Centuries after the Fall, the United States has been wiped away. The crumbling remains of the great American empire are home now only to savage, lawless tribes and packs of ravening Damned-the twisted children of the apocalypse. Most of those few wh...
My deepest apologies for the pain and suffering you were made to endure in Salem. Believe me when I say that I would sooner cut off my own hand than see you harmed, physically or spiritually. But Heavenly Father sometimes tests the strength of our faith—it is in the darkest of times that we must strive the hardest toward the light.
My counterpart and I have very different methods. We share the same goal, but we rarely see eye to eye on how to reach it. I can only apologize, once again, for his behavior. You would be well within your rights to hate me, though I hope you do not. I would have spared you and all of your friends the slightest discomfort were I able, but tragically my hand was forced.
It is too much to hope that you can ever love me as I love you—you were the beacon that led me out of darkness into the light of knowledge, the knowledge of my destiny and yours—but, for now, I will settle for your hatred. For hatred is a passion like unto love, and the line between them is thin. In time, I hope I can convince you to cross over.
Thus we have had our first meeting, and our first parting; I can promise you that neither will be our last. As you will learn, however, if you haven't already, physical distance is meaningless for such as us: our souls are connected. Spiritually, we will never be far from one another.
The next part of your journey, however, is yours to make alone. I am needed elsewhere. I Saw your escape plainly, just as I saw that I could not prevent it. I've learned to trust to the hand of fate in these matters. I'll make sure they don't follow, at least not right away. I can hide it from him for a little while. We will meet again when fate's plan demands it.
I will make him see that my way is best. He seeks chaos, but chaos only begets chaos—there must be some order, some reason, if we're to make it to the end.
My entire life, Ever, has been prologue to meeting you. As it says in Job, "Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment. He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths. He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head."
There was a time, my love, when I despaired, when I shared Job's hopelessness. But it is my privilege to have foreseen the path that you and I must follow, the path on which glory shall return for all, under our dominion.
You will lead me to it, and then I will lead us all to salvation.
Go with God, my love, and know that I watch over you, whatever path you walk. There is no escape for us.
Yours Always,
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Ever read the letter one more time before dropping it into the campfire. She took perverse pleasure in watching the paper curl and blacken in the flames. She imagined it was him, Thayne, that she watched. She imagined his skin crackling, peeling off his flesh as he screamed, and screamed, and screamed....
