“We will not be safe until the boy is found!” Rose raged. “He will find his way in at night, in our dreams, in the very air we breathe! He must be found immediately.”

I could see the veins bulging at her hairline. She was terrified of Eli. If she ever got her hands on the boy she would kill him without hesitation.

“What if he really is just a boy?” My mother’s frail voice filled the room as she slowly stood. “How can you be so sure he’s a Fury?”

I wanted to yank her back down. I wanted to stand and defend her, apologize for her outburst, claim exhaustion and insanity. But it was too late.

“Are you questioning my authority in this matter?” Rose demanded.

“No. I’m just trying to understand how we can be so sure he’s not just a boy who longs to be protected. And isn’t our charter to remain within the safety of the red line? Why are we risking our purity by breaking our own law?”

Rose pinned my mother with a terrifying glare, then moved her gaze across the rest of the community. “Who else among you doubts my knowing in this matter?”

No one answered, but others surely wondered the same. I exhaled the breath I’d been holding and hoped that the collective questioning would grant my mother some grace even as she sat back down, back stiff. I’d never seen her show such courage.

Rose stepped forward. “The one who was sent to us from God, who leads us and protects us, appeared to me. Sylous’s warning was undeniable. If the boy is allowed to live five days among us, he will bring the end to all. Two of those days have passed. It is written that the darkness comes as light and the thief comes to kill and destroy. If we doubt Sylous, we will be consumed by the evil that stalks us and we will surely die.”

Rose stood trembling. Not a soul stirred.

I glanced to my left and saw my mother sitting like a board, face drained of blood. No one, not even my mother in her newfound courage, would dare voice doubt now.

“What we face is beyond our understanding,” Rose breathed. “But there can be no doubt: the boy must be found.” With that, she walked unsteadily down the steps and sat in the pew.

Harrison let the silence linger before clearing his throat. “We have survived the wrath of the Fury by remaining true to the word given us.” His voice echoed through the small auditorium. “Stand with me,” he said, spreading his arms wide. “Stand with us against the evil that seduces us and threatens our pure standing before God.”

Someone began to softly weep. Cries were joined by sniffles as Haven Valley’s faithful tried to contain the heavy presence of holiness in that place.