ELIJAH
If we are not our brother’s keeper, at least let us not be his executioner
– Marlon Brando
It was time to set the carefully designed plans into motion. My spies were watching the parish night and day, looking for the signs that it was time to turn that small rural parish into a home for the family. No we couldn't live there, but we could play. They would construct their army for their God and I would use every weapon I had at my disposal to fan the flames of chaos.
My purpose was a higher calling, a message written in blood, a truth revealed that the ghost of some long dead Christ wasn't sitting above waiting for the day he'd retake the world.
He was dead just like any other person who lived and breathed on this planet. He was a memory that had torn the world apart with the promise of something better than the Hell we'd been born into, one by one.
My message wasn't one that could be ignored. It was a lesson, a calling, a hand that ripped the veil of lies from the faces of the supposedly just and revealed them all for who they really are.
Jacob had continuously asked me why when he confronted me several days before, and the answer I'd refused to give him was why not?
Did there really need to be a reason for the accumulation of power? Was there ever really a good explanation for the chaos that devoured the civilized?
Why couldn't people understand that sometimes evil occurs within the confines of a crowded world just because a sadist like me grew bored?
Strolling into the belly of the large room that sat front and center within the old building I called home, I caught sight of the team I'd assembled for the task.
Richard stood at the ready, his broad shoulders pulled back and his thick fingers wrapped around Eunice's thin bicep. Poor girl looked like she'd be ridden hard and put away wet, but that was to be expected. Richard was never gentle with his toys.
"Hello, Eunice," I cooed, my fingertip running along her jaw before I pressed my lips to her ear and whispered, "Would you like to go home now?"
Those beautiful eyes rounded with surprise, a slight tremor of her body belying the relief she wasn't sure she could trust. "Home?" she breathed out. "You're taking me home?"
A smile stretched my lips. "Of course. Unless, that is, you'd rather stay here? I've been told the accommodations were to your liking after a while."
Her eyes narrowed with hatred.
Laughter bubbled from my lungs. "Unfortunately, we won't be using a vehicle, so I hope you're up for a lengthy walk."
The three men escorting us on the journey laughed. They were familiar with the routes we took through the woods that cut through our town and to the parish. Over the past few months, we'd been overjoyed to find that large stretch of forest led us right to my brother's door and we've used the cover of trees to keep a watch on the parish.
Several of the family were able to sneak into the sanctuary on occasion to listen to Sunday Mass, to hear the rumors mixed in conversation by a town that was dying a slow death in the rural Appalachians due to changes in industry and the lack of concern for their lives by the bigger cities that had all but forgotten they existed at all.
Within three hours of walking, we were approaching the town. Poor Eunice looked like she would collapse from the exercise. Her body was broken down from lack of food combined with the rigorous demands of Richard's sensual tastes. It was a pity I'd only experienced her once, but I’d had more important matters to attend to over the past few days.
From what I'd seen during the several trips I'd made to the parish, Jacob had succumbed to what I knew existed inside him. He still played the part of a rural priest dedicated to his parish, but his efforts were feable at best.
Nobody came to him for comfort, and even the nuns left at the small convent down the street from the parish avoided it as much as possible. It would take time to rebuild the reputation he was slowly destroying, but that wasn't my concern.
Through windows, I'd caught sight of my greatest creation. Born into a life of beauty and temptation, Eve hadn't lost the hunger for pain I'd instilled in her. She hadn't awakened to the truth that the man who ravaged her body wasn't the husband she believed she had. I'd be a liar to claim that the marks across her skin hadn't upset me.
Despite how I'd used her, despite how I'd planned to give her up for only a short time, I still craved the pure masochist inside her that I'd never found in another woman. Once she was mine again, I intended to delve into the abyss, promised myself that the next set of bruises would come from me.
Over a hill and through a thick stand of trees, the parish came into sight. Clouds obscured the brilliant sunlight that should have bathed the large fields surrounding the building. Lightning cracked in the distance and the responding thunder rolled above our heads like an inbound train.
Reaching the perimeter of the woods, I turned to Richard. His hand was still wrapped around Eunice's arm, but his eyes were tracking down her body like a hawk eyeing a scurrying rat. I'd have to find a new toy to keep him occupied once Eunice was gone.
"I'll go ahead and check in on the priest and Eve. I'd say it's about time to take back our wayward family member. Wouldn't you?"
Richard laughed, his eyes still locked to where Eunice's habit gave only a hint of the curves below. I knew he wanted to taste her treasure one last time, but he had a role to play in front of the other two men. The devout wouldn't fuck a woman who wasn't his wife, and Richard's wife was back at the compound anxiously awaiting his return.
"We'll stay here and out of view."
Staying within shadow, I skirted the edge of the forest where it rounded the fields. Several large oaks stood at the back of the parish near the rectory, providing ample cover for me to stay out of sight. Dressed in all black - clothes I'd stolen from Jacob's bedroom not too long ago - I dusted off the dirt from our walk and made my way to the buildings.
Not a soul was out and about. Not a single person who could confirm that Jacob had a twin brother. Creeping to the window, I angled my body enough to peek inside while staying out of view. My heart raced at the familiar sight.
Eve's body was in a particularly beautiful position over the bed, Jacob rocking his hips behind her. Rocking may have been a poor choice in words - what he was doing was much more violent, much more crazed as the entire bed shook with his thrusts.
Eve's arms were behind her, pushed forward towards her head and held in place by Jacob's right hand. It forced her head to tuck beneath her, her back to arch up and her hips to rise to the perfect height for Jacob's body. In that position, she would have been able to watch as he violated her like a man gone mad. The pain in her shoulders had to be unbearable, but I knew my precious girl was begging for it. She always begged.
My cock twitched at the thought of it.
Jacob's legs were between hers, spreading her out until he had full access to both her ass and cunt. His free hand was possessive over one of her tits, his mouth pressed to her back where it arched, most likely creating more of those blooming bruises and marks. Once he'd learned of the beast inside him, he'd always loved to mark what was his.
I hoped for a distraction, something that would pull him from my girl just long enough.
Getting comfortable, I waited and watched the show inside his bedroom. After a while, Jacob finished them both off. He dragged her to the bathroom for a shower, her expression sated and exhausted. Carrying her back to the bed, he tied her wrists to the top of the bedpost, forcing her to remain on her knees facing the wall.
Jacob dressed quickly, donning the costume of a devout priest. He left the room after eyeing Eve.
Stalking around the side, I peered toward the front of the parish, knowing full well Jacob had confessional hours today. Fortunately for me, a parishioner walked in.
Elderly and obviously frail, the woman used a cane to get around, her shoulders were withered forward, her hair a silver knot atop her head, and she carried a large leather-bound Bible beneath one arm. I only needed ten minutes to accomplish what had to be done, and I assumed that little woman might talk for much longer.
I gave her enough time to walk the distance to the confessional and start into whatever it was she needed forgiven before I rounded the back of the rectory and entered through an old, utility door.
Winding my way through the hall without worry of being caught, I turned the corner into Jacob's bedroom and my breath caught at the view.
Freshly scrubbed, Eve's skin glowed a faint pink over the alabaster. Dotted with marks, fresh and old, she breathed softly while staying in place, her cheek pressed to the post and her eyes closed. Exhaustion had wrapped its arms around her and forced her to sleep, her arms hanging limp above her head.
Crossing the room, I sat on the bed beside her, the mattress dipping with my weight.
"Jacob," she breathed out. She hadn’t been asleep after all.
"Are we back to that again?" I asked.
Her breath caught, seconds ticking by before she finally whispered, "You told me to call you that."
My fingertips traced up her spine, my eyes watching her nipples shrink into tight buds. "Call me whatever you like for now."
I'd eventually correct Eve when I had her back, but for now, Jacob would do just fine. He didn't need to know I'd been back here, didn't need to know I was watching at all.
Fingers brushing the sides of her body I wrapped both palms possessively over the globes of her breasts. She moaned, so ready even after what my twin had already done to her this morning.
"Are you enjoying my attention? Enjoying the ways I've blessed your body with my own?"
Lips parted, she yanked on her bindings, her muscles pulling taut. I knew if I slipped my fingers between her legs, I'd find she was wet. Truly, she was a woman born for sex, for sin, for all the dark cravings that many people would fear if they had them. You have to live in shadow to understand it, had to be born to exist in the waning light to appreciate the beauty of nightmares and pain.
Although Eve believed she was a child of the light, she was something far darker, a creature attuned to the mystery of surrender, to the euphoria of a wicked kiss. She was prey to the fallen, a lover for the cruel, a queen within the ever crumbling kingdom that whispers of sorrow and pain.
She was everything I needed her to be. In her struggle between the dark and the light, Eve was my greatest creation.
My mouth was a teasing inch away from her ear, my hands a tantalizing promise of the agony I knew she craved. "What do you want from me right now?"
"Your touch."
Soft laughter shook my shoulders. "Will what I've given you ever be enough?"
Her head shook, her body trembling when my thumbs brushed the sensitive peaks of her breasts. "Never."
Heavy breath pushed her against my hands, the weight of her tits soft against my palms. Her mouth opened to relieve some of the anticipation building inside her. "I need more," she breathed out. "Please."
My eyes closed at the desperation in her tone.
Leaning over I pressed my mouth to her ear, my voice a soft whisper as my hand released her breast to trail down her abdomen and between her legs. " I could fuck you."
A hiss of air blew from her lips.
"I could hurt you in ways you've never imagined. I could steal the breath from your lungs and replace it with my own. I could make you bleed before I'm done."
"Please." It was a reverent prayer.
The cross I'd given her dangled between her breasts, the stone still in place above the secret compartment. "I need you to do something for me, my love. One last task before I can take you home to the family."
A slow rhythm, I pumped my fingers between her legs. "Will you do anything for me? Anything at all?"
A tear spilled down her cheek. "Anything."
"Open your eyes. I need to show you something."
Her lids peeled open to reveal the green beneath, the color shimmering with unshed tears. I held the cross up to gain her attention. "Did you know this has a secret?"
A small shake of her head.
Rotating the cross so she could see the small tab that would open the stone, I pulled it up to reveal the contents inside.
Her eyes stared transfixed. "What is it?"
"It's an herb," I explained, "one that will cleanse you thoroughly. I need you to take it, Eve, need you to swallow it down the next time we make love. But, I can't know you're doing it. I don't want to know because what it will do to your body will be a blessing for me. I'll see God inside you when it takes effect. I'll see the light that has always been shining behind your lovely eyes. It's a treat to be shared between you and me, but I need you to stay quiet and make it a surprise."
Pausing to give her time to soak in my instructions, I asked, "Can you do that?"
I sucked the lobe of her ear into my mouth, nibbled on the soft flesh as my hand continued tormenting her slick hole. Her muscles rippled and tensed and I knew she was so close.
"Yes," she answered. A moan slipped out, her eyes closing again. She once told me starlight burst behind the lids when her sin was driven out - that it was the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen.
"That's a good girl."
My hand pulled away from her body and she cried out in complaint. Shushing her, I flicked my tongue along the skin I'd just bitten.
"I'll leave you without the release this one time, just to make the next time I take you that much sweeter. Wait for me, Eve. I'll return to you soon."