Page 188 of The Monster and the Masochist

It would be here just in time for when Cass got back from the–

“Theodora.”

I froze.

Ice filled my veins, and my mind short-circuited as the deep, familiar voice rolled over me, triggering every instinct I had that told me to run.

Oh fuck.

Oh fuck… No. No, no, no…

Slowly, I turned toward the offending voice to find the phantom from my nightmares standing before me in full fucking technicolor.

It was him.

Holy fucking shit, this was real. This wasn’t a flashback. He was literally standing there… staring at me!

And it was true.

This wasn’t the Father Samwell from my memories.

This man was older and dressed in a much more expensive suit than the one he’d worn to school.

He had a young woman on his arm, and she was staring at the ground with a dead look in her eyes that felt all too familiar.

Fear and anger warred in my chest as his steely grey eyes slid down my body before resting on my feet.

I watched in slow motion as the corners of his eyes crinkled.

A dangerous, sickening smile spread across his thin lips as he stared at the shoes I’d voluntarily slipped into just moments before.

Then, those horrible eyes that had haunted my nightmares for the last twenty years of my life flicked up to meet mine, and my mind went blank with terror.

“It’s good to see I made an impact. Though you would look prettier in a skirt,” he drawled.

I couldn’t speak. My pupils felt like they were vibrating, and I couldn’t tell if I was actually breathing or not.

His amused expression vanished, and suddenly, his gaze hardened.

I flinched away from his rage as he took a measured step toward me, leaving the girl on his arm to sway like a hollowed-out wraith behind him.

“I was hoping I would find you here. Naughty, naughty girl.”

A strange sound escaped my throat as he came closer, but I couldn’t move.

My body was betraying me, and all I could do was stand there, teetering in Cassandra’s heels as my rapist reached out with steady fingers to pinch my chin.

“I knew the woman my attorney married looked familiar. My, my, how you’ve grown. It seems our lessons weren’t enough to help you find your way back to God’s grace.”

Shame and hatred ripped through me at my inability to pull away from this evil man. Tiny pinpricks of pain exploded over my skin as all the hairs on my arms and neck stood on end.

Samwell smiled.

“Did you tell her, Theodora? Did you tell her about our lessons? Is that why I was arrested on my way to my evening mass last week? Are you the new evidence that has come to light?”

“I–I–n-no…” I stammered, both hating myself for being so pathetic and feeling proud that I’d been able to form any words at all.

“Mmmm. I don’t believe you… Do you remember what I said I would do to your father if you betrayed me, Theodora?” he hummed, leaning in close enough that I was suddenly drowning in his sickening cologne.