William James Napier and Teresa Camille Napier were newly-wed and expecting when they moved into a decent middle-class neighborhood in a little town called Worthden. On February 19th, 1981, Jack William Napier was born.
It was a joyful time for the new family. William had always struggled with mental illness, but he had been doing well for years now. Things were going so well, he could function well enough to hold a job as an office clerk.
Two years later, William was pleased to discover that their new neighbors moving in directly across the street happened to be his high school friends. They had been a couple since senior year; Reese David Hartman and Dawn Lisa Hartman. They were expecting when they moved in as well.
The families spent a lot of time together, reminiscing about their high school days. The Hartman family babysat Jack for William and Teresa, as they both worked a lot.
On July 8th, 1983, Evangeline Joy Hartman was born. The Napiers came to visit in the hospital. This was the first time little Jack had ever seen a new baby up close.
Jack was in love with her from the moment he saw her. He begged to hold her until they finally sat him in a chair and placed her carefully in his arms.
Even though he was just two years old, he held her carefully and studied her little face and her tiny fingers. He held her for several minutes before she needed to be fed.
Teresa noticed the parent's lack of connection to their new baby. Even in the hospital, Dawn didn't hold Evangeline unless she had to, and she never even attempted to breastfeed.
Dawn would place her in her bassinet with the bottle propped up on a receiving blanket, rather than holding and feeding her herself.
Teresa, who was a nurturing and kind hearted person, would hold and rock her as often as she could, afraid that if she didn't, the child would have problems later in life.
When she gently brought up the possibility of postpartum depression, Dawn insisted that she was fine.
The real problem was that Dawn struggled with having any true connection. She didn't really know how to love. She married Reese because it was comfortable and easy, and had a child because it was what was expected. But throughout Evangeline's life, she would always be self-involved and distant.
When Jack was six, William had lost his office job after he accused his boss of being possessed by a demon and had started taking things apart with the belief that he was being spied on. His disorganized thinking and delusions prevented him from getting another job.
At home, Jack witnessed his father hurt his mother during his episodes. He was scared for her and for himself, and afraid that his dad would never be himself again.
Jack's mother, who was a nurse, began to work more hours since his dad couldn't work. Jack spent a lot of time over at Eva's while his mother worked and his father slept all the time, a side effect of his medications. He was glad to have a break from the chaos that was his home life.
Eva and Jack had a bond since she was born. They were always together. They never had any other friends.
With both of them having dysfunctional parents, the two found love and comfort in each other. They were both strange according to others, but they were usually good kids.
They ran off together several times when they were little, scaring their parents. They climbed trees, built forts, and played their own made-up games. They had inside jokes that nobody else would ever get. They even made up their own language.
They never got tired of each other. They were attached at the hip. As things got worse in their lives, their bond only grew stronger.
To most, things would seem at least somewhat normal on the surface, but both children were living their own personal hell at home.
Eva's father was involved in a "group" that a friend had invited him to when he was going through depression, which wasn't responding to medication. His work friend convinced him that it had cured him and that it would transform his life.
It started out like a group for people who wanted to feel empowered. A place for people who needed to become stronger and learn a better mindset.
By the time things got really weird, he felt that he was too invested in the cult to leave.
Two years in, he had finally gone down a path that he could never return from. He was so deeply brainwashed that he willingly participated in unspeakable things in order to move up further in the cult.
It was filmed to be used as blackmail and to keep members silent. Members were brainwashed into believing that the higher your level was, the more powerful you were. Good things would come to you, like money, power, and success. You would be healthy and immune to illness, and your family would be too.
To move up levels, it involved torture, humiliation, and doing things that were normally against your morals. A "worthy" sacrifice, considering all of the things you supposedly gained as a result.
The leader convinced members that their children could be stronger and more powerful if they start at an early age, and the parents believed that it was for their own good without a single doubt.
Reese took Eva with him starting when she was four. Her mother refused to go, believing it was simply some strange religious gathering that Reese would eventually lose interest in.
Even at that young age, Eva found it all strange. They were talking about things she couldn't understand. She really didn't like going, but she didn't want to tell her dad no.
The cult had talked Reese into leaving Eva with them after she had attended the meetings with him a few times. There were several children living there, and there was a playground and a large playroom. It looked just like a daycare.
She struggled to enjoy herself when she spent the night. There were many adults, but she couldn't tell who was whose parents. The kids all seemed strange, they were developmentally delayed and uneducated. These were the children who were born and raised in the cult.
While she played, she would see adults come in quietly and take the hand of one of the children, taking them somewhere outside of the room.
She was the only one who noticed, while the other kids carried on playing by themselves unaware of anything around them.
One day, a woman came in and asked her to come with her.
She was given a juice box, told to drink it quickly, and to use the restroom.
What happened after this, she was convinced for years was just a nightmare:
She would be taken to another room, strapped down, and people in black with masks covering their faces would place headphones on her ears. She then would be forced to stare into a strobing light while terrifying sounds were played on the headset.
Sounds that were torture.
Screaming, buzzing, alarms, sirens and explosions, all layered over each other.
This induced a feeling of panic and dread. It seemed to never end.
She would scream, but she couldn't even hear herself over the noise. She couldn't move her legs or even turn her head away from the blinding, flashing light. Even with her eyes shut, the light penetrated through her eyelids.
She could never remember when or how it stopped. She simply woke up back in the play room on the napping mat, finding herself exausted with a sore throat and stuffy ears.
The adults would return her to her dad, telling him that she caught a cold and needed to go home to rest. She couldn't verbalize what happened. She didn't even know what he would do if she could.
Each week, her dad would leave her with them, and the torture would get worse as she got older.
She was always given a dissociative drug so that she wasn't sure if it really happened or not. When she brought up anything to her dad, he told her they were just dreams. But Jack always believed her.
Throughout the years, she was unsure of what were dreams and what was real. Part of her always doubted what she felt really happened.
As a result of the trauma, she had developed an eating disorder at age 11. She refused to eat anything that she didn't watch being made. If it was a pre-packaged food or drink, she had to inspect it first. Often, she still felt anxious about eating even after looking it over again and again.
She suffered from anemia, and by the time she was 13, it was clear that puberty was delayed. Her mother made her feel bad about her food anxiety, as if she was just being difficult. She made Eva feel as if taking her to the doctor was unecessary and a burden, when all she had to do was eat.
She was teased and bullied at school for being skinny and not being developed like her classmates. But Jack was also a target of bullying, and they teased them when they were together as well. As long as they had each other, none of the things those kids said really mattered. At home, they dealt with much worse things than bullying.
Eva began to realize that this place her father was taking her to was a cult, and now that she was older, she was realizing that those nightmares were things that actually happened.
She tried to stand her ground and refuse to go with him again, but her dad had threatened to stop letting her spend time with Jack if she refused to go.
The second time, she locked herself in her room, threatening her father that if he made her go she would tell her teachers about it. He told her that him, her mother, and herself would be killed if she said anything to anybody about the cult, that she had no idea what these people were capable of. Being so young, she couldn't be sure if this were true or not.
As the nightmares Eva and Jack lived through at home continued to get worse, they continued to find strength in each other.
They always talked about running away, but over the years they started to get more serious about actually doing it. The conversation about running away to another state and growing old and dying together just seemed to be the way things would go, naturally. They couldn't imagine their lives apart.
By the time Jack was 15, his father was almost always disconnected from reality, usually convinced that people were possessed by demons that fed on sorrow and that you had to stay happy to be free of them.
After trying countless times to help his dad see reality, to prove that his delusions weren't real, he had learned to not argue with his dad about the delusions and to just listen and focus on keeping him calm. Being the one to disagree with them only made his father more distrustful of him.
Outside of his best friend and school, most of his time was spent making sure his father got his meds, took his meds, and watching his mental state.
His mother was busy, of course, because she was a nurse. But even when she was home, she didn't do the things she was supposed to do, leaving Jack to take on the burden of caring for his father. Teresa was easily manipulated and allowed William to make her feel guilty for forcing him to take his medication, so she stopped making him take it.
Jack realized just how bad things were when he came home from school and found his mother holding his father down, attempting to calm him down. A knife was lying on the floor just inches away. He had tried to hurt himself.
His mother's hand had been accidentally cut, but Jack couldn't convince her that his dad needed to be institutionalized. He told her to at least give him his medication. She finally agreed to try, but William freaked out and refused to take it. She gave up, so Jack berated her and told her she was weak.
Her feelings were hurt, but she was emotionally exhausted and simply walked out of the room, locking herself in the bedroom.
Jack found the medication and crushed up the pill, mixed it into his dad's food, and made sure that he ate all of it. He was angry that he had to do all of this just because his mom wouldn't do the right thing, but there was nothing he could do.
So many times, he started to call 911 and his mother would snatch the phone away and hang it up. She begged him to not call the police, even when she was injured. She couldn't bear to have William feel betrayed after she had promised to never force him to go back to an institution.
Jack felt helpless.
The week following this incident, Jack got called into the counselor's office and found his mom there. The teacher and counselor were concerned. They explained to his mother that he had written a concerning essay explaining that everyone is on the brink of insanity and that one little push can send them over the edge. His mother didn't appear to be listening, repeatedly checking the time as Jack's teacher spoke.
Before he could explain himself, his mom insisted it was fine, and that Jack was just very creative.
She had him check out for the day and waited until they were in the car to tell him that he needed to come home and help with his dad.
They came home to the house a wreck, with his father barely making any sense as he ranted.
Jack slipped his meds into a cup of juice and offered it to his dad without his mother noticing, which finally calmed him down an hour later. Jack convinced his mom to go take a nap. He needed to get out of the house and talk to his friend.
Jack tried to call Eva, but the phone didn't work, and he realized his dad had cut the wire. He slammed it down and ran across the street to Eva's house.
When she answered the door, Jack saw that she had a long scratch on her cheek, just under her eye.
"What ha-"
"Can we talk at the park?" she whispered.
"Yeah, let's go."
Eva shut the door quietly and walked past Jack.
Jack wasn't so worried about himself anymore. He needed to know what happened to her. She was walking fast, so he had to catch up to her.
"Are you okay?" He asked, nearly running to keep up.
"No."
"Can you tell me what happened?"
Eva stopped and turned to face him.
"I got scratched by one of the kids at the group yesterday."
"Why?"
"She was hiding and they made me look for her. I found her in a supply closet crouched down in a corner. When I tried to help her she scratched me and hissed like a cat. She was having like a mental break down. They didn't take her to the hospital or anything."
"How old is she?"
"Eight, I think."
"Oh my God."
She sighed. "Yeah."
They walked in silence the rest of the way until they arrived at the park.
They sat down in their favorite spot under the big oak tree. The park was empty, as it almost always was, with it being run down.
This made it the perfect sanctuary for the pair. They came here nearly every day after school and on the weekends for the peace and quiet away from home and other people.
Eva laid her head on his shoulder, watching him pick aggressively at the grass in front of him.
"What's wrong?" She asked, looking up at his face.
He looked at her, then looked to the ground, trying to hold back the tears that were coming.
"a lot." He replied.
"Is it your dad?"
"Yep. He's so far gone, I don't know who he is."
"And your mom still won't get him help, huh?" She frowned.
"No, of course not. He begs her and threatens her and she has no backbone. She doesn't give him his medication unless I push her to. Now he tries to hurt himself all the time. That's why I don't let you come over any more."
He sniffled, wiping tears away with the sleeve of his sweatshirt.
He turned his face away to try to hide the tears that kept flowing.
He used to cry around Eva, but as a teenager, he tried to be tougher and not fall apart in front of her.
As she wrapped her arms around him, his attempt to stay composed crumbled. His whole body began heaving with heavy sobs.
All she could do was hold on tight to him. Hold him together. That's what they did for each other; hold each other together when they began to fall apart.
Her tears started flowing too. He deserved a normal life. So did she. He carried the weight of taking care of his father, and it wasn't fair. She was sick and tired of all of this.
She held on to him until his body relaxed and his sobbing died down.
"Let's actually run away." Eva said.
"What?"
"Like, stop talking about it, and just do it. For real."
"I can't do that, Eva. Where would we even go? My dad-"
"Your dad is just getting worse. He might end up killing you. If your mom won't do anything about it, what can you do?"
"I can protect her." He said, with fresh tears forming in his eyes.
Eva shook her head. "Who's going to protect you?"
Jack stared back at her in silence.
"You don't have to do it any more. It's not your job to take care of your mom and dad."
He looked out across the park at the sky that was golden with the setting sun. He knew she was right. They couldn't keep living like this. He felt like his life was being stolen from him, what was left of his childhood slipping away fast while he took care of his own dad. But he was so used to taking on the weight of keeping everything under control. He felt heavy guilt at the idea of leaving his parents behind.
He looked back at her face again, still thinking. Eva held her breath as she watched the gears turn in his head, wishing he would quit worrying about every little detail, talking himself out of everything.
"But where do we even go? If we run away, what's the next plan?"
Eva let her breath out in a sigh. "I think I know where we can go. I found out where my grandma lives, you know, my mom's mom..."
Eva pulled a wrinkled, folded piece of note paper out of the pocket of her overalls, unfolding it. Inside was a high school class photo of an attractive blonde-haired woman with a 1960's hairdo. There was an address scribbled on the paper it was folded inside of.
"She never talks about her, but I found her address. She's not far. I think she would let us stay with her. I really think she would like us," She handed him the picture. "and isn't she so pretty?"
Jack sniffled. "Yeah, ah... she looks like you."
Eva blushed, smiling. "Really?"
He nodded, handing the photo back to her.
"How do we get to her house?" he asked.
"The bus. I have enough saved up from my allowance. We're going to be so happy!" She exclaimed.
He smiled at her freckled, beaming face, noticing the way the sunset behind her created a halo around her; it illuminated the outline of her long blond hair and it looked as if she was glowing. It matched the light in her eyes as she envisioned their future together.
"Okay." He sighed. "Let's do it."
At that moment, the two friends felt their pain begin to melt away, hope taking its place.
They were probably being foolish teens, but if they didn't try, would anything ever change?
They made plans that evening to run away. They would meet here on Friday after school, and they would walk to the bus stop. They wouldn't say a word to their families.
They would just have to make it through the next few days.
Friday came. Eva packed her bag that morning with clothes and snacks instead of school books. Jack left the house earlier than usual, practically skipping across the street to wait for Eva.
He sat and waited on the patio bench. When she came out, he startled her by saying, "boo."
They laughed and talked the whole way to school. When they arrived at their school, they went their separate ways. They both sat and stared out of the windows in their classrooms, unable to think about anything but the freedom they were about to have.
Just before lunch, Eva's history teacher got a call informing her that her father was here to pick her up.
Her heart sank and her stomach twisted in knots. This wasn't supposed to happen.
She walked into the office, where the school clerk told her that her father was waiting outside.
She walked out, her face heating up with anger at her dad for messing with her plans.
She got into the car with her dad. She looked over at him, but he was looking down and would not speak or look at her. He looked pale. She felt uneasy.
The whole ride home was quiet. She didn't bother to try to get him to talk. She knew something was wrong, she would find out pretty quickly what it was.
As they pulled up into the driveway, she saw a black van parked in their garage.
What the hell was going on?
She stared daggers into the back of his head as she got out of the car and followed him inside. She hated him for this. She knew in her gut this had to do with his stupid cult.
And she was right.
The cult leader was standing there in their living room, along with two of his highest degree followers. They smiled and greeted her politely, but she simply glared back at them.
Her dad sat down at the dining table, still looking down refusing to make eye contact with his daughter. Her mom, of course, was not in the room, and probably not even home.
"Eva, Your father has made a choice - the two choices being, we release some very, uh... compromising footage we have, or he allows you to stay with us for one month. I think he has made the right choice, considering the years of prison time he would be looking at for what he did."
Eva looked over at her dad in disgust. His head hung in shame.
She felt sick to her stomach. What had he done?
As the two men approached her, she backed away.
"No! I am not going with you!" she screamed. Before she could run, one of them grabbed her by the arm.
She kicked and twisted but could not break free from his grip. She cried, screaming.
"Dad! Don't let them take me there! Please!"
He never looked at her. They quickly dragged her through the door into the garage and then into the vehicle.
The man held his hand over her mouth, his arm wrapped around her arms and his leg over her legs to prevent her from kicking and thrashing around.
She stopped struggling, as he was a large man. Fighting would only get her hurt.
She went numb as she was taken away from all that was familiar.
She knew in her heart and her gut that they had no intentions of ever giving her back.