Author's note.
A few years ago I wrote the second chapter of 'Falling for Jennifer' which introduced the vile Father John Tobias into her life. Some readers were critical of my portrayal of the catholic church, but the greater majority wanted to know what happened to him, and to Jennifer Griffiths and her brother David.
And so here is Chapter 3, which takes place some years later and brings the three together again. Readers who believe in the sanctity of the church will find this story disturbing, but to them I say this: there is much good in any institution, but revelations of recent times have shown there to be great evil too. There are men like Tobias who have been nurtured and protected for too long. If you don't like that reality, don't read on!
Sex is not central to this story but, ironically, it is the driver for much of what happens. There is some violence in it too.
And finally, everyone in this story is fictitious and is over the age of 18. I hope you enjoy it.
Hot Sister, January 2020.
*
Jennifer Elizabeth Griffiths sat awkwardly in the Church of the Blessed Sacrament and wished for the fifth time in as many minutes she was somewhere else.
It was years since Jen had entered a place of worship, and she had thought she never would again: but Tracey had begged her to be there for the christening, and she loved both her friend and the baby. And so she had come this morning, her heels clicking crisply on a stone floor as cold as her heart, and she perched on the end of a pew and waited for the service to begin.
There were about thirty other people there - Tracey's family, mostly, and her friends. She recognised one or two of them and smiled a greeting, but there was no connection and she looked around. The church was small, without Transepts or a Chancel, and it was plainly decorated. The Sanctuary, which separated the Nave from the Altar, was only a dozen paces wide and there was a stained glass window beyond. She saw the morning sun refracted through its leaded panels had bathed the alter in crimson, like fresh blood spilled on the crisp white linen, and her stomach churned.
I shouldn't be here.
The door of the Sacristy opened and a priest appeared, his face a mask of nervous anticipation. He was very young, and Jen guessed this was his first baptism - or at least one of his first. She watched as he spoke timidly to the parents before taking his place next to the font, and she saw him turn to the congregation with a small smile of welcome.
And as Jen watched she perceived another figure enter the Nave behind him. He was wearing the robes of a Catholic Bishop: a white cassock beneath the pectoral cross, offset with amaranth trim and purple fascia, and a scarlet zucchetto perched upon his head. She saw that he was tall, his shoulders wide and straight, and his hands were held in supplication as if bestowing blessings on those gathered before him.
But it was his face that seized her attention, for she knew it. He was older now, bearing lines of age that had not been there before, and the hair that had once been dark was streaked with grey - but the eyes were the same: as black as obsidian like those of a circling shark, and they filled her with a familiar dread.
In an instant she was transported back fourteen years to the kitchen of her mother's house, to those same eyes fixed on hers like those of a snake regarding a rodent. She had fled from the place where he lived and had moved a dozen times since. She had thought herself safe. But here he was, stood before her in senior robes of the catholic church, and she understood that nothing had changed and he had been rewarded for a life of avarice and lust.
Jen rose to flee but the movement attracted him. She saw his eyes turn upon her, those black orbs that had robbed her of sleep for so long. She perceived the flare of recognition within them and she saw his lips curl, as a wolf might smile at a newborn lamb. And in that moment she knew he would pursue her and that everything she loved was under threat, and a roaring wind filled her head. She felt her heart beating, beating, in a discordant rhythm that robbed her limbs of strength and purpose, and then a great darkness consumed her and she slumped to the cold stone floor.
*
"Jesus, Jen! What were you thinking?" David Griffiths' voice was filled with anxiety, and he rested his hand gently on her forehead to see if she was feverish.
"I was at Annie's baptism...I told you I was going."
"And you'd had nothing to eat, so you fainted." He pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat on it, his eyes upon her face. "You know what happens if you don't eat anything in the morning."
"But I did. I had breakfast before I left."
"So what happened?"
Jen regarded her brother. His eyes were grey and filled with concern, unlike the empty black pools of the Bishop, and the vigour and purpose within them gave her strength.
"I saw John Tobias today."
"Christ! Where?"
"At the church. He's not a Priest any more - he's a Bishop. The church has promoted him and there he was, as if nothing had changed." Her voice was husky with emotion and he saw her shudder slightly. "He saw me...recognised me, I'm sure."
David shook his head. "What happened was a long time ago, Jen, there's nothing for him now. It must be - what - twenty years?"
"Fourteen," she corrected him, "don't you remember? It was after Mum's funeral. You'd gone to take Edith Williams home, and I was left in the house...just him and me. That's when -" her voice cracked, the emotion still raw. The image was so clear, even after all this time: the Priest pressed against her in that little kitchen, his voice as slick as warm oil.
You are having carnal knowledge of your brother...I can help you to love another...just you and me.
She felt again the slither of his fingers on her neck and the bulge of his engorged member thrust against her, and she recalled the stink of his breath.
But it wasn't just that. It was what he did afterwards. The lies and deceit, the dripping of poison into the ears of the villagers; the lost jobs and the ostracism of even her friends, and finally the assault that nearly killed her. She recalled the metallic taste of blood in her mouth and the reek of waste as his disciples urinated on her, and she remembered her life as a fugitive. And all the time he'd been watching: taunting her with his cold black eyes and laughing mouth. The same look he'd given her in the church that morning.
Jen stared into her brother's face. "You didn't see the way he looked at me," she said, "but I did. He'll come after me again, I know."
"But why?" David asked. "Is it because he didn't get what he wanted?"
She shook her head. "No. He'll come because he enjoyed it."
*****
Six miles away the Most Reverend John S. Tobias, Auxiliary Bishop of Bunyong, lay in his bathtub contemplating his day with a deal of satisfaction.
First there had been the christening. It was unusual for a Bishop to attend such an event, but he'd been keen to meet the young priest recently posted to the Parish. It had been a fruitful visit: he had earned the Minister's gratitude, and had assessed him to be unlikely to listen to the occasional rumour that circulated about his Bishop's behaviour.