Girl Possessed (Book 1 of The Girl Trilogy) (6 page)

We jogged up the lush, woodsy hill
trying to catch up to Shaul. He was fast and although he always
remained in sight, motioning us onward, he kept a considerable
distance.

I wondered if he yearned for the lake
too. I assumed he did by the way he was acting, but his mind was a
vast mystery to me.

The heavenly songs lured me on. We
passed a lovely waterbed with waterfalls. As we kept on the narrow
dirt trail, I noticed a charming stream flowing downwards beside
us. Fresh water was scarce these days with the effects of The Great
Sun Scorch, so my mother and I were more than pleased to see such
plentiful sources of irrigation.

Once deep within the woods, we came
upon a small community of log cabins. We caught up to Shaul as he
knocked at the headquarter cabin.

A muscular, tall man with a shaved
head answered the door. “How can I help you?” he asked with
suspicious eyes.

“
We’ve come to inquire
about joining your community. Katanel Jerosavabel sent us,” Shaul
said confidently.

“
One moment,” the large man
said in a low, gruff voice.

We stood there waiting silently until
a short man of medium build with silver hair came to the
door.

“
Welcome, welcome.” He
smiled cheerily. “I’m Mazen Tratzel, the community president. You
must be Shaul Hainsworth.” We’ve been expecting you.”

Shaul shook hands with President
Tratzel. “These are my friends Patravia and Cordellia
Dressemme.”

“
Oh, yes. Katanel spoke
highly of you both. We need strong women like you.” I guess Shaul
told his friend about us when we were separated.

My mother looked at me and smiled.
Then we shook hands with the president.

Wardo will show you to your cabins. He
will assign you your job positions. As long as you work hard and
follow the rules, you will advance to higher and higher positions
within the community and be very happy here.”

“
Great,” my mother said,
smiling. “Thank you.”

“
You’re welcome.” He
straightened the collar on his shirt. “The number one rule is do
not cross the boundary line separating our community from the lake
in the valley below.”

“
Why?” I asked feeling
unhinged. This was a terrible rule. What would I do now with my
uncontrollable desire?

He continued, “The serpent people have
air scouts that can detect the souls of human beings. We have taken
all precautions of not being spotted within our boundaries, but
thus far there is no protection field at the lake.”

“
No problem,” my mother
said looking relieved. Most likely she was glad that now she did
not have to worry about me going to the lake that she inexplicably
forbid me to go to anyway.

“
The penalty for crossing
the boundary line is life imprisonment. We strictly enforce this
rule, though no one has tested us yet. If you do not agree with our
rules, then you should not join the community.”

“
We understand,” my mother
responded. “Crossing the boundary line and going into a
non-protected zone puts the entire community at risk. The serpent
people are brutal, cruel creatures who murder and enslave humans
and we must take every precaution to insure our
survival.”

Mazen Tratzel nodded. “You do
understand.” He looked pleased with her response. “We are concerned
with the safety of our group as a whole. Extreme rules must be
applied.”

The big man, Wardo, escorted us to our
cabins. Shaul walked on the other side of Wardo and didn’t speak to
my mother or me. Shaul still looked distressed, but it appeared as
if he was trying to control his feelings as I was.

I whispered to my mother, “Maybe we
should leave.”

Her face lit with surprise.
“Cordellia, this is what you wanted.”

“
I know.” I paused when
Wardo looked at me, a mean glint in his eyes. “It’s fine,” I
whispered to her. It wasn’t fine, but now that we had come this
far, I sensed it would be dangerous to back out now.

Some teenage girls who were planting
seeds in a large garden that we walked by looked up at us. They
were all wearing name tags on their shirts. When they saw Shaul,
they started giggling and whispering to each other. I could tell
that they were attracted to him.

One very tall girl named Jezebel
Bradeere with a stunning face and a tough demeanor smiled at him
flirtatiously. But, he ignored all the girls seeming to not notice
their interest.

Now the music was utterly entrancing
in my mind and I considered running away from everyone in search of
the lake, but with the threat of life imprisonment, I managed to
control myself as overwhelmed as I felt.

The cabins were arranged in concentric
circles with the clearing where community meetings were held in the
center. Shaul was assigned the cabin next to ours.

Before we were allowed to enter our
homes, Wardo had us read and sign the AVO device with the community
rules listed on them. Besides not being allowed to cross the
boundary or go to the lake, the rules were pretty basic.

We had to work every day except for
Sunday from 8AM sharp to 5PM and we were not allowed to leave our
assignments without the guard’s permission. In return, as payment,
we would receive the fulfillment of our basic needs including
housing, food, medicine, and necessary supplies. We also had to
attend all community meetings and gatherings.

Other than that, Universal Moral Laws
were enforced such as no murdering, stealing, adultery, etc. As of
yet, the community was run in a dictatorial fashion. If anyone was
caught committing a crime by any community leader or by two
witnesses, justice was served, whatever that meant.

Shaul set our bags at the doorstep.
“Ok,” he said keeping his perfect face as indiscernible as
possible. “If you need anything…” he looked at my mother, “…you
know where to find me.” He left for his cabin without even glancing
at me.

Over the course of the next couple
weeks, we worked diligently at our jobs. My mother was assigned
dishwashing and kitchen cleaning at the community dining hall.
Shaul was commissioned cabin construction. And I was given the task
of helping build Mazen Tratzel’s luxury spa.

The work was tedious, but it was
comforting to have a cabin to live in and all of our supplies taken
care of. I also liked being a part of a safe community. For so long
my mother and I kept ourselves hidden in the island’s cave fearing
intruders and risking our lives every time we left in search of
food. Having our basic needs taken care of and having a social life
on some level was, for the most part, worth the discomfort of hard
work.

To my confusion, over these weeks,
Shaul avoided me like the plague. Whenever he saw me, he quickly
turned away and rushed off. I wanted to ask him if he could still
hear the music in his mind as I could and if it called him to the
lake. Desperately, I wanted to know if his experiences were the
same.

Because I was only fifteen, I had to
attend school after work. School was from 6PM to 9PM Monday through
Saturday and then 8AM to 3PM on Sundays.

Now it was Sunday and I was in History
class. The classroom was one of ten rooms in a three story school
house built of logs. It sat across from our cabin on the other side
of the clearing.

Mr. Strom was giving a lecture on how
the United States became a communist country. It was hard for me to
imagine what America would have been like in the past with so many
capitalistic freedoms. I couldn’t believe how rebellious and stupid
people used to be. Everybody had strong opinions. Average citizens
were even allowed to vote on what they wanted as a
country.

He said the country was a horrible
mess with a bunch of ignoramuses voting on issues they were too
feeble minded to know anything about. And he reminded us how lucky
we were to live in this woodsy community that was run by a strong,
intelligent leader who made complicated decisions for
us.

Because there were only six fifteen to
sixteen year olds in the community, there were only six people in
the class including myself. We sat in a circle at makeshift desks
with Mr. Strom lecturing at a pulpit in the center.

There were no digitized boards lining
the walls like the classrooms I was used to before the Economy
Crash. And it was weird having a real live teacher instead of a
hologram giving the lectures. I kind of liked having a physical
teacher, but it was strange all the same. But, the best part was
that we didn’t get electric shocks for speaking in
class.

Aside from my constant, overwhelming
desire to go to the lake that interfered with everything I did, the
second hardest part about going to school here was that Shaul was
in every one of my classes and he never even looked at me. He sat
across from me today on the other side of the circle staring at the
teacher unwaveringly. I couldn’t believe what great concentration
he had. He hardly ever even blinked. He just stared like he was a
predator and Mr. Strom was food.

But, I noticed that he did tap his
foot occasionally to the same beat of the music I was hearing in my
mind, especially during the chorus or at particular parts in the
melody that were particularly intense. He seemed agitated like I
was. Even with that, I wasn’t absolutely sure if he was hearing the
music. He could have just been tapping his foot
coincidentally.

Jezebel Bradeere with her stunning six
feet tall body sat in the desk beside me. Her face was beautiful
and angular, but her personality was as mean as the scar across her
cheek.

“
Mr. Strom!” She waved her
hand in the air obnoxiously as she stared at Shaul instead of the
teacher with her bewitching amber eyes.

“
Yes, Jezebel.” Mr. Strom
pulled at the collar of his shirt and ground his big
teeth.

“
Can we partner
up?”

“
That’s a great idea.” He
took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his shiny forehead.
It was hot in the room. “Pick a partner and take turns reading to
each other from your notes.”

Jezebel rushed over to Shaul. He was
looking down at his notes when she leaned over and placed her hand
on his desk. “You want to study with me?” Her voice was husky. She
jutted her hip out to the side, probably trying to look
alluring.

He looked up. “Uh…Do I want to study
with you?” He paused confidently and then gazed at the line of her
body. “No,” he finally said.

She jutted her chin back, apparently
startled by his response.

“
But, I will.” His smile
was cocky as he stretched his arms over his head.

Apparently, she didn’t mind that he
didn’t want to study with her because she told Lola to get out of
her desk so she could pull it up beside Shaul’s.

I looked around knowing that nobody
would want to partner with me because they were all Jezebel
followers and she made it clear that she hated me. Lola and Franz
partnered because they were a couple. So that left
Tomaru.

When I looked at Tomaru, she rolled
her eyes. “Don’t even think about it.” She brushed her wavy blond
hair away from her rosy cheeks.

“
I was just noticing your
buck teeth,” I said.

For a second, Shaul laughed, but then
he looked down at his book and started reading to
Jezebel.

Tomaru huffed. “You’re so
stupid.”

“
Am I?” I said
sarcastically. “We’ll see about that.” I picked up my notes and
read to myself until we were dismissed.

A week later, while I was eating
breakfast in the crowded dining hall, Jezebel Bradeere sat down
next to me with her tray of food.

She leaned into me. “I heard you and
your mum came to the community with Shaul Hainsworth. Is that
true?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, why?”

“
Were you dating him?”
There was a jealous streak of hatred in her eyes.

“
Not at all,” I said,
feeling embarrassed. “He would never like me.”

She laughed. “Don’t be so sure of
that.” Her voice was haughty. “Look over there.” She motioned with
her chin.

I turned to see Shaul gazing at me
from across the room with those intense silver eyes. When I met his
stare, he smiled at me softly. Then he stood up and walked out of
the room.

“
Stay away from him,” she
threatened. “He just wants to use you. He’s sleeping with some of
the girls in the community and he told them that you were his sex
toy back in Los Angeles.”

“
What?” I was shocked.
“I’ve never even kissed him, let alone done that!”

“
Well, I’m just telling you
what I heard.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You should
just know that he doesn’t really like you.

8

After what Jezebel said about Shaul, I
wasn’t able to finish my breakfast. I was so furious that he would
tell such lies about me.

I had some time before work, so I went
for a walk in the woods hoping to assuage my angry
feelings.

It was a hot morning. Thick, dry heat
surrounded me, so I headed toward the pond where I planned to take
a nice refreshing swim. But, along the way, I heard an enchanting
voice at a distance singing the same song that was playing in my
mind. My emotions rose up in me.