BWHYB - Chpt 6 - Part II

They finished their breakfast without conversation. Samantha joyfully played with her food, she was the monster called to help clean up a horrible mess. She chomped noisily with each bite, her fork and knife cheering her along. Anyone who might have happened along and saw Samantha playing would have thought she was cute. Benjamin just found it creepy. How could she be so happy after everything?

“All done!” Samantha proudly piped.

“Good job. Please bring your plate to the sink. You can start working on your reading assignments.”

“Ok.”

“Start with your Alchemy chapters.” Jeremiah called after her as she shuffled to her mattress.

Benjamin waited for Samantha to be out of earshot. “What are you doing?”

“I think it’s time for a history lesson, Benjamin.” They walked their plates to the sink and then Benjamin followed Jeremiah out the back door. Outside there were a few shade sails offering an oasis of from the sun. Various large cactus, roses, and lavender meandered through large rocks. In the center of the garden was a circular shape made of tiny pebbles and sand. In the circle were two, woven mats. Jeremiah sat on one and motioned for Benjamin to join him.

Benjamin didn’t feel like sitting. “What did you do to Samantha?” Jeremiah patted the mat “Sit.”

“Did you erase her memories.”

“Relax my boy. Sit. I need to start from the beginning.”

Reluctantly, Benjamin obeyed. “And were would that be?”

“The forming of The Order of the Christ Child.”

“I’ve heard the story before. Abram passes on all the stories to the children at the church.”

Jeremiah chuckled. “I suppose he does pass on his stories but they are censored. First let me tell you about the brothers Omri and Azarel. You know well the story of Christ, how he was crucified and on the third day he rose again to ascend into heaven. You also know that before he ascended into heaven he visited his disciples so that they may receive the Holy Spirit so that they may understand the Scriptures and go into the world to pass on the knowledge. There was one other thing he needed to do before he ascended into heaven. What many people do not know is that Jesus had a wife and two children. Unfortunately his wife, Tamar died during the birth of their second child. The two children were Ram and Zadok. At the time of Christ’s ascension Ram was ten and Zadok was eight. He instructed Omri and Azarel to watch over his two sons and any of their descendants. This was the beginning of The Order of the Christ Child.

“I know that much. Abram doesn’t speak much about the Order, but it is still in the Brotherhood books. I was always getting punished as a child and my parents would make me sit in the church library all day. Out of boredom I read almost every book in there.”

Right, that much is in the books. What isn’t in your books is the prophecy and gifts that Christ gave to Omri and Azarel that day. They were given two gifts, fruit from the Tree of Life and text describing the Rites.

“The Dark Arts.”

“Yes, as the Brotherhood calls them, the Dark Arts. There are three parts to the rites, the body, mind and the Holy Spirit or Breath of God. The mastery of all three rites would enable the user to control the mind and body beyond the constraints of the natural world. In the beginning, Omri and Azarel could watch over all of Christ’s descendants without any help. That was before the break off of the Brotherhood. Some began to fear the power that Omri and Azarel had over mind and body. Many thought that if they were that powerful what would stop them from using those gifts against them or anyone else from learning the rites. So a man named Amos formed the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross and forbid all to use the rites which became known as The Dark Arts. The Brotherhood was to be a sort of watchdog over the Order.

But the Rites were not the only gift Christ bestowed on the two brothers. Christ also carried with him fruit from the Tree of Life. He cut off two slices giving one to Omri and one to Azarel. They were instructed to dry the remainder of the fruit and with it Omri lived to 934 years and Azarel lived to 945 years. Before they died they passed on their knowledge to their children. The next generation of Observers lived around 800 years old. Each generation dying younger and younger as the effects from the Tree of Life faded. I am from the eighth and last generation. All in this generation were born infertile. I am 120 years old right now. Once we die that will be the end of the Order and the Observers.”

“So then what happens after the Observers are gone?”

“Something is coming, it has been building for some time now. In 1979 an unknown group erected the Georgia Stones. Have you heard of them?”

“Yes. Some think they are calling for mass murder of millions.”

“Who knows really what they were thinking when they erected them, but it is no secret that the beliefs that are etched on those stones echo the teachings of The Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross and with the names being similar the government started keeping tabs on the Brotherhood. Violence broke out across the country. Terrorists claiming to be with the Rosy Cross waged war on our society. The CIA became involved after that. They learned about the Order but thought it was nothing but fairy tales until a special task force was created and a woman by the name of Patricia O’Malley was assigned as their leader.

“Patricia. She’s the one who took Samantha from Danny. They destroyed Danny.”

“They were no better to Samantha. There used to be a community not far from here, there is nothing left but a few crumbled foundations and dried up wells. Fitting that Danny would meet the Maker at the bottom of one of those wells. Anyway, it was the main library of The Order and the Brotherhood. The monks living there had one purpose, to reproduce all of our texts by hand. This O’Malley lady found that place and raided it. Supposedly she found a text that was said to be written by Omri. Apparently it was the original text written on the Rites and the duty of the Observers and the Christ Children. She killed everyone there but one monk. She became obsessed with the Order from that day on. That’s why they took Samantha. They think she holds the secret to some kind of weapon. The task force wants her, the Brotherhood wants her and the Order wants her. She’s only five Benjamin. I just couldn’t do it.”

Benjamin sighed. “She calls you daddy.”

Jeremiah nodded. “I didn’t mean for that to happen it just did.”

“You erased her memory?”

“Everything before I pulled her from the well.”

“Is there anything you’re not telling me?”

Just then, Samantha came running outside and jumped on Jeremiah sending him toppling backwards. “I’m done, I’m done.” Samantha said giggling.

“Is that so?”

“Yes it is. Now what?”

Jeremiah looked up at the sun. “I think it is about time for your lesson with Brother Ezekial. Go change and then we’ll head out.” She ran back inside, obviously excited.

“The things that they did to Samantha were horrible. I won’t let them take her again. I won’t let anyone take her. At least not until she is better prepared. When she is ready.”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to intervene.” Benjamin was annoyed. He was sick of all these self-righteous holier than thou types that continued to punish him and tell him what to do. One foul up and you are marked for life. He wanted Jeremiah to suffer a fate similar to his. With any luck, his punishment would be worse than his.

“Patricia intervened!” Jeremiah’s normally calm face contorted with rage. The two men stared at each other, neither wanting to make the first move.

“I’m ready!” Samantha’s chipper voice broke through the tension. Benjamin turned to see a much different Samantha. The little girl standing before him looked nothing like the fragile girl he had breakfast with. She had changed into a black tank top, tan cargo pants and bare feet. She carried a staff that extended a foot above her head. Her black hair was pulled tight in a low bun. He lips carried a smile but in her eyes was fierceness beyond her years. As she walked past Benjamin time slowed down. Rage at what he saw shot through his body and he leapt to his feet. On her back was what looked like the tattoo of a bird, its wings spread from shoulder to shoulder, and its beak turned to the sky just below her hairline. He grabbed Samantha by the shoulder. He could feel the raised skin were the bird was, this was no tattoo. Samantha spun around, the p of her staff caught him on the jaw.

He grabbed his face, expecting to see blood when he looked at his hand. “You gave her the Rite of the Body?!” Benjamin was outraged. Samantha stood with her staff firm in hand, ready for a second blow.

“It happened that day in the desert when Danny was killed. You heard it, remember? You heard the wings rustling in the well. I sent you away before you could see what it was. Samantha, it’s okay. Come here child. Show our friend your back.”

Samantha relaxed and turned her back to the two men. Jeremiah lifted her tank top to reveal a large raven that covered her entire back. It was no tattoo, the bird had the texture of a detailed scar, as if she had been burned with an intricate brand.

“Why don’t you go ahead, Samantha. We don’t want to keep Brother Ezekiel waiting too long.” She looked at Jeremiah a little unsure, but then shrugged and turned to skip away. “She used those wings to carry herself and her mother out of the well that day. It was too late for Danny, she was dead before she hit the ground. But Samantha, for her, it was just the beginning.”

“She did that without help? The only person who naturally carries the Rites is the antichrist.” Benjamin whispered.

“Is that what Abram is teaching these days?”

“I’m going to Abram.”

“I can’t let you do that. They want to lock her up or worse, kill her.”

“She’s the damn antichrist, what would you suggest we do with her?”

“I can control her.”

“You think you can change destiny?”

“I think that Patricia set things in motion with all her experiments. The path of destiny has already been altered. Another little detour won’t change things. Did Abram also tell you that the Destroyer is also supposed to be the Builder? She needs to learn so she can rebuild society after the apocalypse. The prophecy says that those who remain will flock to the raven haired child and society will be rebuilt. She’s so young. What father would curse their child to this?”

“You think you know better than God himself?” Benjamin had heard enough.  He turned to leave but before he could take more than two steps he felt an icy grip tighten around his spine. A chill started in his fingers and toes. It felt as if his blood was being turned to ice.

“If you leave I will have to kill you. If I don’t she surely will. Are you prepared for the end of your world?”

“If you had faith in your God you would realize that you are only prolonging the inevitable.” Benjamin struggled to move, but his limbs were frozen stiff, the cold sensation was slowly creeping up his arms and legs to his torso.

“I’m just asking for time to train her so that the entire prophecy can be fulfilled. Not just the end of this world but the beginning of a new world, a better world. It’s your choice. You can die now. Or you can live a few more years and if you’re lucky maybe even see old age.”

Benjamin tried to will his body to move, but it was no use. He had left one prison only to be trapped by another. “Fine. Release me old man.” The blood rushed back into his limbs with the force of a million needles and he fell to a heap on the ground. Jeremiah was gone in a whirl wind of dust and debris.

Author's Note

I like stories that keep the reader in the dark. Please let me know if I left too much out. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. What do you think of the characters?

Reviews

[Anita]

* righ, that much was in the books... * you forgot the " ..." but this... is has now gotten a hell of a lot more intense. great job! still love jeremiah *blush" lol. But i think you did a good balance of what to let out and what to keep. Benjamin is still flaky.. but again it adds to his character so i have no complaints. Poor samantha though... such a tough life she has to live.
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