The Children of Red Peak by Craig DiLouie

Author:Craig DiLouie [Dilouie, Craig]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2020-11-17T00:00:00+00:00

David swallowed hard. Past Kyle’s beatific face, the suite’s door seemed temptingly close yet too far for him to make a run for it.

If the leader of The Restoration didn’t want him to leave, he wasn’t going anywhere. The people surrounding Kyle weren’t his real blood relations, but they were his family.

“Right now, I’m hoping I don’t need to be rescued,” David said, his body tingling.

“Fifteen years is a long time to wander the desert.”

“People know I’m here. If I’m missed, the police will come.”

Kyle chuckled. “This is an exit counseling session, not deprogramming.”

“You want to talk to me. That’s all.”

“That’s right.”

“And I can leave anytime I want.” David still didn’t trust it.

“Would you have met with us otherwise?”

He considered. “It depends why you want so bad to talk to me.”

“Why? Why.” He laughed. “You’re David Young!”

The room burst into applause. David flinched, bewildered.

Amelia said, “I’m sorry I lied about being Kyle’s mother. It has been such an honor to finally meet you.”

The rest called out similar sentiments.

David stared back at the smiling faces. “I still don’t understand.”

Kyle said, “Red Peak, of course.”

“What about it?”

“I have to tell you one last story,” the young man said. “May I?”

David leaned back on the couch and folded his arms. “Go ahead.”

Kyle stood and wandered the room, sharing smiles with his followers. “For years, a group of people meets online in a private chat room to talk about the Medford Mystery, and coalesces around a theory, which takes on a life of its own. The voice, the strange lights and sounds, the missing bodies, the utter dedication to self-immolation. They do enough research and write enough posts to fill a library on the subject.”

He paused to lay his hand on a woman’s head before moving on. “Eventually, one of them proposes to take their group offline and put their theory to a very real test. At a hotel, they meet in person for the first time. They decide to follow in the Family of the Living Spirit’s footsteps.”

David twisted in his seat so he could keep his eyes on the man. “What’s this theory?”

Kyle crossed in front of the couch until he stood over him. “That the Family actually did talk to God and went to Heaven. That’s the first doctrine. The second is that the door is still open.”

“Jesus Christ.” These people weren’t a cult. They were a bunch of cosplaying fans, but even that could be dangerous. “You should all go home.”

They gazed back at him with fanatical intensity. They weren’t a cult, but eager to become one, if that’s what it took to solve the mystery. They’d found purpose in the Medford story, some kind of hope and meaning. Wanting to be a part of something bigger than oneself, something real, was a basic human trait. They weren’t going back to their old lives, which they no doubt regarded as empty.

David tried a different tack.

“Look, everything you think you know about Medford came from police reports, and most of that came from the survivors.

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