I watched Brother Judah step toward them and signal something to Brother Micah. Brother Micah reached into his tunic and pulled out a firearm and opened fire on the six men who captured me, their bodies ripping apart with bullets and blood as they hit the ground—dead.

I screamed as I watched the men fall one by one. Brother Luke wrapped his hand over my mouth. “Hush, Rapunzel whore! Those men were sinners and deserved to die. It was God’s will.”

Prophet Cain stood beside us, his face blank, but I caught a slight tightening of his eyes, showing me that the execution of the men may have bothered him. Brother Judah and Micah caught up with us.

“Inform Landry the men have been disposed of and he will receive the payment within the hour,” Brother Judah told Brother Micah.

Brother Micah nodded and ran ahead into the forest but stopped to glance back and ask, “My lord, with permission, I would like to be the elder appointed to the Cursed Delilah. I would like to continue where Brother Noah left off.”

No, no, no!

My eyes darted to Prophet Cain, who watched me, his eyes narrowed. He waited to reply, like he was mulling it over in his head. I was begging him with my eyes to say no, but Brother Judah moved beside him.

“Brother, She is a Cursed. Prophet David’s revelation said that she must have an elder to instruct her salvation. Brother Micah is an elder. You have to let him take this role.”

My father, Brother Luke and Brother Micah watched on with curious stares and I could see that Brother Judah was uneasy with Prophet Cain’s delay in his answer.

Judah whispered something into Prophet Cain’s ear and the prophet glanced to me then cast his eyes down. Eventually, he waved his hand at Brother Micah. “Agreed, Micah. She needs to be purified. You shall be her ward.”

Brother Micah sighed in gratitude. When he looked at me, he smiled. “Thank you, Master. I will devote all of my time to her salvation.”

My legs grew weak and my head became dizzy. No! Brother Micah would continue where Brother Noah left off. Brother Micah would be my ward. He would be taking me in the Lord’s Sharings… No, no! I could not… I did not want him to touch me.

Fear took hold and I attempted to flee, but Brother Luke’s and my father’s hands stayed strong.

“No! Please!” I begged.

Prophet Cain was suddenly before me.

“Enough!” he demanded, then took a deep breath, causing my cries to halt in my throat. “You are back with your people now, Delilah. Do you not wish for your soul to be saved? This is the only way. Can you not see that?”

As I stared at Prophet Cain, I could see the sincerity and belief in his eyes.

“Prophet Cain, do not pander to her. It is her innate evil trying to seduce you,” my father said and I felt as though I had been stabbed in my back. Prophet Cain raised his hand to stop his protest.

“Well, do you?” Prophet Cain pushed. “Do you wish to continue living with a damned soul or do you want to join with the Lord? Be released from your evil, tempting bonds and be free?”

A shuddering breath escaped me and I nodded. Because I did. I wanted more than anything for my soul to be free. I wanted a man to want me for me and not my looks. My heart swelled with hope as I thought of my biggest wish… for Ky to love me, not the blond hair, the eyes, and my mouth… I wanted him to want me without the bewitching spell he was under.

“Yes,” I whispered to Prophet Cain. “I wish for my Satan-spawned soul to be saved.”

Prophet Cain nodded, triumph in his brown eyes. “Then you shall be as a woman should. You shall be obedient, meek, and submissive. And you shall abide by Brother Micah’s instruction and strive to rid yourself of Satan’s sin.”

*****

It was like nothing I could ever have imagined. People and buildings were scattered everywhere. Tall structures, farmland, and houses were everywhere. As far as the eye could see.

If Prophet David’s commune was a small village, New Zion was a vast city.

If the elders and disciples from Prophet David’s commune were guards, the thousands of men keeping vigil at the boundaries of New Zion were an army.

It became clear that what I had been raised in dwelled in the past. This very organized, very opulent New Zion was carrying my people forward.

Prophet Cain was preparing the Lord’s chosen ones for the apocalypse.

As Brother Luke and my father carried me through the line of trees into the commune, the place became abuzz. People, both tall and short, fat and thin, young and old, stood to see me, gawking, eyes tight, mouths dropped as I was carted through the backdrop of their chores.

Whisperings drifted from their mouths on the breeze and met my ears.

“Look! A Cursed! I have heard the stories, but never seen one in the flesh.”

Mothers would hold back their teenage sons. “Do not look into her eyes, my son. She will tempt you. She will give over your soul to Satan after seducing you with her looks.”

Older members scowled in my direction, holding out their hands to the heavens in a bid to save my soul. All the time, Prophet Cain walked beside me, proud of his capture, blessing his followers, smiling as they all fawned and threw themselves at his feet. They were praising the Lord and speaking in tongues, prostrate on the ground.

As I remembered my old home, a sense of emptiness filled me. I was confused. This was what I had always wanted, to be at one with my people and to be saved from my innate seductive ways. I wanted to live in peace in the commune, away from the sinful outside world, away from the denizens of Satan that occupied the lands. And I wanted to live under the stern hand of the Lord’s prophet. I wanted to be saved when the end of days came, to be embraced by the Lord and to live forever at his side in Heaven.

But as I was dragged through my people—my people who looked upon me with disgust or even abject fear—I felt like a stranger, an alien to this hallowed ground. I realized on the outside, I was never judged or forced to be someone I was not. Nobody wanted to change me; rather, they wanted me to be happy—Ky, Mae, Styx, AK, Cowboy, Hush, even Viking. They wanted me to feel at home. All the time I thought they had been trying to corrupt me. A part of me now questioned my previously unshakeable beliefs.

I had never felt so lonely in my life as I did right now. Never more confused. I had wanted to come back to my people and the prophet, but now that I was here, I yearned to be wrapped in the arms of my Ky. And that was the sad truth. I thought of that devastatingly handsome, protective, yet sinful man as my own. He had taken a piece of my tainted soul… of my heart… and made him a part of me. He was in my every cell, my conscience. He was simply part of me.