Shelter in Place: Quarantine Romance Collection Includes New Novella

by Jamie Knight

  She seemed to be struggling to get to the minimum number, let alone the ten required for bonus points. It was likely that she had fallen into the age-old trap of assuming that, because it superficially involved watching movies all day, Film Studies was easy.

  Nothing could be further than the truth. Film was an art form like any other and as with English Lit and to a degree to deeper forms of History, required a lot of very precise analysis.

  At least if it is going to be done properly and there were, of course disagreements about which interpretations were best. Going so far as to contend that even what the filmmaker says they meant wasn’t the final word. Taking a page from Roland Barthes and the Death of the Author.

  I hadn’t really interacted with most of my classmates. At least not in a meaningful way, outside Rachel of course. Yet, there they were. Roughly a dozen replies to my posted comments asking if they could chat with me.

  Maybe we could study together virtually?

  Conspicuously absent from the list was Rachel O’Flanagan. Despite the fact that, in my humble estimation, she needed more help than any of them. I was a little surprised she wasn’t just plagiarizing my notes, or even putting them in her own words.

  What little she had up at least seemed to be on her own analysis. Mostly using my notes as a means to understand what was going on. Like a latter-day Rosetta Stone for film analysis.

  She was nothing if not honest. In terms of both facts and fairness as far as I could tell. That fact alone spurred me to think that she might be okay after all. Despite, no doubt, having a head full of dogma shit.

  I had just poised my fingers over the keys, fully intending to invite her to chat when I thought better of it. Remembering how she had reacted when she first saw me in the dorm, it was probably better to ease into things gently.

  Chapter Eleven - Rachel

  I couldn’t move. The ropes were too tight. I tried to lift my head but all I could see was the floor. All I could feel was the table beneath me. Cold and smooth.

  My wrists and ankles were tied to the tops of the table legs with gentle silk ropes. Dad always said the idea was to hold me, not hurt me. Like a great big hug.

  We were at home. I knew that much. Last time it had been in the church. In the basement. I didn’t think the priest knew but if he did, he never said anything. Ours was a sect that still believed in literal exorcisms so a bit of light bondage was unlikely to raise any eyebrows.

  “Daddy?” I asked, as a floorboard creaked.

  “I’m here, kitten. It’s alright?”

  “What’s happening, daddy? I can’t move.”

  “That makes it easier, kitten. There’s something Daddy has to do, and it's easier if you can’t thrash about. Remember what happened last time?”

  “Yes, Daddy,” I said through tears.

  I could smell it. It wasn’t the kind of thing that was easily forgotten. Particularly what happened after. It is a truly terrible thing. To smell your own flesh cooking. Just a small preview of what awaited in the fires of hell. I started screaming before the flame touched me.

  The scream continued into the waking world. Not thinking about anything other than the terror, I ran into the bathroom, whipping off my nightdress as I went. Stark naked, I stood under the harsh, fluorescent lights, staring at my bare back.

  It was fine. I was fine. The dream seemed so real, even though I couldn’t remember that happening. I looked at the cross burned into my flesh. I wanted it gone. To take the sharpest knife in the well-stocked kitchen, and slice it away, like peeling an orange. Any scar that might form preferable to the current disfiguration.

  I gasped audibly, shocked and disgusted by my own self-violence. I’d never thought anything like that before. Graves. He must have been getting into my head. Making me think things a good, Christian girl never would. Except how could he? He’d barely said a word to me since I found out who he was.

  Did have some kind of mind powers like Dad had said? The laugh burst from my throat. A natural and involuntary reaction to a truly ridiculous idea.

  No, it wasn’t him. It was me. Finally, realizing what had been done to me in the name of love and righteousness.

  It felt like I might vomit. The sheer weight of the realization feeling as though it might just crush me. I settled myself and tried to control my breathing. Everything was fine.

  I was safe. The pandemic was outside, and I didn’t even have to go to class in the physical sense. My father was far away, back at home. The only thing I might’ve had to worry about was Augustus. Though even that was coming to seem increasingly ridiculous.

  Seeing the shower reflected in the mirror, I turned on the water. It wasn’t too early and anyone who might have been woken by the sound of the pipes should have been up already. I hadn’t heard anything from Augustus but also wasn’t really paying attention either.

  The warm water felt like a blessing as it came cascading down. Cleansing my exhausted and scarred body of filth and tension if not the wages of sin. Sins visited upon me when I was too young to understand them, nonetheless getting the effect of the intended correction.

  I shivered as my hands grazed the raised ridges of the scarring. Dad had meant them to be a reminder. Though he likely hadn’t meant it in the way that was beginning to develop. I remembered alright.

  Moving down my body and back up my legs, it came time to wash my nethers. Something that had always held an odd type of tension. I knew it needed to be done, while ever conscious of the effects that can be caused by even the lightest friction on my pussy or clit. I was really sensitive, even a light gust breeze, while I was naked, capable of making me moan.

  Bracing a hand against the wall like I had before, I touched myself. Running my fingers along my tender pink lips. The tensions rising up inside me. I spread my lips letting the water get at me, before gently massaging them in a slow circular motion.

  A long, moan escaped me before I could stop it. Ordinarily I would have clamped my hand over my mouth, mildly shamed. Worried that someone would hear. At that moment, I officially stopped caring. My notion that pleasure was okay and, if anything, was created by God for us to enjoy becoming a full-fledged conviction.

  I started going faster, plunging two fingers into my aching pussy, vocalizing openly as I worked myself to orgasm. It was a rebellion I suppose. Though, more than that, it was a reclamation. A way of saying my body and my life were my own and not for anyone else to be compromised. I was so happy I cried. Gentle tears rolling down my cheeks as my body shook with sweet release.

  Swaddled in my robe, still gloriously naked beneath, I pushed two PopTarts down into the eight-slice toaster that came with the kitchen. An instance of flagrant excess that would surely turn my father’s face red. I smiled at the image waiting for the time to tick down.

  Despite having always been taught to eat at the table, ‘like a proper lady,’ I damn well took my plate of processed, sugary goodness into the living room and sat on the couch. Fully intending to watch something on the flat screen TV hanging unobtrusively on the wall.

  Neither Dad nor I had noticed it when I moved in. I wasn’t sure about Dad, but I’d taken it as some kind of post-modernist painting, commenting on the void. As well as the obvious nod to Yves Klein.

  My very selective powers of observation also made it so I’d completely missed the sheaf of paper on the coffee-table. Partly covered by the plate. The pages held together with a staple in the upper left-hand corner. Like the notes Augustus had given me.

  Of course they were! What else did I think? Some invisible tutor had broken in, slipped in during the dead of night and placed a fucking study guide on the table. Right where I would see it in the morning.

  I blushed at my mental profanity. Another step in the reclamation process. I had no intention of becoming a potty-mouth or someone with a dirty mind. Though it was a relief to know I could use such words, even mentally, when and where they were called for. There being some situations, usually involving absurdity, pain,
or terror, when only cuss words would do.

  When the initial shock wore off, it was replaced by a sense of wonder, coupled with confusion. Even after our last meeting and my obvious efforts at avoiding him, Augustus still went out of his way to try and help me. I wondered for the moment how he knew I was having trouble before remembering the online discussion group.

  I knew I hadn’t done well. Hardly coming up with the bare minimum in terms of comments. I wasn’t happy about it. I’d always prided myself on being a good student but that had only been in areas I knew. The curriculum at Convent school was not really very broad when it came right down to it. Of course, they were pretty traditional. Most of the girls graduating from there expected to become wives and mothers, with no other aspirations at all.

  Moved by forces unseen, which could have come either from my Lord or his, I stood straight up and marched to Augustus’s room. Hellbent on having it out with him. I knew almost for a fact that I’d misjudged him and had the sneaking suspicion he had done the same with me. We had to talk if we were going to have any chance of a co-habituation that wasn’t extremely awkward. The two of us constantly tip-toeing around each other. He had made the first move. It was only right that I try and reply.

  His door was closed, as it often was. Though I somehow doubted that he kept a chair wedged under the knob. It was unlikely that I might try to baptize him in his sleep. If half of what I’d heard about people like him were true, it would not be a pleasant experience. Steam starting to rise from his skin as soon as it was touched by Holy Water. Fuck, my dad used to talk about Satanists like they were fucking vampires.

  I wanted to knock but something stopped me. He sounded really busy, the sound of his keyboard audible through the door. I didn’t want to disturb him. It might have seemed like a pathetic excuse but was true enough at the time. Before I left, my ear was caught by the song he was listening to.

  He is/He’s the shining and the light without whom I cannot see. And he is, insurrection, he is spite, he’s the force that made me be.

  Chapter Twelve - Augustus

  I was okay. It was the first time in a long time that I hadn’t woken up screaming. It was a nice change really. Lifting my head, the keys that were on my pillow not wanting to let go and leaving their impression in my skin, I noticed the record player was still spinning. The needle was thumping in effectively against the label.

  Rallying all my strength, I arose like Lazarus and limped on my snoozing right leg to the player. Putting it out of its misery.

  Slipping the record back into its sleeve, returning the precious, vintage, vinyl to its alphabetical slow in the row, I selected my next outfit from the free-standing closet and headed for the bathroom.

  I did a quick sweep of the common space, making sure Rachel wasn’t about. I would retreat and give her space. The coast was clear, and I booted it to the bathroom, suspending the hanger of fine, secondhand clothes on the hook set into the back of the bathroom door for this expressed purpose.

  No sooner had I sat back down at the desk, showered, dressed, with breakfast in hand, then a message came through on my email system. An instant message, standing out against the white background in hues of pink. Close to red but not quite there.

  Rachel: You up?

  It was technically possible that I was still logged in from the day before. I decided to be nice.

  Me: Very much so. Just had a shower.

  My words came up in dark blue. The color and font selection were meant to be default as well as random, so I didn’t look too far into it.

  Rachel: I thought I heard you.

  Me: Who else might it be at this time of day?

  Rachel: Noon?

  Shit, it really was too. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept that long. Nearly nine hours in a row. There was definitely something different about Rachel. Something that managed to soothe my savage mind.

  Me: That’s late for me.

  Rachel: Figured, I mean, I usually hear you much earlier.

  Me: So you can avoid me?

  Rachel: At first.

  Me: And now?

  Rachel: Reconsidering.

  That was a surprise. Not that I wasn’t happy to hear it. If nothing else, everything would be a lot more pleasant for both of us if we didn’t act like we were walking through a minefield every time we left our rooms.

  Rachel: I was going to knock yesterday but you sounded busy. I heard your music.It was nice.

  Me: Ghost.

  Rachel: What?

  Me: The music. It was a Swedish Metal band called Ghost.

  Rachel: Metal? Like, Heavy Metal? It didn’t sound like it.

  Me: They do things differently in Europe ;)

  I could hear her giggling through the wall. It sounded really nice.

  Rache: It sounded fascinating. I loved the instrumentation, particularly

  at the beginning. Oh, and the choral sections. It almost sounded

  like something I would hear in church. Particularly with the Latin

  in the chorus. Was it about God?

  It would have been the perfect time to lie. I don’t know what else I would have said but I knew that the worst possible thing would be to tell the truth. That the song was about Lucifer. Or at least the idea of Lucifer. Using it the way most LaVeyans, particularly in the later period, did, as a metaphor. A symbol of rebellion against absolute authority.

  We could very well use someone like Voltaire, who did the same thing with the royalty of France and suffered for it. In the name of freedom and personal autonomy. Lucifer just had a bit more chutzpa.

  Me: The truth?

  Rachel: If you don’t mind. :P

  Me: It’s actually about the devil. Or more accurately

  Lucifer. How the idea of Luciferis portrayed in Pop

  Culture taught the singer, Tobias Forge, to think for himself and be

  independent. The light that helps me see? A reference to Lucifer as the bringer

  of light. In this case meant metaphorically in terms of shedding light on the

  truth in the darkness of lies.

  There was a long pause then and I could tell she was thinking. The ‘Rachel is typing….’ coming up several times at the bottom left of the messenger window. Finally a response.

  Rachel: Meet me in the living room?

  Me: Of course.

  It was like an old-school comedy skit, both of us coming out at once, nearly bumping into each other on the way to the couch. Rachel was the first to laugh at our silliness. Seeing her relax helped me to also.

  “Couch?” I asked.

  “Certainly.”

  “Ladies first.”

  I watched as she went to the couch, and sat down, pulling one leg up under her. The hem of her dress, a cute, light, summery thing swishing as she walked. She really was my opposite in most things, at least on a superficial level. Though, as we were both beginning to learn, there was a lot more to life than that. I sat down on the other end of the couch. Still not sure about her comfort level.

  “So, Lucifer is a metaphor?” she asked.

  “Yes, almost always, except among the theological. Be they monotheists or Satanists.”

  “Theological Satanists?”

  “Yeah. Basically they’re inverted Christians, who have read and believed the Bible and decided ‘I’m goin’ with the other guy.’ They are a minority even among Satanists. They give the rest of us a bad rep.”

  “What are you?” Rachel asked, curiously.

  “Modern LaVeyan. Basically, we take the basic principles of the original Church of Satan, including the Seven Tenets, while also modernizing. Particularly in terms of women. LaVey was surprisingly humanist, particularly considering he wrote the tenants in the late sixties but still had some old fashioned ideas. Understandable considering he was born in the thirties. In many ways he was a contemporary of Kenneth Anger.”

  She took a moment, seeming to process the new information which I would have to be the first to admit c
ame a bit fast and furious. I lost both a filter and all sense of time when I started talking about things I cared about. I also tended to start shouting as well. Rachel wasn’t reeling back in abject terror so I didn’t think that had happened. I was doing my best not to scare her.

  “What are the Seven Tenets?”

  “The core principles of the LaVeyan school. Similar to your Ten Commandments only shorter.”

  “Do you know what they are? I mean all of them?”

  “Sure. Um, let’s see. One should strive to act with compassion and empathy to all creatures within reason. The struggle for justice is a necessary and ongoing pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions. The body is inviolable, subject to one’s will alone. The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend.

  “Beliefs should conform to one’s best scientific understanding of the world, one should take care to never to distort scientific facts to fit one’s beliefs. People are fallible, if one makes a mistake one should do one’s best to rectify it. Every tenet is a guiding principle, designed to inspire nobility in action and thought.”

  She looked like a deer in the headlights. Clearly never having heard any such thing before in her short life.

  “That’s not exactly it but close enough, I-”

  Rachel leaped at me in what I could only call an attack-hug. She wrapped herself around me, her hand holding on for dear life. Like she might die if she ever let go.

  Just as I was trying to figure out if it was a really aggressive come-on, her soft sobs wetted my shoulder. Making matters very clear.

  Getting over my own initial shock, overcome with surprising empathy, I held her. Gently stroking her back as she let it out.