48. Reign
CHAPTER 48
Reign
S omething terrified my vixen. Those text messages, while vague and sinister, were laced with something that cut through her psyche, leaving her a panicking mess in my arms. She told me murder wasn’t a hobby, but I’d proudly make it my profession if it meant keeping her safe from whatever harm threatened.
Her body lay in my bed, pliant and peaceful. Whatever managed to grate her nerves had absolutely worn her out, leaving her unable to stave off sleep. I turned her phone over in my hand, having read the messages several more times. Memorizing the number forwards and backwards, I sat in front of my laptop with Google open before me.
Those who dared to fuck with my vixen would meet my judgment. I’d be the arbitrator of fate for those who were unlucky enough to cross her.
My eyes flicked across the page, looking for any defining clues, when I came across an article from several years ago about a disbanded cult in rural Pennsylvania. The town was so small I barely spotted it on the map. Just outside of Lawrenceville, the tiny star marking the spot sat away from all civilization. And Lawrenceville was already tiny.
Disciples of Rapture disbanded. Several members imprisoned on multiple accounts of sexual abuse of minors.
Disgust boiled in the pit of my stomach. Pictures of the vile men were plastered all over the site. Their long white tunics seemed to glow with an unnatural light, casting eerie shadows on the ground. The women and children, draped in cream colored gowns and crowned with flowers, had hollow eyes that stared blankly as if trapped in a silent scream. My eyes scanned the headlines more closely, reading about the horrors these children lived through. Flashbacks of my own father played like a reel through my mind. Sick, disgusting freaks.
The content became more explicit. But one particular picture turned my blood glacial. A little girl with bright eyes that stood out even in the black and gray of the photograph stared miserably back at me through the screen. She wore sorrow on her face as she stood in the embrace of a man with a dark aura. His hand was tangled in her curly hair as he smiled a toothy grin.
Pastor Randall Walker with Daughter Anna, taken just before the disappearance.
Disappearance?
The essence of bile left its taste on my tongue the more I read. Randall was a fucking pervert. Saving his daughter to be his wife the moment she turned eighteen. He was one of several members that had yet to be located, according to what I was reading. I scrolled the site, looking for a date .
Last year.
And still no signs of finding that motherfucker.
“Oh god.” Whispers of breath tickled my neck. “Father.” Anna’s voice trembled as the word slid out of her mouth like poison. “That’s him. That’s the entire family.” A shaking finger barely touched the screen. She whipped the digit back as if just touching the image through my laptop burned her skin.
“Vixen,” I choked out. “I’m sorry.” I didn't want her to see this. “I wanted to know who was messaging you. I found this when I Googled the number.” I hastily explained to her. Her eyes never left the screen. Tiny gasps of breath left her parted lips as she gawked at the images.
“Don’t,” she gagged, slapping a hand over her mouth. “Don’t let him take me. He was going to take me!” She screamed the words out and paced back and forth. Her hands buried themselves in her mangled curls. “Please, Reign he’ll…” she shook her head violently. “He’ll hurt me. He’ll hurt you.” Immediately, tears streamed down her face in silent turmoil. “Then he’ll take me.”
I ran to her, crossing the room in two paces to take her into my arms. Her body sank into mine as she grew hysterical.
“I would never let anything take you away from me.” My teeth clenched at the depth of the words I spoke to her. “I’ll shield you from everything for all eternity. Even when I'm no longer here, my love will always remain.”
Her breathing evened out only brief enough for her to retch the words out. “I was always meant to be his.”
I pat her hair down, finding solace in my knowledge that she’d never belong to anyone but me.
“I ran,” she said, sniffling. She peeled herself back to look up at me. “I ran until my legs burned. Until my lungs wouldn't take any air in.”
“You did everything perfectly, sweet vixen.” Her soul knew it needed to escape. She knew that she couldn't be with him. The puzzle piece she’d been missing was me. Even in the dead of night, her vessel knew it.
“He’s found me.”