3. The Holy Father
Chapter three
The Holy Father
I watch her from the shadows as she searches for me, my little girl, the Unholy Ghost, and a deadly woman, all wrapped into one. She’s even more beautiful than her mother ever was, my stunning little Dinah. Braver and stronger than any female I have ever met. If there had been more women like my fierce and strong-willed daughter, when the Brotherhood took over the world, we would have had a more challenging time oppressing the females of our society. Alas, greedy, power-hungry men allowed their wives, daughters, mothers, and sisters to be ruined, and become chattel. The women of the old world either didn’t see the horrors coming their way, or were too weak and trusting to fight back. They believed men would protect them, fools .
That’s not the case now though. My daughter can, and does, pose a real threat to the Brotherhood. To all that we have spent years building, and all the countless deaths we have caused, all in the name of power. Not God, as they proclaim; there are no true righteous intentions behind the Order of the Sacrament. That is all smoke and mirrors, to deceive the masses, and lessen the revolt. How easy it was to pull the cloth over the sheep’s eyes, while the wolves ravaged the flock. Humans never learn. Men will always seek power over others, especially women. We don’t see them as equal, and we can’t allow them to have the rights over their body autonomy, or destinies. Without them, we can’t create this new world, and a constant replenishment of soldiers and servants for the cause.
Does it pain me to know that my daughter is a pawn for me to move along my chessboard? It should, but I am no better than any of them. I’ve suffered at the hands of the Brotherhood, an Order I worked tirelessly to help establish, putting aside my own ambitions and moral code. Yet, after everything I sacrificed for them, they were so quick and willing to end my life, when I had a pang of conscience. I now seek to overturn them, not for the betterment of humankind, and the safety of the world, but for my self-gratification, and my deep-seated desire for vengeance. I have lost so much to the Order: my life, my wife, and my son. If I have to lose my little girl, so be it, but I will have my revenge.
I notice the minute she realizes she’s not alone, and her body stills as she points her gun at me. My hand moves in the deep cover of my gilded robes, pressing the hidden button for the odorless hallucinogenic gas, that will instantly disperse around the room, and cause my daughter to become my unwilling captive, all while I have immunity with the antidote in my bloodstream. Her head shakes, and her eyes grow large and frightened, as I take measured steps closer to her. Is she seeing a monster from her worst nightmares, or can she see past the masquerade? Her gun clamors to the floor with a bang as I halt before her, and I watch as the gas causes her mind to be overwhelmed by confusion. I press another button, and I know now she’s hearing high-pitched sounds, and a fragrance is being spread that will cause her to lose control of the rest of her senses. It’s always humorous to watch, as my parlor tricks render them powerless, and entirely at my mercy. They believe me to be omnipresent, a reincarnation of their beliefs, a god amongst the folk, foolish humans clinging to a world long gone.
Her frightened eyes rise from the hem of my elaborate robes to the ornate mask I wear. Her body begins to tremble as all the drugs take effect, and I cock my head, watching as she attempts to fight against their oppression. Will she be able to defy, and thwart, the chains I’m slowly weaving around her? For my sake, and that of my plans, I hope not. I would then need to kill her, as she would be useless to me. A loud, ragged breath leaves her, and I’m filled with sick satisfaction that I can still control and subdue her. “Hello, Sacred Daughter, or should I just call you daughter, since you are my flesh and blood?”
I take another step towards her, and watch as her body recoils at my proximity. My hand slips below the mask as I lift it out of the way, and dispense with all the shrouded secrecy. Both excitement and pity soar through my blood, with the knowledge that I am about to shock and frighten her, but also anger her with my revelation. Her breath catches, and the gasping, choking sound she makes causes me almost to reach out in comfort, but I halt my movements. There is no room for sentimentality here. She’s no longer the little girl who once sat on my knee, while I told her stories of a world that was never real, and I am no longer a doting father. We are the Holy Father and the Unholy Ghost, yin and yang to each other, and emotions must be left to the side.
The regret I believed I would feel at her terrified expression eludes me, and I know that I have done the right thing by putting this plan into motion. Tears slide down her face, as her lips and chin tremble at seeing the phantom before her. “This is not real. You are not real.” I halt my traitorous tongue, which wants to offer her words in sympathy, for all that she has had to endure. Every moment in her presence is more challenging than the last. The necessity for control and power war against the need to embrace her, and allow her to believe everything will be alright. Nothing will ever be alright again. I am about to do to her what no righteous man should do to his kin, never mind his precious child. Before I can utter a single syllable, her hand rises rapidly and strikes out, landing a harsh blow to the side of my face, and causing my head to jerk with the movement. Surprise fills me that she’s strong enough to break through my drugs. I’ll have to remember and remedy that.
Any sympathy I had for her begins to evaporate quickly, and rage rises within me at her violence. No one is allowed to touch me. I will not permit anyone to bring me down low again. Dying and suffering once in this lifetime was enough. “I can see that you are upset, rightly so, daughter. This has been a shock to you, so I forgive you your sin. Fair warning, however, my child, that is the only time you will get to assail me, Dinah. Do not mistake my love for you for weakness.” My hand strikes forward, wrapping itself around her slim throat and squeezing, until all the air leaves her in a vicious wheeze. I meet her angry eyes, and I don’t flinch or back down. She will learn to respect my authority, and come to heel at my feet, or I will end her life.
“Monster,” she rasps, and it causes the corners of my lips to rise in a scathing smile. How predictable that she sees a monster before her. Ah, my sweet child, all the monsters you fear are made of flesh and blood.
“No, survivor is the word you’re looking for, Dinah, just like you are.“ I release my grip and shove her away from me. Every second her skin is in contact with mine, emotions are trying to force their way back inside of my hardened shell. I can’t allow anything to distract me from my plan, which has taken years to bring to fruition.
She takes enormous gulps of air, attempting to clear her throat from my bruising grip, and I prepare myself for further violence. Dinah always had a short temper as a child, and it seems that has only increased with age. Her voice rises with panic and rage, “Why? Why let them die? You could have saved Gabriel and Mom? What the fuck is the matter with you?” I don’t give her the satisfaction of any reaction, even though she deserves to be struck, and chained, for daring to raise her voice in fury at me. I force myself to take deep, calming breaths, hold on to my control, and ignore my baser human emotions. I must adhere to the plan; there is too much at stake to lose if I don’t. Violence is only useful if I can force her to crack and bend to my will. Something tells me that won’t be so easy with Dinah.
“Just because I could not save them, does not mean I don’t mourn them, child. Sacrifices have to be made for the greater good, daughter. I could not intervene to save your brother, as much as I wanted to, and I did not know your mother would commit suicide. She was weak .“ I spit out the distasteful words, fury rising inside of me further that I have to explain myself to her. My words are truthful. If I could have saved Gabriel, I would have, but my son was a fool, playing at trying to overturn the Brotherhood, when he had no real power, and her mother, Maria, was feeble, as she always had been. I’m not going to pretend that watching her blow her brains out in front of me, at our son’s funeral, didn’t cause me distress. I once loved her in the way I was capable of, but she and I were never truly a love match. Our marriage was a means to an end to obtain power, and a high position within the Brotherhood, and the horrors I allowed to happen to her, at the hands of its men, were unforgivable but necessary.
“Sacrifice? You speak of sacrifice while living lavishly, faking your death, and letting us all suffer? I’ve lost all of my family, all of it! Where is this sacrifice that you speak of? All I see here are betrayal and lies.”
Yes, that is what she would see, isn’t it? She’ll never understand all that I went through to pull myself back from the brink of death, and survive the hands of the devil, while clutching to life and my revenge. All the difficulties I faced as I was forced to remain in the shadows, while strategically moving pieces on the board, to ensure she stayed safe and untouched in a world filled with perils. “I gave you a new family with the three of them, Dinah. I provided you with the opportunity to keep living and breathing. I even delivered you years in peace away from the Brotherhood. I hand-picked Sammy to be your guard, so you would be kept safe. You rage against my betrayal, but I have never stopped protecting you.”
Her breath hitches with my admission, as shock crosses her delicate face. I can read the uncertainty in her expression; my little girl has work to do to hide her thoughts from others. As the Unholy Ghost, she can’t ever risk showing her weakness. I will have to ensure that she’s incorruptible, or her emotions will be her downfall, one I can’t allow if I am to use her as my instrument of destruction. “I have always known you were the Unholy Ghost , Dinah. At first, I was concerned that you had lost your mind, and were just a blood-thirsty psychopath. That your mother’s death triggered something in you, something filled with darkness, but then I realized how useful that could be.“ I take another step towards her. My hand rises of its own volition to touch her face, and she recoils, as if I were a poisonous entity coming to infect her. Disgust fills me with my own weakness, at this malignant need to cling to the past in any way. I am no longer Francis Camrose. That weak fucker died, at the hands of his so-called friends, and patriots. He died pitifully, screaming for mercy.
My hands fist at my sides, within the voluminous sleeves of the robes, their heavy weight reminding me of who I am now: a leader, the most powerful person on the planet, a living god. “This world needed a cleansing, and I was no longer willing to wait for it to happen. Over the years, I have been slowly weeding out the traitors within the Brotherhood, such as Noah Rothesay, who lusts for power. Those who betrayed me, and had me murdered. As the Unholy Ghost , you gave me an opportunity I could not pass up, with your need for vengeance and bloodshed. Your killings were a blessing on this cursed world, and a warning.”
Her eyes meet mine, and I impart the rest of my truths, knowing that she will either fall in line, or die here at my hands. She now knows too much, and I can’t risk her escaping with the knowledge of who the Holy Father truly is. A part of me hopes that she will willingly join my quest, but I’m not delusional enough to believe that will happen, without coercion on my part. “I allowed you to keep killing because it served my plans. You are a means to an end, daughter. An end to this world as we know it.” I have waited for years for this opportunity, for a tool that I could use to cleanse this malevolent world, and she was right under my nose the whole time.
“Were you always the Holy Father?” Her curiosity amuses me, and a chuckle escapes me. I see a little of the inquisitive child she used to be, before she witnessed what became of the women of the Brotherhood. She was never the same, after watching her mother be passed around, and gang-raped, by the most powerful men in the Order. With a small child’s mind finally grasping the realities of the world around her, and the monster I truly was, she realized that I was willingly allowing that to happen to Maria. My daughter lost any affection and respect she had for me that day, and it made me realize the world to which I was subjecting her. That one day, what was happening to Maria would be her fate, at the hands of her own husband. That was the beginning of the end, that led to my demise. “No, he really was your mother’s uncle. When I went to my death, at the hands of those who betrayed me, I had David murder him, and I took his place. A leader hidden behind a mask can be anyone, Dinah. You see, precious daughter, I really did die, and was reborn as this.”
“Rebirth is a beautiful thing, my daughter. It allows you to see and experience things you missed the first time. For instance, I realized that I hated all that I had become, and what the Brotherhood had turned me into. A monster, soulless, a deviant. I sacrificed years with your mother, a woman I had affection for, but not love. The choices I made, to hide who I truly was from the world, even before I died, haunted me. If they had known that my true love was a man, and not your mother, I would have been stripped of my titles and wealth, and both you and your brother would have been sent to the mines, as punishment for my sins. Your mother’s name protected me, as it did you. You are only alive today because of the great wealth and power her family had. It was instrumental that her uncle was the Holy Father. You are still alive because the Holy Father demanded it.”
I observe all the questions racing through her mind, displayed across her pale and delicate face, her features so much like her mother’s, that it momentarily causes my breath to slow, and the guilt I shed long ago to rise. The gears in her mind are working rapidly, despite the gas doing its job to incapacitate her. It’s wondrous how strong she is; very few are able to break free of its effects. It speaks to the strength she has within her, the one I will harness for my needs. I can see she’s wondering about David, my true love, confidant, and right-hand man. If she only understood how much he means to me, would she place a blade into his heart? Her eyes wander around the room with subtle, quick glances. She thinks she’s being discreet, searching for the gun on the floor, but I know if she were to get her hands on it, she wouldn’t hesitate to use it on me. “I see the question in your eyes. No, David did not actually send you here to murder me. You see, Dinah, he is mine, and has been mine since before my death. My lover, my soldier, he would do anything for me. This was a test of your loyalty to your lovers. What lengths you would go to for them, and you passed splendidly, daughter.”
Pride soars through me, knowing that she is indeed strong, despite what the world has caused her to endure. Yet, I have plans to make her even more powerful. When I am done, she will bask in her father’s glory, and understand true greatness. “What do you want from me?” she inquires, her voice laced with frustration, and the effects of fighting against my sightless hold.
“We will get to that, but first, child, I want you to know that right now, David has Ezekiel and Abraham cornered, and at his mercy. Sammy is close to death in Noah’s clutches. If you do not agree to my terms, all of them will die. I will make sure of it, but not before forcing you to watch them all take their last breaths.” Does she understand that she has no power against me? She cannot win a war against a god. I see the moment clarity hits her, and her shoulders droop with the weight of acceptance. “What do you want me to do?”
“You will kill the Holy Father, and take his place as supreme leader. You will be the new face of a revolution, controlling both the rebels, and the Brotherhood, but I will be the true power behind the throne.“ I’ve got you now, my lovely daughter. This world will come to its knees and beg me for salvation; I will be a true living god amongst mortal men. “I will be a puppet while you pull the strings.” Her anger is palpable, and I know she is winning against the fading effects of the gas. Soon, she will be able to attack me if she chooses. I’m counting on her love for those three fools to keep her in line. I could be fatally wrong in my assessment of her emotions for them, but it’s a chance I have to take. Nothing is ever won unless something is risked. Sacrifice leads to salvation, and I am here to lead the flock to a new world. My world, one of my making and control. I turn away from her, giving her my back, and showing I fear nothing.
My senses tell me that she’s picked up the gun and, at this very moment, has it pointed at me, yet I feel no fear. If I have to die again, at least this time, it will be at the hands of someone I once loved and betrayed, rather than those who turned Judas against me. She would be justified in killing me and wiping the board clean, but like any good chess player, I am betting my very life that she doesn’t make that move. “You will be what you were always meant to be, Dinah, my weapon . Pull the trigger, daughter, and let’s see if your men survive another minute on this earth, and if you can live without them.”
A smile lights my face as I stare into the glass and out into the world I hold in my tight grip. A blast sounds in the room, before a burning pain lances through my shoulder. I was wrong; my daughter chose death for the men she loves. It seems that her need for vengeance against me is more potent than her love for those three miscreants. With shock and disappointment, I stumble back towards her as I clutch my shoulder, and feel the blood rapidly coating the inside of my robes, while pain radiates from the area.
Caleb steps out from the shadows, ready and willing to do my bidding, and slams his fist into the back of her head. Her body begins to collapse forward with the impact, as her knees give out on her, and her eyes roll into the back of her head. “Kill all three of them. She will have to learn the consequences of her sins, and live without them.”
What a shame. I thought we could do this the easy way, but it seems my daughter will need to learn to obey her father, and God, after all. Nothing, not even my misguided sentiments for her, will stop me from getting what I want.