Fallen

This wasn’t right. Something was very wrong here.

No other men “blessed” her. She didn’t think they were really there for that. She saw the other men walk through the aisles, laying a hand on one girl’s head. Like a chosen one. Most of the girls had their eyes closed in prayer. God, these men were walking around as though the chapel was a whorehouse and they were choosing their evening entertainment.

Kandace thought of the bruises on her arm, the headaches, the strange dreams.

Bile rose in her throat.

No. No, surely not.

How could it be that one of them had . . . touched her and she didn’t remember it? They’d been told they were sinners, there to atone for those sins, sitting in a classroom for hours a day listening to Biblical teachings about purity. Instead, they’d been led to the slaughter . . . given birth control pills . . . Oh God.

She felt a headache coming on now as a burst of fear traveled from her chest to her limbs. The incense was suddenly overwhelming, clogging her brain and making her feel ill.

This was all wrong.

Her mind spun through the service, through the communion of wafers and wine, the certainty that the men of the Guild were there for reasons that had little to do with a religious event growing by the moment. When it was over, she was barely controlling the shaking of her body. She’d been touched. She’d been selected.

They filed out of the chapel and followed the teachers back to Lilith House where they again congregated in the dining room. The rest of the girls appeared giddy with anticipation for the dessert they were about to be allowed.

She had to give it to Lilith House. They’d turned a group of former alcohol and drug abusers into young women who were practically dancing with excitement over a serving of sugar.

Good work, Lilith House. A plus.

How quickly they’d been stripped of who they were with fear, isolation, and deprivation.

And if that were the sole purpose of Lilith House, maybe Kandace could even give them credit for their success, even though their methods were brutal and inhumane.

Maybe brutal was the only thing that would work on girls like them.

Perhaps inhumane was the only thing that truly got their attention.

But she had a deep, dark feeling that Lilith House’s reform methods weren’t the only thing Kandace and the other girls had to worry about, not the only thing they had to survive.

Not even the only reason they were there.

No, something more depraved was going on than she ever could have imagined when she’d stepped through the doors of this place.

Several waitstaff entered the room carrying trays of sweets. A delighted murmur rose among the girls as they began selecting their first mini cake, or chocolate truffle, or brownie bite, all served in foil dessert cups.

“Enjoy, girls,” Ms. Wykes said. “You’ve earned this. The Lord wishes you to partake.” Her voice held a note of menace, but no one except Kandace seemed to hear it. The other girls were happily distracted by the array of treats.

Kandace selected a bite-sized lemon cake and then performed a sleight-of-hand, tipping her head back, but instead of popping it in her mouth, folding it into the napkin she also held. She forced a smile she hoped was convincing, releasing a satisfied “mmm” as she dabbed at her mouth and then folded the cake-filled napkin into her fist.

Ms. Wykes walked by, her pale lips curving. For a moment Kandace’s heart stalled, and then picked up a rapid staccato beat, but the old bitch passed her, continuing on her rounds. Kandace tossed the napkin in the garbage near the wall and then repeated the same series of movements until the girls had emptied the trays.

“You are dismissed, girls. Straight to bed now. Straight to bed.”

Fear filled her. Six men. Six girls chosen. God, she hoped she wasn’t right. She didn’t know who the others were. Her head had been bowed. She looked around the dining room, wondering if any of the other girls felt the same apprehension. No, they all seemed . . . happy but . . . listless.

They filed out of the dining room, Aurora, Sydney, and Kandace breaking off from the other girls and climbing the stairs to their attic room. When they’d closed the door behind them, both Aurora and Sydney kicked off their shoes and dropped down on their beds. “God,” Sydney moaned, rubbing her stomach. “I ate too much. I couldn’t stop myself.”

“Once an addict, always—oof.” Aurora laughed as Sydney’s pillow hit her in the face. She tossed it back. Sydney caught it and put it beneath her head, her eyes drooping. “Sugar makes me so darn sleepy.”

Kandace had gotten very sleepy soon after eating the desserts Lilith House so “benevolently” gifted too. She didn’t feel sleepy now. She felt wide awake. Wide awake and scared.