Fear of Mystics (Saga of Mystics Book 2) (8 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY

              It was a warm afternoon, but not too bad.  The heavy labor of working in the field had always been something that made Steph Richards’ blood move and soul rise. None the less, she thought back on their visitors and considered the value they had gained from irrigating the well-water that had gushed up. Her husband Bill had always been more concerned about the powers that people showed than she had, but for safety, Steph kept quiet.  The Faith were ruthless with those they determined to be users of the powers.

              She wiped the dripping sweat out of her eyes, as she manually pulled the weeds. Looking around, she thought this year’s harvest would yield more than enough to get them through the winter.  Perhaps, it would even provide some trade opportunities. As she glanced around, her eyes fell on the robed man standing at the end of one of the rows of corn. The delight she had felt at this solid day’s work melted into fear.  The man just stared at her.  The Lord’s Hammer never talked. Taking her gloves off and again wiping her brow, she walked toward him.

              “Good afternoon, sir.” She smiled an uncomfortable smile.

              The robed man looked toward her house and then back at her. She looked in that direction and saw the other three standing with her husband out in front of the porch.  Slowly, she made her way to join them. The sound of the man behind her stomping through her yard, was a little disconcerting.

              “Honey?” She called out to Bill.  He just looked at her.

              “Steph, we missed you at the chapel last week,” came a voice from the bench on the far side of the patio.  Looking past those in front of her house, she now saw what she had not seen before. Minister Sal Martino sat comfortably on her front porch. This was even more concerning than she had originally assessed.

              “Good afternoon, Minister. What brings you out to our farm?” She replied.

              “Why don’t you and Bill come have a sit with me, and we will discuss that.” Sal’s voice dripped with contradiction.  He sounded sweet, but she heard within it the hidden threat that generally kept people in line.  She walked past Bill, grabbing his hand as she did and they made their way up to their own porch, like invited guests.

              As they took their seats, the Minister began. “So, any problem that kept you from chapel?”

              Steph answered, afraid her husband would say too much. “No. No problems. We were working the farm, trying to deal with an overactive well for the last few weeks.”

              Sal’s cold gaze bored into her. “Some of the local people say they were visited by strangers.  We didn’t hear this report from you. Were you visited by strangers?”

              Steph understood finally what brought them here. “Yes, but we told them to leave.”

              “Why would you tell them to leave? Bill, why don’t you tell me?” Sal turned his head toward her husband, but kept his eyes on her.

              Bill stuttered out a response. “Th-They only showed powers once and we kicked them off the property. They wasn’t here but a few minutes.”

              The Minister’s eyes shifted over to Bill, matching where his head was already pointed. “Powers?”

              “They messed with the well, and Steph told ‘em to get out.” He was trying to save her, and she appreciated it. It had the added benefit of being true.

              Steph interrupted. “It has taken us weeks to get our well under control, after their meddling.”

              Sal sat in silence and looked back and forth from Bill to Steph. The silence was long and full of tension. Eventually, he just stood up.

              “Meddlers will make things more difficult, won’t they?” He said, walking toward the steps. At the last moment, he turned quickly and looked right at Steph. “But, you will report any strangers in the future, won’t you?”

              Steph was taken aback, but responded quickly, “Of course.”

              “Excellent,” Sal stated. “The crop looks nice.”

              “Yes,” Steph answered, happy for the change of subject. “We hope to have enough to trade this fall.”

              “And to tithe, right?” Sal said as an aside, but Steph knew it wasn’t a suggestion.

              “Either way, we tithe, Minister.” Steph replied, a little offended at the suggestion.

              “Yes you do, sister. The Richards are believers, good believers, aren’t you?”

              “Yes, we are.” Steph’s eyes narrowed.  For once, she wished she had one of those demon powers to throw at the man. Later that night, she would ask forgiveness for that thought in her prayers. But, at the moment, his arrogance and bullying were too much. Knowing better, she kept quiet about her concerns.

              “Brothers,” Sal called to the Lord’s Hammer, now ignoring the Richards’, “Let us move on to the next home. I think we will find collaborators today.”

              Sal led the Lord’s Hammer out the Richards’ front gate and headed down the road.  Bill and Steph just stood on their porch watching them until the men were completely out of sight. As soon as they could no longer see them, Bill pulled Steph into an embrace.  He comforted her as silent tears fell from her eyes. This release of tension was becoming more and more common. They never talked about it, but both of them knew that the faith would either collapse, or someday they would come for Bill and Steph. They seemed like common farmers, but Steph had been a history professor. There was a historical path that was common for these types of situations, and Sal Martino was playing this like a script.

END OF SUMMER

“
Who am I to judge? Should I split the world up over who looks like me, who speaks like me, or who loves like me?”
– Everett Pickering, PhD.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

              The scream broke through the quiet of the night and Beth leapt up to grab the baby.  With Cooper in her arms, she hid in her house, her only comfort in the knowledge that other people’s powers would not work against her.  However, she was still a woman of advanced years with only a boy just turning two in her care. She waited out the screams, heard the frantic running about, and the eventual silence as the disturbance ended.

              As summer turned to fall, it had been just more than two years since the Event. More than six weeks had passed since Ted and the others had left on their journey, which was not a long time for one of these journeys. She could not wait for them to be home.  About two weeks after they left, the lunacy began. People became irritable, angry and violent. Their libidos also went into overdrive. It was as though all forms of control had left people, they no longer had discretion and would just give into impulses right away. It was also certainly an aspect of someone’s power. This second turn at the lunacy happened precisely twenty-five days following the end of the last.  This was the third night, and she hoped it followed the last month’s pattern and only lasted those three days.

              Beth was, of course, not affected. Her own ability shielded her from other people’s powers. Kayla had taken to staying in her home because Beth also seemed to be able to shield others. Beth had found this out in an unfortunate way, walking in mid-day to find her grandson, Kyle, and his boyfriend Britt engaged in passion that was best left to married people in her opinion. Shocked as she was, her understanding was piqued when the control immediately returned to Britt and Kyle as soon as Beth was in their presence. After some awkward moments, Britt had appointed himself to patrol down the hill so he wouldn’t lose control like that again.

              Someone appeared in the doorway. She had not lit a candle, so she could only hope it was someone friendly. The shadow filled her with some dread.

              “Mom, are you okay?” It was Kate, checking up on them.

              “Yes, sweetheart.” Beth replied, standing to hug her daughter. “Is everything okay out there?”

              Kate lit one of her light stones and placed it on the window sill. “Yeah, that wasn’t a pain scream.  If you know what I mean.”

              “Yes, dear, I do know what you mean.” Beth comforted herself with the knowledge that she was old, but not a fool. “Let’s not light up the house, okay? I don’t want to draw attention.”

              “I hope this is the last night of this.” Kate offered, turning the light off and slipping down to sit next to the wall.  Beth could tell she was exhausted.

              “Has Jenny said anything about this curse?” Jenny Martinez was one of their two resident researchers into abilities and powers. The other was Cliff Ko, but the boy was off with Ted.

              “Well, she did scream something.” Kate laughed lightly. “That was her screaming.”

              Beth was not amused. “Who was the man?”

              “Not a man, it was the healer Jasmine.” Kate said rather matter of fact.

              “Jenny is gay?” Beth asked. “I never knew.”

              “I haven’t talked to her about it, but I kind of get the feeling she is interested in both men and women.  I heard her tell Nat once about a relationship she had with a woman.  It sounded like it was long-term, but since we have known her, she has only dated men.” Kate had a little smirk on her face, Beth could hear it in her voice. “Well, until tonight.”

              Beth thought Kate was taking all of this a little lightly. Beth had long since left her judgment by the wayside for people who were gay or whatever.  Even her own grandson was gay. But, she was actually concerned about population.  In the last two years, as far as the council could tell, about eighty-five percent of the population had died throughout the old city. Conflict, illness, extreme weather and misadventure had killed so many people, their first summer had been taken up burying the dead. As far as she was concerned, who someone was attracted to was becoming less important than bearing children if one was of age to do so.

              Kate let out a gasp of recognition. “Of course.” She said.

              Beth just looked at her, “What?”

              “This curse; you said this curse.” Kate replied.

              “I did. That is how I see it, don’t you?” Beth was astonished at being reprimanded for the use of the word. But, Kate apparently wasn’t reprimanding her.

              “Mom, do you know of anything else that people refer to as a curse that happens once a month for a couple of days?”

              Beth’s eyes widened.  How had she not seen it? “Menstruation?”

              Kate nodded, “This is tied to someone’s menstrual cycle. We just need to find out whose.” Kate rose and dusted off her pants. “I need to get some rest and talk with Jenny about this in the morning. Who is the best healer in the Bluffs right now?”

              Beth thought for a moment. “With Adam at the Hillside, that would be Jack Collins.”

              Kate nodded. “Okay, we will figure it out tomorrow.  Here is hoping we are soon through with this cycle.”

              As Kate kissed her Mom and left the home, Beth said aloud, “I think we all hope this is over soon.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

              “Phineas!” Cliff called out.  It was the first word the boy had uttered in days and there was a guttural sound to it.  Ted looked to where he had shouted, and there, in the middle of the road was a being that was the torso of a man, connected to the body of a horse. Ted had just seen his first centaur.

              The half man, half horse stood in the middle of the road, halted by the sound of his name. He slowly turned and looked their way, the slow clip-clop of his hooves sounding on the pavement.

              “Who knows that name?” The creature shouted back.

              “It’s Cliff.” The boy responded.

              The swishing of the centaur’s tale mirrored his clear discomfort at being recognized.  Ted’s group rode their bikes a little closer. The centaur turned and Ted saw the muscles in his flank flex, and knew they would never catch him.

              “We helped your mate to foal.” Cliff shouted.

              Phineas turned again, then slowly inched toward them, caution in his eyes and in his steps. “Cliff? Yes, you were the boy with the healer.”

              Cliff rode right up to him. The rest of the group followed a little more slowly. “Right, I was with Jack.  How is your mate, and the foal?”

              A smile warmed Phineas’ features as he replied, “Mary is well, and the foal, his name is Chester. We are grateful for your help.”

              “These are some other friends,” Cliff said, pointing behind him to each in turn, “This is Natalee, Antwon, Anthony and Emma.  You remember Rich I am certain.” The centaur gazed coldly at Rich, something was wrong. “And this is the leader of the Council, Ted Craven.”

              “You are from the Council of the Bluffs?” Phineas asked Ted.

              “Yes.” Ted answered. “It is nice to meet you.”

              “Have you come to give us aid?” This came out almost as a neigh. There was deep sadness in it.

              “What kind of aid can we give? Is something wrong, Phineas?” Rich was the one who answered, he saw the same sadness that Ted saw.

              “We must be protected from the Faith.  They have declared war on all of us. They call us abominations and spawn of the adversary.”

              Rich stepped forward. Matters of faith were generally left to Rich due to Ted’s well-known dislike of organized religion. “Can you tell us about them?”

              The centaur looked around cautiously.

              “Hmm,” Rich considered their surroundings. “Perhaps it would be best if we were not out in the open then. Could we talk about this in your camp? I know Cliff would like to see Annie again, and Ted really wanted to meet her.”

              Ted recognized the response in Phineas’ eyes before he ever spoke.  He had seen that response in the eyes of many soldiers over the course of his army career.  It was the look of one who had lost someone close in combat. Phineas took a moment, but he did respond. “She is no more.  The Faith, and their evil priest Sal, burned her at the stake for being in league with the devil and creating monsters.”

              “No!” Cliff’s response was relatively expected, but its fervor was not. “She can’t be dead. Tell me that is a lie.”

              “I am sorry, my young friend,” Phineas replied, lowering his head. Ted was struck by just how equine his attitude and interaction was. “She had that effect on people. She was truly one of the most generous and giving souls this planet has ever seen. But she is no more.” A single stream of tears went down his left cheek. Turning back to Rich, he said, “There is no camp.”

              Having nowhere to go, they just moved along in the direction the group had already been heading. Phineas told them all he knew of the Faith, their leader Minister Sal, and his henchmen, the Lord’s Hammer.  He told them of the Lord’s Hammers’ negating of people’s powers and how people had already begun to rely so heavily on their powers that when they were taken away, they were useless to defend themselves.

              Cliff spoke up again. “Do they affect you?  I mean, do your abilities change?”

              Phineas lowered his head. “Sadly, yes, or they never would have taken her. I could not use my powers to defend her. But, if you are asking if we change back around them?  No, we are what we are. That can’t change due to their ability, because ours is a change in our basic making, our DNA if you will. No, I and my family will learn to fight without our powers and on that day, we will avenge Annie Grace.”

              Ted thought for a moment, then asked, “Phineas, do you know where the Bluffs are?”

              Phineas smiled. “I was a construction worker in the old life.  Red Rocks Bluff was a job we were assigned to work. I would have been there the day after, you know, but it was pointless after that.”

              Ted nodded.  “Good. The Faith has not come to the west side of the old city. Gather as many of your people as you can and go to the safety of our area. You can rely on our numbers and will be accepted by our people. We value difference and variety. Perhaps you can make a home there. When I return, we can discuss integrating your people into our community if any of you would like that.”

              “You would do that?” Phineas asked.

              “We stand together or die alone, I always heard.” Ted clasped the large hand of the centaur.

              Phineas rode off with amazing speed to go tell his family. Ted was going to need to tell the group at the Bluffs, so they wouldn’t be startled. He also needed to find out what was going on with Cliff, the boy was taking the news about Annie hard and he had only met her once. Eventually, Cliff would also have to tell him about the rash. Cliff was wearing a hoodie, with the hood up, in the middle of summer. He had become moody and overly sad, and kept alone and off to the side most of their trip. Ted remembered what Cal had told him about Kyle’s adolescence, and he wondered once again at how to help a teen out of their problems, just as he wondered with Max all year. He wondered if puberty would be especially difficult now that the teens had powers, and what that difficulty would look like.

             
Maybe it looks like this,
he thought to himself.