The Seventh Year

Chapter 2

Joan had thrown her phone in fright. She had no idea who this caller could be. She wasn't in Arizona long enough to have made any enemies, let alone friends. She couldn't make sense of what was going on, but she knew she just needed this night to be over with. She made sure the door was locked and closed all the blinds. She then received another call. No caller ID. 

"Hello, who is this? Please tell me why you're messing with me." Joan asked. 

"I'm in the house." The dark, quiet voice said before hanging up.

Joan didn't question if this was a lie or not. She sprinted to the garage and got in her car in a matter of seconds. On her journey to the garage she called the police and let them know what was going on. Joan drove away from her house as fast as she could. She was so focused on the road that she didn't notice the figure emerge from the backseat. 

"Have you been keeping up with your prayers, Joan?" the voice from the phone asked. 

Joan was so startled she about swerved off the road. 

"Easy Joan. I'm trying to come away from this with no scratches."

"Please just tell me who you are."

"Oh, no, no, no. Don't look back here. Eyes on the road."

Joan was confident that it was a young man behind her. She was also confident that the sharp object next to her neck was a knife. 

The man continued. "Now, Joan, answer the question. Have you been keeping up with your prayers?"

"I have." Tears started to roll down Joan's face. 

"Ironic that you would join the RF study. The majority of the Christian community has been against RF's Seventh Year study since it was created."

"Just because the majority disagree doesn't mean there isn't any who think other wise. Two of my partners in the study were practicing Christian men." 

"I guess that's not that hard to believe. Divorce rates are the highest amongst Christians."

"Your statement is flawed. Coming away with conclusions of divorce rates based on religion is meaningless. You could look at three articles talking about that, and each would have different results. You could have someone say they're Christian, but are they a nominal or practicing Christian? Sometimes that is not documented. RF on the other hand is doing that and more to get true and accurate data."

"And what have they found out about practicing Christians like you and their marriages?" 

"Among practicing Christians in the study, there has been no divorce."

"Bravo Joan! Aren't you just so perfect? Why do you think the rates are different inside and outside of the study?"

Joan can feel the knife regain its position around her neck. She remembers the situation she's in. "Well, there are many Christians who are in a rush to get married. In this rush, some find themselves getting married without financial stability. There are numerous factors, it's hard to pinpoint one exact reason."

"So you joined RF so you could get in bed with Ben and also have the financial stability?"

"How do you know Ben? How do you know me?" Joan yelled more so than asked. 

"How wouldn't I? Tell me Joan, is it so Christian and perfect-like of you to give away your child and go marry and sleep with someone else?" 

"Oh my God."

"Oh now Joan-" The man was cut off due to Joan slamming on the breaks. 

Joan had to move now while the man collected himself from falling forward. She swung open the door and sprinted down the road. 

"Joan!" The man yelled from the car. 

Joan started to hear the police sirens coming down the road. A smile came upon her face. She had been saved. A police car came into view. As Joan went to wave and scream, she was tackled by the man. The two go rolling down a hill, disappearing into the darkness of night. The police cars fly by overhead. Joan yells for the cars and tries to run uphill. But the man grabs her foot from under her causing Joan to fall straight down, slamming her nose against the ground. Joan turns to her back trying to kick the man away from her. He simply grabs her legs and puts her effort to a stop. He then looms over top of Joan. Joan does everything to get the man off of him. He swats at her like a fly. Every opportunity she gets to run, the man just sends her back to the ground. After a final shove to the ground. The man gets on top of Joan. She finally sees his face. 

"I don't even recognize you." She says.

"But you know who I am." The man raises his knife and strikes it down. 

Joan's fate came exactly 7 years after the death of Mitchell Ramsey. Ramsey personally oversaw the development of children under the care of RF. The RF children did not receive traditional schooling. This wasn't just children who were given to RF by the parents, but also children who had one parent that wished to keep the child after they transitioned into their next seven years of life. These children who were still supported by one parent did their schooling remotely. While those who were completely under the care of RF did their work at the RF headquarters in California. The RF schooling taught the basics, but put each child on an accelerated route, while also getting them ready for life as part of the study. The schooling was done in three stages, while each stage was seven years long. The first stage was basically elementary school knowledge. The second stage was a mix of middle school and high school knowledge. The final stage would see the children now at 21 years of age, having graduated from RF and college. RF had its own academy with some of the best teachers in the country. As the number of children in RF increased, so did the staff. Once the children graduated from the academy usually at 17, the remaining 4 years of stage 3 were for college. All children did this part remotely. Staff at RF had made strong connections with renowned universities. Many of the RF staff were at one point college professors themselves. Once graduated from college, all of the RF kids were required to marry a partner for at least one stage. After that, the children were out of RF's hands. This is the problem that many people had with RF. Any child born within the study were essentially the property of RF. They forced their schooling decisions, as every single student went to college. They were also forced to marry to provide more data for the study. But if one actually talked to the kids part of the study, maybe they wouldn't have anymore negative things to say. By the time they were graduated most people within the study wanted to be married. They had been taught about the study from a young age and didn't see their marriage as a requirement but instead as something they truly wanted to do. The students were also happy with the expectations of going to college. They were prepared better than most for college and the majority of the time they finished at the top of the class ranks of their respective colleges. Life was honestly close to perfect for the children of RF, at least for most of them. Seven years before Joan's death, Mitchell Ramsey decided to take the oldest batch of stage 2 students on a college tour. The end of stage 2 was the perfect time to prepare kids for what the next stage would hold. Though they were only 14, this group was more than prepared to think about the possibility of college. Five students were interested in visiting the college that Ramsey himself had gone to, so he couldn't miss the opportunity to show them around. After flying the group to Ohio, Ramsey drove a medium transportation vehicle on route to Kenyon College. After Ramsey or Kenyon hadn't checked in with RF, RF sent out people to follow Ramsey's route. RF members were on a road in the middle of nowhere when they saw Ramsey's vehicle flipped on its side in a ditch. RF started asking around. There were no houses nearby and apparently no other cars that saw the crash. As RF was looking around, not a single car drove by. The wreckage itself was a mystery. None of the five students were inside. None of them were nearby. All that was in the wreck was the corpse of Mitchell Ramsey. All of RF would now fall under the care of his son. Due to all the children being absent, many theorized that the kids had conspired against Ramsey and ran away. This was a harsh theory, but considering that no one reported any children running around or the fact that none of them could be found proved harsh intentions. But none of the staff at RF thought any of those kids could kill Ramsey. They were all perfect in the eyes of RF.