by Erin Trejo
“Do they know I’m here?”
I shake my head and that seems to intrigue her more. I like this Rose. The one that thirsts for knowledge.
“They won’t know either if you follow my rules. Now, tell me about you, Rose. Where did you come from, because from what I can tell you have no family,” I say as I watch her eyes and that’s when I see it. I was wrong about her. She has a family but she’s running from them and that strikes me even more. Now I need to know. The urge is too strong to let it rest.
“I have no family,” she says keeping her head held high. I smirk and challenge her with my gaze. She shifts from one foot to the other before straightening her spine and turning on her heel.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Back to my room. I don’t enjoy playing mind games and I sure as hell don’t plan on playing into yours,” she snaps as she reaches for the doorknob. I move quickly, leaping from the bed and crossing the room, wrapping my arms around her waist.
“I didn’t dismiss you, slave,” I whisper near her ear. My fingers linger over her robe on her stomach, but I can feel her heat.
“I thought I was Rose in this room.” Ah, smart girl. She knows how to fight back, that much I can see, but from what? Against who?
“You are whatever I want you to be. Don’t forget who it is that’s in charge here. You are nothing more than we allow you to be.”
“A whore? Is that what you want us to be?” she asks, her voice catching on the word. What the hell is with this girl? Who is she?
“Who made you be a whore, Rose?” My lips slowly caress her ear, her breathing kicking up a notch.
“No one.”
“Tell me. I can fuck the words out of you if you want. Would you like that? Me fucking you straight into the depths of hell?” Her body trembles and I’m not sure if it’s from lust or fear. There’s an undeniable connection between me and Rose, and I felt it the first time I laid eyes on her. Maybe this is Satan’s sign for me. Maybe he’s telling me to take a slave and that Rose is destined to be mine.
“You’re sick,” she hisses.
“And I bet you’re wet. I haven’t touched you, Rose. Why are you so wet for me?”
“I’m not. Let me go,” she says, trying to fight the hold I have on her.
“You may go for now, but I promise you will be back.”
“I’ll never come back to this room.”
“Oh, I believe you will, Rose.” With that I let her step away from me and watch as she quickly rushes out of the room. I chuckle and walk back over to the bed, dropping down onto it as my cock screams for relief. Unzipping my jeans, I pull myself free and stroke it until my eyes blur.
“You’ll be back, Rose, and you’ll be mine,” I groan as I jerk myself off to thoughts of her naked beneath me.
Eight
Rose
Three weeks. It’s been three weeks here. We’ve been educated in all things Satan. We were forced to renounce any other being, Gods, or truths we believed in and accept Satan as our leader. The main man, Don, thinks he’s Satan himself. He looks at himself as the true leader. He’s pathetic. I’ve watched, I’ve followed the rules, and I’ve kept my head down. I listen, I obey, and I do whatever I’m told just to keep their eyes off me, but it’s his eyes that unnerve me. I’ve learned that his name is Kellin and that he’s the big man’s son. I can see the resemblance. They are the spitting image of each other.
“You shouldn’t keep looking at them,” Violet says as we eat our meals. I can’t not look at him. There’s something about that man that calls out to me. How can something so beautiful be such a monster? How can anything with that face be pure evil?
“I have to find a way out of here,” I whisper to her.
“There is no way out. Many have tried before you and they were all beheaded in front of the coven,” Annie, another girl here, says.
“You’ve seen that?”
“I have. They offer them up to Satan and just like that, they’re gone.” I don’t miss the hitch in her voice. I wonder if it was someone close to her. We’re allowed to mingle with the red robes as they teach us things as well. They’ve been here longer than anyone in white robes, so they are looked at as teachers, too. They aren’t as harsh as the men here, but they do their best to stay out of trouble.
“This is insane. I don’t even get it. I knew there were cults but this? Who the hell believes in this shit?” Just as the words leave my mouth, hands come to rest on my shoulders. I jolt a little, but I know that spark.
“We do, 6106. After the last three weeks, I thought you were well aware of that fact, as you did drink from the blood of the elders, I thought you knew your place. Was I to assume wrong?” His voice holds authority, but I swore to myself I wouldn’t let him get under my skin. So far, he’s only been around when we are being taught and I haven’t seen him since, although that eerie feeling of being watched never goes away. I wonder if it’s him.
“I do know my place, Master.” The proper response leaves my lips in a rush. I’ve seen some of the other girls being punished and it made me sick to my stomach. The way they would beat them with whips, hit them so hard they would black out from the pain. I couldn’t let that happen to me.
“Then what are you questioning?”
“Everything.” The word shouldn’t have slipped through my lips, but they did.
“Come with me,” Kellin says. I rise to my feet quickly and push my chair in. When I move to grab my plate, Kellin moves first. He grabs it and in the other hand he takes my arm and leads me toward the door. He drops my plate on the counter on the way out before leading me down a long hallway. No one bats an eye at him and that alone unnerves me. Does he hold that much power here?
I don’t ask anything else as he leads me into a large room. There are paintings, scriptures, chants, and symbols on every wall. He releases his hold on my arm as I glance around at everything I see.
“All the angels of hell have fallen from heaven. You more than likely learned this as a child,” Kellin says, as I walk around the room. “Lucifer became so obsessed with his own image, power. They say that the sin he committed was self-generated pride. What they didn’t understand was that Lucifer had every right to be prideful.”
“Why is that?” I ask, as I keep walking around the room.
“He was indeed powerful. In our coven, we believe that he was even more powerful than God himself and God saw that as a threat. He cast him out to keep his rule over the heavens.” I slowly turn to face Kellin and see the look in his eyes. Does he even believe the words spilling from his lips?
“You don’t believe it,” I say softly. Kellin moves toward me, cupping my face in his hands.
“I was born into this. This is all I know. You were born into something else. Tell me what that was,” he demands.
“I… I was born into a different version of a cult.” His eyes narrow as he studies my face. My stomach drops and I wonder why I’m even telling him this to begin with.
“What kind?” I shake my head unwilling to go there.
“Doesn’t matter. One hell was traded for another. You have me here now and my fate is damned to this.”
“Damned is a strong word. Damned are all of us. There’s a certain beauty in the damned is there not?”
“Where do you find beauty in this? Keeping slaves?” I ask, careful of my words. I want to know why he thinks the way he does and why he does these things. He shrugs his shoulders and takes a step back as I cross my arms over my chest.
“Tell me about life outside this coven. What was it like?” he asks, and I find myself intrigued. Does he not leave here? “The answer to the question I see in your eyes is yes, I do leave here but not for a long time. I’m only gone short periods and then I’m right back here. Mainly I find girls and return.”
“That has to be the saddest thing I’ve ever heard. Life outside here is beautiful. The world is out there to be explored. Have you ever been to another country?” Kellin shakes h
is head no but the lost look in his eyes says he’s yearned for it.
“There was no reason.”
“Again, that’s sad. Although I’ve never traveled to another country, I’ve always dreamed of it. I’ve seen photos online and videos of other places. Paris, Germany, even Russia. They all look so beautiful.”
“And this place isn’t beautiful?” I don’t answer that because frankly, I don’t know how. I’m afraid if I say the wrong thing I will be punished. “Speak freely, Rose.” My name. I hate the way my body responds when he uses my real name.
“This place may hold a beauty to those that believe it’s the only truth, but what about those who don’t?” My eyes stay on his as if to challenge him and he sees it.
“There are many who walk through those doors not believing but there are many more who change their minds. Once they see what the Unholy can do for them, they change their thinking. We offer sacrifices to Satan on the terms that he protects us. We offer him blood of the coven on the terms that he gives us riches. Isn’t that a fairness in the dark?” he asks as if he truly believes that. Yet, I still sense a doubt in him.
“What about protecting yourself? Or getting a job?”
“I have a job, I groom slaves.”
“You sell them. Women. That isn’t a job, Kellin.” His throat bobs as he swallows, his eyes dancing with evil. I think I’ve just begun a dance with the Devil himself.
“How do you know my name?” Anger ricochets off him and surrounds me in this room.
“I’ve heard people calling your name.” I swallow hard trying to keep my courage about me, but when Kellin storms forward, I know I’ve lost that battle. His hands wrap around my arm and I’m dragged from the room. Down the hall, we keep moving until I stumble trying to keep up with him. He jerks harder and I rush to keep up. We’re down another set of stairs and into the dark basement when a man appears.
“Open the cell!” Kellin roars. The man does as he’s told, and I’m pulled into a cell. Kellin shoves me against the wall before stepping back, running his hand through his already unruly hair.
“Take off the robe, 6106.” I’m now back to the slave. I knew opening my mouth would get me in trouble and yet I did it anyway. I slowly pull my robe off and hold it out to him like we were taught to do. Kellin steps in and slaps it away from me and I watch as the pure white hits the dingy floor.
“Turn around.” I shake my head unwilling to turn. Kellin steps closer until our bodies are almost touching. I can feel his heat and I crave it. Am I that brainwashed already? To be wanting a man as evil as Kellin? His hands come to rest on my shoulders before he grips me tightly. He forces me to spin around and shoves me against the wall. In seconds, he has my arms chained above my head. I scream and fight but there’s no use.
“Let me go!”
“You question me! You question our way of life! Who do you belong to, 6106?” he roars as he moves around behind me. I don’t know what he’s doing, and I don’t try to look. I stare at the brick wall in front of me and will myself to remain calm. That is until I hear the zip of something flying through the air. And then the snap of it against my flesh. I cry out as my ass burns.
“Stop!” I scream but receive another blow from what I assume is a whip.
“Who do you belong to, 6106?” he asks again. The sound will forever be engrained in my mind as he does it again and again.
“You! I belong to you!”
Nine
Kellin
Her words undo something inside of me. She doesn’t belong to me, yet she does. What the hell am I doing with this girl? This goes against everything we believe and every rule that has been set forth. I drop the whip and step back, running my hand through my hair as Rose stands still, staring at the wall. After the first scream, she stopped. She didn’t make a sound, not giving me the satisfaction I crave. I’m a sick man and she is driving me insane.
“Go to your room. At midnight you show up in mine, do you understand me?” Rose nods her head as I move to unhook the chains from her wrists. She moves around me when I see it. Grabbing her hip, she gasps, and I pull her back in front of me. How the hell hadn’t I noticed this before? I don’t comment on it, but I will be tonight. Releasing her as quickly as I grabbed her, she grabs her robe and slips it back on. I watch her as she hurries from the room and up the stairs.
I follow not far behind, and when I reach the top, I spot Rory. He’s in a conversation with my father and from the looks of it, he isn’t happy. Not that my father is ever really happy. He hasn’t been since my mother disobeyed him and our coven.
“Ah, Kellin. I saw you had an issue with a slave.”
“It’s handled.”
“As it should be. Is she a problem?” he asks pushing my buttons.
“Not anymore,” I tell him. He nods and seems to be pleased at least for the moment. The numbers stick in my head, the numbers tattooed into her flesh. There’s a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach as I let her words wash over me. What she said in that room. Another cult. Those numbers. I shake my head to rid the thoughts as my father approaches me.
“We were discussing a sacrifice to Satan.”
“What for? It seems we’ve doing a lot of those lately,” I ask knowing this could land me in trouble. We are never to question his decisions, but as his son, I get away with a little more than everyone else.
“As you know my queen has not yet become pregnant. I think it’s time we produce you a sibling.” The words make me sick to my stomach. I don’t want a fucking sibling. I don’t want him getting Ebony pregnant. She doesn’t deserve the wrath of having his spawn inside of her.
“You wouldn’t dare,” I hiss between gritted teeth. As soon as the words leave my mouth, my father moves. His knife is free of his sheath, I’m pinned against the wall, the pain shooting through my body.
“He who disobeys shall shed blood to the pits of hell!” He roars as he drives the knife deeper into my flesh. I resist the urge to scream from the pain; I refuse to allow him to have that part of me. “You are making the decision to pass the role of king onto you harder, Kellin. What has gotten into you?” His eyes hold fire that I know all too well. I’ve felt their burn since I was a child. Little does he know I don’t want the throne. I don’t want this coven. I want to watch it all burn to the ground but for now I am forced to be a part of this. I was groomed to be just what I am. A devil in disguise.
“Please, forgive me.” The words taste like acid on my tongue.
“It isn’t my forgiveness that you need. It’s his. The Unholy. Satan! Go to the temple and ask for his forgiveness!” The knife is pulled free from my stomach and I instantly grab the spot. My father turns and walks away as Rory rushes up next to me.
“What the fuck are you doing, Kellin? Pissing him off isn’t helping anything,” he hisses. I turn and begin to walk toward the temple. Rory stays next to me even as I feel weak from the blood loss. I know it’s seeping through my black shirt.
When we enter the temple, I walk to the altar and grab a skull. A human skull. One of which we sacrificed many years ago. I bring it to my side and move my hand, letting my blood flow into the open top. I wince when Rory presses a rag to the cut.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“No. I’m trying to stay alive,” I tell him. Something inside of me is slowly breaking and I can feel it. I don’t know what it is, and I don’t know why it’s happening now, but it’s there. I lower my head and chant the prayer to Satan himself before lifting the bowl of my own blood. I offer him the blood as my repentance, and as I slowly raise the skull over my head, I tip it and let it rain over me. Rory stands off to the side, but he doesn’t speak a word until I’m finished and stand.
“You need stitches. Who do you want me to send you?”
“6106,” I say without thought. If she has a reason to come to my room, no one will question it.
“What are you doing with that one, Kellin?”
“My job,” I say as
I push past him and walk away. It doesn’t take me long to get to my room and drop into the chair. My mind is reeling with everything that’s happening. Those numbers sting the back of my mind, and even though I don’t know what they mean, they bother me more than they should. I close my eyes and let myself drift if only for a while.
“What am I supposed to do?” I hear her voice, but I don’t open my eyes. Someone else is in the room with us.
“You stitch him up.”
“I don’t know how to do that!”
“Then you are to learn. This isn’t a hard task, 6106. You just do as your told or did you need another reminder?” I don’t miss the gasp that comes from Rose. I heard it all too well. I still don’t open my eyes, but I hear the door close and Rose curse under her breath.
“This is so fucking stupid. I have no clue how to do this and now I have to touch him, too,” she mumbles under her breath.
It’s almost funny to listen to her, but at the same time, it makes my cock hard. I can feel her inch closer before kneeling between my parted thighs. Her hand comes to rest on my stomach and I have to refrain from sucking in a sharp breath at the feel of her. She slowly begins to peel my blood-soaked shirt up and I wince. Then finally I open my eyes and stare down at her. She looks lost in her concentration.
“I like you on your knees,” I say softly but huskily. Fuck, she looks perfect on her knees before me. Rose jerks and starts to move but I close my thighs around her body, keeping her in place.
“Why am I here? What happened to you?” she asks, looking at the wound.
“Don’t ask questions, Rose. It will be easier if I lie on the bed,” I tell her. She nods her head and I let her stand before I move to do the same.
“You should wash that too,” she says nodding toward my stomach. I reach around and pull my shirt off, tossing it to the side. Rose’s eyes move over my body like I’m the temple she would like to worship at, and I’d gladly let her. She takes me in, all of the tattoos that color my flesh before she reaches her hand out. I almost slap it away, fear of her finding all the physical scars that linger sits in the back of my mind, but I want to feel her touch. I fucking crave it more than anything else. After watching her for weeks, she’s here in my room once more. It goes against all the rules. It breaks the codes, but I don’t care.
