Out of Heaven's Grasp (35 page)

Outside the room, I heard the voices getting louder. They were coming down the hallway.

Panicked, I threw myself into Naomi’s closet. There was barely room for me, in amongst her small dresses, but I shoved myself inside and pulled the door softly closed after myself.

I heard movement outside.

“I want to show Mother Fern the shells we found!” said a small voice.

“All right,” said Sally’s voice, “but take Naomi with you.”

“But Mo-other,” said the other voice.

“Rose, take your sister,” said Sally’s voice.

“Fine.”

I waited.

But no one came into the room. I breathed a sigh of relief.

There were more noises outside as the other children settled into their rooms around me. Lots of doors opening and shutting. It seemed to go on an agonizingly long time.

But then it got quiet.

Not silent exactly, but I didn’t hear any movement out in the hallway, and I didn’t hear anyone talking.

I slowly pushed open the door of the closet and tiptoed across Naomi’s room to the door. I peered out into the hallway.

It looked empty.

I took a deep breath, looking again, and then I eased myself out into the hallway and made a dash back to the kitchen.

“Hey!” said a voice behind me.

I whirled.

Holly was standing there, her hands on her hips.

I put my finger to my lips.

She moved closer. “What were you doing in my sister’s room?”

“Nothing. Can you do me a favor and just pretend you didn’t see me?”

She seized my hand. “You’ve got one of my mom’s pregnancy tests.”

I shoved it in my pocket. “Holly, please, it’s very important that you don’t say anything.” I searched for some plausible reason to explain it. “If I’m pregnant, I want it to be a surprise.”

She raised her eyebrows. “I don’t see why you’re sneaking around just to get a pregnancy test.”

“Well, I am,” I said. “I want it to be a surprise. Please, please say it can be our secret?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, sure, if you say so.” She started back for her room, no longer interested in me.

I hurried all the way back to my own room.

* * *

The test was negative.

There was only one little line in the window. One.

I wasn’t pregnant, and I was relieved.

I wrapped the test up in lots of toilet paper and put it at the bottom of my trash can, hoping no one would see it.

I lay on my bed, taking long, deep, relieved breaths.

I sent Jesse a text.
I love you, and my jeep is home. I’ll see you later tonight, okay?
I didn’t tell him about the pregnancy scare. It was too much to get into in a text. Besides, I’d feel better if I just got my period. If I didn’t have my period, I couldn’t be sure that the test hadn’t messed up somehow.

After all, I hadn’t had the instructions when I took it. Maybe I’d screwed it up in some way.

Awesome,
he replied.
I miss you like crazy. I love you so much
.

I grinned at the words, my heart swelling. And then I excitedly typed,
I want to leave tonight.
I’d been waiting to tell him that. I’d kind of hoped to find a way to call him and tell him, but it was too risky to try to talk on the phone when Bob was back in the house somewhere.

Seriously? That’s great.

Seriously. I don’t ever want to be away from you for this long ever again.

Me either. When are you getting here?

I told him when to expect me, and we texted back and forth for a few more minutes. He probably wrote that he loved me about ten times, and I got shivers every time I read it. Everything was going to be okay.

I had just tucked my phone back into my dress, feeling giddy with happiness and excitement, when the knob of my bedroom door jiggled insistently. There was a banging on the door.

“Abigail,” came Bob’s angry voice, “open this door right now.”

Great. What had I done to make him mad? He’d been gone for two weeks, and I hadn’t even had a chance to talk to him yet.

Sighing, I went over to the door and opened it.

Bob burst inside, his face red. He grabbed me by the throat and propelled me backwards, slamming me into the wall. “Who you been lifting your skirts for, you little slut?” he growled.

I was choking from the pressure on my neck, and I couldn’t speak.

His grip tightened. “Tell me now.”

I struggled to draw breath, my lips opening and shutting to no effect.

Bob let go of me. He slapped my face. “Speak up, whore. What have you been doing behind my back?”

I put my hand to the place where he’d hit me, trying to cool the sting. Tears sprang to my eyes.

“You don’t get to cry.” He hit me again, this time across the other cheek. Then he balled up his fist and slammed it into my stomach.

I doubled over, pain spreading through me. I coughed and sputtered, curling my arms around my body to try to protect myself.

Bob let out a roar of frustration and unleashed himself on me. He drove his fists into my body over and over again, spitting the words “whore” and “slut” at me as my body writhed in agony.

When he stopped, I was wound up in a tight ball of the floor, my arms wrapped around my head, my knees drawn up to my chest. My nose was bleeding, and everything hurt.

He stood over me, panting. “You demonic little bitch. I never should have let you have as much free rein as I did.”

Lying there, I felt more blood starting to flow out of me, this time between my legs.

My period.

* * *

Bob let me clean myself up and put on a pad, but he stayed outside my bathroom door while I did it, so I barely had any privacy. Then he dragged me out of the house and took me to Gideon’s.

Susannah answered the door. When she saw me, her eyes widened. “Abby?”

Bob ignored her. “We need to see Gideon.” He yanked me into the house.

Susannah scampered off to find her husband, barely looking at me.

Gideon had us come into his office, the same place we’d been last time to talk about my problems with obedience.

Bob flung me in a chair, but he refused to sit down. He stood in front of Gideon, arms folded over his chest, nostrils flaring.

“What seems to be the problem?” said Gideon.

Bob grimaced. “I got home from Florida to find out that this little slut has been with another man.”

Gideon raised his eyebrows. “Did you catch her with him?”

Bob shook his head. “My daughter saw her with a pregnancy test.”

Holly! That brat. I’d told her not to say anything, but of course she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. She’d never liked me anyway, and I shouldn’t have expected her to do me any favors.

Gideon looked confused. “I don’t understand, Bob.”

“Well, there’s no reason for her to be taking one,” said Bob. “I haven’t had relations with her in months.”

Gideon drew himself up. “You’ve been neglecting your duty to your wife? You are the head of the household, and—”

“Never mind that,” Bob snarled. He was so angry, he didn’t care about being respectful to Gideon, it seemed. “She had a pregnancy test, and that means she’s spreading her legs for someone else. That’s adultery. I’ve long had my suspicions that this one is under the thrall of a demon, and I think this proves it.”

Gideon took several slow, thoughtful breaths. “Well, now, that it is a very serious accusation. We must be thorough to determine if such a thing has really occurred.” He rubbed his hands together. “But if it has…” He looked almost eager. He waved at Bob to sit down, and he turned his attention to me. “Abigail, can you explain why you had a pregnancy test?”

I racked my brain for some kind of excuse, but I couldn’t think of anything.

Bob glared at me, seething. He seemed to want to rip me to shreds.

But it didn’t matter, did it, because I was leaving. I didn’t have to lie to these men. I could simply give them the truth. I leveled my gaze at Gideon. “I had the pregnancy test to determine if I was pregnant, of course.”

“But is it true that you haven’t had relations with your husband in months?”

I allowed myself a small smile. “It is.”

“Then you’ve had relations with someone besides your husband.”

My smile widened. “I have.”

Gideon sucked in breath. “Really?” There was a gleam in his eyes. “Are you quite sure of this, Abigail? You allowed another man to look upon your naked body?”

“Yes.”

“Did he fondle you? Handle your breasts? Did he put his mouth on your nipples? Did he put his mouth between your legs?”

I drew back. I hadn’t even known men did that.

Gideon kept going, seeming to get more excited. “And he exposed himself to you? He had you handle and fondle his member? Did you put that in your mouth? Did he put himself in your anus?”

I made a face. Eew. “I don’t think any of that would make me need a pregnancy test.”

“I need to be thorough.” Gideon was grinning. “I need to know exactly what ways you’ve sinned in order to decide how to punish you.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I made love to him, that’s all. I’m in love with this man, and I’ve never felt anything even remotely like love for my husband. All Bob has ever done is hurt me and force me to do things. “

“You see?” said Bob. “She’s willful. She refuses to submit. And she’s admitted it. I want her exiled. I want a different wife. A better wife. She was meant to be given to me for my glory, but she does nothing but shame me.”

Exile sounded fine to me. I was leaving anyway.

“You’ve allowed her to run wild with the devil for far too long,” said Gideon. “You should have come to me with her sinful nature earlier. Why didn’t you?”

Bob turned away.

“Bob?” prompted Gideon.

“It was pride,” said Bob. “I thought that if I admitted I couldn’t control her, others would think badly of me.”

“I see,” said Gideon. “So, you’ve allowed her to fester for how long, would you say?”

“Since our last meeting about her lack of submission, I am ashamed to say.”

Gideon’s smile widened. “Well, that’s a shame.” But it didn’t sound like he thought it was a shame. He sounded like he’d just been given a gift.

“I’m sorry, Gideon.”

Gideon shrugged. “Well, it’s too late now. Perhaps if I had known earlier, she could have been saved, but as it stands now, it seems that the demon that influences her is deeply attached to her. I’m afraid that the only way we can save her soul is to sacrifice her physical body.”

I went cold. No.

He was going to kill me.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Abby

I got up from the chair in Gideon’s office and ran for the door, screaming at the top of my lungs, “Help! He’s going to kill me!”

Gideon moved like lighting. Within seconds, he was grabbing me from behind, one hand over my mouth, the other wrapped around my arms.

I struggled, wriggling against him, but he held me firm.

“Now, now,” he whispered in my ear, “this is for your own good. If we don’t sacrifice your body now, your soul will burn in Hell for all eternity.”

I struggled even harder.

To my horror, I suddenly realized that Gideon was getting an erection. I could feel it pressed into my backside.

I stopped moving.

Gideon grasped me closer. “Perfect. Submit to me.”

I tried to scream, but his hand was in the way.

So I brought my teeth down on the flesh of his fingers, biting down as hard as I could.

Gideon shrieked, letting go of me.

I scrambled for the door.

Gideon was faster. He backhanded me across the mouth. “You are a whore of Satan for certain.” He gathered me into his arms again, pressing his pelvis into my soft flesh. “I will free your pure, clean soul.” He looked up at Bob. “Hand me those over there.”

Bob turned around and came back with handcuffs.

Handcuffs? Why did Gideon have handcuffs?

He snapped them onto my wrists. But, even with my hands bound, he wouldn’t let go of me. He seemed to enjoy having his body pressed into mine, but it was making me feel even more frightened. I didn’t want Gideon to force himself on me. I had a strange feeling that Gideon would be much worse than Bob somehow. Bob was an angry, awful man who had no respect for me. But Gideon seemed to crave power and control, and I couldn’t imagine what he’d do to me.

In some ways, it might be better for him to just kill me.

But, no, I didn’t want to die.

I was supposed to run away with Jesse and the two of us were supposed to be happy. I wasn’t ready to die.

Still holding onto me, Gideon began to move me out of his office.