Read Online Children of the Earth by Anna Schumacher - Free Book Online
Authors: Anna Schumacher
Ads: Link
moon is waxing, indicating growth and potential. And when the full moon is here, we’ll perform our final ritual and summon our true father, the God of the Earth, to make people stop destroying the planet once and for all. Are there any questions?”
The Children of the Earth sat silent, shaking their heads. Heather felt like she
should
have questions—fragments of thoughts drifted through her head, fleeting and iridescent like dragonflies. But before she could close a net around any of them, they were gone.
“Good.” Luna stood and brushed imaginary dirt from her bell-bottoms. “Now let’s find Heather a place to sleep and help her unpack her things. After all, she’s one of us now.”
7
“YOUR PROPHET HAS SP OKEN!”
Pastor Ted paced back and forth on the stage. His voice echoed off the walls of the packed Carbon County First Church of God and crackled through a series of hastily erected speakers outside, where a swelling crowd jostled each other to peer through the windows at the Sunday sermon.
Sweat swam down Daphne’s back. She had just finished describing her vision to the congregation, and now she felt exhausted from the effort and desperate to escape the hundreds of eyes staring up at her. She’d told them about the dark shadow with shoulders wide as mountains, about the way he coaxed fire down from the mountains to engulf the rig.
She’d only omitted one detail: that the dark figure had been Owen. That still felt too private—and too dangerous—to share.
“Now, folks, we don’t need to be rocket scientists to figure this one out.” Pastor Ted clutched the microphone and leapt into a feral crouch at the edge of the stage. “Fire. Fear. A dark shadow emanating evil. There’s only one thing this can mean, this vision from a prophet of God. We all know who and what that shadow is, don’t we?”
Heads were already starting to nod.
“It’s Satan himself!” Flecks of spittle flew from Pastor Ted’s mouth and glinted in the light. “Lurking right here in Carbon County, trying to claw his way up from Hell to steal our souls. Do you believe?”
“I believe!” The crowd’s fury was a dull roar in Daphne’s ears.
“We know what this means.” Pastor Ted resumed his pacing, passion painting his cheeks scarlet. “That the End Times are almost upon us, and Satan is waiting in the wings, ready to destroy. Will we let him?”
“No!” the crowd cried. Daphne gripped the sides of the pulpit, dying to sit down. It was hot at the front of the church, with all of the lights beating down on her, and her dress clung to the small of her back with sweat.
“Folks,” the pastor continued, “each and every one of us has a choice, and that choice is clear. We can choose God, or we can choose Satan. If we choose Satan, come Judgment Day we’ll burn alongside him in the eternal flames of Hell. If we choose God, we’ll experience a Rapture unlike any other, knowing perfect peace and perfect light forever. Sounds like an easy choice, right?”
Daphne watched the sea of heads bob up and down. “Let me tell you: It is
not
an easy choice.” Pastor Ted’s piercing stare swept over the congregation. “To choose God, we have to rid our lives of sin. Living a righteous life isn’t easy. It means sacrifice, and patience, and virtue. It means saying no to that cold beer after a long day’s work, turning off the radio when the devil’s music comes on, taking those hard-earned funds you saved up for that nice Caribbean vacation and donating to the church instead.” He spun suddenly, facing Daphne head-on. “It means resisting the temptations of the flesh.”
His laser-blue eyes bored into hers until she had to look away. She felt color creep into her cheeks as she stared down at her shoes and took a deep breath, trying to slow her pounding heart.
Could Pastor Ted know somehow? Could he know about her love for Owen, about the relationship she tried so hard to hide from her disapproving community? Did
The Children of the Earth sat silent, shaking their heads. Heather felt like she
should
have questions—fragments of thoughts drifted through her head, fleeting and iridescent like dragonflies. But before she could close a net around any of them, they were gone.
“Good.” Luna stood and brushed imaginary dirt from her bell-bottoms. “Now let’s find Heather a place to sleep and help her unpack her things. After all, she’s one of us now.”
7
“YOUR PROPHET HAS SP OKEN!”
Pastor Ted paced back and forth on the stage. His voice echoed off the walls of the packed Carbon County First Church of God and crackled through a series of hastily erected speakers outside, where a swelling crowd jostled each other to peer through the windows at the Sunday sermon.
Sweat swam down Daphne’s back. She had just finished describing her vision to the congregation, and now she felt exhausted from the effort and desperate to escape the hundreds of eyes staring up at her. She’d told them about the dark shadow with shoulders wide as mountains, about the way he coaxed fire down from the mountains to engulf the rig.
She’d only omitted one detail: that the dark figure had been Owen. That still felt too private—and too dangerous—to share.
“Now, folks, we don’t need to be rocket scientists to figure this one out.” Pastor Ted clutched the microphone and leapt into a feral crouch at the edge of the stage. “Fire. Fear. A dark shadow emanating evil. There’s only one thing this can mean, this vision from a prophet of God. We all know who and what that shadow is, don’t we?”
Heads were already starting to nod.
“It’s Satan himself!” Flecks of spittle flew from Pastor Ted’s mouth and glinted in the light. “Lurking right here in Carbon County, trying to claw his way up from Hell to steal our souls. Do you believe?”
“I believe!” The crowd’s fury was a dull roar in Daphne’s ears.
“We know what this means.” Pastor Ted resumed his pacing, passion painting his cheeks scarlet. “That the End Times are almost upon us, and Satan is waiting in the wings, ready to destroy. Will we let him?”
“No!” the crowd cried. Daphne gripped the sides of the pulpit, dying to sit down. It was hot at the front of the church, with all of the lights beating down on her, and her dress clung to the small of her back with sweat.
“Folks,” the pastor continued, “each and every one of us has a choice, and that choice is clear. We can choose God, or we can choose Satan. If we choose Satan, come Judgment Day we’ll burn alongside him in the eternal flames of Hell. If we choose God, we’ll experience a Rapture unlike any other, knowing perfect peace and perfect light forever. Sounds like an easy choice, right?”
Daphne watched the sea of heads bob up and down. “Let me tell you: It is
not
an easy choice.” Pastor Ted’s piercing stare swept over the congregation. “To choose God, we have to rid our lives of sin. Living a righteous life isn’t easy. It means sacrifice, and patience, and virtue. It means saying no to that cold beer after a long day’s work, turning off the radio when the devil’s music comes on, taking those hard-earned funds you saved up for that nice Caribbean vacation and donating to the church instead.” He spun suddenly, facing Daphne head-on. “It means resisting the temptations of the flesh.”
His laser-blue eyes bored into hers until she had to look away. She felt color creep into her cheeks as she stared down at her shoes and took a deep breath, trying to slow her pounding heart.
Could Pastor Ted know somehow? Could he know about her love for Owen, about the relationship she tried so hard to hide from her disapproving community? Did
Similar Books
