The Sect

by Lane, Courtney

  My original views on sex made a sharp and quick return. The warnings about what this place really was, and the nature of the man who ran it, thrust the idea of escaping firmly into my mind. I’d given up hope, but now I couldn’t. The artful dance to ensure I lived couldn’t be won. Noah claimed Nadine was the smart one, but if all it took was someone to pay to kill her, what was the point of her obedience? So she could live without being beaten? She was still treated poorly as an object—a tool for a sinister agenda. Her compliance and strong hold on her mind would mean nothing if a man with enough cash to hold her life in his hands wanted to kill her.

  It was the day of the twentieth sunset—or maybe thirtieth. My memory was slipping and I didn’t have the forethought to record the days somehow. All I knew was the same thing happened every day; breakfast, standing around in the theater, lunch and dinner, return to my room to watch television, and sleep. Day after day, it was the same. I’d become invisible to the others in the house because no one would speak to me, no one would look at me or choose me at the theater. In those days, I had seen Reven maybe a handful of times, but not once did I see Noah. The last day, I had a short and pointed interaction with Marcia, only because I remembered something from the life I was beginning to forget.

  “Marcia?” I asked after she set my tray down and continued to head toward the closed and locked door. My call to her was ignored. I wracked my brain trying to remember the last dinner I had in freedom; the dinner I experienced where I first laid eyes on Noah. As the scene replayed in my mind, I recalled the name of Harley’s friend. “Did you know Jackie?”

  She abruptly stopped but never turned around.

  “It was you, wasn’t it? She spoke about you all the time. Harley uses you as an example to keep going. You are an inspiration to them.” I timidly stepped forward, unsure of what I was looking for in her reaction to me. “Is that what he does? Takes the homeless—the one’s who don’t have family looking for them—in order to employ them here? Are you happy here? Is Reven good to you?”

  She sighed so heavily her back heaved. “There is a good man here, but it isn’t Reven.” Without another word, she left me standing there, shocked and confused.

  It was just another countless day of monotony at the theater and for some reason, the only thing I became obsessed with was finding a cell phone. I realized that in all my time here, I hadn’t stumbled upon a landline, much less a cell phone. I would’ve thought the men here were much like my father and wouldn’t go without their phones or tablets for very long. I tried to keep my search discreet, and even in doing that, Jayme couldn’t keep her eyes off me as she conversed with one of the seminar’s attendees.

  It didn’t matter; my search was fruitless.

  With her hands on her hips, she dramatically swayed as she walked up to me. “You won’t find it.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied.

  “Oh, I do. A phone. No one is allowed to have one here. I won’t tell anyone you were looking for a way to escape again. I’ll keep your secrets.” She sloped forward and whispered, “I’ll keep all of your secrets.”

  Puzzled, I crossed my arms and regarded her with impatience. “What are you talking about?”

  “Everyone in the house knows. I know you probably think I hate you because I tripped you a while back, but I don’t. Reven told me to do it and punished me for doing it for some reason. I know you think I’m upset that helping you and Noah put me out of favor with Reven. Now Nadine is his new favorite. But, no. I’m fine.” She stood next to me whispering her words. “I’ll get back in his favor; I just have to work hard.”

  “Helping…Noah? Reven…told you to trip me?” The questions fell carefully from my lips, confused as to what she could’ve meant.

  “Noah was the reason I took you to the stables. He told me to do it.” She dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand. “Reven wanted a reaction from Noah when I tripped you. I don’t know if he got it or not. Noah…was just being Noah that day.” She shrugged as she continued to stare into space. “Anyway, everyone in the house knows you’re boning someone and it isn’t Reven because he hasn’t slept with you yet.”

  “How can I sleep with someone when I do the same thing every day and you all see me?” I asked, unable to accept that everyone knew I’d had sex with someone in the house.

  She shrugged again. “Someone said they see you coming out of a room in the boy’s wing at night. Is it Radley? It’s always Radley.” She put a finger to her lips and shushed me. “You see that guy over there I was talking with? He owns a huge pharmaceutical company. He brings me pain pills and I let him break the rules with me. Reven won’t let any one of them actually fuck me. Noah was an exception for some reason. Anyway, if you ever want something. Let me know.” She leaned close to me, whispering, “So who is it?”

  “No one.” I rubbed my forehead completely thrown by her information. During my punishment, I never left my room at night. I couldn’t. Why would anyone say anything different? “Everyone. It’s the rule isn’t it? Anyone who wants to fuck us can.” It was the truth. If I were never turned on by another sex act, I surely wouldn’t miss the desire. My body became an encasement for one man’s wants. A puppet for whatever he wanted me to feel and do. I didn’t want the pain or the punishing arousal, but I also didn’t want the forced pleasure.

  Making his presence known, an attendee cleared his throat. When Jayme and I turned our attention to him, his attention split between us as though he wanted the pair. “Why don’t the three of us go upstairs to my suite and get acquainted?”

  Fear flooded Jayme’s face as she grabbed my hand in a protective way. “S-sir, did you check with Reven or Noah first? U-usually Noah escorts the men or women here to ensure they make the right selection.”

  The man blinked at her, cognition taking hold. “I remember you! I took you and that other girl up to my suite last year. Shame what happened to her.” He laughed heartedly and grotesquely. The sound made me shudder in disgust.

  Noah marched over, separating Jayme and me. “You two almost fuck each other and now you can’t stay away? A member has summoned you. Are you giving him problems?”

  Jayme began to cry. “Did Reven okay this?”

  With a contemptuous smile, Noah reached up to stroke one of her curls in a flirtatious way. “Yes, he did. And tonight you’re playing the good cop who gets punished in the fantasy.”

  Jayme’s increased shakes didn’t help the situation. Despite what she had or hadn’t done, I felt the need to act. “No…we’re both on our period and can’t perform.”

  “Oh, I don’t care about that, girl.” The man grinned, showing off his crooked teeth. He grabbed my arm, tugging me to go along. The more he pulled, the more I shoved him away. The thought of being with a random man repulsed me.

  I struggled, fighting against his harsh hold. When I bit his hand, he yelled out in pain. Two men accosted me, dragging me while I kicked and screamed out of the auditorium. I never stopped my fight despite Noah’s strong hold as he carried me over his shoulder.

  “You are becoming predictable, Keaton,” I heard Noah chuckle between my screams.

  The brisk night air whipped my hair around, thrusting some of it into my open, screaming mouth. I pounded on his back and kicked at his chest to no point; he never stopped his stride. He simply grabbed my legs firmly, stilling them against his chest.

  The door to the torture room was briskly unlocked and I was thrown on the ground. My arms and legs were quickly bound to the chains attached to the ceiling and the floor. Noah stood in the corner and touched his earpiece, having a hushed conversation with whom I could only assume to be Reven.

  Time was of little meaning as I hung from my restraints.

  Metal scraping against concrete equated to nails on the chalkboard and echoed through the hall. Snapping his fingers, Noah called the attention of the two henchmen closest to the door. They disappeared down the hall and helped usher in a portable bed. It wa
s set up to the right of the room and dressed with crisp white linens. Directly to follow, Reven arrived with Radley shortly behind him.

  Reven’s posture was strong and foreboding. His gaze darted between Noah and me with marked impassivity. He walked around my body, slowly lifting his eyes to me. The darkness flooded his hues, making my body tremble just a little more. My lips moved to protest, but he quickly placed his hand firmly and harshly over my mouth. Pressing in, he forced my lips together while he held the back of my head with his other hand. His grip burned and bit into my scalp. The fire brewing in his eyes ignited just a little bit more. “Chance after chance I’ve given you. You are persistent in your fuck ups. You are dangerously close to irrelevance. You’re going to be broken tonight before my very eyes.”

  I wiggled against my restraints, hoping for one chance to state my case. My eyes pleaded with him to allow me to speak.

  “You really think you’re faultless? There isn’t an inch of darkness on my land. I see…everything. I hear…everything.” He nodded to Noah, who walked over to the wall of instruments and pulled down a whipping cane. “I warned you that no one would fuck you without my permission, yet I’m told you allowed one of your housemates to take what should’ve been mine, and continued to allow him access. Not only have you committed that sin, giving what’s mine to someone who received it without my expressed permission, but you’ve also disrespected a parishioner.”

  Noah presented the cane across his arm to Reven as though it were a fine dessert wine.

  “It will do,” Reven addressed Noah with a grin of appreciation.

  The moment he dropped his hand from my mouth, I began to plead with him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I admit, I turned the man down, but I haven’t slept with any of my housemates.”

  “Quiet her,” Reven said, taking a step back.

  A ball was shoved inside my mouth, and a leather strap was tightly fastened behind my head. The buckles snagged and tugged at my hair.

  Noah’s pace was steady and daunting as it circled my body. The horrid sound of the air whipping against the instrument was heard before the striking pain hit my behind. It became a sting at first, but the pain exacerbated with each passing moment until it reverberated through every nerve and made me scream into the ball gag. The air whipped again, and the agony hit me in the same place as before. The latent burn hit harder and faster than it did before. My body jerked in protest. Intemperate tears poured down my cheeks. I wasn’t given time to remove myself mentally from the situation. The hits were brutal and swiftly successive.

  “I sacrifice myself for her,” said Radley from the corner. He and I had never had any interactions beyond the occasional one line. Offering himself up to Reven puzzled me.

  It was enough to make Reven direct Noah to stop.

  “I sacrifice myself for her in repentance. If I can ask, I want it to be my act of contrition after I confess to what I’ve done wrong.” Radley knelt down to the floor, keeping his eyes down. “It was me she was intimate with, Sir. None of it was her fault. I seduced her and used the deprivation room to sleep with her. I took her virginity and I slept with her several times after, with and without her permission. I deserve her punishment.”

  If my mouth was able, I was sure my jaw would’ve dislodged. I tried to look around for Noah to discover from his often-cryptic expressions if he’d open up for just one moment, and tell me if this was his doing. He remained behind me, felt but unseen.

  “Presumptuous to assume your own act of contrition, but I accept your sacrifice on one condition.” Reven rounded my body, stopping when he stood in front of me. “I’m told you have a beautiful voice, Keaton. One that should’ve been reserved for me and me alone. You will sing for me, and his sacrifice will not end until you finish the song. The longer you take, the longer he will be made to suffer for both of your sins.”

  “Reven—”

  He held up his hand, stopping Radley from speaking any further. “You offered yourself up to me. You have no room to negotiate further.”

  Noah walked around my body and headed toward the table underneath the wall of torture devices. He grabbed a black glove from the table. When he held it, the fingers of the glove pointed downward. With the way he handled the odd-looking glove, I suspected that it was weighted. He placed it on his hand, rigidly flexing his fingers as he approached Radley.

  Tobias, Reven’s henchman, stood directly behind Radley, tugging him to stand by his hair. Radley looked at Noah and mouthed words I couldn’t immediately understand. I stared at him long after he finished what he had to say. Noah gave him a slighted nod that barely involved much movement.

  My ball gag was promptly removed. The moment I tried to speak, Noah punched Radley with such brutal force, he knocked Radley to the ground. Upon the force of the hit, the grotesque crunching sound and the violent impact made my stomach churn. Tobias quickly pulled Radley up by his hair, readying him for more.

  “The more you disobey,” Reven reminded me, “the longer he will endure his…act of contrition.” He took a step back, and an unnamed henchman quickly pulled out a chair for Reven to sit. Glancing between Radley and me as he sat down, Reven urged me to continue.

  I swallowed back the sob and began with a contralto note, singing the only song that came to mind at the time. It was ironic for the moment and meant to be; “Smile” by Charlie Chaplin. After every verse, Radley was hit with more and more brutality. My notes cracked and it became difficult to obtain the soprano notes. My voice moved to another world, floating over the words. Softly singing a song that held a new purpose.

  I finished, bringing out a sick smile on Reven’s face. I glanced at Radley, who was in a heap on the floor. I studied him, hoping to see the rise and fall of his chest; there wasn’t any to be seen.

  Reven watched me, his smile never tempered. “I suspect tomorrow we won’t have a problem should a member want to spend personal time with you, will we?”

  “No, Reven,” I sobbed.

  “Get this piece of shit out of here,” Noah kicked Radley’s listless body for good measure. The two other men in the room picked up his body, dragging him out of the door. A trail of blood followed, staining the concrete floor.

  Approaching me, Noah removed my restraints. “Take off your clothes, get on the bed, and spread your legs,” he ordered.

  Rubbing the pain out of my wrists, I hugged myself, looking at the two men who had returned to the room and were advancing toward me. “B-but I thought…”

  “He sacrificed himself to belay your beating,” Reven explained, “but I’m never one to make a threat I don’t follow through with. You deserve my wrath. You’re going to receive the full brunt of it after I have you. Make no mistake if you fight me, your undoing will come sooner rather than later.”

  I ambled over to the bed. Taking off my dress, I kept my back to the four men in the room. I looked over my shoulder, holding my forearm across my breasts. I sat on the edge of the bed and slowly sank back, spreading my legs. I covered my quivering core with my other hand, cautiously watching the men who kept their eyes trained on me.

  Reven nodded to Noah, who marched toward the bed, standing closest to where my head was positioned. My arms were grabbed and stretched out across the mattress, removing my ability to cover myself.

  “If you don’t spread your legs wider, I’m going to have two more men come over here to do it,” Noah warned.

  Dejected and defeated, I slowly spread my legs.

  Reven rounded the other side of the bed and slowly removed his cufflinks, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. He ran his hand along my knee, circling the kneecap. “Tell me why anyone should pray for your sins when you’re repeatedly disobedient?”

  I sputtered, “I’m grateful for everything you’ve given me.”

  His nails dug into my skin, biting them painfully. “You also can’t rid yourself of the habit of lying to me. I am your god. Do you understand that? I am the beginning and the end. I can end you wi
thout a thought and I’m well within my right to do so. Every inch of you belongs to me. Every inch of your body is mine to claim, destroy, and punish. There is no out. You are mine permanently.”

  I shut my eyes tightly, spilling my sins the only way I could. The only way I knew would save me. “You were wrong before, about me being the Madonna. My name wasn’t the ‘blow-job whore’ in high school without a reason. I did it because it kept my virginity intact and the boys I liked happy. And yours? I can’t get enough of the way you taste, Reven.” I opened my eyes not knowing what to expect. He held tightly to his inexpressiveness, but I could tell by the silence in the room that I might’ve succeeded.

  He grabbed my neck with such abruptness I gagged. “I’m never wrong. Appealing to me by taking on the role of a whore is not the way to appease me. If I want you to be a whore, I will order you to become one. You…” He grazed the back of his hand against my face. “…were the Madonna.” His grip loosened as he searched my eyes. He snapped his fingers, directing Noah to release my arms. “She’s…spoiled herself for me. Take her. Punish her for disrespecting her savior.”

  Panicked, I looked up at Noah from above me. The obscene sight of the bulge growing and pressing against his slacks alarmed me.

  “Is there a problem, Noah?” Reven questioned, his eyebrow raised

  He glanced over his shoulder at the henchman standing along the wall. “Not much for public displays.”

  Reven examined him with a scrutiny that nearly broke Noah’s usual stoic front. “It’s never been a problem before.”

  Noah crouched forward, in a way, obscuring his desire for me. “Performance anxiety,” he offered unapologetically with a simper.

  “You disappoint me.”

  “I know,” Noah admitted, pretending to be swayed by Reven’s words, but it was visibly clear he was far from affected. “And I know what that means.”