ELIJAH
The sun was setting to the west, what little light it fought to beam across the horizon sneaking in as Richard dragged in the damned.
Exactly as I'd asked, he brought me a man dressed in a expensive looking business suit, and a young woman with long brown hair that reached her hips. I hadn't been specific about what I needed in the woman because she didn't matter much for my display, but she looked like an angel, and from what I could tell by the way the man struggled, she meant something to him.
She was younger by far, most likely in her teens based on the pressed white shirt and pleated skirt. I knew well by the emblem stitched on her shirt pocket that whatever school she attended was religious.
Oh, goody.
The girl's eyes darted to Eve, the fear on her face deepening to see another woman in a state of panic. I would have timed it better if I'd realized Eve would react so quickly to the drug, but with the lack of food in her system, the special recipe I'd given her would have soaked into the bloodstream a lot quicker. It was my mistake to not think about the possible effects, but oh well. A show is a show.
"Welcome," I called out, my hands gripping Eve with such strength I was leaving bruises. Shoving her back on the platform, I tugged her wrist to a restraint and locked it in place. She was going nowhere for the moment.
While Eve struggled against the cuff, I turned fully to eye the new friends Richard had brought me. The young woman was frightened to the point of silence, the man held by Richard's other hand not paying me much attention because he was too focused on the woman.
Jutting my chin to a far corner, I said, "Lock the man up, but leave the girl unrestrained. We wouldn't want to be rude to our guest."
I winked at her, and the older man roared out his complaint. Aware that the girl posed no threat, Richard focused his attention on the man, easily overpowering him to drag him and chain him in a corner of the room that gave him full view of every inch of my hidden space in the woods.
From behind me, Eve continued to struggle, the cuff rattling softly as she attempted to free herself. I wasn't sure what she saw in the room as she'd never found the time to answer my question, but whatever it was must have been terrifying. A high pitched keening sound crawled up her throat, only torn apart by the hissing of air over her lips and the rattle of the cuff.
Ignoring her, I stepped toward the young woman eyeing me with fear and trepidation. Prey caught in a trap, she was motionless, an instinctual behavior most victims employed as if the lack of movement would hide them from a predator's eye. "How old are you?" I asked, my voice gentle and soft.
She trembled just slightly but still managed to tilt her chin up in an effort to appear unafraid. What bravery there was to be found in the young. Perhaps it was a natural facet of her personality, or something learned. The older gentleman, whatever his relation was to her, wasn't afraid either - at least as far as I could tell with the way he kept bellowing despite Richard's methods of quieting him.
"S-seventeen," she stuttered, her eyes widening only a fraction as I drew closer.
"Seventeen," I repeated, my lips pulling into a smile that would soothe rather than threaten. My eyes darted to her shirt pocket before meeting her gaze once again. "I see you're in school."
"Y-yes." The poor thing was fighting her tears, still attempting to be brave in the face of danger.
"How is that going for you? Do you like your school?"
Nodding, she swallowed before saying, "I love it. I have a scholarship to attend college because of it."
My brows lifted. "Really? That's quite the accomplishment. I recently met another girl like you. Such a bright thing, she'd earned a full ride." I paused, holding back soft laughter at the thought of Annabelle. "What is your name?"
The man screamed again behind me, his voice cut short by some brute method of Richard's. It must have frightened the girl to see it because the tears welling in her eyes finally fell.
Her hair was a sheet of chocolate silk flowing down her back, her eyes almost as clear blue as mine. With a pale complexion that emphasized the light dusting of freckles over her nose, the girl was as sweet as honey, her features unmarked by the passage of time or a life lived with worry.
"My name," she struggled to answer, "is Colleen. Colleen Quinn."
My smile widened. "Hello, Colleen. Do you believe in God?"
Eyes widening more, she cried harder, her shoulders shaking with each small sob. "Yes," she squeaked out, the answer not sounding as sure as it should have been. People always reacted to questions about God differently and I couldn't tell if this girl was scared her lack of true faith would be apparent to the man struggling with Richard, or if she was scared about why I'd asked the question.
Playing along, I led her down a path from which there wasn't an easy return. "Good. Then you'll be happy to discover that God has a plan for you, child, a very important one. You were born for a specific reason and today, you'll find out what that is. But first, I need to take my wife outside to send her on her way. Can you be patient for me, Colleen, and wait for me to return like the respectful young woman I'm sure you are?"
Nodding again, she chanced a peek at the commotion between Richard and the man. Taking the opportunity to lean in and hover my mouth a hair's breadth from her ear, I whispered, "Who is the man that was brought with you?"
She jumped, stepping back quickly when she noticed how close I'd come to her. More sobs broke through her response, but I'd heard enough to know the man was her father.
I couldn't help the soft laughter then. Even better than a husband protecting his wife is that of a father protecting his daughter. It was exactly what I needed. Richard would be rewarded well.
"Stay here, Colleen. I'd hate for Richard to have to force the issue, wouldn't you?"
Another nod of her head, words completely lost to her now that the thin veil of bravery she'd once worn was shredded by the harsh truth of her reality.
"I'm glad we can agree."
Leaving the young woman to cower near a wall, I returned to Eve. Flipping up the fur blanket covering the platform I grabbed a long chain, a steel collar and a simple lock. Eve was now fully engrossed in her delusions, her body trembling with a need so thorough that she was practically purring in response to my simple touch. Ripe and ready, she called to me. I had to be strong not to take what was so easily offered. Nothing could tempt me more than the woman I'd created from dust, the angel stripped of everything but her love of me.
If I had anything in this life to be proud of, it was her. And I'd never let her go, never let her escape the destiny I'd chosen for her. Through everything I had planned, my Eve would survive.
After removing her wrist from the cuff, I picked her up, cradling her close to my chest while still managing to hold on to the tools I'd taken from beneath the platform. Colleen had already stepped deeper inside the cabin. She was smart to keep her distance from the immediate threat. It was unfortunate that despite her best efforts she would be used.
Shoving the door opened, I stepped out into a shadowed forest, the last beams of the setting sun nothing by a glow on the distant horizon. The moon and stars were already visible in the sky, the crisp bite of evening wind nipping at my cheeks. Eve shivered for only a second beneath her simple dress, but was soon heated again by another rush of need and heat, the drug coursing through her veins doing its best to force her into overdrive. She wriggled against my arms, her eyes rolling back and fluttering closed, her lips pulling into a smile before pulling even tighter into a stern line.
"Where are you taking me?" she managed to ask, her words scattered and hoarse with a hiss of air over her tight lips. Teeth chattering in response to the mix I'd given her, she relaxed for only a second before her muscles were clenched again.
I set her on the ground, chuckling as she crawled toward me rather than away. Her back arched so that her hips and shoulders were held up and proud, she resembled a cat in heat just begging for some tom to come relieve her.
"You're not going anywhere," I answered, “not yet anyway.” After pulling a length of chain around the thick trunk of a tree, I secured it in place with a padlock. The steel collar locked onto another link and I dropped it to the ground to turn and watch my beautiful girl seduce me.
She was on me in seconds, her hands rubbing up my body as her lips found my neck. I needed to return to the cabin, but I didn't have the willpower to push her off. I adored Eve when she was like this and wished I could find a way to make her so thoroughly useful without the need for intoxication. Yes, my love was always willing to submit whether high or stone cold sober, but she was never so free while sober as she was now. She practically growled when my hand found the apex between her thighs from over her dress.
"They're everywhere, Elijah. I need you. I need you to chase them off."
Pulling her closer to me, I smelled her hair. There was a distinct scent to Eve's fear. In ways, it was the same as her need, a calling card letting me know she doesn't trust what's being done to her but will submit regardless. So perfect, she was made for me. And I had been the one to make her.
"Chase who off?"
"The demons. They're reaching for us. Don't you see?"
Twisting around, I saw the thin branches of the trees that hung down, the starlight in the sky twinkling like a million small eyes through the branches. In her state, it would be easy enough to confuse those shapes and shadows for something more nefarious than nature.
Turning, I pressed my mouth to her ear. "Do you trust me?"
"Always," she promised, pressing her body closer to mine as if she would have preferred to crawl inside me.
"Then you must endure them, Eve. For only a few minutes. I have business to finish in the cabin."
"No!" Clinging onto me like I was her only protection against the world, she begged, "Please don't leave me, Elijah. Please!"
My hand found where I'd dropped the collar to the ground and I brought it up to snap in place around her throat. It wasn't enough to choke her, just to hold her in place until I could get back outside to retrieve her and take her to the compound.
"Trust me, Eve. I've protected you. The demons won't come near."
She trembled at my words, but her fear was lost to another rush of need, the musky scent of her arousal teasing my nose until my body was growing hard. No woman could affect me like Eve. No other woman was designed specifically for me.
Slowly peeling her off me, I fought my own battle against what I wanted to do, and led her to sit at the base of the tree. She fought at first, but finally succumbed when I kissed her forehead and said, "Hide your eyes, Eve, so that you don't see them. Be brave. God is watching over you."
Nodding her consent, she bent her knees and pulled her legs against her body. Tucking her face down over her knees, she hid from the threat that was all around her. I only had a few minutes before another rush of energy and need caught her in its crushing blow, so I left her where she sat to enter the cabin.
Colleen was now crumpled on the floor crying and I looked past her to see her father's arm twisted behind his back with Richard's foot planted over his spine. One hard yank and her father's arm would snap like a twig, his spine crushed inward if Richard used all his weight.
"Don't break him," I demanded, my voice forceful yet mocking. In truth, I didn't give a damn about what was done to the man. I had one objective only, which I was running out of time to complete.
Richard eased off some of the pressure, but applied it again when the man screamed, "Get the hell off my daughter!"
I'd only wrapped my hand around her bicep to help her to her feet, but I stopped before accomplishing it. Turning to stare at the man who was flat to the floor, the corner of my lips kicked up. "Or you'll...what?"
He struggled for only a second before his face twisted in pain. With skin as red as a tomato, he watched helplessly while I guided his daughter to her feet. Still staring down at him, I had to laugh. "You may want to pay attention, Dad. I think your little girl is about to be all grown up."
A loud snap echoed through the room, the man's mouth wide open as a loud cry of pain tore from his lips. He must have struggled again and Richard had grown tired of it. I grinned. "Did you want to try for the other arm as well? Richard, here, loves breaking his toys."
I dragged Colleen to the platform, inwardly lamenting the fact that I wouldn't have time to stay for the show. Every character had to be in place for what I needed Gentry to see, and my place was behind the pulpit. We only had an hour left to have everything in place. The adrenaline pumping through my body forced a bead of sweat to trickle along my temple.
Colleen cried as I forced her down onto the platform, her body kicking and fighting as I not-so-gently buckled her in place. Under normal circumstances, I would have taken my time with her, would have eased her into the idea of lying down just to eventually strip the veil and show her what I'd talked her into doing. But there was no time left for coddling.
Tucked in the drawer of a small table that held religious figurines and a few scattered candles was a pair of scissors I kept for moments such as this.
Colleen's father screamed and roared, begged and threatened as I made quick work of her clothes. Her sobs were a quiet beat beneath the way he bellowed. Leaving her lying in just her panties, I'd stripped her down to the skin, her clothing a pile of useless rags littering the floor.
Standing over her, I glanced between her naked body and her father's scathing stare. My eyes must have twinkled when I crooned, "My my, what lovely breasts your daughter has. The better to tease me with, I think."
I placed a gentle kiss on her right nipple and her father bellowed out his objection. Another snapped arm was Richard's response, but I needed the destruction to stop. The man had a purpose and breaking him too much would ruin all the fun.
"That's enough, Richard. I need him in one piece."
Colleen continued to cry and I walked away not as interested in what she had to offer as what I wanted from her father. Opening a small cabinet nearest where he was held, I rifled through some small glass jars until I found what I was looking for.
Holding the jar up to the candlelight, I admired the crystalline crumbles, the beauty of a drug that made raging zombies out of men. Over the past year or so, this particular substance had taken hold in some larger communities and people had been caught cannibalizing their friends. As soon as I learned about it, I set out in search, fully knowing that one day it would come in handy.
That day just happened to be today.
Kneeling down by the struggling man, I gripped him by the cheeks and said, "Here's how this is going to go. I need you to stay sill while I inject this substance in your veins. I won't be able to do so with you moving around as much as you have been. And I am not in the mood for a struggle. So, I'll give you the choice..."
Pausing, I turned to look at his daughter, the direction of my gaze obvious before I turned back to lock my eyes with his.
"I think it's obvious what's about to happen to your precious baby, but while you can't stop that, you can save her life by giving up your own. I promise you I won't touch her or kill her, if you do as I say."
He fought, weakly this time, tears welling in his eyes that he wasn't able to hide any longer. "You'll let her live?" he asked through clenched teeth. I imagined the pain he was feeling was the reason why his words sounded rough and clipped.
"I won't kill her," I promised, a genuine smile stretching my lips.
More tears dripped from his eyes that were the same color as his daughter's. "Fine."
Pleased that he would make my job a touch easier, I climbed to my feet and began the process of liquefying the drug and pulling it into a syringe. Once it was ready, I kneeled down again, tied a rag I had handy around the man's arm as tightly as possible before looking him in the eye. "This might pinch a little."
I was sure it wasn't the needle that made him cry out in pain, more like my having moved his arm enough that the snapped bone poked up into his skin.
Once the liquid was safely pumping through his blood, I was back on my feet, my eyes locking with Richard's. "He's going to become quite aggravated here in a few, and I need you to ensure what he witnesses is enough to turn him into a monster. Do you think you can handle that?"
A slimy smile stretched Richard's lips, his eyes focused on the sweet morsel strapped down to the platform. "Yeah. I can handle it."
"Excellent. Afterwards, I need you to have him caged in our special room in the compound. I need him screaming, Richard, but not able to talk, do you understand what I'm telling you?"
His gaze slid to mine. "You want him gagged?"
"No," I answered, my heart rate kicking up in speed. "I need him physically unable to talk, and I need it to look self inflicted. If you go through the drawer in that table over there, you'll find a pair of tongs. Grab his tongue by the tip and drag it out of his mouth. If he doesn't bite down on it himself in response to what I just gave him, help him out by slamming his jaw shut until the pesky muscle comes loose."
Richard grinned. "No problem."
"Be sure to bring the tongue with you and leave it in his cage. Props are important after all. I need Gentry to truly believe what we're about to show him. Understood?"
"You got it, boss."
Patting him on the shoulder, I stalked toward the door before the father screamed out. "I thought you said you wouldn't touch her."
Turning I saw that Richard had already left the man to approach his lovely daughter. A single brow arched over my eye before I returned my gaze to the man. "I'm not touching her, but I never said anything about Richard."
Slamming the door shut, I returned to Eve, finding her exactly as I'd left her. I only had time to free her of her chains and turn in the direction of the compound before two voices could be heard screaming from inside the cabin: the high pitched scream of a very frightened girl, and the low baritone bellow of her raging father.
Eve, lost in her delusional state, didn't appear to notice. I'd be lying to say I didn't regret having to leave.
However, responsibility called and I had a parishioner to meet. I would arrive with just enough time to greet him before delivering my sermon.