“Right,” he says. “Sit and tell me how everything has been.”
“Not good, but also good,” I say. “It’s complicated.”
“Sadie, be honest,” Dad sighs. “I genuinely want to know, no matter how good or bad. I want to be a part of your life. I know I have a lot to make up for, so I want you to be as mad and blunt as you want.”
“Okay,” I say. “To be blunt… I was kidnapped and raped by Paul and Leo over a year ago. A few months ago, I was kidnapped with my best friend, and she was murdered after Leo raped me right beside her. I am obviously pregnant. I don’t know which of them is the biological father, but I know it’s not Leo’s from the rape. They will all be fathers, and we all live together. I’m obviously not married, but I basically consider all of them like a husband.”
“That must be a big house,” Dad remarks. “I’m sorry about Paul and Leo. I did hear they are both dead.”
“Yeah. Paul died a bit after my first kidnapping. I killed Leo, though,” I say bluntly.
“Oh my. How? He’s the one who killed your friend?”
“Uh. Yeah. She died because he was trying to kill me, but she pulled me behind her and took the bullet. I kinda… lost it. He pointed the gun at me, so I ran at him and knocked him down. I beat him with the gun before lying with Stacy as she died,” I explain.
“I’m so sorry to hear about your friend, Sadie. That’s awful,” he says with a sad voice.
“Oh? Not going to tell me we tempted Leo?” I ask bitterly.
“Sadie, I am not your mother. I never thought you tempted anyone,” he says.
“Then why didn’t you protect me?” I ask, and he sighs.
“Your mother… she was…”
“A heartless cunt?” I ask, and he smiles. Not what I expected.
“Yeah,” he says. “She wore me down mentally. I was and still am so depressed that I can hardly function most days. If I kept my mouth shut, she left me alone. If I didn’t, I’d end up having to deal with the old pastor. I can’t count how many times she sent him after me because I wasn’t doing what she wanted.”
“I… never knew that,” I frown.
“I was able to keep you out of a lot. I managed to keep you out of a lot of the bullshit that happened at that church. I thought I did, until she sent you to that godforsaken camp,” Dad says. “Your mother was in so deep with that church. They had her brainwashed to think that what Paul did to you was a necessity. I didn’t know until after she had to take you to the doctor that she knew all along what he was going to do to you.”
“She planned that?” I ask.
“Apparently,” he sighs. “I was so angry, but when I tried to take you and leave, she threatened to tell the police that I did that to you.”
“Dad… I didn’t…”
“No. Don’t you do that,” Dad says sternly. “Don’t give me an apology for something I let happen. I don’t care how depressed I was; I should have saved you from her. I went along witheverything and let myself get brainwashed by her. That’s on me. I am only saying this because I want you to understand the full story.”
“How did Mom get wrapped up in the church like that?” I ask.
“Uh. Well, the pastor violently raped her when she had a counseling session with him. He told her that he had to rid her of her demons, and apparently, that can only be achieved through doing vile things to someone,” he says, rolling his eyes. “I tried so hard to get her to go to the police. She just… shut down. She let him convince her that she had demons, so she let him keep hurting her.”
“When was this?” I ask. He looks up at me with tears in his eyes and shakes his head before dropping his gaze again.
“Oh no,” Mason says softly.
“What? What am I missing?”
“The pastor is your biological father,” Mason says. Dad looks up and nods.
“I stayed when she kept letting him hurt her because of you. I was afraid he would hurt her worse because she would be unwed. I also didn’t want anyone touching you. I thought I was doing so well protecting you from that, but… she sent you to that camp. I thought it was just a regular camp. If I had known… I would have taken you and disappeared. Anything, really.”
“Mom knew?” I ask.
“Yeah. She held it over my head,” he sniffs. “She kept threatening to take my little girl and… I didn’t want you to end up like her.”
