Hailstone (13 page)

“This place is just creepy,” Kat said.

“We’ve sat here for an hour and you only just figured that out?” Magda shifted in her seat to stop her leg from cramping. Things had been pretty quiet so far. A couple of people had come and gone, nobody she recognised. What worried her was the bulk of building behind the unassuming frontage. She’d chosen this one because she assumed Preacher would put most of his resources into the centre dealing with alcohol; it looked like she’d been spot on.

A white car cruised to a stop outside the centre. Magda and Kat crouched down and watched a collared, suited, long-skirted couple get out of the car. The man opened a back door
for a girl of not more than fifteen to slouch out and join them.

Magda pressed a hand to her mouth. She knew the girl, although she couldn’t remember her name. She sometimes followed Joseph around like a lovesick puppy.

Her father and mother flanked her and headed down the red brick path. Halfway there, the girl stopped dead and appeared to argue with the pair of them. The father grabbed her by the shoulder and forced her onto the veranda. They disappeared through the door.

“Well she didn’t want to go in there,” Kat muttered.

“I know how she feels.” Magda shifted again. “I hate to say it, but I think we should go in there too.”

“Agreed.” Kat shoved the car keys in her pocket. “Round the back. I’m not keen on walking in with you, since you’re the most recognisable face in Hailstone after yesterday.
We’ll see if we can get in unnoticed.”

“You’re the boss.” Magda slipped her sunglasses on and tied a scarf around her hair to tone down the colour.

They crossed the street, skirted the garden and followed a narrow alley between the centre and the next building. Their shoes crunched on loose gravel; neither building had a single window to show what went on inside. The rear was little more than a small, enclosed brick area with steps leading up to a wooden door.

Kat pushed at it gently. It nudged open; the women peered into a dark, long hall.

“Come on,” Kat whispered.

Magda clenched her teeth to stop them from chattering while she walked down the hall. Her heart pounded against her ribcage. The hall smelled of dust and wax. Muffled sounds came from behind closed doors. She stopped to peer through a keyhole
. Inside the room, three people sat on chairs, hands joined, apparently praying.

She made a face and moved on. Kat pushed open another door a crack; they peered in to see the
Congregation couple they’d watched arrive deep in conversation with a man who might have been a counsellor. The daughter was nowhere in sight.

“...just don’t know what to do with her anymore,” the woman said.

“You’ve done the right thing bringing her to us,” the counsellor replied. “She’ll be a new girl once she’s been through the program.”

Kat softly shut the door. “I feel sorry for her already
.”               Other rooms held little interest; some were empty, some were set up with beds, tables, crosses and bibles, one more held people engaged in hand-holding prayer. They reached the end of the hall. Beyond, a woman manned what was probably a reception desk.

“There’s nothing here,” Kat
said. “Let’s go.”

Magda couldn’t have agreed more. They went back down the hall, treading softly, hardly daring to breathe when they went past the rooms.

At the end of the hall Magda noticed a door slightly ajar. She peered in on a darkened room. Across the way she could see another door and hear raised voices. She tugged on Kat’s hand.

They tip-toed through the room and stopped at the door. Another hall lay beyond. It appeared empty, but
the voices were clearer here.

They glanced at each other. Kat squeezed her hand. They crept a few feet in.

Magda inched open the closest door and found the missing daughter. She watched a woman in Congregation dress push a glass across to the girl and order her to drink.

The girl folded her arms and shook her head.

“Drink,” the woman said.

“Get fucked,” the girl retorted.

The woman leaned over her, wrapped a hand around her ponytail, yanked her head back and poured the liquid into her mouth. The girl choked and spluttered.

Magda tensed, ready to throw open the door and rush in there, but Kat pulled her back. “Not yet,” she whispered. “If we don’t get evidence, we can’t help anyone.” She got out her mobile phone, put it on video and handed it to Magda.

Magda peered through the door again. She tilted the phone until it was focused on the girl, who still coughed and choked. The woman straightened and set the glass on the table. “There now,” she said. “That’s a good girl. Now you’re going to see some people who want only what’s best for you. We want you to have a good Christian life. The first thing you need to learn is obedience.”

The girl tensed. She appeared to have trouble speaking, but she forced the words out. “Screw you bitch!”

The woman tut-tutted. “Cursing is not allowed either.” She grabbed the girl’s ponytail again and yanked her head back. “Ask God to forgive you.”

Kat pulled
Magda away again at the sound of footsteps. They hurried down the hall, peered in the next room and slipped inside when it appeared to be empty. Magda found it hard to unclench her teeth. “This is monstrous,” she whispered.

They watched a man walk down the hall and disappear into the room with the girl. Magda handed Kat back her phone and got out her own. “Let’s get everything we can,” she whispered.

They moved up the hall. A door further up showed a man watching TV. He didn’t look like he came from the Congregation. Magda trained her phone on him. There was something odd about the way he stared, unblinking, at the screen. What she’d thought was a movie appeared to be a montage of disconnected scenes and words in which Satan, the crucifixion, crosses and fists figured largely. He wore a big set of headphones. Magda set the flash and took a photo to show his arms shackled to the chair. He didn’t as much as flinch.

Raised voices came from the girl’s room. Magda and Kat went back there and peered in, to see the man who’d crossed the hall standing over her with a bible.

Magda took a step away, unable to watch. “Exorcism,” she mouthed at Kat, who filmed the scene.

More footsteps. They retreated further down the hall and took refuge in another empty room.

Magda glanced around. Then she locked the door behind them and pointed Kat at a set of filing cabinets. She went over to a big desk and went through the drawers.

“Whose office do you think this is?” Kat said in a low voice.

Magda glanced over the desk. “I don’t know, but there’s a lot of stuff here with Preacher’s name on it.”

“What do you think they made that girl drink?” Kat leafed through a pile of papers.

“Holy water.” Magda yanked open a drawer and removed a bottle marked
holy water
, identical to the one she’d seen in Preacher’s desk.

“Holy water? That’s so kitsch. What do they think she is, a vampire?”

“I think the real question is what’s in the holy water?” Magda put the bottle in her pocket. She felt sick at the thought Preacher would sanction drugging his Congregation, but it would explain a lot.

“Hey Mags do you recognise any of these names?”

Magda went over to Kat, who held a long list of names, some ticked, some crossed, some with notes attached. She scanned it. Her left eye throbbed. “Some of these are from the Congregation,” she said. “Mostly younger ones.” Her finger hovered over the name Joseph Georgiou. The note next to it said
procedure successful.

She took a deep, shaky breath. “That’s the boy I told you was a friend the other day,” she said. “Right before he forced me into that car.” She turned the page over to find more names on the back. Her own name was written with an asterisk next to it, and the note,
priority case.

“You’re on the list,” Kat said.

Magda handed her the paper. “We take these.”

Kat nodded. “Let’s get out of here.”

“What about that girl?” Magda followed Kat to the door.

“What are we supposed to do?” Kat checked the hall was empty before setting foot in it. “Legally, only her parents can take her out of here.”

“Like any of this is legal?”

They paused at the door to the room. Magda felt sick. The man had his bible pressed right down on the girl’s forehead while he exhorted the demons to come out of her. She wondered if they’d stick her in with the other guy to watch the brainwashing movie right after they traumatised her.

Kat flipped open her phone and filmed them. “I’m going to distract them. Follow me in and grab the girl at the first opportunity. Then we run.” She put her phone away, pulled a notebook out of her bag, knocked loudly and walked in with a big smile.

Magda followed. She was so frightened her stomach had hit the floor.

“Hi!” Kat shook the hand of the exorcist and then of the woman. “I’m Kat Catrall from the Hailstone Herald. I’m doing a report on the work the Congregation is doing in the community, I believe you were expecting me?”

The pair, who had been too stunned to talk up until that point, recovered their voices. The exorcist still had his bible in midair. Magda edged toward the girl.

“What is the meaning of this intrusion!” the man yelled. “Nobody is permitted in this part of the Centre without prior permission!”

Kat’s eyes widened. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I talked to the lady at the front desk, what was her name – Karen?”

“Mary,” the woman said in a frosty voice.

“Yeah, Mary, that’s right! She said to come right down here and interview you about what you do. Is this a bad time? What exactly is it you’re doing?”

“Get out,” the man said between clenched teeth.

The woman turned her attention to Magda. She looked at her closely. “What are you doing here?”

“Preacher sent me to accompany the journalist,” Magda said in her brightest voice.

“Satan sent you to destroy God’s work,” the woman hissed. She tugged on the exorcist’s sleeve. “That’s her, that’s Magdalene McAllister. You mustn’t let her leave.”

Magda and Kat glanced at each other. “Gosh,” said Kat. “I guess we did come at a bad time after all. Maybe next time then.” She put away her notebook and removed another object from her bag.

The exorcist moved toward them. Kat sprayed him in the face with something that filled the room with a foul, choking smell. Magda’s eyes stung. Kat turned the spray on the woman.

Magda knelt by the girl. “Are you okay?” she said.

The girl gave her a blank stare.

“Hey.” Magda gently slapped her cheeks. “Over here. Are you with me?”

The girl blinked a couple of times and nodded. “Help,” she said.

“Come on.” Kat took one of her arms, Magda the other. They helped her out of the room. Kat pulled the door closed behind them, but since there was no way to lock it, they just kept going.

“Can you walk?” Kat asked.

The girl shook her head. “My legs feel strange,” she said. “And I’m dizzy.” She burst into tears.

“Christ,” Kat said.

Magda hugged her arm in mute sympathy. She knew exactly how the girl felt. They reached the end room and made it into the hall before the enraged exorcist and his faithful helper stumbled out after them.

Magda and Kat half-carried, half-dragged the girl to the back door. Kat kicked it open and they carried her down the stairs.

The exorcist bellowed like an elephant and burst out after them.

“Sweety you’ve got to help us,” Kat urged. “Run.”

The girl did her best. She put her feet on the ground and tried to move, but her steps were uncoordinated and sluggish. Magda felt like the three of them moved through a nightmare when they turned into the narrow alley.

Kat let go of her arm, turned back and sprayed more chemicals in the man’s face. The move gave them thirty seconds space.

“I’m going to get the car,” Kat said. She thrust the cylinder into Magda’s hand. “This is pepper spray. There’s at least one squirt left. Go as fast as you can, I’ll meet you at the end of the lane.” She bolted.

“Shit.” Magda tightened her grip on the girl
’s arm and picked up the pace. The girl’s weight wrenched her back and the exorcist closed in quickly even though he was still choking and gasping. She waited until he was right on their shoulders and sprayed him in the eyes.

He screamed and fell back, but the woman pursued. She grabbed Magda and the girl by the shoulders. “Magdalene McAllister, you wait till Preacher hears about this!”

“You wait until the goddamn police hear what you’re doing to these kids!” Magda yelled. She elbowed the woman in the ribs, broke her grip and gained some distance. “What’s your name?” she panted.

“Ellen,” the girl said. Her voice slurred. “They got nearly all of us now.”

“All of who?” Magda glanced over her shoulder and hurried Ellen on. The woman was on the phone. That couldn’t be good.

Kat squealed to a halt at the end of the alley and pushed open the rear door. Magda helped Ellen into the car and followed her in. Kat hit the accelerator almost before the door shut.