Part I: Seeking
You crashed by the gate
Captured my fate
Salvation
My eyes couldn't see
I hardly breathed
I was diving so deep
Salvation
-1-
He touched her skin, just barely. His finger lingered underneath her
chin, raising her face so that she was forced to look at him. Her
eyes met his and she found the faith she had lost so many weeks
before. He smiled, giving her the strength and qualities the others
had all so admired in him. She nodded slightly, as if to tell him she
was going for it.
He knew she would. They always did. He wrapped them around his finger
and they all obeyed his every wish. That was the only power he had
the only power he wanted to use in this godforsaken world.
'Are you ready to take the step to salvation, Vickie?' he said softly,
using the timbre of his voice that had overwhelmed so many others
before her. Again she nodded, this time smiling with that one gesture,
full of expectation. 'I need to hear you say it,' he whispered.
'Yes,' she said, hardly recognizing her own voice. 'I am.'
He opened his hand, allowing her a look at the white tablets that lay
on the palm of his hand. 'You've been feeling under the weather
lately,' he softly said. 'You don't know what's wrong with you. You
don't feel like you deserve to be here anymore. You just know that
you want something else in your life than what's been given to you.
And therefore you came to me, and told me that you wanted to be with
me. Is that what you want, Vickie?'
'Yes.'
'You say that you put all of your trust in me. You claim that I am the
one that will be the most important person in your life from now on.
Are you ready for that, Vickie? Are you willing to give it all up for
me? Are you willing to neglect your mother from now on? Are you
willing to ignore your friends should they beckon you?
'Yes.'
'Take this tablet and show me that you care.'
Her hand didn't tremble when she took one of the tablets from the palm
of his hand and put it in her mouth. It felt dry and seemed to stick
to her tongue but she swallowed it without complaining and opened her
mouth again. He looked inside of her mouth, then at her and smiled as
he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. Then his tongue
explored her mouth and she closed her eyes as she felt his grip on
her. He had already decided that she would be his next. He
loved her slim figure and the way the forms of her perfect body
reacted to his touch. She was perfect and would suit him just fine.
The fact that she didn't like him to stick his tongue in her mouth
didn't matter. The moment she swallowed the first tablet, she had
taken the plunge.
He pulled himself away from her and smiled as she closed her eyes and
let herself drift away into the land of oblivion. He moved his hand
just slightly and immediately two of his followers appeared and took
her away to her new resting place. She had a room next to his. He had
decided it to be that way until she would move in with him. They
would all feel when the time was right.
But he had to be careful with this one. She was under aged. If they
found out, he might be in trouble. And the others didn't like him
fooling around with her. In fact, they dreaded that she was here,
fearing that the cops or Feds would now have a reason to invade their
shelter.
He had ignored their protests, claiming that no one could stand up to
him. He was stronger than them all and if they were honest with
themselves, they knew this was true.
He could be patient though. In three weeks her birthday came up. She
would turn eighteen. After that, they would not go after her any
longer. She would be an adult with a mind of her own. By then she
would have signed all rights over to him. She would be able to tell
them what she wanted and what she desired. By then she would be in
his grip forever, and she would not even think about going
back. He had decided that it would be it this way.
He walked to the window of the white painted building and looked
outside over the gardens that he kept so well. He saw them work. They
all loved this place. They loved the everlasting sun and the fabulous
smelling flowers. They didn't want to return to the real world with
bills, payments and problems. They all had their own reason to be
here as did Vickie. He never chose one that didn't have
a problem or a reason to run away. He checked them out carefully, and
selected them one by one himself.
He walked over to the locked cabinet behind him, and pulled out the
file on the girl with the chain of keys he carried on his belt. The
other set of keys were in the hands of Dennis, his most trusted
watcher. In a few weeks her mother would suffer a grave accident. The
girl would inherit it all. By then she wouldn't mind donating her
income to keep this place up and about. And then he would take off,
after plucking the last of them.
He smiled. If there was one thing he liked more than a beautiful girl,
it was a beautiful girl with money. And with Vickie Moss, he had
both.