The Rapture of Omega (9 page)

“The what?” Coop blurted, looking as dumbfounded as I was.

“The Children of Eden,” she repeated proudly. “Come, let’s walk, and talk, kill two birds with one stone as they say.”

She continued on, and Coop and I had no other choice but to follow. Francesca fell back to walk behind, as if we needed privacy. I found this to be somewhat odd. Not to mention, the entire time we were walking, I felt like we were being watched. It didn’t take a veteran police officer to cue in on something like that. I scanned the perimeter of the woods and glanced up at the house and barn several times, but there wasn’t a sign of anyone. Still, the feeling put me on edge.

“You haven’t answered my question, Illeana,” I prodded. “Giving me the name of your group, which, quite frankly, sounds more like a rock band than a religious organization, doesn’t explain what’s going on here.”

She stopped cold, her smile all but vanished, and the lines on her face deepening as she stared at me with utter contempt. Francesca looked positively shocked. I had expected a slight protest at my rock band comment, but Illeana looked as if she might come completely unglued.

“Don’t you dare mock what you don’t understand, Sergeant!” After a brief pause, her face softened a little. “Tell me, Sergeant, what is
your
religion of choice—if you have one at all?”

“My religious beliefs or anything about my personal life is none of your business. I’m sure an
intelligent
woman like you can certainly understand that.”

“That’s your preference, but if you want to know what we’re about here—appease me. But first, I’d like to guess: you’re a Catholic. Am I right?”

I did want some answers and I concluded that Illeana Barron knowing what my religion was posed no potential threat. Or so I thought.

“Yes, you’re right. I’m a Catholic.”

“I figured as much. Catholics are so judgmental of other religions. They’re quite snobbish, actually. I don’t mean to be offensive, Sergeant, but your demeanor and attitude gave you away. How about you, Detective? Are you a Catholic, too?”

“Actually, I’m a Lutheran,” Coop said.

“Same thing.”

She waved her hand at him in a dismissive gesture. Coop’s face turned a deep shade of scarlet at being banished so quickly by a woman of Illeana’s caliber. I anticipated a tirade from him any second so I gently placed my hand on his arm and gave him a brief glance. He knew it meant:
not now
—
let’s get the information first before you clean her clock.
I was a little pissed, too, at her Catholic comment, but I’d have to let it slide for now. Nonetheless, it certainly wouldn’t be forgotten.

“This is good,” she continued as we reached the edge of the woods. “At least I don’t have to give either of you a crash course of the Bible. You both know the story of Adam and Eve, right?”

“Right,” Coop and I answered in unison.

“Your religions teach that Adam was created by God, Eve from Adam’s rib. Eve was the sinner who ate the apple and ruined women for all eternity, and so on. This is what humans have been led to believe since the dawn of time. However, it is so very far from the truth, it’s almost comical, if not so disturbing.”

“Excuse me, but where are we going?”

We had just entered the woods, and since I wasn’t very fond of them due to bad past experiences, I wanted to make sure we weren’t walking into an ambush.

“There’s something I want to show the both of you. It won’t take long.”

She motioned for us to step onto a path that looked like it had recently been cleared. Once we were headed in the right direction again, she continued her explanation.

“You see, the truth of the matter is that Eve, alone, is the creator of heaven, earth, and all living things,” she said matter-of-factly.

Since we were walking behind Illeana, I rolled my eyes at Coop while he pointed his index finger to his head and whirled it around in a circular motion;
she’s wacko!

“Roll your eyes if you must, Sergeant,” she continued, evidently having eyes in the back of her head. “But I can assure you both, it’s all true. What you think of as
God
was really a creation of Eve, an
assistant
so to speak, to be put in charge of things when she wasn’t able. Obviously, she then created Adam, for the sole purpose of companionship, so both of them may reside in eternal happiness in Eden. This made your
God
angry, since he had grown to love his creator, and he soon became blinded by jealousy. It was shortly after Adam’s arrival that God found the serpent in the garden, and it was then that the pact
was made. This would be a pact that would change humanity forever.”

She stopped walking and looked behind us. Coop and I turned, too, and saw that Francesca was no longer behind us.

“Hmm, she must’ve had something to tend to. No matter, we’re almost there.” She inhaled loud enough for us to hear, as if this little nature walk was wearing her out. “As I was saying, the serpent wanted God to lure Eve to a specific place in the garden so he could seduce her. In exchange, the serpent would grant God unlimited power, enough power to expel Eve for eternity and assume her role as the creator of all things. Clearly, this event took place. After the serpent seduced and impregnated Eve, she gave birth to two seed lines. The first was Cain, the son of the serpent. He was the son that chose to mate with only non-Adamic races, and ultimately became the progenitor of the Jews. The second birth was, of course, Abel, the son of Adam, and the only son that was produced from good, solid white stock.

“After the births, God used his power to deem Eve blasphemous for mating with the serpent and cast her out of Eden for all of eternity. The rest, as they say, is history.”

She stopped again, studying our faces for any reaction to her dissertation. In only a brief moment she got one from Coop. He exploded in anger.

“That’s the most ridiculous story I have ever heard in my life, lady! Not only is your theory downright insane, it sounds pretty damn racist, too. Good white stock? What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I’ll bet if I walked over to that goddamn barn I wouldn’t find one black, Jew, Asian, or Hispanic, would I? So Eve was expelled, huh? Where to? Oz?”

“She is in a very dark place.” Her voice began to rise to the level of Coop’s.

“Oh, bullshit! You’re nothing but a stone-cold mental case. I’ll bet when I check into your background I’ll find a lengthy history of mental illness.”

Illeana grew angrier. “Just because I don’t share your views of the creator, Detective, does NOT mean I am crazy! And for the record, I have no history of mental problems and you can check that for yourself!”

Coop turned his back directly to her, facing me. “I’ll wait for you in the car. I’m not listening to this crap anymore.”

“Coop, just wait…”

It was no use. Knowing Coop, it was best to let him go. Besides, I was trying to come up with a more dignified response to Illeana’s gibberish. We stood facing each other for several moments, each waiting for the other to speak. She was visibly angry at Coop’s attack, but I was more than prepared to defend him if the situation called for it. I was the one who broke the silence.

“That’s a very interesting theory, Illeana.” I kept my voice low and calm. “But I’m sure if you chose to debate it with several religious scholars they’d be able to poke holes all over it within seconds. The evidence of God, alone, would tell you that—”

“What evidence?” She tilted her head back and laughed. “Your Bible?”

“That’s not all—”

“There is
no
proof, Sergeant! There will
never
be any proof because it will expose your
God and
his own sins! It will show Eve’s true reign in the universe and the rightful place of women in society!”

Coop was right. She was a lunatic—a narcissistic sociopath
who was leading possibly hundreds of people into her madness. A horrifying thought.

“Tell me, Illeana. How did you come to discover this
theory?”

My voice had a mocking, sarcastic tone to it, but it went ignored by Illeana.

“About seven years ago, my life was slowly unraveling when she came to me, telling me of her true reign and pleading for my help. She’s angry now, angry at what the world has become—what
God
has made it! With my help, and others like me, she is slowly regaining her power. The more members who believe and pray, the stronger she becomes.”

She looked around as if to make sure we were alone. “I’ll let you in on a little secret, Sergeant. The global warming that has gripped the earth isn’t an act of
God
like everyone believes. It’s Eve. She’s punishing all of the nonbelievers and it is going to last for as long as it takes. In the meantime, we are welcoming more and more members every day to make her stronger.”

I sighed while attempting to smile. “I’m sorry, Illeana, but I’m not buying it.”

She smiled back. “Don’t worry, you will. Now, let’s get going, just down the small hill and we’re there.”

I followed her down the small slope that ended in a large stretch of the river’s embankment. The river was wide here and, I’m sure, just as deep. What drew my attention wasn’t the murky brown water; it was the large white catering tent set up a few feet away, situated on the river’s bank. The sides of the tent were down so that it was mostly enclosed.

“Someone getting married?” I chided.

“That,
Sergeant, is our baptismal tent. Come, I’ll show
you the inside. It’s pretty simple, really. This is where we wash away our sins and bring in the new members.”

I followed her inside and saw it was mostly empty. A long red carpet ran from the entrance down to the front of the tent where the river was. The front was opened, displaying a view of the river and its opposite bank. Along each side of the tent were three large white pedestals with bouquets of red roses on top. That was it—nothing else.

“So this is where you wash away sins, huh?”

If this were true, I could probably stand a good four-hour soaking in the river.

“It gets us by during life on earth, but”—she pulled a rose out of the nearest bouquet and handed it to me—“life is punishment for the sins of our fathers. Only when our souls return to Eden, our eternal home, will we be forever cleansed.”

“That’s lovely,” I said wryly. “And this is certainly impressive, but I’d like to see some of the children now. It’s getting late.”

After spending this short time with Illeana Barron and listening to her ridiculous sermons, I was now genuinely concerned for all of the children living here.

She led me back up the path to the edge of the woods, where we were greeted by Francesca Tracy and five children. Unmistakably, this was where she had disappeared to. No longer wearing her robe, she was now dressed in a plain, floor-length blue skirt and a short-sleeved white lace blouse that was buttoned up to her neck. The children, three girls and two boys, were dressed similarly, the boys in slacks and suspenders. They appeared to range in ages from three to seven.

One of the little boys, who couldn’t have been older than four, stood gaping at me and grinned ear to ear. With sun-bleached hair and large blue eyes, he was adorable. I bent down to him, speaking softly.

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Jack Martz!” he answered proudly.

“Well, Jack Martz, you’re a very handsome little boy with a wonderful smile! Here, would you like my rose? Jack, are your mommy and daddy here?”

He nodded his head furiously as he pointed to the barn.

“They’re in there. They just got done wit pwayer!”

“Very good. Do you like it here, Jack Martz?”

He nodded again, his smile growing wider.

At that moment, I felt a slight tug on my shirt. Looking down, I expected to see another blonde cherub smiling up at me. What I saw made me gasp aloud. Another child had joined our group, but he didn’t look at all like Jack Martz.

He was the size of the other children, and dressed the same, but his face was grossly deformed. He had a prominent cleft lip, or harelip, that exposed the few remaining teeth in his mouth. Although the enormous size of his head was troubling, it was his eyes and nose that I found most disturbing: his eyes were set entirely too wide for his face, and the left eye was approximately an inch lower than the right. It was situated in the middle of the cheekbone. His nostrils were also too large for the nose, almost giving an appearance that it lacked any cartilage.

His hair had a slight grayish tint. Not that there was much hair. It was more like a thick layer of fuzz one would see on a newborn or a chemotherapy patient.

“Hmmya, mwwek,” he said.

My frozen expression likely spoke volumes to Illeana, but she didn’t show it. Her all-knowing smile remained, never deviating in the slightest when I reacted to the child. I looked at her for a translation but couldn’t bring myself to speak.

“He said,
‘Hello, ma’am’…
if you were wondering,” she said calmly, her eyes locked on mine.

“What happened to him?” I whispered, finally finding my voice.

“It’s fumarase deficiency, a rare genetic disorder that results from inbreeding.”

“Inbreeding? If this is the result of your activities here, Illeana, I can promise I will have you shut down and in jail by tomorr—”

“I saved his life, Sergeant!” she interrupted, raising her voice. “I brought four of them here with us.” She took a deep breath and shooed the children off before continuing. “There were only a handful of documented cases of fumarase in the world, until we found over thirty of them in Short Creek.”

“Where is Short Creek?”

“Short Creek is one of the names of the twin communities of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The communities actually lie in the mountains along the Utah/Arizona border and are completely closed off to the rest of the world.” She slapped her hands together to provide a visual. “Eighty percent of the residents are blood relatives of the church’s founders, John Y. Barlow and Joseph Smith Jessup. They belonged to the Mormon Church until infighting among the members caused him to break away from the mainstream church and form the fundamentalist sect almost seventy-five years ago. The infighting was about polygamy, something Joseph strongly believed in. Fumarase was inevitable. Rarely any new people come in. As I’ve said, the community is closed off and continues to populate among relatives. There are almost ten thousand members living up in those mountains.” She sighed. “We spent the better part of a year there, before Eve came to me and told me it was all wrong.”

“How can they be allowed to thrive? I mean, why in the hell hasn’t the government put a stop to it? I’ve heard the stories: young girls being raped and forced into multiple marriages—pimped out to their uncles and cousins, but this? Fumarase? I’m surprised health organizations haven’t made their way in.”

“Oh, they’ve tried, but rarely does anyone from the outside actually make it in to prove the rumors true.

“Elijah is a little higher functioning than most,” she continued, referring to the boy I’d just met. “Most of the fumarase have very little muscle control, are blind, deaf, can barely walk, and suffer from a variety of disorders like epileptic seizures. Elijah has the seizures and is blind in one eye, but he’s lived seventeen years. Old age for a fumarase victim.”

“That little boy is seventeen years old?” I was shocked.

She nodded. “The others are a little worse, but they are much, much happier here than they were at Short Creek.”

“For once, Illeana, I think I believe you.” I tried to shake the vision of the poor boy from my mind.

“You see, Sergeant, there is nothing wrong with the children here. They’re very happy.”

I had a thought. “I only saw six children. What about the rest? What about school?”

“The rest are no different than the healthy, happy kids you just saw, excluding the fumarase children, of course. To answer your second question, all of the children here are homeschooled. We have several members that used to be teachers and provide them with an excellent education.”

I doubted that greatly, but I needed to hurry things up a bit. I’m sure Coop was ready to come unglued waiting for me. I had Illeana show me a current electric and water bill (I waited outside of the house, of course), and my first visit with the Children of Eden was officially over. Illeana, forever the tour guide and hostess, walked me to the car.

“I hope you’re satisfied, Sergeant. You saw for your own eyes that we are a very peaceful and loving group. Law enforcement needn’t worry about us. You need to be worried about the true sinners out in the world.”

I gave a slight laugh. “You have a point there. But as far as my opinion of your outfit here goes, I think I’m going to keep my options open for a while.”

“Suit yourself,” she huffed, before walking away.

Coop, visibly irritated, already had the car in drive before I had my door shut and seat belt on. I waited until we were completely away from the farm to begin my apologies for taking so long.

“Sorry,” I began quietly. “I didn’t mean to be there this late, but I wanted to get as much information as I could while we had the chance. I have a feeling that we won’t be welcome anymore without a warrant.”

“I understand that, CeeCee. What I
don’t
understand is the frame of mind of a person like her. I also
don’t
understand how you could stand there and listen to that senseless crap!” Although clearly still upset, he seemed much calmer than before.

“For crying out loud, we’ve been cops and dealing with crazy people for over fifteen years and you’re telling me she got you
that
upset? Why, all of sudden, would you let someone like her get to you?”

He sighed. “I know, you’re right, it was the whole
God is the bad guy
thing. You
know
I’m not some Holy-Rolling Bible-thumper, but that kind of shit pisses me off, especially when they’re drilling it into the heads of those little kids.”

“Speaking of the kids, you’re damn lucky you left when you did.”

He looked confused until I went into my detailed account of the fumarase children. He stared at me with a look that, no doubt, mirrored my own when I first saw Elijah.

“Keep driving.” I nodded at the steering wheel. “The bottom line is that we need to keep our eyes on them, but
as of right now, we
technically
don’t have any grounds for a criminal investigation.”

“I called and had checks run on the women we met,” Coop said. “The only thing found so far is a lack of information on Francesca Tracy. The others are all clean.”

Coop filled me in on the details, then we sat the rest of the ride back to the department in silence. It was when we were almost to the city that something dawned on me about Illeana and the Children of Eden.

“Where were the men?” I blurted.

“What are you talking about?”

“I didn’t see any men. Not one full-grown, adult, male Homo sapiens anywhere.”

“Knowing that crazy bitch, she probably has them tied up like cattle somewhere, getting ready to brand them on their asses. Don’t forget Kirk Richards, though. Plus I saw plenty of men when I was there a couple days ago, remember?”

“I forgot.”

Coop dropped me off at my car, and I didn’t even bother going up to my office. All I wanted to do was go home and see my family.