The Sinners of Saint Amos - Logan Fox Page 0,181

the lock on the basement before—the pilot light is down here, so we’d be stuck if he wasn’t around to light it again if it ever went out. But who was I to question Dad’s wisdom? His quirks and his rules? How could I, when Mom didn’t?

I’ve never been down here before. Hell, I wasn’t even allowed in the passage back there. The space is surprisingly small, until I realize the walls are soundproofed. Someone closed up this space on purpose. Turned a massive basement into a much smaller, more intimate space.

Someone? You know exactly who did this.

But my mind rejects the thought.

My old mattress is still on that rusting bed frame. There’s even a sheet over it, but its moth-eaten and stained.

And then I see my old potty trainer.

And then I see the ropes still attached to the bed frame.

I start kicking up my legs, twisting and wriggling, but it doesn’t help. Gabriel holds me with ease. His voice doesn’t even sound strained when he speaks.

“No better place to look for the light,” he murmurs into my ear, “than down here in the dark.”

And then…then I see the video camera.

Chapter Fourteen

Trinity

I wish I knew a bible verse by heart right now. Or lots of them. Then I could choose the perfect one. Something Old Testament about going to hell for your sins.

Probably wouldn’t have helped. I mean, Gabriel’s a priest. He knows the bible back to front, and not one verse ever swayed him toward the light.

He shoves me away from him. My hands fly out and barely catch me against the plastic sheet lining the floor.

I scramble onto my back, ready to kick out if he comes close.

The room is small, claustrophobic even. The bed takes up most of the space. If I can distract him, I can try and get past him and up to the stairs.

Like I haven’t tried that before.

“What do you want?” I try to keep my voice calm in case he lunges at me to keep me quiet. Or maybe it doesn’t matter down here with all this soundproofing.

I’ve certainly never heard sounds coming from the basement. Or had I dismissed them as my imagination?

Gabriel lifts his hands, showing me his palms. As if he wants me to trust him.

What a joke.

“You said you want to find the light.” His voice is tight and unsteady, like he’s barely keeping it under control. “Many boys have found the light down here.”

I shake my head before I can stop.

“You don’t believe me?”

“Dad would never—”

Gabriel’s bitter laugh cuts me off. He walks up to me, dodging effortlessly when I kick. Then he grabs me by the hair and hoists me to my feet, shaking me mercilessly.

His other hand grabs my chin, turning my face and forcing me to look around the small room.

“Who do you think built this place?” he hisses in my ear. “It wasn’t me, child.”

If I could shake my head, I would. The things he’d said after I hobbled up to his room at Saint Amos and told him I had to show him something in the bell tower…

But my mind rejects what he’s telling me.

“No,” I murmur. “Dad was a good man. A holy man. He would never—”

“Your dad?” Gabriel croons, mocking me. He’s becoming unhinged again, like he did back in the bathroom.

“I’m sorry,” I blurt out. “I’m sorry, Father, I didn’t mean—”

He shakes me into silence. “Always blameless,” he whispers as he drags me close against him. “No one ever suspected. Not even you.”

Of course not. Why would they? My dad kept to himself and both my parents were quiet people. But they loved the church. They loved people. I never heard them say a bad thing about anyone. Oh, they’d fight behind their closed bedroom door, but I wasn’t idiotic enough to believe they had a perfect marriage. Dad was gone a lot and Mom didn’t like staying home to look after me. She never said it, but I could see she missed him when he wasn’t around.

When I was younger they’d sometimes go away for a week or two, but that stopped as soon as I hit puberty. It was Dad who told Mom to stay at home. He probably thought I would lure a boy back home or something. He seemed to think I was a whore as much as Gabriel did.

I always thought he was strict because of his faith, but maybe he was actually trying to protect me from people like him? Deviants and pedophiles