Fallen Elements (30 page)

Coleen then stood. “I assured your husband
you would be fine. Your heart is strong.” The woman smiled, and ran
a cool damp cloth over my forehead. “And yes, your child is fine.”
She laid a gentle hand on my swollen stomach, and I felt calm and
reassured.

“
Have they found Margery and Abigail?” I
tried to lift my head, but the room began to pull away from me, and
I quickly laid back down.

“
No. The woods are dense, and they have
ways to travel that are not of this world.” Isaac gently touched my
shoulder. “Do not think on it. You need rest.”

Leaning over, my husband kissed my forehead,
the warmth of his lips reassuring me we would survive whatever
hardships may come as long as we had each other.

Coleen remained when Isaac left, and she sat
down near the edge of the bed before taking my hand in hers. “It is
time you know something.” Her tone was serious, and I immediately
feared for my baby. “You’ve had a difficult time.” She glanced down
at my stomach, her eyes full of genuine worry.

“
It has not been an easy pregnancy.” I
remembered the aching in my stomach, and the cramping. “Do not
think me wicked, but the remedies Margery provided did ease the
pain.”

Coleen’s brow arched, and a faint light
moved across her blue eyes. “Was it the remedies, or her departure
that provided you relief?”

It took a moment before I could bring into
focus her question. My mind raced through my interactions with
Margery. My heart ached as I recalled her laughter, and the warmth
of her touch. Then I could see Coleen was correct. It was not that
the teas and salves halted my pain, rather Margery leaving my home
would seem now to be the reasonable cause for any relief I
found.

“
I can see from the look in your eyes you
know what I suggest is true.” Coleen spoke softly. “This brings me
to the crux of the matter. Isaac’s family is gifted –” Coleen
looked up toward the heavens, her voice low and intimate as she
spoke. “You understand, sanctified by the grace of God. Your
ailments have not been simple pregnancy sickness, rather your
unborn child’s revulsion at the very presence of a witch.”

I shook my head for I did not understand.
Coleen smiled, and rubbed her cool hand in small circles across my
stomach. “This child will recognize the devil long before your eyes
can detect the malice. With that foresight, your children, and
their children, will strike down with furious vengeance the very
evil you witnessed today.”

I do not recall ever feeling so utterly
afraid. The words she spoke, more importantly what they meant,
caused my heart to pound and my breath to come in short, strained
bursts.

“
Shh, Remembrance. This is not something
to fear, but rather rejoice in.” Coleen ran her hand over my
forehead, absently she tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
“Isaac has been awakened to this truth as well, and he has accepted
his destiny. He is resolved to take what he must and do what he can
to ensure the survival of his bloodlines and this blessed
gift.”

I could sense by her unyielding gaze that
she anticipated a response. I knew she wanted me to accept her
words and pledge to uphold the causes she alluded to. I am ashamed
to say I hesitated in accepting this magnificent task. My fear of
the unknown was that great.

It was only after Coleen left, resigning
herself to having only introduced me to my fate if not altogether
guided me down the necessary path, that Isaac returned to our
bedroom.

“
Do you believe what you have been told,
husband?” I found my voice breaking as I held back tears.

Nodding, Isaac sat on the bed next to me. “I
do, wife.”

Our eyes met, and I felt a certainty course
through me that I had not thought possible beyond that of heaven. I
placed my hand over my stomach, and Isaac covered it with his.
There is evil in this world, and by God’s grace a chosen few have
been empowered to end it. I feel fortunate to be among those
few.

My wife has died. Her brave soul has sought,
and gained entry into, the everlasting kingdom of God. She went to
be with our heavenly Father last evening, having died while giving
birth to our daughter, Grace Remembrance Allerton. I cannot find an
end to my grief!

The only solace I can take is in our
family’s divine right and responsibility to ensure the sanctity of
this community. I have come to know that we are not held to the
same laws of most men, but rather, derive our guidance from God
Himself. My daughter’s life, and her children’s lives, will stand
as testimony to His will, and our legacy will be one of wrath and
retribution against the unholy.

I have found allies in Goodman Tynan and his
family. For we have already smote four wicked souls, casting them
back to the fires of Hell. I have found additional allies in the
court, and removed ownership and citizenship privileges from those
who would provide aid or comfort to the wretches we seek.

We will continue to take from these wretches
all their earthly possessions, and drive them from our sights. The
bounty of their sins will be cleansed by the righteous, and used to
fulfill our family’s purpose.

My wife will not have died in vain. My
daughter will know her place, and the power she has to see these
creatures for what they are will give her purpose. Most
importantly, the generations of Allertons to come will forever be
guided by His will, striking down wickedness from now until His
kingdom comes.

Ryan laid the diary across her lap, her
socked feet propped up on the glass coffee table in her living
room. She had been too keyed up to nap, still thinking through how
to broach the topic of the apparently nonexistent car accident with
Leah.

Ryan had decided to settle in with the diary
until Leah arrived. She glanced at her watch, it was nearly three,
and Leah would be there in an hour. Ryan took a deep breath, and
ran her hands through her hair.

The last pages of the diary had jarred Ryan.
It was clear to her something had happened by that river nearly
four hundred years ago. How much of it was real, versus how much
was skewed by superstition and no real understanding of science,
she would certainly never know.

Ryan had taken several American history
courses during her undergraduate studies, and knew the witch
hysteria had taken root early in the country. She seemed to
remember things getting much worse once the Puritans settled the
Massachusetts Bay Colony. Where her ancestors certainly didn’t want
for religious fervor, the Puritans were outright zealots.

Throughout history there always seemed to be
no shortage of an us-against-them mentality. She wondered how much
of her ancestors’ self-righteous, self-appointed savior complex
accounted for several of her current family members’ attitudes.

Ryan recalled her interaction with Lucy at
The Richmond, and thought it made sense that her aunt would take
offense at any interest Leah might show her, or might have shown
Karen. Lucy had always been a snob, and with four hundred years of
imagined and real history mingling, her aunt had no doubt convinced
herself Leah wasn’t good enough for her sister.

Ryan put the diary on the table, and got up
to get herself a bottled water. She felt sick with the knowledge
that her family had made its start, and perpetuated its fortune, on
the backs and lives of people less fortunate. No doubt, her
ancestors had fully indulged in whatever moral outrage was sweeping
the country if it afforded them the opportunity to take what they
believed to be theirs through divine providence.

Ryan flopped back down on the sofa, which
caused the diary to fall to the floor. Ryan reached to pick it up,
and saw an additional entry after Isaac’s. Opening the book
completely, the room spun slightly as Ryan immediately recognized
her mother’s meticulous script.

Dearest Ryan,

I hardly know where to begin except to tell
you I am so sorry for all the pain I’ve put you through. I was
jealous of your spirit and your strong will. I wish I could be more
like you.

I trust you have not skipped ahead, and are
coming to my note at the end of Remembrance’s diary. It is
important you know where you came from. In this case, I hope, so
you can avoid the sins of our past. Our family’s legacy is one of
blood, thievery and murder.

I did not know the extent of the Allerton,
and ultimately, the Myers family crimes until I met a woman while
still in high school. I can tell you I fell in love with her. I
know you must think of me as a hypocrite considering how badly I
behaved when you told me you are gay, but again, my anger was born
of jealousy. I wanted the strength of your convictions.

I told Lucy about the woman. Your aunt
feigned support and understanding, only to betray me by twisting my
feelings and telling your grandfather the woman I loved was a whore
and wretch.

It didn’t matter in the end. The woman
didn’t love me.

Matters were further complicated as our
family’s true history became known to me when Lucy confronted the
woman about our relationship. To both Lucy’s horror and mine, one
of the family “tells” you’ve read about manifested. Lucy began
bleeding from her nose. It was then I realized the woman I loved
was a witch and my family’s sworn enemy.

I began to resent her, and how I felt about
her. I was ashamed of being in love with a woman, but more than
that, I was disgusted at the notion of loving a witch. The truth
was I couldn’t be honest about the fact the shame came from not
having my love returned. The disgust, I only later came to realize,
was born of ignorance. I doubted everything about myself, even that
I had ever truly loved her.

Feeling I had no one else to turn to, I
confided everything to Lucy, and I realized I too had been
experiencing a tell since first meeting the woman. The warmth and
comfort I felt when I was near her, or when she would touch me,
were just my body reacting to what she was.

I had lost everything. My father wouldn’t
speak to me, my sister, though superficially supportive, secretly
judged my choices, and the one thing I had been certain of - being
in love - was in doubt. The world as I had understood it was
changed forever, and through the eyes of a sixteen year old, it
seemed devastating.

I lashed out, and finding comfort in the
familiarity of my family, joined Lucy in tormenting the woman I had
otherwise loved and her family. Fueled by anger and resentment, I
felt justified in taking up my family’s cause to end the witch’s
bloodline.

I still don’t have the courage to tell you
everything. Just know that killing a witch isn’t the worst thing
you can do to her. I am not proud of what I did and the people’s
lives I helped to destroy. My actions were born of fear,
resentment, and embarrassment.

It has been twenty nine years and there are
days I still feel like a child desperate for attention and
understanding. I’m tired.

I know taking my own life may seem like a
coward’s way out, but I have been so passive in that life for so
long, this is the one time I will say what happens and when it
happens.

I love you, and wish you all the happiness
you deserve. Please understand.

Mom

A sob escaped Ryan as tears streamed down her
face. She covered her mouth, her eyes unfocused as she shook her
head. Ryan couldn’t reconcile the penitent tone of the letter with
her mother. Karen had always been resolved and unyielding in her
choices.

This can’t be true, someone is playing a
cruel joke on me!
The words bounced around inside Ryan’s head
as she frantically flipped through the rest of the diary looking
for something that would make what she had just discovered fit into
the world she understood.

Ryan’s hand paused, trembling as it hovered
over the last page in the diary. She stared, unblinking at the
numbers scrawled in her mother’s meticulous hand. Her breath caught
as she realized the numbers were Leah’s cell phone number.

Chapter 15

Ryan sat stiffly at her dining room table.
After a small breakdown, she had managed to shower and get dressed.
She glanced at her watch. It was four twenty, and just then there
was a knock at the door.

Feeling like her feet were encased in
concrete, Ryan forced herself forward. Flipping the deadbolt, she
opened the door to find a smiling Leah standing on the stoop.

The smile was short lived when Leah looked at
Ryan. “I said four-ish. Am I that late?”

Ryan couldn’t speak, so she simply shook her
head, and stepped to the side so Leah could come in. After Ryan
shut the door, Leah stepped toward the despondent woman, her arms
outstretched.

“Don’t.” Ryan held her hand up, and stepped
around a stunned Leah.

“Ryan? What’s going on?” Leah spoke softly,
the concern in her voice apparent.

“You knew.” Ryan turned to face Leah, the
tears flowing unchecked.

Leah reached for the distraught woman, but
quickly thought better of the gesture as Ryan’s red, swollen eyes
glared at her. “Knew what? I don’t know what you mean.”

Ryan turned and grabbed the diary off the
dining room table, thrusting it at Leah. “My mother killed
herself!”

Leah’s breath caught at the revelation, her
eyes filling with tears. “God.”

Ryan blurted out. “Are you telling me she
didn’t call you, she didn’t tell you?! Your fucking phone number is
in the book right after her suicide note – addressed to me!” The
anger and betrayal swirled inside Ryan, driving her rage. She had
no recourse with her mother, but she would dole her wrath out to
Leah in kind.