The Chosen

by Patricia Bell

  “Why him then, Tabitha? Why not someone else? Someone my age?” Luna’s voice raised.

  “Shhh. You will wake him, and he shall punish you again.”

  “He’s not going to hear me,” Luna hissed back. “Unless he has the room bugged. He is with your mother tonight.”

  Esther’s room was downstairs at the back of the house. All the mothers slept downstairs, but Esther, being the first wife, had the biggest room of all. It stood in all its glory at the back and quietest part of the house. Luna had never seen it, but she heard it even had a washroom. Since indoor plumbing was another no-no, she had no idea what it could contain. A bucket and a towel?

  “Bugged? What do you mean?” It was too dark to see anything but the outline of Tabitha’s face, but Luna imagined it riddled with confusion.

  “Never mind, Tabitha. Go to sleep.”

  If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought she’d been sucked up into some kind of alien spaceship and was now living life on another, more primitive, planet. Even so, she couldn’t bring herself to be angry with Tabitha. The girl believed her father was doing the right thing. That his actions would save Luna’s soul from the eternal damnation of the burning fires of hell. Luna did owe Naaman her gratitude for saving her life, but marriage?

  “Promise me you will not make any more trouble. You know what happens to those who do not submit.”

  No, actually she didn’t. No one did. They just disappeared. Vanished. At least that’s what she’d heard.

  “Tabitha, do you really want me to be your mother?” Luna asked, somewhat serious but mostly in an attempt to soothe the girl.

  Tabitha giggled. “You will be a good mother, Reb— Luna. But only if you can learn to accept our ways.”

  “Yeah,” Luna whispered. “Yeah, I guess.”

  Luna rolled over and stared out the window, allowing the darkness outside to impregnate her being. Wishing for freedom yet knowing there was none to be had, she closed her eyes. Luna wanted her mother now more than she’d wanted her when she was alive. And now, she was sorry to not have the chance to tell her what a good mom she was and for causing so much trouble, being so foolish.

  The stars twinkled at her from high above, reminding her of an old Indian tale her mother used to read to her that told of the deceased family members who shone down from above like the stars in the sky. Was her mother shining down on her?

  I’m sorry, Mom. I’m sorry.

  Luna turned and wiped at a tear before it reached her pillow.

  “Tell me about Disneyland once more,” Tabitha whispered into the darkness.

  It had become somewhat of a ritual for them to stay up late while Luna dazzled Tabitha with a story about the outside world. The one about Disneyland had been Tabitha’s favorite. She just couldn’t accurately describe giant mice that danced around, taking pictures with humans. And usually that was just the thing to get Luna’s mind off her own troubles, but that night, she didn’t feel like entertaining.

  “Maybe tomorrow night.” She sniffled.

  “I SWEAR IF YOU TELL me that one more time I’m going to scream!” Luna yelled as her mother stood across from her, hands perched annoyingly on her hips.

  “We don’t swear in this house, young lady, and—”

  “Ugghhhh!” Luna threw her hands into the air and stomped out of the room. Her mother never understood anything. As she grabbed the door to give it a good slam, it disappeared right in front of her.

  “Just for that you can stay home tonight,” her mother yelled as she pointed a reprimanding finger in Luna’s direction. Her worn face revealed years of emotional stress.

  “I hate you!” Luna countered as she pushed past her mother and out the front door.

  “You will regret this young lady!” her mother called after her.

  As Luna glanced back, her mother’s face looked weary, tired. It begged her to return to the sweet girl she used to be, but her pride wouldn’t allow it. As she turned away angrily, she caught a glimpse of her mother’s face. Her eyes turned cold and lifeless, her hair scraggly and gray. Her face became riddled with decay.

  “You will regret this!” she said through unmoving lips. In the next moment, she crumbled to the ground in a pile of dust.

  “Mom, no!” Luna tried to reach out for her mother, but she was gone. “Don’t go! I’m sorry!”

  Luna’s own sobbing cries woke her as she sat up straight in her bed. Breathless, her eyes tracked the room. It only took a second for her to realize where she was. As the warm night air hit her sopping wet nightgown, she shuddered.

  She’s gone. I’ll never get to tell her how sorry I am. How much I love her.

  “Are you well?” Tabitha rolled over in her twin bed to face Luna. Tabitha was used to Luna's cries in the night by now. This wasn’t the first of Luna’s nightmares, and surely it would not be the last.

  “Yeah, I’m okay. Just another bad dream.”

  “Would you like to come lay with me?” Tabitha asked.

  On other occasions, Luna had taken her up on the offer, but that night, she just wanted to be alone.

  “No, I’m okay,” she said as she fell back onto her mattress.

  She wanted to tell Tabitha about her mother, but she wouldn’t understand. To them, death was just another stage in life. Like graduating from high school or something. Instead of mourning, they celebrated death. Luna couldn’t seem to wrap her mind around that concept, so she didn’t bother.

  Besides, The Chosen believed that everyone outside of their secret little society was going to hell, therefore, to them, her mother was now burning in a lake of fire. Luna refused to believe that. Her mother was a Christian. She went to church and believed in God.

  She tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use. The vision of her dead mother stared at her with that lifeless look in her eyes, and it haunted her.

  You will regret this, young lady.

  A tear escaped.

  I’m sorry, Mom. I’m so sorry.

  Chapter 12 - Chief Collins

  “Out with it. What did you find?” Erika placed her purse back on the desk.

  “Well, a few days after the Ferris girl went missing, there was an incident in Phoenix. I know this is a long shot but a witness called in a report of a young girl being harassed by three older men in a back alley. The girl was later seen at the local McDonalds with an older, Amish-looking gentleman.”

  Erika stared at Officer Tanner, trying to detect if this was some kind of joke. Amish? She was in no mood for humor. At this rate, she might as well entertain Dotty’s alien abduction theory. But his face showed no sign of amusement.

  “Are you insinuating the Ferris girl was abducted by the Amish? Are there even any Amish in Arizona?”

  Tanner was her best officer, but since his marriage to Hannah Higgins, his mind had become a bit muddled.

  “That’s the thing. It doesn’t make sense to me, either. But the girl matches the description. Look right here.” Tanner held out the report to Erika.

  Erika took it and read over it. The witness stated the girl had short brown hair, was about five feet five and weighed somewhere around a hundred and twenty pounds. She was clothed in a black tank top and ripped, blue, skinny jeans. Erika stared at the description.

  “Wait,” she said as she shuffled through the files on her desk.

  She seriously needed to get a better filing system.

  There it is. She pulled out the file labeled Luna Ferris, opened it, and scrolled through.

  “Seriously?” She spoke aloud as she stared at the description the mother had given her. “Luna Ferris left her house with nothing except the clothes on her back. Guess what she was wearing?” She stared at Tanner, mouth agape.

  “A black tank and ripped blue jeans?” he asked, but Erika had a feeling he’d already known the answer.

  “Exactly.” She sat back in her chair, put a hand on her chin, and stared up at Tanner. “Amish?”

  “Looking into it now, Chief. Doesn’
t make any sense to me either, but so far it’s the best lead we have.”

  “Keep digging. In the meantime, I’d like to take a trip out to Phoenix and speak to this witness.” She pointed to the name on the file. “Candace Miller.”

  “Mind if I ride along?”

  Erika read between the lines. What he was really saying was, I dug up this information. There’s no way I’m allowing you to question this witness without me. And he was right. He deserved it.

  “Yeah, let’s go,” she answered, trying to ignore the excited grin and greedy rub of his hands together.

  A smile formed on her face. Tanner was a good guy.

  “Davis, hold down the fort. Tanner and I are headed out to Phoenix to check on this lead he found.”

  Tanner beamed with pride.

  “Come on. Let’s go, Sherlock.” She smacked at him playfully.

  “Hm. I like that, Chief. Just call me Holmes. Sherlock Holmes.”

  “Oh boy, I’ve created a monster.” Erika grinned and grabbed her phone from the desk.

  She dialed Rick. He’d probably already ordered.

  “Hey hon, we got a lead. I’ll have to take a raincheck.” She explained the details to her husband as they headed to the car.

  “Sounds like you might be onto something. I’ll get you some food to-go and drop it by the office for ya.”

  “Thanks. I’ll see you tonight.”

  Canyon Rock was a good hour away from Phoenix, so it would take up most of her afternoon. Chances were, whatever he got her to-go wouldn’t be very appetizing by the time she got back, but he meant well.

  “THIS IS NOT A GOOD part of town,” Tanner said as he stared out the window.

  Erika knew the area well. An older part of Phoenix overrun with pawn shops, strip clubs, and payday loan stores. She’d spent much of her career patrolling the streets of this district. The I17 corridor, the epicenter of crime in Phoenix. An area where rape, murder, and physical assaults ran rampant, drug sales went unchecked, and prostitution was a thriving profession. There just weren’t enough officers willing to work these streets. She was glad she’d gotten out of there before her daughter became a statistic like Alexis, a friend of her daughter’s, who had been brutally murdered years back by the street gang, The Westside Posse. As she bit back the emotion that tried to surface, she said, “Is it this street?”

  “Indian School?” He looked up. “Yep, make a left here.”

  She hit her turn signal, waited for the light, and then made a left turn.

  After a couple more turns in a rundown community filled with broken-down cars, peeling paint, and dilapidated structures, Tanner pointed. “Right up there. Third house on the right.”

  The small, rundown, paint peeling dwelling hardly looked habitable. The weeds in the front yard outnumbered the grass ten to one, and the dry patches of barren dirt attested to the fact it hadn’t been cared for in years. Erika pulled the car up alongside the curb.

  In the driveway was a newer model red sports car. Go figure. The woman didn’t have the funds to fix the screen door that hung loosely from its hinges, but she drove a Mercedes-Benz.

  “Come on. Let’s go talk to this woman.” Erika sighed.

  “Nice,” Tanner said, passing the sports car.

  Erika rolled her eyes. “Don’t even think about it. Aren’t you and Hannah trying to have another baby?”

  “There’s plenty of room in here.” He peeked into the back.

  “I’m talking about the payments, goofball.” She shook her head and took the lead up to the rickety front door.

  “Oh, right. Yeah, you’re probably right.”

  “You want to do the honors?” Erika nodded toward the door.

  Tanner pulled back the decrepit screen and gave the door a couple of hard raps. No answer. “Maybe she’s not here.”

  “Try again,”

  Tanner balled his hand up and banged again.

  “Maybe she’s—”

  The door flew open before he could finish.

  “What do you—” A red-headed, slightly overweight woman began roughly. “Oh, can I help you?” She whisked a red curl out of her bed-lined face. Clearly, they’d woken her up.

  “Hello, ma’am,” Tanner said. “We’re here to inquire about a crime you witnessed a couple of months back.”

  She stared at them as if she had no idea what Tanner was talking about.

  “Candace Miller?” Erika asked.

  “Oh, you want my roommate. Hold on a sec.” She turned and walked away, leaving them standing on the porch.

  Erika looked at Tanner.

  He shrugged.

  “Oh,” the woman said, turning back around and opening the door. “Come on in. It will be a minute. Candace is asleep. She’s not really a morning person.”

  Morning person? Erika glanced at her watch. It was one o’clock in the afternoon. Erika went in. Tanner followed behind.

  To her surprise, the place looked much better on the inside than it did on the out. The furniture, though well worn, was unsoiled, the living room clean and tidy. The only turn-off was the ashtray in the middle of the glass coffee table that overflowed with cigarette butts, the nicotine stained walls, and the slight odor of smoke that lingered in the air.

  It could be worse.

  She’d been in places she could hardly breathe for the smoke.

  “What’s this about?” a tall skinny brunette said from the hallway. “I haven’t broken any laws since I got out of jail. I haven’t even worked the streets—”

  Though the woman was thin, she looked anything but healthy. Her eyes sunk in just enough to give away either a past or current drug addiction, and her darkened lips proved she’d smoked at least a pack or two of cigarettes per day for years on end. The bags under her eyes could have very well been from being woken up from a sound sleep, but Erika surmised there was much more going on than that. And the fear that hid behind the woman’s tough demeanor told a story of years of hardship.

  “Ms. Miller, we are not here about any laws being broken. Whatever you do for a living is no concern to us right now,” Erika said, hoping to put the girl at ease.

  “Oh, then what’s this about?” She came further into the room, pulling her robe up around her sheer pink baby doll nightie. Sitting in the chair across from them, she pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her robe. “You mind?”

  “No, go ahead,” Erika answered.

  After all, they were in her house, and people didn’t cooperate well under restrictions. She had a feeling Candace was a pro, and she didn’t want to give the girl any reason to clam up.

  “Want one?” She held a cigarette up to Tanner.

  He put a hand up. “No, thanks. I don’t smoke.”

  She nodded her head to Erika.

  “No, thank you. Candace, the reason we are here is that you filled out a witness form with the Mountain View Precinct about an incident you witnessed a couple of months back.”

  Candace lit her cigarette and leaned back. “Yeah? What about it?” She took a drag and blew a cloud of smoke in Tanner’s direction.

  Tanner muffled a cough and tried to play it off as though it didn’t bother him.

  “I’m wondering if you could recount that day for us.” Erika leaned forward. “We have reason to believe the girl you saw is the same one who went missing just days earlier.”

  “Girls go missing all the time around here. And they end up on the streets.” Candace took another puff. “Believe me, I know. Left home at seventeen and never looked back.”

  “Candace, the girl we’re looking for, Luna, she’s not from around here. She’s from a small town about sixty minutes away. Canyon Rock. She wouldn’t be used to the kind of life you’re speaking of.”

  “A goody-two-shoes, eh?” She butted out the half-spent cigarette into the ashtray and blew out another puff of smoke. “Well, that’s probably why she looked so scared.”

  “Could you tell us what you saw?” Erika asked.

  “Yeah, sure.
I was just heading into work. I’m a stripper. Got me a real tax-paying job. No more streets.”

  “Good for you, Candace.” Erika smiled. It took a lot for a prostitute to get off the streets and get a real job. At least it was legal employment. “Tell me what you saw.”

  “Like I said, I was heading into work, and this girl was in the alley behind the pawn shop on Seventeenth Ave. There were a couple of guys harassing her. She didn’t look like a pro. She looked like a school kid. So, I called the cops.” She lit another cigarette.

  “What else did you see? Did they hurt her?”

  “I was running late for work, but I’ve seen those guys out there, harassing girls on the streets before.” She puffed hard on her cancer stick. “I had to keep walking. I couldn’t afford to lose my job, you know. But later that evening, I saw her at the McD’s right across from The Joint. She was with an old guy. Looked Amish or something. I was glad to see she was alright. Eatin’ a happy meal with the guy.”

  “The Joint?” Tanner asked, unfamiliar with the area.

  “Yeah, that’s where I work. You know, the strip club on Seventeenth?”

  Tanner blushed.

  Erika pulled out a picture from her shirt pocket and handed it to Candace. “Is this the girl you saw?”

  The woman’s eyes lit up. “Yeah.” She took the picture. “That’s her. I’d recognize that girl anywhere. So young and innocent looking. Too innocent to be out on the streets.” She passed the picture back to Erika.

  As Erika took the photo, she asked, “Candace, could you describe the Amish-looking man for me?”

  “I gave a full report to the cop who came to the bar asking about it.” The odor of burning plastic rose through the air as the woman butted out yet another cigarette directly on top of a pile of filters. “He was a big guy. Wore one of those ten-gallon farmer hats. He had a long scruffy beard and wore a dark button-down shirt with suspenders overtop. Is that what they’re called? You know, what the clowns wear.”

  “Yes. Suspenders. What else can you tell us?” Erika nodded for the girl to continue as she wrote down the description.