Chapter Eight
Brit
“WHAT IS GOING ON?!”
Jerking awake, both Fly and I sat up, staring at my father, who stood in the doorway. His hair was disheveled and his hands clenched at his sides. The anger that radiated from him seeped into the room, filling it quickly.
I surged from the bed, standing beside it as Fly got up slowly, coming around to face my father. He was still dressed in jeans and nothing else. My view was blocked by his muscular back, the skin rippling as he pointed at our captor.
“Let’s do this man to man,” Fly said, his deep voice booming. “Now.”
My heartbeat tripled and I huddled into myself, moving back towards the window behind me. I’d never seen my father fight anyone or be aggressive, he usually let his guards do the punishments. Would he throw everything to the wind with his anger and risk his life?
“Don’t be a fool.” My father’s voice had steadied. “I wouldn’t dream of stooping to your level. I want my daughter, now.”
Fly squared up to my father, his huge frame a barrier between me and my father. Even if I wanted to go, which I was no longer sure of, Fly wasn’t ready to let me. Did he want to protect me? Or use me as a weapon against the man he despised?
“Why are you so angry?” Fly’s head tilted to the side. “Are you afraid that you missed something between us? Do you get off on seeing your daughter like that?”
My father tutted and Fly stepped back, moving to the side. I gasped when my father was revealed, holding a gun and aiming it straight at Fly’s chest. No matter how chivalrous Fly wanted to be, although I wasn’t sure why, he couldn’t stand up against a gun.
“Come with me,” my father ordered, waving his gun.
I also didn't want to push the man who had raised me. In the past, I would’ve trusted that he would never hurt me, let alone shoot me. But now, I could no longer believe I was safe.
Stepping forwards, I glanced sideways at Fly when I was beside him. He raised his eyebrows, his jaw tight and his hands clenched into fists. Our powerlessness against Chad boiled my blood, despite being as afraid as Fly.
I ignored the thumping of my heart and moved carefully to my father to stand behind him.
“Be a good boy,” my father said to Fly, “and go clean the place. You should take pride in your current accommodations.”
Fly shot forward and Chad stumbled back, knocking into me. The gun stayed firmly aimed at Fly’s chest, ready to fire. Except it didn’t. Although, the threat of it was enough to stop Fly from approaching further.
“Fuck you.” Fly’s reply was full of venom and my father backed up, pushing me before him.
We walked that way through the wing, with him half facing forward, gun aimed backwards, until we reached the thick metal door.
I'd walked slowly, deliberately, so he had to stay in the vicinity of Fly for as long as possible. I’d never seen my father's hand shake from fear until now. It made me realize how much I’d feared him over the years.
The door swung open and we exited, my father handing the gun to Martin, who waited on the other side. The ceremony room opened up in front of me, a stark reminder of what Fly had spoken about.
“You…” My father pointed a finger in my face. “…are a disgrace.”
Holding my head high, I glared as fire heated my veins. “You can talk! You’re supposed to protect me and you’re encouraging him to force himself on me. What’s going on?”
His arm flew up and he swiped me hard across my face.
I gasped, clasping my cheek, staring at him open-mouthed.
I didn’t recognize the man who stood before me with pink cheeks and stony eyes.
He had never been a lovable father, he’d been too busy leading people to their cleansing.
However, he’d always treated me with a little bit of respect.
“I still haven’t forgiven you for going behind my back with his man,” he snapped. “This is your punishment. Once it’s done, you'll return to the flock. I have a ceremony to perform today. Your friend had been chosen as a bride.”
“Friend?” I asked weakly, still holding my burning cheek.
He didn’t even look at me as he turned to Martin and whispered something to him.
I glanced around as several men came onto the stage and laid a sheet over the bed.
I’d seen that bed a thousand times, but I hadn’t been in the room for the ceremonies.
It was the men who were allowed to watch while the women waited in their homes.
“What do you mean once it’s done?” I asked, suddenly remembering his words only moments before. “You’re not releasing me now?”
Turning to look at me, my father smirked. “No, child, I’m not. I have a goal I need to achieve with your friend and you have a role to play in that. Once the ceremony is done, you go back in with him.”
Martin moved closer to my father as I growled in frustration. He had almost been in my bed in the past, and yet, he would do everything to protect the man in charge, even if it meant I got hurt. Maybe Fly had been right about this place.
Dismissing me with a wave of a hand, my father approached the stage. “She gets to have a front row seat this time.”
“But, Sir, the men–” Martin started.
My father spun on the steps and pointed at him, a scowl on his face. “You dare to question me? My daughter needs to be reminded of what we’re doing here. This is the perfect opportunity.”
“Very well.” Martin ducked his head and indicated that I sit in the seat nearest the metal door.
It was fruitless to fight. Martin had a gun and although I couldn’t see it, I knew it was within easy reach.
Plus, maybe it was time I saw exactly what happened at these rituals.
The women I’d spoken to after they were married had made out that they felt incredible, even though they never went into detail about what actually happened.
My father disappeared behind the long white curtain as the double doors opened.
Men started to spill in, eagerly finding seats and sitting silently.
When they spotted me, they frowned and looked at one another, their cheeks turning red.
Of course they wouldn’t like a woman in the room, the rituals had always been for the men so they could validate a woman’s cleanliness.
A woman would be an encroachment on that, even though I was supposed to take over from my father one day.
“You might want to look away,” Martin spoke under his breath when the men were settled and the curtain opened.
Frowning, I glanced up at the stage, my hand covering my mouth when a naked woman was revealed.
My friend, Kylie, the nurse. Her cheeks were pink and her hands were trembling.
I could feel the nervousness rolling off her as my father approached her from behind.
I'd had no idea that she’d been interested in anyone, let alone chosen for a bride.
“My friends,” my father announced, his voice booming around the room. “Our lovely Kylie has been our nurse here for a couple of years now and has caught the eye of Nick, our main doctor.”
I stifled a gasp when I searched for the aged doctor. The man sat in the front, his grey hair reflecting from the light above. He must have been three times Kylie’s age.
“We know that my seed cleanses the women who believe in our truth, The Reason.” Chad put a hand on Kylie’s shoulder, smiling down at her when she flinched. “And when Nick came to me with a request to have Kylie for his wife, I gladly agreed.”
Swallowing, Kylie tried to shuffle, but my father’s hand tightened, his fingers digging into her skin. The men were watching her as her body was highlighted by a spotlight. I glanced around discreetly, noticing how many were holding themselves. Perverts.
My stomach rolled as my father took Kylie’s elbow and steered her towards the plain bed.
A projector screen came on behind them, showing an image from above the bed.
No, surely they didn’t get to watch everything?
I’d always known that my father did things with the women, to cleanse them, of course, but… this?
“Kylie,” my father turned her to face him and proceeded to strip.
I put a hand on my chest and looked away as he bared himself completely. As curious as I had been about the ceremony, I had never anticipated that it was on full display, to all the men in the room. Poor Kylie.
“Do you agree to take my seed inside you in order to cleanse your soul?” Chad’s voice faded as I stared at the marble floor in front of me.
A tiny reply sounded and I glanced up to catch Kylie nod once.
She climbed on the bed and lay down, her whole body shaking as she settled.
I kept my gaze averted when my father got up with her, unable to bring myself to see him like that.
What the hell? Why had he wanted me to see what he did to these women?
“First,” he called loudly to his followers, “I will swipe her vagina to clear it of any dirt.”
The men murmured an affirmative, some shifting in their seats.
I looked away, unable to watch my friend be humiliated.
Except, she probably didn’t believe it was a humiliation.
Our fathers had been made out to be good men of a pure nature.
Never would I have imagined that they’d get turned on by the very ceremony that was meant to be of pure spirit.
Nausea gripped me and I dropped my head forwards, pushing my fingers into my ears. I couldn't listen to what was happening, not when Kylie was staying so quiet.
“I will now show you how clean she is before getting her wet and ready.”
I actually heaved at my father's loud words and pushed my fingers in my ears harder.
My eyes squeezed shut and I tried to block it all out despite knowing that I should be brave.
I should see what my father did to these women.
For so long, I'd lived in ignorance, pretending that the ritual was quick, private and pure. Now... my mind had changed.