How can I save all the souls my parents stole?I can't. There's nothing I can do, and for that, I live in my own personal hell. Shoving off my bed, I make my way to the small closet that sits against the wall. The heavy wood is dark, reminding me of the closet my mother used in our spare bedroom. I never opened it. I was too scared to see what was inside.
I tug open the door to mine, and I’m transported back to the past. Back to one of the many nights that my father was so angry, he shut me in my little closet to punish me.
“Little girls should be good, and you are so far from being good right now, Maeve,” Daddy utters in a voice that tells me not to argue. He shoves the door closed, and I’m locked in the dark for I’m not sure how long. Sometimes, it’s only an hour, other days, when he’s in a very bad mood, it’s longer.
“Baby girl,” Mommy coos from the other side of the door. “You need to pray, ask the Lord to make you behave. He’s good to us, remember that.” She tells me this all the time. I don’t believe her anymore.
It’s been a year since I’ve seen things in their bedroom. Since I’ve spied them enjoying things that I know in my mind are wrong. I’ve read about the Devil and the things he makes people do. Even though Daddy works for God, I think it’s the Devil who has hold of him.
I pray for them. Every night, but it doesn’t help. Nothing helps. So, I sit in silence. I don’t answer my Mommy when she tells me things as if I’m stupid. I’m not. They don’t know how intelligent I am.
Silence fills the closet. They’ve left me in here. Since it’s the weekend, I don’t think they’ll let me out for a while yet. Two days. Can I really spend two days here? Curling my thighs up to my chest, I wrap my arms around my legs and rest my chin on my knees.
I close my eyes, wishing for something to do, but Daddy made sure the closet is empty. I’m not allowed anything, even though I can’t see in the dark, having even just Torrance with me would help.
Sounds echo through the wall, and I have to close my eyes and count. One. Two. Three. Voices filter toward me, and I shove a finger into each ear. Nothing stops the knowledge of what's happening in the living room.
Even though I can't see them. I know.
It gets louder. It’s like a song that gets turned up in volume until it’s too loud and my ears hurt. The deep bass of my daddy's voice, the tinkle of my mommy's, and the gritted tone of the girl they’re ‘cleansing’ is the soundtrack of my nightmares.
A scream so loud, so shrill, resounds around me, and I’m sure my bedroom window is about to shatter. When it falls silent, I hear a thud then my daddy's voice. I can’t make out the words, but I’m scared. I’m more afraid than I’ve ever been.
I attempt to kick open the door of the closet, but it’s shut tight. I don’t know what just happened, but it wasn’t good at all. Voices come through the doorway, close to my bedroom, and I hear a man’s voice. It’s not Daddy’s voice. It’s a stranger.
“She will be mine,” the deep rumble sounds like a monster from the movies Mommy lets me watch. “I promise you, the moment she’s old enough, I’ll come for her.”
“Twenty-one, please,” Mommy says, and I’m more confused than before. “Give us that.” There isn’t a response to her plea, and I wonder if the stranger has agreed with a nod.
I’m not sure how much time passes before the door opens and Daddy pulls me from the darkness. He lays me on the bed, pressing a kiss to my forehead before leaving me in my bedroom.
My muscles ache, my body hurts, but I don’t want to unfurl from the ball I’ve curled myself into. Fear rattles through me like the blood rushing through my every vein. I know something bad is about to happen.
I just don’t know what.
Kahn
Give us this day our daily bread
Pullinginto the drive of the mansion where the organization is hidden in the basement, I smile when I notice Fletch outside smoking. We’re not allowed inside with that shit, per the boss man.
I kill the engine of my Kawasaki and swing my leg over the bike. Tugging my helmet off, I tip my head in greeting to him.
“Hey, asshole.” I grin, setting my helmet on the seat before making my way toward him. I pull out my own smoke and light up.
“Where you been?”
“At the cabin,” I tell him, pulling in a lungful of smoke.
He chuckles, “Did you have some pussy up there?”
“Nah, been a good boy this time,” I can’t help laughing. He’s one of those assholes you can’t help but love because he’s straight up. No other men I’ve come across are as honest as Fletch.
His blue eyes and blonde hair make him a pretty boy, and I’ve teased him time and time again about it. He looks like he belongs in a fucking boy band, not working for a man like God.
“You? Good?” He laughs out loud, his head falling back as the sound falls from his mouth. “I think you’re all strung up on that little nun you told me about. The one you want to bend over?”
“Fuck you, man,” I punch him in the shoulder. “That woman is far too good for me. I reckon she’d probably jump your bones before she'd come anywhere near me after I’d run out on her.”