The Gatekeeper

Part III Love Child Chapter 18

18

BORN ON HALLOWEEN, his diabolical soul seemed to be shaped by the dark side. His family was isolated in the rugged mountains near the town in Canada where Lauren lived. His family legacy was misogynistic brutality and utter disrespect for women.

Lance's father assaulted his wife and children with brutal, callous regularity. They lived under his unchallenged rule. He controlled them through fear. In his home, the woman served the meals but did not sit at the table. When Lance took up with Lauren, he naturally treated her the way his father treated his mother. Everything he’d observed became his perverted perception of how a man and a woman lived together. 

Women were things to be used, abused, and ridiculed. When watching television together, if a scantily clad woman appeared on the screen, Lance would reach over and slap Lauren, blurting out that all women were sluts. He dictated what Lauren could or couldn't wear as well as who she could or couldn't spend time with. She wasn't allowed to put on any makeup, unless a beating about the face left a mark that had to be concealed. Her skirts had to end below her knees. She couldn't spend time with any other boys at school.

He constantly accused her of cheating, whether there was any basis for his accusations or not. His rage would build and be released on a defenseless Lauren who was battered badly with disturbing regularity. 

Normally he was careful, like his brutal father, to hit Lauren in ways that didn't leave visible marks. A punch in the abdominal area might make a bruise, but would be covered by a shirt. A rubber hose was another one his taunting torture tools of choice. 

His idea of making love would have been called rape by any court in the land. A tolerant and submissive alter named Monica emerged to cope with the chronic abuse that continued to get worse and worse.

Monica was an older version of an earlier alter who was able to absorb the chronic assaults that took place at home, at the hands of her uncle. Monica suffered silently with Lance for two years. He took measures to increase his level of control over her through fear, pain, and more threats. 

Her normally outstanding performance in school was faltering. A concerned counselor tried to get Monica to open up about her problem. 

"Lauren, I hope you know what you're doing with Lance. I’ve heard of his family and what the men in that clan are capable of. Is he hurting you?" probed the well-meaning counselor.

Lauren cringed inside, rolled her eyes, and responded.

"On no, I would never allow anyone to treat me that way," came Lauren's calculated cover-up.

"I'm serious, Lauren. A boy like Lance is capable of abducting you to an isolated area and killing you if he gets angry." 

Those words burned a healthy dose of fear into Monica's heart, soul, and macerated mind.

LANCE WAS ABOUT TO graduate from high school and could not tolerate the thought of possibly losing his absolute control over her. There was only one solution. With school over and all of his plans in place, he confronted Lauren.

“Look, we’re getting married and I know just where we’re going to live, a place where no one will bother us. What I mean is everything’s ready and I want you to go away with me right now.”

Shocked by the memory of her counselor's words of warning, and now fearing for her life, Monica got scared. When a knife flashed in Lance's hand, the alter Samantha took over and began to challenge Lance.