Thou Shall Not: A Dark Ten Commandments Anthology

by Michelle Brown

  “Are you alright, Athena? Are you sleeping okay?”

  Oh, my god. Do I look that bad? The honest concern reflected in his tone and written all over his face had me swallowing to rein in an onslaught of emotion. It had been a long time since someone asked me that. Such a simple question that meant more than he could ever know.

  I gave him a genuine smile. “I’m fine, thanks.”

  With a nod, he dropped his hand. “If you ever need to talk. You know where to find me.”

  I thanked him again, and then hurried up the aisle.

  Chapter Three

  Draven

  Even so obviously fucking exhausted, she was divine. She still put herself together before leaving the house. Her long, dark brown hair was brushed to shine. The sundress she had on hugged her ample curves in all the right places, the plum color bringing even more attention to the gunmetal hues she’d just eye-fucked me with.

  I watched her retreat, shamelessly staring at her perfect ass. I was always watching. She just didn’t know it yet. There was a reason the men of Cottonwood knew to refrain from asking her out.

  I’d made it abundantly clear that Athena Balaam was mine from the day her eyes found mine in that empty gym. She didn’t know this either, but that would change soon.

  Once she disappeared around the corner, I grabbed the same items she had, and then proceeded in the opposite direction.

  Waiting out of sight at the end of the aisle were Corbin and Isaac.

  “Has our charismatic patriarch finally come to a decision?” Corbin asked. Good naturedly, of course. He may have been one of my closest confidants, but even he knew better than to question anything I did.

  “We need to move forward with our original course of action.” I looked to Isaac. “Did everything go smoothly yesterday?”

  “As smooth as you predicted.”

  “Good.” I turned and headed for beverage department. Usually I never bothered myself with simple tasks such as grocery shopping, but I’d seen Athena’s familiar yellow bug and made the abrupt decision to stop. It’d been too long since I allowed myself to let her know I was close.

  Lurking in the shadows didn’t count, and it had begun to take a toll. I knew she felt the same way I did but was simply too shy to make the first move. There was no need for her to concern herself with any of that, though. I had big plans for the two of us. With the expansion of my church officially a go, I had just begun to make good on some of them.

  Unfortunately, however, things weren’t getting off to the greatest start. A few people felt they could bend rules of Cottonwood, for their own benefit and now I needed to reestablish that me and my congregations’ word was law. One such correction was linked to my Athena directly.

  I received a video of some spineless little fuck boldly flirting, and then proceeding to ask her out on a date. I tried to send him a loud message, but nails through five of his seven didn’t get me the results I wanted which had left me only one other option.

  A real shame too because the boy had some potential. Oh, well. No use in dwelling on things that can’t be changed. I wasn’t the least bit apologetic about it either.

  I was possessive of anyone and anything that belonged to me, especially where she was concerned. And just as with everything else, she would soon learn exactly what this meant.

  Chapter Four

  Athena

  Everything was set up perfectly.

  Jessica and Kyle had arrived twenty minutes ago to help me set up, and now we were waiting on the man of the hour.

  “I don’t think interventions usually have snacks,” Kyle said, swooping a tortilla through the salsa bowl.

  “Well, this is my intervention so I can do what I want. Besides, these are more for me than him. You know I’m a nervous eater.”

  Jessica grabbed a handful of chips for herself, and then leaned back against the counter, quirking a dark blonde brow. “What do you have to be nervous about?”

  “Yeah. I was just messin with you Thea. You’ve got every reason to try and stop this from going any further than it already has. And you don’t have anything to be nervous about, we’re here,” Kyle reassured.

  I didn’t point out the obvious. Toby was an idiot, but he was also prone to throwing tantrums like a petulant child. I’d never been on the receiving end of one, but that could very well change today.

  Re-checking my phone for the fourth time, only five minutes had passed since my sister replied to my text, saying she would be back in fifteen. Needing a temporary subject change I blurted out the one thing I couldn’t get off my mind. “I saw Draven Alistair today. At the store.”

  “Get the fuck out!” Jessica gasped.

  Kyle’s murky brown eyes darted between us. “Are we excited about this or...?”

  “Ecstatic. I think. Are we ecstatic? Did he say anything?”

  “He remembered me,” I offered, leaving out his genuine concern for my wellbeing. For some reason I felt like that should stay private.

  “Oh, then we are definitely ecstatic. I wish I would’ve been there. Was he alone?”

  “I’m not sure. He had like a million pounds of meat in his cart. I guess the church is expanding.”

  “You know what they refer to him as, right?” Kyle asked.

  I shook my head slowly. “Who is they?”

  “Oh, don’t even get him started. He’s referring to those weirdos in town that keep preaching Cottonwood is home of the devil, which is Draven. A few years ago, my mom told me it was someone else.”

  I gave Kyle a look as if to say, Really?

  He lifted his hands in mock defense. “I’m just saying. The rumors could hold some truth.”

  “Draven’s not evil.”

  “Neither is the devil,” Toby’s voice cut in, causing us all to jump.

  The garage door was wrenched open and he my sister, and his friend Dennis entered the kitchen.

  “How long were you ease dropping?” I snapped, bringing a hand to my chest.

  “Long enough to know you still have a thing for Draven,” my sister quipped.

  “I don’t have—never mind. That’s not why I wanted you two here. Sit down.” My tone was a tad harsher than I intended and too defensive, but I wasn’t going to apologize. I had to keep my nerves about me.

  Taylor lost her playful expression immediately. “What’s going on?”

  “Just...sit.” I gestured to the table.

  As the three of them claimed a chair I re-gathered my thoughts and scanned each of their faces. I hadn’t counted on the third wheel being present today, but I could work around this.

  At least Dennis wasn’t a total idiot. He was the first to speak after pulling his dreads back into a ponytail and helping himself to some chips. “So, what’s going on?”

  All eyes turned to me. I shifted and licked my lips. There wasn’t an easy way to tell someone they needed to get their shit together.

  “You guys have to stop stealing.”

  Toby laughed, loudly. Dennis fell in. My sister was the only one who remained serious, she knew I wasn’t joking.

  “What is this, some kind of an intervention?” Toby eyed me, his thick brows slanting inward when it finally clicked that I meant what I’d said. “You fuckin serious?”

  “Obviously,” Jessica drawled, rolling her eyes skyward.

  “What do you mean by you guys? You’ve all been in on a few jobs too.” Dennis said.

  “We haven’t done anything in months.”

  “That doesn’t make you above us,” Toby snapped.

  “Did she say it did?” Kyle shot back.

  “Hey.” Taylor lifted a hand in a calming gesture, turning to look at me with apologetic eyes. “Is this because of this morning?”

  “That—.”

  “That was one incident out of many,” I cut Toby off. “How long will it be before you get my sister caught up in your shit and she goes to jail? Or worse, she gets hurt?”

  “Be pissed if you want. Doesn’t chang
e the fact she’s right. And you know it.” Jessica backed me up, directing that last part at my sister directly.

  “No, no. They are right,” Taylor said softly.

  Taking a deep breath, she glanced around the room nervously and placed a hand on her stomach. “We need to start thinking of our future.”

  I suddenly felt like a balloon that just had all the air sucked out of it. “You’re pregnant? By him?” my voice pitched.

  “What the fucks that supposed to mean?” Toby questioned when Dennis began to laugh.

  It means you’re not fit to be a parent. I clenched my jaw to keep that sentence to myself. I wasn’t happy about this, but I wouldn’t shit all over my sister’s announcement.

  “Babe,” he began, turning towards Taylor with round puppy-dog eyes.

  Kill me now.

  I grabbed a handful of chips. “So, you’ll stop?”

  If he said no, I was liable to go upside his head with the salsa dish. Now, more than ever, he needed to man the hell up.

  He expelled a deep breath and placed a hand on my sister’s knee, dragging the other through his messy brown hair. “I’ll stop. I promise.”

  I began to relax a second too soon. He was quick to add, “After one last job.”

  “You got issues man,” Kyle muttered with a shake of his head.

  I was inclined to agree, prepared to stay here all night until Toby began to acquire some sense.

  “Look, just one more job that’s it. This way I can make sure we’re good while we figure out everything else. Your nest egg is almost gone.”

  “Toby...” my sister began.

  “I swear this will be it. I swear to all of you.” He implored us to believe him, looking at our faces with an open expression.

  “And why is this one job so important? What is it?”

  There was Jess. Always asking the important questions.

  “You mean who is it,” Dennis corrected.

  “Okay, so who?”

  Toby stared right at me and answered. “Draven.”

  Chapter Five

  Athena

  All Hollows Eve

  I shuffled my feet for the millionth time.

  My stomach quivered and I instantly regretted every bit of the Chinese food I’d consumed earlier.

  My sister caught my eye in the rearview and gave me a reassuring smile. “It’s going to be okay, Thea.”

  I couldn’t return her smile and I didn’t share her sentiment. This was wrong on so many levels. My mind kept flashing back to Draven’s concern for me, and now I was sitting in the backseat of our’ SUV to go and steal from him. Well, standby and watch as it happened.

  I wasn’t here for that. I’d only come to 1.) ensure Taylor didn’t get hurt, and 2.) make sure that Toby didn’t burn the entire church to the ground somehow.

  “This isn’t on you,” Jessica whispered, placing a gentle hand on my elbow.

  “It is. I’m wearing a habit to go rob a guy I’ve been fantasizing about since high school. No matter how we flip this situation I’m an accomplice.”

  “Okay, yeah. The nun costumes are a bit much, but it’s Halloween,” she said with a smile on her cherub-like face.

  A bit much? Understatement of the year. I’d thought Toby was joking when he said we would go dressed like a damn congregation, but nope. The men were priests and we were nuns. My father had to be rolling in his grave.

  “I gotta say, breaking the eighth commandment on the Devil’s holiday makes me feel like I’m reserving a first-class ticket to hell,” Kyle said.

  “The eighth commandment?” Toby questioned from the driver’s seat.

  “Thou shall not steal,” my sister and I answered in unison.

  He laughed and shook his head. “You know that’s bullshit, right? All of it is. Nothing worse is going to happen because we decided to rob Draven’s church instead of his house.”

  “You mean you decided,” Dennis surprised me by correcting him. I glanced over my shoulder and saw he looked worried, another first. Realizing he had my attention he crossed his arms over his chest and looked out the window.

  “I don’t mess around with religion stuff man. The eighth commandment is the only one out of ten that is open ended. That isn’t creepy to you? Like they forgot to finish it?”

  Someone had been doing a bit of homework. I told myself to ignore that, but there was a miscommunication between my brain and my mouth. “It actually makes perfect sense. It’s open ended because that’s exactly what they meant.”

  “Thou. Shall. Not. Steal. Don’t steal money, dignity. Fuck, a person. A life. Stealing is bad.” I emphasized for Toby’s benefit. It was a little hypocritical seeing as I was once wholly on board with it, but I’d stopped. I never intended to make a career of this. Chalk it up to being young and dumb for a small stretch of time.

  Toby laughed it off, of course. “See, who is this mysterious they? Chill. Everything’s gonna be cool.”

  Leaning back in my seat, I stared at all the trees we were passing by, hoping the bad feeling in my stomach was nothing more than nerves, and that for once in his life he was right.

  I stared up at the intimidating structure, shivering beneath the fabric of my habit despite the warm temperature outside.

  It was nearly all the way dark, making church appear sinister almost.

  “Are you sure about this?” Kyle asked, standing on my right.

  “I know what I heard. Isaac told Corbin the money was secured in the basement.”

  “But not how much?” I asked to clarify the major flaw in this whole operation.

  “It has to be a decent amount. Why else hide it? Plus, this is the Alistair family church we’re talking about. Those collection plates have to be pretty damn big,” Taylor replied.

  “Let’s get this over with,” Dennis said, brushing past us with a duffle bag hooked over his shoulder.

  The three of them started forward. I took one last look behind us, wishing l could remain where we hid the truck. That went against my reason for being here though.

  I swallowed, and shifted on my feet, proceeding to follow them.

  Something snapped in the woods on our right, loud enough that we all froze. Our heads turned this way and that, searching for the culprit.

  “This place is creepy,” Jessica mumbled when nothing else happened and no one suddenly appeared.

  “I couldn’t agree with that more.” Crossing my arms over my chest. We started forward again, each taking cautionary glances towards the thick patches of trees. I knew the Rothwell church was too large to fit in town, but this location left much to be desired.

  The church sat back, a lethal drop off leading to the falls behind it. Woodland cut it off from everything else. You couldn’t see from the outside and I surmised vice versa. within

  “Cameras?”

  “Not working,” Dennis replied.

  I opened my mouth to ask what that meant, the question forgotten when Toby pulled open one of the entry doors with little effort.

  I immediately stopped walking, that bad feeling in the pit of my stomach intensifying.

  “Thea, it’s a church. It’s not unusual for it to be unlocked,” Taylor reassured.

  Keeping my mouth shut, I nodded. Toby entered first, followed by my sister, and then Jessica. I trailed after them, every step making the warning in my brain scream louder. There was a glow inside from multiple lit candles.

  I crossed the threshold and took a few more steps, coming to a complete stop when the churches interior revealed far more than I was prepared for. Before I could tell them that we needed to turn back, the door slammed shut behind us.

  Chapter Six

  Draven

  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:—Peter 5:8

  Chapter Seven

  Athena

  I turned and headed straight for the exit; Toby’s laughter hot on my heels.

  “I never thought I’
d see you afraid of anything, Thea. Especially this. It’s obviously a joke.”

  “You think a self-respecting priest would decorate his church in satanic memorabilia as a joke?” Taylor asked, apprehension creeping into her tone.

  It was rhetorical. Of course, they wouldn’t. They would not go to this extent all for a few laughs. And at whose expense? Wait...

  I whirled back around ready to pummel him. “Did you do this?”

  His eyes widened in surprise, brows shooting up to his hairline. “Why would I do this?”

  “Because you’re an immature asshole who thinks life is one big joke.” I lifted the robe of my habit to prove my point.

  His eyes narrowed in anger; I didn’t care. On a logical level this kind of overhaul would have been impossible for Toby to pull off. And looking closely, you could tell the grim decor wasn’t newly added.

  “I think we should go,” Jessica stated.

  “Oh, come on!” Toby yelled.

  My sister slapped his arm and hushed him.

  “Not to be the bearer of bad news, but we can’t go out this way. The door locked behind me,” Dennis said quietly.

  “What?” I spun and rushed to where he was standing, nudging him out of my way. Grabbing both rounded handles, I pulled and pushed to no avail, not getting so much as a rattle. We were stuck.

  “There has to be another way out,” Kyle said.

  “He’s right. Let’s get the money and then find it.”

  I laughed humorlessly and turned to face him. “You still want to find the money? This isn’t a sign to you how bad of an idea that is?”

  “Yeah, we need to go, Tobs. Now,” my sister pleaded.

  “Can everyone just calm down?” He intoned, his face pinching in irritation. “It’s just a stupid goat.”

  It wasn’t the animal that concerned me, though admittedly it was creepy. I was bothered by what it represented and that it seemed to be fucking everywhere inside the Rothwell.

  Black pieces of round fabric covered the solar panels on the ceiling, the symbol largely embellished on each one. Pews on either side of us face the front of the room, in the direction of the alter.