THE BRAVO BOYS - SNAKE EATER [book three]

Chapter THIRTY EIGHT

Logan Nash

Waco, Texas
...over twenty years ago...

"Please, Lo-Lo.. You have to come with me.." Imploring, baby blue eyes blink at me.. Heartbreak and hope burning deep within the beauty of her gaze, pleading with me to see reason..

I know she is right.. I know this place is corrupt and the goings on within it's walls couldn't possibly be moral.. But my scuffed up sneakers feel glued to the old worn out carpet beneath them, not allowing me to move.. "Dixie, I-I can't.."

"You can! You have to!" My sister turns away from me in disappointment before she continues to rush around the small bedroom, collecting our clothes and stuffing them into a black plastic trash bag.. "The Messiah is crazy.. After what he did to us- I'm - I'm scared of what he might do next.."

I shift uncomfortably on the spot, a dull ache still resonating down between my legs as the humiliation of my sterilisation remains clear in my mind.. A punishment that pales in comparison to the vile things I know he had done to my sister, forcing her to share his bed.. "I know, Dee-Dee, but-"

"We can't let him ruin another life, Logan.. And I can't do this without you, I need you.." Dixie rests her hand over the tiny rise of her swelling belly, pausing her frantic packing to make one final attempt to persuade me.. "This baby needs you.."

If The Prophet truly believed all the evil he had done was righteous, even after my sister and I had followed his law to the letter, how would he treat us if we were caught trying to escape?
What kind of torture could a man that evil conceive?

I have been told all the rumours of retribution and know the stories about what would happen in the old grain silo known as 'The Slaughter House." It's shadow looms over the back paddocks of the compound and occasionally wailing screams of horror can be heard peeling paint from its rusted walls..

Even still, I can't imagine a worse punishment than never seeing Dixie again.. I love her too much to just watch her leave, but I'm not so certain as her.. Everything I have done, everything I have been subjected to in my life, I'd convinced myself it was all for the betterment of my family.. Now, the idea of risking their safety causes a swarm of doubts and questions that I just can't ignore..

"W-where would we go?" I lower my voice, taking a hesitant step forward, a little closer to finding my conviction..

"Anywhere.. Everywhere.." Dixie glances wistfully out the window, looking up towards the heavens as if the universe could be ours to explore.. Twinkling stars shine down, like holes poked through a velvet blanket and the full moon illuminates the compound trails that cut through the fields.. "Does it really matter? Wherever we go, it has to be better than here.."

Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I sway on my feet, starting to feel sick at the prospect of leaving everything I have ever known behind.. I don't know how we would survive on the outside.. "What about momma?"

Dixie shakes her head at me.. "She can't help us, Logan.. And you can't save her.. Momma and Daddy will always choose the Messiah over us.. But you and me- we're meant for more, I just know it.." Dixie crosses the room and throws open the window, holding out her beckoning hand to me, her urgent fingers wriggling.. "I'm begging you, Lo-Lo.. Please come with me.."

Taking one last look around the dingy little room we had shared for so long..
This is it.. This is our chance to be free..

I reach for her hand and her delicate fingers link around mine in a tight squeeze.. "Promise me we're never coming back?"