Sacrifice of the Gods - 1. Chapter 1

It was a cool but sunny day and Austin was out window-shopping. He was not planning to buy anything. It was his excuse to get out of the house. He was the oldest child of a big family in an unremarkable conservative town. Looking into store windows he walked down the sidewalk and almost into the arms of a woman handing out flyers. She handed him one and invited him to a meeting at the local community center. He took the flyer and continued to walk towards home. Stopping at a traffic light he read the flyer. It offered enlightenment and fulfillment. Normally, Austin would have crumpled the paper but he was board so he continued reading. The flyer was promoting a new religious group. This was nothing new. It seemed that every few years a new bread of Christianity sprung up in the area, but this group was incorporating beliefs from every religion into its teachings. They believed that every religion held some part of the truth. Austin was a Christian. Like most people he had inherited his beliefs from the previous generation.

Lately he had been examining his beliefs. He had not given them much thought before. Going to church had just been another habit his parents insisted he maintain. It was an awkward habit for a gay boy. He felt like he was lying by going to church and pretending that nothing was wrong while the preacher loudly condemned gay marriage. It had bothered him for a few years but he tried not to think about it. The new religion reminded him of his predicament.

He had not planned to go to the meeting but there was nothing to do at home that afternoon. His siblings were fighting over the television and his parents were irritated. Austin walked to the community center and saw a cheerful gathering underway. There was even coffee and cake. After some mingling and talking the group settled down to listen to their leader. He was a smiling pink skinned man in a gray suit. He welcomed the visitors and explained that his religion was a combination of all compatible parts of the world's religions. The man explained that in his opinion, monotheism and polytheism were just two different perceptions of the same reality. He compared it to the way one could look at a crystal as one whole or as many facets. He pointed out areas of overlap between Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and even such unfamiliar faiths as Voodoo.

It was the weirdest set of beliefs that Austin had ever heard of. He was amused and curious so he came to the group's next meeting. He met more of the members and learned more about their beliefs from the leader they called Brother Adam. Austin learned that a wealthy member of the group had purchased a large plot of land for them to build a temple of sorts. When the announcement was made excitement reverberated through the gathering. It was true excitement not the feigned enthusiasm that Austin was accustomed to in his own church. He could remember many times when the preacher would end a prayer and the portion of the congregation still awake would mumble "Amen".

The preacher would then answer with a loud "I can't hear you!"

In resignation the crowd would bellow "Amen!" at the top of their lungs then dose off again.

Within a few months Austin was a member of the group. His siblings made fun of him but that only made him cling to his new faith more. He tried to convince his family to join him but they never did. His parents assumed it was some kind of phase and ignored it. With six children they did not have time to worry about every craze that the children followed. Austin gave up trying to convert his family. Instead he helped his new community with volunteer work.

The group would have a different project every weekend. Brother Adam had a small bus and all his volunteers would pile into it every Saturday morning. The participants varied every week but there was a small group of regulars. Among them was an energetic woman with a heavy Korean accent named Tammy. There was no official hierarchy but she was generally regarded as Brother Adam's second in command. She was also a great baker and made sure new members felt included and accepted. There was a young couple that came almost every week but mostly kept to themselves. Brother Adam's cousin John was often on hand as well. There was also a young man named Ted who was present almost every week. He was twenty years old, strong, tan, and almost impossible for Austin to ignore. Fortunately for Austin, Ted was outgoing and they often talked on the long bus rides.

As the months went by, work began on the temple. The Saturday morning rides were now longer than ever, giving Austin a chance to get to know the others better. The first day they arrived at the site everyone was awestruck. It was a wide secluded area with mountains on all sides. The foundation had already been laid and the architect's drawings were amazing. It would be their job to bring the vision to life. Fortunately, many of the followers worked in construction. The first week everyone had almost super-human energy.

Over the next few months the site in the mountains became a second home as the majestic temple took shape. It had spires like a miniature gothic cathedral but without the gargoyles and filigrees. The windows were long modern vertical bands of blue gray and green stained glass. The colors were taken from the mountains and the sky. Next to this graceful structure stood a simple prefabricated aluminum building. It had been erected to hold building supplies but it became known as the barracks after a few of the volunteers spent a night in it. It was a practical way to avoid the long Saturday night and Sunday morning commutes.

Over time the building materials were being used up and the building became populated with cots. Austin wanted more than anything to take part in the weekend sleepovers but his parents refused to allow it. They insisted that he go to church with the family Sunday morning. The arguments went on for weeks until finally his parents threatened to ground him. After this he sat in church every Sunday gritting his teeth while the preacher bounced around giving his sermon and danced to the church music. In every pew someone was sleeping. They had all grown immune to the preacher's flamboyant performances. Austin sat staring at nothing and wishing that he had spent the night in the mountains. The idea of being away from home with a boy like Ted was indescribably exciting. He sat daydreaming and ignored everything around him.

Ted was always on his mind. They had become friends quickly and effortlessly. They often worked side by side and Ted told him all about what he had missed the previous weekend. He smiled at the memory of Ted pushing his brown hair away from his face in the morning sunlight. Ted looked incredible with his shirt off. He would smile and talk about how he and Brother Adam and a few other people would sit around a campfire on Saturday night. They would roast marshmallows and talk and laugh like children at camp.

To Austin the place in the mountains seemed like heaven. Brother Adam had become like a father figure to him. Unlike his real father, Brother Adam paid attention to him and was proud of him. He took the time to talk to each of the followers. Tammy was a sort of mother figure. She was kind and comforting. She always calmed Austin down after he argued with his parents.

More than anything Austin valued his friendship with Ted. He was falling in love with the young man but afraid to tell him. The group had never expressed their views on homosexuality but all the other churches in the area condemned it. Austin kept his romantic feelings to himself and was grateful for Ted's company. He only wished he could spend more than one day a week with him.

His wish came true that summer. He still had to leave on Saturday nights but after the school year ended he and the other students had more time. The older members spent parts of their vacation time on at the site. There was always some work being done. Austin had expected his parents to complain that he was spending most of his time away from home but they were actually happy. Having all six children at home all day was overwhelming. They even let him spend nights there. Austin was ecstatic. The work was dusty and dirty but they were building their own perfect world. Austin's first night at the building site was all that he had expected. The group sat around a campfire and watched the sun set. They talked and laughed and made jokes about how they only had a limited amount of cold water to shower with.

Eventually they retired to the barracks and settled into their cots. Austin's cot was only a foot away from Ted's. It was too dark to see anything but Austin could hear Ted breathing. He fantasized about telling Ted how he felt. With these happy thoughts he eventually fell asleep.

With the large workforce made up mostly of college students they were able to complete the outside of the building faster than expected. Brother Adam praised his followers and encouraged them. Even with the inside unfinished and rough the building had the quality of a house of worship. Its high ceilings drew the eye upward and the spires reflected the shapes of the mountains around them. The many tall thin stained glass windows let in ethereal shafts of light. It felt full of spirits

During the weeks that followed they began work on the interior. Shortly after they had started to put up the drywall a summer storm blew in. Threatening clouds hung over the structure all day but the rain did not start until nighttime. Everyone was already in the barracks preparing for bed when the first drops of rain made their gentle music on the metal roof. Most of the group was already asleep when the first rumblings of thunder echoed through the canyons. Austin shifted in his cot and heard Ted ask if he was awake.

"Yeah, I'm awake," he answered.

"Was that thunder?"

"I think so."

A louder clap of thunder confirmed his statement.

"I think you're right," said Ted.

"I bet the light show's awesome," said Austin as thunder rumbled again.

"Yeah. It's too bad we can't open the door."

"Hey, lets go to the temple. We can watch through the windows."

They quietly left their aluminum abode and ran the few feet to the temple. It looked dark and ominous against the sky, illuminated by flasher of lightning. Inside it was quiet and cool. The floor was bare concrete but some of the walls had already been primed for painting. A low pile of drywall occupied the front of the building like an alter. There was no furniture. The two friends sat on the pile and wrapped themselves in their blankets. As the storm got nearer lightning flashed in the windows and cast strange shadows. Some times it seemed as if people was standing in the doorways. To Austin it seemed like the shadows were alive. He felt uneasy and vulnerable.

"This place looks kind of creepy at night," he said in a hushed voice, "I feel like the shadows are watching me."

Ted laughed at the idea, but when he saw the nervous look on Austin's face he put his arm around him. Instead of making fun of him, Ted told him that once the temple was finished it would be beautiful. Even at night, it would be a sanctuary. As Ted talked about their congregation Austin relaxed. He let himself lean on Ted and wished that he could tell Ted that he wanted to be more than friends. Being so close to the boy he liked was heaven laced with guilt. He wondered if there was any chance that Ted was gay too. He tried to imagine how the community would react if his secret was discovered. A faint glimmer of hope began to grow in his mind when a bolt of lightning struck a nearby hill. Both of them jumped. They were in the center of the storm. Austin took the opportunity to put his arm around Ted. Ted seemed comforted by it. They sat quietly and watched the storm pass over them and drift into the mountains. When it finally got quiet they went back to bed.

The next morning they were the last to get up. As they left the barracks they noticed that most of the group was milling around the temple. As they approached they heard Tammy ask one of the contractors "What could have done that?"

"There must be a leak in the roof. We'll check it out today," he answered.

Ted and Austin went inside and were shocked by the sight. On the front wall behind the stack of drywall was a dark stain that ran from the peak of the roof to the floor. It was a deep sinister looking red. It looked as if heaven itself was wounded and bleeding. No one said anything but most of them were afraid that it was an omen.

It was later revealed that the color had come from the insulation. The leak in the roof was fixed promptly. A few days later the stained wall was primed and painted. By midweek the storm was forgotten. Austin and Ted busied themselves with laying tiles. They enjoyed the work because it was cool in the building and it gave them time to talk. Austin thought he could still see a faint shadow of the stain on the wall but Ted told him he was seeing things. He playfully patted Austin's back and told him that it was the result of too much time in the sum.

The interior was completed by the middle of July. Its cool colored stained glass was complemented by gray blue walls and blue and gray tiles. There were wooden benches for people to sit on and a podium in front. Behind it was a gallery of religious symbols. There was a crucifix, a crescent moon, and a Star of David. There were paintings of Shiva, Vishnu, Buddha, Jesus, Mary, Athena, Aphrodite, Mars, Zeus, Inubis, Isis, Osiris, and many others. They covered the entire wall that was specially reinforced to hold their large numbers. Meetings were now being held in the temple regularly. Brother Adam would stand before his subjects and preach about love, equality, tolerance, and acceptance.

As the temperatures soared Brother Adam moved his cot to his office. It was much cooler there than in the aluminum shed where everyone else spent their sweaty nights. Tammy once suggested sleeping inside the temple but Brother Adam seemed offended by the idea. There was no more talk of it. Much to everyone's relief the plumbing was finally installed and the portable toilets were taken away. With the building finished, work began on the outside. They first paved the dusty driveway that lead from the main road and then began work on the landscaping. The weather alternated between scorching and stormy. The volunteers became fatigued and the pressure to finish the project mounted as the principle investors in the project began to make regular visits. Brother Adam became more agitated. His sermons rarely mentioned love and kindness any more. They seemed to always return to the themes of gardening and fundraising.

Out of loyalty the congregation toiled in the sun. It seemed that once they finished a project two new ones came to take its place. They had almost completed planting a small crop of fruit trees when their leader announced plans for a vegetable garden. Tammy tried to convince him that it was the wrong time of year to plant but he became furious with her. "If you don't like it here why the hell don't you go back to China or wherever the hell you're from!" he snapped and stormed off leaving his troops to dig in the rocky soil.

Tammy left that day and did not come back. She was missed but the oppressive heat made it impossible to think of her or anything else. The vegetables were planted but they barely held on to life under the hot sun. As their malnourished roots wrapped themselves around rocks Brother Adam became more distant. He still talked to some of his closer friends but mostly he stayed in his office. He had built his kingdom and had no more need to associate with peasants.

Week after week the loyal subjects battled the infertile soil. On some days the soil was a thick mud and on others it was dry, cracked, and hard as cement. The people still believed in their dream even when threatened with exhaustion and heat stroke. Most of them stayed, desperately holding on to the belief that they had found enlightenment there. They were not willing to give it up so they continued to bake in the sun.

One hellishly hot day Ted and Austin were having a drink of water in the shadow of their temple. The burning sun had dried up everything. It had evaporated their energy and had boiled off gallons of sweat from their skin leaving only salt. The world seemed to shimmer around them threatening to disappear like a mirage. As he drank the metallic tasting tap water from a paper cup Austin felt strangely relaxed. Perhaps because of the physical strain he let his inhibitions evaporate and decided to tell Ted how he felt about him.

"Ted, can I tell you something?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"You know, I like guys," he stopped not sure how to continue.

"What?" Ted asked in an unreadable tone, "You mean your like...queer?"

"Yeah," answered Austin with considerable apprehension.

"Oh, well that's fine, I guess," answered Ted.

Neither one of them was sure what to say so they went back to work. Despite the awkward moment Ted did not seem upset. Nothing changed between them except that Ted did not ask Austin to put sunscreen on his back the following day. The days passed and the heat intensified. Some of the people on the site were sick. One was hospitalized for heatstroke. For the rest, the nights were torture. They left the door open and the mosquitoes preyed on them despite the foul smelling repellant. That Friday brought with it a cool breeze and a promise of relief.

As people were washing up for the night at the makeshift outdoor showers a line began to form. Austin was last in line and Ted had not yet come. One of his companions approached Austin and let him know that Brother Adam wanted to see him. Austin approached the temple. It stood alone, a dark shape, against the setting sun. Inside Brother Adam was waiting at the front of the temple not far from his office. He motioned for Austin to come. The way Brother Adam was looking at him made him nervous. Austin walked down the isle alone watching the still figure waiting for him at the end. As he got closer he searched Brother Adam's face for signs of friendship. There were none. Brother Adam looked unnaturally serious in the dim light. The overhead lights were off. The orange light of the setting sun filtered through the blue and green glass making everything look dirty and murky.

"Austin, I have to talk to you," began Brother Adam, "Ted told me you said you were a homosexual. Is this true?"

Austin could not read Brother Adam's expression. His first impulse was to lie but he could not do it in front of all the religious images. "Yes," he said in a fading voice.

In the instant that he said the word he saw a change in brother Adam. There was no trace of the father figure Austin had known. His eyes were like those of a predator. All his muscles tensed and the veins in his face stood out. Austin took a step back. He was instantly thrown against the wall. He crashed against the pictures shattering the glass. A few of the sacred images clattered to the ground. Brother Adam grabbed Austin's throat and began to choke him. Austin struggled trying not to look into the evil eyes, afraid of what he might see. He almost got free but as soon as the hands slipped from his neck he was punched in the face and rammed into the wall again. He could hear more of the icons falling to the ground. They landed upside down as if refusing to watch. He was hit again. He tried to protect himself but Brother Adam was incredibly strong.

As he hit Austin he shouted, "What do you think you are doing in my temple! You think you can come him and destroy us with your perverted ways!"

He slammed Austin into to the wall so hard that the drywall cracked. The force sent the Star of David clattering to the ground and a crescent moon joined it. A crucifix that had been hung with two nails still clung onto the wall by only one nail and upside down. As the violence continued Austin gave up the struggle. His blood smeared on the wall and dripped on the floor. Eventually even the inverted cross fell from the wall as if even Satan had had enough.

Eventually Brother Adam stopped the beating and let his victim collapsed on the ground. He walked down the main isle and out the door. Austin was left with the broken shards of all that he believed in. It was now completely dark. The wall of the temple was bare and cracked and dripping with blood. Austin lay crying in what felt like the coldest darkest level of hell. He wondered if whatever Great Spirit had made him still considered him worth keeping or if he was just being crumpled up and thrown away. Then he heard the door open, footsteps, and voices asking if he was alright. He opened his swollen eyes and saw Ted looking back. He saw hope and love in Ted's eyes and knew that he would survive.