Page 32 of Sacrifice

“I suppose that is one way of putting it,” he replied, expression remaining neutral. “They discovered and ate some of those mushrooms, and they experienced visions afterwards. Visions they interpreted as the sacred word of our world’s true God, which they named the Entity.”

“Whatarethose mushrooms, exactly?” Rose cut in, brows dipping in a frown.

“It is an extremely rare fungus species. So rare that it only grows right here on Covenant land. It has never been observed anywhere else in the world,” Augustus explained. “We have searched high and low across the wilderness. Many others have too. But that cave seems to be the only place where it naturally occurs.”

“That doesn’t really answer my question,” Rose said. “Are they a sort of drug, like we assumed earlier?”

“Yes. But they aren’t like other psychedelic mushrooms. Theycanmake a person hallucinate, or ‘trip balls’ as you said, Sebastian,” Augustus said, raising a brow. “But in smaller doses, they can produce a euphoric high without any hallucinations. It is one of the most wonderful sensations a human canexperience. Like you have stepped directly into heaven. Hundreds of years ago, it seemed like pure magic bestowed upon the world by the Entity, but modern science tells us exactly how it works. Ingestion of the substance activates certain pathways in the brain that other drugs simply cannot activate. That is why it is such an effective drug.”

“Papa,” Rose cut in, eyes narrowing. “Is this what you lace the ritual wine with during our eclipse ceremonies? Is that why we are always so euphoric on those evenings?”

“Yes, darling. Of course we share our land’s bounty with our people. It’s natural and it’s beautiful.”

I lifted a hand to interrupt. “So basically, Dubois and Brouxard realized they’d stumbled upon something amazing, and they decided to make up an entire religion around it to keep themselves and their people here forever? To profit off it?”

Augustus shook his head. “Not really. You are correct in saying that they immediately realized the importance of what they’d stumbled upon, along with the subsequent need to hold onto this piece of land. But theytrulybelieved in the things they saw and heard during their shared visions in the cave. They saw it as a gift from the Entity; believed that he had chosen them to share the truth with their brethren. They knew they had to guard that truth carefully while simultaneously teaching it to their people for generations to come.”

“What truth?” I asked, upper lip curling with derision.

Augustus spread his arms wide. “Everything. The truth of our whole world,” he said, as if that really explained anything. “The way we should live. The things we should believe, love, and revere. The things we should fear, too, such as the Darkness that resides in the forbidden cave along with the mushrooms that bring so much light to our world. It is all a balance between the counterparts, you see. Dark and light. Love and hate. Fear and hope. Good and evil. Each force in this world exists in relation tothe other, defining its opposite, giving it meaning. The forbidden cave is where these dualities meet. That is what the Entity told our founders.”

I frowned. “So youreallybelieve that the Darkness is real, and that it lurks somewhere in that cave? You really believe everything in the world will go to shit if outsiders ‘let it out’?”

“Of course I do,” Augustus said. “And my faith in that was proven when your mother went in the cave, because that act of hers let some of the Darkness seep out. After she did that, everything went wrong, and as much as we worked to contain it… well, we’ve spent the last twenty years hoping and praying that it isn’t too late. We’ve been counting on the Tetrad ritual to reverse the damage that was done, but of course, that hasn’t been completed yet. So we shall see.”

He looked pointedly at Rose as he spoke that last part.

“Shit.” I slowly shook my head. “You really believe all this stuff, don’t you?”

“Of course. I’ve always said that.”

“I know. I just—” I stopped abruptly, still shaking my head. “When I first realized what was happening up here, like the sacrifices, and all the other shit… I honestly thought you guys just didn’t like or respect women. But that’s not true, is it? You genuinely believe in everything the founders laid out for you. Even if it means sacrificing your own daughters.”

Augustus nodded. “All we can do is follow the word of the Entity. It is the only hope we have against the Darkness, especially since your mother let some of it seep out twenty years ago, as we already discussed.”

“Right. So what the fuck does any of this have to do with my father?” I asked, cocking my head.

“You’ll have to allow me to continue the story of our history if you want to know the answer to that question,” he said. “As you know, the Covenant were some of the first people in this region,but eventually, others began to settle here too. For example, Pinecrest Falls was founded in 1675 by English settlers, and soon after that, several other towns sprang up nearby. The Covenant elders, including Dubois and Brouxard, welcomed these outsider settlements despite their desire for seclusion, because they knew that the arrival of other people in the region could be a boon to Alderwood. After all, they needed certain materials in order to build up a properly functioning town, and there were various other things they needed too. Livestock, crop seeds, and so on. Our Covenant ancestors realized they could trade what they had for what they needed.”

“Papa, we already know the Covenant has traded with outsiders for hundreds of years,” Rose cut in. “How is this relevant to Sebastian’s father?”

“You’ll see,” he said, giving her a hard look. He turned his gaze back to me. “Sebastian, your family arrived here about three hundred years ago. In Pinecrest Falls, that is. They developed and owned the logging industry in this region.”

“Yeah.” I nodded slowly. “They traded with the Covenant, right? That’s where you’re going with this?”

“Yes. The Covenant approached your ancestors, showed them what we had, and told them what we needed in return. At first, they assumed we wanted to sell the sacred mushrooms to them, but we have never used money in our village. We simply wanted to trade. So for many years, that was how things worked between us and the Thornes. We gave them dried mushrooms that they—and those they shared them with—greatly enjoyed, even more than alcohol and other remedies that were available at the time. In return, we received construction materials and other such necessities.”

“I’m guessing things soured between you eventually,” I said curtly.

“Not for a very long time. But thingsdidchange. More and more people moved to the region, and the Thornes realized they could branch out from the timber industry and make even more money by selling our mushrooms for a high price all over the East Coast. Alotmore money.”

I scoffed. “You’re saying my ancestors were some sort of drug dealers?”

“That’s exactly what they were. It made them wealthy beyond their wildest dreams.”

“Bullshit. They made most of their fortune from the logging industry.”

Augustus sighed. “Please, just let me continue.”

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