The Forsaken (The Chosen Series Book 2), Patricia Bell [e textbook reader .txt] 📗

window.” He stood in front of the door, his hand on the knob and lowered an eyebrow.

“I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” Luna pushed Jonathan out of the way and opened the door.

Chapter 18 ― Daniel

Daniel sat in his room working on his studies, but his mind was on other things. He glanced around his room at all the worldly possessions he owned. The big-screen television that hung from the wall, and his laptop that sat next to him on his desk. The gaming system. The DVD player.

How could he enjoy all these comforts when the people of his community went without? And why? Why did they go without? His father had more than enough money stored up to provide electricity to the community for years to come. There were stacks of it just sitting there in that basement hideaway. What was his father doing with all that cash?

Who was his father anyway? What made him so important that he could live like a king while the rest of his people lived like paupers. And he . . . Daniel dropped his pencil to his paper. How could he let this go on? Is this what had been happening for over a century? Did his grandfather and his grandfather’s grandfather treat their people that way? Would he be expected to do the same?

Frustrated, he closed his study on biblical foundations and snuck out into the hallway.

“Where are you headed off to?” his mother asked, startling him from behind.

“Oh. Blessed day, Mother. I was headed to the kitchen for a small snack break. I am almost finished with my lessons, but I am famished.”

“Just a short one, then. You must finish your studies and get ready for bed.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“There are fresh cookies cooling on the counter.” She smiled.

“Thank you, Mother. I thought I smelled something delicious.”

“Not too many, though. You do not want a stomach ache.”

“Yes, Mother,” Daniel answered and hurried off before she could say more.

At the thought of cookies, Daniel took a quick detour into the kitchen. Sure enough, there was a plate full of delicious treats waiting for him. Daniel grabbed several, folded them in a napkin, and took them off to his hiding place.

As he leaned against the wall, opening his secret door, a thought occurred to him, did the people get such treats as cookies? He slipped inside and closed the door. Guiltily he took a bite of the sweet treat. At the mouthwatering taste of chocolate chips, Daniel decided it was just too good to give up.

His father’s voice alerted him before he even made it to the vent. “What do you mean? If you found them, where are they?” Daniel’s father’s voice boomed through the vent. “Why are they not standing before me?”

Daniel sat down on the floor and looked through the blades of the opening. The same man his father had hired to do away with the ones who left, stood before him. The man whose moral values seemed to be better than his own father’s, a man who supposedly had a direct connection to God.

“They are all three in a small town about sixty miles south-east of Phoenix. The two, Jonathan and Luna, are living in Luna’s mother’s home. The third, Rachel, she is living with a woman named Shelly Newton.”

“And why are they still there and not here?”

“Because I cannot just grab them off the streets and throw them into the back of my van. Believe it or not, there are laws out there.”

“So how do you propose to get them?”

“I have a plan. I will have all three of them here by the end of the month. Rachel will be the hardest because she has not left the house in weeks. It will take some time, but I will have them here.”

“The end of the month is the best you can do?”

“If you would like me to go and rip them off the streets, I can do that, but that will bring down a whole lot of acid rain on you and your people.”

“How so?”

The man raised a hand in frustration. “If three people, in such a close connection with your community all of a sudden end up missing, where do you think is the first place they will look?” He paused. “And this time they won’t hesitate to get a warrant to tear this place apart.”

“Fine,” The High Prophet slammed his hand on the desk. “Do it your way.” And then he leaned forward and stared in the man’s eyes to provoke fear. “You have until the end of the month. No longer.”

The man turned swiftly and left Daniel’s father sitting at his desk. The High Prophet placed his head in his hands and mumbled something Daniel could not hear.

What had happened to his father? Had he always been this malicious? Daniel wanted no part of the way his father treated the people of his community.

Daniel stood and left. Malachi would be loading the truck for the next morning’s trip into town. As he started for the hidden door, a thought occurred to him and he turned around.

DANIEL DUCKED BEHIND the same box and watched as Malachi and another man loaded the wares into the truck. Malachi hadn’t spotted him yet, and he hadn’t seen him alone to signal to him that he was there.

He shook his head and stuck a hand up into his straw hat to scratch the itch that would not go away.

How do they wear these things?

It was extremely uncomfortable wearing the clothes Malachi had given him as a disguise. When he’d dug them out from under his bed, he’d been excited to put them on. He’d felt like a spy. James Bond.

He’d watched an entire twenty-four-hour 007 movie marathon one time and spent a good part of the time daydreaming about it for days after. But now, being a spy did not sound so appealing. He’d never worn pants before. They were restricting around his legs and that hat.