ELIJAH
After sitting in the parish for several hours listening to the pathetic confessions of townspeople who truly believed their little white lies and common human behaviors were worth the guilt that led them to confession, I made my way home to the compound. Upon arrival, I took the time to talk with a few of the family members, to pretend like I gave much of a damn about their spiritual help. I toured the gardens like I was expected to do, I lavished praise and prayers on the fruits of the family’s labors and after playing the role of a man who would lead them all to the gates of Heaven, I slipped away into my private bedroom to look upon a woman I hadn’t paid much attention to over the past few days.
Eve hadn’t left the compound since the night of my last sermon, and I’d tasked Richard with continuing to give her the special herbal teas I’d prepared. According to his reports, he’d kept her so tangled up and twisted that any inclination she may have had to remember oddities between her time with me and the time she’d spent with Jacob was now buried deep beneath the haze of the chemicals we were feeding her.
As I walked in and found her lying on the bed, unbound because there was no longer a need to restrain her, I hissed out a breath over my lips to see the physical toll our games had taken.
The skin beneath her eyes was bruised a deep purple, and beneath that her cheeks were hollow. So pale that she was pure white beneath the fall of her long, dark hair, Eve looked over to me with death resting just behind her eyes. That blank green stare held no affection or worship, had lost the glimmer of love and devotion I was used to seeing behind it.
My heart pounded slowly beneath my ribs, my hands clenching into fists to see the bones sticking out from beneath her skin, the absence of color that hinted to life inside her body. I never intended this, never wanted to hurt her or risk her life. Yet, as I stood there looking at her for the first time in days, all I saw was an animated corpse.
Crossing the room on three long strides, I took a seat on the bed beside her, ignoring how she winced in pain when the mattress dipped beneath my weight. A sigh filtered over her cracked and chapped lips, but she still managed to attempt a smile.
“Elijah,” she breathed out, trying and failing to raise a hand to touch my face. Her arm trembled and she dropped it back down, misery flickering behind her tired gaze for not having been given the chance to touch me. Reaching out, I took her hand in mine to find it cold despite the warmth in the room.
“How are you feeling?”
Several seconds passed before she found enough breath to answer. “Like death is staring me in the face. The demon is going to win, isn’t it? It’s going to drag me down until I’m lost.” Pausing to catch her breath, once again, she managed to whisper, “I’m sorry, Elijah, for having failed you.”
No. I couldn’t allow this, couldn’t find it within myself not to care for this beautiful girl who I’d created and shaped. I wasn’t surprised when my brother failed to resist her temptation because, in truth, Eve was everything the two of us had ever dreamed of. A perfect woman, silent and subservient, an angel on this Earth that didn’t know how to say no, and would never complain. Why we both needed someone so fragile was outside my understanding, but I didn’t give it much thought. All I knew is there would never be another woman as perfect as the one staring up at me.
“You’re wrong,” I answered, my voice deep and resolute. “I think the demon is weakening. I think it’s time to pull it from your body.”
Her green eyes widened as much as they could. They didn’t glisten beneath the lights, and the white was stained red, but she tried to appear happy to hear what I’d said. “Now? I’m not sure I’m worthy of your love now. I’m not sure I deserve it.”
My fingers squeezed her hand softly. “Not now. You’re too weak. I need you to eat something, Eve. If you gain strength, it won’t be hard to force that bastard from your body. Once he’s gone, evil won’t be able to return again. You’re my wife. I’ll protect you with the might of God’s hand.”
She simple nodded her head, too weak to respond verbally.
Letting her go, I reached up to brush my knuckles down her cheek. There was nobody home behind those eyes, and I was positive she wouldn’t bring up Jacob again. My intention hadn’t been to harm her, it had been to weaken her mind and bury the truth that I’d used her to get rid of my brother.
That she called him the kind one was comical and I wondered for a moment what had happened to the darkness that had always existed inside my brother.
He was the darker twin. My father had been right about that. But I’d become stronger after letting go of poor little Jericho Hayle and replacing him with Elijah.
“I’m going to get you some food. I want you to stay awake long enough to eat. After that you can rest again and I’ll be back later tonight after giving my sermon.”
Her lips twitched as she tried to smile. Giving up, she breathed out and back in. “I’ve missed your sermons,” she whispered.
My eyes closed at the breathlessness in her voice. I missed the sound of it against my ear as I buried myself deep inside the heat of her body.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes, Eve. Don’t fall asleep.”
I didn’t wait for her to answer before leaving the room. Before going to the kitchen, I set out to find Richard and demand he stop giving Eve the teas I’d set out for her. Her body had grown too weak for them, and had I been at the compound instead of the parish, I would have recognized that weakness before it got to this point.
Joshua was in the storeroom that led to the backyard. So consumed by looking through the shelves for whatever item it was he needed, he didn’t notice I’d entered until I spoke.
“Have you seen Richard?”
He jumped in place but quickly regained his balance. His head turned to me and he smiled. “He’s out back, I believe. I think he’s exploring the woods to see if he can expand the land we have for our garden.”
My smile matched Joshua’s, but instead of being friendly it was amused. “I’ll go look for him out there.”
Slipping past the man I’d watched grow from a small boy, I made my way across the backyard and unlocked the chain that kept the fence closed. Only three people had a key to the lock, Richard, myself and Joshua. We were the only people who needed access to the outside as I’d convinced the rest of the family that evil lurked just beyond the border of the wall. The family believed we were brave and strong for managing to travel into the world without being infected by its evil. In truth, we were three secretive bastards who kept the family in the dark as to the world at large.
Slowly making my way down the trail that my prey always followed, I took my time weaving beneath the thick branches of trees, moving into and out of the streams of dying sunlight that managed to break through the leaves. One after another, those rays lit my path until the woods opened up into a small clearing where a small wooden cabin could be found. Smoke rose in slow puffs out of the chimney letting me know that Richard was inside.
Stepping slowly through the twigs and dead leaves, I barely made a sound as I approached and listened closely for any clue as to what he was doing to pass the time. It had been a week since he’d abducted the businessman and his daughter. Surely the girl was dead by now.
My hand wrapped over the handle of the door as soon as I was within reach, my forearm flexing as I turned it and let myself inside.
Turns out the girl wasn’t dead after all. The bastard had kept her alive for the entire week. Richard’s head spun in my direction as soon as he heard me step in. I looked at the girl with a question in my eye before returning my gaze back to him. He didn’t need to hear the question to know what I was asking.
“I want to keep her,” he confessed. “I want her instead of my wife.”
My lips kicked up into a smile. “And what will you do when she grows older? Kill her and replace your wife again? Isn’t that how we found your wife in the first place? You always want to keep them, Richard. I allowed it once, but I won’t take that risk again.”
His broad shoulders rolled back, his chest puffing out with anger. “She won’t say anything. I’ll make sure of it. She wants to stay with me.”
I highly doubted that, but still I looked over at the young girl who sat naked and shivering on top of the platform, her body wrapped in the same thick blanket I’d used long ago with Eve. Her face was downturned and she didn’t bother to look up at me. There was no doubt she’d lied to Richard in order to stay alive, and she’d chosen to endure the rape and torture hoping that someday she’d find a way to escape.
“I’m sorry, Richard. But you’ll have to let her go.”
The poor girl winced in response to my words. Still staring at her, I noticed her eyes close and a tear slip down her cheek. I had to hand it to her for being a decent enough actress to make Richard believe she really wanted him. Even now I was struggling to see the truth that she was planning her escape.
“When?” he asked, his gritty voice curt and clipped. “When do I have to let her go?”
My eyes snapped to his, a question flickering through my mind that I couldn’t help but ask. “You do know what I mean by let her go, right? You haven’t forgotten what’s to be done with them when we’re through playing?”
Darting a glance between the girl and me, Richard stepped in my direction and moved past me to open the front door. I turned to see him silently request for me to follow him outside.
The door closed as we stepped out into the woods and I leaned back against an exterior wall. Folding my arms over my chest I watched in amused silence as Richard struggled to bring himself under control. He was angry that I’d told him the girl couldn’t stay, angry that I treated him like the minion he was rather than an equal partner with equal say.
“Why can’t I keep her?” he asked, his feet pivoting on their heels, his eyes locking to mine with frustration and rage. “I should have a choice of who I want to fuck on a nightly basis.”
He’d taken his current wife, much like he’d stolen the girl in the cabin, and had begged for her much like he was begging now. How many woman would he have to go through to figure out he’d lose interest once they grew older? I wanted to hate him for looking upon practical children with more desire than he did adults, wanted to toss him firmly in the same category as the bastard priest and music director who had laughed at me with the same lust-filled eyes.
“You’ll only grow tired of her, Richard. Stop denying it to yourself. She’ll grow older just like the other one did and how will we explain to the family that your wives keep mysteriously dying?” Pausing, I allowed my words to sink in. “You can keep this one until we need the cabin for something else. I’m not saying you have to get rid of her immediately. If anybody questions your absence, you can claim that I saw evil approaching the compound and you’re outside watching the perimeter. Those brainwashed bastards will believe anything you tell them as long as it points to their bullshit God.”
Huffing out a breath, Richard’s shoulders relaxed to find out that I wasn’t demanding he dispose of the young woman immediately. Shuffling his foot over the dirt in front of him, he swallowed down his hasty rage and took a few seconds to look up at me. “Why are you out here?”
“I need to talk to you about Eve. It seems she’s ready to stop consuming the teas I left for you to give her, and I want you to watch her closely when I’m not around. She’s close to death, Richard, and I don’t want anything happening to my blushing bride.”
Nodding his head, he kicked at the dirt again. “I would have told you that, but watching the compound and traveling out to the parish to talk is hard. Nobody answers the damn phone over there.”
I was never in the office to answer the phone, my priestly duties taking up much of my time. It was a good excuse I could use to explain to the Diocese why I was never available to take their calls.
“Stop giving Eve the tea. Start making sure she’s eating and regaining her strength. It was never my intention to kill her. I want her kept safe.”
Nodding his head one more time, Richard stuffed his thick hands into the pockets of his pants. “No problem.”
“I also came out to tell you that we’ll have some special guests tonight. You remember Gentry. He brought his brother by the parish today and the overly excited sheriff decided it would be in our best interests if we remove the demons from the criminals he arrests.”
Richard’s head snapped up, a slimy smile stretching his face. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Laughter shook my shoulders. “I believe so. It seems the sheriff wants to eradicate the evil that is infecting this town, and based on his brother’s account of the possessed man we showed him a week ago, he wants to destroy other demons he believes are in our midst.” More laughter fell over my lips. “For fucks sake, it’s better than I could have imagined. I was hoping to get the sheriff to turn a blind eye, but instead the son of a bitch wants to lead the condemned bastards to our door.”
Richard’s laughter joined with mine, the deep reverberation echoing through the woods. A flock of birds scattered from the branches above our heads, the leaves rustling in response to their hasty departure.
Fucking birds. If they’re not shitting on your head, they’re finding another way to annoy the fuck out of you.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Richard spoke around his continued laughter. “This will be more fun that I thought. Once we have this entire town in a state of chaos, we can do whatever the fuck we want.”
Inclining my head in agreement, I mentioned, “Yes. I’m sure there will be fun to be had. You can gorge yourself on all the fucking and violence you want. In the meantime, I have a show to put on and will be playing the part of the priest. Do you think you can handle keeping the more sensitive members of the family away from the sanctuary this evening?”
“That won’t be a problem,” he promised, his smile growing wider until he resembled a cat peering down at its next frightened meal.
“That’s good to hear, Richard. Once you have them settled in for the night, you can join us in the sanctuary later. Sheriff Holmes told me he’d be by around ten tonight. That gives us plenty of time to prepare for the festivities.”
“You got it, Boss,” Richard called out as he moved around me in the direction of the cabin.
Turning as he passed, I shook my head knowing that before he went to tend to the flock, he would let the girl know the good news that he would be keeping her for a while longer.
Before he could shut the door, however, I felt it necessary to warn him. “Oh, and Richard, I’m sure this goes without saying, but don’t trust the little bitch you have in there. I want her bound and chained when you’re not around to keep an eye on her. She’s planning on escaping.”
He laughed. “Don’t you think I already know that? It’s more fun when they think they have a chance.”
With that, he opened the door and stepped through, closing it again until I was staring at the scarred wood.
I simply turned around to return to the compound and feed the dying girl in my bed.