Chapter 30 ABBEY #3
Standing on my tiptoes, I press my hands to the cold metal door and look in through the small hole, spotting my sister, Maggie, huddled in a ball on the floor in the far corner, sound asleep.
Seeing her like this, I’m reminded that she’s in her mid-teens with her slight frame and the way she curls in on herself, appearing more innocent.
It pains me to see her like this. Locked up.
Probably scared. She’s a product of her environment.
She doesn’t know any better, and just like me at her age, pleasing my mother was a top priority.
Maggie has been brutally against me all through this, but she’s only doing what she thinks is right because she’s been brainwashed into thinking that way.
I hope with time, I can help her to understand what’s right and wrong about all of this.
Moving to the next container, I see my mum sitting huddled in the corner, her head resting on the wall, her lips parted as she snores, and nothing about her makes me feel remorse.
All I see is an evil woman. Yes, she is also a product of her environment from when she was a child, but she broke free. She had a chance to turn it all around, and the moment she saw an in, she took it, using me to try to get on her father’s good side.
I’ll never understand her or the beliefs she’s followed through her life, and I’ll never forgive her for being a piece of shit human that didn’t protect her children.
If her head exploded off her body right now, I wouldn’t even shed a tear.
Sighing, I step back from that peephole and move on to the third container, peering in to see Banes. My grandfather.
He’s sitting up, leaning against the back wall, his eyes wide awake. Around his wrists are cable ties, and around his waist is a chain that looks like it’s secured to the wall, so he can’t try to escape.
Stepping back, I turn to face Murf and point to the door. “Can you open it, please?”
His brows shoot up, his hand coming to the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable.
“Ahhh, I’m not sure Ringo would like that.”
I lift a single brow. “Murf, don’t make me wrestle the keys off you.”
He chuckles. “Fine, but the door stays open so I can get to you if you need help. Just don’t get too close. He’s chained up, but there’s some give in the chains.”
“Okay,” I say, stepping back as he opens the lock on the door, and pulls the door wide, revealing my grandfather.
As I step inside, Banes lifts his head, stiffening when he sees me.
“Abigail.” He stands like his wrists aren’t bound and chains don’t bind him to the wall. “I’ve been expecting you.”
“Tell me about the hard drive,” I say, and a slight frown appears.
“We can discuss that, but perhaps first, you can join me in prayer.”
“Nope,” I rush out. “No preaching your bullshit here. Tell me about the hard drive.”
He sighs, looking disappointed in me like I’d even care.
“The hard drive is not your concern.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” I snap. “Tell me.”
“Fine,” he sighs, widening his stance like he would at the altar standing before his congregation. “Carnal Unicorn was a vital part of my legacy. I spent years building the most profitable underground entertainment this country has ever seen.”
“Entertainment? Don’t you mean a trafficking ring?”
“You might call it trafficking, but I call it a lucrative business. Membership was high. The word was spreading, not just about the online entertainment I provided, but the word of our Lord.”
I scoff. “You know the problem with religion and people like you? You use it to justify your actions. The Lord forgives everyone who asks for forgiveness, right?”
“The Lord will guide those who seek to repent their sins.” He smiles warmly, and I roll my eyes.
“So, you molest your children, repent to God, get your forgiveness, and do it again. And again. And again.”
“I have never molested my children!” he booms, but I don’t even flinch. I was expecting it.
“Did you, or did you not, have sex with Priscilla? Your daughter.”
“Your mother was training to be a vessel. It was her duty to open for the prophet.”
A sick shiver ripples up my spine at his words, and I wish I’d brought my gun.
“The prophet being you?”
He nods.
“Yeah-nah. That’s molestation. Incest. Paedophilia, depending on whether she was of legal age, and given some photos I found of her when she was younger, I’m going to guess she wasn’t.”
“You speak of things you don’t understand.”
“You’re right. I will never understand how a father can do that to his children, and shit, probably grandchildren too. Have you raped Maggie?”
His eyes darken, and I kind of like that I’m pissing him off. “It wasn’t rape.”
My breath hitches, air getting trapped in my lungs and dread slamming into me at his words.
“You had… sex with her?” I can’t even help the squeak in my voice.
“I lay the flame within her. She will burn until she bears under the blessing of Symme.”
I stagger back, his words a sick confirmation that clogs up my throat with rage, and my back collides with a chest, a gasp escaping me as I spin to see who is towering behind me.