I was about to cross the threshold into the site when something grabbed my arm and jerked me backward. Startled, I lost my footing and fell directly onto the ground. I whipped my head around as a hand covered my mouth. Panicked now I went to scream when I realized it was Bruce.
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
I reared back. “What, are you following me now?”
“I’ve thought about it,” he said. “We need to be more understanding of other people’s needs. Like mine.”
I wrestled out of his mouth grasp. “I could ask you the same thing!” I hissed.
He let go of me and let me get to my feet.
“I got suspicious,” he said. “Thought you and Priscilla were going to hog Darren Warren for yourself.”
I brushed leaves and dirt off of me. “Trust me,” I said. “That sounds like an awesome and logical plan and something we would totally do.”
At that moment, Darren emerged from a RV, and Bruce gasped.
“It’s him!” he whispered. “It’s really Darren Warren! I was hoping you wouldn’t be lying and you weren’t!”
“Why would I lie about that?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Maybe you wanted to win me back.”
“Again,” I said. “Another awesome and logical plan I should have tucked away.”
He grabbed my hand. “I’ll take it all back if you introduce me. Everything. We can even get back together. If that’s what you want.”
I looked into his eyes and saw the desperation. “Why do you want to meet him so badly?” I asked. “Any of these people will probably give you pretzels or whatever. I think I saw a bag of Oreos yesterday.”
He shook his head. “Networking! When this is all over, who knows what kind of deep relationships we’ll have built, and you know a good review from him can get me any part in the community theater circuit. Maybe Robert’s right.” He took a deep breath and stared at the sky. “We’ve been given a gift. I can feel it.”
“This is the quarantine situation all over again,” I said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You wanted to follow that actor,” I said. “We could have found my family, or you’re family, but you cared more about what Steve Harks was doing.”
He rolled his eyes. “That’s nonsense. You know I only cared about you, but it’s time you cared about something other than how things look. The time is over to stop worrying about how others see you.”
I shook my head. “Maybe one of us is missing the point in this situation.”
“Thank you,” he said. “It’s about time you figured at least that out.”
He took a step forward and tried to jerk me along, but I held back.
“I don’t think you should just barge in on them like this,” I said. “They don’t respond well to random strangers coming in.”
At that time, a chant arose as the people of the commune came together. They raised their arms high and raised their voices. Four people stepped forward into the center, each holding part of a thick stick with a charred body tied to it. The voices started to cheer as they hung the stick over the pit and let the fire erupt suddenly.
I was horrified and I drew back.
“What’s going on?” Bruce whispered. “Is now a good time to introduce me?”
I shook my head. “I’ve got a really bad feeling about this,” I said. “We should just find Priscilla and get out of here.”
“Wait,” Bruce said. “You were here to find Iris? Or is it Priscilla?”
“What did you think I was here for?” I asked.
“I thought you were here to make me jealous.”
“Stop saying that!” I said.
He folded his arms and looked away.
“Fine,” I said. “Stay there and sulk, but something’s wrong, and we need to get as far as we can from these people.”
Darren stepped out into the middle. He wore his usual bathrobe and held a crudely made staff.
“Friends!” he announced. “We are here tonight to celebrate the gods who have granted us another day of survival.”
Bruce crept away.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“It was foolish of me to think you’d ever think of anyone other than yourself.” His voice was distant as he disappeared into the bushes.
I rolled my eyes. “Well, at least be careful out there!”
“The granting of lives is never free!” Darren said. “And for that, there is always a payment due.”
The group stared at him in reverence.
“And that’s why anyone who trespasses in our holy sanctioned community must pay the price for the breaths we breathe on this evolving planet.”
“We hear and we appreciate!” the crowd murmured in unison.
“We bring this sacrifice,” Darren said. “This woman who entered our domain without permission and without the respect we deserve. Her charred flesh is a reminder of how fragile our lives are without the gift of sovereign protection.”
“It will educate our minds and satisfy our bodies.”
“Perhaps she had a name,” Darren said. “We’re going to assume her name was either Maria or Rosa.”
“Maria,” said the crowd.
“The gods have shown their will for Maria, and we are to benefit from it.”
“All paths will be made evident.”
“Amen,” Darren said.
He lowered his arms and then rubbed his palms together. “Let’s eat, folks.”
A girl came up behind him with paper plates and handed them out to the people around the fire.
I had a horrible feeling. An awful and sickening feeling, and I couldn’t shake my own intuition. Not Priscilla, please not Priscilla, I prayed. I prayed that she would come through the bushes at any moment and that this would all be one big misunderstanding. The body shape over the fire, the remnants of clothing now being used to burn underneath her—it was Priscilla. The smell was enveloping me, and I hated that it smelled like anything I’ve ever smelled at a cookout or a steakhouse. I was sick to my stomach. The nausea rolled around in my stomach, expanding and moving without any of my own control.
So much so my knees buckled and I vomited on the ground. I tried to keep it as quiet as possible, wiping my mouth. When I got back to my feet, I spotted Bruce on the other side of the compound, creeping around, seemingly oblivious to the horror that happened in front of him.
I couldn’t let him go through it so I went after him the long way around, trying to move soundlessly through the branches and leaves. My heart beat heavy and quick as I tried to catch up with him, stomach still making waves. He stepped into the clearing, and the crowd noise automatically stopped. As did my heart.
I watched him through the tree branches as he walked out, waving both hands.
“Hey, how y’all doing?” he asked in his overtly friendly way. He had a big goofy grin on his face, almost as though he were about to host his own talk show.
The RVers stared at him. No one smiled back. No one waved. They just stared in creepy unison, and he just kept walking closer. He spotted Steve Harks, gave him a goofy smile.
“Hey, man.” He offered his hand in greeting.
Steve ignored him and kept on walking.
He finally stopped walking and shoved his hands deep in his pockets. “Is Darren here?”
The people put down their plates.
“And what’s this I hear about appreciating surviving another day?” he asked.
They continued to stare at him. I cut through the clearing and took him by his jacket sleeve.
“Bruce,” I said, quietly.
He turned around and looked at me.
“You’re here.” He sulked. “Great. Turns out Steve Harks is a member. Nice of you to keep that to yourself too. I suppose you’ve been buddies with Liam Neeson this whole time.”
“We have to go,” I said. “Please.”