Beneath The Sacred Cloak

This is my story for the Summer Lovin' Story Contest 2023.

Beyond look-what-happened-on-my-summer-vacation or frolicking bikini babes at the beach, this tale tells the story of the summer of the Blood Moon, the lunar eclipse, a virgin offering, and the discovery of a double life. This summer is fertile for your imagination.

I owe a debt of gratitude to my sister for joining me in this collaborative effort. This story ventures beyond my usual realm, but there was no turning back once my imagination took hold. Together, we've woven a tale​ of fantasy and eroticism*(see below) that captivated our creative spirits and brought it to life on these pages​.

It was a fun romp through fantastical land for me. I hope you enjoy the ride! xo DG

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In the mountainous land of West Virginia lies Tiberius Springs and the Church of the Divine Light. The Blood Moon appears during the lunar eclipse during the fertile summer months to change destinies within this self-sustaining sect.

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Zara- storyteller, Shield of the Sacred, daughter of Magnus and Orla

Magnus, leader of The Church of the Divine Light and Order of Shadows, Father of Zara

Orla- Mother of Zara, wife of Magnus

Tiberius (deceased) - Father of Magnus, founder of Tiberius Springs

Coral - dancer

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BENEATH THE SACRED CLOAK

BOOK ONE

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INTRODUCTION

Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains lies Tiberius Springs, West Virginia, and the Church of the Divine Light. Despite the name inspiring visions of bucolic waterfalls and lakes, it has dark secrets that no outsider will ever discover.

I was one of the lucky ones. My Father, the sect leader Magnus lived with my mother, Orla, and me, which placed us at the top of the hierarchy. While the other women who bore his children lived apart or with other men, my Father's charisma and guidance made him a revered figure, and his flock followed him with unwavering devotion. Yet, it is crucial to clarify that our association was never coercive; they were free to depart whenever they wished. Surprisingly, across generations, none ever did.

Like any successful leader of loyal followers, Magnus embodied power and authority. His hair, a celestial silver, cascaded in thick waves like strands of stardust delicately woven by the hands of the cosmos. With every subtle movement, the silvery strands caught the light, shimmering as if infused with the essence of distant stars.

He had a magnetism, a rare charisma that drew people to him like moths to a flame. His angular features gave him a rugged handsomeness, heightened by piercing, intelligent eyes that shimmered as silver as his hair. Towering above most, he stood tall and imposing. His broad shoulders and sturdy frame exuded strength and confidence.

The first doctrine that he stood by

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"The Church of the Divine Light is not a cult, and I assure you that your freedom is paramount to us. You are free to leave at any time if you feel it is your choice. I do not make false promises or miracle​s to entice you into staying. We do not manipulate with fear or guilt. Instead, we offer a simple and self-sufficient community where you can find spiritual solace and connect with unconventional but simple ways of living. Our rituals enrich our lives, foster unity, and provide a sense of belonging. I encourage you to embrace your individuality, engage in critical thinking, and decide what path serves you best. Your presence is valued, but your choice to stay or leave will always be respected."

His every word carried weight, and his voice resonated with a sonorous timbre that demanded attention. We were all educated in Tiberius Springs and graduated at eighteen years old. I had only left the compound once as my mother's companion for a doctor's visit.

Those few hours away from the enclave were like a mesmerizing porthole to another world of freedom I would never forget.

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Little did I know then that this would be the summer of my rebirth—the summer of the Blood Moon.

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THE DAY OF ENLIGHTENMENT

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Accompanying my mother to the doctor in the city, I observed wide-eyed and curious.

From birth, I lived within the sheltered walls of our secluded community. But that day, fate smiled upon me, granting me a rare opportunity to glimpse the modern world and interact with people who weren't part of our sect.

My senses were instantly overwhelmed by the vibrant kaleidoscope of colors, the cacophony of voices, and the hustle and bustle of life unfolding around me. It felt like a whirlwind of sensations, foreign yet exhilarating. The humid heat carried new scents to my nose. The towering skyscrapers and the symphony of car horns and footsteps created a symphony unlike any I had ever known.

Orla held my hand, nervously pulling me along. Her face was set in a hard mask, shutting out what I immersed myself in.

"Come along quickly, Zara." We walked down the sidewalk at breakneck speed, weaving in and out of the others.

"Yes, Orla."

The sidewalks teemed with more people than I'd seen in my entire life. Their chatter blended into a buzzing din. Cars zoomed past, blaring horns and spewing unfamiliar fumes. Towering skyscrapers blocked the sun, casting me in cool shadows. The concrete jungle felt vast, chaotic, almost hungry in its enormity. My nose wrinkled at the competing aromas - roasted nuts, exhaust, perfume, hot dogs. I clung tight to Orla's hand as my senses overwhelmed.

But beneath the hyperstimulation, exhilaration flowed in my veins. The world was revealing its secrets. Each sight and sound illuminated my sheltered mind. In a block, I saw more of humanity than in all my 18 years. The city's energy was palpable, pulsing, liberating. What mysteries awaited me in this world.

In that brief time, the porthole to another world opened wide, and I caught a glimpse of the possibilities beyond the enclave's confines. I had stepped into a realm where rules were rewritten and choices were boundless.

The enchanting freedom of walking amidst strangers, strangers who didn't see me through the lens of my Father's leadership, was liberating.

I returned, thinking my glimpse into this vibrant world would be a fleeting memory.

Yet, that porthole to another world remained embedded in my mind, a beacon of hope that life was beyond the enclave's insular walls. It fueled my yearning for more,

Although we did not want anything, we had no extras. No luxuries. My mother, Orla, made the clothing for all the women, another for men, and another for the children. Our dresses are oversized and ankle-length with long sleeves. Modesty at all times, our bodies covered by the large expanses of dull-colored fabric. From birth, we never cut our hair. I wore my toffee-colored hair tightly wound at the nape of our neck.

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But now I knew there was more.

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THE VEIL'S EMBRACE

THE LIFTING OF THE VEIL

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"It is time, Zara," my mother said.

We knelt on the hard wooden floor of the living room and bowed our heads while Magnus, with arms outstretched towards the heavens, began to sway rhythmically. His eyes closed in deep meditation. Sensing the change in atmosphere, members came into the house and knelt with us in a circle.

Magnus chanted in a mesmerizing rhythm-

"Embrace the Divine Light, its radiant glow. In its embrace, our spirits shall grow. Guiding us through the darkest night, Bathing us in wisdom, love, and sight."

"Embrace the Divine Light, our sacred guide. In its presence, doubts subside. Within its glow, we find our way. In unity, we kneel and pray."

The transitional phase begins when women turn eighteen and ends one year later. During that time, Magnus will set seed, thus ending their transition. The Veil's Embrace is one of the most sacred rituals of our sect.

Everyone attends. We travel on foot to a cave used for this ritual since my Grandfather, Tiberius, founded the sect. Shortly before his passing, he turned it over to Magnus, his son, who has continued with it since.

It's summer, and the air is scented heavily with the sweet wild roses and mountain laurel surrounding the enclave. The deer are out for the dusk feed and not bothered as we pass by.

The steady chant resonated through the darkened chamber as twenty-robed figures swayed in unison, grasping flickering candles. I shivered, the flames' uneven light casting sinister shapes on the stone walls.

"From shadows deep, we gather here,

In Veil's Embrace, the path is clear.

In twilight's dusk, our spirits soar,

Eighteen years, we seek the lore."

"Magnus' seed, our souls enwreathe,

In sacred bond, our destinies breathe.

Through rites of old, a passage won,

In this transition, we are one."

"To Tiberius, we pay respect,

His legacy, we now protect.

In mountain cave, the secrets kept,

By flickering flames, they are swept."

Wild roses bloom, the air imbued,

Mountain laurel, our spirits wooed.

In summer's grace, our journey start,

Within this chamber, the Veil departs.

"United now, we sway as kin,

Veil's embrace, a rite within.

The Eclipse Stone, its faint pulsation,

Marks our path of transformation."

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"Ancient words on whispers ride,

In Veil's Embrace, the veils untied.

Sinister shapes may dance and flee,

But through the shadows, we'll be free."

"Transcending time, our spirits soar,

The past unfolds, its wisdom bore.

Within this chamber's sacred art,

The Veil's Embrace, a journey's start."

Beside me, a young girl's glossolalia rose above the chant, her mouth spewing strange syllables, "Ondei lexico reveara shandi mansonio delia"

More members joined the bizarre cacophony. I felt something stir within but resisted its pull. The young girl's chants grew louder, and she swayed forward and collapsed to the ground,

"Yes, let the veil be lifted!" She proclaimed, raising her arms. "Become conduits of the infinite!"

My senses spun as light and shadow converged on the stone in a cosmic dance. I was but a vessel, channeling a power far beyond my being.

Silence blanketed the chamber at the ritual's climax, only our fervent breaths echoing. The stone's glow slowly faded; its purpose fulfilled.

Silence gripped the room at the ritual's peak, only our rapid breaths echoing. As the stone's glow faded, I sensed lingering traces of the Veil's ephemeral wisps.

Robes rustling softly, the figures shuffled from the chamber. I lingered, watching the last phantoms of shadow disappear.

The chanting fades away as they file out into the velvety blackness.

My Father, Magnus, the enigmatic leader of The Order of Shadows, entered and stood at the stone, his black robes billowing around him. Those that remained moved the girl to the level stone and removed her robes.

With arms outstretched towards the heavens, he began to sway rhythmically. His eyes closed in meditation.

The girl undulated on the stone. She began to cry out in the same odd syllables as though in answer to Magnus.

The remainder of us file out, gravel crunching underfoot, our robes rustling. I lagged behind to listen for the final act, the sharp cry as my Father took her virginity.

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SHADOWS

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"Zara, you will be teaching the younger. Prepare." My mother was strict with the same instincts as my Father. I was sure that was why he chose her to live with. He had his choice in our because he set seed in many women, but he chose my mother.

She moved through my life like a shadow and made no impression on me, even thinking back to my childhood. She was devoted to Magnus and no one else. Magnus was the one that cared for me and made sure I was fed and properly schooled.

"Yes, Orla, I will do it now," I replied. We homeschooled with an approved sect curriculum set up many years ago by my Grandfather, whom I had never met.

At Divine Enlightenment, we were all well-schooled about the world with colorful picture books about each country. A world most of us would never see. Although the option always remained open, none ever left the compound. Most were content here. Once learning of the outside world, they appreciated the simplicity of the sect.

There was an extensive library available that was in its own building. Books that Tiberius gathered during his treks around the world before he founded the Church of the Divine Light.

While I went to my Father's study, I thought of my trip to the city. I used the ladies' room while Orla was in with the doctor. At first glance, I was surprised at the movement out of the corner of my eye, then realized it was a mirror.

I stood before it, tracing the outline of my face, a stranger, with my finger on the cool glass.

As I gazed at my reflection in the mirror, I saw a face unknown to me for so long. My large, expressive eyes, like warm, rich honey, stared back at me, revealing a mix of curiosity and skepticism. They held a depth of wisdom that surpassed my eighteen years, shaped by the internal conflicts I grappled with daily.

The prominent cheekbones matched my Father's angular face. I noticed how my eyebrows accentuated the intensity ​of my gaze, a gaze that yearned to understand who I was beyond the enclave's sheltered walls. It was a face that held the promise of a future yet to be unraveled.

Magnus was gone for the day with the elders, and Orla was at the community building, so I had the house to myself.

We were not allowed books of fiction in our communal library. I scanned the leather spines and pulled one off the shelf, The Picture of Dorian Gray by an author Oscar Wilde. I settled into my Father's oversized leather chair and opened the book on his desk.

As I delve into the pages, I find myself captivated by a foreign world. The characters' complexities and struggles resonate deeply, reflecting parts of my inner thoughts and emotions.

The themes of love, beauty, and morality stir something inside me, making me question my own perceptions of these concepts. Dorian's journey of indulgence and its consequences fascinate me, and I can't help but wonder how such choices would play out in my own life.

Dorian's moral descent into hedonism and vanity fascinates me - I contemplate how I might act if similarly consumed by the pursuit​ of beauty and pleasure. The consequences make me consider my virtues and values.

Lord Henry's unique philosophies are new, radical ways of thinking, sparking curiosity within me.

While this work of fiction highlights many aspects of life that are foreign to my isolated experience, it also illuminates new dimensions of my psyche, like opening a doorway to self-discovery with each turn of the page.

I may not fully grasp the modern parallels, but this book has undeniably illuminated my inner world. As I continue reading, I'm eager to explore the awakening of my thoughts, feelings, and individual identity through the lens of this captivating text.

I read all day and realized the light was dwindling as I closed the book. An odd sound caught my attention.

I looked around the room and realized it was coming from the desk drawer. I slid it open and was shocked to see the brightly lit face of a phone. Cell phones were strictly prohibited only because of the negativity. But I don't believe anyone in the sect would want such a connection with the modern world for the same reasons. It primarily wouldn't affect us anyhow. I picked it up to read the words on the front.

Tonight at 11, sweetie. Don't be late.

I wasn't sure how to use it, so I touched the words, and the screen quickly changed, startling me.

There were pictures and a written conversation between them. The images were shocking yet oddly titillating. As I moved the screen, similar pictures appeared.

I began to read, the words blurring before my eyes... suck... cock... fuck... Words that I could put with the pictures and know they were lewd.

At the expense of getting caught, I sat reading their words and pictures, concluding that my Father, Magnus, the Church of the Divine Light leader, was only one persona.

This was the other Magnus. A man who sent shocking pictures of himself received the same from her. A man that led a double life. A man that was having a physical relationship with this woman.

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That night I hid in the bushes near the car used to get needed supplies, take followers to appointments and pick up the weekly groceries order.

At ten, he exited the house, quietly latching the door behind him, and went to the community center. In only a few minutes, he returned to the car wearing clothing I saw men wear in the city, looking nothing like the Magnus I knew.

I lay awake for a long time thinking of the other woman in my Father's life, in the world beyond.

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The homes in Tiberius Springs were small and modest. My Grandfather planned the community, so the houses were close and doors faced each other. Privacy was not a factor when you lived in Tiberius Springs. The leader's house was set apart, with some privacy, making it easier to leave the compound unseen.

That my Father had secrets shook me to the core. I was skeptical of the doctrines but never considered that shocking revelation. That Magnus was active in the beyond world and intimate with an outsider. He was disloyal to the core. I couldn't imagine what anyone else would do with my information.

I spent less time considering my Father's relationship than I did with curiosity about the woman. The freedom she must have to do whatever she does. That she sent pictures nearly unclothed to my Father only piqued my interest in how they came to know each other. So many questions swirled in my head.

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One day Magnus came for me, calling me into his study. I knelt before him.

"You know that you are the chosen one," he said. It was a statement and not a question, and I nodded. "You are eighteen and ready to breed."

I swayed slightly and hoped he didn't notice. I knew my time was coming, but I hoped I would be passed up for other duties. It was now time for me to discover what my fate was.

He smoothed his hand over my hair. "Such a beautiful girl I made," he smiled fondly. "Look at me." He tipped my chin up and rubbed his thumb on my cheek. "You are causing me much anguish, Zara."

"I am sorry, Magnus," I replied softly, even though I did not know what I did.

"You have come from my loins," his thumb rubbed across my soft lips, "and your beauty astounds me sometimes." His voice was low, almost as though he were talking to himself. "If I breed you, I will be done with you. Do you understand that?"

I nodded. "Yes, sir." Once a woman was with a child, she never was intimate with Magnus again. They were allowed with other sect members, but never him again. I only knew that because I overheard talk.

I was nervous. He had never spoken to me like that before.

"I do not want a child. What can I do to please you?" I asked, hoping for a reprieve from whatever he was considering.

He leaned back in the black leather chair, that was so oversized for me, he seemed to engulf it.

"I can't think what you mean?" he asked curiously.

"Whatever the woman in red does for you," I blurted out and immediately wished I could take it back. I watched his thoughts flash across his face and then stop.