Illusions of Evil (Illusions Series Book 1)

by Lily White

  “Well, then you’re going to hell,” I answered, fighting to hold in the laughter. “I don’t know what to tell you. Give up the pie recipe or face eternal damnation. It’s your choice.”

  "Fine, Father. If you say so."

  I grinned. "Go in peace."

  Her door opened and shut, her steps slow and labored as she meandered her way out of the sanctuary. Within the silence I could hear the thud of her cane against the floor followed by the shuffle of her feet.

  Thud. Shuffle. Shuffle. Thud.

  I breathed out in relief when it was quiet again.

  Stepping out of the confessional, I strolled to the front of the parish and peeked outside. No other parishioners were in need of God's pardon, so I made my way to the rectory. Eve, as usual, was right where I’d left her.

  "Do you need to go to the bathroom again?"

  She jumped at the sound of my voice.

  "Yes," she finally answered, exhaustion implicit in her tone.

  "You need sleep," I suggested as I pulled the ties that bound her hands over the post.

  "No, please." Her eyes dragged up to mine. "I need you to finish me off."

  Gripping her chin, I angled her face fully to mine. "You're insatiable. Do you know that?"

  "I'll never get enough."

  I had to hand it to Jericho, the man could warp a brain just right. My concern that it was wrong to take advantage had flown the coop several days ago. I didn't worry or wonder, didn't let myself get weighed down by the question of morality. The only thing I cared about was that she wasn't calling me Elijah anymore.

  Smacking her bare ass, I angled my head toward the bathroom. "Go do what you need."

  She crawled off the bed and disappeared into the small room. Closing the door behind her, she turned on the sink. It wasn't long before she came out.

  A smile tipped the corner of my lip. "Come here."

  Slowly, she closed the distance to the bed, her skin flush with color, her eyelids heavy with anticipation. I wondered what her personality had been before she was altered into a living doll that only lived for the cruel touch of a man.

  "Lie over the bed, face down, ass out and spread your feet shoulder width apart on the floor."

  She grinned.

  My voice was dangerously low when I added, "Or, if you like, I'll let you suck me until I’m hard and take your ass like I know you love so much."

  The grin tipped higher as she sank to her knees. Folding her hands together behind her back, she pushed out her breasts, her eyes closed and her head angled up as she waited.

  Kneeling down beside her, I whispered into her ear, "Unfold your hands while you wrap those lips around me. I want you to play with your ass while you make me hard. You need to get both of us ready, love."

  The shiver that coursed her body had my cock pressing against my pants. The blush that colored her skin had my fingers clenching into fists. There was nothing she wouldn't let me do.

  Stepping up, I unbuckled my belt, unbuttoned my pants and kicked them off my ankles. The belt buckle slapped heavy against the floor. Eve's eyes opened, her lips parting after I slid the head of my cock against the crease.

  Still not fully hard, I pushed into the warmth of her mouth, my own hand working to stroke the base while her hips moved beneath her, those delicate fingers finding and exploring her ass. From my vantage point, I couldn't see the way she readied herself, but just knowing what she was doing had me hardening to full length as her lips slid over the surface of the skin.

  Her moan was a vibration against my dick, her submission a balm that soothed the monster inside me. I didn't know what I would do to her if she ever rebelled, but I hoped a day would come where I found out.

  Punishing her would be a game, a method of breaking her down again until she would gladly trade her life for just one more fuck.

  "Stop," I growled out, my body coming to life so suddenly, I feared I'd come in her mouth before I fulfilled the promise I'd made to her. Breathless, my chest taut with a racing heart and labored lungs, I demanded, "Lie over the bed like I told you earlier. Wait for me with your hands tucked behind your back."

  Eve pushed to her feet, her gait off center and stumbling as she made her way to the bed. The good little girl wanted it rough and she'd lost her balance just knowing it was coming.

  Lying down, she took the position I'd demanded, her body patiently waiting, her back moving with heavy breath. She was still tight for as few times as I'd taken her ass. I only indulged her every so often, made it the sweet desert for all the full meals I'd made of her.

  Moving behind her, I slowly slipped down to my knees, my hands brushing down the backs of her thighs until her cunt sat glistening and wet in front of my eyes. She trembled beneath my hands but didn't move or make a sound.

  Opening my mouth, I blew against the slickened skin, my fingers tightening over the backs of her thighs when her hips moved just a touch. The moan that emanated from her throat when I ran just the tip of my tongue over her opening was making it difficult to keep going slow.

  Pushing my tongue inside her body, I tasted the need that always poured out of her. My finger was still circling her clit as I stood to my full height. Dragging my hand up I used the slickness of her body to ready the tight hole of her ass.

  "Tell me how it feels when I fuck you. I want to know every small detail. Confess for your Master."

  With her cheeks pressed to the mattress, she clenched her eyes as my head pushed in. "It hurts, but feels good. I can't stand it. I need more. I'm so unclean. So unworthy."

  Pulling out just a touch, I pushed inside deeper with my next thrust. Her words were garbled, her thoughts confused. Eve sounded like she was drugged, completely absorbed in the power of seduction.

  "All the way. I want it all the way. Stop playing with me."

  My lips kicked into a grin. Leaning down with only half my cock buried inside, I asked, "Do you want to fly free."

  Her head nodded, her dark hair splayed over the white sheets of the bed. I indulged my adorable pet and wrapped a hand around her throat, squeezing until her lungs cut off, until her mouth opened to drag in air, but couldn't.

  I shoved myself inside and her body tensed suddenly, my hand tightening even more as I began to thrust.

  Men like me, we crave full control. It isn't enough to pretend a woman will bow to our every demand, isn't enough to believe that just because she fell to her knees, she's yours to do with as you please. We need to know that even the threat of death wouldn't stop her from surrendering to our dangerous desires.

  Every so often, I let her take a breath. The mistakes of my past were still fresh in my mind. But that's the thing with this type of darkness, it creeps in and invades, slips over you like a caustic veil until you don't know anything but the pleasure of her body, the pleasure of her submission as you're riding her raw.

  My climax was a burst of obsession, a driving need to dominate and control, a moment of temporary insanity that had my teeth clenched together, my fingers tight against her skin and my hips moving a heightened speed until she'd milked me dry of all my sin.

  I didn't notice when her body went taut, but I did pay attention when it fell limp across my bed. Shaking her shoulders, I laughed at first thinking she was simply sated from the orgasm that had ravaged her body.

  "Eve? Wake up. I'm not done with you yet."

  A whisper of memory filtered through me, a night long ago that had chased me into the Church, that had left me with no choice than to swear myself off from sex for good.

  "Eve?" I slapped her ass. She didn't react at all." "Eve!"

  Rolling her over, I slapped at her cheeks before pressing my fingers against her pulse. There was nothing. Not a beat. Not a trickle of life. Nothing.

  "Eve!" I bellowed, the world going black at the edges of my vision, panic setting in until I was lifting her fully from the bed. Her head fell back, her mouth opened and her eyes as blank as they were unseeing.

  I dropped her and step
ped back, my own pounding pulse a rush of thunder in my head.

  "No," I breathed out. "I didn't. I haven't done it again."

  Disbelief filled me, pain like I was being stabbed in the heart over and over until there was nothing left but mush. I couldn't suck in a decent breath, couldn't pull my eyes from the dead woman lying across my bed.

  Slamming my hand down on her chest, I'd hit her so hard her body bounced over the mattress.

  "Careful now, brother. I knew you were a monster, but I never figured you for one who beat on the dead."

  My eyes lifted. Jericho leaned casually against the doorway, a smile across his face, his hands tucked casually in his pockets. Pinning me in his stare, he shook his head. "Guess I should have come sooner to pick up my property. Lord knows you can't be trusted."

  Lunging forward, I had every intention to rip his head from his fucking shoulders, but I stopped short when he moved inside the room followed by two armed men.

  "I wouldn't," he laughed. "Unless you'd like to join your toy."

  My chest heaved as I stood naked, not giving a fuck that everything about me was plain to see for the men with their guns leveled at my chest.

  "Did you do this?" I growled out. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

  Jericho laughed. "I can’t take the blame, Jacob. I wasn’t the one who was just fucking her up the ass, but I guess that demon inside you wasn't quite done with his slaughter."

  He paused, his eyes glistening with humor. "Then again, you always did play too rough."

  Moving back, I snatched my pants from the floor, pulling them on quickly as I darted my gaze between Jericho and the two guns pointed in my direction.

  "What will you do now, brother? You can't exactly call yourself a man of God while explaining to the police why there's a dead, horribly abused girl in your bed." He grinned. "What will the town say? Especially with your history."

  Pulling on a t-shirt that I'd left draped on the post of my bed, I stood speechless. What would I do? How would I explain this?

  My heart broke for the life I'd taken, and regardless of whether Jericho had a part in what happened with Eve, it was still my bedroom where her body would be found. I didn't know what the police would believe. I couldn't claim I was innocent of murder when I wasn't sure my hand around her throat hadn't been what killed her.

  I wouldn't go to jail for this. I couldn't.

  Death was a better option. Running became the only option.

  "Is this what you wanted, you sick fuck? Was this what you've been driving me to the entire time?" My voice grew louder with every question. "Is this what you were hoping for when you drove this bitch to my door?"

  He laughed, his head falling back before he straightened his gaze on me once again. "Ah, Jacob. I couldn't let you pretend any longer that you are a decent man. I'm your twin, remember. I can feel it when you're dying slowly on the inside."

  "How the fuck did you get in here? How did you know?"

  Rolling his eyes, he leaned against a wall. "Again with the endless questions. I'll ask my own: Haven't you figured out now that I've been watching you this entire time?"

  Stepping closer, he folded his hands behind his back. "First that poor girl in the confessional, and now this? You have Satan living inside your parish, it seems. The death just doesn't stop coming."

  My vision fogged over, the red driving me forward with violent hands, but the click of guns stopped me before I could reach my brother.

  He grinned when I stared at him again. "I thought we already covered that threatening me was a bad idea. Really, Jacob. You should keep up."

  There was nowhere I could turn at that point. Nothing I could do but escape the mess he'd made of my life - the mess I'd helped him carefully construct. Locked in place by anger, betrayal, disbelief and grief, I shook with the rage inside me that had no outlet.

  "I tell you what, Jacob. Why don't you run along? Escape this town before the people find out about your particular tastes and I'll take care of my family member that you've killed. She'll get a good burial, and if you move quickly enough you won't be lowered into the ground beside her. I'd really hate to offend God by killing my twin. Even the Bible spells out how He feels about violence between brothers."

  Moving close enough that I could feel the heat of his breath against my face, he said, "Just this once, though. If I see your face around here again, I can't make promises as to what my family will do to you."

  His voice lowered so that only I could hear him. “I want you to live, brother. A long and miserable life knowing that the people you fuck have a tendency to turn up dead. What kind of monster does that make you?”

  With that he stepped aside and his two men cleared the doorway while keeping their guns trained at my head.

  I looked at Eve one last time before doing the only thing I could with so few options. My fingers clenched into fists, my nails cutting half moon circles into my skin. And after staring down at the evidence of the pure evil inside me, I grabbed the keys to my truck to run.

  ELIJAH

  There is a certain right by which we many deprive a man of life, but none by which we deprive him of death; this is mere cruelty

  - Friedrich Nietzsche

  Watching the dust kick up from the tires of my brother's truck, I laughed. Shoulders still shaking with my mirth, I crossed the room to sit on the bed next to Eve.

  If Jacob hadn't panicked he would have noticed her pulse was still feather light, her nose drawing in enough air to add oxygen to her veins. I hadn’t been sure it would work, wasn't positive he wouldn't see past the hoax that the beautiful woman had died, which was why I had to interrupt so quickly in order to refuse him the time to calm down.

  "Is she..."

  Eve's brother stood behind me, worry a wrinkle over his brow. "She's fine," I answered. "A little beat up. A little worse for the wear, but she's alive. God saw to it that we reached her in time and she will be rewarded for the part she played in helping our army."

  Joshua's eyes lit with pride. "My sister was always strong."

  Turning to him, I angled my chin toward the closet. "See what you can find for her to wear. We need to protect her modesty while taking her home. She should wake up within a few hours. We'll hide her in the woods until that time."

  While he abided the request, Clemson lowered his gun, his hand gripping the stock with the butt of the rifle balanced on the floor. He reached up to brush the blond hair from his face, his brown eyes locked to mine. "What next, Elijah? What do you need me to do?"

  "I want you to help Joshua carry his sister as far out as possible. The police will be swarming soon and we can't let them find her. Once she's able to walk again, you two head back to the compound. Richard and I will stay here to deal with Eunice and secure the parish."

  He nodded as Joshua brought me clothes to use for Eve. After dressing her limp body, I planted a tender kiss on her chilled cheek. It was remarkable how well the mixture of herbs had worked. To any person not in their right mind, she appeared dead.

  "Take care of her," I reminded her brother. "She is my wife, after all."

  "Of course."

  Lifting her in his arms, he carried her out with Clemson trailing behind them.

  I gave the men a half hour to move deep into the woods before pushing up to my feet from the bed. Crossing the room, I pulled open a drawer to find a clerical collar. Lifting it from the confines of the dresser, I snapped it in place, my head shaking slightly at how easy the ruse had been.

  There was only one task left to be accomplished.

  While Joshua and Clemson headed left to backtrack into the woods, I turned right to where I knew Richard and Eunice were waiting. My stroll through the shadows of the yard hadn't taken too long, but I paused as I approached the location where I knew I would find them.

  They weren't in easy view, and the noises filtering through the wind beneath the rumble of thunder told me Richard had taken that last taste while nobody was watching. I laughed at how the
man was no better than a rabid dog.

  First, I had to wait for Jacob to finish off Eve, and now I waited for Richard to finish off Eunice. I was starting to feel like a damn pimp minus the silver handled cane and flashy purple, velvet jacket.

  Richard's breathing was rough and steadily building in speed. I didn't hear a sound out of Eunice, but I figured he was smart enough to cover her mouth or shove her face in the dirt. After a grunt filtered through the approaching storm, I figured he was done, but waited a minute or two for him to make himself decent.

  Leaning my back against a tree, I called out, "Is it safe to approach?" Laughter bled into my voice.

  His head poked around a tree and he smiled. "What's wrong? You growing squeamish?"

  "Nope. Just wasn't in the mood to watch your ass bouncing. Bring her down here, will you?"

  Flashing me a quick smile, he pulled Eunice from around the tree. Her expression was flat, her will to live gone. I guess it didn't take much for her to realize that God had stopped listening.

  "You ready to go home, pretty girl? Because your maker is calling."

  Tears sprang from her eyes. "Please," she begged.

  I laughed. "There you go with that word again. Haven't you learned by now it doesn't do you a lick of good? Come on, sweetheart. You have to be smarter than that."

  She finally looked up at me, her eyes rounding with surprise. "Father Hayle?" There was a note of hope in her voice I took pleasure in destroying.

  "That's what everybody will believe in a few hours. It's too bad you won't be around to watch."

  Jerking my head toward the parish, I barked out, "Let's go, Richard, let's get this chore over with."

  Staying to the shadows wasn't hard, and we were fortunate for the storm blowing in. It kept the townsfolk inside the safety of their houses, far away from the parish where this last task would take place.

  Breathing in the air thick with moisture and the electric buzz of lightning, I smiled like a lunatic. After today, my plans would be in place, the beginning of the end would have begun. Within a month's time, Hell on Earth would exist within a small, mountain town that the rest of the world had forgotten.