Me fighting as the Minister lifted me out of his car and hoisted me over his shoulder. Me kicking and screaming as he took me into the Church and right down the stairs, ignoring my pleas. And then finally, him opening the door and placing me onto the stained mattress.
“Welcome home, Eisley,” he had said then, before closing the door.
I blacked out. When I opened my eyes, I found myself in the same position I was ten years ago. Same room. New mattress. Only this time, I was alone, and once again, had been shackled.
Rule 47 - Kansas
Some surprises are good.
Ten years ago.
“You really think any of that is true?” I asked Constantine after our first lesson with the Minister. We’d spent all day up in his office, learning about the Reanimator.
He blew air upward, his black hairflying up for a moment. “I don’t know. He says it is, but it’s weird. Why would a ghost want our organs?”
“And what happens if we don’t do it?” I stood and paced the room. We could speak freely, as Eisley had been taken again. She’d been having a really bad bout of sickness, and they’d been trying to heal her with various drinks and herbs, but nothing seemed to work.
“According the Minister, the Family will die.” We stared at each other, weighing his words. Were we willing to take that risk?
“I don’t believe it. I know that’s what he says, but it can’t be true. Someone who makes him do bad things can’t be good. We have to escape and get help.”
Constantine’s shoulders slumped and he fell back against the stone wall. “I don’t know where to go. I’ve never been outside the Church.”
I squinted. “I have. There’s people called police. They protect us. I remember my mom saying that once.”
“Police?” Constantine tried out the word. “What do they look like?”
“They have blue or black clothes. And funny hats.” It was so hard to describe things from the outside world when it had been so long since I’d seen it.
“And they’ll save us?” he asked, his blue eyes hopeful.
“I think so.”
Constantine pulled his legs up and curled his arms around them.
“I don’t want to do those things,” he confessed. “To Eisley. The girl in the movie was crying. She said it hurt. The Minister said she liked it, and that it felt good, but I think he’s lying!” Tears burst from his eyes and he buried his head in his knees.
The Minister had said it’s what Mothers and Fathers did once they were married, but the boy and the girl looked our age, and they’d both been crying.
“I don’t either.”
Later that night, Eisley had been returned, along with food for us and two bigger books for Constantine and me.
“I don’t want to read any more of it.” He slid his book away from him. “It’s disgusting.”
“We need to know how to fight it.”
“How can you fight a ghost?” he hissed. “I think you’re right. The Minister has been lying to everyone.”
“Constantine,” I hesitated. He looked up at me. “You said you’d never been outside the Church before.”
His face drained, and for the first time, he looked scared of… me.
“Is that true?” I asked.
He didn’t say anything for a long time but eventually nodded. “Only just outside the building. I’ve always lived here.”
“Alone? In this room?”
