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 honored 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 wound. 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 afterward.
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.
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"