wet, and I saw a headline. You know, like it was a sign. Everything was a sign back then. You have to understand, it’s how we saw the world. And the headline said something like, “London’s Top Spiritualists Revealed”. And I turned the pages and I looked at this article. And there she was. Katherine. In the society pages. Dressed like a film star, at some party. With jewellery and beautiful hair. Surrounded by glamorous people. And there I was, dying in the rain. Well I went straight to the seller and I bought twenty copies. Spent all of the money I’d earned that day. And I brought those papers back here and I gave them out. To show people who it was we were working for. What we were working for, out there in the rain and the cold, day in, day out. I asked them, is this what we have given up everything for?’
‘Did it begin a revolt here?’
Susan shook her tired head. ‘No. Not really. It just confirmed what those of us who were fed up believed about Katherine. People had started leaving around that time anyway. In droves. She’d had threatening letters from the parents of Sister Urania. A powerful, wealthy family. Her inheritance was being paid to Katherine every month from a trust fund. I heard that Sister Hannah’s lawyers were constantly writing to Katherine too. It was all starting to go wrong. Very wrong. Attracting the wrong kind of attention.
Especially after what Charles Manson had done in California.
But I’d say the majority of the people just accepted what I had found in the newspaper. They were too in love with her.
53
ADAM NEVILL
Devoted to her. Nothing could change that. Even I gave the Gathering another chance, despite what my intuition was telling me.’
‘What happened to you for bringing the papers here? Were you punished?’
‘No. Katherine sent me a gift instead. Pearl earrings. We were forbidden jewellery. I didn’t understand. How could I?
But then . . . then something else came here that winter. We called it the holy dread. And that really was the final straw for me.’
Kyle’s gut tightened inside; this was what Max wanted.
‘Can you tell us how it began, Susan? What form it took?’
She nodded, visibly uncomfortable again, and tired. In fact, he wasn’t sure he’d seen anyone look so fucked before.
‘It wasn’t just the nature of the sessions that changed under The Seven. The atmosphere changed. Everything changed.
The ideals of our group changed. Significantly. That’s what brought it about.’
‘How so?’
‘It wasn’t about self-discovery any more, like in the days of the renunciation. We weren’t exploring ourselves in the same way. It was no longer about equality in the group, or honesty with yourself. Instead, the emphasis was on being chosen . We’d always thought ourselves special. Different, you know. But now we were taught to feel superior to anyone not a part of our Gathering. We were encouraged to feel contempt. It was a contempt that was being cultivated. For the world outside of our walls. And for the first time, people started using the name “Crude” to describe anyone who wasn’t part of our little family here.
‘I remember being told that taking anything to support the 54
LAST DAYS
Gathering was now justified. In the service of Sister Katherine, we could be free of guilt. We were to be free of conscience and compassion. It was all about self-belief now.
Our will was to be focused on the interests of the Gathering.
“Empowerment through enrichment” was one of our new mottos. We were taught to use people, and encouraged to practise on each other.
‘And sex was used to control the men more and more.
You would have to sleep with any man if The Seven ordered it. I can’t remember there being any favourable matches. But that was the point. We were paired off with people who we weren’t attracted to. If two people fell in love naturally, and people were falling in love all the time, The Seven would break the couple apart by
‘Did it begin a revolt here?’
Susan shook her tired head. ‘No. Not really. It just confirmed what those of us who were fed up believed about Katherine. People had started leaving around that time anyway. In droves. She’d had threatening letters from the parents of Sister Urania. A powerful, wealthy family. Her inheritance was being paid to Katherine every month from a trust fund. I heard that Sister Hannah’s lawyers were constantly writing to Katherine too. It was all starting to go wrong. Very wrong. Attracting the wrong kind of attention.
Especially after what Charles Manson had done in California.
But I’d say the majority of the people just accepted what I had found in the newspaper. They were too in love with her.
53
ADAM NEVILL
Devoted to her. Nothing could change that. Even I gave the Gathering another chance, despite what my intuition was telling me.’
‘What happened to you for bringing the papers here? Were you punished?’
‘No. Katherine sent me a gift instead. Pearl earrings. We were forbidden jewellery. I didn’t understand. How could I?
But then . . . then something else came here that winter. We called it the holy dread. And that really was the final straw for me.’
Kyle’s gut tightened inside; this was what Max wanted.
‘Can you tell us how it began, Susan? What form it took?’
She nodded, visibly uncomfortable again, and tired. In fact, he wasn’t sure he’d seen anyone look so fucked before.
‘It wasn’t just the nature of the sessions that changed under The Seven. The atmosphere changed. Everything changed.
The ideals of our group changed. Significantly. That’s what brought it about.’
‘How so?’
‘It wasn’t about self-discovery any more, like in the days of the renunciation. We weren’t exploring ourselves in the same way. It was no longer about equality in the group, or honesty with yourself. Instead, the emphasis was on being chosen . We’d always thought ourselves special. Different, you know. But now we were taught to feel superior to anyone not a part of our Gathering. We were encouraged to feel contempt. It was a contempt that was being cultivated. For the world outside of our walls. And for the first time, people started using the name “Crude” to describe anyone who wasn’t part of our little family here.
‘I remember being told that taking anything to support the 54
LAST DAYS
Gathering was now justified. In the service of Sister Katherine, we could be free of guilt. We were to be free of conscience and compassion. It was all about self-belief now.
Our will was to be focused on the interests of the Gathering.
“Empowerment through enrichment” was one of our new mottos. We were taught to use people, and encouraged to practise on each other.
‘And sex was used to control the men more and more.
You would have to sleep with any man if The Seven ordered it. I can’t remember there being any favourable matches. But that was the point. We were paired off with people who we weren’t attracted to. If two people fell in love naturally, and people were falling in love all the time, The Seven would break the couple apart by
Similar Books
