Religious Conversion

Pastor Jill walked back and forth on the stage of her mega-temple, a house of worship that looked more like a fortress than a church. Her fingers and toes were painted a pure shade of white, and her white heels clacked as she preached The Holy Word to her congregation.

"Man shall only lie with woman and vice versa—this is made very clear in The Book," she said, talking with her hands. "Homosexuality is a sin of the highest order because it is against what is written in The Book. It's as simple as that. Understand?"

The parishioners of The Temple of the Wayward Souls, who were all women, nodded and spoke in unison, "Yes, Pastor."

Pastor Jill, so sharp and neat in her white suit, smiled as she looked out upon her Work. All of her congregants sat up straight in their seats. Their uniforms were white skirts that covered everything above the knee, and around their waists they wore black belts.

Pastor Jill founded the Temple. She specifically sought to right the wrongful behavior of women, and she had quite a successful track record. Prostitutes, drug abusers, alcoholics, adulterers, atheists, believers of other faiths, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals—all found new purpose when they entered the care of Pastor Jill.

Oh, there were critics, who mainly said that she was trying to mold the social order of her town to her own will instead of lend a helping hand. Not that any of these people were able to take her down—not after they had a one-on-one with her in her special office, that is ...

"The Word in The Book also speaks against transsexuals, who are confused about who and what they are," she continued. "What they fail to realize is that they are the gender they were born with, and that's all that they should be. Trying to act or become the opposite sex is a sin and crime against nature. Do you agree?"

"Of course, Pastor," the congregants said.

"Good. That ends today's sermon and service. Go and praise The Writ in every way."

"We hear and we obey."

And they all chanted obey, at first slowly but then quicker until they all started speaking in tongues, their hands in the air and eyes rolled back in their heads. When their energy abated, the worshippers then stood up and filed out neatly.

Pastor Jill looked on with pride. Her long, curly hair was tied back into a neat ponytail.

I truly am the servant of The Word, she thought, and no one will ever change that.

When everyone left, she walked off of the stage. She was about to exit through a door at the back of the stage, but was met by one of her personal secretaries, who held a tablet.

"What is it?" the cleric asked.

"Pastor, we have intercepted a video from your home," the woman said, with a monotone voice. "You must see it."

And see it she did.

But she did not like what she saw ...

•

Joan ran to the front door of the mansion when she heard the bell ring and opened it quickly. Standing before her was Lana. The two women smiled at each other, and then devolved into a fit of giggles once Lana entered the house.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Lana asked.

Joan closed the door. "Yeah, Mother's preaching, so ..."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

The two women hugged tightly and kissed.

"C'mon," Joan said, taking Lana by the hand and leading her upstairs to her bedroom.

Joan closed the door and left the window shade open just a crack. Lana pulled off her sneakers without untying them, and Joan kicked off her slippers. They jumped into bed and undressed each other, throwing their shirts, jeans, socks, and underwear onto the floor.

Once they were naked, Joan yelped with delight when Lana threw her down on her back and straddled her. Lana smiled as Joan, who was always the submissive, glanced at her lover coyly.

Lana ran her fingers through Joan's black hair as her mouth moved in closer ... closer ... closer to Joan's neck ...

Joan raked Lana's back with her unpainted nails, and Lana retaliated by biting Joan's earlobe. They took turns breastfeeding and performing cunnilingus on each other. Joan squirted her juice onto Lana, rubbing it all over her white flesh and using her frazzled red hair as a cum-rag.

Lana got off by tickling Joan's smooth brown skin, especially the 5-foot beauty's tiny feet and toes. Joan laughed, deep and throaty, but was too weak to stop the torture ...

In time, the lovers had their fill of dancing horizontally. Lana lied on Joan's bed, her arm around the Latina, who rested on Lana's chest. The redhead took in her surroundings: There was a TV and a phone on Joan's bureau, and a chair in the corner with stuffed toys on it, but no signs of her being a pastor's daughter ...

Joan rang her fingers around one of Lana's breasts, thinking that her white skin and pink nipple were such a beautiful combination of colors ...

"You're nothing like your mother," Lana said.

"And I don't plan on it."

"She might groom you to be her heir."

"Not gonna happen," Joan said. "How long have we been sneaking around?"

"About a year or so. Why?"

"Nothing ..."

"What's wrong, love?"

"That's just it ... I love you, Lana. Ever since that day when ... well, you know ..."

Lana kissed Joan's forehead. "I love you, too, Poca."

Joan shuddered. "Ooh, I love it when you call me that," she squealed.

"I'll call you anything you want if we could be together ... out in the open ..."

Joan sighed. "I don't know ... Mother has such a stranglehold on this town. The women at her services ... they give me the creeps ... I don't want us to end up like them."

"Me, too, but we have to tell your mom ... She needs to lighten up and get with the times. If nothing else, there's always that vibrator that I've been working on. She could be the first to try it. I'm sure it'll change her mind."

"I don't know ..." Joan sat up and faced Lana. "Besides, if we tell her, then she'll disown me and kick me out."

"We're on our thirties, Joan—we can handle this. Hell, let's just move in together."

"You sure?"

"Of course."

Joan's lips broke out into a big smile. "Let's do it."

The lesbian lovers embraced. They made out and fucked again, after which they fell into contented sleep in each other's arms ...

•

They were awakened by the sound of the bedroom door crashing in. The women immediately woke up and screamed. Into the room walked six of the pastor's parishioners.

And then in walked Pastor Jill.

"Mother!" Joan said, fumbling out of bed and doing a poor job of trying to keep eye contact and pick up her clothes. "What are you doing home?"

Pastor Jill walked over to a teddy bear that Joan kept on her chair. She pressed its back, and the toy emitted a whirring sound.

"Was ... was that a camera?" Lana asked.

"You were spying on me?" Joan asked.

The pastor crossed her arms over her chest. "I had my suspicions, and from the looks of it, you need to beg The Deity for forgiveness."

"But—"

Joan's mother held up a hand, and Joan ceased her protest. The older woman glared at Lana, who hid her body under the covers. She pointed to her and said, "Guards, seize this vile, filthy creature and her clothes! Have her dress and take her to The Temple! She shall pay with her identity for defiling the sanctity of this worshipful house!"

The parishioners obeyed, manhandling Lana as they led her out of the room.

Joan's mother pointed a finger at her daughter. "I forbid you from seeing that ... that thing ever again!"

Joan stood up. "I'm an adult, Mother, I can date whomever I want."

"Not while you live under my roof!"

"Then I'll just move in with Lana."

Pastor Jill backhanded her daughter in the mouth.

"You are a sinner, and I can't allow my flesh and blood to live in sin, let alone enjoy it. Tomorrow, you're coming with me to The Temple , and you're going to stay there until you realize the error of your ways. Who knows? You may even meet a man."

"But, Mother ... I'm gay, and I love Lana."

Slap.

"You will not leave this room until I say so. I'm going to go pray for your soul—I suggest you do the same. I've put up with your insubordination long enough. In the morning, we're leaving and that's final."

Suddenly, there was a commotion downstairs. One of the parishioners came into the bedroom.

"Pastor," she said, in a monotone voice, "Lana is gone."

"What?"

"After she dressed, we led her outside, but she punched and kicked her way free. The others are hunting for her, but we cannot find her."

Pastor Jill sighed. "Deity, give me strength ... All right, change of plans. Make sure my daughter dresses, and then bring her out to my car."

"Yes, Pastor, I obey."

Pastor Jill left the room, leaving Joan to cry as she clothed herself, all under the watchful, unblinking eyes of the guard ...

•

The pastor drove her daughter and guards to the mega-temple. Entering through the door at the back of the stage, they walked down a staircase to a basement, where Pastor Jill kept her special office. They walked through a hallway lined with prison cells. The occupants screamed and yelled to be let free, but she ignored them. After all, they'll be joining her followers soon, anyway ...

Joan was too scared to say anything; the guards weren't told to speak.

They passed through a thick door and entered a laboratory. The door closed and locked automatically behind her. In the lab were some congregants, who were prepping for the next specimen. There was a chair in the dimly lit lab, with a screen in front of it and a projector behind it ...

"Mother ... what is all this?"

"This is where my future congregants have their religious conversion."

"How did you pay for all of this?"

"How else? Donations, tithing, operating funds. Now, sit."

"No ... I wanna go home."

"Oh, my darling daughter ... You are home."

Pastor Jill snapped her fingers, and the parishioners were upon Joan. She struggled to break loose, but was forcibly dragged, sat down, and strapped tightly. Her eyes were pronged open, and a worshipper stood next to her administering eye drops every so often.

The Pastor of The Deity walked up to her flesh and blood. She stood in front of her and folded her arms across her chest, glaring at the disappointment that she gave life to.

"Madre, why are you doing this?" Joan asked, tears streaming down her face.

"Because you're a sinner!" Pastor Jill spat.

"But I love her—"

"No! No daughter of mine shall lie with a woman. One last chance—repent and tell me where could Lana have gone."

"No! I'll never betray her! We love each other!"

"Then you leave me no choice," Pastor Jill said. "And you will change your mind ... Everyone does, in the end."

She nodded to her followers. Joan was gagged. The lights went out and, once Pastor Jill walked out of the way, the projector turned on and lit up the screen. It bombarded Joan with images of obedience and proper conservative behavior for a woman.

All the while, her mother spoke so soothingly about the liberating feeling of conformity, why women must lie with men, why one must only put faith and trust in The Writ of The Deity ...

And on and on ...

•

Lana stood on the overpass, looking down at the vehicles passing by ... The quickness of their coming and going was soothing, almost hypnotic ... What would she hit first, she wondered: the road or a car?

Maybe it'd be a truck ...

This wasn't the first time she was in this situation. Almost two years to the day, she actually stood on the railing until a woman pulled her down. Lana tried to get away, but ended up breaking down in the arms of this woman, saying that no one loved her because she was gay, not even her family ...

The woman held and caressed Lana, listened and spoke encouragingly to her. She wore ripped jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt with the logo of a heavy-metal group ... just like her ...

That woman was Joan, and that day was the beginning of a beautiful—albeit secret—relationship.

One that ended when they took a chance being in Joan's bed ...

The wind blew loose strands of her frizzy red hair in her face, but Lana did nothing to brush them aside. Why bother?

She sighed and moved to get on top of the railing. She stood there, not sure what she was waiting for ... It's not as if her special vibrator was helping ...

But just as she was about to go over, she heard footsteps ...

"Sister, do not throw away the precious gift that is your life," someone from behind her said. "For it is written, 'Those who takes their lives shall find only torment in the hereafter.'"

Lana froze. She swallowed and slowly came down from the railing. She knew that voice. It was Joan's.

Once on the overpass again, she turned around ... and gasped.

The woman in front of her looked like Joan, but ...

"You have made the right decision. For The Scripture says, 'Those who choose life shall have the time to serve The Deity.'"

Lana stared at Joan dumbfounded. Her fingers and toes were painted white and she wore a white dress and shoes. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail, and she wore makeup. Joan also carried in her arms The Book and some pamphlets.

"Oh ... Oh, Joan," Lana said, her voice cracking. "What've they done to you?"

Joan cocked her head and furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"

"Look at you ... You look like you came out of the '50s or something ... You're the spitting image of your mother! What happened? The past year was the worst of my life! Where were you?"

"I was at home and at Pastor Jill's church. She made me see the error of my ways, and installed me as the assistant pastor. I wish to share Great News with you!"

Lana took a step back. "Such as?"

"I no longer love women. I like men now. And it's all thanks to the teachings of Pastor Jill and her spreading of The Word."

Lana folded her arms over her chest. "The Word or her word?"

A smile crept over Joan's blank face. Her glassy eyes blinked once. "Both, or course." She took a pamphlet and handed it to Lana. "Take this, for it contains information that will save you from your wicked ways."

"I don't want it!"

"I insist."

"No!"

Joan retracted her arm. "Then you leave me no choice but to ask you to come with me. My car is around the corner."

"Where to?"

"Pastor Jill."

Lana instinctively looked around, but no one else was near ... not that she could tell ...

She grabbed hold of Joan's shoulders and shook her. "Listen to me, I'm going to save you—I swear on our love!"

"But I have already been saved."

Lana planted a kiss on Joan's lips. When she broke the embrace, Joan licked her lips.

"Oh, dear. Now I must cleanse myself. I am afraid that I must return to temple. Come with me, Lana."

But Lana ran ... ran away from the woman she loved, her vision blurred by the tears that welled up in her eyes ...

She knew of only one safe place to go, and she headed straight there, not daring to look back ...

•

Lana sat across from Dr. Sasha, her therapist, hands covering her face and sobbing.

"It's all right, Lana," Dr. Sasha said. "You're safe now."

Lana took a tissue from the box on the desk and blew her nose. "Thanks. I feel so helpless ... And Joan!" She shuddered. "I can just imagine what her mother put her through."

"Given what you've told me and what I've been observing, it sounds as if Pastor Jill has been brainwashing the town's women," Dr. Sasha said. She brushed back her blonde hair and sat in silence. "This would explain the new behavior of some of my patients ..."

"She has such a stranglehold on this town. Who can help us?"

"Perhaps no one. Many critics, I've noticed, have either silenced themselves or joined the pastor's cause. And there's been no concrete evidence of what she's done, so I can't see what the police or courts can do."

"Then we're alone?" Lana asked.

Dr. Sasha smiled at Lana, which made her feel at ease. The therapist had milky-white skin, piercing blue eyes, and a svelte body. Lana would've fucked her if not for their relationship ... and her love for Joan ...

"Oh, my dear Lana, we're never alone when we have each other."

She laughed, which made Lana feel uneasy ...

Dr. Sasha's eyes narrowed, but her smile became ... devious. "I think I have an idea."

•

When Pastor Jill and Joan woke up, their heads ached and they felt groggy ...

The cleric shook her head. "Oh, my, what happened ..."

It took them a few seconds to realize that, except for each wearing an electric dog collar, they were naked.

And in a cage.

They screamed. Both women huddled together to maintain their modesty and keep warm. A ceiling light shined down on them.

"Pastor Jill!" Joan cried. "What evil has befallen us?"

"I don't know," she replied.

She tried to remember what happened: They were invited by Lana and her therapist to discuss Lana's newfound faith at the doctor's house, and then ... something about not breathing and smelling something sweet ...

"The Word says, 'All enemies of The Deity shall be cast down into fiery oblivion, and all the believers shall rejoice in the freedom of their faith,'" Pastor Jill spat out.

"The Word also says, 'Show unto those mercy and understanding who are misunderstood that you may understand them better,'" came a woman's voice from the darkness surrounding them.

Mother and daughter looked around, but couldn't see anyone. Joan knelt and prayed ...

"Show yourselves!" Pastor Jill said.

Dr. Sasha and Lana stepped forward. They each held a Taser wand, and were both dressed as leather-clad dominatrices.

"You shall pay dearly for this!"

"Speak for yourself," Dr. Sasha said. "You've caused more harm than good to your fellow women, and now it's time for you to be punished."

"'And thy true believers shall take the flaming sword of justice into thy hands and break the shackles that confine them,'" Pastor Jill quoted.

"'And damnation awaits those who treat their fellows evilly,'" Dr. Sasha said.

Pastor Jill glared at the therapist.

"Lana, what say we bring Joan back to reality and show her mother the true meaning of pain and suffering?"

"Yes, let's," Lana said.

Lana flipped a switch on the wall, and the room lit up, and the captives found that they were in Dr. Sasha's basement. The therapist opened the cage.

"We'd rather die in here," Pastor Jill said defiantly.

Mother and daughter were promptly shocked. They wailed and rattled the cage. Lana shocked Joan till she crawled out, while Pastor Jill was held in place by the therapist, who grasped a tuft of her hair.

Once out, Joan tried to make a run for the stairs, but once she reached them, her collar went off and she fell to the floor, screaming and writhing in pain ...

Lana found it hard to watch, but she knew that it was what was best for her ... She closed the cage door, and she and Dr. Sasha shocked Joan into crawling to the other end of the cellar, where there was a table, and next to it was a control panel. On the far wall, beneath covered and soundproofed windows, was a wall and a shelf full of sex toys, machines, and other goodies and tools ...

And in the far corner was a metal door with the words "Room 101" written on it with red paint ...

Joan's ass was shocked repeatedly in an attempt to get her to climb onto the table herself. She obeyed, and was ordered to stay, lest she be shocked again.

"Please, Lana," Joan said, trembling. "Do not stray down this evil path."

"I'm sorry, Poca," Lana said with a sigh, "but this is for your own good."

Joan stared at her, puzzled ... "What did you call me?"

"Don't listen to her!" Pastor Jill ordered her daughter.

"Shut up!" Dr. Sasha ordered.

"She's an unbel—ah!"

Dr. Sasha used a remote that she had in her pocket to turn on the pastor's collar.