Page 49 of Regressive

I glance toward the bedroom door where the women are still cuddled together on the bed. I don’t hold back. “The women we bring in here. The ones you don’t keep.” I lift my chin. “The ones you lock up in the basement. The Fallen. You’re selling them, aren’t you?”

“Those women are in a re-education program that they’ve agreed to participate in. They’re consumed by their Weakness, and I am simply trying to help them get back on the right path.”

“To The Way,” I state. I never noticed how my father spoke before he sent me out to recruit and deal to the frats in the University. How his words and terminology are specific to our community. I always felt like that elevated me, made me special. Better, but at some point, I realized it was just more mind games and manipulations.

I’ve heard this same tired rhetoric over and over again. My life has been filled with lectures and sermons and bullshit terminology, all of which leads back to him being in control, taking what he wants,removingthe people that are a problem.

Like my mother. Like Imogene’s.

The events of the last week come crashing down on me. The altercation with that prick, Miller, at the Zeta Sig house the other night—how he almost had his way with Imogene. And the situation with Elon, and later the details about her mother… how she’s been trying to get her out. I’m bone tired and my patience has worn thin.

My father isn’t a cult leader—he’s a conman.

“If you’re asking if I’m expanding our business opportunities, the answer is yes. Our crops are booming, our reputation and product is stellar, and it’s time to venture outside of Wittmore frat boys for buyers.”

“And the women?”

He lifts his pipe and takes another drag. “The women are willing to do what it takes to attain Enlightenment.”

“By whoring themselves.”

Anex shrugs. “It’s their nature, Rex. If you took the time to attend the men’s group lessons, you would understand that.” He leans back and regards me. “But I don’t think you need a class to teach you about women. You inherited that trait from me, and even if you didn’t, I think the actions of your betrothed should be enough evidence of what a woman will do if allowed sexual freedom with more than one man.”

“This isn’t about Imogene.”

His head tilts. “Isn’t it? Your mate can’t keep her legs shut, son, and her darkness, it runs deeper than I could have ever anticipated. I knew she was a risk; her mother caused enough chaos when she lived here, but Imogene struggles on a different level.”

I think about the lashes and the Correction she craves so much—the way she goes to Levi to inflict it. She’s devoted, but strong-willed. She’s lost—but claimed. Years of living under my father’s control has left her with a mind so fucked up that she’s barely any different than the women downstairs, locked in those tiny cells.

“She is mine to deal with,” I say, voice low and even. “And what happens in my house, with my woman, is not your business. You keep your mind and thoughts and manipulations away from her.”

My father doesn’t move, doesn’t tense, or shift a muscle but I see the dark glint in his pupils, the flash of warning. “I’d watch your tone, son. Everything in Serendee is under my leadership.Includingyour mate. I gave her to you and just as quickly, I can take her away.”

There’s a menace under his words. An unspoken threat.‘Like your mother.’

I stand, hands clenched tight at my sides. If they weren’t, they’d be wrapped around his throat, choking the life out of him. The way he looks at me, with his chin lifted and his lips twisted smugly… it’s almost a dare.

I walk away before I do something irreparable.

“Rex,” he calls when I’m almost clear. I pause. “Tell your men the expansion is on. That’ll mean longer hours and increased production, but that’s a necessary sacrifice.”

I turn slightly. “And the women?”

“That will be more discrete. I’ll continue to prepare them for their next phase of Enlightenment and notify you and your friends when it’s time.”

“Fine,” I say, swallowing back the thick bile rising in the back of my throat, but I don’t let him see my disgust or horror. This is what my father does, who he is. He pushes us one step further, deeper, farther away from who we are as a community. As a people.

I’m afraid he’ll push us so far one day we’ll lose who we are entirely.

21

Imogene

I’m walking backfrom the Center when I see Elon go into the gym. I’m not sure why I follow him, but something urges me to follow.

The community gym is a hub in Serendee. Mostly for Anex’s basketball games, but even when I lived in the Domum we would go for calisthenics and fitness class.

Today is the first time I’ve seen the soft flat mat in the middle. It’s blue, with a red edging creating the impression of a box. I peer across the room at Elon as he drops his bag on a bench and pulls off his shirt, revealing his toned upper body. He reaches into his bag and pulls out a roll of something—tape, I realize as he wraps his knuckles.

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