Atonement
Mid morning sun shone through the white sheer, lace edged curtains, casting rays across the rustic hardwood flooring. Tiny shadows were cast in specks across the floor, the faded yellow daisy print wallpaper, a sunny mockery of what this room was used for. Lysa hung her head, exhaustion overriding her pain, arms strung above her head, waist tethered to eye hooks on the floor, clad in nothing more that a cotton slip. She was forced to kneel on a bed of rice, it had been 3 days, her arms screamed in agony, lips dry and chapped from dehydration. Cammy had been assigned to tend to her. Feeding her broth once a day, and a half cup of water 3 times a day, Lysa was grateful for the small ray of light that was Cammy.
A light knock sounded on the door and then Cammy’s soft footsteps padded across the small room to her. ” Hi Lys, it’s me” Cammy softly announced herself, she felt Cammy’s tiny hands massaging her arms and shoulders, forcing the blood to circulate. A burning sensation filled her limbs and Lysa welcomed the pain, using it to fuel her determination to get out.
" Sir says you will be coming off punishment today, he’s said that you must atone for your sins. Leaving your predestined husband and turning your back on the prophet means serious consequences.” Lysa knows that Chase had ordered Cammy to pass the message along, she had pushed back each day being as difficult as possible. It had been a treacherous 6 weeks, Lysa guessed it must be July by now, her gut twisted, Samantha’s babies would be due soon she would miss their birth. The first friends she had made since she left ‘The Family’, the first people she dared to tell her story to.
The determined click of men’s dress shoes echoed down the hall, Cammy straightened and cast her eyes down. Lysa smelled him as he entered the room, only Chase wore designer cologne, her head still hung limply she saw his shiny Italian leather dress shoes, stopping directly under her gaze. “Lysander look at me” a smile of approval filled his voice, misreading the reasoning for her cast down head. When she didn’t comply his voice came hard and sharp, “Lysander, NOW, look at ME!” he demanded, ice laced each syllable, grunting, Lysa forced her head to slowly look up. She took in his appearance, brown leather shoes, perfectly tailored navy slacks, a soft gray dress shirt and navy jacket. Chase was much older, about 60, he was slim, but powerfully built, his salt and pepper hair cut neat and short, piercing hazel eyes behind squared black framed glasses.
She stared straight into his eyes defiantly, and he smirked, ” I see you still have that spark,” he reached out, tracing her cheek, Lysa jerked away and he frowned. ” I will break you Lysander, I will have your submission.” Jerking his gaze to the young girl next to Lysa he barked out, “Untie her Cammy, we will begin preparations, Lysander is ready to transcend.” He turned and quickly strode from the room, not bothering to wait for Lysa’s response. Lysa began shaking, she had to get out, and soon, she couldn’t allow him to touch her, not again, and she needed to save Cammy and Maisy, she needed to find Dax.
Dax dialed Tracker, he had a hot lead and needed confirmation fast, he sat at a roadside bar, just on the outskirts of Guyman OK. He had spoken to the barmaid, MayBeth, she had to be nearing 70, and had spent her life either behind the bar at ‘Dusty’s’ or on the back of her old man’s bike. She had a voice that sounded like she had smoked Parliaments since she was 6, and the language of a trucker and a sailor’s bastard child. Dax liked her immediately, he had asked if any newcomers had moved in, and she had confirmed about 6 weeks ago a large caravan of people had blown into town. She said that the old McCafferty farm had been abandoned since ’03, and apparently this group bought the property at a steal.
Dax asked if she had happened to see any women with the group and she confirmed she had. She had been at the general store and a group of women came in, eyes down to the ground, all dressed in various shades of white, gray and light blue. The were preceded by a man who reminded MayBeth of the actor Ricardo Montalban, he smelled like he bathed in $100 dollar cologne. Dax produced a picture of Lysa and asked if she had seen her as well, MayBeth nodded, said the girl had been with two others at the back with some military looking assholes.
MayBeth said she knew those three girls were in trouble, all 3 were rail thin, sallow skinned. Jumpier than a cat in a room full of rockin chairs, but in a town like Guyman, you minded your own if you knew what was good for you. Dax asked MayBeth where the McCafferty farm was, she smiled at him, and for a moment he saw her as a fresh faced 20 year old rebel, hazel eyes sparking and alive.
“I normally don’t get involved, but you remind me of Hank when he was your age. Mind, he had been to Vietnam and back by the time he was 26, and he had a look about him. I see that look in you son, if you don’t mind me sayin’, this woman you’re huntin’, this mission you’re on, be careful. Don’t go gettin so wrapped up in being a hero that you refuse to be saved yourself.” She patted his hand with her worn and wrinkled one, he smiled and noticed the dog tags hanging around her neck, he smiled and thanked her for her time and information.
Tracker’s voice on the other end pulled him from his thoughts, “Hey Dax, I have the coordinates and the sat images, I’m sending them now, buddy, you’re gonna need a team. Remember we binged that ‘Waco’ series? This dudes outfitted just like them, and he has his compound set up in a way that no respectable military or police organization would just go in guns blazing.” Tracker sighed heavily, “He’s only been there 6 weeks but he already converted a lot of the out buildings, the main house is his home base. The large pole barn seems to be their artillery storage and vehicle maintenance bay, they erected several metal buildings, some for housing, a large church and a ‘school house’ of sorts. You need scouts, you need men, this isn’t a simple operation.”
Dax sighed, he hadn’t wanted to call in this favor, he knew his brothers and his military brothers would jump in without a word, but this was a lot to ask under the radar. “Fuck, okay man, start the chain, I need you, I need the team, how fast can you be here.” He was desperate, he didn’t know how much time he had, or Lysa, he was in agony over the unknown.
Tracker laughed, “I’m about 20 minutes away, the rest of the team is about an hour out. I called your brother Dane, and he got a hold of the the Sheriff out in Eljoy. They contacted the local officials near Guyman, and will be teaming up with us at about 15:00, we got you man.” Dax felt his heart clench and he swallowed hard, he felt the biting sting of tears behind his eyes, “Thank you Tracker, I’ll be at Dusty’s bar, I’ll see you soon.”
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Lysa had been cut down, Cammy and Maisy helped her to the bathroom, her body throbbed and ached from hanging and kneeling so long. Maisy filled the tub, adding the ‘anointing’ bath oils Chase required, they had all helped the other maidens at one point or another. They knew the process took roughly two weeks, the cleansing, every night, the fasting that would follow the next week, as well as the ‘mentoring’ by the eldest maidens. The night of the ‘transcendence’ Chase would take the chosen, and the next two in line into his chambers, there the two additional girls would help the chosen get ready, they would bathe her, anoint her body with oil, and perfume, dress her all under the watchful eye of Chase.
Lysa shuddered as Maisy and Cammy helped her into the tub, she remembered the night she had helped the chosen before her. How Chase watched, every move, how he slowly undressed as she helped the young girl get ready. She had been 17 at the time, Rebecca, the chosen was only 19, but she was eager to become one of Chase’s wives, eager to bear his children. She remembered hearing Chase’s heavy breathing as they oiled and perfumed Rebecca, and the shock she felt when they turned and she saw Chase was naked, and he was touching himself.
A sob wracked her body as she remembered that night, Maisy shushed her, gently washing her back. When Lysa looked up, both girls where crying as well, she swallowed hard, and whispered to Maisy, “my monthly bag, please, go get it.” Lysa knew that after her bath Chase would require all three girls to go out to the field to commune with nature, part of the preparations was hours of quiet meditation outdoors. She and her chosen sisters would walk out into the field, strip themselves and sit together on full display. Chase explained that this was to offer themselves to the prophet, with a willing and pure heart, Lysa knew it was just so that old pervert could get his rocks off.
Maisy knew what Lysa was asking for, every girl was given a ‘monthly bag’, it contained feminine hygiene products. She had managed to conceal her small flip phone inside a pad, one thing about ‘The Family’, the men treated the female cycle as if it were a curse on humanity, so anything to do with it, they wouldn’t touch. She thanked God in this moment for the sexism of this cult, affording her the opportunity to hide a valuable item.
Maisy came back, a neatly folded pile of clothes and Lysa’s monthly bag, the girls helped Lysa dry and dress, her mobility stiff and uncoordinated still. Lysa slipped the flip phone into her panties, knowing that was the only place it would be concealed easily, then the girls walked hand in hand, heads bowed, down the hall, to the front room.
Chase sat in an arm chair, waiting for the girls, he had chosen Cammy and Maisy specifically, he knew that the mere sight of them would help to cow Lysander. Smirking at the image before him, the 3 young, innocent ladies, all his, his to dominate, to do with as he pleased, nothing more could bring him the pleasure of such power. Watching Lysander tremble, knowing her supplication was near, he would take great pleasure in her surrender, he would make her beg for it, for him. He would do it over and over again, until he was sure he had her utter obedience and submission to him, and then, he would watch as she begged the other men in ‘The Family’, begging them to take her, to do things to her he only imagined in his wildest fantasies. This was his birthright as the prophet, these things were rightfully his, Lysander especially, her mother was one of the more highly respected members. This was her gift to the prophet, promised upon her conception, Lysander would heel to him, this he would make sure of.
" Go, to the field beyond the School house, past the pond, there you will shed your earthly garments and offer yourself to the prophet. Do not return until the sun is high in the sky tomorrow, and do not dress upon your return, this is part of your atonement Lysander, and your sisters shall share this burden with you.” Chase waited to hear her refusal, waited for the argument, but none came, this pleased him very much.
Lysa and her sisters walked out of the house, barefoot, down the path toward the giant out building that was the school house. Eyes still down cast, not daring to look at anyone on the compound, past the fence that used to hold back horses, down a small slope. Finally in the center of the pasture there was a large pond, weeping willows dotted the area, Lysa led the girls to one of them, under the shade of the large tree, Lysa slowly turned to face the house and began to undress. She was watching to see if anyone was close by, Maisy stood and turned slightly to watch the other angle as Cammy was shielded by both women.
Cammy, Lysa and Maisy began to sing hymnals, which was also part of the preparation, they helped to hide noises that may seem unnatural. Lysa was down to her panties, she knew she had to get this right, in one quick movement and watching the house, knowing Chase watched the girls with binoculars, she flicked the white cotton panties down in a swift movement, both they and the cell phone hit the dirt as the girls hit a high note in their hymn. The girls clasped hands in a circle facing out, and slowly began walking, singing their hymns, they continued this for what seemed like hours as the sun slowly set.
The girls, exhausted, cold and hungry, with aching feet finally sat, Lysa, crossing her legs with her cellphone cradled between them. She gently placed her hands in her lap, flipped open the phone quickly and pressed the on button. Shuffling it under her panties to dampen the light, she slowly began the process of working the buttons to call Dax, she had him saved as a speed dial. Though she wouldn’t be able to pick the phone up, she knew what each vibration meant.
She felt the buzz of the ringing, it rang and rang and rang, finally it buzzed as if it was picked up and faintly she heard yelling. She began singing ‘Green green grass of home’ and her sisters joined in, loudly, she was able to whisper shout toward the phone.
“Dax, Dax listen, we are at the new compound, I have two weeks at best, Maisy and Cammy need to come with us. I’ll leave the line open as long as I can, I know you can trace me. Please Dax, I only have two weeks time.”
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Dax sat at the bar, a greasy burger left untouched next to a soda, waiting impatiently, Tracker had arrived right on time. They had gone over logistics, planning and moves that would need to be made, Tracker insisted he needed to eat, saying he looked like utter dog shit, and he was right on the money with that observation. Resigning himself to the fact that Tracker wouldn’t let up until he ordered food, they went in and he sat and watched in amusement as Tracker and MayBeth bantered back and forth.
Suddenly, it sounded like a convoy of semis was rolling down the desolate stretch of road, Dax jumped up and ran to the door, Tracker and MayBeth hot on his heels. The sight that greeted Dax stopped him dead, two RVs, towing SUVs, three large blacked out SUVs, and what looked like both local and federal law enforcement vehicles pulled into the dusty lot. Suddenly all the doors opened, and people poured out, he saw Dane, Chris and Brent, as well as Tony, followed by a heavily pregnant Samantha, Bonnie and Andy.
He saw Brock, the Sheriff from Eljoy, dressed in blue jeans and a plain Henley, something Dax had never seen before. His mother Sylvie popped out of the passenger seat, along with two of the deputies. He watched other officers step out, and last but not least, the motley crue as they called themselves.
Tracker clapped him on the shoulder as they watched their brothers in arms approach, they looked like the heroes in an 80’s action flick. Smiling, “Well shit, who let you fucks all loose at once?” Hardy laughs, handshakes and one armed hugs were exchanged, a somber tone hung heavy in the air mocking the short lived joy of their reunion.
Dax sighed heavily, ” alright folks, where are we setting up home base?” Brock walked up with Sheriff Tackitt, “Well we figure the RVs will be our home base, Ms. MayBeth, would you know of a good place to park these rigs?” MayBeth, eager to help directed them to a nearby camp area, Dax thanked her for all her help as he packed up. She waved him off, her gruff voice sounding reminiscent, “you go get your girl, then you bring her back here so I can meet her.” She waved them off, lighting a cigarette in his rear view mirror.
It was going on 6pm when they finally got settled in, the women were cooking up some dinner, as the men began trading information and planning their next moves. Andy brought over a basket of fresh baked rolls, setting them on the table she wrapped her arms around Dax’s neck, “how you holding up asshole?” she whispered into his ear, he smiled and shrugged, ” I failed her Andy, I failed her, but I will bring her home. I swear on my life.” Andy smiled, and Dax felt a few tears fall on his shoulder, ” I know you will Dax, ” she kissed his head and walked off.
After another 3 hours they had all their equipment set up, Tracker had sat images pulled up of the local area, the boys had sent some drones up to take high res images. Dax sat by the fire that his brothers had started, Tracker sat down next to him and sighed. Across from them sat the 4 other men from their old squad, DeadPool, Grimm, Gunner, and Horseman. These men had gotten him through some shit back in that desert, the bond they shared was one that ran so deep it burrowed into their souls. They sat looking at one another, speaking without saying a single word.
Suddenly Samantha came running, or rather speed walking due to her swollen belly. “DAX, DAX, it’s Lysa, she’s calling!!!” thrusting his phone toward him, frantically he grasped it, her name rolling across the display, a picture of her laughing in the sunshine on his screen. Anxiety choked him and he nearly missed her call, answering it he called out to her, “LYSA, LYSA where are you!?” he put the line on speaker and they heard 3 hauntingly beautiful voices singing ‘Green green grass of home’, and collective shudder ran through the group, suddenly Lysa’s voice whispered under the other 2 singing.
“Dax, Dax listen, we are at the new compound, I have two weeks at best, Maisy and Cammy need to come with us. I’ll leave the line open as long as I can, I know you can trace me. Please Dax, I only have two weeks time.” Lysa’s voice was filled with a tremor of terror no one could mistake.
Dax’s hands shook uncontrollably, he felt a cold sweat wash over him, the familiar feel of going under. The terror in her voice triggered a feeling of helplessness he hadn’t felt since the desert, he felt the world spinning. The singing turned into a foriegen language he didn’t understand, the whir of helicopter blades, gunfire ringing, he was hit.
Suddenly a crack across his face pulled him back, he shook his head and looked into the pale gray eyes of Horseman. “Get your shit together man” he said sternly, holding his shoulders, Dax nodded, and he screamed into the receiver, “I will bring you home Lysa, I promise. I will bring you all home.” He looked to Tracker, already at his post, Sheriff Tackitt was on his cell phone updating his crew, as well as Brock. The campsite was a flurry of activity, even the women where now brewing coffee and passing cups around. Dax had a feeling of dread, but hope clung to his hammering heart, Lysa was going to come home, she would be in his arms soon.
