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Teresa spent the rest of the waning afternoon at the cemetery on a stone bench near Tiffany’s grave. The sun slipped closer to the mountains flanking Harmony. The air cooled. She didn’t want to go home and face Derrick. Faint bruising had begun to bloom where his fingers had crushed the skin against the bones of her wrists.
He marked her in anger. What could either one of them possibly say to right this wrong? A simple apology wouldn’t cut it this time. She wouldn’t accept that. Not for physical harm.
She rose to her feet and left the cemetery. At the town center she paused.
I have nowhere else to go.
For the briefest moment, regret hovered over her. If she’d tried harder, perhaps then she would have a trusted friend to go to in times like this.
Ruthie was the only person she could think of who showed her any kindness lately. At the thought of the now stick-figure-zombie, for lack of a better word, her heart hurt.
Teresa gazed in the direction of Louise’s house. Louise shared the secret of Bram Logan with her, sure, for her own ulterior motive, not out of friendship.
It was worth a shot. Teresa walked with purpose to Louise’s house, and arrived as the mountains swallowed the sun. At the door, she raised her knuckles and rapped against the wood.
“Who is it?” Louise’s voice, sing-song and muffled, came from inside.
“It’s Teresa.”
Louise opened the door, her face a beaming ray of horribly wrinkled sunshine.
“What can I do for you, Doctor?”
Teresa touched her throat, unsure of what to say, how she would ask.
“I . . .” Teresa shook her head. “Never mind. I’m sorry I bothered you.”
Louise stepped aside and waved Teresa into the house.
“Come in—have some tea, dear. Let’s talk.” Louise motioned to the table. Teresa sat.
Louise filled the kettle and put it on the burner.
Click. Click. Fwump.
She smiled at Teresa. “You have nowhere to go, do you?”
Teresa twisted her wedding ring and shook her head.
“No worry. I’m glad you stopped by. I wanted to discuss something with you.”
Teresa perked. “Oh?”
“We have a common interest.” The kettle screamed, Louise lifted it. “Tea?”
“Yes, please.”
Louise prepared tea for two and set the cups on the table.
“I believe we can help each other,” Louise said. “I work for an organization called Messengers of the Light.” Louise shooed a calico cat off the chair across from Teresa and sat. “It is our goal to find Yaldabaoth and bring him back.”
“But you said I would destroy thirty-some years of work. Besides, aren’t I already sort of helping you?”
Louise shook her head. “You have no idea what the procedure is. A process must be followed.”
“What have I done wrong?”
Louise tossed her head back and cackled. “You are more deluded than I thought asking that, dear doctor.”
Teresa sat back, confused. “But I haven’t—Oh.” She looked at her cup.
“There’s more to bringing Yaldabaoth back to power than murdering people.” Louise leaned back in her chair and leveled her eyes on Teresa, scrutinizing her.
“I wouldn’t call it murder,” Teresa said in a small voice. She twisted the tea cup in its saucer.
Louise cackled again. Teresa frowned.
“What do you call it then?”
“Tiffany calls it ‘taking their zoe.’” She lifted her cup and sipped.
“Zoe means life, Doctor Hart.”
Teresa inhaled a drop of tea and coughed. Louise filled a glass from the tap and passed it across the table.
“I didn’t know that,” Teresa said through her coughs.
Louise’s eyebrow lifted.
“Fine. I knew. He called them souls. Seven bloods, seven souls—I think that’s what he said.”
Louise nodded in what looked like approval.
“What needs to be done once the seven zoes are collected?” Teresa asked.
“I’m not sure.” Louise lifted a fat Siamese-looking cat onto her lap. “You see, for the past thirty years or so I’ve been looking for an artifact that will tell us what to do. It was inside the vessel containing the Nag Hammadi codices.”
“Nag Hamma—”
“Gnostic texts,” Louise said. “That’s all you need to know.” She lifted her cup but put it back down.
“Among these texts was a book called the Origin Codex. It was an expansion of the scripture titled, “On the Origin of the World.” We had it in our possession for many years, waiting for any sign of Yaldabaoth. The book contains the instructions to harness him once he regains his strength. But, someone stole it. Took it right out of the vault we kept it in. None of us had taken the time to memorize it. We were complacent in our power.” She smirked as if this were some inside joke and shook her head.
“Without this harness, Yaldabaoth will destroy the entire world out of hatred and revenge. The End of Days shall truly be upon us.”
“What? Like the Rapture?” Teresa asked.
“Sort of, but only if he is harnessed. Then he will spare all those who serve him. Those who do not shall be smote from the earth.” Louise’s part-dreamy-part-adoring smile gave Teresa a chill.
“Have you ever met him?” she asked.
Louise shook her head. The dreamy look melted away. “I have not had the honor.”
Something in Teresa’s stomach fluttered. Yaldabaoth came to her, someone who believed in a different God. Not his loyal follower.
“Tell me more about this book,” Teresa said.
“It’s old. Papyrus pages bound in leather.”
Teresa gasped.
Maggie’s old, dirty book.
“I know where it is.”
Louise straightened in her chair. “You do?” A horrendous grin spread across her face, then slid away. “That’s rather unfortunate.” The corners of her mouth turned down. “All this time I’ve been torturing Bram Logan for information I could have easily gotten from you. Huh.”
She cleared her throat and shrugged with one bony shoulder.
“Well, there are other reasons I’ve been torturing him.” Her wicked smile returned.