CHAPTER 20: A DEMON CALLED GOD
1539 Words
She was lying on her side with the heavy cloth around her.
Her eyes fluttered for a bit before she slowly opened her eyes and looked at Eli lying on the bed opposite.
He was watching her.
Her beautiful face softened. It was day, and the room was bright and cool, giving her a form of comfort and security that she had never felt in her life.
She did not drop her gaze from his, and eventually, she smiled demurely when his eyes dropped almost shyly. She sat up in the comfortable bed, and he looked up at her again.
"Are you hungry?" he gestured.
She shook her head and quickly queried with her hands.
"Did you sleep at all?"
"I guess I slept a little. I don't sleep much."
Her large, warm, beautiful eyes appraised him for some time.
"You're different. You're not like other men who are beasts."
He stared at her, and she thought of how amazingly handsome he was, with a skin so clear and beautiful, looking so innocent but capable of such horrendous violence. She had seen him tearing off a man's head with his bare hands and fighting off a horde of violent people without breaking stride. Yet, those same hands had handled her with such gentle care.
Sarai stood up from the bed.
"Can I use the bathroom?"
"Yes, of course," he signed urgently. "I'll prepare some breakfast."
"No, please, let me," she signed as she headed towards the door. "I'll see what you have. I'm a good cook."
Eli smiled.
Sarai took a shower and washed her hair.
When she came out of the bathroom, he was still lying on the bed. She had the white towel around her, and as she moved, it was like rhythm in motion. She stopped when he found her staring so intently at her.
"Why do you look at me like that?" she signed.
"You're beautiful."
And that was exactly when Sarai became self-conscious, and a little fear entered her eyes. Her eyes dropped and she bit her lower lip for a while before lifting her head again with a sigh.
"Do you want to have s*x to me?"
His eyes widened with horror as he shook his head emphatically and made frantic movements with his hands.
"Lord, no!"
She raised her eyebrows.
"Why? You look at me as if you want to!"
"I want to, yes. But I don't want to if you also don't want to. I want to know you first. Secondly, when we make love, it will make me sleep for many hours."
"Why?" she signed, puzzled.
"Well, a good friend of mine told me it is because a lot of blood drains from my brain when I get an orgasm, causing me to lose consciousness."
"Oh, that's a little funny," she signed with her hands and giggled, quite taken aback by his explanation. "But who are you? Do you have a girlfriend? Why are you on the sea?"
"I'm on my way to the Kingdom of Eden to see my parents."
She put her head to one side, her face very sad now.
"I'm happy that your parents are alive."
"I don't know for sure if they're alive. But you, did you lose your parents?"
She nodded and walked forward to sit on the edge of the bed beside him.
"Yes, only three days ago. They were killed by God."
He nodded.
"I guess you can say that. All deaths are controlled by God, I think some people believe."
"Oh, not that God!" she signed. "Not the God in the sky. I mean that awful man who calls himself God. He sent those men after you. He is a gigantic man with red circles on his forehead and metallic hands!"
"A Red Circle," Eli signalled with eyes that had suddenly gone cold. "Tell me about this God, and how he killed your parents."
She was reluctant at first, but when he put a hand on her shoulder and urged her gently, her story came out slowly.
She had been born soon after the Meltdown began. Her father, a hunter by profession, had been able to shield his family. Sarai had an older brother called Simon. They had moved from place to place, scavenging to stay alive, joining communities along their way.
Finally, they had ended up in a little village called Todia.
The king of Todia had welcomed them and promised to take care of them. He was a man above fifty with six wives, but his interest had been in the beautiful Sarai whom he had wanted to marry.
"My father was tired of running. King Tod of Todia had warriors working for him, bringing food. He gave us our own compound. My mother wanted to shield me, but my father convinced me to accept the marriage. I was sixteen years old then, and never been with a man."
"I'm so sorry, Sarai," Eli made the signs. "You've had a hard life."
Tears bubbled in her eyes for a moment.
"I could not say no," she continued. "At least, it would mean better living conditions for my old mother. King Tod was a violent man, and I did not enjoy my life with him. He made me afraid to be with a man. Several times Simon tried to make me ran away but I was afraid of what would happen to my mother."
After almost two years of the horrible marriage, King Todia died one night when he was on his way to Sarai's camp. That had relieved the young woman a bit. Four months later, God the Red Circle arrived in Todia with his group of vicious minnows.
They had killed almost everybody in the palace, Sarai's parents included. Simon had agreed to be a GD, God's Disciple, and so his life had been spared.
God offered Sarai to Bouteflika, his First Disciple, as a bed companion. Simon, sick to his stomach because Bouteflika was a savage, had helped Sarai escape in one of King Todia's canoes which was fitted with an outboard motor.
However, the Disciples had found out and chased her in other canoes. Unfortunately for Sarai, the fuel in the outboard motor had run out. She had seen Eli's boat on the sea and made for it, hoping to find help.
Bouteflika and the others had caught up with her before she could board the boat, and whilst his men had clambered into Eli's boat, the horrible man had forcibly raped Sarai in her canoe.
"Then you saved me," she signed as tears shone on her beautiful cheeks. "But I have to go back, you know."
"No, you don't have to, Sarai."
She looked at him desperately.
"You killed a lot of Disciples, Eli. That God is very terrible. I wonder what he would do to my brother when he finds out you killed most of his Disciples! I can't bear that to happen to Simon!"
"Then I will go with you."
"No, Eli, no! That Red Circle is so wicked. He would torture you before he kills you. I can't live with that."
"I cannot let you go alone, Sarai."
"But why?" her beautiful face was earnest.
She looked at him desperately as her lips quivered and her tears fell silently.
Eli could not help himself. He drew closer to her and put his arms around her. Sarai stiffened and looked at him with alarm, but she did not struggle as his lips descended.
He kissed her gently, sweetly, long.
She gasped, not used to such a passionate kiss. The two men she had been with had been brutes, and that was what she had unconsciously associated to all men. But Eli's touch was so gentle that for the first time in her life she opened her lips to receive his kiss. She stuck her tongue tentatively against his and gasped as her body relaxed against him and she began to tremble.
She moaned softly against his lips, and when he lifted his head, she slipped her arms around his neck suddenly as her heart hammered fast. She stared at his handsome, gentle face and raised a trembling had to his cheek.
Eli stood up and headed for the door.
"Wait!" she signed at him desperately.
He smiled at her.
"What?" he signed back.
She licked her full, wonderful lips.
"I liked the kiss. Please, kiss me again."
"After we eat," he signalled.
She was breathing hard, her eyes filled with desire, her body craving a man for the very first time in her life because she was not afraid of this young man. Her heart was suddenly beating for him, and she wanted to feel his arms around her and his lips on hers again.
"You promise?"
"I promise, Sarai."
She smiled then.
She got up from the bed and ran to him, then slipped her hand through his. As Eli looked down at her face, his young heart melted in a way it had not melted for any woman, not even Jo. He did not understand the emotions, but he knew deep down that he would go to hell and back for this beautiful girl who was affecting his heart so hard.
- Writer
