Chapelwaite :: The Gathering Dark

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Let’s Talk About ‘The Gathering Dark’: 

• Jakub and his acolytes return to Jerusalem’s Lot where he demands praise for Loa.
• Loa is concerned her family will become ‘livestock’ for Jakub’s vampire army.
• Charles wants to form a posse to burn Jerusalem’s Lot to the ground, but Rebecca says the people will need to see proof before they follow him.
• Rebecca confirms to Charles that it was her father in the kitchen with The Book the night of the attack on Chapelwaite.
• Apple Girl is not happy she’s been ordered to be Loa’s food source.
• Mary Dennison is put on display for to convince the townspeople of the danger they face. Her gruesome fate shakes the town to its core.
• Minister Burroughs’ wife invites him to dinner to bury the hatchet. Sadly he doesn’t know she’s going to bury it right in his back, metaphorically speaking.
• Alice Burroughs’ father would rather Jakub’s people return to Preacher’s Corner for a fight, but Charles warns they will only arrive at night and they need to strike during the day.
• Jakub begins the ceremony they will bring darkness to the world, and starts the process of transitioning his acolytes to vampires. Apple Girl isn’t thrilled she’s given Loa to feed on.
• The women and children of Preacher’s Corner are told to spend the night in the church as it will be the safest place for them while the men ride to Jerusalem’s Lot.

After the siege on Chapelwaite, Charles Boone, his family, Rebecca, Constable Dennison and Minister Burroughs know there is only one way to save the town of Preacher’s Corner — form a posse to ride into Jerusalem’s Lot during the daylight hours and burn Jakub and his church to the ground while the vampires are the most vulnerable. That may be a harder task than they imagine as Jakub now has The Book, De Vermis Mysteriis, which will allow him to bring darkness upon the world.

Jakub may also have an ace up his sleeve with Loa. It is thanks to her that he has the book in the first place, making a deal with Jakub to keep her family safe … which he honored in that moment but if she thinks that deal extends beyond them leaving Chapelwaite without slaughtering everyone, she has another thing coming. Now Jakub is envisioning his world without light, a world of endless feed with mankind as their livestock. That sets off the alarm bells for Loa and she warns Jakub that her father will come for The Book. But will he ride into Jerusalem’s Lot for her, Jakub asks.

One person not thrilled with the power and reverence this child now receives is Apple Girl. When Jakub ordered everyone to praise Loa, Apple Girl hesitated just a little too long for Jakub’s liking, so in what seemed like a way to punish her, he sent Loa to feed on her. Initially angry, Apple Girl asks Loa what it feels like to be ‘like them’ and Loa says she feels strong. Apple Girl says she will feel that soon, and will exact her revenge on all who have wronged her.

At Chapelwaite, Charles tries to form a plan to entice the men of Preacher’s Corner to follow him in to Jerusalem’s Lot. The plan is to kill the vampires while they are vulnerable during the daylight hours, but there will still be a lot of Jakub’s human followers to contend with before they can get close to the church. The only problem is Charles and Martin Burroughs are pariahs in town and no one is just going to follow them blindly. Even Constable Dennison may have lost some respect by aiding Charles and his family. But Rebecca points out a hard truth to them — none of them will be able to turn anyone’s mind with words. They need a display because seeing is believing. Dennison knows exactly to whom — or what — Rebecca is referring and he is not about to put his undead wife on display like a carnival side show attraction.

Dennison checks on Mary again, tells her that no matter what, she is still his wife. And he tells her Charles’ plan. She fears that if they drag her into town now, they will kill her. She reminds him she’s already died once, can he allow her to die again. She proposes once more to feed on her so they can be together forever. But he isn’t the only undead relative to contend with. Rebecca tells Charles about seeing her father and believing he recognized her. She wants to join the posse in Jerusalem’s Lot where she hopes she can reach his humanity.

When Charles and company arrive in town, no one is buying what he’s selling. No one is going to join him on a ride to Jerusalem’s LOt, and no one believes in the undead. But they are curious as to who is wrapped head to toe in a blanket, tied securely with rope. Charles tells them it is Mary Dennison, who died two days earlier and now lives again. Just like his Uncle Phillip and cousin Stephen. Burrough’s wife Alice says this is all the work of the Devil, and Charles confirms that, saying the Devil is in Jerusalem’s Lot. It was he who brought the illness, first to his relatives and then they spread it in town. Rebecca admonishes them that they must fight the undead in Jerusalem’s Lot. Alice’s father Samuel is having none of this ‘nonsense’ so George unwraps his wife and unties her. She falls from the cart into the street, and those closest to her back away in horror. Then the sunlight catches her and she begins to smoke, with small embers rising from her body. The townspeople now are holding up crosses and Bibles to ward her off, but the sunlight is too much for her as she bursts into flames and dies. It is a gruesome sight, but one that was utterly convincing. Charles says if they don’t want a world of darkness and death, then all the men will meet at the tavern in an hour, and the women and children will take refuge in the church.

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At the tavern, Charles explains that it’s not easy to kill a vampire and describes what he had to do to kill Phillip. Samuel enters the tavern raging that Charles is the Devil and anyone who follows him will surely be led to Hell. Charles says that part is very well true, but if they stay Hell will come to them. Samuel wants to fight on their home turf, but Charles warns them that Jakub will come at night and they will lose to him and his vampire army. Samuel won’t hear it, saying they will all ride to their graves, and orders Daniel (the foreman at Charles’s mill) to follow him. Daniel tells Samuel he’s on his own.

After witnessing so much horror, Alice Burroughs cozies up to her estranged husband and tells him she does feel concern for him if he goes on this mission. She also tells him the Bible commands them to forgive so they may be forgiven. She asks him to come home so they can talk, but he says they can talk when he gets back. She asks what happens if he doesn’t return? She may not get the chance to tell him what’s in her heart. So he agrees to share a meal with her before leaving. Alice prepares some kind of chowder, but Martin notices only one thing — it’s very heavily peppered. He doesn’t seem to catch on how pushy she is to get him to eat or … that she isn’t eating her chowder. Martin tells her about misdirecting his grief over the loss of their twins into the arms of another woman and he regrets that. Alice says she has regrets too but they can’t undo their mistakes, they can only pay for them. That sounds like another red flag Martin has missed. Martin tells Alice that it was Phillip and Stephen Boone who walked their house at night, preying on their children and neither of them could imagine the real horror that had fallen on them, and neither of them can be blamed. Alice asks about Faith Pringle’s child and Martin tells her it was not his after all, but before he can say more he begins choking, his throat burning. She says she’s not surprised with all the lies he’s told under their roof. He says something is wrong and Alice advises Martin to tell it to his Marker because he’ll be seeing Him soon enough. Martin collapses on the floor, twitching and foaming at the mouth. While he lies on the floor, Alice keeps pushing the chowder down Martin’s throat, telling him to fear not because there is a place in Hell for both of them.

As the time to ride out of Preacher’s Corner nears, Charles goes to the Burroughs home and is shocked to find Martin dead on the floor and Alice dead sitting at the dining room table. He hears whimpering from another room and finds Samuel on the stairs, throwing all of the blame at Charles, because it was his relatives that killed the Burroughs children, and now he’s lost his own daughter. Charles tells Samuel he can think what he wants of him and his family, and Samuel raises a gun. Charles tells him they have a common enemy to fight, but Samuel says the wages of sin are death. But his demeanor changes for a brief second as he finishes the verse, ‘but the gift of God is eterna life.’ Samuel blows his own brains out. (Um, Sam, suicide is a mortal sin, no?)

At the church, Rebecca tells those assembled that they have much to fear, and to pray for all of those riding into Jerusalem’s Lot. The doors to the church will be locked at sundown and no one is to enter or leave before daybreak. Charles arrives and Tane is still upset about giving Loa The Book. Charles consoles him by saying they would have taken it anyway and Tane actually saved all of their lives. Tane says he disobeyed orders, but Charles says they stand above ground ready to fight on their own terms, and that was because of Tane’s actions. Charles says how proud he is because the things Tane has seen by this point would break most grown men. Charles also has to tell Honor that she is not coming to Jerusalem’s Lot, not because she isn’t capable but because she’s the strongest woman he knows and they need that strength at the church. She reluctantly agrees. He reminds her that cousin Stephen is still out there, so beware because she knows what he is capable of. Charles tells his children he has so much more to say to them, but he will do that when he comes back. Able tells Charles that the horses and the men are ready, and Charles tells him that Minister Burroughs won’t be joining them. He doesn’t say why though.

And so it begins in Jerusalem’s Lot. Jakub has opened the book, telling his acolytes that it must not be closed and each page has to be read in order and in full to raise The Worm. He begins reading, more chanting than reading. Storm clouds already begin to gather. As he reads in the church, the acolytes gather in the woods. They have all fed now and are prepared to die so they may be resurrected, each of them strangled to death. Charles and his men are on the way, unaware of this new undead threat they may face.

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