Page 92 of The House Guest

Danny looked around with a sheepish smile as the crowd clapped and cheered and called out ‘Welcome’ and ‘One of us’. It went on and on until Gabriel called for quiet.

‘Danny has been brought into our family by Marie. So please, all of you, thank Marie.’

The redhead who was holding Danny’s hand grinned as everyone cheered and shouted their thanks.

‘Please, Marie,’ said Gabriel, ‘help prepare Danny. Everyone else, stand back.’

Marie whispered something in Danny’s ear. From my place on the other side of the room I couldn’t be certain, but it looked as if his Adam’s apple bobbed and a fearful look crossed his face. But with Marie’s encouragement, he walked into the centre of the circle. Somebody pushed forward a bench, like one you might find in a gym. Marie stroked Danny’s forehead and kissed him on the cheek. Then she unfastened the robe and it fell into a puddle around his feet.

The crowd fell silent as Danny, clad in just his underwear, lay on his back on the bench.

‘Thank you, Marie,’ Gabriel said, and she melted into the crowd, leaving Gabriel alone beside the prone young man. His skin was smooth and hairless, like a professional swimmer’s, and the briefs he wore left little to the imagination.

‘It is time for Danny to wear our mark,’ Gabriel said. ‘The mark of belonging. Of loyalty. The mark that everyone in this room wears.’

‘A mark?’ I said. ‘What—’

‘Shut up,’ hissed Brittany, jabbing me in the kidneys again.

Gabriel said something to Danny, and he nodded but it looked like he was trying not to appear scared.

Gabriel raised his arms. ‘Danny, do you promise to abide by the rules as they have been explained to you?’

‘I do.’ There was a tremor in his voice.

‘Please say it again,’ Gabriel said gently.

‘I do. Ido.’

A ripple of laughter ran through the crowd; a release of tension.

‘I like your enthusiasm,’ said Gabriel, and they all laughed again. I could see Gabriel soaking it all in, the attention and approval of his crowd causing him to puff up. ‘And do you promise to protect your fellow members as they will protect you?’

Jesus, I thought.It’s like a wedding.

‘I promise.’ Danny’s voice sounded weak – a mix of excitement and fear. He glanced at Marie. Was sex going to be part of this? Was she going to take him to a bedroom after this to consummate his marriage to this so-called network? Or would she mount him right there in front of everyone, with the crowd cheering them on? Nothing would have surprised me now.

‘Do you swear to keep our existence a secret and to help eliminate any threat against us?’

‘I swear.’

Gabriel knelt beside the young man. ‘Then you are ready to join us. From now until your dying day.Juctim tamquam unum. Together as one.’

‘Together as one,’ echoed the crowd.

Was that what the liquor store owner had been talking about when he’d described Eden as speaking Italian? I could see it: members of the cult signing off their phone calls with their Latin slogan.

‘Now it is time to wear the mark.’

Gabriel put a surgeon’s mask across his face and produced something from his pocket. It looked like a large pen.

‘Hold him still,’ he said, and a pair of men strode forward, each taking hold of one of Danny’s legs. Then another pair of men appeared by his shoulders. One of them produced what looked like a flat strip of leather, and slipped it between Danny’s teeth.

Gabriel pressed a button on the pen-shaped object he was holding.

‘You like barbecue?’ Brittany whispered in my ear.

Gabriel held the object over Danny’s lower body and waited for a moment. I could see a red glow from the tip of the pen. Then he pulled down the waistband of Danny’s briefs, and touched the pen to the soft, smooth flesh of Danny’s pubic area.

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