Posted on June 20, 2008

The Hole: Part 78

I am not a bad person. Raised poor, uneducated, and an occasional charlatan, yes, but I am not a bad person. The insects that eat at my corners try to tell me otherwise, but I don’t listen. I am not a bad person.

When God speaks, you have no choice but to listen. I know. I’ve seen his face and felt the heat it radiates. I have believed.

Kill him. That is what you were made to do. The One Mighty and Strong is eternal weapon against the darkness. Moroni cannot stand against it.

I remain ignorant of the weapon’s genesis. I do no know who created you. But I perceive your purpose. And, because I am not a bad person and because I recognize the horrors I have helped to advance in this world, I today set in motion events I hope will lead to Moroni’s destruction at your hand.

A small group of my followers have been informed of the truth. They have been taught the secrets. They and their descendants will harbor and protect those who might become the One Mighty and Strong. Moroni will do everything in his power to stop them, but he will fail. I have enough faith left to know that.

Only you can read this. Only you can use my seeing stones. You are Mighty and you are Strong.

I tremble as I write this. I feel Moroni’s forces gathering. He is coming for me. I fear I have little time left.

Kill him.

Your humble servant,

Joseph Smith, Jr.

****

Elliot finished reading. They both sat, silent and terrified.

After some time, Evajean said, “How did you come to Charlottesville, Elliot?”

He looked at her, confused.

“Just tell me,” she said.

Elliot shrugged. “My wife. It was Clarine’s idea. She wanted to move and we did.” He shook his head. “But we talked about this already.”

“Yeah,” Evajean said. “But it was Henry who suggested Charlottesville for me. He’s the one who said we should move there and he’s the one who picked out that house. I didn’t even like it very much but Henry insisted. Do you see what I’m getting at?”

“No.”

“Who told you to buy that house on that street?”

Elliot thought about it. “I guess it was Clarine.”

“Right,” Evajean said. “Of course it was. Don’t you see, Elliot? Smith said there’d be people who’d protected the Mighty and Strong and that’s us. We know that. It’s us and, for it to work, we have to be together. We couldn’t fight Moroni if we never found each other. You think it’s just coincidence we ended up living right across the street? I sure don’t.”

“I don’t–”

“Think about it. We have to be together, we have to meet. And we live totally apart, in different states. Out of now where, my husband says we have to move to Charlottesville. I mean, who’s ever heard of Charlottesville? And your wife does exactly the same thing. She tells you to pack up, that the family’s moving to Virgina? That’s not the kind of thing that normally happens. Henry and Clarine were in on it. They were part of Joseph Smith’s little secret.”

Elliot was quiet. He knew she was right but he hated believing it. Clarine was his wife. She’d given him Callie. She wasn’t some secret agent, damn it, wasn’t a religious lunatic. But it all made sense. She’d come to him, after all. She’d asked him out.

Evajean was pacing. “And that explains Melvin and Cassandra, too. How far does it reach?” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the journal told us it’s not just Moroni, but Yahweh, too. And Yahweh’s the name of God for Jews and Christians, right? How many people are Jews and Christians, Elliot? How much of the population?”

“A lot.”

“Yeah. Almost all. And that means almost everyone in the government, too.”

“The Hole…”

“Right.” She sat down on the bed. “What if the government, the people in it, somehow knew what was happening. What if they knew Moroni’s army was coming back, that it was taking people over. Then they’d try to stop that from happening. Because they’re Christian and Jewish, after all. Not Mormon. How many Mormons are there in the government?”

“I don’t know.”

“But there’s way more Christians and Jews.”

“I’m sure.”

Evajean stopped. “But hold on, that doesn’t make sense. They were taking the bodies to the Hole, the people who were already dead. So why even bother? It’s not like dead people are a threat.”

“Those dead people weren’t Mormons,” Elliot said. “The journal told us Moroni started the religion to make his faithful open to the arrival of the army. My guess is that means the only people these Nephites could possess would be Mormons–”

“Yahweh!” Evajean said. “What if the people who died were on Yahweh’s side? What if they were possessed by the other ones, the–”

“Lamanites.”

“Them. And, here, think of it like this: Sure they’re dead, but that could just be the bodies. The Lamanites might still be in there, trapped or something. They could get out. So Moroni’s people took them to the Hole to be destroyed.”

“You’re saying the whole thing was engineered by his people? That the collection of bodies and transporting them was a big plot?”

She nodded. “It has to be, Elliot. What other explanation is there?”

Elliot shook his head. “It’s an awful lot to buy. And it leaves open the question of the crazies.”

“They’re– We’ll, there’s some who tried to help us, but other ones, like the lady in Wal-Mart, tried to kill us.”

“Are they the ones who survived the possession?” Elliot said.

“Yeah, maybe. You think some of the crazies are Lamanites, on Yahweh’s side, and some are Nephites on Moroni’s side?”

“Could be.” Elliot stood up. “But regardless of any of that, we have to decide what we do now.”

Evajean looked at him. “Are you serious, Elliot? We know exactly what we have to do.”

He stared at her.

“We have to kill Moroni,” Evajean said.