tightly, something twisting in the pit of my stomach. “She’s fine.” She was out there somewhere.
“Good. I expect you are keeping a close eye on her.”
“I am.”
“We are almost there. Just six weeks to go now.”
They – we – needed her six days prior to the ceremony day to perform the rituals necessary for the sacrifice to be accepted, so we had seven days in total that she had to be with us. Her parents and the police could easily find her in that time.
“Are you worried about being caught?” I asked.
“No,” he replied. “Jonathan and Marissa will expect us to have stayed in England where we have other land. They will not suspect we bought land in Ireland and merged our commune with Eternal Light in Bournemouth.”
Bournemouth was my old home until we heard that The Light was going to be sacrificed and moved to Ireland where we waited for the other commune to join us afterwards. Donald had bought land in the woods in Ireland, so we could all relocate and live together as one larger united community. A few weeks later, they turned up ten people lighter and without Scarlett.
My directions were clear: Make her love and trust me then take her to Dublin on a day trip and hand her over.
The more time I spent with her, the more my instructions bothered me. I didn’t want to hurt her, and I didn’t want her to lose faith in me. But this was bigger than my feelings or what I wanted.
“Alright, good. I’m looking forward to coming home,” I said.
“And we are looking forward to being complete once again. If you need anything, please call,” Donald said. “I need to make my way back now, you know how I don’t like being away from the community, even if it is to make a quick call.”
No one did. We had to make runs into the nearest town every month for supplies and drive to the edge of the forest to make any phone calls. We all hated going.
“I will. Bye, Donald.”
“Noah,” he said and hung up. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and dropped my phone onto my bed.
I RUBBED MY forehead, downing a glass of water. Scarlett’s parents took her because they didn’t believe in Eternal Light anymore but could they have a point? It was my entire life, and I was starting to doubt it.
“How’s it going?” Finn asked from behind me.
I lowered the glass and turned around. “Fine.”
“Everything going according to the plan?”
My scalp prickled. “Yes, why?”
He shrugged. “You are spending a lot of time with her.”
“That was the whole point, you idiot!” I was harsher than I planned to be. It was getting harder and harder to control my feelings and pretend this was all business. I trusted my family but what if Eternal Light were wrong? What if we were just killing the funniest, most loving, passionate, annoying, and beautiful girl I’d ever met?
What if she wasn’t The Light, the key to the next life, to eternal life?
But what if she was and I could spend an eternity with her?
I wanted to ask Finn if he’d ever have doubts, but I didn’t know who to trust anymore. If he told anyone that I was questioning it, I could get sent back to the others and where would that leave Scarlett?
Finn held his hands up. “Alright, just asking. What crawled up your arse and died?”
“Nothing. I’m tired, that’s all.”
“Is she keeping you up?”
I ground my teeth. “Nothing’s happened between us.”
“Whoa, Noah, calm down. I know it hasn’t.”
I turned back around, scared that he’d see the guilt in my eyes. Kissing was as far as I was supposed to go, our relationship had to look real, and Scarlett had to believe it.
I’d built a wall around myself the first day we’d met, but she used a sledgehammer to smash it down and made me care for her.
“You know exactly when Donald and Fiona want to do this thing?” I asked. ‘Do this thing’. It was a crappy way to say ‘sacrifice Scarlett’. I knew six weeks but not a specific date.
“When they’re
“Good. I expect you are keeping a close eye on her.”
“I am.”
“We are almost there. Just six weeks to go now.”
They – we – needed her six days prior to the ceremony day to perform the rituals necessary for the sacrifice to be accepted, so we had seven days in total that she had to be with us. Her parents and the police could easily find her in that time.
“Are you worried about being caught?” I asked.
“No,” he replied. “Jonathan and Marissa will expect us to have stayed in England where we have other land. They will not suspect we bought land in Ireland and merged our commune with Eternal Light in Bournemouth.”
Bournemouth was my old home until we heard that The Light was going to be sacrificed and moved to Ireland where we waited for the other commune to join us afterwards. Donald had bought land in the woods in Ireland, so we could all relocate and live together as one larger united community. A few weeks later, they turned up ten people lighter and without Scarlett.
My directions were clear: Make her love and trust me then take her to Dublin on a day trip and hand her over.
The more time I spent with her, the more my instructions bothered me. I didn’t want to hurt her, and I didn’t want her to lose faith in me. But this was bigger than my feelings or what I wanted.
“Alright, good. I’m looking forward to coming home,” I said.
“And we are looking forward to being complete once again. If you need anything, please call,” Donald said. “I need to make my way back now, you know how I don’t like being away from the community, even if it is to make a quick call.”
No one did. We had to make runs into the nearest town every month for supplies and drive to the edge of the forest to make any phone calls. We all hated going.
“I will. Bye, Donald.”
“Noah,” he said and hung up. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and dropped my phone onto my bed.
I RUBBED MY forehead, downing a glass of water. Scarlett’s parents took her because they didn’t believe in Eternal Light anymore but could they have a point? It was my entire life, and I was starting to doubt it.
“How’s it going?” Finn asked from behind me.
I lowered the glass and turned around. “Fine.”
“Everything going according to the plan?”
My scalp prickled. “Yes, why?”
He shrugged. “You are spending a lot of time with her.”
“That was the whole point, you idiot!” I was harsher than I planned to be. It was getting harder and harder to control my feelings and pretend this was all business. I trusted my family but what if Eternal Light were wrong? What if we were just killing the funniest, most loving, passionate, annoying, and beautiful girl I’d ever met?
What if she wasn’t The Light, the key to the next life, to eternal life?
But what if she was and I could spend an eternity with her?
I wanted to ask Finn if he’d ever have doubts, but I didn’t know who to trust anymore. If he told anyone that I was questioning it, I could get sent back to the others and where would that leave Scarlett?
Finn held his hands up. “Alright, just asking. What crawled up your arse and died?”
“Nothing. I’m tired, that’s all.”
“Is she keeping you up?”
I ground my teeth. “Nothing’s happened between us.”
“Whoa, Noah, calm down. I know it hasn’t.”
I turned back around, scared that he’d see the guilt in my eyes. Kissing was as far as I was supposed to go, our relationship had to look real, and Scarlett had to believe it.
I’d built a wall around myself the first day we’d met, but she used a sledgehammer to smash it down and made me care for her.
“You know exactly when Donald and Fiona want to do this thing?” I asked. ‘Do this thing’. It was a crappy way to say ‘sacrifice Scarlett’. I knew six weeks but not a specific date.
“When they’re
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