Chapter 8: A New Home

Kate pulled Lizzie up the front steps of the mansion and to the front door. The doors were beautiful. They were French style made out of mahogany. There was one large pane of glass in each door with a beautiful floral design etched into it. Lizzie hardly had a chance to look before Kate pulled her into the foyer, though.

The foyer was more amazing than the house. It was two stories high, and light poured in from the gigantic windows above the door. There was a mural of some sort on the ceiling that reminded Lizzie of the Michael Angelo painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. There was a balcony that went around three sides of the wall on the second floor, and two curving staircases ascended to the second floor from the foyer. Lizzie looked down and noticed that she was standing on dark wooden floors. The floor matched the mahogany doors.

Lizzie saw people walking around here and there, all in the same uniforms that she now wore. None of them looked happy or sad. They didn't look liked the belonged in the beautiful house with their nondescript uniforms. Lizzie felt out of place too, but it was so beautiful.

A short stocky man with non descript brown hair, beady brown eyes hiding behind round titanium glasses, and large nose descended down the stairs with a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Sal!" Derek exclaimed, walking up to the man and shaking his hand.

Sal smiled at Derek, and then looked beyond him to the group of new members. "And these must be our new members. Welcome to Lamb of God." His voice echoed throughout the foyer.

"This is Sal," Derek said. "He's the leader of Lamb of God, and he truly is a man of God."

Sal smiled and laughed heartily. "That's what I'm told. Why don't you show our new brothers and sisters in Christ to their rooms. I'm sure they're all exhausted after their long trip here."

"Will do," Derek said, heading towards the stairs. The group followed. When he made it to the top, he turned the corner and opened a door that had steps that reminded Lizzie of a fire escape, or a stair case you would find in a dorm room. The group ascended two more flights of stairs. "The fourth floor is the women's floor. This house was originally built for two floors, but when the house was constructed, it was made strong enough to support up to five floors. The second floor is where the offices, meeting rooms, and other administrative things are. Women are housed on the fourth floor and men on the fifth.

"What about the third floor?" Lizzie asked.

"That is where the married people reside," Derek replied, looking Lizzie in the eye. Lizzie blushed. She knew what Derek was thinking. After a short silence he continued, "The dining room and kitchen are on the first floor along with a large fellowship hall and some other various gathering rooms. Let me show you to your rooms now so you can get settled in. Each of you will be given a bible and two changes of clothes. Those will be your only possessions. Laundry is done every other day. There is a laundry chute in every bathroom. Toiletries and linens are all already in your rooms. Does anybody have any questions?" The group was silent. "Okay, good. Allow me to show you to your rooms then."

Derek led the women through the door that separated the stairs from the floor. There was a hall that extended from one end of the hallway to the other. It reminded Lizzie a lot of the hall in her old dorm at school, but this one wasn't decorated.

Derek led Lizzie and Kate left down the hall to about the fifth door on the right. He got a huge set of keys out of his pocket, shuffled through them for about a minute until he found the right key, and proceeded to unlock the door.

The inside strongly resembled a dorm room. There were two twin beds made with green comforters and two desks. Each desk had a bible with a burgundy cover on it. There were also two closets lined up next to each other on the right, and just beyond the closets was a door that presumably led into the bathroom. The bathroom was shared with the occupants in the room next to Lizzie. There was also a sink with a small counter sharing a wall with a huge window that reached from near the ceiling to the floor.

"Well, is it up to your standards?" Derek asked.

"It's everything I could have ever dreamed of and more," Lizzie breathed.

"It's wonderful," Kate added.

"Great. Dinner's at six tonight. That means you have about an hour to get situated."

"How will we know when dinner is?" Lizzie asked. "We don't have a clock."

"The bell in the church steeple will sound six times."

"I sure hope it doesn't keep going off at night."

"Nope. Actually, it only goes off at seven, noon, and six. We don't want anybody to feel burdened by time."

"Oh. That sounds kinda cool, I guess," Lizzie said.

"You'll get used to it," Derek replied, smiling.

"So I'll see you at dinner, then?" Lizzie asked, leaning in for a quick kiss. Derek backed away. Lizzie looked stunned.

"Sorry, Lizzie. It's just that one of the rules here is that Sal chooses who you will marry after six months. Before that, he doesn't want people seeing each other. He doesn't want two people to get close and then learn that God doesn't want them together."

"You mean Sal?"

"No. Sal has a special gift, I guess you could say. God chose Sal to be a messenger of some sort."

"Oh."

"Don't worry. I have a feeling God wants us together."

"That doesn't make me feel much better."

"I know, but I can guarantee you that God never messes up. He knows exactly who you will be happiest with."

"Well, maybe you could just put a harmless word in with Sal."

"We'll see."

"If you really want to be with me, I recommend that you have a little chat with Sal. Then maybe Sal can ask God if he agrees."

"Anything for you." Derek pecked Lizzie quickly on the lips before leaving to allow Lizzie and Kate get situated.

"I wonder who I'll end up with," Kate said. She had silently witnessed Lizzie and Derek's entire conversation from her bed.

"You can have anybody you want except for Derek. He's mine," Lizzie said as she sat down on her bed and took off her left shoe.

"Well, it doesn't look like we have much of a say anyways."

"Yeah. You'd think Derek would do absolutely everything in his power to see to it that Sal picks me and him to get married," Lizzie said as she took out the two pictures she had kept there and slid them under her mattress. Kate noticed, but didn't say anything.

"Reality check, Lizzie. You have been out with Derek on a grand total of like one date. He wouldn't be a major loss. I promise that at dinner we can pick out all of our potential husbands."

Lizzie frowned. "I want Derek."

"Fine. Keep Derek, but I'm shopping at dinner."

Lizzie laughed and tossed her pillow at Kate. Before Kate had a chance to retaliate, the bell rang for dinner. Lizzie ran out into the safety of the hallway before Kate had a chance to nail her with a pillow. The two girls laughed and joked as they headed down to dinner.

They walked downstairs laughing about this and that. It wasn't until they walked into the dining room that they realized they were the only ones talking. Every single other person who was entering the large, beautifully decorated room was silent. Lizzie turned red and contemplated running away, but before she had a chance to turn around, Sal spoke up.

"Good evening, ladies. Allow me to show you to your assigned seats." He graciously led them to one of the round tables covered in a burgundy table cloth near the windows that faced the back of the mansion.

After Lizzie and Kate were seated, and everybody had made it to the dining room, Sal walked up to the stage that had a single long table on it, donned with a white tablecloth. It was the only tablecloth in the dining room that wasn't burgundy. There were six seats that faced the dining room. Sal's seat was in the middle, Derek's was on the right of him, and there was another man that Lizzie didn't recognize on Sal's left. The other three seats were unoccupied. Lizzie wondered if they symbolized the father, son, and holy spirit or something.

"Before I say grace this evening," Sal said, snapping Lizzie out of her thoughts, "I would like to extend a special greeting to the final new members of Lamb of God." An excited hush went through the crowd, followed by an applause. "Let's say grace," Sal interrupted. The applause stopped immediately and everybody body bowed their heads.

After Sal's rather lengthy prayer ended, the tables were all invited to get their dinners at the buffet set up in front of the swinging kitchen doors.

The dinner was exceptional. Lizzie helped herself to a little bit of everything in the Italian themed buffet. She could get used to this kind of cooking. Throughout the entire dinner, not a word was uttered. The silence was almost eerie, and she had no idea why nobody was speaking.

After dinner, there was an hour break for the kitchen staff to clean up. Lizzie grabbed Derek and dragged him into a secluded room on the first floor.

"Is something the matter?" he asked after he and Lizzie were seated on an old fashioned couch.

"No. I just have about a million questions to ask."

"Go for it. I'm all ears."

"Why was everybody so quiet at dinner?"

"God strongly warns us about gluttony in the Bible more than once. Sal believes that entering dinner in a quiet and reflective manner allows people to think about what they're eating."

"Oh."

"What? You think that's stupid."

"Well, I guess I'm just not used to that yet."

"Give yourself time. You can't expect yourself to just fit in the first day you're here. There's a lot of changes you're gonna have to get used to."

"Is there anything else I should know to prevent any further embarrassment from occurring?"

"Well, if you must know, we're supposed to be silent from the time the bell rings for dinner to the end of the evening service."

"Oh. So we're breaking the rules right now?"

"Pretty much, but I think it's okay for me to break the rules to explain some stuff to you."

"Well, you probably won't like my next question much, then."

"I'm listening."

"Are we still…you know…together."

"Only if you'll have me."

"But how are we gonna keep this on the, uh, down low?"

"Meet me in the garage tomorrow after lunch. I'll have your answer there."

"Fine, but I have another question."

"Okay…"

"What is a typical day like here?"

"Well, a bell wakes you up thirty minutes before breakfast so you can get ready for the day. A bell rings again for breakfast. After breakfast, everybody goes out to do their job until another bell rings for lunch. After lunch, everybody goes to the chapel for an hour talk given by Sal. When his talk is done, everybody has free time to do whatever until dinner. After dinner, we all meet in the chapel for another session with Sal and then go to bed."

"What about the weekends? Are they any different?"

"The only day that's different is Sunday. God gives us one day of rest. So on Sundays, there is silence all day long and everybody fasts for the day. There is a full service in the morning, and then everybody is given the rest of the day to reflect."

"You mean we aren't fed on Sundays?"

"It's not so bad. Joel one 14 says, 'Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.' Like I've said a million times before, you'll get used to it."

"I don't know."

"Trust me on this one. Look, I wish we could talk longer, but we really are supposed to be quiet, and I have to go talk to Sal. I'll catch ya later." Sal squeezed Lizzie's hand, and exited the room.

A/N: Let me know what you're thinking. Reviews have slowed down a lot since the last couple of chapters have been updated. I would like to know that I still have your attention. Or if I don't have your attention, then I really want to hear from you.