“Oh, Ky… that was…” A female voice sighed.
Snapping open my eyes, I ripped off the rubber, grabbed a new one, and this time lifted Jules in the air, slamming her on her back. “Spread your fuckin’ legs, bitch.”
Jules’s eyes widened as I lined up my still rock-solid cock. “Again?” she asked, breathless and in shock.
“Again. NOW!” I hissed and her eyes widened at my order. “You got a problem with that? If so, get the fuck out and I’ll get another slut from the bar.”
“No… no problem, baby,” she answered quickly, her eyes bright. She was turned on by my aggression.
“Then spread your legs and don’t fuckin’ open your mouth again,” I ordered as I hammered inside her and roared. When Tiff suddenly straddled Jules’s face and reached back to grip my fingers, pushing them into her tight ass, I closed my eyes and pictured Lilah beneath me again, moaning and clawing at my arms, that ass and cunt shoved up in the air. I gritted my teeth and picked up the speed of my thrusts.
Fuckin’ cunt-struck for the brainwashed pilgrim blonde…
Shit!
Chapter Five
New Zion, Texas
Prophet Cain
Pressing my palm to Mae’s soft cheek, I whispered, “I would have given you the world.”
Her hand mirrored mine and she leaned in close. “Run, Cain. Please… Run…”
I could hear guns in the distance, but my legs would not move. I could not leave her. I loved her.
“Run, please… Save yourself… For me, if you love me, run… for me…” Mae begged.
The gunshots grew closer still, and dropping my hand, I fled into the forest, leaving behind my heart and my people’s chance at salvation…
“How are you feeling, brother?”
Startled by a voice coming from behind, I jumped. Ridding the painful memory of Mae from my head, I rose to my feet, finished with my prayers.
Judah, my twin brother, approached with a wide smile upon his face. He was dressed in his traditional white tunic and pants, as was I. His hair was exactly the same length and color as mine, his eyes the same brown, his build and height identical.
Combing back long hair from my eyes with my fingers, I embraced my twin, seeking solace in his familiar arms, and sighed, “I am well.”
Judah pulled back and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, guiding me on the decorative path in the personal prayer garden at the back of my new housing quarters. Although, the name “quarters” did not seem appropriate. My new dwelling was a large columned white house, ostentatious in its interior decoration and vast in size. It boasted many bedrooms, reception rooms, lounges, and a large kitchen, all filled with expensive furnishings. The landscaped gardens behind it seemed never-ending and too much, but this small prayer garden appealed to me, filled with its fountains and greenery. It was a place I could escape from all the craziness of late.
I was not sure I could do this.
Was not sure I could do all that was expected of me.
Hell, I was not sure I wanted to do this.
I did not feel like a prophet. I felt like a man who’d just had his heart ripped out and served to him on a platter. And now I had an entire flock of people to lead. I was twenty-four and had to lead an entire commune.
I was so out of my depth.
Judah squeezed my shoulders, obviously seeing the worry in my expression. “This is the most glorious of times, Cain. Do not fear it. This is the year you ascend to your rightful place amongst our people. The year you are introduced to the Chosen as our prophet, our Lord’s servant on Earth… our redeemer and savior. This is the moment we have prepared for our entire lives. You are meant to be here.”
Judah stopped us and turned me to face him when all I gave him was silence. He completely believed in our mission, but I just could not get up to speed. He should be leading, not I.
“I am your right-hand man. I am with you every step of the way in both guidance and support. You are my twin; our bond is more than merely brotherly or one of blood. We were one in our mother’s womb, split into two by the Lord who prophesied our future glory as his messengers. We shall rule and prevail together. I will do whatever you command. I serve to please you, to help you share the burden of your quest as the twelve disciples did with Jesus Christ.”
Judah was like a balm to me. Always present to calm me down and remind me of why we were here. But having spent years with The Hangmen, and then loving Mae so fiercely, I often felt that his efforts were a lost cause.
I nodded and cupped his bearded cheeks, trying to reassure him I was fine, even if I felt anything but. “You are indeed correct, Judah. This is our destiny. I will not let you or our people down. I am ready to do the Lord’s bidding, and I know you will be there for me in both the good and the challenging times.”
Judah clapped his hands together and grinned wide while I released a slow exhale. “Bless you, Cain. Bless you.” With a friendly slap on my back, we began walking at a leisurely pace, turning left to follow the cobblestoned gray path that transformed into a graveled trail through the acres and acres of green land.
Judah gestured to the commune. “So what do you think of New Zion?” Judah’s face appeared nervous as he waited for my answer. He so desperately sought my approval, believed completely that I was his prophet.
In the two weeks following the Hangmen’s deadly raid on The Order’s previous commune—while I’d been fleeing to The Pasture, my childhood home in Utah—Judah had been working round the clock with a newly formed elder council to find us a new land to call our own. A new land to house our people, to unite our followers, and a new land to protect God’s chosen people from the evil lurking outside our gates… the evil men who murdered our sacred prophet and massacred our brave and holy men who fought back against their unwanted invasion—The Hangmen, the motorcycle club that I’d had to live with under a new identity on request of Prophet David. Judah and the council constantly reminded me that they were heathens and sinners, and they wanted me to vow to take them all down for the pain and destruction they had bestowed on my people.
I had agreed, though I had no idea how to even begin to think of taking them out. I was tired of the violence and too consumed with just the idea of how to even be all that my people wanted me to be.
But worst of all, The Hangmen had the Cursed women of Eve. They had her… Salome, the woman revealed by the Lord to Prophet David to save our people and to secure their place in paradise by the union of marriage. The woman who must be my wife. The woman who nightly tormented my dreams, but all the while lay promiscuously with him, Styx. The man I hated most. She was mine. Mae should be with me, by my side.
Ridding my mind of all thoughts, I met Judah’s expectant gaze and smiled. “Brother, it is perfect. It is truly perfect for what we have planned, as a sanctuary for both our people and the Lord’s cause.”
Judah’s expression reflected his relief, tears of joy glistening in his eyes. “I am humbled to hear you say such words.”
“Judah, there is no need for ceremony with me. I am your twin. You are the one person who does not need to seek my approval. I need you. You’re all I have.”
Judah sighed and asked, “And your quarters?”
“They are more than I could ever dream.”
“That pleases me greatly, brother.”
For the past two weeks, I’d been kept in seclusion from all except Judah and the elder council at The Pasture to ensure my protection while the new commune was secured. New Zion was an ex-military base sold to us by a Chosen who lived undercover within the political mainframe. The base was perfect for The Order’s new home. It was secure, already had a mass of housing, communal areas, and we could become self-sufficient by using the many acres of arable land… but best of all, it wasn’t too far from our old commune, from all our alliances, yet it was far enough to be unsuspecting and off the common public’s radar.
“Are the people gathering to move here now, from all of the overseas com
munes?” I asked, nerves suddenly racking my body at the thought.
“The elders are organizing them as we speak. They are all very anxious to meet you, to be united, and to hear the Lord’s words spill from your mouth.”
I cast my eyes down so my twin did not see my fear. “I am sure they are. It has been a very difficult time for them of late. They need guidance and strong leadership. They need a new goal, a new hope… They need comfort that our dead will be avenged. We all need to finally band together, without fear of the outside world.”
“And you will be that hope, that solider for them,” Judah said with conviction. I could see the excitement of our revenge burning brightly in his brown eyes. Judah was determined to bring the wrath of Lord on all who wronged us… and I was right behind him.
“Prophet Cain? Brother Judah? We are ready. The people have begun their journeys from afar and they are eager for the future ascension. It is a monumental time for us all! The diaspora is over; our unification is here!”
Turning, I smiled at my council of elders as they approached. They were handpicked by Judah. They had seniority, loyalty, and best of all, absolute faith in our cause. And I could not relate in any way to most of them.
“Brother Luke, Isaiah,” I greeted the more senior in age first, out of respect. I then turned to the disciple I talked with most and spread my arms. “Brother Micah!” Micah embraced me and then stepped back.
Micah was Brother Luke’s son. They had been overseeing some of the international communes for Prophet David for most of their lives, but when Judah had put out the call for the communes to unite, they’d been the first to respond, immediately traveling to this base. They had been rocks in bringing everything together.
The commune had been split into four sites, with New Zion being the biggest. All were close to Zion, so if one fell to an outside and evil intrusion, our sect would remain and our holy soldiers would be readily available to fight and defend their faith.
“Are you ready, sir?” Micah asked and laid a hand on Judah’s shoulder. The three of us were of a similar age, and he had grown into someone I could trust.
“I am ready for what lies ahead,” I replied, but could not help but feel suffocated by all of the pressure lying at my feet. Micah regarded me strangely and I panicked that he could see my inner struggle on my face, the severe doubt I had in my ability to fit into this role.
“Please give me a moment for private prayer. I have much to prepare,” I said and saw relief spread on his face.
The elders respected my wishes and walked away, as did Judah.
Drinking in the fading sunset, I steeled my nerves and tried to assure myself that I was right where I was supposed to be. This was always my destiny; it was always my path in life.
But Mae’s light blue eyes flashed across my mind and I lowered my head, feeling dread seep into my bones. I had no choice but to do this. I wanted to prove myself as worthy to the Lord. I wanted to be a good leader.
I had no other choice.
Taking a deep breath, I dropped to my knees in prayer, asking the Lord to guide me, and to fill me the unshakable passion I witnessed daily in Judah and the elders.
For within the next couple of months, our people would unite and I would ascend to a living conduit of the Lord…
Then the real test of my faith would truly begin.
Chapter Six
Lilah
I had been sitting upon this bed for four hours. Sleep had not come to me. I tossed and turned, unable to find any comfort in this stifling room and on these too-soft sheets.
In commune, we were only ever granted the barest of amenities. Our beds were mattresses on the floor, linen rough on our skin. As the Lord’s people, we should live as Jesus did, live as he lived and renounce all luxuries.
This apartment of Styx’s, though not overly endowed with fineries, was luxury beyond anything I had ever been accustomed to, than any of the Cursed had ever become accustomed to. It was proving difficult to adjust.
But I confessed to myself that the rich sheets and cushioned bed were not the reason for my lack of sleep. Oh no, that honor went to the pair of bright-blue eyes, the head of long blond hair, and the physique made for sin that pervaded my every thought.
I’ll be here in the morning. Be ready!
He would be here this morning, and I had to be ready.
Ready for what? I did not know. He said he was going to teach me about the world outside, but I did not want to be taught so, did not want to step outside of these walls… especially with him! I was to be rescued by my people. I just knew it. And fraternizing with a sinner was not what I wanted to be doing while I awaited their rescue.
Yet here I was, cleansed from an earlier shower and dressed in my long gray dress, white headdress, sandals, listening intently for Ky’s arrival.
Nerves built up in my body as I sat with proper obedient decorum on the edge of the bed. Ky, the man to teach me about the world, always stared at me, his eyes hooded and his tongue licking over the seam of his lips while his teeth ground down on the small, thin stick he often had protruding from his mouth.
When I observed him from my bedroom window, I established he only ever seemed to wear black or white shirts, loose black or blue denim pants, heavy black boots with metal around the back, and that leather vest boasting that the men here in this place were at one with Hades, the devil.
I had never seen men dress so casually, so strangely, and worse was the way he acted with women, specifically two women… Two blond women he would openly grope, and I dare not mention the other acts. But worse still was that the women openly welcomed his advances and those of each other. I had never seen two women being so… free with one another, carnally. But Ky seemed to enjoy what they did with him. In fact, many of the women walking around at night, especially Saturday nights, acted in the same way.
Prophet David’s main teaching raced through my head as I watched the regular and sinful acts of debauchery happening in front of my eyes. Evil is stalking. Evil will catch you. Evil will destroy your very soul.
Lord, how had things come to this? Brother Noah kept telling me I was close to being saved. That by his schoolings, my soul was being purified. I would no longer be a cursed. But here, in this place, I had no chance of achieving what I wanted, what I had only ever wanted: to not be lusted after because of this Satan-created face.
“Sister?”
Maddie’s sleepy voice rescued me from despair, and I glanced to her bed, her green eyes tired and rimmed with dark circles. Maddie had always been a mystery, never revealing what was in her heart. For the past few weeks, we had been the sole occupants of these quarters. Most days were spent in silence, both of us lost in thought and neither of us sharing our deepest fears.
“Why are you dressed so early? Dawn has barely broken,” she asked.
Sighing nervously, I replied, “I am to receive tutorage today. A man from the club has been charged with teaching me about this outside world.”
The reaction in my sister was instant. Maddie began shaking and her eyes grew almost inhumanly wide. “Is…?” She gulped. “Is someone coming for me also?”
“I do not believe so,” I soothed as Maddie gulped in more air. I realized she had not been breathing, awaiting my reply.
Hand on her chest, she sat up, resting her back against the headboard, and asked, “Then why are you to be schooled?”
Staring at a wooden knot in a loose floorboard, I replied, “Because of my actions last night.”
“I told you not to go out there, Lilah!”
“I know,” I whispered in embarrassment. “And now I am being punished.”
Raising the bed sheet up to the lower part of her throat, Maddie asked, “And what do these men deem as punishment?” Her eyes began to glisten and she added, “Will they… will they take us, punish us as the elders did?”
Heart beating furiously in my chest, I replied, “I do not know.”
“No,” Maddie suddenly said, shaking
her head. “Mae would not allow this. Her Styx, he would not let them treat us in such a manner.”
My mouth gaped at her trust. “Maddie, they are sinners. They openly worship the devil. They are capable of anything.”
“I do not think they worship the devil, Lilah. I have seen no such ceremony or service from my studies out of the window. They simply rebel like Satan did against the Lord when he ordered his angels to bow down to his greatness.”
My eyes narrowed. “They are willingly letting in the occult by wearing the devil’s face on their backs! This is a mortal sin, most certainly not the way we live our life. I do not trust them, and I am fairly positive Mae has lost her senses and her moral core.”
Maddie’s eyes roved down my body, and she said, “If you do not trust these men, why are you ready so early?”
My stomach flipped, but I said curtly, “Because I will do what I have to do to survive. I shall do as commanded until the Lord sends his disciples to save us.”
Maddie stayed silent after that, her gaze intent on her hands, fiddling with the top of the bed sheet. I knew she didn’t want to be rescued. She would rather live in isolation here in this room. But thoughts of deliverance occupied my mind every second of every day.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs and every part of me turned to stone. He was coming. Breathe. Breathe. You can be strong. You can be around him, I told myself.
The doorknob turned. I held my breath in anticipation…
“Sisters?”
Exhaling in relief, my body returned to normal. Mae entered cautiously, wearing those immodest garments, and she had cosmetics painted on her face. She was holding out a tray filled with food, and behind her were her new friends—the blond woman and the large, dark tattooed woman. I feared her immensely. In the commune, there had only ever been people of my color and race. I had not encountered someone like Letti.
The three of them stepped through and shut the door, sealing us in.
“I thought we could break our fast together this morning,” Mae said with a kind smile.