by Mark Tilbury
‘Really? Do you really want to help me?’
Tweezer nodded. ‘Sure.’
‘Then undo these handcuffs.’
Tweezer sniffed and wiped the bottom of his nose with his forefinger. ‘I would if I could.’
‘Yeah, right. Course you would.’
Tweezer ran a finger around the collar of his robe. ‘Are you a virgin?’
Maddie resisted an urge to spit in his face. ‘Piss off.’
‘I’m asking because I care about you.’
‘Care? What do you know about caring?’
Tweezer took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘I could break you in if you’re a virgin.’
Maddie’s heart turned to lead. ‘The day I let you near me is the day I die.’
Tweezer smiled. ‘You might end up thanking me. I could save you a lot of pain. And I mean a lot of pain. He uses things.’
Bile filled Maddie’s throat. ‘He’s not coming anywhere near me.’
Tweezer laughed. ‘Do you think you have a choice?’
‘I’d rather die.’
‘He’ll take you whatever you might think.’
‘I think you’re sick.’
Tweezer inched closer. ‘Between you and me, he prefers men. Ask Brother Gerald if you don’t believe me. Oops! Silly me. You can’t. Brother Gerald’s dead. He died for the sin of homosexuality, which is a bit rich, considering the Father is that way inclined himself. Anyway, I’m telling you all this for your own good. The Father has to do it with “other things”.’
‘Leave me alone.’
‘Sister Dixie and Sister Emily would confirm what I’m saying if they were here to do so.’
Maddie’s stomach tightened.
‘The Father calls it Purification. I prefer to call it bloody painful. Especially if you’re a virgin.’
Maddie groaned and shook her head. Her mind tried to erect barriers to stop the words getting inside her head. ‘No.’
‘I’ll be gentle with you.’
‘Get out. Get out and leave me alone.’
Tweezer stood up. He looked at Maddie with eyes forged in Hell. He bent over and untied the yellow sash around her middle. ‘You’re not in any position to issue ultimatums. This isn’t a soap opera, Madeline.’
‘Leave me alone.’
‘You’ll thank me for this in the long run. Trust me, you will.’
Maddie shunted her body up as close as she could get to the head rail. The cuffs bit into her wrists. She drew her legs up and squeezed them together as tight as she could.
Tweezer took off his robe and threw it on the floor. Tattoos marked most of his body. Scorpions, snakes, scales of justice. His erect penis seemed to sniff the air. His hair hung in greasy strips across his face.
‘Get away from me,’ Maddie screamed.
Tweezer grinned. ‘I think you’re begging for it.’
Maddie sobbed and drew her knees up to her chin. ‘No… I’m… not…’
‘All women are. Deep down inside, you’re all begging for it.’
Maddie looked up at the darkening skylight. Where was God now? Where was He when you needed Him the most? In exactly the same place He was when her mother was raped and murdered. Up in the sky making daisy chains with the angels.
Tweezer knelt on the bed and grabbed hold of Maddie’s knees. He tried to force them apart.
Maddie squeezed her legs together with every last drop of energy in her body. ‘Please don’t do this.’
Tweezer ignored her. He forced his fingers between her knees, gouging her skin with his nails. ‘I’m… trying… to… help …you…’
‘By raping me?’ Maddie shouted.
‘I’m not going to rape you. I’m going to make things easier for you. You really don’t get it, do you?’
Maddie spat in his face. ‘Piss off.’
Tweezer withdrew his right hand from between her knees and wiped his face. ‘Sister Emily couldn’t walk for a week after he’d been at her. Do you want that?’
Maddie shook her head. ‘I don’t want anything. I want to go home.’
Tweezer laughed. ‘You ain’t never going home, Madeline.’
‘Rape is the most despicable thing a man can do.’
‘If it’s rape, yes. But this is your inauguration, so don’t try to confuse two issues. That’s like saying a wet tee-shirt contest is a porn show.’
‘In your twisted mind.’
‘Sometimes the truth hurts. Now, do you want to make this easy for yourself, or hard? I’m running thin on patience, love.’
Maddie looked up at the skylight as her mind scrambled for a way out. ‘All right. Do it, then.’
Tweezer’s eyes narrowed. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yeah. Go on. Do it.’
‘Are you a virgin?’
Maddie didn’t answer.
Tweezer grinned. ‘You’ll thank me for this. You’ll enjoy it. I promise.’
Maddie opened her legs and lifted her feet off the bed.
Tweezer licked his lips. ‘Come on, baby. Open the door. Let’s do it.’
Maddie suddenly kicked out and caught Tweezer on the bridge of his nose with her left heel. The bone snapped. Blood gushed from his nose. He reached up and clutched his injured face with one hand. The other flailed by his side.
Maddie kicked him again. In the left eye. Tweezer grunted and fell sideways off the bed. His head struck the bare oak floor, rendering him unconscious.
Maddie sobbed and drew her knees up to her chest. Her whole body shivered. She closed her eyes and waited for Tweezer to get up off the floor and finish what he’d started.
Chapter twenty
‘Where is he?’ Ebb demanded. ‘I sent him to get a blowtorch, not build one.’
The Sons and Daughters of Salvation stood in line. No one offered an answer. Ebb turned to Bubba who was still standing beside the cross. ‘Guard him.’
Bubba nodded and looked at the ground.
Ebb strode out of the barn like a sergeant major in pursuit of a missing recruit. By the time he reached the farmhouse, he was gasping for breath. He walked around the side of the farmhouse to the back door and stepped on a thistle. He yelped and hobbled into the kitchen. As soon as the inaugurations were done and dusted, Benjamin could help Bubba to tidy up the garden.
He stood in the middle of the kitchen and called Tweezer’s name. Tweezer didn’t respond. Something moved in the corner of his eye. A shadow by the Welsh dresser. Ebb spun around to face it, his heart thudding in his chest. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. Where in God’s name was that idiot Tweezer? The house was quiet. Too damned quiet. Calm before the storm quiet.
‘Tweezer?’
The silence in the house crept under Ebb’s skin. He walked through the kitchen and into the hallway, keeping an eye out for unannounced guests. It wasn’t unknown for Jesus to appear to him in a vision when he was least expecting it. Once, the great man Himself had appeared from the spout of a teapot and told Ebb to kill Brother Gerald. Told him in no uncertain terms to “castrate the traitor and subject him to death by a thousand cuts”.
A mahogany grandfather clock at the end of the hallway read a quarter to ten. He watched the pendulum swing from side to side. Its steady tick sounded like a death-knell in the silence.
Ebb checked the lounge and then called up the stairs. ‘Tweezer?’
A floorboard creaked, making Ebb jump. ‘Tweezer? Are you up there?’
If Tweezer was, he wasn’t saying.
‘You’d better have a damn good reason for going AWOL.’
No response. Where the hell was he? He walked up the stairs and checked the Brothers’ Room and the Sisters’ Room. Both empty, save a few flies and the lingering smell of dope. How many times did he have to tell Marcus not to smoke that stuff inside the house? It was tantamount to mocking the Lord. Words would fly, make no mistake.
He walked along the landing and took a peek in the bathroom. Empty. He made a mental note to tell Sister Emily to pay
close attention to the soap scum around the rim of the tub. It was no good showing the damned thing a bottle of Flash and hoping it would self-clean.
Ebb looked up a second flight of stairs to where his quarters were situated. His haven. His space. His oasis. Tweezer wouldn’t dare go up there without permission. Not if he valued his life. Ebb wiped perspiration from his eyes. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end.
Ebb cleared his throat. ‘Tweezer? Are you up there?’
‘Help me,’ a muffled voice called back.
At first, Ebb assumed his mother was playing tricks on him again. She could be a real joker sometimes. She was about as funny as a fart at the dinner table, but it didn’t seem to deter her.
Ebb held onto the handrail for support. ‘Who’s there?’
‘It’s me. Maddie. Help me.’
Ebb walked up the stairs, mindful that his mother might still try to fool him. You needed to keep all the bulbs burning bright where that one was concerned. He reached the small patch of landing outside his living quarters and stood outside the door, wheezing and wishing his heart would settle down to a normal rhythm. ‘Madeline?’
‘Help me.’
Ebb’s blood froze. His heart plummeted into his stomach. The front door was open. And he’d closed it. He’d not bothered to lock it, because everyone had been in the barn with him except for Marcus who was on watch duty up the tower.
‘Madeline? What’s happened?’
‘Tweezer tried to rape me,’ Maddie called.
‘Rape you?’ Ebb said, his mind a kaleidoscope of scenarios. This had to be a trick. Satan playing games with him. ‘Tweezer?’
‘He’s unconscious on the floor.’
Ebb laughed. A small nervous laugh that sounded somewhere between a sob and a giggle. ‘And I’m Peter Pan.’
‘It’s the truth. I kicked him in the face and knocked him out.’
Ebb shoved the door back against the wall and stepped into the lounge. There was a fifty-inch flat-screen TV secured to one wall. He peered at the blank screen. His mother had once interrupted the evening news to announce that Ebb was on the FBI’s top ten most wanted list. She’d even been wearing her trademark pink wig and sunglasses.
Ebb ripped the crucifix from his neck and held it out before him. He walked through the lounge on legs barely able to support his weight. He stopped in the bedroom doorway and peered inside. Madeline was still manacled to the bed. Her face looked strained, but that was to be expected with Satan controlling her.
‘Help me,’ Maddie pleaded.
Ebb ignored her pitiful appearance. Appearances could be deceptive. Vigilance was the key to survival. He took a couple of steps towards the bed and addressed Madeline. ‘What have you done?’
‘I haven’t done anything,’ Maddie shouted. ‘He attacked me.’
‘Who attacked you?’
Maddie nodded towards the blind side of the bed. ‘That bastard.’
Ebb ignored the profanity. He walked around the foot of the bed and stared at Tweezer’s naked body. Tattoos scarred every inch of his skin. Serpents. The scales of justice. Gangland graffiti. In Ebb’s opinion, Tweezer’s body looked like a billboard advertisement for Hell.
‘Is he still unconscious?’
Ebb glanced at Maddie. ‘You must have lured him here.’
‘Me? How the hell could I do that? He attacked me.’
Ebb grappled with the truth. ‘He wouldn’t betray me.’
‘He tried to rape me.’
Ebb clutched the cross in both hands and thrust it out before him. ‘I’m not listening to your filthy lies and excuses.’
‘Who do you think untied my robe?’
‘I have no doubt in my mind that Brother Tweezer untied your robe. And I have no doubt in my mind that you coerced him into doing so.’
‘How in God’s name am I supposed to have coerced him into doing anything?’
Ebb snorted. ‘Because you’re a seductress. A temptress. A vampire.’
Maddie twisted her head to one side. The cuffs rattled against the head rail. ‘What do you think I did? Send him a love note?’
Ebb eyed her warily. She was far more powerful than he’d imagined. ‘Don’t take me for a fool. You must have seduced him with telepathic messages.’
Tweezer groaned on the floor. Ebb thrust the cross at him. ‘Get up and get dressed.’
Tweezer raised his head. ‘Where am I?’
Tweezer’s disorientation lent further proof to the fact that he’d been controlled by external forces. ‘Get up. Right now.’
‘You’re sick,’ Maddie said.
Ebb raised his eyebrows. ‘Do you want to shame the shovel?’
‘I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.’
Ebb didn’t like the look lurking in those beguiling green eyes. They were full of malice. Only time would tell whether she was beyond salvation.
Tweezer groaned. ‘What happened?’
‘You’ve been compromised, Pixie-pea. Get up and get dressed before your hideous body makes me sick.’
‘Please undo my hands,’ Maddie pleaded.
Ebb pointed the cross at her. ‘Not while this court’s in session, sister. What do you take me for: the fool on the hill?’
‘I’m begging you. Please.’
Ebb ignored her and walked over to an oak dressing table. He took a hatpin from one of the drawers. He held it up in front of Maddie. ‘My mother’s. She liked hats. And wigs. And men.’
Maddie pushed back against the head rail.
‘Don’t fret. The pin’s not for you. It’s for Sleeping Beauty over there.’
Ebb walked over to where Tweezer fumbled about on all fours. He bent over and jabbed the hatpin into the sole of the man’s left foot. Deep. Almost right through to the other side.
Tweezer screamed and bucked like a steer introduced to a rodeo.
Ebb pulled the pin out. Blood oozed from the wound. ‘Get up! It’s time for the rabbit hole.’
Tweezer looked over his shoulder at Ebb. One eye was closed, the surrounding skin swollen and purple. His mouth and goatee beard were streaked red.
Ebb put the hatpin in the pocket of his robe. ‘You’re not looking too good, my friend.’
Tweezer gawked at him. His mouth opened and closed as if it had been disconnected from his brain. Ebb resisted an urge to kick Tweezer’s backside. ‘How could you be tempted by Satan so easily?’
‘I wasn’t— ’
‘You’ve made a nasty mess all over my floor. It’s a good job that the oak is sealed.’
‘I’m sorry, Father.’
Ebb watched a bubble of snot and blood burst from the end of his nose and splatter on his top lip. ‘You’re supposed to be my number two. My main man.’
‘I’m sorry, Father.’
Ebb snorted. ‘Do you think sorry makes it all right?’
‘No, Father.’
‘Get up.’
Tweezer scrambled to his feet. Blood dripped from his nose and ran into his beard. He picked up his robe and put it on, fastening it around the middle with the yellow sash.
Ebb noticed Tweezer’s hands were shaking. Perhaps he was still under the influence of the seductress. ‘Go to the bathroom and clean yourself up.’
‘I’m sorry, Fa—’
Ebb waved the cross at him. ‘Satan has tempted you, brother. Compromised you. Save your apologies for the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. I’ve got better things to do than listen to the excuses of a savage sinner.’
Tweezer wiped his nose with the back of his hand. His good eye swivelled in its socket, coming to rest on Maddie. ‘She—’
Ebb waved him away. ‘Go.’
Tweezer hobbled out of Ebb’s quarters, his injured foot leaving tiny spots of blood on the oak floor. Ebb stroked his head and studied Maddie. ‘I suppose you think you’re clever?’
‘I just want to go home.’
Ebb laughed. A small throaty laugh that sounded as if it had been fashioned in a witc
h’s cauldron. ‘You’re a slippery customer, all right. Slippery as an eel in oil. But I’m on to you. As Jesus Christ is my witness, I’m on to you.’
‘I didn’t do anything.’
Ebb pursed his lips. ‘How did you do it? How did you seduce him?’
Maddie looked away.
Ebb took a deep breath. ‘It’s going to be a long night, Madeline. But I will purge your body of Satan if it’s the last thing I do.’
Chapter twenty-one
Ebb escorted the prisoner down into the kitchen. Twice the prisoner had tried pleading his innocence, but Ebb had learned long ago that the truth was best extracted by time and torture. You could set your clock by that.
Tweezer looked at Ebb with his good eye and tried to smile. ‘Would you like a brew, Father?’
Ebb took a deep breath and tried to summon patience. Tweezer was in denial. That was as plain as Sister Emily’s face. Ebb stroked his chin. ‘A brew?’
‘Yes, Father.’
‘What kind of brew? A Hebrew?’
Tweezer snorted laughter. A mistake. His nose bled again.
‘You disgust me, Brother Tweezer.’
Tweezer wiped his nose. ‘Sorry, Father.’
‘You have betrayed me.’
‘She tempted me, Father.’
‘I know she bloody well tempted you, you fool. I don’t need you to tell me she’s a nest of vipers.’
Tweezer bowed his head. Blood bubbled from his nose. ‘I’m sorry, Father.’
Tweezer’s eyes put Ebb in mind of a wounded animal. ‘The girl has just arrived. What do you expect her to be? Pure?’
‘No, I—’
‘She has all the sins of the free world inside her.’
Tweezer nodded and plucked a flake of dried blood from his beard. ‘She might be a witch, Father.’
Ebb squinted at Tweezer as if he’d just challenged him to a dual at dawn. ‘A witch?’
‘Yes, Father. I think we might have to drown her.’
‘You do, do you?’
‘Yes, Father. It’s the only way to rid her body of the evil inside her.’
Ebb smiled. ‘Perhaps we ought to put you both down the wishing well in the garden. What do you think about that?’