PROLOGUE
Tonight was the night. Everything they’d been working on was coming together perfectly. Every plan, idea, and consideration had led them here. And it all stemmed from not being able to settle for what life had handed them. When they realized they’d wanted more from life than what they had, it was only a matter of putting the pieces together in order to create something totally unique and inspiring.
Once they understood that people needed, and actually wanted, some direction, it was like taking candy from a baby. All you had to do was give them hope. Hope that all their wishes would come true. Make them think it’s within their grasp. Show them they just need to think about things differently, and it could all be theirs.
True, maybe it was false hope, but it was still hope to them. When you give hope to a person, then they’re willing to give you their very last cent. Some might think what they were doing was forming a cult, but they didn’t like to think of it that way. Instead, they thought of it as if they were creating a family. They were the loving parent who was gently guiding and always trying to help those that looked to them for guidance, kind of like children. All they really needed was someone to show them there were other ways to get what they wanted.
They were very careful never to let anyone know who they were. It was much easier to build a following that way. They worked beside these people and shopped at the same stores as they did. If the people knew who they really were, the people might not be quite as willing to follow them, because it would eliminate the air of mystery. It gave them the ability to seem quite different from the person they really were. But just because they weren’t really that mysterious of a person, it didn’t mean they didn’t have something to offer.
They’d simply figured out what it took to get ahead in this world and for the right price, they could help others. Of course, they were still leading up to that little tidbit of information. The mentoring was something they were waiting to offer until the timing felt right. At the present moment, they needed to focus more on building followers and creating trust.
Tonight would let them know if they’d done the right thing when it came to looking for new followers. What they really needed was for the more influential people in town to start coming to the meetings, the ones who everyone else in town looked to for advice, the ones who were considered to be community leaders.
If they could get the leaders to follow them, they could also get the people who followed the leaders. Although the concept had seemed so simple at first, it was proving to be far more difficult than they’d imagined. And what they were finding out was that leaders were just that for a reason. They didn’t follow, they led.
But they also knew they were very charismatic and were able to sway people. All it took was the right words, and no one was immune to words. It was simply a matter of choosing the right combination to get the desired effect. Words could evoke emotion, such as passion, anger, commitment, or belief.
All of these could be controlled with the right, carefully selected words. And those words had to be delivered to the right people as well, because there were certain people in town they needed to turn into followers of theirs. People in power who could help them advance.
They grabbed the deep blue robe and face mask they wore as a disguise during each meeting and looked around their house to see if they had everything they’d need for tonight. Most of the stuff was already in their bag, the robe and mask being the last to go in. Patting their pockets, they were fairly sure everything was ready. They were nervous, but they couldn’t back out now, not when they were finally starting to make some progress.
But if they were really being honest with themselves, they’d have to admit they hadn’t expected it to go quite like this. It was a little like a wildfire that had spread beyond their expectations. What had started out as a lark was quickly becoming serious business. Well, maybe lark wasn’t quite the right word. After all, that implied that they weren’t really trying, and when they started, they’d had a goal in mind. A goal to make waves as quietly as possible. After all, tidal waves get noticed, but a slowly rising tide does not. At least not until it’s too late, and by then, nothing can be done to stop it.
Folding the robe so that it fit nicely into their bag, they headed for the door. It was time to leave and prepare for the meeting. They locked the door behind them and hurried out to their car under the growing darkness. The others wouldn’t be arriving at the meeting at the old abandoned church for at least an hour or so from now.
This was how they kept up the mystery. They had an ideal place to hide their car and they’d emerge from a different part of the woods for each meeting in order to throw the others off. It was perfect and rumors had begun to circulate that they were magical and lived in the woods, which only helped add to the mystery.
A factor they hadn’t really counted on was that people who’d donated to their cause had started having their luck turn around, which certainly helped their cause and added to their mystique. This had sparked rumors among those who had first been invited and caused them to want to spread the word to their friends.
As they started their car and pulled out of the driveway, they debated on how big they should let things get. After all, if it got too big, it could attract the attention of law enforcement and they really didn’t want that. There was a good chance the sheriff might try to close them down or create problems for them. Not that they were technically doing anything illegal.
People were free to donate their money to whatever cause they so chose. It wasn’t like they had ever specifically said that money needed to be given for good things to happen to people. They’d never made promises. If people wanted to believe that good things would happen to them if they donated money, so be it. Nobody could say that they’d promised to make people’s dreams come true only if they donated money.
Of course, having more people meant the potential for more money. And there were a couple of younger people at the last meeting. They seemed to gobble up what had been said and were eager to return. One or two had even asked if they could invite friends.
hey’d explained the rules to them, that only certain kinds of people were allowed, and no one was allowed to talk about what happened there.
They were almost certain a few of them had been from a neighboring town, which meant that word about them was definitely spreading. Just the thought of word spreading to other towns made them nervous, but at the same time, very excited.
Heading out of the city limits, they remembered there was one part of their speech they needed to rehearse. Reaching into the bag beside them, they dug for the voice changer that they used in order to disguise their voice. After all, if people heard them speak, it might not take long before they realized that the person they’d been listening to was just an ordinary person.
They’d found that some words didn’t come out as well as others through the voice changer, probably because it was just a toy, but it did the trick. The device had a microphone that could be clipped to their shirt and the speaker was attached to their waistband. It was easily concealed beneath the robes and the padding they’d added to disguise their shape.
“I cannot confirm or deny if these strokes of good luck are coming from the recipients' donations,” they rehearsed. The gravelly voice of the changer sounded loud in the car as it echoed off the inside of their small car. “But I think this has more to do with faith and the ability to believe in something outside yourself. If you have donated and you haven’t seen the rewards from it, you should look inward. Do you truly believe? Do you actually have the faith that is required to see a miracle? After all, only those who believe they can have something are capable of drawing it to them.”
They smiled to themselves. It sounded really good. If this didn’t hook the followers, they weren’t sure what would. Wasn’t a really good mystery what always seemed to reel people in? They weren’t lying or telling people they were responsible for people’s good fortune. But they weren’t denying it either.
If anything, they placed the blame for things happening or not happening solely on the follower. In the end, that would leave them to believe in whatever they wanted to believe. If they were a true follower, they would make the right choice.
They slowed down as they approached the road that would lead them to their destination. As they turned down the road that led past the old church, the road became rougher. Soon, the road became a path, which made the area perfect for their gatherings. When someone first turned off the road, it was a typical gravel road, but then it became nothing but two ruts with grass growing in the middle of it.
It was once a road that had been used for logging, but had apparently been reclaimed by nature long ago from underuse. There were no houses and no through traffic, so no one would notice a group of people heading into the old church building which was remarkably sturdy for its age.
They smiled as they drove beyond it, heading to their personal hiding spot where they could park and change clothes, unnoticed. With any luck, tonight would be a night that brought lots of donations, maybe even a few substantial ones. After all, their car was on its last legs, and they were hoping to get a new one soon. If things kept going the way they had been, they’d be able to afford a new car very soon.
They turned off on a little path that led across the ditch to what used to be someone’s field. Now it was just a vacant piece of land that seemed to have been forgotten and abandoned. They’d found a spot behind a group of trees that perfectly hid their car. Now all they had to do was get ready.
They pulled up behind the trees, turned the ignition off, and sat for a moment in the silence that enveloped them. They looked out at the abandoned land and the thought crossed their mind that maybe someday they could amass enough money to buy the land. After all, look at the Church of Scientology. It had started somewhere, right?
There was no reason they couldn’t eventually work their way up to be something similar. Well, maybe not quite that big, but big enough. After all, they worked hard to embed true bits of wisdom in every sermon they gave. That was how they’d come to think of their gatherings with the people. It was as if they were holding a church service. People would come if you gave them something to listen to. Things they could think about and apply to their everyday lives in between meetings.
They grabbed their bag and opened the car door, locking it behind them. A warm breeze rustled the branches of the trees above them, and they leaned their head back to look up at them. It was such a peaceful area with the ridge above acting as a protective barrier. It was almost as if it were a wall that blocked out the bad things the world had to offer. Perhaps that’s why this area remained untouched. Maybe there were spirits here that watched out for the land and ensured only those who meant it no harm would be able to find it.
They knew it was probably a ridiculous story that they were making up in their head, but it still was a nice thought. Sighing, they slung their bag over their shoulder and headed off. It was time to get ready. They needed to get into their robe and go over what they wanted to say one more time from start to finish.
They walked toward the trees, smiling, confident that tonight would be the tipping point.
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