Page 5 of Taken

A tall man with gray hair and weathered skin picked up one of the flaming torches surrounding us and touched it to the bottom of the pyre. The dry materials caught alight instantly. I turned away and did my best to stop myself from being sick all over the grassy ground as the terrible scent of sizzling flesh and burning hair filled the air around us.

Someone nudged me and whispered in my ear. “Did you know about the two of them?”

I turned to see my friend Elena staring at me with wide eyes. Our close friend Lauren was standing right next to her, looking at me too.

I pressed my lips together for a moment. I did know about Rebecca and Eric. I also knew how bad this was, but I had not been able to force myself to come forward with the information.

I stumbled upon them a few weeks ago when I was sent to the men’s section of the shelter to scrub the floors. Cleaning in this section was quite a rewarding task, because not only was I directly serving the men, their floors were also marble-tiled and dirt came off them easily, making everything beautiful and shiny. The men were allowed to have electricity, too, and the lights made it easier to see what I was doing, unlike in the female section where I spent the vast majority of my time. We were only allowed candles there.

That day, Eric had sneaked Rebecca into his quarters while most of the other men were working on the ranch outside. I heard the sounds of their joining as I walked by. Knowing something wicked must be occurring, I pushed the door open slightly to confirm this, and I saw them naked and writhing together on the wide bed.

I was about to turn around and run up the hall to alert someone when I saw Rebecca’s lips curl up in a blissful smile. For a moment, I was transfixed. It had been so long since I saw anyone smile like that. It made me ache as it reminded me of all the beautiful things from the past that once made me smile. Kittens, bouquets, sunshine, music.

I could not begrudge her that smile, and I decided not to tell a soul what I had witnessed that day. I knew the two of them would eventually be judged and cast into eternal flames anyway, when they died and faced His wrath.

Now I knew I had made a grave error. I should have done the right thing and told on them, like the next person who saw them together did. In keeping the dark, sinful secret to myself, I had let the evil fester for weeks, possibly making the whole situation even worse.

But still, I could not bring myself to admit it out loud. I was afraid of what might happen. They might decide to put me to death too, even though I was the Prophet’s daughter.

“No,” I finally said, averting my eyes from Elena and Lauren’s curious gazes. “I didn’t know.”

“Neither did I,” Lauren whispered. “It’s so terrible.”

Elena chewed on her bottom lip. “Yes, it is,” she said. “I had no idea either.”

I wondered if they were lying too. I wondered just how much feminine sin we were all hiding for fear of retribution.

I turned my head to the left to gaze out upon the moonlit fields and sporadic copses of live oaks and bald cypress trees. In the distance, I could see the white plantation mansion I lived in until I was seven years old. I had not set foot inside it in the eleven years since the Great Reckoning, but sometimes I felt like I had been in there just a few days ago.

This bizarre feeling always came over me the day after the Elders gave us extra-large doses of our regular daily vitamins, which protected us from the negative effects of our lack of sunlight. When they gave us such big doses, it made me feel very strange, and the next morning I would not remember what had occurred the day before at all, save for the first few minutes after I took the dose.

My brows furrowed as I stared at the house. Perhaps I had been in there recently, after all, and I simply forgot about it because of the pills. But why? Why would my father or the other men ever allow us in there? It wasn’t safe. The only place we were truly protected was down in the underground shelter.

My father called out above the roaring flames. “All women who have reached fruition, step forward!”

Elena and Lauren immediately stepped forward. I did too, although I still wasn’t used to being referred to as a woman. Despite growing the private hair and prominent curves of a grown woman several years ago, I had not begun my monthly bleeding until the day after my eighteenth birthday six months ago, so I had only been considered a woman for those few short months.

“Prepare yourselves,” Elder Landry said, stepping over to the line of women with a sharp knife. Behind him, one of the other Elders followed, holding a large snake. Its forked tongue darted out menacingly and its cruel beady eyes glinted in the light from the fire. I shuddered. Snakes were the Devil’s minions.

My father beamed at us from the pulpit. “You have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide,” he said.

My legs began to tremble. I had a lot to hide. So many shameful secrets. I wasn’t sure if they were bad enough to count as unforgivable sins, but I would soon find out.

Elder Landry nodded at the man behind him. He took the snake over to the first woman in the line. She trembled as he held the reptile close to her, and I heard a petrified sob rip from her as it darted its tongue out again, right near her face.

That was all it did.

“She is clean,” the snake handler said. He moved on to the next young woman.

As snakes were the Devil’s minions, they were able to recognize one of their evil allies if they were held close enough. If this happened, they would bite the person and infect them with their venom in order to return them to their dark master. If the snake did not strike out and bite, however, that meant the person was still a subject of Him, the only true God.

The man went down the line with the snake. When it was my turn, I could barely muster up the strength to remain standing. My legs were shaking so much that I worried they might give out any second. Please, I silently prayed. I know I am weak and fall prey to sinful thoughts on occasion, but I believe I am still pure of heart.

The snake regarded me with beady eyes and stayed motionless in the handler’s grip. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Praise Him. I wasn’t so far gone that I had to die and sink into the fiery pits below.

When all the women had been tested and none had been bitten, Elder Landry held up the knife. It glinted ominously in the orange firelight.

“Hold out your arms,” he said.

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