The Exorcism of Anna Ch. 04

Anna's heart pounds. He knows. Somehow, he knows she hasn't been entirely honest. Her shame consumes her again. It is too much. How is she to admit that she has carried her Sin here, to this holy assembly?

She feels the Reverend move closer to her, touching her shoulders at first. Under his touch, she leans into him. She's aware he's close, closer than any man has ever been to her. And parts of him are touching parts of her in a way that she had always understood to be sinful. She does not dare to move as something stirs between her buttocks.

Her mind tries to make sense of it. Perhaps this is part of her wickedness? Perhaps this is part of her punishment, her redemption? Is it her fault that this is happening to her now, here? Everything else is her fault, so is this too? There is no answer. She does not know what to do. So, when Morrow speaks again, urging her to confess in full, she talks of the thing she knows for sure to be wrong.

"I am- I've worn indecent undergarments to church," she says. Her voice falters. She sniffles and looks at her feet in shame. She feels the stirring thing lengthen and harden.

Anna's words send a thrill through Morrow. He feels the hot, clinging heat of her youthful body against his. His penis uncoils like a cobra roused, snaking its way up his body until it butts against his stomach. It feels like an iron rod. Ever so slightly, he pivots his hips and sets it snugly into the cleft of Anna's buttocks, where it throbs like a living thing.

She has not moved away, he notices. She must know what that hardness is. But she continues to lean against him.

His next word is an exhalation. It sounds to the congregation like disgust, and it is, but there is more in that word that only Morrow, and perhaps Anna, senses.

"So. So it is. Not just indecency. Not just PRIDE!" He yelled the last word. "No. It is more than that. An invitation to LUST! For why else would one wear indecent garments to Church, except to TEMPT!"

A man has leapt to his feet in the congregation. It is Farmer Giles, an old man of seventy years, but with the muscles and constitution of one at least twenty years younger. Giles is a widower. He lives alone on his farm, refusing all help from other villagers to tend his crops and his animals. Since the death of his wife three years ago, he has confessed to Morrow time and time again of the crime of masturbation. Morrow set him a Path of Change. It has been a year since Giles sinned in this way. In that time, Giles has become even more welded to The Path than he ever was before. He is devout in his calling out of sin wherever he sees it. Today is no different.

"Whore!" Giles shouts, full-throated. "The Whore of Babylon! She has descended! Kill the whore! Kill her!"

In short order, more men are on their feet. Their voices join with Giles'--the clamour shakes the Church as if it would bring the building tumbling down about their ears.

"Whore! Whore! Kill the whore! Burn her! Beat her! Cut off her head!"

Some wives attempt to calm their husbands and sons. One, Sister Josephine, receives a slap to the face from her husband, and she clatters to the floor, disappearing behind the pews.

"STOP!"

Morrow's shout, amplified through the PA, stills them. They wait, like a pride of lions watching their prey.

"Stop." Morrow says again. "She has confessed. I will decide how to deal with her. I alone. You do not decide. I do! And I will excommunicate any who countermand my decrees! I will kick you out of this community with only the clothes on your back! Take your seats! And be silent!"

The men do so. One of the men who had stood up and shouted, and is now sitting down, is Anna's father.

Morrow steps back. The suck of Anna's buttocks on his prick seems almost intentional, as if she missed his going. He turns to the choir behind him, hands falling to his groin to hide his state.

"Descend. All of you. Descend to join the congregation. None, but I shall see this. I must witness the truth of this. The punishment for these confessed sins is so serious that it would be wrong to inflict it without evidence. It must be the evidence of mine own eyes. I, alone, as God's emissary, must bear this. I, alone, have the strength to resist the lure of the Evil One."

They troop past, some casting baleful glances at Anna as they pass. One spits at her. His spittle falls onto her ankle, where it glistens.

Morrow picks up one chair the choir had been using. He places the chair in front of Anna, facing the congregation. Morrow steps behind her, turning the belt pack of his radio microphone to MUTE. He whispers to Anna.

"Child. I must see this sin. It is such a serious matter that your confession alone will not do. Do you agree to this?" He pauses. "You may refuse, of course. But that means you refuse the path to Redemption." He sighs. "You will be driven out of the Church and off the Island. You must make your way in the world outside alone. What do you say? Do you agree to Redemption? Or do you wish to take that other lonely path?"

Anna's mind is awhirl. She had never imagined being found out, let alone the prospect of being excommunicated. She had just assumed that things would go on as they always had. But now she faced the destruction of everything: her life, her family, her future. She didn't know what she would do if she were cast out of the Morris Island community. How would she survive on the Mainland? How would she live? How would she eat?

The path of exile terrifies her. It has happened only once before. Brother Jedediah, who was accused of indecency with a neighbour's son. Anna had only been eight years old but she remembered how he had been run out of town, clothes torn to shreds, beaten with staves and rods. Brother Jedediah had leapt into the brackish water to escape his pursuers. They stood on the shore and hurled rocks at him. The last Anna had seen of him had been his legs kicking furiously as he swam out into the ocean.

Anna shudders. She can't even swim that well. The Mainland is miles away. And there are alligators.

"I agree," she says in a small voice. "I agree, Reverend. Please. I am ready to do anything to regain God's favour. I will do as you tell me."

She feels his hand on her head, stroking her hair. When he speaks, his voice is gentle.

"Good girl. There is hope for you, Anna. Keep that thought in your mind through what is to follow. Bind God to your heart. Feel him there. Nothing else matters."

Morrow removes his hand and places it on the small of her back.

"Now. Bend forward. Place your hands on the chair. Do not move until I instruct you to do so."

Morrow switches the mic back on.

"Let us pray. Bow your heads. Oh Heavenly Father, for what I am about to do, in contravention of Your Word, forgive me. I do this, dear Lord, so that I may bear witness to Sin. And to return this lost lamb to the True Path. In the name of our Saviour. Amen."

"AMEN" murmurs the congregation. Some heads remain bowed, but others pop upright almost straight away. Men, Morrow notes. Always men.

"Get your heads down, you sinners!" Morrow shouts. "Lest your eyes be blinded by sin."

The heads drop again. Morrow makes the sign of the Cross, then, without further ado, falls to his knees behind Anna. Gently, he grasps the hem of Anna's skirt and lifts it to her waist.