A Deep Love By James
Disclaimer
This story deals with sexual as well as romantic situations between teenaged males. If this type of material offends you, or if you're not of the legal age to read such material, then please find something else to read.
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Chapter 9
Michael
I couldn't believe it. I stood in the doorway looking at Ashley, the girl who said the cruelest and most hateful things to me that one time. I never hated her, but I was hurt and wished for her to be held accountable, but not like this. I went to her and looked down at her and she looked deeply in to my eyes.
"Don't try to talk," I said softly. "Just write."
She wrote for a little over a minute and then held up the paper so I could see. I read the paper and then read a second time.
"I truly am sorry for everything Michael," it read. "I allowed myself to believe things that went against everything that you, Bengy and I believed in before. The people that my parents got themselves as well as I mixed up in had ways of saying things that made us not challenge or think about what they were saying. When I was saying all that I said to you, I honestly felt like I was watching a TV screen and all that time in the group, I felt like I wasn't myself. It was scary and I didn't even know how to communicate any of what I was feeling. Their message they try to communicate to members, is that there's nothing to be afraid of and when you hear something like that, that's when you should be really afraid!"
I heard her heart monitor speed up and I tried to get her to calm down as quickly as I could. I held her hand and talked to her.
"Ashley, it's alright," I said softly. "I forgive you. I was angry with you for a while and I wanted you to be punished for what you said to us, but not like this. I forgive you and I want you to be my friend again, as well as friends with my boyfriend and everyone else as well. The evil that lead you to say what you said is not you, that's what I want to tell you. I repeat, that evil is not you and it never has to be again."
She gave me a look that said that she understood and I stood there just holding her hand and waiting until she had anything further to say. I then saw her eyes grow heavy and soon, she was asleep.
Over the next couple of weeks, we got the fourth floor of the house set up for schooling. It wasn't exactly going to be a private school, but it would be here for the kids staying there at the moment as well as for kids who were being bullied or harassed at other schools for any reason being GLBT included. We would be the last resort if all other options had been exhausted without success for any of the kids.
We also took in several more kids, some boys and some girls. We had an African-American kid named Justin. He was 14 and when he first came, he was angry and withdrawn. He had been in and out of various juvenile halls and reform schools. His parents were both abusive and barely were there for him which was mainly if not the whole source of the problem. As Josh and I worked with him over the next few days and weeks, he began to open up and talk a bit more. He had an interest in reading, but no one would spend any time helping him learn how to read, and he was dismissed as learning-disabled, a label that really pissed me off to no end. So as the weeks went on, he could be found reading in the library on the second floor and at first he was reading simple books, but I was surprised to find him one day in the library with a fairly thick volume in his hands walking over to one of the desks.
He sat down and sat the book on the table. I looked and saw that it was something by Dostoyevsky. I had recently began reading his works and it began to change some of my outlook, mainly on religion. The book that Justin had on the desk was Dostoyevsky's last work entitled The Brothers Karamazov.
"I haven't read that one yet," I said. He jumped a little when I said that. "Sorry I scared you. I didn't mean to."
"That's okay," he said.
I moved to the left side of the table so he could see me and sat down.
"The one person who did try to help me learn to read and appreciate old literature was my grandma, but she passed away a couple of months ago," Justin said and looked down at the table.
"I'm very sorry to hear that Justin," I said. "I'm sure that was hard when you found out."
"Yeah, it was," he replied. "One of her friends called my parents and they told me, at least as best they could while they were sitting there fucked up on their shit they was taken."
I put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him.
"Sorry about the language man," he said, this time in a softer voice.
"Thank you Justin," I said. "I hope you still understand that while I'm not trying to tell you and the other kids what to say, I am trying to help you guys, and you especially better express what you want or need and I also want you to be a good example for the younger kids like Ryan and Jacob."
"Yeah man," he said. "I understand."
"From the way you spoke a moment ago, it seems like you're really mad at your parents," I said.
"That's the kindest way to say it," he said.
"I can understand that," I said. "My dad wasn't there for me for several years of my life and I was at times angry, then other times sad about it. There were things going on with him for several years and he didn't deal with them in the most healthy ways."
"How did you deal with that?" Justin asked me.
"I was fortunate enough to still have my mom in my life," I said. "She took me to a therapist who helped me learn different ways to deal with my anger and sadness. He showed me that drawing and making shapes with clay and other things could help me and it did. He also talked to me and helped me understand that I could share with him whatever I was feeling."
"I'm glad your mom was there for you," Justin said. "I'd like to say more, but can we talk tomorrow?"
"You mean when we have a session?" I asked.
"Yeah," he replied.
"That's fine," I said.
"I just have some things I want to say, but I don't want to talk about it here," Justin said looking down at the table.
"I'm fine with that," I said. "We'll talk tomorrow at the usual time."
"I can definitely see that you and your father have fixed things," Justin said. "I mean, when I see you guys talking to each other and being around each other, no one would guess that anything had ever been wrong between the two of you."
"Well, my dad being honest about his mistakes when he came back and asked for another chance helped a lot," I said. "I can't describe in words how proud I am of him and how happy I am that he made in his life the changes that turned him in to a better person. I truly feel fortunate to have him back in my life and to see him living a better life."
"I'm happy for you," Justin said.
"Thank you, Well, I'll leave you to start your book," I said.
"Okay," Justin said. "Thanks for the talk, and I'll see you tomorrow in our session."
"Okay," I replied. "I'll see you tomorrow."
0000
Andrew stood outside the library door listening. He hadn't meant to listen in; he had been looking for Michael and when he was on the second floor where the library was located, he heard voices coming from the direction of the closed doors. He got closer and heard Michael and Justin. He heard all of what Michael said about him to Justin and Andrew was overcome with emotion. Michael was showing himself to be a truly forgiving, compassionate and kind young man and he had nothing but love and pride for his son.
Michael
I opened the door and bumped in to my dad standing there.
"Oh, sorry dad," I said.
"It's alright," he said. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," I replied. "Are you?"
"Yeah," he answered. "I guess we didn't bump each other too bad."
We both went back down to the first floor and out to the deck that was out back and facing the expansive back yard.
"I heard what you said," my dad said. "I was looking for you and heard you talking to Justin in the library. I didn't mean to listen in, but I heard that you were talking about me and I found it hard to walk away."
"It's okay," I said.
"You really have proven to be a kind and loving person, from everything I heard you say in there," my dad said. "I saw that within you when we first started talking again, but I see it in a more fundamental way now from what you said in the library and with what you're doing with the kids and giving them this home."
"I meant everything I said in there," I said.
"Thank you," my dad said. "You're turning out to be a better person, much better than I will ever be."
I heard the trembling in my dad's voice and I reached for him. We held each other tightly and my own tears were falling now.
"Pleas dad," I began. "Don't say or even think things like that about yourself. Yes, you did things that hurt mom and I badly and I had a void in my heart for years and it bothered me for a long time, but with you accepting yourself, accepting me, helping me and my boyfriend and other brothers, you've shown me that you've changed. You have become a better person, much better than I ever thought you could be."
"Thank you my son," he said.
Our tears slowly subsided and we got ourselves under control again. We talked a little more, then he stood up after we hugged again.
"Well, I have to go back to work," he said. "I love you very much my son."
"I love you too dad," I said as we hugged again. We separated, then he walked back to the security building while I went to check on the other kids.
We had Jacob as I mentioned a moment ago. We had another boy named Tyler who was 13, and we also had a girl named Angel who was only five years old. They all came from abusive homelives and all had been reported to Children Services and the agency was good about taking action. I went to Tyler's room first and knocked on the door. He opened it and looked at me.
"Is it alright if I come in?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said and stepped aside so I could inter. He pointed to the bed and I walked over to it.
"Is it alright if I sit down?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said.
I sat down on the bed and he sat beside me, a little closer this time. When he had first arrived at the house, he was silent and while he had no trace of anger or hostility in his eyes and none in his actions, he was definitely scared and wouldn't let anyone touch him. When it came time for him to have his mandatory medical exam the next day after being checked in to the house for the first time, he had an anxiety attack and it was only when one of the doctors who was a woman asked him if she could check him out, he reluctantly agreed. The exam turned up nothing wrong with him aside from his bruises and other pains from being beaten when he lived with his biological parents.
As Josh and I worked with him over the coming days, he began to open up to us about what was going on at home. He first told us about how his mother would call him names and slap him, then about how his dad would beat him with his belt whenever Tyler did something wrong, or even if his dad was in a bad mood. He then told us that his parents were always getting drunk which made the abuse even more violent. We would put an arm around him when he would get upset while telling us his stories. That seemed to calm him down, but we would always ask permission first. All of the kids we had in our house had been badly treated in one form or another, and it was important to help them learn that their bodies were just that, their own bodies that they had control over, and no one else. We wanted to teach them most of all, that when or if they had physical contact with anyone else, that it be their own choice and no one else's.
As I sat there, Tyler sat next to me and scooted right up against me. He held his hand out to the side and I took it. Over the past couple of days and weeks, he would let us put an arm around him as I mentioned before, but that was about it, so I was pleasantly surprised when he got as close to me as he was at that moment. I put my arm around him while my other hand was holding his. He leaned in to me and looked up at me.
"I'm really glad you guys took me in," he said softly.
"So am I," I answered. "I think we're all happy to have you here."
He was silent for a moment, then he rested his head on my shoulder of the same arm that was holding him close. We stayed like that for several minutes, then he looked up at me again.
"When we have our session tomorrow," he began, then stopped.
"Tyler?" I asked.
"I have a question I wanted to ask, but I don't know how to bring it up," he said.
"Just do the best you can," I said. He seemed to be satisfied with that and we talked a little more.
After I left Tyler's room, I went down to check on Jacob. He was 7 going on 8 years old. He was small for his age, but he was growing a bit since he had been with us. When he let me in, he was laying on his bed with his head to the side.
"Are you feeling okay?" I asked.
"Not really," he replied. "I think I got the bug that some of the other kids got.
We had a bug go through some of the kids the previous week, now it looked like Jacob had it.
I went over and sat down on the edge of the bed. I asked and was given permission to feel his forehead and his cheeks. They felt warm and his face was flushed.
"What symptoms have you been having?" I asked.
"Just a lot of diarrhea and I had a little throwing up earlier this morning," he said.
"Any vomiting now?" I asked.
"No," he replied.
"Okay," I answered. "Do you need anything else to drink?"
"No, I still have my Canada Dry," he responded.
"Okay," I said. "Do you want me to let you rest?"
"Yeah," he said. "I'd like that."
I got up off the edge of the bed and bent down to give him a hug. He hugged me and held on for a moment.
"I'll be in the sitting room if you need anything," I said as we held on to each other.
"Okay," he said. "I love you Michael."
That got me emotional for some reason. He said it softly and with complete sincerity which was probably part of why it caused my throat to close up like it did.
"I love you too Jacob," I said through the lump in my throat. I hoped he didn't pick up on it, and it seemed that he hadn't.
Once I calmed down, we ended the hug and Jacob lay back and fell asleep. I walked out of the room and quietly closed the door.
0000
Tyler sat on his bed and was deep in thought. He was bothered and he didn't know how to verbally talk about what was going on. It wasn't really about his looks which for him were very nice. He stood at 5-1 and was around 110 LBs, but with not much fat on his body at that time. He had cream-colored skin, black hair and deep blue eyes as well as full red lips that at his school made some of the girls as well as some of the guys take an extra look. It was the guys that he noticed and it bothered him.
In his previous homelife, he was told by the preacher as well as his parents that it was a sin to be gay and when he was much younger, he believed it. He always said a prayer every night before he went to bed that God watch over him and not ever let him be a sinful gay person, that was mainly his preacher's name for it, not his. He also prayed that God always protect him from that and keep him away from any boys who would do stuff like that. It seemed to work for a while, but when he was around 10 years old, he began to take more of an interest in other boys his age, and it would make him feel stiff down there. He prayed more and more every night, until he was 12 and he was caught by his preacher looking long and intently at a boy sitting in the seat directly in front of him.
After the service that particular morning, Rich, that was the preacher's name, called him in to his office and wouldn't allow his parents to come in. Tyler did as he was told and Rich sat down at his desk. He told Tyler to sit on a chair beside him.
"I saw the way you were looking at that boy in front of you during service," Rich said. "What was that all about?"
Tyler was instantly scared, for there was nothing conversational, compassionate or inviting about Rich's question. Tyler looked at the man and he didn't understand what was in Rich's eyes. There was clearly anger, but something else, and although he could see it, he just didn't know what to call it. He knew though, that he definitely didn't like it,.
"I asked you a question young man," he said softly and darkly.
"I'''I'''I'''," Tyler couldn't finish.
"Young men who are Godly and faithful have no reason to stutter," Rich said leaning in to the point that his face was inches away from Tyler's. He took one of Tyler's hands and held it tightly.
"Are you ashamed of something?" Rich asked just above a whisper. "Have you been doing something I need to know about?"
"I'''I'''I'''," Tyler tried to begin once again.
"You're still stuttering," Rich said. "I think I can find a way to find out what's going on with you."
Rich let go of Tyler's hand and with his hand no longer holding Tyler's, he put it up on Tyler's inner thigh, a little higher than what Tyler would have liked.
"What are you doing?" Tyler asked beginning to get even more uneasy.
"Doesn't that feel good?" Rich asked.
"No," Tyler said and tried to get up.
"I gave you no permission to leave," Rich said and took his other arm and pushed Tyler back down on to his chair. He held him there with that arm while his other hand moved further up Tyler's inner thigh.
"There, isn't that better," Rich asked and then took his arm off of Tyler's chest and began grabbing and rubbing Tyler's nipples.
Tyler was scared now and at the same time, he was hard. He wondered what was happening to him. He didn't want this, but his body was of a mind of its own. Little did he know that Rich knew this and would for several weeks use it against him.
"That's what I figured," Rich said. Tyler without realizing it had let his legs spread and the man could see the bulge in his pants. "You've sinned haven't you?"
"N'''N'''N'''no!" Tyler said. "I wasn't gay with any other boys."
"No?" Rich said. "I think you were."
"No, I wasn't," Tyler said.
"Have you started masturbating?" he asked.
"I don't even know what that is," Tyler said. He was crying now and shaking with fear.
By now, Rich had his hands between Tyler's legs and was grabbing and squeezing his privates. He then undid Tyler's belt and unbuttoned then unzipped his pants and spread the flaps wide. He then pulled Tyler's underwear away and moved them so they were trapped under his ball sack.
"I don't like this," Tyler said and was crying now.
"Your cock says differently," Rich said. "So you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to do to you what filthy faggots do to one another so that you'll see just how bad it is. This should teach you not to do this."
He began masturbating Tyler's penis and Tyler both hated and was interested in the feelings going through his body. He tried to turn his mind off, but it wasn't working. He then felt like he needed to urinate and he told this to Rich.
"Be quiet," Rich said. "It's not urine that's going to come out."
Then Tyler began to come. He was breathing heavily and saw the white stuff squirting out of his penis. He was totally terrified now and he just wanted this, whatever it was to be over.
"That white stuff is what a man puts in to a woman to make babies," Rich said standing up. "That's special material that the lord gives to men, not something they should be wasting on being faggots with one another."
"I'm not one of those," Tyler said still crying.
"Oh yeah, you definitely are," Rich said and pulled down his pants and boxers. "You'll like this, now move your head forward and use your mouth on me. I'll tell you what to do."
After it was over, Tyler was just barely able to keep from throwing up,. The taste of the man's penis and the bitter taste of his semen was horrible and Tyler wasn't sure that he would ever forget it. Once Tyler and Rich were sitting beside one another with their pants pulled up and buttoned up again, Rich leaned over and took Tyler's face in his hands.
"You will never tell anyone what just happened here today," he said softly and hatefully. "If you tell your mom or dad, I'll come to your house one night and I'll kill you. I promise you that."
"I won't say anything," Tyler said sobbing hard now.
"If you think I'm kidding about killing you, let me be clear," he said. "I'll sneak in to your room after getting in to the house. I'll walk quietly to your room and I'll come in. I'll make sure to be as quiet as I can so you won't wake up. I'll then come up to your bed and I'll slit your throat. You might wake up a few seconds after that, but by then it will be too late and I'll be gone. I hope you understand now. You will not be a faggot, not if I have anything to say about it."
And so the rapes continued for the next few weeks. Tyler slowly began to withdraw from friends and family. Then one day on the fourth week of him being abused, his mom asked him why he was always so quiet now. He broke down and told her everything. Instead of the reaction he was hoping for, he wasn't expecting what she did next. She grabbed his face in her hands and slapped him across the face with all the force she could generate.
"Don't you ever talk like that about Pastor Jones ever again!" she screamed at him.
"But he said that he would kill me if I ever told anyone!" Tyler yelled through his tears.
"He would never do such a thing!" Tyler's mom yelled back. "Now go to your room. I'll be telling your dad about this when he gets home and he'll give you a bigger spanking than you've ever had in your life boy. Shame on you for talking such hateful garbage!"
So when Tyler's father got home that night, he did beat Tyler with more violence than Tyler had ever experienced in his life. Then when Rich was told by his parents what Tyler had said, he confronted Tyler in his office Sunday of the weekend of that fourth week.
That time, he anally raped Tyler and he stuffed Tyler's underwear in his mouth so no one would hear him scream. He had no reason to worry though, he told Tyler's parents that he would take him home after he talked to him and he had no other services that day, so it was the two of them alone in the church.
Finally a couple of weeks later when Tyler told a next-door neighbor, she called the police and once Andrew and the group found out about the case, they got documentation sent out to get placement of him with them if he wanted it. This process went quicker than expected and Tyler was placed in the home.
0000
Tyler was brought back to the present by knocking on his door. He got up and dried his eyes, then went up to the door.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"It's Justin," the voice behind the door said.
Tyler opened the door and saw the boy standing there in front of him. He moved aside and let Justin in to the room.
A couple of days after Tyler came to the house, Justin was the first to come to Tyler's room and begin initiating conversations with him. He discovered that Tyler wasn't very educated and knew hardly anything about books, other than what was read to him from The Bible and what he did know from it was the violent passages taught to him by Rich and his parents. Justin was patient in explaining that The Bible was supposed to be used to help humans deal with one another in moral and good ways, not be used to spread hate and abuse on to other people. Over time, Tyler learned and came to think deeper about things, but there was still a long way to go.
"You can sit down beside me if you want," Tyler said. He sat down on the bed and Justin sat down next to him. He looked at Justin and was over-come with those feelings again. He took in Justin's dark skin which was brown, but darker than brown, but not quite black, and his eyes were light-green with hair that was cut short, but not like in a buzz cut or anything of that sort.
"Something interesting that you see?" Justin asked looking back at Tyler.
"Oh, sorry," Tyler said suddenly looking away.
"You were looking at me intently," Justin said.
"Sorry," Tyler said again. "I didn't mean anything by it."
They sat there in silence, each one not knowing what to say. Justin knew that he liked Tyler, but he didn't know how to talk to him about it. He thought that Tyler felt the same, but he didn't know.
Tyler sat there looking down at his lap. He knew that he was gay, and figured that he knew it from age 10, and from what they taught him and the other kids at the classes in the day time, homosexuality wasn't wrong and in fact, it was just another trait of human beings like hair color or eye color. How then to explain what he felt when Rich raped him. He didn't understand that.
Tyler scooted closer to Justin and turned to him. He held his hands palms-out and Justin put his hands on Tyler's. They interlocked their fingers and Tyler looked deeply in to Justin's eyes.
"Justin, I have a lot I want to say to you," Tyler began. "I'm just afraid of how you'll react, and I just don't know how to say it."
"It's okay bro," Justin said. "I want to say some things to you too, but I'm also worried about how you'll react."
They sat there like that, then Tyler took his hands away from Justin's and put his arms around Justin's neck. Justin was surprised at first, but hugged the smaller boy back.
Justin was 14, but stood at 5-9 and was 160 LBs, and with the weeks he had been at the house, it was turning quickly to muscle with all of the working out he had been doing. He liked his look, and he hoped that Tyler liked it as well.
Tyler took his head off Justin's shoulder and looked deeply in to his eyes.
"Justin, I really like you," he said. "I mean, as more than a friend, and I hope you won't hate me for that."
Justin hugged him harder and kissed him on his cheek. Tyler wasn't expecting that and gasped audibly.
"Sorry," Justin said pulling his head back.
"No," Tyler said moving his face closer to Justin's. "I was just surprised."
He kissed Justin on his cheek and Justin felt warmth spread throughout his body, then in to his balls. His balls began to tingle and awaken, and so did his cock. He leaned forward and pressed his lips gently against Tyler's. Tyler was in heaven and his cock was hard. He could feel his balls begin to tingle and throb as well.
The kiss began to grow more opened-mouthed and began to grow from gentle and warm, to deep and hot.
A couple of knocks sounded on the door and they broke the kiss.
"Damn it," Justin said softly so that only Tyler could hear him.
"I know," Tyler said.
The knock sounded again and Tyler got up off the bed once he knew his erection was gone. He walked to the door and asked who it was.
"It's Michael," he heard the voice say from the other side of the door.
Michael
I stood there waiting for the door to open. I wondered what was going on, it didn't usually take Tyler long to answer, and open the door. He opened it and I saw him standing there with his eyes wide and his face flushed. He looked like he had been caught doing something that you wouldn't tell your mother about and I saw that Justin was sitting on the bed, but now he was standing up and walking towards the doorway. He too, had that look on his face. I looked down and tried to fight the smile that wanted to come across my lips.
"I hope I didn't interrupt anything," I said looking up once I knew that the smile was gone.
"No, we were just talking," Tyler said looking down at his shoes. I knew he was leaving something out, but I let it go.
"Yeah," Justin said momentarily looking down at his own shoes. "We were just talking and seeing how one another's day was going."
"I'm glad to hear that," I said. "I'm also glad that you guys have become good friends."
"Yeah," Justin said. "So am I."
"Me too," Tyler added.
I knew that they could see from my look that I wasn't being sarcastic, and I really was glad that they were becoming friends. As to whether or not they would become more than friends, was yet to be seen. I had wondered for a moment once the house had been opened for business, if we would be the type of institution that would have rules preventing the kids from having relationships that were romantic and quickly decided against it. Most of the kids we got and would be getting with the exception of Angel and Jacob had already been harassed for being gay, we didn't want to make them refrain from being who they were at that place either. I did want to teach them about healthy boundaries in relationships and safe sex which we all took turns on educating them about.
"I came by to let you know that dinner will be ready soon if you want to eat," I said.
"Sounds good," they both said.
I left the room and saw Angel setting the table with Ashley. They saw me entering the room and I went and after asking and receiving permission, we all three exchanged hugs. Angel looked up at me and smiled.
"Look," she said excitedly. "We're setting the table, aren't we doing a good job?"
"Yeah," I said and hugged her again, then let her go. "You both are doing a wonderful job."
"Thank you Michael," Angel said happily.
"Glad you like it," Ashley said and smiled.
They set the last place setting and sat down. I sat across from them and we waited for everyone else to join us. Once everyone was seated, the food was served.
Throughout the dinner, Tyler and Justin kept eyeing each other from time to time, and Bengy was looking mostly at Patrick, but there would be times when he would look at Ashley. She would look back and they had talked a couple of times, but I knew that it might take longer for them to get back to being close, even if it was just as friends since Bengy was not only gay, but also with Patrick.
0000
Bengy sat out on the back deck of the house looking across the way at the substantial woods that stretched for miles and miles. He thought about Ashley and was trying to find a way to talk to her about what had happened. He wanted to forgive her and have the memories be over. It wasn't so much the memories of when they were together, but the memories of when she worked with his parents behind his back when they all three would have done God only knew what to him had the final confrontation not happened between he and his parents that day that seemed ages ago now. He then heard footsteps behind him, then heard someone sit beside him on the bench where his wheelchair was parked. He turned to look, and it was Ashley.
"Bengy?" she said softly and looked at him.
"Ashley," he said looking back at her. "Were you looking for me for some reason?"
"Yeah, actually I was," she replied.
He sat there waiting for her to continue. She held out her hand and he hesitantly took it.
"Bengy, I know that you're gay, and also with Patrick," she began. "I also know that I have no chance of being with you as anything more than friends, and I'm completely fine with that."
"I'm glad to hear that," Bengy said holding her hand.
"I just miss the closeness that you, Michael and I once had, along with John and Danny. I'm still haunted by how I treated you guys that day in the hospital."
"I'll be completely honest with you Ashley," Bengy began. "What you said to Michael and you calling us and calling me a fag hurt me more than anything I could ever say. I wanted to believe that you were messed up on drugs or something like that, but I knew that you weren't. It also hurt and frightened me to know that you conspired with my parents the way you did as well."
"When I was with that church," she began. "I was slowly being made to think another way. I really tried to resist at first, then the leader of the group began."
She didn't finish, and Bengy looked at her. He saw a couple of tears slide down her cheek and she swiped at them. He reached for her and she put her arms around him and held on tightly.
"It's okay," he said. "I'm right here."
"I felt so powerless when he was doing what he was doing to me," she said as she sobbed. "He called me his Little Precious One all the time while he was raping me."
"Bastard," Bengy said softly, but angrily. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that. You never deserved any of that. Your parents were wrong to treat you that way and I hope they get what's coming to them."
After Ashley's tears ended, she looked at Bengy.
"I told Andrew and his team about the group and the person who dumped me by the side of the road," she said. "It was a person dressed in black and they had a black hood over their head."
"You don't know if it was a man or woman?" Bengy asked.
"No," Ashley replied. "The person never took off the hood and they always spoke with one of those electronic things like what people have to use who get their voice boxes removed from smoking too much. The person was some sort of assistant to the leader of the group. They would get him anything he needed, mainly it was food from the store and other things like that."
"What do Andrew and the team think?" Bengy asked. "Do they think they're close to bringing those bastards down?"
"They have found some addresses of different places the group stayed, but when they go to check them out, there's nothing there."
"I hope they can find them," Bengy said.
"So do I," Ashley responded.
"I'm glad we had a chance to talk," Ashley said. "I just wanted you to know how wrong I was to make the choices I made, and that I'm committed to living a better and more healthier life now."
"I'm glad to hear that," Bengy said hugging her again. "However, I hold accountable your parents far more than you at this point, since they knew or should have had some sort of gut feeling that something was wrong, and they should have listened to those feelings if they had them. I guess that that's how manipulative cults and cult leaders can be though."
"Yes," Ashley responded. "They definitely can be."
Michael
Later that night after Bengy and Ashley came back in to the house from talking, Josh and I sat with them and Patrick joined us. Patrick and Ashley had introduced themselves to one another a couple of days after she had been brought to the house's small hospital and they talked a bit, but it was only over the next few weeks that they began to get to know one another and she apologized to him and after they talked a little more, things were good between them. Things seemed to be going well for all of us which made me happy.
After we all finished talking, I checked the doors and windows. I also armed the security system and then Josh, Bengy, Patrick, Ashley and I took turns saying good night to the kids. Once that was done, Josh and I said good night to Bengy, Patrick and Ashley, then we returned to our room for the evening.
We showered, then got in to bed. We both were tired enough so that we didn't feel like making love that night, but just cuddling in one another's arms all night which we did. My life at that moment, was whole, happy and complete.
Author's Notes
I figured that it would be a good idea to end there and not give away any of the rest of the story in that chapter, LOL.
Also, I got an idea about what to do with Michael's mom and Josh's dad from one of my readers and I look to interwork that idea in to the story, most likely in the next chapter. Yes, in case anyone is wondering, I do know already who The Person In Black is, but I'm not telling yet. I hope everyone will be as shocked about it as I was when I thought of the idea.
Thanks to the following readers who wrote last. I heard from Vinnie, Harry, Michael, David and a guy who's name I think is Paul. Paul, I'll e-mail you in a moment, I got your message a couple of nights ago, but haven't had a chance to reply back yet, but thanks for the complements on my story. Thanks also to the other readers I just listed, and keep the e-mails coming, I enjoy, read and reply to every one of them.
Everyone take care, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter.
An additional note
When Michael said to Ashley that the evil that drove her to do what she did to him and Bengy earlier in Book 1 of the story was inspired from a scene from The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky.
After Fyodor Karamazov is murdered, Ivan while not criminally responsible for the murder knew that it might be possible that the murder could happen, but he stood by and did nothing, illustrating in the mind of Dostoyevsky that we are all responsible for one another in this world and to ignore that lesson is to invite disaster. So when Ivan begins having his breakdown, Alexei finds him and tells him that it wasn't him who killed father and his point he was attempting to make to Ivan was that he could turn to a more reputable value system if he really wanted to, but Ivan runs away in anger. It was that scene on which I loosely base the dialog between Michael and Ashley.
Again, everyone take care, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter.