Lilly

Chapter 9

"May I use your phone?"

"No, you may not," he said.

She started to turn around, but before she could move, Belinda grabbed her by the shoulders and held her. "We have not dismissed you."

"Since you don't know the rules, I'll tell you them," Cornelius said. His words lingered for a moment, before he continued. "First, you will show absolute respect to everyone, with no exceptions. When you are not respectful, you will be disciplined. Once you've learned the true way, we will not discipline as much, but the discipline will be more severe. We will allow you out under supervision, the only exception being for school. Your clothing," he said, eyeing her up and down, "Is not acceptable, and will be addressed."

That's when she noticed every girl was wearing clothing similar to what Belinda had on. She knew she would not dress like them, not for long anyway, and there was no way she'd wear those clothes to school.

Before she realized what was happening, she found herself over his knees. When Belinda pulled her sweatpants off, Lilly screamed, not holding anything back. Cornelius hit her with a belt, not caring where it hit, and he did it many times, before he dropped her on the floor.

"You're an asshole!" she screamed, and found herself back on his legs. When this second round ended, she didn't say a word. She didn't stand up, either.

"Mother, may I take her to get proper clothes, and try and show her the proper way?" the oldest girl asked.

"By all means, Zephira," Belinda replied. Zephira helped her up, Lilly offering no resistance. She grabbed her sweat pants as she walked out, though.

"If you keep quiet, and do what you're told, it's not so bad," Zephira said, once they were out of the room.

"I'm not staying here."

"You can't leave. You'll get in all kinds of trouble, if you try."

"Watch me."

After getting new clothes, which Lilly refused to wear, she found herself in a small closet. It was pitch black, and they gave her no food, or anything else.

She screamed for long periods with no response. After awhile, she let her mind go out, wanting any kind of mental stimulation she could find. She contacted the family's three dogs. Although they weren't human, they kept her sane, giving her some small amount of interaction. By the time her release came, she was spent, but not broken like they wanted.

I might not be able to write in you much for a while. These people don't give me much time to myself. They've kept me in a dark closet a lot, and I haven't eaten much since going in there. They hit me a lot, too. This is my first time out in

Lilly heard footsteps, and threw her journal in her pack. "Priscilla, you'll be kept from school this week," Belinda said.

She almost asked why, but didn't need to. She knew why. They were afraid of her running away, or maybe contacting her caseworker. They'd have to let her out, at some point.

"Samuel will teach you the true faith," she said, and led Lilly to what looked like a classroom, but with a couch in the corner.

"Priscilla," Samuel said, when she walked in. She remained silent.

"You don't know about God. You might've been taught about Him, but by heretics, who know nothing. We'll teach you about God, the way He is, and what He expects from us. The first thing is obedience. You are to always be obedient to your elders, including older children," he said. The more he spoke, the madder she got. This wasn't what she'd learned while with the Bazemores. She tuned him out, her mind still connected to the family dogs.