The few mornings later Delilah was awake before the rest of thehouse. After taking a quick shower, she dressed in a long purpleskirt and a white button up blouse. She laced her simple black boots and braided her long black hair. After putting on a simple,wide-brimmed straw hat she headed outdoors. She wanted to see the sun rise and she was not about to miss it. Sitting on the front steps,Delilah let her mind wander, but found that it usually came back to one thing, or person. Micah. The way he had looked at her that first night and many times after, with a mix of pride and astonishment.The way he had held her hand, took her arm, gave her encouragement. It was frightening how much she missed him, even though he was only a few steps and a call away. She could almost picture him, what he looked like as he slept, his face so innocent and peaceful, no hint of the power within. Had her father deliberately put these feelings inside of her, had he made it so that she would love him? Or did she do so naturally, simply because she was partly made up of his essence? She had no answers to these questions, no matter how many times she closed her eyes and called her Father, He gave her no answers, no hint as to how she could stop feeling this way. Because she did. She didn�t *want* to love Micah. It was a burden,these feelings, the jealousy that arose in her when she saw Ruth looking at him like *that*. How she had wanted to rip the girl�s heart out, throw her out of this town forever. But she would never do that. It would hurt Micah to see her act so violently, she knew. Delilah was the one who solved problems with a calm wisdom, while Mordechai was the one who solved problems with his fists and knife.Maybe she would go see Mordechai about Ruth. But no, Mordechai was getting worse everyday, trying to flirt with her, trying to be next to her. Two days after she arrived he had cornered her in the main barn and had tried to kiss her. She had pushed him away and ran back to her house, only to be cornered again just in front of the side door. The only thing that had stopped him was Danny, who had come to look for her because Micah needed to see her. That was another thing. Micah always needed to see her, always needed her to be next to him, close to him. It was strange, although she supposed that he missed her as much as she missed him when they were apart. Only she didn�t know whether he loved her the way she loved him. "Delilah?" An unmistakable voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked up to see Micah standing in the doorway with a worried look on his face. "What�s wrong, Micah?" she asked. "I was looking for you. I couldn�t find you," he said, a slightly embarrassed tone in his voice. "Oh, well here I am," she said, smiling up at his shadowy form. "Ok, well, ummm...," Micah�s voice trailed off and he suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Do you want to sit here with me? Do you want to talk about something?" Boy, did he ever. He wanted to tell her exactly how he felt. But he didn�t think he could ever bring himself to do that. Actually, though, he did want to ask her about something else. Nodding gratefully, he sat down next to her. "Have you noticed if Mordechai�s behavior is getting worse?" he asked. Delilah was silent for a moment, trying to decide how to answer that loaded question. She decided to be honest with him. "Yes," she said slowly, "I have noticed the looks he gives you when he thinks you aren�t watching him, the way he tries to undermine your authority, the way he shirks his chores sometimes to do what *he* thinks needs to be done. I�ve noticed how he bullies the kids that are loyal to you, how he blatantly refuses to listen to anything Danny tries to tell him. He�s mean to Jedediah, and very curt to him too. He�s also tried to get me alone several times, Micah," she said, watching his reaction. Micah�s eyes grew very dark and very cold, and his whole body seemed to tense up. He seemed to be growling under his breath and suddenly Delilah was very afraid. "Micah?" she whispered timidly. "He will not get away with this blasphemous and insubordinate behavior. If he refuses to listen to what I have to say, then his blood will nourish the corn," Micah growled in a deep and unnatural voice. "Micah....please, be careful," she pleaded with him. Just as quickly as it appeared his menacing look was gone and he looked at her with a confused expression on his face. "What just happened?" he asked. "Father�s essence must have manifested itself in you. Your anger must have brought out your darkness," she explained. "I�m sorry, Delilah, I did not wish for you to see me that way," he said, lowering his head and staring at the ground. "Micah, I know that part of you. I�m not afraid of it," Delilah said quietly and placed her hand over his, where it was resting on his knee. Micah looked at her with surprise and happiness in his eyes and lightly cupped her cheek. Slowly lowering his head to hers, he captured her lips in a gentle kiss. After a fraction of a second she returned his kiss eagerly, gripping the back of his neck and pulling him closer to her. Micah moaned and murmured against her lips, "You know I love you, right?" Delilah broke away from him and looked at him, her gray eyes dancing with happiness. "How could I not?" she said, pressing he rlips to his in another, more passionate kiss. They didn�t notice the angry pair of blue eyes watching them from a window across the street. ------------------------ Meanwhile, across town, Mordechai was keeping watch at thetown�s main entrance. He sighed, grumbling under his breath. This was not the way he liked to start his days. He was aware that Micahand his little lackeys were watching him and he hated that feeling.What he hated even more was the fact that Delilah had somehow been able to stave off his advances. If only he could have that girl,then he would be Leader. She would find some way to convince the Father to give him the position and then he could just kill Micah. He deserved the position, anyhow. He was more aggressive and moreloyal than Micah. He knew he could do a better job than Micah. In the distance, Mordechai thought he saw something. Raising onehand to shield his eyes, he squinted and looked again. There was definitely something or someone out there and it was coming towards *his* town. Jumping down off of the platform they had builtas a makeshift look-out tower, he saw that it was a motorbike.However, he couldn�t tell who was exactly on it, and whether they could be a follower or defiler. He stood there for a few minutes, his arms crossed over his chest when finally the bike and rider were only a few feet away. When the bike started to ride past him he grabbedthe handlebars and swerved it. It and the person riding it skidded and came to a stop just under the look-out post. Mordechai walked up to the rider and pulled the helmet off of their head. A teenage girl shakily stood up and glared silently at Mordechai for a moment.Mordechai grinned at her cruelly and she snapped. "Just who do you think you are?! You could have killed me! Oh my god, you are sooo lucky that all I have are these scrapes on my knees! I could be*dead* right now!" she yelled, getting in his face angrily. "Well, you�re fine aren�t you? And maybe you should be telling me who *you* are, before I drag you off to see the Leader." "Your Leader? Well, then, take me to your Leader. Oh, I�ve alwayswanted to say that!" she grinned to herself, making Mordechai lookat her in confusion. "Well, if you want to see him so badly, then I suppose you shouldfollow me," he said, and walked of in a huff. The girl stared after him for a minute and then ran, trying to catchup with him. ----------------------------- Once Mordechai reached Micah�s house he pounded roughly on the door. When the girl finally caught up with him he grabbed her arm and held it hard. "Owww! Let go of me!" she yelled at him. "I don�t think so. Right now you�re *my* prisoner," he said. grinning almost happily. When the door opened Micah looked at Mordechai with anger clearly on his face. "Shouldn�t you be at watch, *Mordechai*?" he sneered. "I was when *this* tried to get into our town," he said, roughly pulling the girl into view. "Hey, I�m not a "this" and I have a name!" she said indignantly. "Well, what is your name my child?" Micah said, a friendly smile on his face. The girl relaxed somewhat and she returned the smile, "My name is Rachael. Now could you please tell your watchdog to get his hands off of me?" "Yes, of course, Rachael. Mordechai, you�ve done your job, you may go back to your post now." Mordechai stared wide-eyed at Micah and spun around, leaving the house fuming and banging the door loudly on the way out. "Now perhaps you could tell me just why you have come to Hemingford?" "Well," Rachael paused for a instant, "I heard that this town is pretty safe compared to the rest of the world. My town is a mess. The other kids don�t seem to want any kind of leader and they don�t want to be told what to do. Someone, kinda sarcastically I think, said that I should just run off to Hemingford cause I�d probably fit in a lot better there. And well, here I am." Micah gazed at her for a few moments, trying to see if she was telling the truth. When he decided that she had, he smiled warmly at her. "Well, then He Who Walks Behind the Rows shall welcome all those who wish to see the truth and step into the light." Rachael was somewhat astonished that he had let her stay just like that. She had heard that these kids were very religious and hated outsiders. But maybe that wasn�t really true. Maybe they just didn�t like the kids that wanted disorder and anarchy. Whatever the case was, she knew that she had a new home. A thought suddenly came to her. "Ummm, Micah? Where will I be staying?" she asked. Micah furrowed his eyebrows and tried to think of all the different homes. The only place he could think of that might be acceptable was Ruth and Lacey�s but he wasn�t sure that this girl belonged in that house. There was something going on with those girls and he didn�t want this new member of the town to be influenced by them. No, then the only alternative was one he knew would ruffle a few feathers. Ruth, Lacey, and Mordechai�s to be exact. He sighed. He hated causing even more issues to be brought up, but he was the Leader and he wasn�t going to let them tell him what to do. "Well, you could stay here. We have one extra bedroom. Jedediah sometimes sleeps there but I�m sure he wouldn�t mind staying on the couch if he had to." "Here? Well, yeah, if that�s ok. And who�s Jedediah?" "I�m the Leader and I�m making it okay. The Father doesn�t seem to object and I�m sure Delilah wouldn�t mind another female in the house. Oh, Jedediah is a close friend of mine. He�s having some trouble with his housemate." "That guy...what�s-his-name? Mord-something?" "Mordechai, yes. He�s been causing some considerable....trouble for the past few days." Before Rachael could reply, a girl she could only assume was Delilah descended the stairs. "Micah, who�s this?" the girl asked, smiling slightly at him. "Delilah," he said as she made her way past Rachael and slipped her arm possessively around his waist, "this is Rachael. She left her own town to come here and live. She�ll be staying with us." "Oh, that�s great! Rachael, I hope we can be friends," she said, losing her earlier cool demeanor and beaming at the girl. "You�re not friends with any of the other girls here?" Rachael asked. "Well, the only two other girls that are around our age here are Ruth and Lacey and they don�t seem to like me too much," Delilah said, a slight sadness in her voice. "Don�t be sad about that," Micah said firmly, "They don�t like you because you have *me*. Ruth is jealous and Lacey follows her because she wants Danny to leave here and betray The Father." Rachael listened to the dialogue between the two with disbelief. And here she thought she was coming to a quiet town with *no* drama at all. The awkward silence that followed the exchange was broken by a sharp knock on the door. Delilah went to the door and smiled as she opened it. "Hello, Jedediah. What brings you here?" "Mordechai is complaining that Micah brought someone new into town without any proper procedures. I didn�t know we *had* any proper procedures," he said, a hint of sarcasm and mischief in his voice. "Well, if we had any I think you�d be the fourth or fifth to know." "Thank you, Lil, for the ego boost," Jedediah said, continuing what had become the usual playful banter between the two of them. "Anytime, *Jed*, just let me know," Delilah cracked, giggling lightly. Micah came into the hallway and greeted his friend. "I suppose, Mordechai is angry about Rachael?" "Oh, so he�s actually complaining about something that�s true this time?" "In a manner of speaking, yes. Although I don�t see why he should be complaining. I have gotten no message that would indicate that He Who Walks Behind the Rows does not approve, and neither has Delilah." "Ummm, hi, I think you were talking about me just now?" Rachael said, coming from the main room. "Oh, yes, I�m sorry," said Micah, "Jedediah, this is Rachael. I�m sorry but I�ve given her the last guest room." "That�s ok, Micah. The couch is pretty comfortable anyway," Jedediah said, although it was partly because he thought Rachael was just so pretty. He was hoping that his staring wasn�t too obvious, because then he would be really embarrassed. "So, uh, Rachael, where are you from?" "Oh, not too far away," she said, not really wanting to give away to much of her past. "So, you�re one of those mystery girls, huh," Jedediah replied, his lips curving in what he hoped was a flirty smile, "Well, I�d like to figure out the mystery." As soon as those words left his mouth he mentally slapped himself upside the head. Smooth move, Jedediah, he thought, you�re a real ladies man. I bet she�ll really like you now. He blushed slightly when he saw that not only was Rachael smiling at him, Micah and Delilah had mysteriously vacated the hallway. "It wasn�t that bad, Jed, only a little corny," she said, a little laughter in her voice. But it wasn�t mean or sarcastic, just real laughter. "Really? Oh, good. I was kinda worried...," his voice trailed off and he blushed again, embarrassed beyond belief. "No, I think there�s hope for you yet," Rachael said, but was interrupted by yet another knock on the door. When Jedediah opened the door he was not too surprised to see Mordechai standing there. "Jedediah, don�t you have work to do?" "I�m taking a little break. Don�t worry, Mordechai, I was given permission by both our Leader *and* our Seer," Jedediah replied, rolling his eyes. "Fine, do what you want. Sin all you want with that new girl. I don�t care," Mordechai huffed, then whirled and stomped away, slamming the door behind him. "Sin?" Rachael asked, raising her eyebrows. Part 6 Ruth was furious. She could not believe that Micah was kissing *that* girl. She didn�t care *who* she thought she was. He should be with her and her alone. Perhaps Mordechai could help her with this problem. Unfortunately, he *hated* Micah and would probably think the solution to the problem would be killing him. And she would never let that happen. Just then there was a knock on the door. Ruth ran to open it, hoping that it would be Micah, perhaps telling her how wrong he had been for pushing her aside. No, it was only Mordechai. "What do you want?" she snapped at him. "Hey, just wondering how you were doing, considering that Micah *loves* Delilah," he said, a sneer on his face. "What? He loves her?! How can that be possible?" she practically shouted, her eyes growing wide with disbelief. Mordechai�s smile grew wider and he leaned up against the doorframe. "Maybe you want to let me in and I can tell you about it?" he asked in his most innocent sounding voice. Ruth hastily stepped aside in order to let Mordechai in. He walked directly into the den and flung himself onto the plaid couch. Ruth nervously sat next to him and began twisting a strand of frizzy blonde hair around her finger. Mordechai just sat there, smiling to himself and not even paying attention to her. Finally, after about a minute, Ruth couldn�t take the silence anymore, "So??" she asked. "Oh, well, here�s the deal. I don�t like Micah, but even more to the point I *want* Delilah. You don�t like Delilah but you want," he saw Ruth�s look, coughed, and continued, "...ok, love Micah, right?" he asked, waiting for her to answer. She simply nodded and so he continued. "Well, I figure that we can separate them and in the meantime take them for ourselves. That way when you two reach the Age of Favor you can leave together and I can be the leader here with Delilah. What do you think?" "That sounds like a *very* good idea to me. What do you suggest?" she asked, smiling for the first time in two days. "I�m sure we can figure *something* out," he said, glad that he had chosen Ruth as the pawn in his new game. ------------------------- Jedediah was sitting on the front step of the house that Micah, Danny, Delilah, and Rachael shared. Rachael. Just thinking about her made Jedediah blush. How he hated that. He was never any good with girls, just ask Micah or Mordechai that. No, wait, don�t ask Mordechai. He would probably tell you the story about how he had met this girl, Stella, in junior high. She had been so pretty and so smart and he had tripped all over himself and flung his lunch tray (complete with pizza slice and open carton of milk on it) right onto the front of her new dress. On her *birthday*. Mordechai had never let him forget that day. Or a host of others just like it. Even if he practiced and practiced what to say it never seemed to come out right. Really, though, in the past two days that Rachael had been here she didn�t appear to mind when he stumbled over his words or messed up what he wanted to say. But maybe she just tolerated him. He couldn�t really tell. He sighed, and ran a hand through his curly brown hair. So deep was he in thought that he didn�t notice when Rachael walked out of the house and sat down next to him. "Jedediah?" she said, and lightly pinched his arm. "Ow! Oh, umm, hi Rachael," he said, wincing as a blush started to creep up his face. "Hi Jedediah, what are you doing out here all alone?" she asked. "Just thinking." "Oh, about what?" "Things. Our problem with Mordechai. The way he�s been sneaking around lately," he said, not really lying, just omitting the parts about her. "Oh, yeah, what is wrong with him? Why hasn�t Micah done anything?" "Micah doesn�t want to make the problem bigger than it is. The best way to fix it would be to discipline him and Micah�s not sure that will work. Other than that, the only other options are exile and sacrifice. But Micah doesn�t want to spill blood anymore unless absolutely necessary." "Yeah, I don�t think Mordechai would listen to discipline. He doesn�t seem to listen to anything Micah has to say, at least from what I�ve seen," Rachael said cautiously. After all, she had only known these people for two days, how could she judge? "No, he doesn�t. He wants to be the leader and as much as I hate to say it, blood might have to be spilled. He�s becoming like Malachai and Isaac didn�t stop him before it was too late." Rachael stared at him in surprise. Jedediah was the last person she�d expect to call for sacrifice. But every person had to have a breaking point, she guessed. "Who are Isaac and Malachai?" she asked. "Isaac was the first leader. He started it all. Malachai was his most loyal follower, until he got too power-hungry and destroyed Gatlin. I�m just worried that Mordechai will end up doing the same thing to us here," he said, furrowing his brow in apprehension. "Well, didn�t Mica see that happen? You don�t think he learned from Isaac�s mistakes?" "Hopefully he has. I just don�t know," Jedediah said, putting his head in his hands. "Of course he has, Jedediah. And if not he has a lot more friends than this Isaac person seemed to have. I have to go now. I promised Delilah I�d help her look after the little ones," Rachael said, lingering on the steps for a moment. As she was about to leave she leaned down and swiftly kissed Jedediah on the cheek, then hurried away. Jedediah stared after her, speechless. He shook his head and stood up, stretching his legs. Realizing that he had to be in the field in ten minutes, he took off in a light jog. -------------------------- Mordechai stood watching Delilah in the distance. She was holding a little boy named Ethan in her arms and Jedediah�s sister Naomi was holding onto her skirt. They were walking towards the little house were the youngest children stayed during the day. Apparently today was Delilah�s day to watch them. He was always amazed by everything she did. She was the Seer, daughter to the Father, and yet she took her share of chores, never complaining. He caught sight of a girl who was walking slightly behind her and sneered. It was Rachael. That girl shouldn�t be here. She was an outlander, and once he took his rightful place as leader she would be the first to be sacrificed. He hated the way she was becoming so friendly with Delilah, that would make it so much harder to get rid of her when the time came. The two girls were laughing about something and before he knew it had disappeared into the house. He hated it when that happened!! He smiled when he thought of the future. "Soon, Delilah, soon," he thought. --------------------------- "You did? Maybe now he�ll make a move," said Delilah, giggled over what Rachael had just told her. She couldn�t believe that her friend had kissed Jedediah. Even if it was only on the cheek. She would�ve loved to have seen Jed�s face after that. "Yeah, I did. Maybe I shouldn�t have?" Rachael asked, suddenly worried. "Oh, no, you did the right thing," assured Delilah, shifting Ethan from one hip to the other as they walked to the house, "I think Jed sometimes just needs a push in the right direction." "Did Micah?" "Ummm...a little. Not as much as Jedediah would, though. Trust me, what you did was of the good." "Ok, thanks Delilah. I just needed a little reassurance, I guess." Rachael held open the door for Delilah, and the two girls, plus two kids, walked into the chaos that was the babies and young children house. ------------------------ "So she kissed you. On the cheek. I think you�re going to have to make the next move, Jedediah," said Danny, wiping the sweat from his brow haphazardly with an old rag. "Are you sure? What if it was just a friendly kiss, not meant to mean anything?" "Trust me, Jed, she likes you. I�m sure of it. Jedediah thought about this for a minute. He would just have to put away his doubts and do what he thought was right. Hopefully he wasn�t just imagining things. "Umm, Jedediah? Are you going to be covering those seeds anytime soon? I�d like to be done here before dinner," Danny said, gesturing to the row of seeds that remained uncovered. "Yeah, sorry Danny. Where�s Micah?" asked Jedediah, quickly shifting the soil onto the seeds and patting it down. "At the church, I think. Praying for an answer to "the Problem" and just generally brooding." "I hope he figures out an answer soon. Mordechai is planning something, I just have this feeling," Jedediah said, casting a worried glance in the church�s direction. ------------------------ At the church Micah kneeled in one of the pews, his eyes closed in deep prayer. He had been there for over an hour, hoping that He Who Walks Behind the Rows would show him what to do. So far, nothing, and Micah feared he knew why. If he was right, then the Lord had only one answer for him and that was sacrifice. Get rid of Mordechai in perhaps the simplest way. In another way it was also the most complicated. He could just see the repercussions now. Would the rest of the children start to fear or hate him? Would they become afraid to speak up, because they thought that was all Mordechai had done? And yet, if he waited, Mordechai might do something incredibly stupid and ruin it all. He acutely remembered what had happened with Malachai, who turned out to be the ultimate betrayer, and Isaac. He did not want to end up like Isaac. So if Mordechai�s blood needed to spill, then it would. But still, he prayed. Ruth wandered into the church and saw Micah immediately. She smiled widely. This would be her chance to tell him how she felt without *Delilah* standing right there. She walked confidently up the aisle and slid into the pew next to him, oblivious to the fact that he was deep he prayer. "Micah," she whispered and nudged him a little. Micah was startled out of his reverie and looked at Ruth, growing annoyed. "Ruth, what do you want?" he snapped. "I...I just wanted to talk to you alone, Micah," she said quietly. "About?" Micah asked impatiently. "Well, us." "What *us*, Ruth?" he asked, thoroughly confused. "That�s just it, Micah, there should be an *us* but there isn�t." "Ruth, there is no us and there will never be an us. You know that. I�m with Delilah. You should find someone else," he added as gently as possible. "I won�t accept that Mica! I can�t! We need to be together. We *should* be together," she said inching closer to Micah so that her face was very close to his. "Ruth, we will never be together. If you cannot accept that then you must leave here and not return," he said firmly, sliding out of the pew and heading towards the doors. "Wait! Micah! Don�t leave! I *love* you!" Ruth cried desperately, her voice echoing through the church. Micah kept going, pulling open one of the doors and walking silently away from the church. "MICAH!!" Ruth screamed, tears running down her cheeks. This could not be happening to her. He could not have done just dismissed her so. She would have her revenge. She must. Walking slowly out of the church, Ruth tossed aside her involvement with Mordechai�s plan and began one of her own.

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws