His Village: His Village Series, #1

By Erin Lee and Olivia Marie

The rules were simple:

We were to accept His testimony.

We were to want no worldly goods.

We were to give up our ties to the outside world.

We were to finish strong.

We were to know this wasn't our world.

That would come and only He could deliver us.

For now, we were to live in His Village; granting only Him the authority to change our souls.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Crazy Ink
• Release date: Jun 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386997511

Erin Lee

Erin Lee lives in Queensland, Australia and has been working with children for over 25 years. She has worked in both long day care and primary school settings and has a passion for inclusive education and helping all children find joy in learning. Erin has three children of her own and says they have helped contribute ideas and themes towards her quirky writing style. Her experience working in the classroom has motivated her to write books that bring joy to little readers, but also resource educators to help teach fundamental skills to children, such as being safe, respectful learners.

Book preview

For all those who seek

something more but are brave enough to cut their losses.

CHAPTER ONE

His Village

Five years after Messiah’s prophesized Doomsday: April 20, 2020

200 miles south of The Village

Present day

Anna, age 19

D o you trust me?

I gave him the once-over, leaning out the window of my SUV. His tattered jeans peeked from his work boots - covered in raw earth. He smelt of musk and gasoline. Paint chips clung to his bulbous palms. The muscles in his fingers bulged as he gripped at the door of my Suburban. I wasn't sure whether to drive away or hear him out. I pulled at my coat, tightening my scarf. Trust him? Is he kidding? I don't even know this creep! Not really. Not like I should.

Fine. Move out of the way, I sighed, pushing the door open against his weight. His evil smile in the moonlight mocked me, as I cursed myself for giving in. Jerry had worn me down with his pleas. His wrinkled mouth and pitiful gray eyes had begged of me to do him this favor and I was never any good at saying no. What am I doing?

Jerry was odd. There was no other way to say it. He spent his days holed up in a trailer at the end of the street. People in town said the trailer had once belonged to his mother - a quiet woman who'd passed away quietly in her sleep several years ago. It'd been days before Jerry found her body. Some even said that he'd sat with it for days - her rotting corpse, taking the time to bathe and coddle her. He'd never left that trailer since her death. It was the only trailer left on the street, grandfathered in by generous zoning codes from the late 50s. Its dingy exterior and collection of junk out front had raised more than a complaint from the neighbors.

At night, Jerry liked to walk around town, asking people for money or food. I'd given him a hamburger from a local fast food joint before - certain that he must really be hungry to be willing to beg for it. Steph, my roommate, often laughed at me - telling me Jerry was a known vegetarian and only wanted the free Big Macs for his dog.

Steph wasn't the only one who'd told me about Jerry's dog. I'd overheard townies in the local minute mart talking of the German Sheperd often. Many said he was part wolf. I'd always thought wolves were of the Husky line, but what did I really know about dog breeds anyway?

I don't care what he does with it, I'd told her. I just want the guy to be ok. It's sad that he's out there like that, ya know?

I'd been protective of Jerry like this for a long time. I'd made it a habit to swing by Main Street and hand him blankets or offer him a few bucks here and there on my way home from class on Wednesday nights. But lately, he'd become a bit of a burden. He’d have been better off if he’d stayed with his tribe. He was said to have had a lot of followers. This is never going to end.

It never does, with Jerry.

Last week, Jerry was walking down Main Street well after dark. He'd asked for a ride home when I pulled over to check on him. Thinking little of it, I'd agreed. Then, he’d smelt of whiskey and stale cigarette smoke - though I'd never seen him drink or smoke. And something about the way he looked at me had made me feel uncomfortable that night. Was it the way his eyes ran from my thigh to my breasts and back again? Or was it how he held his gaze on my crotch while I nervously fidgeted with the radio dial? I'd vowed, that night, after dropping him off, never to get that close to Jerry again. People in town still talk about how he had sex with the sixteen-year-olds.

But here we were, him in his dank brown lumberjack flannel and me in my sorority sweatshirt. This time, he was more persistent. He'd asked me to follow him. He said he had to show me something. He said it was important.

I hopped out of the Suburban. The pavement smacked at my shins as my feet smacked its hardness through my Nikes. Jerry reached to brace me as I began to fall forward, just missing the sidewalk curb.

What do you want to show me? I asked, pulling away from him.

It's just around the corner, he said. Come with me.

Jerry was pointing to a dark alley between an old sushi restaurant and a popular art gallery. Its brick walls donned cheerful ivy sprays by day. They now looked haunted and menacing.

Jerry sensed my uncertainty.

Do you trust me? he repeated, staring straight into my eyes. I felt like he was looking through me. I knew he could read my mind. I knew he wouldn't like the answer to the rhetorical question he was asking me.

I was contemplating these very things when Jerry clutched his heart. The muscles in his worn face tightened as he grimaced and fell to the pavement.

Jerry! Are you okay? What's wrong? I yelled, bending to help him.

I fumbled for my cell phone, buried somewhere in one of my pockets. It took three pockets before I retrieved it. Frantically, I dialed 911. I shook Jerry's shoulder, looking around to see if anyone was on the street to help us. No one. There was no one.

He lay there, helpless. I scanned his face, trying desperately to read his cracked lips and wondering just what kind of idiots it took to believe he was a god. His eyes were closed as he gasped to catch his breath.

What is it, Jerry? What is it? Against my best gut, I cursed myself for hesitating to trust the man - who now looked as old and helpless as anyone's grandfather in their last moment. The alley behind us wasn't as scary now, and I looked down it, holding his head in my arms and waiting for the ambulance to show up. I could see nothing. And I wondered what he'd wanted to show me. I pledged to return later to find out.

Jerry moaned and pulled at my sweatshirt. I turned my attention back to him. It was then, right before he took his last breath, that I was finally able to understand his plea.

Dog, he said. Feed my dog.

And then, just as I thought he’d closed his eyes to eternal rests, he added, Susan. Take care of Susan.

I stood there, over him, wondering who the hell Susan was and what I should do next. The only Susan I knew of was my mother. But it would be impossible for her to know him. My mother was terrified of men and has become a recent self-proclaimed lesbian at midlife. Hell, she didn’t even have family after cutting off her only sister when they weren’t much older than me. She’d always told me that while her older sister was the ‘good girl,’ she was far too submissive and had always been their parents’ favorite or something like that. She’d never gone into the details of it and only reminded me it was important I think of myself a feminist so as not to wind up like my aunt – whose name she refused to say aloud. My mother, I was convinced, only wanted to be a rebel. In that way, I suppose, she was a lot like Jerry. It was possible he knew her... But how did he know me?

I will, Jerry, I assured him, simply because it was the right thing to do.

Father, he said, and closed his eyes for the final time.

CHAPTER TWO

His Village

Years earlier, before ‘doomsday’ that never came

Esther

My sixteenth birthday is just days away. For some, this is a big deal, but for me, this begins my hell. You see, once we are of age, Jerry Brown our messiah or Father as I call him, can claim you as his. He can take whoever, whenever he wants, and I know for a fact Father wants me. It is no secret. He has had his eye on me for over four years now, just waiting for his chance. His wait is almost up, and I am terrified of what will happen the night of my birthday.

MY FAMILY LIVES ON a 220-acre compound called The Village. It is not a poor place by any means, but we never get to keep what we earn. It is all communal and the designated elders who decide what we need are the only ones that can get it for us. We are not to possess any worldly goods. The only time any of us have contact with the ‘evil,’ the outside world, is when we go once a week to sell our homemade goods. Even then, it is only Father’s chosen that get this job. Usually it is the older men, the ones that cannot be persuaded to look farther into the outside of our Village.

There are only three other men besides Father that can do some of what he can. They have been here since it was started. These are the men that Father gives everything too, including us women.

Father is in his sixties. He is skinny, tan and bald. But his eyes, his dark chocolate eyes, have always seemed friendly growing up. Now coming of age, they seem dark and ominous to me.

Then we have his hunch men. There is Thomas Randell, Sean Chapman and Harvey Winston. They are all around the same age as Father. Sean and Harvey are nasty people. They enjoy when someone gets out of line. Father is big on no violence, but I have seen these two get vicious with members who break a law.

Thomas is different than the others. He seems kind and like he cares about us. He has helped others when he shouldn’t have and once, he even lied to Father about a little boy who stole an apple off the tree. I wonder why he is here with Father if he doesn’t think the same way, but I am thankful for him at times.

Father has changed a lot over the last few years. They have legalized marijuana