Taken: Original Sin Book 1

by Hart, Stella

  He ran a hand through his messy hair. “No. That’s not what I fucking meant,” he said. “This was just the only way.”

  “Only way for what?”

  “I needed to talk to you. And I needed to get you away from that fucking prick who was about to stick his cock down your throat.”

  The way he was speaking made me wonder if it was possible for the Devil to possess a man’s tongue.

  “I don’t understand,” I whispered. “Please stop cursing.”

  He lifted a hand, and I flinched. “Christ,” he growled. “Just look at the way you’re cowering. They’ve fucked you up so bad. I can’t stand it.”

  I realized he’d merely lifted the hand as a conciliatory gesture, and I straightened up. “Why did you say you wanted to speak with me?” I asked, my mind mired in confusion. “You are part of the commune now, but still, I should not spend time with men I don’t know.”

  His nostrils flared as he stared at me. “But we do know each other,” he said sharply. “I know I only just came back into your life, but still… doesn’t it feel like we’ve known each other forever? It’s not just me, right?”

  I could feel something happening in the room, a sort of heat shuddering off Mason.

  “I suppose we did know each other once,” I murmured, trying to ignore the heavy feeling that was descending over my chest. “But our lives have been very different since then. We do not know each other anymore.”

  He shook his head. “You can’t look at me and deny there’s something here. Something between us, different lives or not. You felt it last time I was here. I saw it in your eyes. I’m telling you I felt it too. I still do.”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” I said. My cheeks felt as if they were on fire.

  Mason placed a hand under my chin and tilted it upwards. “Seriously, Jolie, look at me. Tell me you don’t feel a thing when you do. Tell me you weren’t excited when you heard I was coming to live here. Tell me you weren’t happy when you saw it was me pulling you away from that other man at the Joining. You can’t, can you?”

  My heart slammed in my chest. He was right. I was happy when he did that to me, albeit confused, and I did feel something when I was close to him. Something inexplicably needful. Something warm. No, hot.

  Volcanically hot.

  In truth, I’d always been drawn to him. Even when I thought he was dead, I still thought about him from time to time; thought about lustful, disgusting things. Once I discovered he was actually alive, it happened even more. He was the most beautiful and commanding man I had ever met, and every time my eyes fell upon him, I couldn’t help but think: Mine. As if he belonged to me and I to him, all because we knew each other so many years ago.

  Of course, I couldn’t tell him that. Those feelings were not allowed, and given how easily he’d told my father and the Elders about the bad thing I’d done a few months ago, there was no doubt in my mind that he would turn me in again if I admitted to any feelings of lust.

  I wrenched myself free of his grasp. “No,” I said. “All I feel toward you is gratitude for doing the right thing and bringing me here to be punished.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “But you must,” I insisted. “I need it, and besides, you are new here. The men will be keeping a close eye on you for a while, and if I emerge from this room without a mark on me, they will see and they will wonder. You may be forced to leave for failing to uphold our doctrines.”

  His lips twisted grimly. “I know,” he muttered. “I know I have to punish you. It was just the only way to get you alone like this for more than fifteen minutes. I didn’t want to touch you, though. Not like this.”

  I tilted my head to the side. “Why not?”

  He rubbed his unshaven jaw. “Because it won’t be easy for either one of us.”

  Comprehension dawned on me at the sight of his uncertainty. He didn’t know how to begin. Why else would he say it wouldn’t be easy?

  I pointed to the rack of punishment tools on the left wall. Whips, canes, paddles. “You can do it,” I said with an encouraging nod. “You may beat me with any of these instruments.”

  I waited for him to move over to the rack. My heart was pounding even faster now. I couldn’t wait to be punished. It would hurt terribly, but that was the price I must pay to remain pure of heart.

  “Which one hurts the least?” Mason asked.

  I pointed to the cane. I knew from experience that it was actually by far the most painful form of punishment for me. Mason might think he was being kind by going easy on me and selecting a lighter tool, but I would not allow that to happen. I was a sinner. In the end, it was actually kinder to punish me hard and teach me the lesson I needed to learn.

  And who better to teach me that lesson than Mason? He was strong. Big. Deeply committed to our ways. He wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t.

  I bent over the trestle table and took a deep breath. “Please restrain my wrists,” I said calmly. “It will make it easier.”

  After he’d tied my wrists to the rail at the top of the table, Mason trailed the cane over my buttocks. My skin tingled in its wake. “I’ll make it as quick as possible, and then we’ll talk. Okay?” he said gruffly.

  I still had no idea why he wanted to talk to me, but I raised my head and nodded. “Okay.”

  “Count them for me when I begin,” he said. “So I don’t lose count and hit you too many times.”

  I nodded again. It was customary to count out the blows anyway, so the men knew we were truly present in the moment instead of disappearing into our minds and pretending the punishment wasn’t occurring. Some of the girls used to try that, because they despised the pain so much.

  Those girls were even worse than me. At least I was obedient enough to know the pain was necessary and good.

  For a few seconds, nothing happened in the room. I finally heard Mason curse under his breath and let out a deep sigh. Then I heard the cane. It whooshed through the air and tore across my buttocks, leaving a fiery stripe on my bare skin.

  I screamed and struggled on the trestle like a wild animal. The pain was horrendous. Pure burning agony. It was… incredible. Exactly what I needed right now. “One!” I cried out.

  The lashing went on and on, stroke after stroke. I counted every one of them. When Mason reached ten, he stopped. “That’s enough,” he said tersely. “You’re marked now. When they check you, they won’t know I didn’t do fifteen.”

  “No, don’t stop!” I cried out. “Please, you must do them all!”

  “You’ve had enough.”

  “But…” I shook my head wildly. “You don’t understand. I can feel the sin pouring out of me every time you hit me. It feels good.”

  “No.”

  “It does,” I insisted. “Please keep going. Don’t you want to make me feel better? Don’t you want to cast out the wickedness from inside me?”

  “For fuck’s sake, I said no, Jolie.”

  I chose my next words carefully. I didn’t want to seem defiant toward a man, as that was a sin and I was trying to be good, but at the same time, it had to be said. “Please, Mason. Punish me like they told you to, or I will have to tell the Elders you didn’t do it properly.”

  There was a deathly silence in the room, and then Mason let out a heavy, cross breath. “Fucking hell… they really messed you up.”

  At that, the cane came down on me again. Hard. The lash fell on the same spot as the ninth and tenth ones earlier, and I felt the skin begin to split open. “More,” I panted. “Please, I need more…”

  Mason hit me again, and I could not control my screams any longer. The pain was almost unbearable, but that meant the best part was coming. Soon my sins would dissolve, and I would feel light and clean.

  “Yes! Harder!”” I cried breathlessly. A heated pressure was building deep inside me now. The light was coming. Just a few more strokes… just a little harder…

  Two more lashes rained down on me. My moans turned into fractured
whimpers as I counted the strokes. My voice sounded like it was about to break along with my body.

  “That’s it. We’re done,” Mason growled, tossing the cane aside and untying my wrists. One big hand moved to my left leg, trailing down it. “You’re fucking bleeding.”

  I smiled through my tears as he helped me to my feet. “I know. Thank you, sir.”

  “Don’t fucking thank me,” he said. “You think I wanted to make you bleed?”

  I frowned. Why was he angry? It was customary to thank the men for punishing a woman. After all, they were helping us to become better people.

  Without thinking about it any longer, I sank to the cold ground and arranged myself into a submissive pose at his feet. “I am sorry for displeasing you. It was not my intention.”

  Mason pulled me to my feet again. My legs were shaking like mad from the beating, threatening to give out from under me, but he kept me upright and steady in his strong grip. His lips parted slightly as he exhaled. “You didn’t displease me, and I wasn’t lying before, like all the others. I really did want to talk to you. If there was any other way, I wouldn’t have done this to you. Please believe that.”

  My eyes widened. “What do you mean you weren’t lying like the others?”

  “You’ve been lied to since you were a child,” he said in a low voice. “Jolie, you’re a captive here.”

  My eyebrows drew together. “A… a captive?”

  “Yes, a fucking captive. You were taken from the real world when you were just a kid, and these men have lied to you and forced you to live down here like fucking moles. Anyone who doesn’t follow their bullshit rules gets the shit beaten out of them. I mean, look at you.” He gestured toward my bright red, already-bruising buttocks and legs. “You think I wanted to do this?”

  “Of course. Pain is good. It is—”

  He held up a hand. “No, pain is not fucking feminine sin leaving the body,” he said through gritted teeth. “And to add to that, women aren’t responsible for all sin, either. You’ve been brainwashed.”

  “Brainwashed?”

  He nodded, gaze softening. “I came here to tell you the truth. I want to get you out of here. All the other girls, too. And the children. None of you fucking belong in this place. None of you deserve to be beaten or maimed or kept prisoner down here. It’s wrong.”

  I frowned. “No, Mason, you’re wrong. I’m not a captive here. None of us are. If I wanted to leave this place, all I would have to do is walk up to the shelter door and step outside. But I won’t do that. I know how dangerous it is out there.”

  Mason sighed. “See, that’s the thing. The outside world isn’t what you think it is. There was no apocalypse. No Great Reckoning. It’s all bullshit. The men made it up to convince you and the other girls to follow their rules and way of life. They scared you all into submission, and it fucking worked.”

  I took a shaky step back, placing a palm over my suddenly-throbbing forehead. What Mason was saying… it was too much. I couldn’t focus. I could barely even breathe. I willed myself to stop trembling, but that only seemed to make my heart beat even faster.

  “I know it’s difficult for you to hear,” Mason went on, his voice soft and gentle. “And I know I can’t just convince you to pack up and leave tonight, or even tomorrow. But there’s a whole world out there. I want to show it to you.”

  “No.” I refused to look at him.

  He stepped forward and took my right hand, entwining his fingers with mine. “Yes. When you’re ready, I want you to leave with me, and I want you to help me take down this place so these men can never do these terrible things to anyone else. Ever again.”

  “I can’t.”

  “You can. There’s so much out there for you. There’s light. There’s happiness. There’s freedom.”

  “I am free here.”

  He forced me to look at him again. “No, you aren’t. You’ve been deceived by evil men, but I can save you. Do you believe me?”

  “I…” I lowered my gaze to the concrete floor and thought back to all those weeks ago, when I had that wonderful dream. I saw myself on an idyllic island with pure, unpolluted waters surrounding it. Bright and beautiful colors were everywhere, and I heard music and birds chirping as I lay in the bright sun and ate chocolate cake.

  With a sudden rude shock, I remembered what I woke up to the morning after that dream.

  Pure fear seized my body. I’d come so close to falling for these wicked lies…

  “I know what this is. You’re testing me,” I said, narrowing my eyes and tearing my hand out of his grip.

  “Testing you?”

  I nodded vehemently. “Yes. I have been bad lately. I have sinned and given into temptation and lies, and I deserve to be punished for it. I know that. But I have learned my lesson now. I will not give in again.”

  Mason frowned and reached for me. “No, Jolie, this isn’t some fucking trick.”

  I held my head high. “It is. I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to get me to admit that I believe the wicked lies Elena told us all those weeks ago, so you and the other men can punish me even more. But I won’t fall for it. I don’t believe those lies, and I never will!”

  He frowned. “What lies? And who exactly is Elena? I’ve heard her name before.”

  I looked down at my feet. “She was my best friend. She was possessed by the Devil and he made her tell us terrible things. She said she thought the Great Reckoning never happened, just like you said. She said she thought there might be other places women could live. Places where we wouldn’t have any pain.”

  “What happened to her?”

  I looked back at him. “She died.”

  His brows shot up. “She died?”

  I nodded. “The morning after she took us up to the church to tell us these things, she felt so guilty about spreading the awful lies that she committed suicide. She hanged herself in her room.”

  Mason’s eyes were wide, his expression thunderstruck. “So she said she thought none of this was real, and the next day she decided to kill herself. You actually believe that?”

  I frowned. “Of course I do. Elena is dead. I saw her body myself.”

  He rubbed his temples and sighed. “That’s not what I meant,” he said. “Tell me, how many other girls have died here? Over the last year, for instance.”

  “Not many over the last year. Two died in childbirth despite the Healer’s efforts, but only one was reckoned.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Now, that’s one thing I’ve been waiting to find out. What the fuck is a reckoning?”

  “Execution, so a woman can be freed from her sins,” I said. “Rebecca Brady was the last one. She was burned.”

  Mason’s face paled slightly. “She was burned? Like at the stake?”

  “Yes.”

  He clamped a hand over his mouth and shook his head. “This is even worse than I fucking thought,” he muttered.

  I watched him with a curious gaze. He was a good actor. Perhaps if the Great Reckoning hadn’t occurred, he would’ve been in movies and plays. He was certainly handsome enough.

  Stop it, I chided myself. You are trying to be good now. No more immoral thoughts.

  “Jolie, please listen to me,” Mason said, grabbing my shoulders. “You can’t live like this. Whatever Elena said to you... she was right. This place is pure evil.”

  I smiled patiently. “I told you, I will not fall for these lies. I will follow His Word till the day I die. I will never let the Devil tempt me into wickedness or blasphemy again.”

  Mason was silent for a long moment. I thought I saw a brief flicker of disappointment in his eyes, but then he nodded.

  “You’re right,” he said. “This was just a test.”

  I beamed at him, savoring the aching and burning sensation in my legs and buttocks. “Did I pass?”

  Mason put his hand on my shoulder again and patted me. “Yeah,” he said softly. “You passed.”

  10

  Mason


  “Praise Him for this meal.”

  I quickly bowed my head over my scrambled eggs and toast as I pretended to pray. One of the girls had just brought over breakfast for me and the Elders, including Jacob.

  Usually the men sat at their own tables, away from the Elders, but as I was new and still getting used to the place, Jacob was allowing me to sit with them for meals so they could answer any questions I might have. He said he would allow it for as long as it took me to get used to everything.

  As if I ever fucking could.

  I knew they did horrible, dehumanizing things to the women here, but fucking executions? Holy shit. I wasn’t expecting that. When Jolie told me about it the other night, I almost had a goddamned heart attack.

  Really, I should have known. After all, the men here probably orchestrated the mass killing of their wives and many other young adults back in 1999, just so they could create this new ‘society’ of theirs. So why would they stop there? Why not kill a few young women here and there if it ensured the fear, respect and compliance they demanded from the rest of them?

  Fucking psychopaths.

  “How are you settling in, Mason?” Elder DuVernay asked, peering across the table as I gingerly nibbled on my toast. I felt like shit eating this food. Even though everything the women made tasted great and was perfectly-cooked, it was still made with what essentially amounted to slave labor.

  I forced a smile. “Fine, thank you. It’s even more peaceful out here than I imagined.”

  “Yes, it’s nice to escape the toxicity and noise of the cities,” Jacob said from my right. “How long’s it been since you arrived now? Eight days?”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  I’d been counting every damn second. I didn’t want to be here, but I simply had to stay.

  I’d fucked up badly last week by trying to tell Jolie the whole truth right away. I should’ve known better, and yet I’d leapt right in the deep end with her anyway. Unfortunately, trying to convince her of anything that evening was impossible. My attempt to make her accept even the smallest detail of the real world was like walking in deep water with weights attached to my body, an unstoppable drag against my legs. Jolie simply wouldn’t budge. Wouldn’t allow herself to hear the truth. She pushed back over and over, saying she knew it was some sort of test from above.