“Shh,” he hushed, swiping away my tears. “You’re home. You’re safe now.”
He climbed onto the bed and pulled me into his arms.
“I love you so much. I’ve missed you every day. I promise I never forgot you, not for one moment.”
I didn’t fight it as he smoothed his hand over my hair.
“When the sedatives have worn off, we can start the ritual. Just relax, let me hold you while I tell you all about the vision God gave me, hmm?”
Sedatives. That would explain why I’m so fucking tired. Why I can’t fucking remember how we got from Alaska to Texas.
I didn’t respond and he sighed, gently rocking our bodies as he adjusted himself against the headboard.
“It was last year,” he said softly. “God gave me a vision. He showed me exactly what we needed to do to break this generational curse. We must be punished to the full extent and then we will fast for thirty days. Abstaining from all food, water and intimacy. When it’s finished, we will be baptized once more and then we will be ready…we’ll be ready to start our family. The curse will be broken, and we will have our first child.”
Will Enoch look for me? Will my friends call the police? Will he know where I am? I hadn’t told him much about Theo. Would he know to look for me here? Would he know that Los Siete didn’t have me?
“I’ve been dreaming about what our child might look like. Sometimes it’s a girl with your gorgeous red hair. Other times it’s a boy with your hazel eyes and my dark hair,” Theo chuckled softly. “I don’t care. I don’t care what they look like, I just can’t wait to meet them.”
My chest ached at the thought of having another miscarriage. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t go through that pain again. Couldn’t live with myself knowing my body couldn’t sustain the life it had created.If this didn’t work, would he finally kill me? I think if he doesn’t, I might finally do it.
Something there, something small in the back of my mind told me to wait. Told me to hold on.
Hope.
The most fragile human emotion.
???
The sickest part of my mind had my heart racing in anticipation for the pain it knew was coming. Twenty-six days and one slip and I was already craving it like a drug.
When the first sting of the belt hit my senses, a rush of endorphins flooded my brain so fast I couldn’t have stopped the smile on my face if I tried. The smile wasn’t there for long though.
Elder Mark made us count out loud each strike of the belt. By strike ten I was struggling to keep tears at bay. I could barely make out Theo’s voice through the whoosh of my pulse in my ears. He was praying something over us between his own grunts of pain, but the words didn’t register. All I felt was the pain, every thought wiped as the white-hot heat scorched through every cell in my body, painting an orange fire across the backs of my eyelids as each blow landed true across my back.
Maybe it was pride, but I didn’t want to cry. Didn’t want to give in to the pain. So, I focused on retreating to some dark corner in my mind. The one I used to go to when I escaped reality. The one where Enoch was with me, where I could feel his arms hugging my body close, smell his woodsy scent, hear his smooth voice.
By the time I muttered thirty-nine, the pain was so excruciating I was struggling to stay conscious. I could feel the blood trickling down my spine as it trailed through the carnage that was once smooth skin.
I gave up holding my body upright and landed on my face. I turned my head, meeting Theo’s tear-stained face as he looked down at me with concern.
“We’ll be okay, my love,” he whispered roughly, trying to smile through his clear agony.
Elder Mark dropped the belt, and the blood dripping off it made my stomach flip. He was panting from exertion and moved to sit down on the edge of the bed, his hands shaking I noticed. I wondered if he felt any shame or guilt. Wondered if he had taken any pleasure in the pain he’d just doled out at the bequest of his leader.
His eyes widened suddenly, eyes trained on the door.
“Did you call him?” he asked.
“No,” Theo breathed, eyeing me warily. “No, I didn’t.”
“Hell,” Elder Mark muttered under his breath, standing from the bed. “I’ll see what he wants.”
There wasn’t time because the door opened and a shocked hiss left the newcomer’s mouth.
“Wh-what? Lord have mercy, what have you done, Theodore?”
My mind raced. Father was here. Was he really so surprised that his son would do this? Theo’s pension for punishment had been hereditary.
