Isabella POV
Father Lucas's office also happened to be upstairs, which explained why he decided to drop by.
Adorned in a crisp white suit, he walked forward towards the front podium as we all dipped our heads in respect. For a man who was in his mid-fifties, he looked nothing short of forty- another reason why he was superior, he barely aged.
He had this strange ability to capture everyone's attention, and as he spoke, everyone listened.
Meanwhile, my thoughts were elsewhere.
I wanted nothing more than to escape and make my way to the clearing to try and get a hold of Daniel. It was something I had been doing every night.
I'd been so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn't even registered Father Lucas walking towards us until Dillan nudged me on the side.
"Thank you, Dillan." He nods, "Now, if I may, I'd just like to steal your valedictorian for some last-minute changes to her college application."
My ears instantly perk up at the sound of my application, and my heart races. Had he also heard from NYU and was coming to tell me that I was to go there instead? Hope bubbles in my chest as I instantly excused myself from Dillan's hold and eagerly follow after Father Lucas.
He leads me upstairs to his study, and I follow him, bouncing with excitement. My tight, uncomfortable sandals sound against the hardwood floor.
"Close the door, my child." Father Lucas commands as I walk in behind him and do as I'm told. I turn back around to see him sitting on the leather sofa, where he motions for me to move towards him.
I sit on the other end of the sofa, putting a good distance between us as I turn my body towards him. "Has there been any updates on my application? Have you changed your mind about school in New York?" I ask, hopefully.
Father Lucas chuckles lightly, the wrinkles near his eyes crinkling. "So eager, my sweet Josephina." He chuckles, but I don't reciprocate it.
Was I being too direct? Did he not bring me up here to discuss such matters?
"We will get there." He continues before his gaze moves down to my feet, and he frowns. "But first, give me those shoes; they look like they're putting you in a great deal of pain." He commands, staring unimpressed at the sandals on my feet.
He doesn't even wait for my response before he's grabbing onto my ankle and pulling my feet into his lap.
I fall back onto the sofa. I lie across the length of it with my feet in his lap as he sits up, facing forward. And without another word, the man starts to untie my sandals.
My eyes widen as I watch him take them off. "It's really alright," I mutter awkwardly, watching him remove them and rub at my bare feet.
This situation was beyond strange. And had anyone else been witnessing this, I would have been ridiculed. It was disrespectful to have him do something like this to me, but he was insisting.
It's silent as I wait for him to speak, and when he does, it's underwhelming. "Did I tell you how magnificent you look tonight? So pure and beautiful."
I muster up a distracted smile as his hands move to massage my calves under my long white dress.
I was starting to wonder when he would let me know about my application. Tilting my head up and off the couch, I peer over at him, only to realize his gaze is already on me.
Except his eyes weren't on my confused face; they were fixed on the heaving of my chest, where the tight white material was covering my upper half as I breathed in and out.
And just like that, the unsettling feeling following me throughout the entire week amplifies in the span of a few seconds.
I didn't know exactly what to make of it, but I find myself trying to slow my breathing so that my chest doesn't heave and draw his attention.
His hands itch higher on my legs, tightening, and I instantly don't like where this is going. Yet, I couldn't find it in me to move. I was chained to my position by the notion that the man I was with was Father Lucas.
The man we were taught to give all our trust to. The man we were taught to respect. I told myself he would never do anything to harm me, and I was safe, but why did I feel so off?
Against my better judgment, I yank my foot out of his hold, and then in an instant, his body is covering mine, his arms on either side of me holding himself up.
I lay frozen at the sudden act of extreme intimacy.
Sure, there were times throughout my life where he'd been affectionate, but it was never this intimate.
Incoherent words and noises were spilling from under his breath, and they had my mind reeling into a state of panic. "... will be mine first."
"Father?" My voice is small and hesitant as my arms stay frozen to my sides, not daring to move. "About my application... Did you decide to accept me into a school in New York?" I ask once again.
He groans, snapping his head up, and his piercing green eyes stare into mine. "Is that all you care about?!" He chuckles in an attempt to soften up his words, but I get that he's irritated.
I blink up at him, not letting him see how upset and uncomfortable he was making me, for I didn't want to upset him.
"Well, you did invite me up here on the premise of my application status..." I reason, not understanding why he's getting so worked up.
He curses under his breath as he hastily gets off me. "When will you understand that you will not be going to New York, and that is final! You will be somewhere close where I can keep an eye on you!" He explodes.
I sit up as tears gather in my eyes. " I -I didn't mean to upset you," I say, standing up as he paces back and forth before me.
His serpent-like green eyes snap to me, "Well, you did!" I recoil, but he grabs my face, bringing it close to his. "Here I am willing to finally take you, and here you are acting like an ungrateful brat! Do you know how long I have waited for you?!"
I looked to the ground in shame, trying to get myself together, but I don't know what to say or do. I'm so confused. "I'm sorry, but I don't follow," I say softly, too scared to anger him further.
"Don't you get it? You are the future, my future. You are mine to love, hold, and to bear my children." He snaps, his hand snaking down around my waist to pull me flush against him.
My heart slows, yet the pounding gets louder in my ears.
"That doesn't make sense. You have given me an assignment; you do not get an assignment, you are our Heavenly Father." I mumble, pushing myself out of his arms.
He moves forward and grabs my face once again. "How can you be so dense and incompetent? Do I have to spell it out for you?" He snaps, and then he harshly brings his lips to mine, and my eyes instantly widen.
I stand frozen as his lips prod mine, working against my still ones. It's only when he pulls away that I realize there's a salty taste in my mouth coming from the tears trailing down my cheeks, some getting onto my lips and in my mouth.
I did not want this.
His hold on me tightens, and just when he moves his face towards mine, a sound blares through the room, halting his movements.
He lets go of me, moving towards the phone on his desk and instantly picking it up. "What?!" He barks.
It's quiet as he's listening for a few moments before he straightens out, clearing his throat, his face paling. "My apologies, Sir-"
I don't care to listen to the rest of what he's saying because I'm given an opening and I'd be a fool not to take it.
Turning on my heels, I storm out of the room, my bare feet padding against the hardwood floors as I run down the stairs away from the man who was supposed to be the one to turn to in cases like this.
What happened? Where did things go so wrong?
I felt like I couldn't breathe. The world was crumbling down, and I had just started the fall of it. Father Lucas wouldn't be happy. I had no one to turn to.
I was a mess, and I could barely register my surroundings. All I knew was that I needed to leave, I needed to speak to someone who understood.
But as I made it to the front doors of the town hall that led outside, a mop of blonde hair came into view, and the next thing I knew, I was being dragged out by his tight grip on my wrist.
****
I was far too out of it, still reeling over the events that had occurred minutes ago, to notice the excited gleam of anticipation on Dillan's face.
Far too scared and shaken up over what had just happened to even register my surroundings as we arrived at my house.
Far too distraught to register him ushering me into my bedroom, and I was far too distracted in my own thoughts to stop him from pushing me onto my mattress, where I lay frozen.
I lay in shock, far too caught off guard and confused to register Dillan hiking up the skirt of my dress, and my reaction was far too delayed to register the sudden pinch of pain that came from below the mass of white material blocking my view of what was going on.
And by the time I did notice and snap out of my thoughts, my screams were far too loud to register the words he was speaking.
My mind was far too preoccupied calling for help as he continued to violate me in my most intimate part over and over again, ignoring the way I cried for him to stop.
My screams were loud, louder than the grunts spilling from the man on top of me, louder than the sounds of him pushing into me, his movements only making the pain worse and dulling out the thumping in my chest.
My screams didn't stop, not even when he did, and by the time I saw him standing before me, I couldn't speak, for I was far too distracted, focused on the throbbing pain coming from below.
But there was one thing I was aware of, and that was the moment I turned my head and looked up into his eyes, mine clouded with tears and sobs while the man I'd been assigned to for the rest of my life simply smiled down at me, assuring me that it was okay.
But as he spoke, I couldn't register his words because my ears, blaring with white noise, had felt like they were going to explode along with the rest of my body. And all I could focus on was the hints of blood smeared across the bottom of his white dress shirt.
My blood.
***
And in the end, I was far too shaken to move or even breathe. All I could do was shut my eyes and hold my breath, forcing my mind into a tub of water in hopes of it drowning out everything because I'd never felt anything like this before.
I didn't want to feel it.
I didn't want to think about it.
And I certainly didn't want to be breathing.
I wanted to feel the nothingness that came when I wasn't breathing, and I never wanted to be here again.
But I couldn't hold my breath for long, and the second my body forced my mouth open to fill air into my lungs, the sobs started. Raking through my numb body harder than before.
Until eventually my mind grew drowsy, and I couldn't even bear to register the fact that I was still in my blood-stained white dress. Lying in my childhood bedroom- a place I felt most comfortable. A place that was located in my house- a place I felt most safe. And they were both within the grounds of The Colony - a place I felt most at home.
Except now it was all tainted.
And all I wanted was to be far, far away.
