20. Kameron
Chapter twenty
Kameron
I stare at the funds in my account unable to move. This was everything I fought for. This was my ticket out. Why do I feel so unredeemable? What was so different about Lilith to make me finally feel an ounce of guilt? There’s nothing I can do now.
I turn on my tv, as the news of her missing status is blared through the speakers. Leah, Jacob’s wife and Lilith’s best friend, reported her missing after a few days. The news consumed the story, spreading rumors about what could’ve happened to her.
“Was she involved with Jacob’s drug problem?” The middle aged newscaster questions her co host.
“It’s definitely a connection we can’t look past,” he responds towards the camera. Anger swells in my chest as I hear them continue on. The weight of how this story has been spun crushes me. Jacob wasn’t supposed to be involved. He had been trying to find the car as he had left a bag in the trunk. None of this was supposed to be about addicts or painting a stranger as a murderer. What have I done?
My hands tug at my hair as I try to slow down my thoughts but everything continues to spiral out of control. I’ve been playing on the wrong side for so long now I’ve lost sight of who I was.
Without thinking it through I quickly pull up my phone and call Apollyon. “Hey I need to get into The Garden. I’m on my way.”
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay away. The torture is the best part.” He gives a light laugh before hanging up. Relief floods my system that his judgment of character has shown no improvements. I don’t believe in heaven and hell anymore, but I do believe in redemption. My life lost all purpose as my parents drowned to death in front me. And it only got so much worse as Apollyon took me in as his own. Raised me like a son. Touched me like a lover. I shake my head trying to erase the thoughts. I buried those long ago, it was the only way to survive. I had been so ready to throw my life away just to escape him, but the truth is I’m not ready to end this chapter of my life. It can’t finish like this.
Within five minutes, I’m sliding into the driver's seat of my car. The heat brushes against my exposed skin as the air comes on. I allow the nausea already building in me to become worse as my body’s temperature continues to rise. I deserve every ounce of pain I receive.
The ride to the facility feels as though it happened in a blink of an eye. My thoughts raced the entire way here, trying to figure out what I even planned on doing. If I even had the guts to do so. As I pull up I see Apollyon standing outside next to the back door, the light above beaming down on him as though he is some holy patron, here to lead me to salvation. The door behind him leads directly into the clinic’s basement. The definition of hell on earth.
It started off small, with trying to figure out if the Lord was able to remove the sins of the people without medicine or human intervention. Drug abusers were sent down there with food, water, a bed, and a bible. They tried this for years until the amount of deaths from withdrawal were starting to obtain
attention from the media. Apollyon knew better than to let them catch on. “The lord can not be understood by everyone. If that was the case, Jesus wouldn’t have needed apostles,” he had said to me right before changing gears.
I had already lost my faith by then, but the fear I held in my heart for the young boy inside me was too much for me to speak up. I continued to go along with his games, hoping someday I could afford to start over.
Once the idea of just God’s work being enough was banished they began to take on a much more barbaric approach. Men and women were forced into the basement with the assignment of procreating. In Apollyon’s eyes, if you couldn’t live a life away from the temptations of the devil, the least you could do is create offspring to be raised correctly. The unmedicated births killing women and the failed unprofessional abortions leaving them traumatized was enough proof for Apollyon that sinners were meant to die. From there, things got much worse.
I finally build up enough strength to step out of my car. Apollyon shows off a grin as I walk up to meet him.
“Hello my son,” he states as he reaches out to pat me on the shoulder. I give him a smile, praying it can hide my true intentions of being here. We walk side by side inside the building as we make our way past the three security doors. The building is cold, crisp white with posters of Jesus and a few different medical ones about recovery are framed and posted up every few feet in the hallway.
“So what is it about this target that has you so interested?” Apollyon questions, as if it's just small talk.
“You’ve never asked me to deliver a target alive. If her death is worth that much, I would at least like to witness it,” I choke out, forcing myself to stay calm. The rage inside of me is bubbling up to dangerous heights.
“I see,” he states as he unlocks the final door heading into the basement. “Cell block F. You can go in if you’d like. Her death won’t be happening today however.”
“Why is that?”
“Something about her feels different. I believe God put her in our path for a reason.”
I nod my head in response and begin my descent down the dimly lit stairs. The contrast from the main level to here is stark. Barely lit cement walls, metal doors leading into each cell, and the smell from the experiments surrounds me. I hold my breath, desperately trying to figure out what I’m going to do. As I stand in front of her cell, I know I just need to see her. My beautiful prey, the one who finally got to me.
I wince as I push the door open, the metal frame screeching against the concrete floor. Light barrels into the cell, illuminating its prisoners. My eyes scan over Lilith’s frame. She's laying flat on the floor, staring up unblinking at the ceiling. My chest tightens when I see the blood splattered across her frame. What have I done?
“Where’s our food?” a man’s voice calls out from the other side of the room. I turn to look at him and barely recognize him. We had never met but I’ve seen enough photos of him throughout Apollyon’s house to recognize him.
“Elijah?” I question .
“Where’s our food?” he questions again, licking his cracked lips, desperate to find some moisture. I ignore him, turning my attention back to Lilith. She hasn’t moved a muscle, and if it wasn’t for the steady rise and fall of her chest I would be afraid she had passed.
“Lilith, I’m sorry,” the words leave my mouth without any thought as I kneel down to her. Her eyes slowly turn to look at me, and only then am I able to see how bloodshot they are. She’s been crying.
“The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all, Psalms 34:19”
I continue to stare at her, as she reverts her eyes back to the ceiling. I begin to reach forward to her when Elijah calls out, “Please don’t touch her.”
I turn my head to give him a questioning glance, and finally take the time to really look at him. He’s filthy, covered in food and urine. “She attacked a nurse and we haven’t eaten for two days. Please don’t touch her. We need food.”
My eyes widen at his remark. My Lilith attacked someone? I knew she was willing to use her voice but I had never seen her get physical. Pride begins to beam in my chest and I do my best to push it down.
“I’ll be back tomorrow with some food, no one can know, do you understand that?”
“Yes,” Elijah says almost immediately.
“And what about you?” I question, standing above Lilith.
“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him, James 1:12.”
Elijah starts to speak up after Lilith, but ends in a fit of coughing. His health seems to be rapidly deteriorating down here. After a few moments he’s finally able to get the words out. “She hasn’t moved since the nurse left. And she has only been talking in scripture. At this point I don’t think anyone would believe her if she said someone had brought us food. She’s in some kind of religious psychosis.”
I give him an understanding nod before heading to the door and slowly shutting it behind me. The devastation in me is too much to bear as I slide down the piece of metal until I’m sat down on the floor. I have to save her.