Sheep to be Slaughtered

~Chapter Thirteen~

          But the glint of the knife reflected off of something metal beneath the bed. The knife stilled in the air. I lowered my arms... was that... the chest? I slowly knelt and stretched out a hand. I felt a box and a keyhole... could it be that easy? Wait... of course not. I didn't have the key. Curse the Venge, where could the key be? I was tempted to take the chest and break it open but if Founder Marco realized the chest was missing... and if it was returned broken to pieces... no, that wouldn't work.

          I looked up and tensed. In this kneeling position, Founder Marco's face was much too close. Again, I thought of killing him. How wonderful it would be to just rip hit feather-stuffed pillow out from beneath his head and smother him with it... for him to look upon my vengeful face only briefly before I cut off his ability to breathe and draw air into his lungs...

          Killing him was still an option. Yet, as I stared at the face I so despised... my eyes came to rest on the leather cord that rested on his neck. I had seen it many times before... that necklace he so often wore. Could it be there was a key on the end concealed beneath the robes he always wore? He wasn't wearing those robes now... Despite the cold, he was sweating significantly in his sleep... a sign of his body fighting off the fever that Judith told me he had. I dared to slowly pull his blankets back. Perhaps it was the adrenaline or the overpowering excitement of being so close to the chest mother wanted me to see so desperately, but something stayed my hand from plunging a knife into Founder Marco's chest or smothering him with a pillow. Instead, I continued to gently pull back the blankets to reveal more of his bare chest. My eyes widened... there it was. Well... there was a key on the end of that leather cord. It just had to be the one I was after...

          I glanced further up along the cord, my hands shaking with excitement and nerves. There, I spotted the knot that held the key in place. If I could undo it without waking him... I could find out if this was indeed the key I needed... I took a deep breath to try to steady myself before I reached forward to attempt to undo the knot of the necklace. I fumbled with the cord, my icy hands brushing up just once against Founder Marco's bare skin and he groaned in his sleep. My heart was pounding as I paused, my hands hovering above him. Stay calm... stay calm... I hated being so near him... after what he had done to me... what he had done to my mother and to Leanna in taking mother from her... why did I not just kill him here and now? Why did I have to see what was inside that chest? This, right here, might be my one chance to end him... what kept me from slicing his throat open?

          The key was in my hands... Founder Marco remained asleep. Mother hadn't asked me to kill him... she had asked me to find this chest. It was more important than Founder Marco... I crouched back down to the chest, hands quivering in anticipation. I was so close... so close... I pulled the chest into my cloak to muffle the sound of the key being inserted into the keyhole. It clicked and I cringed... Founder Marco did not stir.

          I could not control my shaking as I lifted the chest lid open. It was difficult to see anything in the limited light I had but... I was not prepared for what I did see. I had no idea what it was... but I saw my mother... but she was so small... I knew it wasn't her actually but somehow, her likeness had been captured on this small rectangular item it could not possibly have been a drawing... no... what kind of trickery was this? Cautiously, I held up the flimsy object... the moonlight revealed more people standing beside her in the image. It was Founder Marco... and two men I did not recognize. Founder Marco was in his normal black robes but instead of the key he wore on that leather cord, there was a cross. My mother and the two men, however, were clothes unlike anything I had ever seen... and what was that strange thing behind them? It had wheels like some of our wagons... but it was made of metal... I could see there were seats built in... It was huge... and terrifying.

          I stared at the image I held in shock. This... this made no sense. There were no clothes or "wagons" like that in the village... where had this come from? What was this? I had to show Zander... and I had more than a few questions for Founder Marco... but those were questions I could never ask...

          I slipped the strange image into one of the pockets in my cloak and looked back into the chest. There was something that looked like one of my journals... but it was different. Fancier. It was not bound in leather, but rather, a type of glossy and smooth cover with handwriting upon it like I had never seen. The words were unfamiliar... and my reading skills were poor. I wanted to hold onto it as well; it was breathtaking. But... who knew how long it would take me to read this... I placed the strange journal back into the chest, my eyes landing on what looked to be a real journal... bound in leather and something that actually looked like it could have been made in the village. I opened it for there were no words on the outside. The handwriting on the first page was familiar...

          ...mother's...

          Just a little something you can use to capture each and every one of those inspiring and captivating thoughts of yours! Thought you might appreciate the old-timey look of this and had it custom-made for you... with a little help from Elmswood Publishing, of course! -Amelia

         Elmswood Publishing... whatever did that mean? Custom-made? More importantly, had mother given this to Founder Marco as a gift? I took the image out of my pocket and looked at it again. She was smiling so widely in this photo... one arm wrapped around Founder Marco and the other around of the men I did not recognize. I glanced over at the third man... his features were striking. Such white skin and dark hair... and what a unique eye color... the second man that had an arm around mother was smiling as well. The longer I looked... the more uncomfortable I became... that curled dark brown hair... the shape of the eyes and slant of the nose... he looked... he looked like Leanna...

          I had to be seeing things. No... the resemblance was uncanny. I wasn't sure how I hadn't seen it immediately... who were these people? Why hadn't mother ever mentioned them? Why did she have to go and leave me with so many questions? Why... why were the contents of this chest so important she had to have me see them? I was left with more questions than answers... but I was running out of time.

          Founder Marco shifted in his sleep with a sigh. I stared at him with wide eyes. What secrets was he hiding? Where did this image... these strange journals come from? Why had he hidden them from the village? I put the journal and the image into my pocket. I didn't see anything else in the chest, so I closed it back up quickly and pulled the key out. After returning it back to its place under the bed, I stood over Founder Marco. Perhaps it wasn't his time to die yet... perhaps there was something in this journal that could expose him for the monster he was... something that would change the minds of his followers... for this was a journal filled with his thoughts, right? I would find out soon enough...

          I tied the cord about his neck again. Yes... if I learned nothing from the journal then at least I had tried. My mother's wishes had been fulfilled but doing so had done nothing that changed my situation... Leanna and I were still in danger... and I had just risked both of our lives over a small image and two journals... I could only hope the contents of Founder Marco's journal would begin to answer my questions.

          Judith was also fast asleep as I made my exit. Despite not learning anything useful, I felt empowered. I had just snuck into Founder Marco's home. He had likely never expected one of his own followers to do something so bold and defiant... like he had never expected my mother to stand up for me... the thought put a grin on my face as I closed the door behind me. I went to make a dash for my house when a voice stopped me.

          "Eleyah?" 

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Yeahhhhhh, unfortunately Founder Marco isn't about to go down easy... if you got your hopes up, I'm sorry about that! But not really ;) And who just caught Eleyah sneaking out of Founder Marco's house? Was it the founder himself? Judith? Eleyah's mom? Hahaha no, she definitely ded. Ope. Things are definitely going to get more intense again over the next few chapters as Eleyah starts to uncover Founder Marco's secrets so stay tuned for some exciting times coming up!! :) Thanks so much for reading!!!! :) <3 <3