The Life of the Wife

Chapter twenty

CHAPTER TWENTY

ISABEL

I read the bible of Holy Corrections fiercely with a dreadful fascination. Its sense of wickedness entwined with the phantom god they seemed to have made up was nauseating, but they had some points that were actually peaceful sounding. They grew their own food and trees for wood, along with building their own furniture and sewing their own clothes, being completely independent. Love seemed to also be a large interest in their religion; they would know the love of their life with an immediate feeling of overwhelming emotion. Not to be confused with lust as the devils were responsible for that. There was no rule to who you could love, as long as it was true.
'Love reaches no bounds' I read out loud, not realizing.
'Beautiful if you forget the part where they count that as no age limit.' The thin man that was my bed neighbor noticed my increased interest in the book.
'They fall in love with people beyond the age acceptable in the outer society, like they will marry a young teenager to a middle aged person, with no second question.' He continued.
'How do you know so much?' my voice crackled, they were my first words other than whispers.
'I was cleansed, supposedly successfully. However I tried to leave, bad mistake. They put me back in here and I am repenting.'
I was shocked. If I was to successfully be cleansed, would I be thrown back in here if I were caught trying to escape? My body quivered at the thought of ever coming back in here if I ever got out. Each excruciating hour I had to endure now was enough.

I started to notice that it was not day time that Gabriel would come in for our lessons, his assistants were tired all the time and sometimes they would still be in pajamas. This meant everyone in here would sleep through the day, probably to lessen the chance of an unseen escapee. I tried to stay up through what I thought was the day, which meant I was getting less sleep than everyone else and I was feeling the effects.
Gabriel however had been noticing my, what he thought, process into cleansing. He was starting to lower his guard and smile warmly in my direction. This was good; it meant I could be getting out soon. I would try to look interested and excited for his presence, and I tried to keep to myself, only talking to the ones who were starting to believe so that it seemed more believable.

'You are thinking about Stanley again, aren't you?' Eric, the frail man whose bed lay beside mine noticed my tears swelling under my eyes.
'Mi Familia. Today was the day I called them to tell them the great time I am having.' I pressed my palms to my face, forcing no more tears to drop.
'This is your new family, you will forget them soon enough.' He coughed on the dust falling from the roof.
I looked up to find that the roof was a bit worse for wear and could do with fixing. The wood was starting to get weak and looked as if it would break by a single touch.
I looked around, everyone was going about their business as if this revelation spiraling fireworks inside my chest wasn't happening. Could I really escape from the roof?

I made sure everyone was asleep before getting out from my bed. Everyone here was now light sleepers on account of the fear from a corrector coming in at any time, so I had to be tenaciously quiet. I slowly made my way to the toilet, for ultimate privacy whilst checking the roof. The curtain swung around me giving me a sense of security as I placed my dirty feet onto the bowl of the toilet before lifting my heavy body onto it.
I could just reach the roof with my hands and as I suspected, it was rotten and easily pulled off. My excitement almost got the better of me from the thought of freedom to soon come upon me. I placed both my hands flat on to the roof and pushed. A little too hard and a chunk of the roof ripped through, revealing the demanding sunlight to the room. I quickly put the chunk of roof back and dropped to the ground, hearing the mumbles of people being awoken. One of the women came in to find me grasping my elbow in pain.
'What happened? What banged?' her dirty face looking tired and worried.
'I have not drank enough water today is all, I just lost my balance and fell whilst trying to use the toilet.' I gritted through the throbbing of my elbow and glanced up at the roof, there was no evidence of me even being there, good.

Time felt strange again, like it was when I first arrived. I would keep glancing at the toilet, hoping the roof would stay in position before anyone found out, and told Gabriel or Garnet. My heart didn't stop pounding and the adrenaline didn't let me sleep. I was going to escape and hopefully get out alive.
I stopped reading the books as I felt no need now that I had a way out and I could feel the sweat on my body drain my energy away. I had a plan, but not a solid one. First I was going to climb out from the roof, and then on to solid ground. From then on was hazy as I couldn't remember what was out there, all I could see in my head was a massive gate that would be a difficult obstacle.
'Gabriel is late; he is supposed to be here.' Eric shook his hands up and down to take out nervous energy, attracting my attention away from my thoughts.
'He will be here; he has never missed a lesson.' I assured him.
Just as I comforted, as if I knew, the door swung open to reveal Gabriel and the young woman who cleansed me.

'I am Gabriel and I am your teacher, this is my granddaughter Johanna. Today we read passage seven.' He comforted himself in his wheelchair and opened his book, but my attention was taken by Johanna walking towards me.
'Isabel, I would like you to come with me, please.' Every time I had heard her speak she sounded weak and unsure, leaving me to believe she was new to all of this too.
I followed her through the door and into the large hall where I was cleansed, but the bathtub was not there anymore.
'Isabel, we think I have cleansed you successfully and you can soon come out to the commune to join us in contribution to the fight for holy living, isn't that great?' she squealed with excitement like a child, even though she looked only a few years younger than me.
'How long until I join the commune?' was my chance nearing closer?
'Aiden and Gabriel say in less than a month.' I guess the roof plan is the one to take.
Johanna led me back into the chamber and I sat for the rest of the lesson. I couldn't concentrate though, because tonight after a significant amount of time from when Gabriel leaves, I am escaping.