The people are barely moving out of the way as the combine moves forward, like they don’t care if we run them over or not. Not that I could stop it, even if I wanted to. The combine has taken on a life of its own.
Through the blood-smeared windshield, I keep my eyes trained on the breeding barn. It’s lit up from within, like a beacon in the dark.
Just when I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to get Ali out of the moving combine, it stalls out about twenty feet from the barn. I jump out and help Ali down. Miss Granger’s standing outside, waiting, as if she’s been expecting us.
“I knew you could do it,” she says with a pleasant smile.
“No … you don’t understand … I hit Sheriff with the combine … he’s dead.” Ali groans in pain. “She needs help … there’s something wrong.”
“In here,” Miss Granger replies, as she motions inside to a bed of fresh-cut wheat covering the breeding platform.
I set Ali down. “There’s people coming,” I say as I hunch over, struggling to catch my breath. “Hundreds of them … they’ve come for us … just like my vision at the game. I thought this was over.”
“Don’t worry, they’ll be here in time.”
“In time?” I ask as I check on Ali. “In time for what?”
A drop of blood lands next to Ali in the wheat. I’m looking at her body trying to figure out where it came from when Ali clamps her hand over her mouth and points toward the ceiling. I look up to see Tyler rigged into the breeding apparatus—the artificial insemination gun shoved down his throat. The priests are suspended from hooks on either side of him, their black robes swaying gently.
“Oh Jesus!” I shield Ali’s eyes. “You didn’t tell me about the priests. Why didn’t you tell me they died, too?”
“Would it have made a difference?” Miss Granger says nonchalantly.
I try to pick Ali up, get her away from the stench of death, but she screams out in agony. “Stop. I can’t move.”
I set her back down again. “Help her! Can’t you see she’s in pain?” I turn to see Miss Granger opening the barn doors to the hordes of people.
“Don’t!” I stand in front of Ali as if I can protect her from the mob gathering around the breeding platform. They’re smiling at us, like we’re some kind of entertainment.
“You still don’t understand, do you?” Miss Granger says. “Jimmy, Ben, Tammy, Jess, Tyler, Sheriff Ely, the priests … that was all for this to come to pass. It was right in front of you all along.”
“What are you saying?”
“I was with Reverend Devers and Jimmy that night at the church. I thought you almost caught me when you got close to the garage. Ben was in my bed the night you woke from a nightmare and came over to my house. You ran your hand right over his jean jacket hanging on the back of my chair. It’s a shame, really, because I’m certain I could’ve had you that night. Lee was supposed to be one of the sacrifices, but you weren’t man enough to finish the job. That’s okay. I’m devout. I can still be of service, for goodness sake.”
“Why are you saying this? It can’t be—”
“I was beginning to wonder if you could even pull this off, the dirty deed.” Her gaze shifts to Ali. “You were stubborn with your virgin whore complex. But when she offered herself to you and you refused, I knew what I had to do. I had to make you believe I took the Devil from her, made her pure again, so you could pour your demon seed into her. The priests had to pay the price, but it was well worth it. Was it worth the wait, Clay? Everything you hoped it would be?”
I feel a blistering heat take over my face. “How long have you been one of them?” I ask as I scan the barn, trying to come up with an escape plan.
“I should’ve died that day in Mexico. But I offered my parents instead.”
“You killed your parents?”
“I set them free.” She smiles up at me and I feel sick to my stomach. “You were so easy to manipulate, Clay. Drinking my tea. Telling me your deepest darkest secrets.”
“The salvia. That was you?” I look around for anything I might be able to use as a weapon.
“I needed you off balance. Especially when you saw what happened at the rebirth ceremony, Ali emerging from the cow. I needed you to believe it was all a bad dream. I think deep down you knew, didn’t you? You kept seeing it over and over again. Did you see it when you were bedding Ali? I bet you did.” She smiles coyly.
“What do you want from me? What do you want from Ali?” I yell as I stand guard.
“We’re here for the birth of our lord,” she says, her gaze shifting to Ali’s stomach.
“That’s impossible … we just … I mean … Ali was a virgin before tonight.”