a hideous outpouring of blasphemy. Bibles were produced, the pages torn from them and burned and spat upon. The gathering coven urinated on pictures and paintings of Christ. The odor of sulphur became a thin haze that lingered over the worshippers of the Prince of Darkness. Filth rolled from the tongues of those who were now entering the gates of Satan's domain, rejecting the teachings of God Almighty for the fleshy earthy pleasures of Satan.
And thus it would always be so. For these coven members, there would be and could be no turning back, for God Almighty is a vengeful God. He will tolerate no other Gods before Him. And the punishment is death.
The floor of the huge room became a tangle of naked men and women, boys and girls, men with men, women with women, as they consummated the pact between themselves and the Prince of Darkness. Patsy felt her clothing pulled from her. Hands on her body, squeezing and entering. She was pushed to the floor. Her legs spread, she felt hot hardness entering her. She was sore but groaned her pleasure. She opened her eyes and looked into the grinning face of her father.
"All praise the Dark One," her father panted, as he violated his daughter.
"All praise the Dark One," Patsy dammed herself. She pulled his mouth to hers and kissed him.
Outside, the wind blew hot and stinking.
Sam was too keyed up to sleep, but he did not find it odd that Nydia went on to bed after drinking her customary glass of juice. Janet sat in the den, watching Saturday Night Live on TV. Sam sat with her; Janet on the couch, Sam in his easy chair.
Janet looked over at Sam and smiled shyly. He returned the smile, asking, "What are you grinning about, Janet?"
"Promise you won't get mad?"
"I promise," he said with a quiet laugh. Sam was experiencing a mild sort of euphoria. He could not understand the heady feelings, since he knew only too well what lay ahead of him, but he was grateful for the emotions; anything to take his mind off what faced him at dawn.
He did not realize he was facing it now.
"Well—you and Nydia usually stay out later than you did tonight. And I—uh—usually watch the—ah— that other channel."
Sam grinned. He knew what channel she was talking about. So she had discovered the porn channel and the decoder that brought it in. "Well, I could say that I objected, Janet, but I really don't. I would have watched the thing at my house when I was your age, if we'd had it. Besides, I imagine you already know most of what goes on there, right?"
"Well, yeah," she admitted. "But it's tough being caught between a girl and a woman. You know, all kinds of feelings and no one to ask questions and no one to explain a lot of things. It's tough."
"Don't your parents talk to you about—things?"
"Oh, no! My mom and dad get so uptight about those types of conversations. They get tongue-tied and end up confusing me more than ever."
And despite himself, Sam found his tongue saying, "What is it you want to know, Janet?"
"Well," she said softly and shyly, "you know—I mean—I was raped back at Falcon House, but that isn't something I like to think about. I mean, really, I've pretty well managed to put all that out of my mind. Talking with the doctors afterward really helped me. And that was—the rape, anything but fun. I mean, Jesus!" Sam did not notice her slight grimace of disgust at the mention of His name. "How can you enjoy being forced to do something?"
"I understand. Go on."
"Those people on that channel," she said, pointing to the TV set. "They look like they really like it when they—you know, do it. They look like it's fun. And it looks like fun to me."
Sam knew how he should—as an adult—respond to that. He knew he was treading on dangerous ground, but he could not find the words to put the topic to rest. He shook his head to clear away the cobwebs that had gathered, clouding his ability to reason. He startled himself when the words rolled from his mouth.
"Ask me anything you like, Janet. I'll try to explain it as best I can." And show you if you want it that way, the thought jumped into his mind. And this time his mind offered no objection.
The teenager left her place on the couch and sat in front of