Chapter 8

Adam stared at the gorgeous woman who had just had sex with him.

“Seriously? After all — I mean, you just lead with that?”

Delilah chuckled, a rich and dark sound. She tilted her head back as she exhaled a cloud of fragrant smoke.

“Didn’t you have questions you wanted answers to? You were quite insistent about it. Overwrought, even.”

The young man frowned, twitching slightly. It sounded like she was making fun of him. The way her robe hung open, tantalising him with views of her body, was distracting as hell. Delilah was just so ... composed. In control. She sat there, still basically naked except for the barest trappings of modesty, and yet still so confident.

“Are you trying to be funny? Because I don’t find anything about this amusing. First you ... distracted me, now you’re playing games again.”

Delilah smiled. There was a sharp edge to it, but she still seemed aloofly amused.

“‘Distracted you’? ‘Playing games’? You seemed very eager and willing to me. Even a touch of begging. And here I am, ready to answer any questions you might have, and you are now the one changing the subject. What’s the matter? Afraid of the answers?”

That seemed way to accurate. Adam scowled and got angry. Tried to get angry. There was a lot to be upset at, even if he ignored Delilah’s unknown motivations for seducing him, but he just couldn’t seem to manage it. His emotions were just too tangled up. Adam faked it as best he could, glaring at the older woman, but she didn’t seem all that impressed.

“You should avoid scowling like that, young man. It makes you look a tad petulant. Works against you if you want to be taken seriously.”

Adam smoothed his face, then felt embarrassed for taking her advice. He frowned again. He could feel his heart thumping loudly in his chest, speeding up erratically. The young man got to his feet, staring down at Delilah’s unconcerned face, his fists clenched tightly.

“I’m sick of this. Sick of all of it! Mysteries ... impossible things happening. It’s like I’ve gone mad! And you— you basically jumped me! Why? Why did you do that?”

Delilah took a long pull on her pipe. She tilted her head back again and exhaled. She looked up at Adam out of the corner of her eye, appearing to be very interested in the pipe in her hand.

“That was sex, Adam. Something that consenting adults like to indulge in from time to time.”

“Consent? That’s rich!”

Delilah narrowed her eyes.

“Careful at what you’re implying, boy. Getting uppity about consent is quite hypocritical for you.”

A cold chill ran through the young man. Adam licked his lips, suddenly nervous.

“Wha— what do you mean by that?”

“What indeed.”

Whether it was nerves, fear of the unknown, or just the culmination of all the stress he had been under, Adam finally lost his temper. He felt himself go cold, his other emotions deadening — going still under the writhing cauldron of his anger. His voice quietened, sounding dangerous even to his own ears. At odds to this, Adam could feel his heart rate quicken further, the rhythm changing, becoming a staccato beat that seemed impossible. The drumming picked up — this time with Adam aware that it wasn’t his beating heart, but something else. He didn’t care. It was ... lesser than what he had felt over the last few days. Muted, as though from a long way off. Adam ignored it though. His only lead to what was going on was Delilah. She would tell him what she knew.

Adam stared down at the woman, lovely and barely clothed. While he was indulging in ... whatever this power was, Adam was acutely aware of every part of her body. Every curve. He struggled, trying to recapture the feeling he’d had from the night before. Any concerns about what he was doing was secondary to getting answers.

“Tell me what you know. Now.”

Delilah looked away from Adam. She lifted her her pipe and studied it like it was the most interesting thing in the world. She was silent for a long moment. Then, tilting her head up at Adam, she spoke with a degree of relish. Even exultation.

“No. No, I don’t think I will. Not when you ask so rudely.”

Delilah gracefully got to her feet. She primly adjusted her robe as she stood before Adam, looking up at him. Delilah’s robe barely covered her nipples, and was sheer enough that Adam could see them through the fabric anyway. The shapely curves of her breasts were in full view, so much flawlessly pale skin exposed ... Adam took note of it all even through the shroud of his anger. Delilah was so close to naked that she might have well not bothered with the skimpy garb at all. She studied his face, serenely calm and collected. Then she slapped him across the face, hard enough to rock him back a few steps.

Adam gaped, raising his hand to his stinging cheek, whatever he had gathered to himself fraying and tattering away. He felt empty. He started to shake, trembling. He looked down at Delilah with wide eyes. She smiled at him savagely.

“It didn’t work the way you thought, did it? I won’t deny you’re strong with it. Almost as strong as my— well, it doesn’t matter. Not anymore. I’ve protected myself from you.”

Delilah studied him with none of the easy familiarity she had displayed ever since he had first met her. She looked at him like he was something dangerous, but at the same time not something she had to personally fear. Adam licked his lips. He was suddenly tired of it all.

“Please. I’m sorry if I— I don’t know what I was doing. What I did. I don’t know what’s happening.”

Delilah looked at him a moment longer, then huffed out a breath. She sat back on the sofa and crossed one leg over the other.

“You are a danger, Adam. Even if you don’t fully understand it yet ... although I admit I don’t know how that could be possible if true—”

“It is true!”

“Hush. You can take anyone you want if you’re so inclined. You know what I’m talking about, I’m sure of that much. You just tried to do it to me. There aren’t many who could resist.”

Adam flushed, ashamed at the dismissive judgment in her voice.

“I didn’t mean to— I mean, I wanted answers. Not ... anything else.”

“Oh, really? And after ‘answers’? What then, I wonder?”

“You say that I could make people do whatever I want — you didn’t. You resisted ... whatever this is.”

Delilah frowned, a touch of anger sparking in her eyes.

“That’s because I knew what to look for. I know what it feels like! To feel that insidious pull in your mind, clouding any doubts you might have, pushing you to act a certain way ... I’ve been feeling it almost since your first day here. The desire to please you.”

Delilah’s lips flattened as though she had tasted something unpleasant. Adam stared, wondering at the vehemence he heard in her voice.

“I wouldn’t do that— I swear! I’m not like that.”

“You can say whatever you want, but I’ve been watching you closely. Watching who you are spending time with. It was concerning enough that I had to take steps.”

“All I wanted — all I’ve been wanting to know, is what is going on! I just want answers, I swear. People are acting so strange. Strange around me. That’s why I—”

Delilah raised her eyebrow as she looked at Adam skeptically.

“And last night? You are not ill-made, Adam, but to have so many lovely young women hanging off your every word? Even my own employee was swept up in it. And if that wasn’t damning enough ... Tell me, Adam. How is it sharing such a cozy bungalow with that lovely sister of yours?”

Adam opened his mouth to refute what she was saying, but closed it. He blushed, and hated himself for doing so. Delilah nodded.

“Exactly. I don’t entirely blame you, Adam. You are caught up in something that would tempt anyone. But if your own sister isn’t safe from you, who is?”

“That’s not what happened! I haven’t touched—”

Adam remembered last night and flushed, but his voice firmed as he continued.

“I haven’t touched Emily! Why do you think I went looking for that cave on the beach. It all began there! Emily was acting so strange last night ... I was acting strange! Like it wasn’t me! Even when I threw it off, got control back, Emily still didn’t go back to normal. She was being so weird. I didn’t want ... it to continue.”

Delilah turned to face Adam fully. She stared at him for a long moment, searching. She looked unsure for the first time. A crack in her facade. Then she narrowed her eyes again. Challenging him.

“And your lovely young friends that have taken you under their wing? I’ve rarely seen two women so devoted to a relative stranger before. From talking to them before you arrived at Serenity Falls, I was sure they had no interest at all for anyone of your gender. How quickly things change! Tell me, Adam. How much of the lovely Holly and Kendra have you sampled?”

Adam swallowed. He spoke slowly, trying to sort out his emotions.

“It’s not ... right. I know that. I don’t want to— I mean, I do want to ... fuck, I have no idea anymore. Nothing has happened with them. Not really ... But I know something isn’t right. If I’m making them like me, forcing them to spend time with me ... I don’t want that. I ... don’t want that.”

Delilah looked slightly incredulous as she studied him, trying to find any falsehood. Her eyes widened after a moment and she flopped back in the couch. She stared at the ceiling, then glanced back at Adam.

“If that’s true...”

“It is!”

“Hush. If that’s true...”

Delilah sighed, and rubbed at her eyes. She looked almost irritated, as though something she had thought she’d dealt with had suddenly grown more complicated.

“Excuse my vulgarity, but fuck you are young, Adam. You actually do sound like a kid, not like a — never mind. I would never have thought this would happen. I expected to be dealing with a monster-to-be. Now I’m not sure what is happening. If you truly haven’t embraced —”

Delilah’s mouth twisted in disgust.

“— your full potential ... Well, that changes things. But you aren’t fully untouched by it either.”

Adam collapsed back onto the couch. He looked over at Delilah, feeling tired and beaten.

“I’m only getting like half of what you’re talking about.”

“More mysteries. That you don’t know ... Adam, I need you to tell me everything that has happened to you since you arrived here. Don’t spare a single detail, I don’t care if it the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you. I need to know and I don’t care to judge. I promised to tell you what was going on, and I admit I only partially intended to honour that. Now I truly will. But first I need all the facts. I can’t explain without knowing what has happened to you. It’s too dangerous otherwise.”

Adam looked at Delilah. She seemed sincere, but she had fooled him before. It wasn’t like he had a choice though. If he wanted answers from her he had to play her game. And it wasn’t like Adam cared about her finding out everything that had happened. Not anymore. It sounded like she had been watching him for a while now. It certainly explained how she had suddenly appeared the night before to spirit Britt away. Delilah might have drawn the wrong conclusions, so it was up to Adam to fill her in on what he had actually experienced.

Delilah listened attentively as Adam slowly spoke, describing all he had experienced since he had first arrived at Serenity Falls. He didn’t try to hide anything, even sharing what he had thought and felt every step of the way. She nodded along, even when he spoke about things that had happened before he had found that weird cave. She didn’t seem surprised to hear about Emily and Todd. She definitely didn’t seem to care. Delilah shivered as he described what he had experienced inside of the cave. Adam couldn’t quite capture the spirit of what he had witnessed, but did the best he could - describing the dancing women, the huge and imposing figure, the sound of drums...

Delilah’s expression only changed when he reached what had happened the night before, after she had taken Britt away. Her face twisted up in disgust as Adam dispassionately described how he felt, how he had planned to go see Holly and Kendra in their bungalow. Delilah’s eyes were distant though, and Adam got the impression she was remembering something unpleasant rather than simply reacting to his words.

It was describing what had happened with Emily that got the biggest reaction out of her. She seemed almost sympathetic when he described his overwhelming desire for his own sister - she nodded when spoke about how his thoughts had seemed cold and remote. Alien to even himself. When Adam reached the point where he managed to break free, how he had felt something leave him — something that disapproved — she inhaled a long and shuddering breath. It wasn’t describing his family history that did it, although Delilah’s brows had wrinkled in distaste to hear about his father and mother. What made her react was hearing about him noticing the foreign presence. Feeling it leave.

Adam reached this morning, how he had crept out without waking his sister. How he had run along the beach, climbed over the headland, searching for answers. Delilah flinched when he told her how the cave had vanished, how he had found no trace of it existing.

Adam trailed off, reaching the end of his story. He felt tired, shriven.

Delilah reached out and put her hand on his knee, squeezing it. She did it without thinking. When she noticed what she was doing she chuckled wryly, patting his knee in apology and then took her hand away.

“You really have been through it, haven’t you? I’m just shocked that you ... resisted. I didn’t think it was possible ... But then I guess I am biassed.”

“What do you mean?”

Delilah hesitated, smiling ruefully.

“It’s not that I’m trying to keep secrets you understand. It’s just ... unpleasant to remember.”

“I know what you mean.”

Delilah settled back on the couch, wrapping her arms across her chest.

“I suppose you do. The reason that I’m biassed, that I was so ready to assume the worst ... is because of my grandfather.”

“Your grandfather?”

Delilah nodded.

“Yes. I know you heard a little of the past of Serenity Falls from young Britt. She knows better than to speak of such things, but as she was under your influence I can’t really hold it against her.”

Adam shifted uneasily. Delilah continued.

“I would guess it’s not hard for you to put it together. You aren’t the first person to find that cursed cave and become ... infected by it. Although it wasn’t in that same cove where you stumbled on it. It was closer back then.”

“It moves?”

Delilah sighed.

“Maybe. If it even is just a cave. I know I promised you answers, but there are some things I just don’t know. All I know is what happened the last time it took someone.”

“Your grandfather.”

Delilah got up and started to pace back and forth. She seemed agitated.

“Yes. A monstrous excuse for a man. Some part of me always tried to excuse what he did. Maybe he had no choice? But if you threw it off ... maybe he was just a monster. Irredeemable.”

“He was the cult leader? Britt wasn’t exaggerating?”

Delilah flopped back down on the couch. Her robe sprung open and she absently pulled it closed, uncaring that she had flashed Adam. She was lost in the past, her voice bitter.

“Cult. It was that, although no one referred to it by that name. The ‘Shining Faithful of Serenity’. That’s what he called us all. Isn’t it just the most ridiculous mouthful? I didn’t think of it like that growing up though. It was everything to us.”

“It’s not the weirdest cult name I’ve heard of.”

Delilah barked a laugh.

“Yes, I know what you mean. ‘The Branch Davidian’s’, ‘Heaven’s Gate’, ‘Angel’s Landing’, ‘Order of the Solar Temple’ ... I’ve made it a point to look into them over the years. Even if they seem to lack what our little group had. Back then, my father made it sound like he was carving out a new eden out of the wilderness. And we all believed him.”

Adam hesitated.

“Your father?”

Delilah’s lips twisted and she shivered yet again.

“I meant my grandfather. His daughter, my mother ... she was wholly invested in it all. It all started before I was born, so how it began ... I’ve put pieces of it together, but not the whole picture.”

Adam let out a breath. It was more than he was looking for and yet nothing of the details he craved.

“But what is it? You must have some idea.”

“You have a clearer picture than I, Adam. You’ve actually seen it. My grandfather, our ‘glorious leader’, used to describe details in his earlier sermons. I recognise some of what you told me in his words. I found his writings ... after. That told me more. But he got paranoid towards the end. He tried to hide things, revise what he had told us all. He feared losing his monopoly on power.”

“You said before the end? How did it ... end?”

Delilah gave him a sad smile.

“I missed it. Yet another gap in my knowledge. You see, I ran away. Which was a bigger deal than it sounds. We were truly isolated back then, civilisation was many days away.”

Adam was feeling surprisingly protective of Delilah. Something about her called to him. She looked very vulnerable. It almost made him lose focus on what he needed to know. He spoke as gently as he could.

“You say you ran? Why did you run?”

Delilah sighed again. She looked at him knowingly.

“You just finished telling me about your reaction to your own sister, Adam. Something allowed you to resist. You’re a far better man than he ever was. But what do you think would happen if you truly had no morality? I ran because I was fifteen. Fifteen, and I knew what lay in store for me and I wanted none of it. My mother was no help. She was a devout follower of her father’s vision. Poor woman had no choice though. The same quirk of whatever that power is, the power that damned her ... well, it gave me a chance to run.”

Adam leant forward, intent. Delilah’s history sounded tragic, twisted. He hadn’t missed her slip and could infer what it meant. But this ... this was what he needed. Actual information about the changes he had experienced.

“What quirk? Delilah, what do you mean?”

Delilah gave Adam a rueful smile. A sad smile.