exciting of the bunch, but still, Adam loved it. There was something so… fraternal about it.
“What I wouldn’t give for another picture…” Adam thought aloud, touching the frame in fondness.
He leant on the pool table, and took another sip of his drink. Maybe, he thought, he should reach out to one of the guys, and tell them what had just happened. They’d understand after all, right? There’s no way they could all be holding that much animosity toward each other for that long.
Granted though, even if he wanted to call one of them, his phone was just busted… by him.
“God damn it… Way to go, asshole…” Adam scorned himself.
He could always try to just go where they were. Drive there, wherever it was. It may have been a little over-dramatic, but at the same time, he just got over a nasty breakup, so Adam felt the action was warranted by the situation.
After one last glance at the hallowed anthology of their childhood, Adam decidedly went upstairs, put on his shoes, grabbed his things, and headed for his car.
He pulled out of the neighborhood, when suddenly, and much to his surprise, a car stopped short right next to him, almost hitting the front of his car.
Adam waved at them with a shocked and angered gesture, and he saw them do the same. Admittedly, Adam was pulling out of there somewhat hastily, but all the same, they should have seen him coming early enough to react sooner than that!
He rolled his window down to see who it was better, and of course, was both shocked and in no way surprised to see that it was Jeremy, Chris, and Derrick.
“Guys?” Adam asked, taken aback by the unlikelihood of seeing them after having such a nostalgic trip of their friendship.
“Adam?” Jeremy asked, equally confused. “What the hell are you doing, dude?”
“I was… Well what are you doing, first of all!?” Adam responded, almost instantly regaining
that old sense of bluntness and difficulty. Though, he did recognize it this time around, and tried to reel it in. “I mean, it’s nice to see you and all, but what are you doing?”
“We were going to go get food, Derry’s here too,” Chris said. Derrick popped his head from around Jeremy’s seat, and waved as best he could at Adam, who somewhat awkwardly reciprocated. “You wanna come?” Adam paused.
“No…No I uh… I’m kind of…” he stammered out.
“What’s up, man…? You’re upset,” Jeremy accurately guessed. Adam smirked a little at that; they did all know how to read one another quite well. Adam sighed, and decided there was no point in holding back the truth.
“Yeah, I uh… I just broke up with Jessie,” he admitted.
“Oh no, really?” Chris said, looking sorry for his friend.
“That sucks dude, I’m sorry,” Jeremy consoled. “Where were you headed to?”
“Honestly? I was going to go looking for you guys, or maybe Luke and Nolan, maybe even Cody. I just… I needed to talk about it,” Adam explained, getting somewhat upset.
Chris then got out of Jeremy’s car, and made his way over to Adam’s, opening the passenger door.
“Der, take shotgun! I’m going with Adam!” Chris yelled, Derrick then hastily complying. “Jer, change of plans, let’s head to Cody’s! I’m pretty sure that’s where the others are!” Jeremy nodded his head affirmingly, and sat back down in his seat.
“How do you know that?” Adam asked, as Chris sat down in his car and shut the door, buckling in.
“Snapchat,” Chris replied, grinning. “Saw it on Lily’s story. It’s her birthday, remember?”
“Right, yeah I remember,” Adam said. He didn’t. “But why are they all there? Why Cody’s?”
“I think it’s also he and Bri’s anniversary, if I’m not mistaken,” Chris thought aloud. “They’re probably celebrating both, and Luke and Em are there to celebrate with them.” Chris then changed his positioning, and faced Adam more directly, as he now pulled out of the neighborhood again, following Jeremy down the dark and empty road. “But let’s talk about this– you and Jessie– that’s more important,” Chris shifted subjects. “What happened?”
The Way Back (Book 2): The Way Back, Part II Page 17
