And so you shall see
The moon shone brightly in the night sky above me. The air of the town smelled nostalgic and sickening. I could never get used to the strong mixed fragrances of cigarettes, sewage, and oil that reeked the streets of Mulley Village.
Even though the smells stay true to my earliest memories of home, the actual resemblance of the old village had changed drastically. The distinction between the rich and the poor was made even more clearer now. Kids ran around playing in mud dressed in rags while the more elite of the social hierarchy strutted in the newest silks and blouses. They were dressed in beautiful bright blue suits and tuxedos. Some wore even more extravagant colors such as gold, emerald, ruby red, etc. they were all embroidered in jewels and diamonds and didn’t try to hide their faces of disgust when they encountered the less fortunate.
As the carriage went over cracks in the road my seat jumped up and down ever so slightly. It was nice to know not everything had changed so drastically, the same cracks in the road from my childhood had remained over the many years I was away from home.
The two massive stallions that lead my carriage neighed and snorted with annoyance. It seemed they didn't find the cracks nearly as enjoyable as I did.
Beautiful bright lanterns burned with a bright orange fire and lit the many streets and homes of the village with an illuminating bright light. Even though it was the dead of the night the village still seemed lively.
“May I ask a question?” I asked to my driver who was as quiet as a ghost for nearly the whole ride.
“Yeah” the silent man answered without a single glance back towards me.
“Do you know of Gunther Hue?”
The man remained silent and continued to gently guide the two stallions with ease. He wore the clothes of a hard working common man. Nothing too fancy or too rubbish. He was sweaty and smelled of horses and sweat.
“The priest…He died…What of it?” Finally the man answered. He spoke with a short temper as if he hated speaking in general.
“I am…New to this Village. Well in a sense. I was born here and left when I was 16. 8 years have passed since then and I can’t help but feel like a stranger from how so much has changed. One of those biggest changes being the growth of Church Samuel.”
The driver grunted. Was it a grunt of annoyance from me talking or the topic being talked about I would never know. Yet still I continued the conversation.
“Gunther was a priest for which church loyalment?”
“Third. He was Grand Priest of Church Samuel Third Loyalment.”
Interesting. Third loyalment was no small thing. It was a high standing for a church, no doubt only visited by the rich and noble. And on top of that he was Grand Priest. The second highest on the hierarchy of priests. The greatest being Grand Elder Priest. Why would someone from a great church loyalment standing with such a high position of power be killed?
“Bad omen it is”, suddenly the driver broke the silence and staggered me from within my thoughts back into reality.
“A Grand Priest being killed in his own church…Bad Omen.”
There was nothing I had to say. I didn’t believe in omens. But I did notice a piece of silver hanging from the driver's neck. The bumps in the road made both me and the driver jump up and down in our seats causing the piece of silver to sway side to side. The silver was a coin and engraved onto it was a man holding an apple in his right palm and feeding it to a snake.
“You’re a believer of Samuel?” As soon as the words left my mouth I already knew the answer. Only a believer of Samuel wears that coin with them.
“Yes. I only visit the Eight Loyalment of Church Samuel though, so I have never met Gunther Hue. It is a shame though. To lose a Grand Priest. A terrible omen it is.”
“When I was a boy there was only one Loyalment of church Samuel in Mulley Village”.
“Ah yes, the First Loyalment. If only I was a believer back then, I would at least be worshiping in the fourth Loyalment church right now, hearing the gospel from grand priests and elder grand priests. Ah! But I am grateful to be hearing the gospel at all even if it is from a Septor priest.”
All this talk about priests and churches began to swirl around in my head and make it ache. So many rules when it came to worship. But at least the man was more talkative now.
“And how many churches does church Samuel have now?”
“13. But only 5 are located in Mulley Village”.
I took out my small notebook and jotted down all that I have heard from this man. I have no doubt that the murderer is either a worshiper of the church or someone that works within the church. But I must not jump to conclusions that’s a rookie's mistake and I am no rookie. I will gather all the information and look at it with the bare eyes of the law and lay sentence to whoever is guilty.
Suddenly a mechanical roar came from behind the carriage. The driver of the horses stopped suddenly. The mechanical roar sounded like a beast that hissed fire and wore pounds and pounds of metallic armor.
“Damn nobles, think their too good for horses now”, cursed the driver as the metallic beast passed us on our right side.
I looked out the carriage to see a beast made of metal drive itself down the road on 4 wheels. It looked strange but beautiful. Cladded in black and gold it looked and sounded like science fiction.
“So they are real? These automobiles?” I asked in pure awe. I had just witnessed a scientific marvel causally pass us on the road.
“Only about 10 in the world right now, yet somehow the nobles of this village got a hold of three of them. And now they drive all over town as if even their shit is gold. With no care in the world about scaring the horses that had the roads way before they were even born. I spit on those turds”. The driver then spat out a thick mucus of spit onto the road and continued to move his horses after the automobile had passed.
So much had changed. The nobles were richer than ever and could even afford automobiles, the poor had become poorer, and Church Samuel now had 13 churches in all. The dots are all there, I just have to connect them.
“We are here” said the driver after another 15 minutes of riding.
“Thank you good man” I gathered my two large suitcases and hopped off the carriage. I then turned to the man and gave him 4 silver coins and a gold coin. A very luxurious tip but he had given me a safe ride to my old house and very useful information so I felt he deserved it.
His eyes widened when he saw the silver and gold flicker in the palm of his hands.
“May Samuel bless you good sir”, he said with a smile.
“And may Samuel bless you too” and with that the man rode off deeper into town.
May Samuel bless you too. I had only said that to not be rude and in truth I only said it with a third of as much passion as the man. Maybe even less.
The planter lights were whisking away with the night air signaling that the night was finally dying down to a time of slumber. I turned around to face my old house. It was bigger than I remembered. It looked sturdier too. They must’ve reconstructed it, all the places that were made of only wood were now made with concrete and reinforced with steel. Some wood still remained on the roofs, windows, door and sides of the house. Lanterns glowed from within the dark blue windows signaling that people were still up and awake.
I approached the doorway to give a knock on the door, but before my fist could bang on the wood of the door it stopped midair. In the window to my right hanged a silver coin. The sigil of Church Samuel.
One of my sisters doing surely. I shook my head with detest and banged on the door. It opened almost immediately and I was met with an endearing hug from my eldest sister Sandra.
Eyes as brown as the midday sky, and long hair as black as shadows draped down her back. She was dressed in all black. A black dress with her nails painted black also.
She looked at me with tears in her eyes and the coin of Church Samuel hanging from her neck.
“Zacharias! Oh my Zacharias! I knew you would come!” She shouted in a cheerful voice as she hugged me again. Even though she was four years older than me I towered over her with a few extra feet. She had to get on her tippy toes to properly hug me.
“Late…As expected”. Said a sour filled voice from across the room. It was old aunt Flower in the kitchen cooking a stew on the stove.
She looked her age. She was 10 years older than father, making her 78 years old. She was covered in wrinkles, and her teeth were yellow and rotten and most of them had fallen out. She walked with a humped back, a weird lean to the left, and a limp with her right leg. She refused to be helped though and refused to use a cane or take any medications. Even now she stood in the kitchen walking back and forth for ingredients, leaning over to grab things, and crouching down to grab things that had fallen on the floor. She moved like she was still in her twenties but surely that wasn’t good for her health now. Now she needed rest. The old fool is going to shorten her life span.
“Too good to show up on time for the Prayer Ceremony?” Said old aunt Flowers with a nagging tone in her voice.
“Or did you simply not care enough at all?”
“Enough!” Shouted Sandra as she stared daggers at old Aunt Flowers.
“What is important is that he is here, go back to your cooking old aunt Flowers”.
“My boat arrived at the shores of Lexington late, and the trains were closed so I had to take a carriage all the way from Lexington to here”. I felt some guilt for missing the prayer ceremony so I felt the need to explain myself. But in truth I think the Viewing Ceremony and the Funeral were more important affairs.
“Excuses when your father was alive, and excuses when he lies dead. Young boy you still are, young and selfish and foolish”. Old Aunt Flowers continued to nag quietly to herself as she cooked her stew which smelled devilishly delicious.
Sandra rolled her eyes, “ignore her Zach, we’re all glad that you made it here.”
“Where is Sally and Sarah?” It has been so long since I’ve seen my two younger sisters. Sometimes Sandra would bring them to visit me at Vincourt. The last time I saw them was probably a year ago. Sally was 10 and full of life and energy. She had short hair as black as Sandras that would reach to her shoulders if it wasn't always in a mess from how frequently she played outside. And Sarah was 16 and in that phase where she wanted to escape town and start her own adventure. I know that feeling all too well. She dyed her black hair a dark red and wore it in a pony tail and always wore her silver dragon earrings for good luck. Red jewels were placed as the dragon's eyes.
“Sleeping, been sleeping for hours now. I’m sure it’s because of the grief”, said Sandra with a broken voice of sorrow.
“You should’ve seen them at the prayer ceremony. It was beautiful. They let everything out. Their love, guilt, hate, and fear. They opened up all of their hearts for the lord to hear. I’m sure our father heard them too”.
“And which lord was it that heard them?” I asked while looking at the coin hanging from my sister's neck. I couldn’t hide my distaste for it, and my sister read my face like an open book.
“To our lord Samuel of course.”
“So…You’ve converted. You're free to choose which church you serve, but it is distasteful to pray to a God that our father didn’t worship at his own prayer ceremony”.
“It isn’t just me who converted sweet brother. Sally and Sarah have too…And father”.
The words hit me as if a bullet slammed itself into my ribcaged and ricocheted continuously within me scrambling my insides.
I couldn’t believe it. I just…Couldn’t believe it. Not my father. I don’t care how much has changed that was something that just could never change. Not ever.
“Father believed in the old gods. What…What could have converted him”.
“The truth sweet brother. He saw the truth of Samuel’s light and realized that the old gods were dead, or simply didn’t exist to begin with. And converted his love towards something that was real…That was true”.
“Bullshit. That’s as true as the mermaids in Lexington bay.” Laughed old aunt flowers. And for once I agreed with her.
“How was father…acting when it came to this revelation.” I had to know. Maybe it was a bit of sarcasm that Sandra was too dense to understand. That was more believable than father abandoning the old gods.
“His room was filled with scriptures from the Book of Samuel. Some scriptures that I hadn’t even read before. Ah, their knowledge was beautiful. That is when he told me they came from the First Loyalment of Church Samuel. These scriptures are only meant for the most loyal, loving believers. That’s why I didn’t recognize them; they weren’t meant for believers of my loyalment. I am only able to enjoy the scriptures blessed to me by the Ninth Loyalment of Church Samuel.”
“But did he ever tell you he believed in Samuel, that he abandoned the old gods?”
Sandra gave a confused blink. “Is the scriptures not enough proof? How can a non believer attain such knowledge?”
I decided to drop my questions. It seems Sandra would only get angry if I said I didn’t believe in fathers change in religion.
“I guess…I guess that does make…Some sense”. I struggled to form words due to my shock.
Sandra smiled. “Father raised us all under false gods. But he saw the truth before death. You should be happy and join us at Church Samuel”.
“I’ll think about it”. I said with a soft smile. In truth I didn’t really believe in gods, but I did believe in a sense of higher power.
My sister gave me a light kiss on my cheek and went to her bedroom to sleep.
“And so Zacharias cried and told the world-“
I cut old aunt Flowers words off with my own as I walked into the kitchen. She was saying a verse of scripture and I finished it for her.
“The Faceless Gods watch always and so you shall see that all has happened as it always should and the world will be broken as always promised.”
The scripture was from the Book of Zacharias a priest for the old gods, or so it was believed.
“So you still remember your fathers teachings Zach”, said old Aunt Flowers as she tasted her stew.
“Is it true? Did my father have scriptures from the First Loyalment of Church Samuel?”
“Yes he did. Towards the end of his life he was…Fascinated with the religion”.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Towards the end of his life father would’ve been at the Faceless Woods praying towards the Old Gods. But in his last remaining time he was reading Samuel’s scriptures? And not only that, but from the First Loyalment?
“What did he say? How did he act? What was he doing?”
“Maybe if you were here-“
“Do not start with that! I want straight answers only.”
Old Aunt Flowers looked at me with annoyance. Her pale eyes were filled with judgment.
“Your sister Sandra was thrilled to learn that your father was reading Samuel’s scripture, I myself thought it must’ve been some joke. If he hadn’t spoken to me that night I would’ve still believed it was some joke.”
“That night?”
“He came to me and said ‘Don’t be mistaken Samuel is not my God’,”
That didn’t ease my curiosity at all.
“So then why did he have the scriptures?”
“He wouldn’t say”.
“Does my sister know about this?”
“She doesn’t believe me, thinks I’m a liar”.
What the hell was my father thinking? Why did he have such scriptures from such a high Loyalment of the church. I couldn’t help but immediately assume that it was somehow connected to the murders that happened in this town.
“So be honest, are you here for your father, or to do your work as a detective.”
I ignored old aunt Flowers' taunts. To ask such a question was ridiculous, it must be because of her old age that she’s such a grinch. I looked up at her and answered with, “both. My father, and my work. They are both important to me”.
I looked back down at the floor staring at nothing in particular. I was lost in thought. Old aunt Flowers was saying rude things about me but I ignored everything until I looked back up and asked, “what exactly did the coroner say killed my father?”
Old aunt Flowers gave a short amused laugh, “that shows how much you knew your father”.
“Just answer the damn question.”
“It was obviously because of his brain cancer”.
He died peacefully in his sleep because of cancer. Should I…Should I believe that? Or should I believe that something more sinister happened to my father and that it is somehow connected to the string of murders that have happened in this town. Are they connected? Or was my father just in a demented state towards the end of his life and there wasn’t really any meaning to what he was doing. But then how would he have gotten scriptures from the first Loyalment? The dots are all there. Now I just need to connect them.
