Page 8 of Redeemed

“Tired,” I lie. “I think I’ll probably go to sleep soon.”

“Fair enough. It’s been a long day. Do you want help making your bed?”

I know Julie is well aware I can do that myself, so I think she’s offering to be nice. The good-mannered thing would be to accept her help, but I feel the way I do when I know Isaiah is about to come home from work. My chest is tight, it’s getting hard to breathe, and my hands are beginning to tremble.

“Thank you, but I think I’d like some alone time to wind down.”

She smiles again. “That’s understandable enough.”

To my relief, Julie doesn’t seem to notice my distress. I grew up believing that lying was a sin, yet my husband forced me to do it daily. I had to hide my fear of him anytime we were around other people, had to lie about the bruises he gave me, had to pretend my faith in God was growing as it was doing the opposite.

So, for better or for worse, deceit is a sin I excel at.

“I’ll stop by sometime before classes start to drop off your tablet,” Julie says. “All your textbooks are ordered, but it’ll take a while for them to get in, so you’ll have to do with ebooks for the moment.”

Ebooks?

I almost ask her what that means, and if “tablet” has a different meaning than the one I learned about in ancient history class, but I bite my tongue. My head is already swirling from everything I’ve discovered today. I don’t think I can take much more.

I’ll ask in the morning.

“Thank you.”

She holds out her arms to me, and somehow, my body moves when I tell it to. I hug her, holding back the tears that prick my eyes as I realize I’ll probably never hug my mom again.

“I know this is all scary and overwhelming, but Ben and I are here for you, okay? You’re gonna do great.”

With a nod, I let another lie slip free. “I’m excited.”

“That’s good to hear.” She squeezes my upper arm. “Goodnight, Haven.”

“Goodnight.”

I hold my breath as she crosses the room. This will be the first time I’ve been alone since I snuck through Cornerstone’s cornfield yesterday afternoon to get to Julie’s car. Solitude sounds lovely but also a little scary. Without her here to voice my doubts to, I’m worried I’ll decide I made a mistake in leaving before the hour is up.

“Ah—one more thing.” She turns, a grimace on her face. “It’s best for your safety if you keep talk about Cornerstone to a minimum.”

“Oh.” I’m not sure if I was planning on telling anyone, but not being able to feels off for some reason. “Why?”

“People… they get curious.” She gestures to herself. “That’s how I ended up venturing down to attend a Cornerstone church service in the first place. There was a documentary about it that blew up a few years back, and I wanted to see if it was as bad as it was being portrayed.”

“Was it?”

She laughs. “Much worse, actually, but that’s not my point. If someone connects you to Cornerstone, things could get messy.”

“How?”

“Well, what if someone learns you’re from Cornerstone and heads down there to check things out, just like I did? What if they mention you? I know the odds of that happening are low, but there’s always a non-zero chance.”

Oh.I hadn’t even thought of that.

“And then there’s the possibility of blackmail,” Julie continues, “or of getting Cornerstone to pay a ransom for your return, and… Well, both those things are incredibly unlikely, but I think we should tread carefully, especially for the first few months. I’d tell you to treat it like the Witness Protection Program, but I’m assuming you don’t know what that is?”

“I’ve never heard of it, no.”

I’ve never heard of blackmail or whatever a ransom is, either, but I’m too tired to ask.

“Well, just be careful how much information you share. I’d definitely keep Cornerstone’s name to yourself.”

---