Chapter 6-3
Prove or Die
Part 4
She stood up and looked at me and had me stand against the wall and reached for the blindfold. I swallowed hard, waiting for her to tie me up again. She kissed me and said. "Well played my little tiger. You have skillfully passed this portion of the test showing me you know how to pleasure a woman, and I am looking forward to what you have planned once we get inside the tub.
"But now I need to know how you perform without seeing me. Or knowing what I am about to do? Reading people is easy when your eyes can see what they like and do not like. Yet I noticed you have one weakness, and I intend to see if it is only because you're afraid or something deeper."
She wasted no time in blindfolding me and placed a pair of handcuffs on me as she put my hands behind my back. Telling me about the next test, as I questioned where was Jeff and what was taking him so long. I called out for him in our special link, but he didn't answer me. Except to tell me help was coming, but it would be some time before it got here and I needed to stall for time, until it did.
"This next test is crucial because it will tell me about you. It will tell me if you were tainted. And if I find that you have, then there is a good chance you will die. After this test, there will be one more, provided you pass this one. It is the hardest in every sense of the word. I expect your obedience. To do whatever I ask you to do; you must do it no matter whatever it is. If you do what I ask, you will live. If you fail you die, just that simple. Once you have passed the last test, we will never speak of it to anyone. The only ones that will know what happens will be the ones inside this room. And the ones watching you and me on camera, as you already know have been watching you the moment we started this test.
"Do not fail me, little tiger. Do what I ask when I tell you to do it. If you do not, I will punish you, and I will keep punishing you until you do it. If you still refuse to do it, I will kill you. You will not see me coming without your eyes. You will feel death and it will be quick. You have earned that.
And I am sorry, what I must do it, but if I do not do it. I, myself, will be put to death and my family. The people I represent will make me watch as they torture them and kill them one by one. Then they will do the same to me. As I have said, the people are not happy with the Rothwells for what has transpired over the last few years.
"They should have followed the letter of the law that they swore an oath to, but instead they chose to flee. They could have just been punished for leaving, as they did. Instead, not letting Shawn prove himself like the other boys who were involved letting them decide their fates. As you know, one boy survived and proved himself worthy of their forgiveness, so it could have been possible that Shawn would have lived through it as well.
"They gave the same chance to their Grandfather and welcomed him back after they had punished him. Yet in the end, he was killed for repeating the same crimes. If it wasn't for what Shawn and Arthur had done, as well as nearly all the boys that had entered their home, and because of that, they would not be willing to tolerate it any longer until justice had been done. As well as the other boys and men that Shawn and Arthur have corrupted will be caught, and then punished or killed.
"Each test you have passed has proven to me without a doubt that you are worthy of this chance to prove that you are the man your adoptive parents, your friends, and family say you are. If this was not so, you would have been killed without question by the people that I represent. Not even the Rothwells would have been able to stop it from happening. The only reason you have been considered for these tests is because of your actions and your bravery. So once again I am sorry, but as I have said I have no choice. I either test you and prove your worthiness or I kill you or be killed. I rather not kill you, but I will if I must. It is better that you die than my family."
She kissed me one last time and made sure the blindfold was secured on me. And walked me to the tub and handcuffed me to the railing. I was told to sit and be still while she prepared me for my last two tests. I heard the trunk being opened as she pulled out the things she needed. I shivered with fear as I heard each item being placed around me. Something that sounded like metal objects and heavy chains, and beads hitting the tile. She told me it was better not to look as she watched me struggling against the railing unable to free myself.
I prayed hard, asking for Jeff to please hurry and the help he was to bring me. I listed all the people I knew who had seen Jeff and could communicate with him, only listing three. Ma, Bishop Lanwall, and Bishop Earl; there was a fourth, and that was a big if Bishop Sakes even though he has said nothing regarding Jeff. There was a slight chance that he had the ability to be in contact with him. Ma was out of the question, knowing she was somewhere in Canada. So, it left me with Bishop Earl and Bishop Lanwall. If was Bishop Earl, it would take him forty-five minutes to an hour, and if was Bishop Lanwall then why is it taking so long to rescue me? And where is the rest of the Calvary I had called using my watch?
Once she was done, she climbed back into the tub and kissed me, telling me once more how sorry she was. Then she moved me further into the tub and she had me sit on the seat of the tub that circled it. Then undid the handcuffs, which gave me a chance to fight her, and losing as she held the knife to my throat and a second knife pointing to my manhood and growled at me. "Stop it right now, boy or the next move you make will be your last."
The moment I stopped struggling to prick me with the knife as I felt the warm blood trickle down my chest, I said. "You are so going to die for this. Help is coming, you fucking bitch."
She slapped me, then growled back. "Just words, boy, nothing but words. No one is coming to save you, and you and I know it. This place is built like Fort Knox. My people have a place surrounded to protect me so I can do what I must without outside influence. I have locked up the Vincent's and the Rothwells, preventing them from interfering with us. You said to yourself that you knew that I had.
"What makes you think that people are going to come and rescue you? Only the people that know where you are here in this house, and right now they can't even help themselves. Not even your stupid watch will help you. I canceled the alarm, and the ones that showed up have already been taken care of.
"So, threaten me all you like boy, you will not live long enough to enjoy your freedom. I have the mind to kill you now and end this once and for all. I would have done so if you hadn't proven yourself that you are not like the boys or girls, I have killed for failing my tests.
"Pray that you continue to please me, pray that God will forgive you if you cannot obey me. I do not believe in boys' dead ghosts, for if there was such a thing. I would have seen him by now and what he can or cannot do. And so far, he has done nothing to save you. Now shut the fuck up."
I heard a long strip of tape and in one single heartbeat; she held me in a vise. Feeling her legs and feet over my shoulders from behind me, pinning me to the tub. She gripped my head into a vise so tight that with the slightest pressure, she could easily snap my neck. Instead, she forced my mouth open, forcing three more pills into my mouth, and then stuffed my sock inside it, before using the tape to hold it in. She took my arms to the side of the tub and handcuffed me, placing one arm on one side and one on the other side of me with two more sets of rings to prevent me from moving.
She kissed me on the head and patted my cheek, telling me. "It's only for a little while. I am just preventing you from taking off the blindfold and speaking to me or anyone I bring into the room to help me, nothing more. When I come back, I will release you and then I will bathe you one last time before I start the next test. But the blindfold remains on until you have completed the last two tests, or I have killed you." She left me as she watched me struggle and said. "I promise I won't be long." I heard her open the door and left me alone.
I heard Mom and Dad crying outside the door, yet it seemed further as if they were in the room across the hall, Mom asking. "Why are you doing this, Gloria? He has done nothing wrong. Now release him now and we will let you leave before the cops get here."
Gloria laughs. "No, Karen, No Robert," I heard her slap them across their faces and said. "I will not release him, and you know why I must do this. Now shut the fuck up. Boys, take the boy to the room so I can prepare him for the next tests. If they so much as move, kill them, kill them all."
I heard Mom and Dad scream "No!" and struggle and cringed as I heard them being beaten. Proving without a doubt that they were as much a prisoner as I was, and for that, these people needed to be hunted down and killed.
Gloria yelled, sounding out of breath. "Be thankful that he is still alive and has proven himself this far! Now I must prepare for the last of his tests! I promised him if he failed, he won't suffer. You brought this on yourselves. You knew the laws and you know the oaths you have taken. Now you must pay the price. It breaks my heart to do it, but if only you would have obeyed the rules in the first place, none of this would have been necessary. Now do not interfere. All you can do is pray for him."
Then she laughed while I heard them struggle. "You can't stop me, the great Robert Rothwell so powerless to stop me after all these years waiting for the chance to prove I have been killing these filthy pigs, these boys, these cowards that hide their dark secrets, these pedophiles and these rapists like you and your father.
"You don't deserve to live for what you have done to this boy you call your son. He has only one choice, and that is to show me and the people here that here with us that he has not been tainted like your son Shawn and like every boy you have brought into your house. You should know I have sent someone to deal with them."
Dad said in great pain. "Gloria, you'll never find them. You thought for one minute that I would leave them at home in case you did this? I have never trusted you. You should know if you even think about hurting my sons, I will kill you slowly." I heard him being beaten as she yelled at him, demanding to know where they were. Dad laughed, telling her to go to hell, she'll have to kill him first.
There was a long silence that seemed to have gone on forever before the door closed and another door opened. I could hear a small child struggling and crying, begging her not to kill us. I knew it was Jared by the sound of his voice. Gloria ordered them to tie him down to the bed. Then there was silence, hearing the door close somewhere in the hallway. Then hearing my door being closed and locked and muffled voices that sounded like Gloria, and she was furious when she said. "Find them! And bring them here so I can kill them! Or our God Mormo, our Queen, and Prophet Crawford my future husband will kill us all!"
The fact that she had been secretly working for Crawford this whole time and had intentions of marrying him was something that truly shook me to my very core. At that specific moment, I had absolutely no knowledge about the identity of the God Mormo. The mere thought of it sent such a shiver down my spine, so I filed it away for now. At that time, I had much larger problems that required my attention.
It seemed forever not to be able to gauge time, and the water had long turned cold. I heard the door being locked from the inside, preventing anyone from coming in. It surprised me when she told someone to sit and be still as they got into the water. I heard them struggle as I heard metal hitting the tile and heard whoever it was whimpering as if they had been gagged as it sounded muffled.
She said. "Shush, my little one, everything will be all right. You are not the one being tested, but I needed you to watch, in hopes we never have to do this again. No harm will come to you, Jared, as I have promised you when I asked if you were willing to be here and show your brother that you love him and support him. Can you do that for him? Show him that you love him?" I didn't hear anything but whimpering as if Jared was crying and because he was gagged, he couldn't answer other than nodding or shaking his head.
She said. "That's a good boy. Now I am going to bathe him, and he is going to show me one last time if he can prove to me that he hasn't been tainted, and he prefers girls and not boys; other than showing them he loves them the way we have taught him and you, as well as your brother Shane and your two younger brothers. I won't kill him in front of you if he fails. No child should watch that happen, and I promised your parents that I would not let that happen." I felt the water being drained.
I tried to yell, but I couldn't with the gag over my mouth. All I could do was cry and do nothing to save me or him. I screamed for Jeff, telling him that everything that had transpired. He said. "I know and they are coming. They are en route to you at this very moment. Yet will be at least an hour before they arrive. Stay calm, stay alert and most of all do whatever she asks until I arrive. She won't kill you in front of Jared, she only has orders to kill you, she has been ordered to take Shawn and Arthur back to the nudist colony to be put on trial, then when that happens, she will kill them; like she has the other boys and girls she has been instructed to punish."
She quickly made her way over to me and put my head on her breasts said. "I know you think I am a monster like your parents, but I must do this, and you know why we talked about this. We both have a lot on the line. Jared is only here to watch because he needs to know if he strays from the path. That, like you, will be given one chance only to prove himself.
"Our law says I cannot harm him or put him to the test I am giving you until his fifteenth birthday. Unless he commits the same crimes as his brother Shawn has. Then he will have to be put through the shaming ritual and so will his brother Jason. I am sorry you both have to go through this … I really am sorry, but as I have said I have no choice.
"Now show your brother how strong and brave you are. Show him you love him and no matter what I put you through. Show him that you are willing to do whatever it takes to stay alive. So, you both can walk out of this accursed room today and hold your heads high. Can you do that? Or do I need to take Jared out of this room and do what I need to do?"
I said once she removed the gag from my mouth, doing my best to stay calm and control the anger inside of me, which was the thing I had to do as I waited for help to arrive. "Yes, if you promise me, you won't hurt him?"
She lifted my head and kissed me and said. "I promise, I would show you that I am not lying, but I cannot remove the blindfold, for if I do it will make things even harder, and it's hard enough as it is for you.
"Yet I can tell you this: if you were Shawn or even Arthur, I wouldn't hesitate to let them see everything I must do. Including kill them. Their deaths would not be swift or painless that much I can promise you. They better pray that they show us they haven't raped little boys or their friends, and that includes each other no longer.
"They so much as touch another boy or man in that way, they will be put to death. No more second chances. Now dig deep and prove to me I will not have to kill you. I know you have it in you, or you wouldn't have survived this long. Can you do that, or do I need to take Jared out of the room? Because once we begin, I cannot allow him to leave until you have failed or proved yourself worthy. Once that happens, we will have a huge celebration and put this ugliness behind us."
I knew she was lying after listening to my adoptive parents from across the hall. I knew it meant that I needed to stall for time somehow until they got here. I nodded as she wiped my tears away and slowly released me, warning me not to remove the blindfold for any reason. Until she says I could … reminding me by placing the knife at my throat. She released Jared, telling him he could hug me, and I could show him I love him while she finishes to get us ready.
Jared quickly dove for me as I put him in my arms; I touched his face, feeling the duct tape across his mouth. I let him cry against my shoulder as I felt the water lower. The moment I felt it I asked. "I thought you said you were going to bathe me first?"
She says. "I did, and I am. I am just lowering it enough so I can heat up the water. It has turned too cold for any of us to enjoy it. Not only I am going to bathe you, but you are also going to bathe me as promised, as well as Jared. It's only fair that if it is going to be your last bath that you should do so together in each other's arms. So you can show me and him how much you love him, and he can give you strength for what you must do. So, love your brother, and comfort him, and promise him that no matter what, you will not give up, you will obey my every command. No matter what I ask you to do you must do it."
I nodded and held him in my arms as he watched, and I listened and breathed a sigh of relief feeling and hearing the water rise with new warmth. For the moment, all that was important was my brother Jared as I told him how much I loved him, and how sorry I was to put him through this. He tried to answer, but the only thing he could do was hug me and hold my hand.
I asked if he wanted me to stimulate him. He shook his head no, so I kissed him on his forehead several times and wiped his tears with my fingers. Telling him. "I would take the duct tape off, but I can't because I couldn't bear to hear him tell me what was going on or hear him scream once she begins the tests." He hugged me tighter.
Once she turned off the water, she placed the soap in my hand and washing sponge. I didn't ask what she wanted me to do; I knew she wanted me to be the one to bathe Jared as I had done so many times before. It angered me knowing that this would be my last chance to do so unless I proved myself. I didn't complain, knowing it would do no good and it would prove that I had given up. Something I couldn't do no matter what. So, I said everything is going to be ok, knowing it will never be ok ever again. I didn't want Jared to see me cry, but it tore me up inside as the tears slowly made it down my cheeks, soaking the ends of the blindfold.
I bathed Jared with as much love as I could. Knowing it was the only thing I could do, speaking soft words of encouragement. Then it was his turn to bathe me and I felt his little hands tremble as he bathed me. I heard Gloria weeping as she watched us. Telling me how sorry she was, that if only they would have obeyed and stayed true to their oaths none of this would have been necessary. If I wanted someone to blame, I should blame the Rothwells for letting Shawn and Arthur get away with it, when they could have stopped it from happening. Upon hearing the conversation about Crawford, I realized that I had been right all along and didn't require confirmation from anyone. I couldn't believe a single thing that came out of her mouth. It was all lies.
I felt nothing but anger at what Shawn and Arthur had done to cause my family so much grief and pain. Not only have they caused our pain and suffering they have also caused Gloria's family heartache for making her do this. Or watch her family being tortured and killed if she fails in her duties. Providing that too wasn't a lie. Something told me it was. I asked Jeff the moment I felt him standing near me.
He said. "The cold-hearted bitch is doing this for revenge and money and most of all power when she becomes Crawford's wife, his queen, but she doesn't know it isn't going to happen, He is just stringing her along. Her family is safe and not part of this." I asked him if this was the end. He said. "If it is I am here, if it isn't, I am still here to help you if I can. I am proud of you, so very proud. I promise you help is coming."
He touched me on the head, and I was able to see him sitting next to me. Comforting me, telling me to be strong, that I am loved, so very loved, that at this very moment, my family is praying for me and Jared to be strong. He is here to give me any strength he can as we wait for help to arrive.
I sobbed as I held Jared. Telling him that my friend is here with us, that Mom and Dad love us and so do Shane, and our two sisters. At this very moment, they are on their knees praying for us. Even though it was most likely a lie not knowing if they were on their knees, but I had no doubt they were praying for us. Jared nodded and sobbed even harder.
He soon struggled as he was being pulled away from me, Gloria weeping, telling him. "I am sorry, but I need to do it. We cannot wait much longer or neither of us will be able to do what needs to be done. Too much is at stake for both me and your brother, as I have told you, Jared. Now be still I don't want to restrain you, but I must. I cannot let you interfere with what I must do. You have done enough for now. I pray it is enough to give your brother strength and courage. "Oh God, forgive me for what I am about to do." Jeff and I said at the same time as we linked. "He won't, but the devil will welcome you home. That much is a guarantee."