Chapter Twenty Six
Brit
My breath puffed in the cool air, forming a white mist around my face.
I'd gone further down the road to climb over the fence without being heard.
Now, I crept through the trees, just about keeping the shadows of my new family in the distance.
Fly would've killed me if he caught me sneaking around the grounds without his permission.
I planned to be in and out before they'd even laid the bombs, taking the girl to the van with me.
Sneaking around the opposite end of the house, I opened the kitchen door and entered, silently closing it behind me.
The chef would be getting ready for the ritual, just like the other men in the compound.
I just had to make sure there were no cleaners around.
If I was spotted, they would raise the alarm, especially if my father had let them know that I was dead.
Footsteps sounded in the kitchen before the light went off.
I listened to discover which door was closing, grateful that the person had headed straight to the third exit, which came out onto a separate corridor.
The servers used that exit to take food to the dining room behind the grand hall or up the back stairs to my father's private quarters.
Tip-toeing across the kitchen, I followed in the person’s footsteps, heading straight for the same corridor.
Slowly opening the door, I poked my head out, releasing my held breath when it was clear.
The corridor led to the front lobby on the right and the back of the property on the left.
Straight ahead was the door to the ante-chamber of the grand hall.
It was right where the woman who had been chosen would be getting ready for her ceremony. I just prayed that she was alone.
Stepping across the small area, I listened at the door. There was movement inside, but no one was speaking. Good. Hopefully that meant I could talk to her without interruption.
Inhaling, I opened the door and stepped inside the room. The girl, who must have been barely eighteen, gasped and stepped back from where she'd been brushing her hair.
A shudder rushed over me as her eyes widened. “Wait, you're dead!”
I put a finger over my lips to shush her. If anyone was nearby, I needed her to stay quiet, to hide me.
“Is anyone here? Or coming?” I asked, checking around the room.
It was a simple room with a dressing table and mirror.
There was a wardrobe in the corner with one door open, revealing the white dresses that my father made the women wear.
I had been forbidden to ever enter, told that it was a place for my father only.
I'd been so naive, I'd believed that it was where he'd got ready for his sermons.
It made me sick to my stomach to think that I'd sat in that grand hall every Sunday to listen to him, when only the night before, he'd forced a woman to have sex with him in the guise of her being cleansed.
And she didn't even know she'd been groomed.
“I don't think so,” she said, “not until Chad gets me from that door.”
She pointed at the door that led to the stage of the grand hall. The bed on the stage was pushed out of sight for Sundays. It wouldn't do for the women of the congregation to see that, even if most of them had been on it.
Going to her, I grasped the top of her arms. “We need to get you out of here. Now.”
Her forehead creased as she stared at me. “Why did Chad tell us all you're dead? We had a memorial for you today and everything. I'm so confused.”
“Chad is a dangerous man,” I said, going to the far door to listen.
There was shuffling in the grand hall, light footsteps which I hoped were the guys, placing the bombs. We didn't have much time, I needed to get her out.
“He is going to cleanse me.” The girl had her hands at her sides, her hands tightening into fists. “I'll be pure and free to marry…”
Her sentence trailed off as her throat closed. A pained expression crossed her features and tears covered her eyes.
“Who is he forcing you to marry?”
“Kenneth Drayton.”
“Audrey's husband?” I blurted, taking her hand. “Let's go. Your life is in danger if you stay; we need to move. Please.”
The tears dripped down the girl's cheeks as she nodded, grabbing up her jacket and shoving it on.
I went to the door, reaching for the handle when it turned. My heart leapt into my throat and I backtracked, grabbing the girl and holding her close to me just as Chad stepped through the door.
If I would've died in that moment, the shock that stretched Chad's features would've been worth it. His eyes almost popped out of his head and his cheeks turned bright red. Oh the fury that shot from his gaze actually gave me a sense of happiness.
“Chad,” I greeted him coldly. “I'm here to save this girl from you.”
I was aware of the time limit imposed by the bombs. Fly had no idea that I was inside the building, and once the men of the compound had congregated, he would press the button. And I would be trapped nearby….
“You. Little. Bitch.”
He came for me, spittle flying from his lips. I turned and ran for the door near the stage, grunting when the handle didn't turn. Oh my god, it was locked. His hands came around my head, ripping me back and throwing me on the floor.
The girl screamed and covered her mouth with her hand.
I moved my hair out of my face and looked for her, indicating that she run.
Chad was so enraged, he didn't even notice her leave.
He stood over me, his chest heaving and his eyes still bulging.
I knew I was about to die, but I was okay with that.
The girl was safe and I would be sure to drag my father to hell with me.
“You think you can fool me?” He bent down and spat in my face, grabbing my arm and hauling me to my feet.
His fist flew straight into my cheek and I gasped from the pain that radiated over my skull. My brain rattled but I wasn't afraid, even when he did it again and my head snapped back.
Numbness overtook me and I smiled to myself, giddy from the few happy memories I'd made.
I would die loved by someone, even if they were a dark soul too.
No one had cared for me before, not like Fly.
I had wanted time, so much more time, to revel in his manliness and feel protected.
However, it was enough to know that I'd won his heart.
In fact, as long as Chad, my supposed father, died today, along with me, I would be happy. I would save every other woman and child from being brainwashed into staying in a cult that did nothing but harm. I would die happy. And that was all that mattered.