Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 22898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
“Wait, where are we going?” I was expecting to have to deal with Gregory alone, but with my father’s hand on my shoulder I’m left a tad bit confused.
“Downstairs. To where all the magic happens.” God, I just hate the sound of Gregory’s voice.
They open a cellar door and lead me down, Gregory guiding me by my hand and my dad reminding me there is nothing romantic about this at all.
I’m led to a plain-looking mattress in the center of the room with equally plain white sheets and pillowcases. Surrounding the bed, there are cameras looking down on it, and it’s surprisingly well-lit for a bed in a church basement.
“What… what are the cameras for?” I ask.
“New profit stream for our compound,” my father answers, a tinge of pride in his voice. “Plenty of people are willing to pay big money for some real, illicit videos, and we’ve been bringing in girls for a while and reaping the rewards. It’ll establish a fine future for the Free State.”
I glare at him, eyes wide in disbelief. “You bring girls down here and force them to have sex?”
“Women have no right to refuse,” he spits. “And now it’s your turn to prove your worth to our people, Merit.”
“I’m your daughter!” I shout in protest.
He slaps me again. this one stinging a bit more. “You lost your privileges when you refused everything I did for you by running away. You’re not much better than an outsider now.”
“Then let me be an outsider!”
“And waste all the time I spent training you and matchmaking for you?”
Dad shoves me forward and Gregory catches me, only to in turn shove me onto the bed. He has a shit-eating grin on his face, apparently perfectly fine with this way of getting a woman, and even having the audacity to consider me his wife.
I grind my teeth, wondering what to do now.
“Why don’t you strip for me, darling?” Gregory says in his gleeful, nasally voice.
I would rather die than let Gregory touch me in that way. There’s only one man who I want like that, and it’s Mac.
The thoughts of him fill me with confusion. I wouldn’t be in this situation if I’d been honest about my feelings, if I hadn’t pushed him out the door this morning. He would have been there and protected me from these men.
I want to see him again. I want my body to be only for him. I’m so torn up inside, unsure of just what I’m supposed to do now. Instinct commands me to ram my knee in between Gregory’s legs at the highest speed I can manage, but the way my father is looking at me is scary.
Would he hesitate to just put me in the ground? If he can view his own daughter as property enough to do this to her, it doesn’t seem too far from possibility.
“Strip, darling. We can’t begin until I see your creamy white skin,” Gregory says with his disgusting laughter.
A shiver goes down my spine as I reach for the hem of my shirt with great hesitation.
Then, the sound of gunfire in the distance.
My father grunts. “The hell is that? Hal better not be shooting at no squirrels again.”
More gunfire. Rapid shots. Enough that it can’t be one gun making the racket.
“We’re under attack,” my father declares. “Gregory, get your gun.”
“What about my wife?” I shiver again as Gregory refers to me that way.
“Just lock her in here, she’s not going anywhere ever again.”
The two of them rush up the basement stairs and slam the door behind them, leaving me alone.
It’s an improvement over my previous situation but damn, not by much. The gunfire continues, and I just sit and wait. What else can I do? The basement door is made of some thick wood, and I have cameras all around me. They’re likely rolling and I don’t know if someone’s watching me – someone who will come check on me even amidst the gunfire if I act up.
Although the temptation to pick them up and slam them on the ground is tempting… but something I hear from above stops me before I get the chance.
“It’s the feds! They’re closing in on us!”
“They won’t take us alive! We’re free men, born that way and free until we die!”
The feds? Like, the FBI? These cameras might be important, then. Especially if they’ve recorded these evil men’s crimes.
“Don’t let them in the church!” my father barks. “Bar the doors! Use whatever you can until the runners get us our guns!”
“Martin,” Gregory shouts, “They're coming in from behind!”
“What do you mean…” There’s a loud thud, and I imagine it’s the sound of a body hitting the floor.
“Who hits someone with a sledgehammer…” Gregory says before another thump hits the ground.
There’s a storm of footsteps, all of them sounding like heavy boots.