Finding Eternal Peace Read online

  ~ Look for these titles from Abby Wood ~

  Now Available:

  To Right A Wrong

  Alpha Agents

  G-Man and Handcuffs

  Witness Bares All

  Steel and Hardness

  Finding Eternal Peace

  Abby Wood

  Copyright Warning

  eBooks are not transferable.

  They cannot be sold, shared, or given away. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is a crime punishable by law. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to file sharing sites, downloaded from file sharing sites, or distributed in any other way via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission.

  Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/).

  Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions. Please don’t steal from the authors who have created books for you to enjoy.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Published By:

  Etopia Press

  P.O. Box 66

  Medford, OR 97501

  http://www.etopiapress.com

  Finding Eternal Peace

  Copyright © 2011 by Abby Wood

  ISBN: 978-1-936751-15-0

  Edited by Katriena Knights

  Cover by Eithne Ni Anluaine

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  First Etopia Press electronic publication: May 2011

  http://www.etopia-press.net

  ~ Dedication ~

  To the Rajneeshee man who sat with me on the plane headed to Los Angeles, June 13th, 1985. I'm the young girl you were advised not to talk with, but you listened to me...the whole trip. I hope you didn't get in trouble for laughing at my jokes. I enjoyed our one-sided conversation. I fondly look back on how nice you were, and you had a nice smile. I would like to think that you have found peace and happiness in your life. Not many guys can pull off wearing pink, but like I told you back then, you owned pink!

  Chapter One

  The fingernail on Meg’s thumb bent backward, and pain shot up her hand. She shook her arm to dispatch the throbbing sting deep in the nail bed and gazed down at the new mark she had carved under the bed on the wooden floor. Six marks for six days of living in this hellhole they called Eternal Peace.

  The door to the barren bedroom opened, and she hurried to stand. Her arms loose at her sides, she relaxed her facial muscles and took on a dazed, happy-go-lucky expression that matched those of the other women entering the room. She hoped the tears pooling at the corners of her eyes from the pain in her thumb didn’t show enough to draw attention.

  “There you are, Megan. Lord Stephen inquired about you after lunch.” Rosie smiled and rushed over to pull her into a hug that only left Megan wanting to scream, Back off, woman, you are way too friendly.

  Meg laid her hands on Rosie’s back and caressed the woman the way Lord Stephen had taught them all. She continued stroking the woman’s back. Not in the sexual, pleasing way the leader of the cult had explained to her, but because it soothed the pain in her finger.

  The other two women who bunked in the same room, Lillian and Jen, joined the hug and turned it into a group event. Megan closed her eyes. It revolted her to have everyone’s hands on her all the time. Ten seconds more, and she’d call it quits and pull away. Whoever heard of a sixty-second hug, anyway?

  “Lord Stephen promised us a surprise with dinner.” Jen stepped back and sat on the edge of her bed. “I love everything he does for us, and can’t wait to find out what he’s planned this time.”

  “I know. Coming with him to Eternal Peace was the wisest thing I’ve ever done.” Lillian twirled about the room. “He promised heaven, and he’s delivered.”

  The long, flowing, various pastel-colored bed sheets they called robes remained an ugly reminder of how Lord Stephen stripped each person’s identity away. Meg hid her clenched hands in the folds of the material and sat on the bed. Her stomach clenched. What if this time he makes me participate in the social activities? Oh, God…

  So far, Lord Asshole had only required her to attend meals and the evening meeting. During the extracurricular activities with the others, he’d escorted her to the bedroom or the library where book upon book on the subject of sexual positions and pornographic pictures were provided to titillate and pique her curiosity. How anyone got turned on in a place like this was beyond her.

  “Megan?”

  She lifted her chin and found Jen smiling. “Sorry. I was dreaming about how incredibly happy I am here.” She gave a dramatic sigh of contentment. “What did you say?”

  “Lord Stephen would like to see you after dinner. Alone.” Jen clasped her hands together against her chest. “We’re so proud of you. It took each one of us a full month before he invited us into his private chamber. He must think you are ready to advance to the next level ahead of time.”

  “Private chamber?” She shook her head. Hang on, what did I miss?

  All three of her carefree roommates nodded in unison like well-trained seals waiting for someone to throw them a sardine. She swallowed the lump in her throat. It’s OK. I can do this. It’s what I came here to do.

  “You start out with Lord Stephen before he lets you in with the groups. He needs to train you in how to find eternal peace within yourself.” Jen smiled. “You cannot find peace without his knowledge and guidance.”

  The sickly sweet way Jen spoke of the leader of the commune grated on Meg’s nerves. She forced the bile down. Come on, get a grip. This could be the one chance I have to find Allison.

  “I see.” She stood and moved over to the only window in the room, which opened to the courtyard.

  All bedrooms in the compound faced inward to an outdoor area fully contained within the walls of the commune. Built in a circular pattern with a hallway that ran along the outside walls, the building might as well have been a posh prison. Lord Stephen made sure that leaving the grounds and going outside the boundaries was near impossible.

  “I suppose this is a good thing.” She turned and faked a smile. “Thank you for telling me. I look forward to my time spent with him.” Bullshit.

  The dull clang of a bell from outside the room announced dinnertime, and the other three women rose together in one massive cloud of billowing bed sheets. Meg moved over to join hands with them. Another golden rule placed on her the moment she entered the union, as if she might get lost in this large fortress.

  Others dressed in the same garb came out of their rooms and converged in the hallway with them. Megan plastered a stupid, dazzled smile on her face, but didn’t make eye contact with the others. Her gaze traveled over, around, and through the mix of people moving in one giant mass toward the dining hall, in search of a familiar strawberry blonde with startling green eyes.

  The last time her sister came to the house, she bubbled with a new drive for life. At first, Meg had rejoiced in the way Allison was healing, but learning why she was happier brought on new concerns. They’d both suffered a difficult year after losing their parents in a terrible car crash, but Allison seemed to linger in a self-inflicted depression that worried and frustrated Megan lately.

  The excited push of the crowd agains
t Meg’s back urging her forward, and Lillian’s hand tightening her grasp on her fingers, kept Meg from stopping and searching the group further. This was the fourth time they’d allowed her to join the others in the dining hall for dinner.

  Oh, please let me find Allison tonight.

  Once she found her, she’d have to work up a new plan for how to make contact with her without giving their relationship away. Who knew what the asshole that ran the joint would do if he found out her real motives?

  She sat at an overlarge banquet table that stretched the length of the room, thankful that she sat in the rear of the room with her back toward the wall. Meg scanned the other tables lined up in front of her. My God, how hard could it be to spot a redhead in a wave of pastels?

  Steam rose from the serving bowls and platters in the middle of the table. Her stomach growled at the sweet aroma filling the room despite the nervous ball of dread in the pit of her belly over the meeting with Lord Stephen after dinner. She’d eat, if only to keep up the appearance that she belonged here 100 percent.

  From her seated position, she gazed up and down each table in between bites of food. Thoroughly going down each seat, waiting for something to jump out and grab her attention , Megan grew frustrated. Come on, I know you’re here, Allison. Where has Lord Stephen been keeping you all this time?

  She swallowed without tasting the food. If she found Allison, she’d have to control the way she reacted, because without a doubt someone watched her every move. Cameras lined every room and drove her insanely paranoid. Even in the bathroom, she never felt completely alone. She hadn’t relaxed since the moment she walked through the doors with the other newcomers.

  The skin at the back of her neck tingled, and the desire to flee to the nearest exit kept her on edge. In this place, she was always on guard. No one stood out; no one met her gaze, but someone watched her actions. She was sure of it. Something didn’t feel right.

  She turned at Rosie’s gasp over the arrival of Lord Stephen, and hurried to push her plate away. Lord Stephen strolled up to the loudspeaker at the front of the room and waited until everyone’s attention came around to him.

  “Good evening, my special friends, my lovers, my people.” He paused and smiled. “You are one day closer to finding eternal peace within.”

  His gaze traveled down each table. His lips were cemented in an upward tilt that rang false with Meg, but the others ate it up. Under the table, her hands balled into fists. The others sat hypnotized by the drone of his words.

  She steeled herself against becoming too upset. It wouldn’t do her any good if Lord Stephen suspected her of being anything but one of his devoted followers. She didn’t understand how all these people seemed to lose every ounce of self-respect and individuality around this man. He offered them empty promises and orgasms. What about love, security, and growing a set of balls…didn’t that matter to these people?

  At the start of her enrollment, she’d suspected the leader of brainwashing the others, yet here it was almost a week later, and she remained fully rational. It didn’t make sense. Why had she not fallen for his pretty words, his promise of eternal peace, and the allure of what he offered?

  Either her roommates partook in some form of drug, or they were the sappiest, weakest women she’d ever met. They moved around all day in a state of dreamed-up bliss where ponies came with rainbow tails, and Lord Stephen promised them the fountain of youth lived in their vaginas.

  Lord Stephen turned toward the four people who stood off to the side of the podium, nodded, and removed the microphone from its perch. He strode between the tables. His hand caressed the heads of several people, and his lips moved with words not broadcast over the system for everyone else to hear.

  His four chosen ones returned with trays laden with bowls that they set on the end of each row of tables. One after another, cups of dessert in the form of pudding made it to each member. She hid her distaste. Her lactose intolerant stomach rebelled at the sight. Why did the treats after dinner always have to contain milk?

  Beside her, Jen finished her bowl quickly and, similar to the previous times, Meg hurried to exchange her full bowl of pudding with Jen’s empty bowl. She winked at the woman and let out the breath she held. She didn’t want to insult the leader by not eating what everyone deemed a special treat, but no way in hell was she going to eat something that sent her stomach into a great revolt.

  A hand fell atop her head, skimmed the back of her hair, and landed on her shoulder. With only the sheet preventing the hand from touching her bare skin, she closed her eyes to hide her disgust.

  “Now that you are all done, I have a special surprise.” Lord Stephen squeezed her shoulder and continued his walk around the room. “We all have made great strides toward finding the ultimate peace within ourselves. I am very pleased with the way you have given yourself over to Eternal Peace.”

  He wove his way back up to the front of the room, stood behind the podium, and put the microphone back in its stand. “I would like to honor those who have gone the extra distance. Who’ve shown me how much they love each one of us, and who I can fully trust to join my private area.”

  Applause broke out. Meg clapped along with the others. Obviously, this announcement pleased everyone.

  “When I call out your name, please come forth and receive the special key that gives you permission to enter into the highest realm.” He held up a loop of string with a key dangling at the bottom. “This is the key to my bedroom. You may use it at your free will.”

  The roar of clapping died down, a hush settled over the crowd, and Lord Stephen leaned forward over the microphone. “Lillian, Pamela, Julie, and…” His gaze swept the room, searching for another person to step up to the front. “Allison.”

  Chapter Two

  Meg’s head snapped up, and she stretched her neck to view the women walking up to the front. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth from where she bit her bottom lip. Damn that pervert for daring to utter her sister’s name.

  Where was she? How had she missed her all these times?

  There!

  The roar of the celebratory cheer for the women, mixed with the blood rushing through her ears, muted all other sounds. She couldn’t make out what Lord Stephen announced. It didn’t matter anymore. She had found Allison.

  Her eyes took in every inch of her sister beyond the bed sheet wrapped around her body. She appeared healthy, albeit too happy compared to the melancholy sister Meg had last seen. Oh, God, sis, what have you done?

  Allison never gazed in her direction, but returned to her seat. Meg pressed her palms on the top of the table and lifted her bottom out of the chair. Dammit! The back of a tall man’s head blocked her view of her sister.

  People rose and moved to leave the dining hall, and Meg jumped up. Without waiting for her roommates, she pushed her way through the crowd to where she had last seen her sister, but the chair sat empty. She turned to scan the room, but Lord Stephen’s sheet-covered chest blocked her view. Shit!

  “Megan, dear, if you will follow me, I would love to have your company in my room.” He clasped her hand. Not unkind, or rough, but gentle, almost comforting.

  He led her through the throng of people to a long corridor her roommates never took her down. Separated from the others, they strolled together hand in hand down the hall without a word spoken. She should be nervous, but with the new enlightenment that her sister did in fact remain within the walls of the commune, everything else meant nothing.

  Her first free moment, she’d bring the place down around her ears to save her sister.

  “Right this way, Megan.” He inserted a key, pushed the door open, and with his hand on her back urged her to enter his private domain.

  She stopped, searched the perimeters, and found two doorways and one window that led to the outside of the commune. She marked each exit in her head in case she ran into trouble and needed to bust out.

  “How are you enjoying your stay so far, Megan?” Lord Steph
en dropped her hand and stepped away from her.

  She swallowed. “I enjoy myself, Lord. I also like the people I’ve met so far.”

  He nodded, but his smile never reached his eyes. “Very good.” He undid the belt at his waist that held his gown together. “I was hoping you would say that.” Fingering the long piece of material, he let the front of the wrap fall open. “Tonight, your training starts.”

  Her gaze fell to the floor. She stared at his bare feet, not daring to look up and see what greeted her behind the cloth. Shit.

  “Come here and remove my robe.”

  Her mind screamed not to do it but, keeping her sister at the forefront of her thoughts, she stepped forward and raised her chin. She’d do anything for Allison. She was the only family member Meg had left.

  “Don’t hesitate. This is one of the many things I will teach you. You’ve chosen this new way of life. When I ask you to do something, you do it.” He reached out and tugged at a strand of hair hanging down in front of her shoulder. “Now, undress me.”

  She reached out and slipped the cloth off his shoulders. Stepping around him, she gathered the robe and used precious time to fold the garment into a tidy square in an attempt to delay what came next. From the conversations she’d overheard, it was a common fact that you must please the lord first.

  He removed the garment from her clutches and laid it on the edge of the bed. She kept her sight leveled on his chest. His very thin, bare chest. Chills shot up her back. He resembled a starving rat.

  “Place your hand on my cock and make me hard.”

  A storm brewed inside her head. The crash of blood pulsed in her ears. She fought to swallow the panic building inside of her. Her hand shook. God, somebody help me.

  Her fingers curled around the smooth, limp flesh. Moving her hand, she milked his dick, half hoping she’d fail to get a rise out of him. She wasn’t sure she had the nerve to go to the depth Lord Stephen asked of his followers.