Five

Rose was unfamiliar with the house she was locked up in but could not see much of it because her vision was too blurred to focus. As she followed Richard into his car, she prayed hard to God not to forsake her. She needed an escape, in whatever form it would take, as long as it would take her away from Richard.

[break]

“God bless the reading of his word,” Pastor West exalted.

“Thanks be to God,” answered the congregation, except Rose, who was looking out of the window, distracted and distant. 

“Uh…” The Pastor continued. “We don’t usually do this on Bible Study days, but whenever there is an issue in the church, we must address it. And iniquities should be called out as well.”

Rose returned her attention to the service after she glanced at the long sleeves hiding her injury. “Mr. Richard Walms,” the Pastor called, “can you please come out?”

Rose frowned. It was unclear what was about to happen. After Richard glanced at her as though warning her to keep mute, he walked out with a smile on his face; the smile sickened her greatly, and she almost threw up what was left in her guts.

“Mrs. Rose Walms, please do not be afraid. Everything will be alright. The Lord is in control. Please, let’s pay attention to what our head pastor wants to say to us. Pastor Remi?”

“Praise the lord,” Pastor Remi walked to the altar, his smile on point as always. “As Pastor West said, please let's listen carefully. On Sunday, Mrs Rose approached one of our sisters and voiced a very terrible concern of hers. That concern was scary, and I could only imagine how it had devastated our dear Rose. Upon investigation, we found out that her concerns and experience were true. While contemplating how to go about this issue, we anonymously received an audio file which shocked us greatly.” 

Pastor Remi nodded at the media team, and the heated conversation between her and Richard from the day they returned from church filled the room. 

Rose jumped to her feet, her eyes widened in shock. Wondering who had delivered the audio file to them, her soul gradually assured her that maybe escape was not so far away.

The entire church murmured during and after the audio played, and many people glared at Richard in shock.

“W-wait… wait…” Richard was thrown off, the despair on his face gladdened Rose. “This is not true. This is fake! It is fake! This is a lie!

“Huh… Please let us be quiet,” Pastor Remi continued when the audio finished. “During our investigations, we captured Mr. Richard frolicking with women. Not once did we witness intimacy with his wife. Yesterday, I tried reaching Sister Rose because she was clearly in danger, but nothing came out of that attempt. The only option I could think of was publicly announcing on our online group that Richard and Rose must attend today’s Bible Study. “

“This is all a lie, Pastor! I am innocent. She is the cheat. How can I cheat on her? She is the one hurting me! She has been cheating on me even before we got married we-”

“Please, Richard.” There was something about Pastor Remi. He smiled a lot, but his stoicness could never be joked with. “Sister Rose, I would love to hear you speak.”

Rose had yet to find a way to speak, her throat still hurt, and her tears choked her once again. All she could do was lift the sleeves of her ugly gown to expose the terrible markings from the rope. People gasped, some cried out to God for help in the situation and within all that, Rose’s cries became louder, she fell to her knees and cried her heart out. 

“Rose has suffered a lot. She sought for divorce to escape from this man, but he never consented. This time, he has no choice but to consent. Rose deserves peace of mind. She deserves joy and love. She needs to be the beautiful flower that she is. But this man has deprived her of all those wonderful things.”

“Yes, Pastor,” a woman cried. “She needs to walk away from this monster!”

Hearing all that gladdened Rose so much that her tears gradually started to ease the pain in her soul.

“Let us dial down the name-calling. The church has communicated with the appropriate law enforcement agencies, they will arrive soon to-”

A loud bang flung the front door open.

 Sniffling, Rose looked up and watched as a tall man dressed in all black, with a well-covered face, walked down the aisle. His head moved as he searched for someone in the congregation.

“Young man, who are you? What do you want?” Pastor Remi demanded while some people tried to calm the church. 

When the man saw Rose, he strutted to her, and she realised who it was.

He was the stranger who offered her a helping hand. 

‘Perhaps,’ she thought, ‘ did he send the audio to the church?’ Her eyes softened when she realised that was the only explanation.

As he stopped in front of her, she looked up at him. She tuned out the clamour in the background for many seconds and focused on the man whose pretty eyes peeked past the clothing covering his face. 

Then, he stretched his hand. She wanted to accept that gesture, but Richard screamed at her so much that she was pulled back to the noise in the building. But before she could react or say anything, the man lifted her into his arms, and with his peculiar swagger, he moved. As he walked, Rose noticed that everyone in the room appeared frozen. No one was moving; they were all stuck in weird postures.

“Wh- what is going on?” she faintly asked.

“I apologise, Rose,” he loosened the material on his face and fully faced her. “I could not wait any longer.” 

“You should not be doing this,” she continued, her frown deepening because of her pain. “I don’t think I should leave like this. I-”

“This is the only thing I can do.”

“I-”

“You should sleep,” he cut her short, his eyes telling her she did not need to contemplate or fight that moment. At the same time, he patted her to assure her that choosing to go with him was not a mistake. 

And maybe, it would never be a mistake, Rose hoped as she relaxed and waited to see what awaited her beyond the life she was struggling to leave behind.