The Sect (7 page)

She sat on the bed, her posture rigidly straight with one leg crossed over the other. “Lose that.” She pointed to my arms. “Reven believes the body should be cherished like a temple for pleasure, pain, and a tool of absolution; not treated like a hidden secret.” Standing, she marched forward, unfolding my hands and directing me to leave them at my sides. “You will learn that in your teachings.”
 

“Teachings?”

“Yes, from the Rebirth Doctrine.” She began to walk toward the bedroom door. She looked over her shoulder at me, expecting me to fall in step.

Running my hands down the length of my waved up and damp hair, I tentatively followed behind her. “The other woman on this wing, Nadine, lives a few doors down. She’s occupied at the moment, but you’ll meet her soon.” She walked toward the stairway in silence, stopping at the landing of the stairs before she descended. “That is the men’s wing.” She gestured toward the left side to the corridor that was now behind her. “Don’t ever go down there unless you are instructed to by Reven or Noah. Radley, Sander, and Adam live there. You’ll meet all three at breakfast after we walk the property.”
 

Unable to follow her position to the middle of the stairs, I remained on the landing and began to sway. Acting quickly, she ran up the stairs and steadied me before I fell. “Or maybe we should go eat breakfast now?” she asked with a tepid grin.

I nodded in agreement, unsure of how I could stand for much longer without nutrition.

She guided me through the palatial estate, passing by a den that looked very much like a classroom, a few sitting rooms, and a living room until we reached the formal dining room. It was a large and narrow dark room where heavy drapes blocked out much of the daylight. A rich mahogany wood table that could’ve easily seated fourteen guests sat dead center in the room.

A shirtless man dressed in lounge pants—in the same material and color of my dress—sat at the table. His dark brown hair was styled messily and his dark brown eyes were slightly hidden behind the reflection of his glasses. He, like Jayme, was very attractive. He hovered over a bowl of cereal as he read a small leather bound book.
 

“Where are Radley and Sander?” Jayme asked him.

Dropping his spoon, he pushed his horn-rimmed glasses further up on his face and looked up at me. “Adam,” he said simply and returned to his book, ignoring Jayme’s question.

“We aren’t supposed to fraternize. Adam here had a little problem in his former life,” Jayme explained to me while we both took seats next to each other at the table. “Excuse his coldness, but keeping his distance helps him keep a clean lifestyle.”

I perked up, questioning her without saying a word.

“No drugs and no alcohol,” she replied, responding to my unasked question. “We also practice clean thinking. Love instead of hate. Positive thoughts instead of negative ones. Obedience instead of rebellion. Cohesiveness instead of isolation. Sexual freedom instead of oppression. Yes instead of no. Oops!” She giggled and covered her mouth. “We aren’t supposed to teach the principles of The Doctrine to you yet.”

We gained Adam’s attention once again. “Since when? Every new recruit learns the first day. They have to or they won’t understand their acceptance ritual. They won’t understand anything.” Shaking his head, he closed his book, muttering, “Someone must’ve taken a liking to her, and I know who that someone is.”

Jayme’s eyes lit up, chastising Adam for apparently saying more than he should have.

He dropped his hands to his lap, bowing his head. “Are you going to tell?”

Jayme looked up at the ceiling, eyeing a specific corner. It was then that I saw what she did, a camera. “I won’t have to,” she responded wistfully.

Adam immediately excused himself from the table. Taking his bowl and his book, he disappeared into the kitchen and eventually to a space my eyes couldn’t follow.

A graying zaftig woman popped out of the kitchen, carrying a silver tray of food. She was dressed in a white button-up and matching pencil skirt with a pristine white chef’s apron. She set a plate of food down in front of me and returned to the kitchen.

The more I stared at the plate of Belgium waffles topped with fresh fruit and whipped cream, the more my stomach growled, begging to be filled. She set a glass tumbler down next to the plate and proceeded to fill it with the pulpy orange juice contained in her glass pitcher. She returned to the kitchen without exchanging a word. I dug in, feeling more energetic within moments of eating. I also felt like I ate a brick as my stomach churned in discontent, reminding me that I ate too fast, too much, and too soon.

After breakfast, Jayme led me through the house and to the atrium on the first floor. As we sat on the sectional couches, she told me a little about her past.

“My parents died when I was nine and my grandparents died shortly after.” She reached up to finger the glass encasing the entire room. “I was in the system and my foster family didn’t care as long as they got their checks. I made my home on the street and turned tricks for meth. I was at my bottom, drugged out and taken by—”
 

She cleared her throat and shook her head as though if she shook with enough gusto, her memories would be erased. “I met Reven at a church and he told me he could help me find what I’d lost. I’ve been here for five years. I think I’m special because I was the second girl to live in the house after they started this place. I love it here. I love…Reven. He’s very good to me. He’s good to all of us as long as we follow his laws. I don’t want to be anywhere else.”

“Were there others?” I asked.

“A lot of others,” she corrected me. “He only keeps three of each gender at a time inside The House of Rebirth.” She grinned. “The others live in the theater.”
 

Swiveling around on the couch, I took in the scene from the glass-walled room. The estate sat on a small incline, allowing a view of most everything down below. From where I sat, I could see the street with the six houses—three on each side—lining a small paved and plowed road. They were mansion modular homes, with maybe five or six bedrooms. To the right of the estate were horse stables; just behind the stables was a wood fence where a black quarter horse was wandering around the light dusting of snow.
 

Memories of a time my mother and I went horseback riding during a vacation in Oklahoma pulled me deeply into melancholy. Being in the same city as her, yet not with her, made me miss her, but it was still manageable. My present situation was very different. Not knowing where I was and if I’d ever see her again made me shove down any comfort Jayme’s words threatened to bring out of me.

“You’ll love it here, too, Keaton,” she assured me. “I just can’t say it enough times. The number one rule. Follow it. If your life was like mine, I’m sure you have nothing good to go back to. Here, it can be your good.”

I tossed and turned in my bed as I flipped through the channels. There weren’t many and the ones I did happen upon were soft-core porn or exercise channels. I thought it was odd, but then again, nothing about my current situation or the things going on in this house—known or unknown—were normal.
 

During my time channel surfing, I tried to work through the answers I didn’t have. I wanted to fight, but I wasn’t sure what for. The situation wasn’t dire and for the moment, I was in a place where my parents nor a monster could find me. I was safe—for now. The sinking in my gut wouldn’t cease. Internally, I waited for the true purpose of all of it to be revealed. I had my ideas, but they were so outlandish I hoped they were wrong. My worst fear was that I would be trained for sex enslavement. At current, it obviously wasn’t the case. Being my first day as a part of the house, I couldn’t make a wise assumption. There could’ve been things that went on here that were just as bad as or worse than I assumed.

A soft knock on the door made me turn off the television. I slid off the bed, standing off to the side like an obedient soldier awaiting her orders.

The door opened and Reven stepped inside with Noah not far behind him. The bedroom was dim, except for the light coming from the small lamp on the end table near the bed.

The shadowed room cast a haunting darkness over Reven’s face. He strode halfway to my position before stopping. He lifted his hand and beckoned for me with his fingers. “Come to me and bow on your knees. Show me how much you appreciate the beautiful day you were given.”

Noah rounded my position and quietly hissed in my ear, “Do what he says.”

I shifted on my feet and got down on my knees, bowing my head.
 

“Did you enjoy your day?” Reven asked, his tone genial. “Did you see that you had nothing to fear about this place? I will only ask you to do what’s fair. I will never ask you to go against the rules I created as long as you easily abide by them. You will be taught those rules at a slower interval than most. I believe the full brunt of your teachings—too soon—might be too much for you given your…history.” His words began to ring without warmth or comfort, pulling my mind into rebellion. I looked up at him, trying to read between his words and figure out what he really meant.
 

Reaching down, he grabbed the back of my head by way of my hair and shoved my head downward, forcing my head to tilt and my chin to rest against my chest.

Keeping my head bowed, I remained silent.

“Readopting silence, are we?” Reven asked. “You don’t need to speak to seek absolution in this very moment. Show me you deserve my forgiveness. I allowed you to roam around my home as you wished despite the way you proverbially spat in my face when you arrived.” The slow, stomach-flopping sound of a zipper coming down made my entire body shudder. His touch was gentle on the back of my head as an uncontrolled sob escaped my mouth. “There,” he said with a gentle whisper, “you are so full of your own sins there is hardly any room for you to commit to my cause. I will be your confessor. I will exonerate you of all your sins and soon, you will do anything and everything in my name. Starting this very moment, you will obey me.” Clutching my hair tightly, he jerked my head back. I kept my eyes closed as I felt the heat of something soft on my lips. “Open your mouth.”

My heart sank as I realized my worst fears had come true. The truth of this place was revealed in part. Nothing came for free or without expectation. The way Adam, Jayme, and I were forced to dress allowed for quick access to our bodies. Reven’s words relating religious acts to sex further cleared up the nature of the place I was forced to come to.

 
I think I’m going to be ill.
My bottom lip trembled. I shook my head while trying to walk on my knees and back away from him.

His grip on my hair tightened and constrained my movement. “Confess your sin to me, or pray for forgiveness. There is no other choice.”

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I kept my eyes closed. I wanted to fight, but the desire to maintain freedom was stronger. I thought if I practiced civility in my disobedience, my punishment wouldn’t be very severe.
 

He shoved two fingers inside my mouth. Pushing past my teeth, he pinched my tongue. His nails bit into my tongue, forcing my mouth to open in protest. I only caught a glimpse of his erection for a moment before he shoved it inside my mouth. The thickness stretched my jaw and sent a throbbing ache to the back of my gums.

Shocked and disgusted, I drew my hands up, wanting to shove him away.

“Suck me.” He thrust forward and the head of his erection hit the back of my throat. I gagged on my stomach acid, but he wouldn’t let me go. Holding me in place, he forced me to take his erection down as he rode inside my mouth.
 

I resisted, my jaw cramped and in response, my teeth sank into the soft skin of his shaft.
 

He pinched my nose with such brutality, something ebbed and crunched inside the bridge. The stinging pain made my jaw unhinge and loosen the grip my teeth had. He shoved me back until I fell hard against the floor with a loud and painful thump. Warmth trickled out of my nose and reached the swell of my top lip. The metallic salty taste of blood filled my mouth.

I crawled to get away. My hair was yanked, and the tension on my scalp split me in two. I was hauled across the floor and shoved down flat on the ground. I lurched forward, only to be trapped in Noah’s unrelenting grip. He straddled my body; his knees dug into my arms ensuring I couldn’t move without further pain. He touched the small bud in his ear, staring down at me with annoyance. “I need the tooth extraction tool from the basement. Hurry up.”