《Cult Princess - Book 2》
Chapter 1: Hail the Prophet
This is the second part of the series ¡°Cult princess¡±. It could be read alone, but it is advised to find the first part ¡°Cult princess ¨C book one¡± on my profile.
We were now children of Paradise. It was a hard change from the life that I had before. I missed my clothes. I missed the TV and Netflix. I missed my phone. I missed feeling part of a big world. Paradise was cut off from the rest of the world. We had electricity for lights and cooking. There were no TVs, radios or internet. We had to wear these victorian clothes. It was as if we were living in some historic play.
People here did not mind. They seemed extremely happy. They always smiled and praised the prophet and God. If something did go wrong, they would say it was a test from God. If something went right, it was a blessing. The fact was that we should have been content at all times, as we were the chosen ones! When the end of the world came, we would be saved and allowed to live in a heavenly world. We just had to do as the prophet said.
The prophet had few rules. Everything that we own was now owned by the community. Even the clothes we had on our bodies were not ours. They were the property of Paradise. We were to live simple lives in which we would work hard to keep healthy and listen to the teachings of the prophet which was studied and followed. We were to realize that we were the lucky ones. We were chosen to be with the prophet.
The Prophet decided everything. He decided what work we did, where we lived. He even decided when people got married and where people got married. There were no courts in Paradise. The prophet was God''s best friend, so he knew if we were bad or good. If we committed a crime against Paradise, we could be punished. He did have the police force, which was like secret police or something like that.
This was a strange world to move in. The more I heard the more questions that I had. When I asked, I would just be told to open my heart and not be so critical. I was told again to forget the world I lived in and to solely concentrate on Paradise.
My family was happy when we moved here. I must admit that at the start, I loved the new experience. Dad was often home and we were together. Mom and Dad would tell stories and we would talk. There was no phone or TV, so we had to do something. This meant that we spent the time as a family. I really liked this and it is one of my fondest memories.
Dad quickly was told what he was supposed to do. His experience of working in a bank was used and he was responsible for the finances of Paradise. In fact, he was the only one besides the prophet that had a computer. Dad was happy about this job. He considered it much better than working in a field in the hot sun. Most people were in the fields or the farm, including my mother.
Mom was a different woman. It was like she was always on some pink cloud. She has never been so happy as she was now. The image of mom being an independent woman who was respected, she was now becoming more and more like a Robot. She surrendered all she had to the prophet. He now controlled her body, mind, and soul. I still loved her, but it was like she changed so much, that I had to get to know a new woman. I missed the way mom was, and often could not understand how obsessed she was at something.
As for me, I went to school. It was very different from the school I was used to. The girls were not in the same class as the boys. We were educated in another way. We studied the teachings of the prophet, learned how to be good wives and how to make our husbands happy. While the boys were learning what school usually teaches, I was being taught how to sew and how to cook. This was extremely hard and frustrating. I was used to a modern school with modern values. I was taught that girls were equal to boys and we could achieve what we wanted with life. We could run a huge business or we could even be the president. Now I was being forced to forget that all. In paradise, women were there to make men happy. This was being taught day after day. My worse fear was that I would soon believe it.
I had some good friends and they were quite different from what my old friends were. It was as if they were more childish. They did not care that they were wearing dull dresses that were worn 150 years ago. They never talked about boys or music. They had no ambitions. They talked about chores and what the prophet was teaching us.
After school, we would walk to the fields where I would find mom. Most adults toiled in the fields all day, as Paradise only ate the food that we could produce. There were often shortages of food because the weather or the crops didn''t grow as they should. The prophet would explain that food shortages were a test from God. We had to work harder and pray harder. Even when a lot of food was produced, it was strictly rationed. There were no fat people at Paradise.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
I hated working in the fields. It would either be too cold, too wet, or too warm. I was lucky though as I helped with the animals. Paradise had cows, pigs, sheep and chickens, and hens. They were like friends to me and helped me adjust to being at Paradise. I loved especially when they were born. I would help nurse them.
I don''t think mom or dad knew how hard it was for me to live as part of this cult. To be honest, it was not hard getting used to the clothes and after a bit, I did not miss my phone or things like TV. In a way, it was a relief I could still be a little girl and did not have to worry if I was popular enough or had to use makeup. The hardest was how the cult was changing my family and I was afraid that it would change me. I did not want to be brainwashed into believing everything the prophet said was true. I did not want to become submissive and believe my only role in life was to make men happy.
It was not very often we saw the prophet. He lived in a huge house at the edge of town with his family. There was a huge wall around his house. I always thought this was strange. He usually put what messages he had on a tape that was played during prayers. Then every family got the message in writing where they could read again and again when they were home.
Soon after we moved to Paradise, the prophet showed up at prayers and said that God told him that the world will soon end. It would be in 4 years time. The prophet was yelling and screaming that this gave us some time to repent and become closer to God and himself. We needed to pray harder. We needed to work harder. We need to study the writings of the prophet harder. We had 4 years to prepare!
Mom was in a great mood when she heard this. She said we were the chosen ones to be with saved when the world ended. I seemed to be the only one that was terrified. I imagined the end of the world as something that was like living in an atomic war. There would be suffering that was never seen or experienced before.
The next time we have seen the prophet was when he got married to a woman that was 21. The prophet was nearly 3 times her age. This wedding seemed strange and it was the first time I heard people criticize the prophet or even ask critical questions. The reason was that the prophet was already married and had a few children. How could he have 2 wives? Everyone thought this was strange. The whole marriage divided the cult. Even mom and dad fought about it. Mom thought the prophet knew what God wanted and she had no problem with it. Dad reminded her that cult leaders through history had more rights than the people they lead. How could the prophet lead by example?
The prophet finally appeared and explained that a man only had one wife. However. God spoke with him and was so proud of Paradise. God recognized that this was because of the prophet''s hard work. God knew that the prophet loved this young woman and still, the prophet denied himself this love because monogamy was the law. God then allowed the prophet to marry this girl and have 2 wives as a reward.
It was strange that everyone believed this and the disagreements were over. The only person that questioned it was Dad when he was confused as to why the prophet was the only one to get this reward? Everyone at Paradise worked so hard, Of course, Dad did not say this too loud.
I was now 14, and have been at Paradise for 3 years. I was not a full believer, but I kept all the doubts to myself. I would get in trouble at school if I talked about my former life before the cult. I would be told that the outside world was controlled by the Devil. I needed to accept this embrace the teachings of the prophet. Mom did, but as I said, she was not the mom I knew. She was so brainwashed that she was more like a puppet. Even Dad changed. He now looked so old and never smiled anymore.
The prophet came from a rich family and had a great childhood. This ended when the family lost their fortune during a financial crisis. This made the prophet work and have to earn his living. He worked as a teacher and got married. He still had a good life and had many blessings. However, he was never happy and missed the family fortune. When the prophet was so depressed, he heard the voice of God. He did what God wanted and this was to create a paradise on earth with true believers of God.
Now the prophet was our leader. He was in control of everything. Soon after I turned 14, I asked mom about boys as I thought that one boy was very cute. It was then that Mom told me that the prophet would choose a husband for me. This was not the best thing to say to a teenager that was starting to notice boys. I got mad and shouted that I wanted to choose who I would love and marry. I begged my mother to understand. I asked her if she did not trust my judgment in finding a husband. Mom looked back at me and said that she trusted the prophet.
The boy''s name was Julian and he did like me. We ended up being boyfriend and girlfriend in secret. We decided if the world was about to end soon, we would try and feel what love was like. It was difficult keeping our relationship a secret, as I wanted the world to know how much I loved Julian. We met in a secret place and just held hands. We never even kissed. We just talked about normal things.
All good things come to an end. Someone told the prophet that we were seeing each other in secret. Things happened very fast then. Julian was expelled from Paradise. He was only my own age and was kicked out. He would live with his relations that he never met. I was not kicked out, but everyone looked at me as if I committed the worse sin in the world. Mom even called me a Jezebel. I was punished by being on house arrest for a month. I was not allowed to speak. I was to pray for forgiveness. I spent most of the time crying and missing Julian. He was now in the normal world. I consoled myself by thinking that he was free.
Chapter 2: Where is my Mom?
The month I was stuck in my room and not allowed to speak to me or be around me. I was expected to pray all the time, but the only prayer I had was what I have done wrong. I was also praying for Julian hoping that he was safe. I fell in love with a boy, and I could not help my feelings. The love I had for Julian just came and became stronger and stronger. I do not think that it was wrong for me to fall in love.
The only person that I saw was Dad when he came in with food. He did not say a word. This hurt a lot that I could not be with my dad and speak with him. I didn''t see mom for the whole month.
On the last day of my punishment, the prophet himself came. I was a bit shocked when he came into my room. He was a short man that was going bald. He had a large belly which no other person in Paradise had. He also sweated a lot and it was obvious that he did not use deodorant. If he lived in the normal world, people would think he was just a loser or a geek.
At Paradise, he was God''s best friend!
He sat on my bed as I was told to stand attention before him. The prophet told me to stand before him. He started by telling me it was a very strict punishment I received but the positive thing was that God has forgiven me and so has the people of Paradise. I have cleansed my soul. I was once again one of God''s chosen.
¡° Love is a lovely gift from God,¡± The prophet said, ¡° You made the mistake of falling in love with a boy that was not meant for you. The love you chose can lead to the wrong love and turn to lust and trouble. This is why God guided me to choose the right husband for each woman of Paradise. God and I know who is right for each person. I am sure your solitude has shown you this.¡±
I wanted to protest and say that Julian treated me like a princess and that he would never hurt me. I wanted to question the compassion and the love of Paradise for kicking a boy out that was not even an adult and expecting him to fend for himself. I was afraid and just looked at the Prophet and wondered did he believe what he was saying or was this just to keep the power that he had.
¡° You have lived in the outside world,¡± he continued, ¡° You have seen how this world is run and controlled by Satan himself. You have seen how people are selfish and just want more and more things. This cannot happen at Paradise. We must be the chosen ones of God and live as he wants us to. We do not need the latest fashion or the latest technology. We have each other!¡±
Then the prophet led me out of the room and told me to hug my parents. Dad gave me a huge hug and was nearly in tears when he saw me. Mom on the other side hardly looked at me and did not even hug me. This hurt more than the month''s solitude. The only thing she said was to the Prophet that it was so humiliating that I bought such shame on her. She did not know if she could ever forgive me. The prophet sat down with my mom and they talked privately together. I could see Dad once in a while look at the prophet and mom speak together. He was most likely thinking of what happened to the close family we once were. I know I was.
Dad was not happy. Shortly after the punishment, he asked mom if she was happy at Paradise. Of course, mom said that she was never so happy. Dad lost total control and told mom that the leadership was not as holy as people thought. This of course made mom mad and said that the prophet is our salvation. She then reciting what he wrote. This made me cry as I really wanted my old mother again. I was mad at God and his prophet for taking her away from me. Dad must have felt the same because he asked mom could not see how brainwashed she was.
Mom changed the subject and said that the prophet invited us to experience the end of the world with him. She asked us could we not see how lucky we were? We were finally close friends to the Prophet, that we would be by his side when the end of time came. I whispered that I just wanted to be together with my family.
I was a disappointment to my mother and I decided to work hard and try and get her love and trust back. I tried my best not to think of Julian although this was impossible. I never mentioned him to anyone or I never mentioned him to anyone. I never spoke with boys and would go as far as to ignore them if they tried speaking with me. I had a few good friends that were girls. Without them as close friends, I think I would have gone crazy. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
I did not even ask when the teacher said something strange in class. I disagreed with most of what she said. I did not see technology as something evil. I did not see pop music as the Devil''s tool. I thought dancing was fun. I did think that boys would make me a sinner or impure. I did not see a woman''s role as being submissive and obedient in all things. Going to school was torture. However, I did not protest or ask for proof. I just pretended to be as brainwashed as everyone else.
I spent all my other time on the farm with the animals. This work was hard but it made me smile. Being with the animals made me feel the closest with the God I believed in, and not the God that the prophet believed in. They were so sweet and lived a simple life. They ate and slept. They were happy when I came and never told me what I should believe in and not believe in. The animals loved me for who I was.
Mom forgave me the best way she could. At least she would not look at me as if I was a sinner. She could be in the same room as me. She no longer smiled when she was with me or we never spoke the way before. I do not think that my mom had time for me. She was always being summoned by the prophet to his house. I felt sorry for my dad, that thought that we see her less and less.
Time went by and I was now 15. I have been at Paradise for 4 years and was in doubt if I was happy or not. My life changed, but I felt as if I had no control over it. I felt like a pawn. The one good thing was that the world will end and we would go to a much better place.
The time came when there was a small group in the Prophet''s house to experience the end of the world. I was shocked as it was like a mansion. While everyone at Paradise had a small basic house, this one was like something that a king would live in. It even had a TV. I did not know quite what to say. The prophet came up to me and told me that it was a long time since he has seen me. The prophet smiled and told me that I would soon be a beautiful woman and ready for a husband. I whispered to him that would be in a long time, at least 3 years. I do not know why, but his approach made me quite uncomfortable. Was this some type of warning or a reminder that he would decide who I married?
I stayed close to dad as mom was more interested in clinging to the prophet. As the time came for the world to end, we fell to our knees and started to pray. I squeezed my Dad''s hand as, to be honest, I was afraid. Dad smiled and told me to trust in God and there was nothing to worry about. I wished that Mom would spend her last moments here, but she was with the prophet and holding his hand. This looked odd and I could see that Dad was alone and hurt.
The time came and the time went. There was only silence as time passed and the world was still there. Dad whispered in my ear that he told me so. I was hoping that this would wake people up and recognize that the prophet was a fraud. The silence was promising. The prophet seemed lost for words. At that moment, I had some hope that Paradise would collapse, and I would get my family back. This was not to happen, the Prophet proudly told the people that God had listened to his personal prayers, and the Prophet''s prayers themselves have saved the world.
I could not believe everyone fell for it.
So life went back to normal and it was obvious that we never would leave this place. I tried being happy with friends and animals on the farm. I prayed to God in my own way but pretended to be brainwashed.
Dad looked more tired and he looked so old. I think he missed my mother as well. I know he tried to get her back. It was soon after the world survived that he noticed strange things about the finances of Paradise. When Dad did the accounts, he noticed that some money seemed to be missing. This did not upset mom a bit. She just cursed money and said it only caused greed and materialism.
It became quite obvious that Mom was having an affair with the prophet. She would visit him every night and some nights she would not come home again. This made me resent the Prophet even more. He already had two wives. Did the Bible not say it''s wrong to want a woman that was already married? It seemed like the prophet could just decide what God wanted. He did not stop and think about how much he was hurting our family. Dad never confronted mom and asked her if she was having an affair. I think that he was afraid of the answer he would get.
I always wondered if my mom loved me or not. When I was little, she would always smile and have mother-daughter talks. She would help me do homework and she always had advice for me. The only time mom noticed me now was when she was telling me about the prophet and how happy she was here.
I thought things could not get worse. They did! The prophet announced one day that God was granting him one more wife. This woman was married but since the marriage was never approved of by Paradise, it was an illegal marriage in the eyes of God. So the prophet announced that this woman was now considered free and he would marry her as his third wife.
He was talking about Mom!
Chapter 3: Slaves
So the Prophet wanted to marry mom. Everyone believed that he could marry a married woman because he could communicate with God. They all believed that he received permission from God. This caused many arguments between mom and Dad. Dad wanted to know if he was just supposed to give up and watch mom live with another man. Dad wanted to know if my mom loved the prophet. Would she love him if he was not the prophet? Dad even asked if my mom still loved him? Dad had a lot of questions and mom answered none of them. She was honoured to be another wife of the prophet and thought that it was her duty to do so.
The Prophet himself intervened and warned Dad not to object to his will, which was also God''s wish. I was with Dad when he was speaking with the prophet. I was shocked at how the prophet bullied dad. I knew that my Dad could beat him up. I could not help thinking that Dad was everything the prophet was not. I did not understand why mom wanted to marry the prophet. It would have been great if Dad stood up to the prophet and told him that it was wrong to steal a wife. This did not happen. Dad told the prophet that he was not going to protest or cause problems. He just wanted to have some time with me as I would always be his daughter.
Dad suddenly left Paradise. The prophet told him that he was no longer welcome here.
Mom only talked about the wedding and how our life would change. She wanted me to remember that Dad was now gone. I had to forget he ever existed and consider him to never as my Dad. I was to erase the memory of him from my mind. Mom thought this should be easy, as the prophet was always a father to me. I was shocked and mad when mom said this. Did she not remember when he loved him? Did she not remember when they fell in love? This was a waste of time arguing with mom about it. She was now a different woman.
I really missed Dad. He was in the outside world. A world which most likely changed a lot and would be hard for him to get back in. Dad had no money and no connections. I guessed that he would live with granny if she was still alive. I knew that he would get work as he was intelligent. This may be true, but Dad was now alone. He lost everything in the name of God. I was so afraid that Dad tried to write to me and I would not be allowed to read it. Dad would think that I did not want to answer him.
They say time heals wounds. This is not true. A few years passed and I was now 17. It was still mom and me alone, although she spent most of her time at the prophets. Our relationship declined. We were like strangers. When she did speak, it would be like listening to a propaganda machine of the prophet. I also knew how to make mom mad. I would just mention that I missed my dad. This would outrage mom as it was so forbidden to talk about him. You would think that I hate my mom. This was not true. I still loved her. I knew that she was weak under another person''s control. Deep inside, was still my mom.
Things went very bad during the summer when government agents rolled into the town. They have had complaints that illegal things were happening at Paradise. They talked about financial and human rights violations. Agents spoke to everyone and asked did they work long hours? Did they often starve? Were we allowed to leave? I had the opportunity to tell the agents everything. Yet I did not say a word. Mom was close by and she could hear everything. I honestly was never so afraid in my life. This was my opportunity to be saved and taken away, yet I just told them that I was very happy to be here. The agents left shortly afterwards.
Things did not go back to normal. The Prophet went crazy and his craziness was getting worse and worse every day. He would appear at our prayer gatherings and shout left and right. He would remind us over and over that he was our best friend and that he was God''s friend. He thought that someone had tried to betray him with lies and deceit. He had warned everyone that he would find out who helped the agents to come. The prophet looked tired and insane as he demanded that we had to be loyal.
The witch hunt started and this created an atmosphere where everyone was afraid. Everyone was looking at each other. We also noticed that people were going missing. The Prophets men would come and put a family in the car and drive them away. Sometimes we would see them again, and often we would not see them again. I have never people seem so afraid. It was getting from worse to worse, as the prophet was getting more and more paranoid. When people spoke about him, they would say all the right things, but their heart was not in it. The community spirit was now one of despair and fear. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
The prophet''s response to missing people was that some were chosen and some were not. We had to cleanse our community from the people that would damage it and make our life worse. He warned us that we had to purify ourselves. To help us, we would be working a lot more and we would be fasting a lot more. The people of the town accepted this with no comments. It was now very hard to see happiness at Paradise. We lived under the paranoid man''s rules and were nothing more than slaves.
The prophet decided that Paradise needed a party to bring some spirit back. This would have happened if we were not so afraid of his secret police or having to work all the time. The prophet had other plans. He decided that he would marry mom, making her his third wife. The wedding was a strange event. The people of paradise were there, but they did not enjoy themselves. They attended the party, but they were like zombies. It was obvious that they were no longer happy and they no longer had hope.
The prophet''s wedding speech was also as strange as it could get. He did not say a word about mom. He did not say a word about love. He told us that the devils in the outside world were trying to destroy Paradise. He knew that the agents had help. He looked at the people that looked so starved and hungry and asked how many of them would die for him. This scared me, as I thought that we would demand that we all committed suicide.
When his speech was over, the people ate the food. I thought they would eat a lot more, but it was obvious that they no longer trusted the prophet.
Mom and I moved to the prophet''s house where I was treated like a princess. I no longer had to work and had the luxuries that we had before I moved here. Despite this all, I felt so lonely. Mom never spoke with me. I spent most of my day walking around the big house and thinking. The worse was that I knew everyone was slaving and working outside and hardly getting fed. I could not see how God would ever want this to happen.
One day there was a letter on my bed. I opened it. It was from Dad. He now had a good job at a bank. He was living with Julian and considered him as a son. Dad admitted that he was working with the law and showing them evidence about the prophet''s crimes. This explained why the agents came. Dad finished the letter by saying that he missed me and hoped that one day I would escape.
I cried and cried. Not out of sadness. I was relieved that Dad and Julian were safe and happy. Then I wondered how the letter got on my bed. I was now paranoid as I concluded that it was a test from someone. If I hid the letter, I would be considered an enemy, or the prophet would direct his anger on the people of the town. I decide that the best thing I could do was to show mom the letter. Mom took the letter. She did not smile or get mad. She simply said that I passed the test.
Time went by and I noticed that the prophet was more interested in me. I was now 18 years old. He never held Mom''s hands anymore or paid any attention to her. In fact, I noticed that he wanted to spend all the time with me. Despite that I was lonely, I did not like this. I would rather he stay far away from me. It was like he wanted my attention. He wanted me to adore him. He wanted me to fall in love with him.
I found out why this was happening. One day he told me that he had great news. God has now allowed him to have 4 wives. He has chosen me as his fourth wife. I just sat as he said that. This could not be true! I was not in love with the man. He was waiting for a hug and I just wanted to scream and cry. I kept my composure and said that I needed to speak with my mother.
¡°I will not marry him¡± I cried as I sat on Mom''s bed while she was putting makeup on.
¡°Yes, I heard that God has chosen you to be the prophet''s wife!¡±
¡° I do not love him!¡±
¡° it is your duty¡±
¡° You are my mom, Why don''t you support me?¡±
¡° Gods will is Gods will¡±
I ran back to my room. Mom did not care, she stopped caring about me years ago. I knew what I had to do. I needed to be free.
That night, when everyone was asleep I took my bag and packed it with some clothes. I snuck out of the house and walked through the streets of Paradise. I spent the last 8 years here and it was hopefully the last time I would see the town. I had anxiety attacks all the time, as I was wondering if the prophet''s secret police would find me.
When I was out of Paradise, I fell to my knees and thanked God
I was now free.
The only question was what now?
This story continues in the third and final part. "Cult Princess - Book three"