I'm tired of your open mouth,
Crawling inside my skin,
Endless pain we never quit,
The fight within the prides begun,
Saying its too late,
What a man's got he'll learn to hate.
Forget the time I said I would,
Replace that with I never will,
Beyond the facts held in your face,
Ignore the facts beyond your nose,
Saying it's too late,
What a man's got he'll learn to hate. - From "Family System" by Chevelle
I lead, they follow, and it's simple as that. I raise a finger; they go off in the direction that it's pointing. I say "jump" they jump, no questions asked. Why, though? What makes me so special in their eyes? Why do I hold power over them, over the ones who believe in this so much more than me?
Why? Why was I chosen, instead of Mordechai? Or Jeddediah? Jed has always been the type of person to have a natural ability to make things happen, and Mordechai is just intimidating. Before this, before all of this happened, I was the type to hide under a blanket when a storm came, or to run from things outside in the fields. I'm afraid of the dark, for crying out loud, so why me?
I lead, they follow, and it's simple as that. We've even been moved to a new town, with new unbelievers, and new children. It hasn't been difficult at all to gain their trust; we're so much bigger and smarter than them that we know exactly what to say, what to do - to make them ours. To make them His. He's got the ultimate plan for this town; it's to be even bigger than Gatlin, and He won't tell me a thing, except what I absolutely NEED to know; He knows that I can only take so much.
The fields; they're almost magical, not that I believe in that sort of thing. Walking in them makes me feel calm, as if I'm at home. I stick to the rows of cornstalks, though, because He can't get to me there. The stalks hinder his abilities to communicate with me, believe it or not, and that's why if anything happens, it happens in a clearing, or out of the fields. So I've taken to wandering the seemingly endless rows of green, and trying to figure out when this got to be so pointless, so out of control.
I lead, they follow, and it's simple as that. I'm "in control" of nearly thirty-five children, some as young as the age of five. I know for a fact that something's going to go wrong, that I'm going to mess things up - I can feel it in my soul, and I'm afraid. He's told me things - things that would be going on around me, and they've happened. Danny met Lacey, his father met RedBear, Danny eavesdropped on a meeting of ours, it's all coming true, and that means that tonight, at the final sacrifice, something will happen to me, or my friends.
They are my friends, at least the ones from Gatlin are. Jeddediah, Mordechai, the ones who were here from the beginning with me - we're a close-knit group of kids, and would do anything for each other. I don't want to put them in danger. I don't want to risk them getting hurt, but this isn't about what I want anymore, it's about what He wants - and what He wants, He gets. They do exactly what I say, and Isaac ensured that they'd be that way throughout the four years he ruled Gatlin. He brainwashed all of us, with the aid of He Who Walks Behind the Rows, and now each of us has such a warped mind that it will never be how it should be.
I lead, they follow, and it's simple as that. Tonight, the outlanders must be sacrificed. The unbelievers will be struck down, and that is my duty, as his disciple, to carry out. I will do His bidding to the best of my ability, and I will make Him - and Isaac, my closest friend ever - proud. Danny doesn't know what's coming, but it will be up to him to get two people to the large clearing - his father and the woman who has been taking care of me, allowing me to sleep under a roof - Angela.
The sun is beginning to set, and I see a faint orange glow on the horizon; that would be the City Hall, being burned to the ground - as I ordered. A smile creeps across my face as I watch the dancing flames, because as scared as I am of everything, I like having power. I like knowing that what I say is going to happen. I like being authoritive, and I like setting an example. It's something I'll never understand, but when He chose me to lead the children, something inside of me grew.
I lead, they follow, and it's simple as that. No longer mild, meek, afraid, or timid, I have power. Micah Balding has power over something more than his own life, and I'm ready to take advantage of that. Stepping out of the fields, I feel the familiar warm fog creeping into my mind, and prepare myself to collect Danny and take him to the clearing. It's time - for the final sacrifice.
Crawling inside my skin,
Endless pain we never quit,
The fight within the prides begun,
Saying its too late,
What a man's got he'll learn to hate.
Forget the time I said I would,
Replace that with I never will,
Beyond the facts held in your face,
Ignore the facts beyond your nose,
Saying it's too late,
What a man's got he'll learn to hate. - From "Family System" by Chevelle
I lead, they follow, and it's simple as that. I raise a finger; they go off in the direction that it's pointing. I say "jump" they jump, no questions asked. Why, though? What makes me so special in their eyes? Why do I hold power over them, over the ones who believe in this so much more than me?
Why? Why was I chosen, instead of Mordechai? Or Jeddediah? Jed has always been the type of person to have a natural ability to make things happen, and Mordechai is just intimidating. Before this, before all of this happened, I was the type to hide under a blanket when a storm came, or to run from things outside in the fields. I'm afraid of the dark, for crying out loud, so why me?
I lead, they follow, and it's simple as that. We've even been moved to a new town, with new unbelievers, and new children. It hasn't been difficult at all to gain their trust; we're so much bigger and smarter than them that we know exactly what to say, what to do - to make them ours. To make them His. He's got the ultimate plan for this town; it's to be even bigger than Gatlin, and He won't tell me a thing, except what I absolutely NEED to know; He knows that I can only take so much.
The fields; they're almost magical, not that I believe in that sort of thing. Walking in them makes me feel calm, as if I'm at home. I stick to the rows of cornstalks, though, because He can't get to me there. The stalks hinder his abilities to communicate with me, believe it or not, and that's why if anything happens, it happens in a clearing, or out of the fields. So I've taken to wandering the seemingly endless rows of green, and trying to figure out when this got to be so pointless, so out of control.
I lead, they follow, and it's simple as that. I'm "in control" of nearly thirty-five children, some as young as the age of five. I know for a fact that something's going to go wrong, that I'm going to mess things up - I can feel it in my soul, and I'm afraid. He's told me things - things that would be going on around me, and they've happened. Danny met Lacey, his father met RedBear, Danny eavesdropped on a meeting of ours, it's all coming true, and that means that tonight, at the final sacrifice, something will happen to me, or my friends.
They are my friends, at least the ones from Gatlin are. Jeddediah, Mordechai, the ones who were here from the beginning with me - we're a close-knit group of kids, and would do anything for each other. I don't want to put them in danger. I don't want to risk them getting hurt, but this isn't about what I want anymore, it's about what He wants - and what He wants, He gets. They do exactly what I say, and Isaac ensured that they'd be that way throughout the four years he ruled Gatlin. He brainwashed all of us, with the aid of He Who Walks Behind the Rows, and now each of us has such a warped mind that it will never be how it should be.
I lead, they follow, and it's simple as that. Tonight, the outlanders must be sacrificed. The unbelievers will be struck down, and that is my duty, as his disciple, to carry out. I will do His bidding to the best of my ability, and I will make Him - and Isaac, my closest friend ever - proud. Danny doesn't know what's coming, but it will be up to him to get two people to the large clearing - his father and the woman who has been taking care of me, allowing me to sleep under a roof - Angela.
The sun is beginning to set, and I see a faint orange glow on the horizon; that would be the City Hall, being burned to the ground - as I ordered. A smile creeps across my face as I watch the dancing flames, because as scared as I am of everything, I like having power. I like knowing that what I say is going to happen. I like being authoritive, and I like setting an example. It's something I'll never understand, but when He chose me to lead the children, something inside of me grew.
I lead, they follow, and it's simple as that. No longer mild, meek, afraid, or timid, I have power. Micah Balding has power over something more than his own life, and I'm ready to take advantage of that. Stepping out of the fields, I feel the familiar warm fog creeping into my mind, and prepare myself to collect Danny and take him to the clearing. It's time - for the final sacrifice.