All I wanted to do was get comfortable. I couldn’t think like this. It was too quiet in here. My breathing echoed through my ears, and every little move I made was amplified.
‘All you have to do is ask for salvation.’
Ugh, why couldn’t he shut up? I didn’t ask for his company. I was perfectly happy being forgotten in this dark place.
‘You must invite the Lord’s light in.’
I rolled my eyes.
My father had some holy message for every situation. If I didn’t like the food I was given, then I was ungrateful and full of pride. Not wanting to go to church meant the devil was whispering in my ear. Questioning his rules…well, that warranted a full-on purge. Hence the scars on my back.
Out in the real world, Trina was the one that ran around doing things she shouldn’t. At home, I was the sinful child. All because I dared to question his religious morals. When I pointed out the flaws in the story of Noah’s Ark, I was made to kneel on rice until the ‘Good Lord’ decided to forgive me. And by ‘Good Lord,’ I meant my father.
Honor thy mother and father. What a load of crap. I hated him, and I hated my mother for letting it happen. But mostly, I hated this goddamn room.
My foot shot out, kicking one of the bars. “Let me out!”
‘Refrain from anger and forsake wrath.’
“Oh, you would like that wouldn’t you?” My father needed a dose of wrath with a splash of vengeance. I’d even sprinkle on a side of, ‘you reap what you sow’ just for him.
‘If you open the door, the devil will walk in.’
What kind of bullshit was that? I didn’t ask Preston to take me. There were no doors open. All I did was confront some assholes because I was worried about my friend. Riley was missing, and they were conveniently in Chase’s tattoo parlor. Call me crazy, but I didn’t believe in coincidences.
‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions.’
That one made me snort, though I couldn’t really argue it. Look where I was.
If hell did exist, it was probably a lot like this room. Dark, cold, and with no one to talk to but the voice in your head. It was suffocating. I couldn’t see the walls through the darkness, but I could feel them moving in. Every inhale brought them a little closer. The scent of dust and sweat was so thick I could taste it.
“Is it too much to ask for some water!”
The unending void of blackness didn’t answer. Not that I expected it too. There was no one here.
‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.’
Except for that goddamn voice.
It figures that the person I waited years to escape would be the one to follow me into a pit of misery. The only thing missing was the overwhelming smell of my father’s cologne. That spicy stench followed me around like a constant reminder of how I sinned or failed to prevent Trina from sinning…
The drops fallingaround me thundered through my ears. I could hear each distinct sound the rain made. The way it tinkled off the house behind me, the plops into the grass under my knees, and the tiny splashes in the puddles.
I made myself hear it all. It was the only way I could stop my soaked body from shivering.
“I hope you’ve had time to think about your actions.”
Every fiber of my being wanted to glare at my father as he circled around me. It wasn’t my actions that dragged me out here in the middle of the night to kneel in the rain.
The birth control was in Trina’s purse, but that didn’t matter to him. Trina already tried arguing and was now locked in her room where she couldn’t interfere with his correction. Not that I wanted her to.
I’d kneel for a thousand days in the rain before I allowed my sister to endure one second of our father’s torment.
A pair of shiny black shoes stopped in front of me. I hated those shoes and the pristine image they represented.
“Because of you, your sister steered off the righteous path.”
I balled my hands, digging my fingers into the wet earth. What did he know about righteousness? The grand Pastor Dupire was nothing but an illusion. His flock had no idea who their beloved leader really was.
