Last Days

by Brian Evenson

He looked at the first picture for some time before realizing the girl was missing one of her thumbs.

“Miss Less Is More.”

“Having been faithful in all things, we come to see he who is even more faithful than we.”

You were God for a moment, even if you didn’t realize it. I suspect you tapped into something without knowing it, Mr. Kline. An ecstasy. I almost begin to suspect we have something to learn from you.”

“You don’t know what an honor this is for you,” said Borchert. “It’s quite a gesture of intimacy. Almost anyone here would kill for it. A shame it’s wasted on you.” “I’ll take your word for it,” said Kline.

What he was being called upon to do was to investigate, discover the murderer, and thus redeem the cult, allow it to go on.

“Mr. Kline, surely you’re enough of an armchair philosopher to realize that everything is a reconstruction of something else? Reality is a desperate and evasive creature.”

“Where are all the women?” asked Kline, turning. Behind him was John.

this is creepy because that calender he saw earlier had a woman with missing body parts sooooo what the fuck

“It’s not that you don’t believe,” said Ramse. “It’s just that you don’t have the call yet.”

a dull thumping, the sound of stumps beating against one another.

clapped him on the back with their stumps.

a hungover Ramse on one side of him, a hungover Gous

“Truth or flesh,” said Borchert. “Which is more important?”

Why had Borchert lied to him? What did he have to gain by pretending Aline was dead when he was actually alive?

“You a cult member?” Frank asked on his way out the door. “A mutilate?”

“I was certain you were the one.”

Ramse shrugged. “That’s Kline,” he said. “We know and love him. He’s like a person to us.”

How much weirder, thought Kline, is it possible for my life to get? And then he pushed the thought down and tried to ignore it, afraid of what the answer might be.

For a moment we were happy, all equals, developing a new gospel intended, through self-sacrifice, to bring ourselves closer to the divine.”

“You can’t be killed,” said the Paul. “You are the Son of God returned.”

This was simply a sign that he’d already stopped being human and wasn’t planning on coming back.

In the kitchen he washed his face. Suddenly he felt very tired.