Gravestone (22 page)

T
HE
ONLY
REASON
I’
M
SHARING
THIS
IS
BECAUSE
I’
M
SCARED
. A
ND
I
THINK
YOU
NEED
TO
KNOW
. I
DON
’
T
KNOW
WHAT
TO
DO
,
AND
THE
FEW
PEOPLE
I’
VE
REACHED
OUT
TO
HAVE
CLOSED
THE
DOOR
COMPLETELY
. P
EOPLE
LIKE
S
HERIFF
W
ELLS
,
LIKE
G
RETTA
,
LIKE
SOME
OF
THE
CHURCH
PEOPLE
. T
HEY
IGNORE
WHAT
I
SAY
AND
JUST
KEEP
GOING
. I
NEED
SOMEONE
TO
KNOW
.

I
T
ALL
STARTED
WHEN
WE
MOVED
BACK
HERE
FIVE
YEARS
AGO
. I
DIDN
’
T
UNDERSTAND
WHY
SOMEONE
WHO
COULD
GO
ANYWHERE
WOULD
CHOOSE
TO
COME
BACK
HERE
. H
E
SAID
THAT
IT
WAS
ABOUT
GOING
BACK
TO
HIS
CHILDHOOD
HOME
AND
STARTING
FRESH
AND
BUILDING
SOMETHING
TREMENDOUS
. I
WAS
WILLING
TO
GO
BECAUSE
HE
SAID
THAT
IT
WAS
WHERE
G
OD
WANTED
HIM
TO
BE
.

I
FEAR
THAT
THE
G
OD
HE
WAS
TALKING
ABOUT
ISN
’
T
THE
SAME
G
OD
THAT
I
KNOW
AND
BELIEVE
IN
.

E
VERYTHING
CHANGED
FROM
THE
START
. E
VERYTHING
. B
UT
I
FIGURED
IT
WAS
ALL
ABOUT
GETTING
THE
N
EW
B
EGINNINGS
C
HURCH
OFF
THE
GROUND
. B
EFORE
WE
CAME
,
THERE
WERE
NO
CHURCHES
. T
HERE
WERE
THE
UNDERGROUND
CHURCHES
,
OF
COURSE
. I
WOULD
COME
TO
DISCOVER
THEM
LATER
ON
,
AS
YOU
DID
. B
UT
THERE
WAS
NO
OFFICIAL
CHURCH
. N
OTHING
. A
ND
THAT
WAS
THE
CREEPIEST
THING
TO
ME
ABOUT
S
OLITARY
. H
ERE
WE
WERE
IN
THE
HEART
OF
THE
SO-CALLED
B
IBLE
BELT
,
BUT
THERE
WASN
’
T
A
CHURCH
AROUND
. B
UT
HE
WOULD
ALWAYS
SAY
THAT
WAS
WHY
HE
WANTED
TO
START
ONE
,
WHY
HE
DEEMED
IT
A
NEW
BEGINNING
.

B
UT
FOR
US
,
IT
WAS
THE
BEGINNING
OF
THE
END
.

I
NEED
TO
GO
—
THAT
’
S
ENOUGH
FOR
NOW
.

P
LEASE
DELETE
THIS
AND
MAKE
SURE
NOBODY
SEES
IT
. W
E
CAN
’
T
TALK
ABOUT
IT
—
EVEN
AT
CHURCH
. N
OT
NOW
.

S
EE
YOU
SOON
.

I put down the email and then shuffle through the pages. There’s a whole book here, almost. This is going to tell me everything.

Never once in the two emails I’ve read does the woman mention a name. But there’s no question she’s talking about Pastor Jeremiah Marsh.

I go to the next one and begin reading.

And I keep reading for the next two hours.

I learn a lot of random bits of information about the town itself, about Heidi Marsh and how terrified she was, about the church. But several key things stick out.

The first is that as the New Beginnings Church grew larger, the pastor and his wife grew apart. She refers to the “baby issue,” which makes me think they were trying to have one but couldn’t. She never gets specific. Heidi mentions that she kept seeing less and less of her husband and felt alone and isolated in this place.

But I remember the pastor talking about his little girl the first time I heard him preach.

Then strange things started happening. She calls these “the visions.” Again, she doesn’t get too specific. The few people she spoke to about them, including her husband, didn’t do anything. Just called it stress and told her to keep taking pills.

The seventh email is a big one.

T
HEN
CAME
F
INN
. I
DON
’
T
REMEMBER
HIS
LAST
NAME
. I’
VE
TRIED
NOT
TO
THINK
ABOUT
HIM
. B
UT
ALL
I
KNOW
IS
THAT
HE
WAS
THE
START
OF
SOMETHING
BLACK
AND
HEINOUS
AND
THE
REASON
WHY
THIS
PLACE
AND
THESE
PEOPLE
NEED
TO
BE
EXPOSED
.

F
INN
AND
HIS
FATHER
CAME
TO
OUR
CHURCH
. H
IS
CHURCH
, I
SHOULD
SAY
. I
NEVER
KNEW
WHAT
HAPPENED
TO
F
INN
’
S
MOTHER
,
IF
THERE
WAS
A
MOTHER
.