Nailgun Messiah (Micah Reed Book 1) Read online

  Magda cowered but Lilah smacked her again, this time knocking her to the floor.

  “What the hell?” Micah said, his senses returning. “You can’t hit my sister.”

  Magda looked up at him, the side of her face already red and starting to swell. She vehemently shook her head at him.

  Lilah spun on her heels and glared. “I said there were other rules. You don’t know them yet, so you are forgiven this time. Magdalene knows better, though. Men do not touch women in this house. And they don’t speak with each other unless there’s a good reason.”

  “But she’s my sister.”

  Lilah straightened up, flexing her hand. “Do not let this happen again.”

  And with that, she stormed out of the room.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Lilah returned to the master bedroom on the first floor. Her skin crawled as she fumbled with the doorknob, unable to open it with shaking fingers. Little needles of touch danced across her flesh.

  Microscopic bugs on the surface of the skin. Burrowing, surfacing, eating her cells to survive.

  The tension in her jaw spread into her head and neck as the pulse of a migraine threatened to swallow her. She gripped the doorknob and jerked the door open. Inside her room, dim light from the bedside lamp became a million-candle spotlight, boring into her eyes.

  Lilah knelt on the floor, breathing into her cupped hands. The cold floor pushed back against her knees, and she bore down, using the pain to center her thoughts. Her skin still crawled, but the feeling of her breath flowing in and out reduced the image of the maggots into a faint echo, blinking on the edges of memory.

  There were no maggots, no bugs on the skin. Just a panic attack. She knew this. Nails scratched her skin to release some endorphins and ease the itch.

  In a minute or two, the pain and nausea subsided, and she leaned forward on her hands to do pushups. She counted to twenty, feeling the endorphins rush through her, making her calm. When she stood, she was only a little wobbly. Thoughts of Revelations, of the seven seals, of Truth and beauty. Of ascendency. Of how the reward in the next life would make up for all the suffering in this one. Nothing could be more glorious.

  She ran the water in the bathroom sink and held her aching hand underneath the warm stream. Her knuckles had scraped against Magdalene’s hard temple, and she could feel them swelling.

  Lilah didn’t like enforcing the rules. Liked even less that the very same people she loved and made so many sacrifices for would break them. Years’ worth of sacrifice. The rule of law was a tenuous and fragile thing that only worked if everyone put the same amount of faith into it.

  Water cascaded over her flesh, renewing it, removing dirt and grime and other impurities. The maggots were gone.

  Magdalene had been a good member of the house. A good student. This new element of her brother had the power to corrupt a lot of the goodness in her. Lilah could see that. And Lilah also knew that Magdalene’s brother might have been sent here to test her; to make sure she was worthy of being chosen. If she would be one of the hundred and forty-four thousand, then there had to be no doubt.

  Letting him stay could be the best possible thing for Magdalene. Could help her see that the family she had chosen was the path of love. But Lilah also ran the risk that allowing Micah to stay might corrupt others in the house. Were they strong enough to also be tested?

  She couldn’t make this decision alone.

  Lilah turned off the water and crept to the doorway, to make sure no one was lingering in the hallway. Then she shut the door and opened the bottom drawer of her dresser. Glanced out the window to ensure no one was in the yard watching, then took her cellphone from the pocket stitched inside her pants. She powered it on, waited a minute for text messages and voicemails to appear. There were none.

  She composed a new text message to Eagle:

  When will you be back?

  She sat on her creaky bed for two minutes, breathing in the musty air of this ancient and peaceful house, awaiting his reply, but it didn’t come. Aching fingers powered off the phone. She would check it after dinner tonight.

  Lilah always felt more comfortable with Eagle around, even though he was a poor substitute for Cyrus. But Cyrus was still in jail, at least for three more weeks.

  When the lamb returned home, things would be very different around here. No more treating the rules like a hat, to be worn only when the mood strikes. No more making allowances for skipping Bible study. No more half-hearted dedication to prayer. The website would go live, and Cyrus would help the message go viral and push the True Manna into infamy.

  She couldn’t wait.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  After Lilah smacked her, Magda scurried out of the room a few seconds later, and Micah could only watch. He’d been powerless to stop it, because the whole violent episode had been so unexpected. He’d let that too-tall buzzcut bitch attack his sister right in front of him.

  Whatever was going on in this house, Micah knew he couldn’t let Magda be a part. He whipped out his phone to text Frank about it, but he couldn’t get any service here. He checked for a WiFi connection, and found one network, but it was secured. He had a feeling that Lilah owned the network, and she might not be willing to hand out the password.

  Micah sat on the edge of his bed, feeling the shock drain out of him and logic return. He’d known Magda was in some kind of commune, but he always imagined they were making handcrafted artisanal soap from alpaca tallow or tie-dyed baby onesies spun from hemp fibers. Organic lip balm made from bees honey to sell at the farmers’ market, or some crap like that.

  But this… he didn’t know how to begin to understand this.

  Micah took Boba Fett’s head out of his pocket and set it on the bed next to him. He tapped it a few times, scooting it around in a circle on the bedspread.

  A head peered around his doorway. Short guy, carved brown hair, neatly trimmed beard, hint of pectoral muscles through his shirt. He had a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth, streak of toothpaste on his lips. Didn’t look at all like your typical Nederland hippie, more like a middle-income Boulder startup entrepreneur.

  “Hello there,” he said as he took the toothbrush out of his mouth. “I’m Rodney. Heard you come in, but I figured I’d give you a chance to get settled first. It’s a lot to take in.”

  Rodney had a welcoming smile and bright eyes, with plenty of wrinkles around his mouth and a few patches of gray in his facial hair. Looked mid-forties, probably. Rodney stepped into the room and folded his hands in front of his waist, toothbrush sticking straight up.

  Had this man heard Lilah hitting his sister? If he did, was he okay with it, or was he also helpless to do anything about Lilah?

  Micah’s first impulse was to ask Rodney what the hell was going on here, but part of his brain warned him to trust no one. At least not yet. “Micah.”

  Rodney pointed to the head of the action figure on the bed. “Is that Boba Fett?”

  Micah nodded and reminded himself to act sociable. He wasn’t much for small talk, but if he was going to stay here, he and Rodney would have to act like acquaintances, at least. “Boba’s sorta my good luck charm. Been lugging him around since high school, actually. He used to have a body, but not even Boba Fett is safe from the cruel hand of time.”

  Rodney laughed, a light and effeminate kind of titter. “Don’t I know it. I was a huge Star Wars fan growing up.”

  “You live here, right, Rodney?”

  “Sure do.”

  Micah paused. “Why?”

  Rodney took in a hesitant breath, and his lips jittered as he formed the words. “Lilah is helping me.”

  “Helping you?”

  “Yes.”

  Micah wanted to ask more, but Rodney’s hesitation told him to wait for another time. Micah had to start learning who in this house could be trusted so he could get Magda out without anyone interfering. And he had to get to a working phone so he could contact Frank, as soon as possible.

  “Garrett
is coming back from his night shift,” Rodney said, “so Lilah wants to have a house meeting before the rest of us go off to work this morning. She asked me to ask you if you could come down to the den. Is that okay?”

  “Sure. I guess so.”

  Rodney smiled again and inserted the toothbrush back into his mouth, with that same kind of playful charisma. Micah followed him downstairs and into the den, where Lilah was seated at her massive chair, with Magda at her feet. The side of Magda’s face was already turning blue from the bruise, but she didn’t move her head to acknowledge Micah’s or Rodney’s presence.

  A tray of muffins sat on a side table next to the grandfather clock. Fresh baked, still warm, blueberry.

  Rodney grabbed a muffin, took up a spot on the floor, and patted the carpet next to him. Micah sat. A moment later, the young woman with the curly blonde ringlets came down the stairs. She had big blue eyes, pale skin, and a tiny but rigid frame, like a doll propped up with sticks.

  “Good morning, Hannah,” Lilah said, and pointed at a spot on the floor next to Magda.

  “Morning,” she said in a meek voice as she took a muffin and clutched it like a kitten against her chest.

  As Hannah sat, the front door opened and in walked a young man with spiky blond hair and a babyface complexion, like Hannah. They could have been brother and sister. Micah caught a smile cross Hannah’s face as this young man walked into the room, but she didn’t look up.

  The young man was wearing a uniform, something custodial. Micah could smell the faint hint of chemicals wafting from his general direction. A sewn-on patch above his chest pocket read Garrett. “House meeting?” he said.

  “Yes,” Lilah said, and pointed to an open spot next to Micah. He dropped into a sit and offered a welcoming grin at Micah. Micah dipped his head in response but he kept his mouth shut, like everyone else.

  “Cyrus is the vine,” Lilah said. “We are all the branches.”

  Heads around the room nodded.

  “We have a new member of the house, but only temporarily. Everyone, this is Micah. He is Magdalene’s brother. And Micah, you have met Rodney. The other two are Hannah and Garrett. We all live and work in this house. When Cyrus comes home, the living arrangements may have to be… shuffled.”

  Micah caught her eyebrows raise and her face light up when she said the name Cyrus. Whoever he was, Lilah admired him.

  “Since Micah is new, I thought now would be a good time to review the house rules for everyone.”

  Garrett let out a small sigh, quietly enough that Lilah didn’t seem to pick up on it. Micah heard it, though.

  “Bible study is twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. Saturday is for quiet reflection, so no one is allowed to work on Saturday or to go into town. In your reflection, you may study the Bible, but the word of the lamb will inform your interpretation. All questions will go to him, through me.”

  So, Cyrus was the vine, and was he also the lamb?

  Micah tried to get Magda’s attention, but she wouldn’t lift her face to him. Every time Lilah turned her gaze away from him, he shot a look at Magda, but she wouldn’t acknowledge his presence.

  “But everyone must work. Micah, I will talk to you after the meeting and we’ll make some arrangement. We do not use or keep cellphones or computers in the house. No social media, either.”

  Micah had no problem with that last rule, since his former association with WitSec had kept him off social media since the trial. He also noticed there were no televisions anywhere to be found.

  “Men and women do not speak unless there is a reason, and only with permission. When the website launches, we will need to be strong in our unity. The public view of us will change. We will talk about that more when the time comes, but we must all be ready for the increased scrutiny.”

  Website? Micah was beginning to understand that these people were some kind of fledgling religious movement. Bible study, mythical leader, strict rules governing everyone’s behavior.

  How the hell had Magda ended up with these people? There had to be a way to get her alone so he could find out what she was doing here. Magda may have been in it deeper than he’d first thought.

  Lilah checked the grandfather clock behind her. “Hannah and Magdalene, you should leave for work.”

  The two women nodded and skulked off together, up the stairs. The ticking of the clock echoed, and then the creaking of Lilah’s chair as she shifted her weight. “Micah, can you stay after?” she said.

  “Okay,” he said as Rodney and Garrett got up and wandered off into the kitchen. Micah came within spitting distance of her. The scowl on her face seemed etched into the lines around her mouth. She had the milky and clear complexion of a little girl, but her face was as hard and as sour as an aging headmistress from some movie about boarding school.

  “Do you have a passport?” she said once they were alone.

  The fact that this woman had battered his sister not fifteen minutes ago burned inside him. But clearly she had some kind of power over Magda, so he needed to play along, for now. “Not on me.”

  She held out a hand. “I’ll need to keep your cell phone, and if you have a laptop or a tablet, I’ll need those too.”

  “Why?”

  She didn’t seem happy that he was questioning her, but she kept her tone civil. “Those things are hindrances. We’re here to learn from the lamb, to be free of the outside world, and not revel in its distractions. You may think you’re losing your connection, but give it a week, and see how much more connected to understanding you become.”

  This woman liked to talk in riddles.

  “Okay,” he said, and handed his phone to her. “I don’t have a laptop or anything else.”

  “Good. Now, you’ll need to get a job, even though you may only be here a short time. Everyone has to work.”

  “Okay.”

  “There is a hardware store in town, and they’re hiring. That’s your best bet, because Hannah and Magdalene work there, so you might use them as references. You can spend today in quiet reflection, but go down there tomorrow. It’s behind the bank, near the town visitor center.”

  And Micah saw his opening. If Magda wouldn’t speak to him at the house, he could get to her at work.

  But Lilah must have seen this flicker of hope on his face, because she leaned in close enough that he could smell muffin on her breath. “Let me be clear,” she said. “The rules still apply outside of this house. You are not to talk to either of them. Our women are the moral backbone of our community, and they are not to be corrupted. Do you understand?”

  “Sure, I understand.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  19 DAYS UNTIL

  Micah waddled along the upstairs hall, his back aching from the springy and uneven bed, to find noises drifting from somewhere. The intoxicating aroma of roasting coffee colored the air and pulled his body down the stairs.

  On a table in the den, he noticed a rotary phone sitting under a lamp. Checking to see if anyone was spying, he crept to it and lifted the receiver from the cradle. He held it to his ear and got a dial tone, but then a second later a little click echoed across the line.

  He knew that sound. Recording device.

  Made sense that control-freak Lilah wouldn’t allow people to freely use this phone. She probably listened to every call. He couldn’t trust it, so he couldn’t use it.

  He hung up the phone and poked his head into the kitchen to find most of the housemates gathered around a table, while Lilah, wearing a pale pink apron, ladled voluptuous omelets onto the plates in front of each person.

  Fluffy yellow omelets, overflowing with ham and cheese and avocado.

  “Vegetarian, vegan, or carnivore?” Lilah said, grin on her face. So weird to see her smile, the way her face lit up and highlighted a set of kaleidoscopic eyes.

  “Carnivore,” Micah said. “The greasier, the better.”

  Lilah pointed to an open chair with an empty plate on a cloth placemat. Micah sat as Rodney tore into h
is omelet. Across the table, Hannah picked at a mass of hash browns with her fingers, dipping chunks into a puddle of ketchup. Micah had never seen them eaten like that before.

  Lilah dropped the omelet and some hash browns in front of Micah, and Garrett slid the bottle of ketchup across to him. Micah noticed Garrett’s eyes were dim, like he was still sleepy. He must have gotten home from work only a few minutes ago.

  Micah hesitated, unsure how to react. Lilah had slapped his sister less than twenty-four hours ago. He could still see the hint of a blue bruise on Magda’s face. He longed to speak to her, to ask her if she was okay. But he knew that wasn’t possible.

  He picked up his fork and held it above his food, pausing. His stomach grumbled, but if he ate the food, did that mean he was accepting this house and all its rules? Did he have any other choice?

  He took a bite, and right away, he could tell it was the best damn omelet he’d ever had. Egg and cheese perfection.

  Lilah slid into a chair as she removed her apron. She caught Micah’s eye. “The day I first met Cyrus,” she said, running her finger up and down the placemat under her empty plate, “we both happened to be in downtown Denver.”

  Micah checked the other breakfast eaters, and everyone had stopped shoveling food to pay attention to Lilah. Intently waiting to hear what she would say next.

  “This was over ten years ago, now. He was on his way to the PAC, there to see a play, or the opera. I forget which one. Some friends of mine and I were marching to the Capitol to protest the light rail expansion.” She rolled her eyes and shrugged. “We were positive we were going to stop them, but you can see how that turned out.”

  Seeing Lilah in such a cheery and conversational mood confused Micah. She’d been nothing but scowls so far. But, since the other people at the table grinned back at Lilah’s comment, he did too.

  “Anyway,” Lilah said, “our paths happened to cross at exactly the right time, literally, right there at Speer and Arapahoe. And the most amazing thing happened. A car was turning off Speer, and it made such a sharp turn that it cut off this other car. Almost wrecked, horns honking, tires screeching, smell of burning rubber. Everyone stopped what they were doing to gawk at the big event. Well, both of the drivers jumped out, started yelling at each other, rolling up their sleeves, the whole macho charade.”