Faith, Hope and Charity

The Virtue sisters were the antithesis of what their father had hoped them to be. He had structured their upbringing around the names that he and his wife had given them. Faith, Hope and Charity Virtue, as young girls, were everything that a deeply religious father could ask for, moulded in the Reverend Matthew Virtue's vision of perfection.

They each began Sunday School before they were old enough for proper school, and their religious education didn't stop there, they were encouraged to respect their elders, pray often, sing hymns along with their parents at home, and read the Bible before bed-time. This regimen of piety was to have a lasting effect on them as they grew into womanhood.

They attended a church-based private school until matriculation and then on to university to study Religious History or Theology. The good Reverend's plans were for his daughters to ascend to a prominent role in the hierarchy of the church, or, the alternative would be to meet a suitably pious young man, and make a life for themselves as a Minister's wife.

While at school they were encouraged to participate in all of the activities appropriate to their age, and when they were old enough, to assume, in turn, the leadership of the church Youth group. They received private tuition in Public Speaking and Deportment, as well as the more genteel of athletic endeavours. Due to Reverend Virtue's stated modest income, they were always conservatively dressed in last year's fashions, donated by parishioners from their daughter's no longer fashionable wardrobe.

So what could possibly go wrong with this scenario?

In a word. SEX.

It was assumed by all three that they would each save themselves for their marriage bed, and their sexual education, delivered behind closed doors by their mother, emphasised the expectation that this would be the case.

But all was not as it seemed, and this was revealed to Faith one afternoon when she arrived home unexpectedly.

As was to be expected, the three Virtue sisters were subjected to the sexual advances of the male population of the university, to the point that bets were being taken as to which of them would be the first to succumb to the charms of one of the young men on campus. A side bet was on which of these young men would be the first to savour the virgin charms of one of them. The short priced favourite for the prize was Faith, and the side bet, Bradley Fulton, and with good reason. He was recognised to be the handsomest young man on campus, and in addition he was the son of the wealthiest of the university's alumni. Also in his favour was the fact that he was active within the university's Christian community, and for this reason, was thought to be a sure thing.

The only spanner in the works, as far as the expected result of this, was that the Virtue sisters had made it known early on that they were saving themselves for the marriage bed, and that the only way that any young man would savour sexual success would be to marry one of them. Tempting as that may have been, no young man was prepared to make that commitment. It was the common position among them, that they all wished to try before taking that step.

"Faith, will you at least allow me to kiss you?"

"I suppose that there is no harm in it, but you may hold my shoulders only, if your hands should so much as move to any other part of my body I will scream so loud that the whole world will know of your disobedience to my rules."

"I don't know why I even bother. Faith, I love you to distraction, but I'm not sure that you return my affections. For two people to really get to know if they love each other they must explore the physical side of their love. Chaste kissing just doesn't cut it."

"I do love you, but my parents have laid down these rules by which my sisters and I must abide, and one of them is a big 'no' to physical intimacy. You will just have to believe me when I tell you that I truly love you. You are the handsomest and smartest boy that I know."

"Don't forget that I am also the richest."

"Money doesn't mean a thing to me."

"But it does to me. I want to be able to provide for you in all ways, to give you the things that you don't have now, to make you really happy without having to worry about whether you can afford to buy a new dress."

"I know you want that, but I am happy with just having a few nice clothes and things."

"You are amazing, most girls would jump at the chance of becoming my special girl, but not you."

"I want to be your special girl, but if it means that I have to let you pet me and make love to me, then I will have to decline that honour. If you love me you will understand that I cannot go against the wishes of my parents."

"You are my special girl, I want everyone to know that, even though you don't want to let me do what other girls would."

"I do want to, but I can't. I would love to be with you all of the time, I want to marry you and be with you all of the time, but I promised my parents that I would not make love to any boy until we are married."

"But that doesn't mean that we can't kiss each other, and touch each other, does it?"

"Yes it does. If I give you an inch you'll expect a mile. Brad, I know that if I let you touch me that way I will be tempted to let you go further, and how can I be expected to face my parents in the knowledge that I have betrayed their trust in me?"

"I guess that I'll just have to live in hope then."

"You leave Hope alone, and that goes for Charity as well. We are all off limits to wolves like you."

"You didn't get it again, did you?" Jason asked Brad as they walked into the change rooms to change for football practise.

"I got close. She admitted that she is tempted to let me fondle her. I'm wearing her down."

"Yeah, and you'll eventually succeed not long after you sign the marriage register. We know that you're afraid of the C word and all that it stands for. Why don't you just give her up and fuck one of the cheerleaders like the rest of us do. Cindy's got the hots for you, you just have to say the word and she's yours, and she's a good fuck, let me tell you. Been there, done that."

"So, I have to be satisfied with your left-overs, is that it?"

"No, it's not like that at all. I did her once, but, while she was good, her heart wasn't in it and when I asked her what was wrong, she told me that she felt used by the team and the one person who hadn't done her was you. She really likes you and is upset that you haven't asked to fuck her. She has more to offer than that stuck-up Faith Virtue."

"I know, but the thought of being the first to fuck our Minister's daughter will give me more street cred than being yet another jock to fuck Cindy, or any of the other cheerleaders."

"So your eye is on the prize and you just have to have her."

"Yeah, I have to have her, I have to be the one to pop her cherry."

"Good luck with that."

On the surface of it, the Reverend Virtue's church was just like any other church of that denomination. It presented a conservative front to the rest of the world. Its parishioners were conservatively dressed and drove conservative cars, the local Volvo dealer was a member and offered a good discount to church members.

There were two services each Sunday, the morning service at 9:30 am and the evening at 7:00 pm. An active social gathering took place after each of these services and the so-called Inner Circle stayed on for longer.

During the week, on Wednesday evenings, there was a meeting of the Men's Group, where a solid core of male members gathered for some social interaction. The conversations at these meetings did not touch on the latest offerings from Mercedes, BMW and Jaguar, far from it. It was a members only group and anyone wanting to join was subjected to a strict screening regime before acceptance.

On Thursday afternoons there was a Women's Group meeting, where a solid core of women members gathered for social interaction. Appearances to the contrary, they did not exchange recipes and knitting patterns. This too was a members only group, and it also had a thorough screening process before acceptance.

It was Wednesday night and there was an expectant buzz across the hall. This was a special meeting, and tonight the prize on offer was not one but three virgin girls, the Virtue sisters were for sale to the highest bidder.

"Gentlemen," The auctioneer tapped his gavel on the lectern to get the attention of the men. "Tonight we have a special treat for you. Usually the girls on offer are professional ladies and, if I may say it, somewhat worn, not that there is anything wrong with that. Tonight we have something special for you, tonight the successful bidders will be given the opportunity to deflower one of three virgins." He held his hand towards the side of the stage and Faith, Hope and Charity Virtue walked hesitantly to centre stage. They were each dressed in diaphanous dresses and their nipples and trimmed pubic hair showed clearly through the material. The was a collective gasp of wonder and anticipation from the crowd of men. "Faith, Hope and Charity Virtue are untouched by man. They have been groomed for this night. The successful bidders will get to deflower the virgin for whom he was the highest bidder. He will get to be with her for as long as it pleases him." The Auctioneer raised his voice. "There will be no limit on the number of times that sexual congress will take place, it is at the discretion of the winning bidder!"

Hope and Charity moved to one side and the auction began.

"Would you not agree that this young lady is perfection herself?" He walked around Faith. "She has been meticulously prepared for this occasion, prepared to submit to the every whim of the successful bidder, a truly once in a lifetime experience awaits. What am I bid for this young lady? Who'll give me 500 to start?" A cry of 'Yo!' was heard from the back of the room. "Do I hear 6? 7? 8?" The amount rose briskly in $100 increments until the bidding for Faith's virginity had just topped the $2000 mark. A voice rang out from the doorway.

"Stop!" Having convinced the doorman that he had an urgent message for his father, Brad had gained entry into the hall. "This auction is a fraud! Before you men consider how much you are willing to pay for the virginity of these girls, I have to warn you that they are not virgins."

"What! I don't believe this. These girls are pure and untouched by man." The Reverend Virtue was shocked by this intrusion and the revelation that it brought.

"Not so!" Brad had reached the stage and stood beside Faith, his arm around her waist and her adoring gaze on his face. "Faith gave her virginity willingly to me a month ago, and believe me, if I hadn't already experienced the pleasures of her body, I would be topping the bidding, she would have been worth every dollar. But we are in love, and she gave herself to me, willingly. As for Hope and Charity, as soon as they knew what was going to happen here tonight they went out and sought suitably obliging boyfriends."

"This can't be true! Girl, tell me that it isn't true!" He bellowed angrily at Faith.

"I cannot lie to you Father... " Faith left the rest of her answer unspoken, for good reason.

There was a commotion at the door and a squad of policemen stormed into the hall.

"What's the meaning of this intrusion? This is a private function."

"This might be a private function, but this sale is nothing more or less than prostitution. We've known for some time that these so-called 'men's meetings' were nothing more than prostitution, but, because in the past the girls were professionals who were being paid quite well for their services, we couldn't get enough evidence to prosecute. But when we heard of this event, we knew that we would be able to lay charges. The girls have agreed to give evidence against you." He looked at Reverend Virtue. "I must say that this is the most blatant brand of religious hypocrisy that I have ever come across. You preach the sanctity of the marriage vows and virginity, but yet you were prepared to sell your daughters' virginity to the highest bidder. How do you think that they feel about that?"

"We have not broken any laws." Mayor Benson said. "You have not heard the end of this. I want to see you in my office first thing in the morning, and I suggest that you start looking for a new job."

"I will see you in the morning." The officer in charge, Sergeant Thomas said, looking squarely into the Mayor's face, "Whether it's in your office, or in the interview room, will depend on whether you can make bail. You are being charged with being an accessory to the crime of procuring of these girls to commit an act of prostitution against their will. A good lawyer might come in handy." He turned and looked at the men who had been prevented from leaving the hall. "All of you will be interviewed here and allowed to go home, only because there's not enough room in the cells, but you will all appear in court tomorrow. Make no mistake, charges will be laid."

A woman police officer, Sergeant Beth Caulder, had taken the girls into a back room and watched as they changed into their normal clothes. "How is it that you are here in this situation?'

"It's a long story." Faith said, looking at her sisters. "For years we have lived under our Father's teachings on sex and chastity, and the marriage vows. 'The Bible tells us that girls should save themselves for their marriage bed, and that to have sex before marriage is a mortal sin.' We have all been tempted on numerous occasions and, because we have been taught to respect our father, we have not given in to that temptation. Now we find that this church is anything but a virtuous organisation, sex is everywhere."

"How do you mean?"

"This men's' group meets on a weekly basis, and there are always girls here, girls willing to have sex for a price with the men in rooms set up for that purpose. We were told, just before we had to go on the stage, what was in store for us and shown the rooms. I don't know what a brothel actually looks like, but I imagine it will be something like those rooms. I wanted to make a run for it and take Hope and Charity with me, but there was always someone there with us, Father mainly. We had never even allowed him to see us naked since we were little girls, and now there he was, staring at us, and he had an erection, I could see the bulge in his trousers. This was sick, but I felt powerless to prevent what was to come, not only for myself, but for my sisters. What makes it worse, as I was to discover, the women's' group meet for a similar purpose, and they have male prostitutes come to their meetings. And, on top of all that, there is a circle where partner swapping takes place on a regular basis. Not to mention the regular visits Brad's father makes to our home and the 'pastoral visits' Father makes to his."

"We took it on ourselves to find out as much as we could about what was happening in this church." Brad added. "The committee, it turns out, would entice couples into the inner circle, and once there, they would use blackmail to keep them there. We have a list of those we know of who are involved, and it makes interesting reading. The Mayor is a strategic inclusion on that list. He doesn't get a lot of action, what with his looks and personality, but his current trophy wife certainly does."

"There is a reasonably large congregation, you don't mean to tell me that all of them are involved, do you?"

"No. New members are investigated closely to see if they are desirable enough to investigate further, and then if they are willing enough to be included. Not everyone passes the test. The initiation process is interesting. Their first excursion into the sexual life of the church is with the Reverend Matthew Virtue and his lovely wife, just to make them feel special."

"Faith, is it true that you are no longer a virgin?" Sergeant Caulder, asked.

"No. My virginity is still intact."

"But you told your father that you had lost your virginity."

"No, what I told my father was that I couldn't lie to him, I didn't actually answer his question. I am still a virgin." Her hand reached for Brad's "But I may not be one for much longer." Her pressure on his hand told of her decision, and his response confirmed that he was willing to oblige.

"So what will happen now?"

"We will have to wait on the outcome of any trial before deciding on our long term future." Brad said. "But Faith and I plan to find our own place and live together. Whether we get married is something that we will think about in the future. But for now, we just want to get as far away from our parents as possible."

"Charity and I," Hope began, "Will be looking for our own place, somewhere where we can support each other through this and get on with our lives. We are anticipating that this mess will result in us getting some unwanted attention from boys wanting to make love to us. This will not happen by the way, we too are still virgins and plan to remain that way until we are ready to take that next step. We will need to support each other as well as be able to call on the support of Faith and Brad. To say that we have been devastated by what has happened would be an understatement. We have always looked up to our parents, we have always believed them to be perfect in every way, and to have found out what they have been doing, what their church has been doing, has caused us to rethink our values. We know what we should be doing, and it's what we've been taught, it isn't anything like what has been going on in the church."

"When did you realise what was going on, what was going to happen?"

"About a week ago." Brad said. "I had overheard my father calling one of his friends to tell him about the auction."

"You just can't miss the next men's night," Brad's father was saying. "It will be awesome! This is something that Reverend Virtue and the church committee have been working towards for the past five years. Charity Virtue has just turned 18 and it's time that the three girls lost their virginity. We have decided that it should all take place on the one night. Just imagine, and auction for the honour of deflowering a virgin, something that few of us have ever experienced. But to have three virgins available will make it an even bigger night. We even plan to video it for later use. Are you in?"

"Yes, count me in."

"One thing. It will be a cash only auction, no personal cheques, no credit cards, no marked envelops, nothing that can be used to trace the transaction. Another thing, you are to tell no-one, we want to keep this amongst our men's group, there will be guards on the door and no outsiders will be allowed in. I'll see you there, and bring your money with you."

"He made several other similar calls and every one of the men that he spoke to was going to be there." Brad looked at Faith. "I knew that I had to do something, say something to Faith, for some time she had been telling me that she had to obey her parents when they insisted that she remain pure until she married, and here they were, planning to have her lose her virginity to the highest bidder. I have often wondered about that church, it seemed to have a very strong influence over some powerful people in this town. What was it that they held over these people? It would seem that the control was all about sex."

"I had come to the same conclusion." Faith said. "A month ago I came home early with a lot on my mind. I had just had to tell Brad, yet again, that I couldn't allow him to do anything more than kiss me, because, and this seems so farcical now, my parents wanted me to remain pure until I was married. They have, in public and in private, stressed the importance to us girls of not allowing any boy to touch us intimately until we were married, and that the marriage vows were sacrosanct and should never be broken. When I got home Mother wasn't anywhere to be seen. And then I heard her cry out from her bedroom. Fearing something bad was happening I rushed down to her room, only to find her in bed with Brad's father. I left as quietly as possible and went to my room. I prayed for guidance and read the Bible for a couple of hours, during which I heard him leave and mother return to her room, I assumed to straighten the bedclothes up, before going to the kitchen to prepare dinner." She sat there for a few moments before continuing. "You couldn't believe how hard it was for me to try and act as if nothing had happened, as if I hadn't seen my mother in bed with Brad's father. I couldn't look her in the eye. I had even tried to find an excuse for not going to church."