You say, ‘Well, God. I’ve prayed to you, and you never answered!’” the teacher scoffed. “Have you been patient, ye of little faith? Have you continuously prayed for what you seek in faithfulness?”

  He paused, then said, “He is not bound to His creation; His creation is bound to Him.” He coughed in his sleeve, then with a loud voice, he said, “He understands immediate, but do you know how to submit? If He gives you immediate ? in the snap of a finger, then how can He use you for something that takes time …”

  I shot up wide-eyed, and gasped for air. I shook my head and groaned at the dream I’d just had. I rubbed my eyes, then dragged both legs off the bed. I stood up and realized I was still in the outfit Jace had made. Ugh, I needed to get this off. I felt like a possession, like a dark jeweled prize. I walked to the wardrobe and found a long white gown. I ripped the clothes off me, not caring that my nails dug into my forearms. After I changed, I glanced out the window again and realized everyone had gone to their living quarters.

  A pull in my heart, a curious urge to look around this place some more, beckoned me. I removed the chair and pulled it away from the door. Softly, I twisted the knob and crept out of my chambers. I decided to turn left. The lights in the hall were dim. Not a soul was to be found, other than the guards posted at their stations. Even though I walked past them, they didn’t say a word.

  Mm, I thought. Why aren’t they shoving me back in my room?

  I continued forward and ended up noticing a spiral staircase going up. It had many, many stairs and by the time I was done climbing them, I leaned over to catch my breath. Suddenly, a creak drew my attention, and I looked in front of me. We were in a small room like a dome. I noticed that the noise came from a male. He didn’t see me, but I watched as he climbed out the window. I was intrigued to see what he was doing, so I followed him. I realized this was a window to the roof of the castle. I stepped on one of the shingles and without realizing it was old, it broke under my feet, alarming the man.

  He turned around swiftly. His dark eyes were wide, and he stuttered under his breath, “D-d-don’t come a-a-any closer.”

  I raised my hand. “Woah, I’m not here to hurt you.” I moved my entire body through the window and said, “Like you, I am trapped here, but I’ve only arrived today.”

  “S-s-so you’re the one who r-r-refused to eat.”

  I nodded. “I had no idea it would affect you and the others. I am so sorry.”

  He looked at me, then turned away as he looked down to the ground. “Doesn’t m-m-matter anyways.”

  “Look,” I gasped under my breath, not sure what to say. “Whatever you’re about to do, I would think about it first.”

  He stepped closer to the edge, and my heart began to pound in my chest. The chilly wind tickled my arms and gave me goosebumps.

  “What’s your name?” I asked, trying to distract him.

  “Douglas.”

  I shook my head, wetting my lips. “All right, that’s a start. My name is Madeline. Maddy for short.” I started to step toward him, slowly. “How old are you?”

  “S-s-sixteen.” He looked back at me.

  I placed my hand on my chest. “I am seventeen.” Then distracting him further, I asked another question, “Why are you up here?”

  “You see this place.”

  “I do.”

  I could see strands of hair flying past his forehead. “Do y-y-you know what they do here?” He glanced at his feet, and shook his head slowly. “Of course, you don’t. Y-y-you just arrived.”

  “Tell me … ,” I pleaded with him a little longer as I inched toward him.

  “It’s n-no use. Just kill y-y-yourself.”

  Before I knew it, he slid off the roof. Lunging myself toward him, my belly hit the shingles as I leaned over with his hand in mine.

  “Don’t do this, Douglas!”

  As he looked down at the scary heights below, he reverted his eyes to me as tears filled them. “You don’t know the t-t-terrible things t-t-they do here! Just let go.”

  “No,” I whispered under my breath. I felt his hand slipping, then with my other hand I grabbed onto his sleeve. “I know this is a terrible place. Terror is everywhere. But I know a God who is scarier than this. He makes the darkness flee,” I cried out. “Suicide is not the way, Douglas.”

  “What is the way, then?”

  I gasped out, “ Jesus said, ’I am the way, the truth, and the life,’ He said, ’no one comes to the Father except through me.’”

  I could hear the thunder above me shaking the shingles, and the rain started to sprinkle on my arms. Any second, it would start to pour, and I would lose my grip. “Give Him a chance, give me a chance.”

  “I can’t go b-b-back.”

  “Trust me, you won’t.”

  He looked down again, then with his dangling hand, he reached for the roof. With all my strength, I lifted this five-eight man who probably weighed a hundred and thirty pounds. He finally got back on the roof.

  Sitting on my butt, I caught my breath, hearing him catch his as the rain poured on top of us. We sat in the rain, getting soaked, and sharing the same thought, that this was better than going back inside.

  Douglas began to tell me some of the things that happened here, and my heart felt like it was ready to explode.

  Like a nightmarish movie, he described it as if it was before me. Every third month, on the third day, six women who were ready to conceive would be picked out by six men. They would then be escorted to six rooms; each one had their own room. The men would stand in front of the door as the women they picked would get ready for them. When the person who oversaw this wicked ceremony blew a whistle, they would enter the room and commit fornication.

  “What happens next?” I asked, feeling a wave of nausea hit my stomach.

  “T-t-they get pregnant.”

  “What happens to the babies?”

  He lowered his head, and his eyes fixated on the water flowing from the top of the roof. He shuttered because the wind made it cold, on top of us already being soaked.

  “They,” he said, his voice trembling, “t-t-they are sacrificed to Baal. Abortions.”

  I stood up, waving my hands. “I can’t hear anymore.”

  “It’s t-t-true.”

  “I believe you.” My tone stretched. “I just can’t handle it.”

  “W-w-what are you going to do?”

  Immediately, before my eyes, I looked out and saw a vision: the idol fountain crumbled. Within my soul, I repeated, “Joshua six. They will crumble, that’s what He is going to do.”

  *

  The next morning, I got up and searched the closet for something to wear. Picking through the variety of dresses, I pursed my lips. All of them were revealing. I gave a rough sigh. If it didn’t reveal the breast, it revealed the legs, even the thighs. I knew eventually that I had to get dressed because soon, they’d be knocking on my door for whatever reasons they had.

  I decided to get dressed in a velvet blue dress with white pearls sewn around the v. The dress’s length stopped just before my knees, its sleeves were long, and the v was cut in a long length, exposing a little bit of my breast.

  I moved my hair to the side, looking into the vanity, and started to brush it. From the wash of the rain, my hair naturally formed waves. I stared in the mirror for a second, and my cheeks started to turn red. I threw the brush on the vanity, not caring if it broke. I didn’t give two craps about the way they gave us things. It was repulsing, all of it was disgusting, even the darn brush.

  I drew a long breath in before, exhaling. You got this, I reminded myself. You can handle what comes next. I stepped out of my room and walked the way I knew the dining hall was. It was early, so with common sense I knew people had to be eating, right? As I was walking, I saw girls in yellow. I wondered why, and turned my head the opposite way to see more girls in the same color.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  I reached the dining hall and stood in the archway, seeing every single person wearing yellow, even Theodore, Luminous, Sabrina, and Aeromonas. Just like how on St. Patrick’s Day, you would wear green in some type of form.

  I gasped. I was clearly wearing the wrong color. Even, Pauline and Chad were wearing it. Suddenly, I saw Luminous in front of me, as if he’d been teleported to me. Grabbing my arm forcefully, he pulled me out of everyone’s sight.

  “What in the hell do you think you are doing?” he snapped.

  I cleared my throat, stumped. His hand around my arm tightened. It hurt. I pulled my arm out of his grip. “How was I to know I was supposed to wear yellow?” I spat at him.

  He grabbed my arm again and drug me down the hall back to my room. “It was thumbnailed to your door, like every instruction is for the morning.”

  I creased my brows, just the sight of him angered me more. Clenching my teeth, I said, “I didn’t get one.”

  He opened my door and bolted through the threshold. He flung my wardrobe doors open, as it offended him, and picked out a yellow dress. He threw it on the bed and pointed at it before he ordered harshly, “Get dressed.”

  I looked at him, then the dress. “What? Not with you in here, I won’t.”

  “Get dressed, now.”

  “No.”

  He rushed to me, grabbed my arm again, and started forcefully, ripping my clothes.

  I slapped him across the face. My eyes widened and I pursed my lips as I watched him briefly touch his cheek, he then clenched his jaw.

  In a low voice, I asserted, “After what I’ve been put through so far. If you ever touch me like that again, I will leave a permanent mark on you.” Stepping back, I hastily covered the exposed parts of my body. “Turn around, and I will change.”

  He shot me a hateful glare before complying.

  I retrieved the dress from the bed and, while putting it on, remarked, “I fail to see why you’re so distressed about the color. I wasn’t given specific instructions.”

  “It’s a symbolic gesture. My father insists on unity.”

  “They’re just clothes.”

  “It’s not about the clothes,” he retorted, his voice harsh. “It’s about unity.” He turned back around, pausing for a moment to take in my appearance, as if the correct color somehow enhanced my presence. “That’s better.”

  I rolled my eyes and muttered under my breath, “I can’t stand you.” Instantly, a verse etched itself into my mind: ‘Love thy neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than this.’ Oh, Lord, how am I supposed to hold love in my heart for him, and for the people in this place? In another vivid flash that led me to sit on the bed, I envisioned Jesus, uttering, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they do.’ And they divided up His clothes by casting lots.

  “Get up and join us in the dining hall for breakfast,” he ordered.

  I blinked repeatedly as I turned my gaze toward him. Forgive them! What? How can he be so oblivious to the wrongness of all this, Father? My eyes began to well with tears, and I contemplated declining, asserting that I had no appetite, no desire to participate. Then, I considered the others trapped here, just like me. If I don’t eat, they won’t either.

  I swallowed, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “All right.” I rose from my bed and made my way back to the dining hall, with him trailing behind. The short walk felt interminable. A palpable sense of animosity seemed to seep from the very walls. My anxiety quickened my heartbeat, and I wondered, God, what is his motive? Why didn’t he let me walk into the dining hall and make a spectacle of myself in front of everyone? Why, God, does he shield me? Even though he despises me, what role does he play?

  Taking my place beside Theodore, I offered a single nod. His unsettling attempt at warmth sent shivers down my spine. “Thank you for breakfast,” echoed from his ‘children’, and then the room became a symphony of clinking cutlery and quiet conversations. Plates held bacon and eggs, French toast and pancakes, as well as an assortment of fruits - strawberries, bananas, oranges, and mangos. Glasses were brimming with milk, orange juice, or water. Coffee and soda were conspicuously absent, but tea was available.

  A washbowl sat before me. I washed my hands, and the keeper promptly retrieved it. Beneath the bowl laid a cloth and a plate. I draped the cloth across my lap, surveying the spread before me. My appetite was nonexistent, but the gnawing emptiness in my stomach implored me to eat. I plucked a bagel from the tray and began tearing off small pieces to nibble.

  Out of nowhere, in the midst of casual conversation and apparent camaraderie, Luminous seized his plate and hurled it against the wall. We all turned to him.

  He started to rub his neck, then scratched his eyebrow. A dissatisfied laugh escaped him as he murmured, “I apologize. Restlessness has gotten the better of me.”

  “For what reason, Luminous? We’re all savoring our first meal of the day,” his mother, Sabrina, queried.

  He set his cloth on the table, rising to his feet. Clenching both fists, he leaned over the table, resting on his arms. “You see, one of Father’s favors didn’t align with our unity.”

  “Did you reprimand her?” Aeromonas inquired.

  “I was about to, until she revealed she hadn’t received the instruction.” He motioned for a keeper to approach, then straightened his posture. His gaze flicked to Theodore, and his father gave a nod. “Retrieve the warlock,” he ordered the keeper.

  The warlock? What in the world? I couldn’t believe it. Warlocks, here? Warlocks, in this day and age? I shook my head in disbelief. I’d always thought they were nothing more than a product of fantasy.

  The entire room fell silent, but the rapid rise and fall of each ‘child’s’ chest betrayed their fear. What did this mean? The look of terror on their faces was unmistakable. It was obvious that whatever was about to transpire couldn’t be good. I thought to myself, Is he about to uncover who tampered with my instruction using some sort of mystical spell?

  A few moments later, a figure cloaked in the attire of a warlock entered the dining hall, hood obscuring their features. I watched as this enigmatic figure walked heavily across the tiles, the chain on their cloak clinking with each deliberate step. When they reached Luminous, the hood was thrown back to reveal their identity.

  This warlock had fiery red hair, like an ember leaping from a flame. His complexion was pale, and freckles adorned his face. He must have been around thirty years old. Luminous began to converse with him in hushed tones, and I strained to make out their conversation. Afterward, the witch looked upward and uttered an incantation in a foreign language.

  When the witch turned back toward us, his eyes were no longer their natural leafy green. They were an abyss of inky blackness. My eyes widened in terror. I was so frightened that I flung myself and my chair backward, scrambling away until I was pressed against the wall. I tried to stifle a scream, only managing to utter Jesus’s name quietly in my mind, ensuring no one heard me. This was anything but normal. Beautiful eyes had been transformed into the darkest black I’d ever seen.

  As I invoked His name, the warlock – or whatever he’d become – heard me and emitted a growl. Within moments, the figure loomed over me. Whatever dwelled inside him clearly opposed whatever presence was within me. I continued to repeat Jesus’s name in my thoughts as I felt the warm breath of this malevolent entity on my legs.

  ‘Do not be afraid,’ a voice resounded in my head. ‘Look into its face, and I will give you strength.’

  My lips trembled as I raised my chin, locking eyes with the entity, as if it wished to tear my soul apart.

  It growled once more, and my spirit guided me. Drawing upon the boldness I’d felt in the cargo crate, I grabbed the cloak of the man and pulled him closer, whispering under my breath, “In the name of Jesus, be silent and depart.”

  The demon within the man clawed at my fingers, emitting a guttural, malevolent growl, and in an instant, the man’s eyes returned to their natural leafy green. Next thing I knew, he was gazing at me with wide and bewildered eyes, stepping away from me and hurrying back to Luminous.

  Theodore leaped to his feet, his anger palpable as he shouted at the witch, “Are you broken? Summon it back!” He abruptly turned his head toward me. “There’s nothing to fear here.” He extended his hand to me and assured, “Do not be afraid; everything here caters to the desires of the flesh.”

  The warlock, nervously rubbing his palms together, stammered, “It has left me, Master.”

  “What do you mean, left?” Sabrina inquired.

  The warlock whimpered, “It is gone, and I do not know why it left …”

  Theodore bit his lower lip and signaled to Aeromonas with his hand. “Daughter, you may leave the table. If we can’t get the truth from the warlock, then we’ll resort to the old methods.”

  A keeper retrieved my chair, and I seated myself.

  Luminous never wavered in his intense gaze. He sat back down, lightly grazing his fingers above his lips, struggling to comprehend what had just transpired, a perplexity that clearly troubled him.

  Aeromonas rose from her seat and began to circulate around the table, placing her hand on each ‘child’ as though she were employing a tactic to unnerve or manipulate them.

  “All right,” she said with a cheerful demeanor, reveling in being the center of attention. “For each person who reveals the culprit responsible for attempting to disrupt our unity, we will reward you. You will become favored, and anything you desire will be granted.” She halted at the end of the table and raised her voice, demanding, “Who removed the instruction from the favored’ s door?”

  Silence lingered until I noticed Pauline raise her hand. In a hushed voice, she pointed slowly at a girl who sat tall and confident. “I saw her do it,” Pauline accused.

  Aeromonas turned her gaze toward the accused girl. “Is this true, Favor Lillian?”

  Lillian tilted her head with an air of defiance. “If it were true, sister, I would have admitted it. But I did not do it.”

  “Someone did,” Aeromonas replied. She briefly closed her eyes and gasped. A moment later, she smiled and muttered a quiet, “Thank you,” under her breath. She approached Lillian, resting her arms on her shoulders.

  Lillian, unwavering, maintained her air of confidence. “Lillian, dear, come with me to the center. I want to reward you for your honesty.”

  Lillian rose, a smile gracing her lips as she swept her dark hair to the side. She let out a sigh of relief, basking in Aeromonas’s shower of compliments. Pausing by Lillian’s side, she declared, “You know, sisters and brothers, we reward truthfulness and punish liars. Anyone who jeopardizes our unity must, of course, face consequences. Let this serve as an example and a sacrifice to Baal.”

  Lillian gasped, letting out a startled,“Huh?” just before Aeromonas grabbed her head and broke her neck. Lillian’s body fell to the floor like a discarded ragdoll, emitting a loud thud. Aeromonas extended her hand toward Pauline. “Congratulations, dear. You are now a favor.”

  I frowned and covered my mouth, while everyone else burst into applause. I overheard Theodore offering thanks to someone, then murmuring under his breath, “Such a shame. She was beautiful.” It seemed like he was conversing with an invisible presence as he responded, “Congratulations.” He continued, “Yes, six more are coming.” He cleared his throat, then glanced at me. “Favor.”

  I acknowledged him.

  “You are to meet me in my office within an hour. My servant will come to fetch you. Feel free,” he gestured casually, “to gain a better understanding of our community in the meantime.” I could hear servants removing her body from the dining hall as he added, “And remember, anything you ask for, it shall be done.”

  I nodded, my eyes almost welling with tears, for in that moment, I realized the favor bestowed upon me by my God, and the mercy He granted me amidst the terror.

  Theodore rose again, as if the preceding events hadn’t occurred, and cheerfully raised his hands, dismissing his children.

  They all chorused, even Pauline and Chad. “Thank you for feeding us, Master.”