NOAH
“Hello, Donald,” I said, as I took the phone from Dad and walked to my room for privacy. My nerves were all over the place after getting off the phone with Scarlett. I wanted to know where she was so I could go and get her. I felt like I was losing my grip on everything.
This was the absolute worst time to speak to Donald.
“Noah,” he said smoothly. “How are you?”
“I’m fine.”
“Staying strong?”
“Of course,” I replied. I was trying to anyway.
“Good. We knew you would be. You ascended long ago. Your mind is strong and sharp.”
Hearing those words from him now sounded…odd. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me, Noah. You are responsible for all that you have achieved.”
Silence hung in the air.
He cleared his throat. “I’ll get to the point, shall I?” he said, chuckling under his breath. “Scarlett. How is my daughter?”
I gripped the phone tight, 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 had been my home until we’d heard that the Light was going to be sacrificed, when we’d moved to Ireland where we waited for the other commune to join us. 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.
“All right, 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 and Eternal Light couldn’t both be telling the truth about what would happen to her after the sacrifice. They took her because they didn’t believe anymore, but could it not be true? It was my entire life. My community, my beliefs made me the person I was. One of them was lying, and I had no idea who that was anymore.
“How is 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 was 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 whom to trust anymore. If he told anyone that I did, I could get sent back to the others and where would that leave Scarlett?
Finn held his hands up. “All right, 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; 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 ready,” he replied. “Are you ready?” I used to be. We’d been working toward this forever. Everything we did was in preparation of the ritual. Now I wasn’t so sure. They’d chosen me because they said I was strong and could keep the poison of the outside world out of my mind. The outside world I could do. What I couldn’t do was keep a fifteen-year-old girl out.
I was either the weakest member of Eternal Light or the strongest.
“I’m ready,” I replied.
“Good. Me too.” He slapped my shoulder. “I can’t wait.”
Smiling, I tried to dig through my mind to a time when I thought the same as Finn, when everything was easier and my life was clear. I didn’t like how clouded it had become.
“I’m going to Scarlett’s. I’ll see you later.”
He nodded, already engrossed in the contents of the fridge.
Walking to Scarlett’s at a faster pace than I usually did, I contemplated what she would do when she found out. Would she believe Eternal Light, like Fiona and Donald said? She was their daughter after all. Or would she hate us all, especially me?
Marissa answered the door and sent me up to Scarlett’s room, telling me yet again to leave the door open. We always did, but she insisted on relaying the rule every time.
Her door was open and she was lying on her stomach on her bed, facing away, reading a new book. Her chin was resting on her hands and her legs were in the air. Her hair was still damp from a shower. She’d not even taken the time to dry it before delving into another fictional land.
I watched her for a minute; she was carefree, with everything ahead of her. Was eternal life worth sacrificing this girl for? Even if we waited another four years, gave her one more cycle before performing the sacrifice, it still wasn’t enough time for her to properly live this life.
I sighed, and she looked over her shoulder, smiling as her eyes landed on mine. “Hey,” she said, sitting up. “I didn’t think you were coming until later…or at all.”
Walking in, I sat on the bed and replied, “Couldn’t wait, and of course I was coming. I’m sorry.”
She smiled. “I’m sorry too.”
“Did you get done what you wanted?”
“No. Can we just relax, please?”
“That sounds perfect. I don’t want to argue. I just want to spend time with the girl I love.”
“That’s sweet,” she replied, leaning over for a kiss. “I’ll put a movie on.”
We got into our usual film-watching position—me lying against the pillows and cushions and her lying against my chest with her legs between mine. It was sitting like this that had started the doubt.