Dusk: A Handmaid's Tale Story

Chapter 1

"Blessed be the Fruit!"

"May the Lord open."

Those two phrases greeted me from within the doorway. I still haven't lifted my eyes up. I wait for Aunt Lydia's beckoning to do that. 

"Commander Adams, Mrs. Adams, this is OfJames." She motions to me and I finally look up slightly. 

"May the Lord make me worthy to bring forth His miracle." I state in a mild tone. 

I finally have a view of the Commander and his wife. Commander James Adams stands tall with dirty blonde locks cut short and piercing blue eyes. His jaw is cut deeply and his expression is one I can't quite place. He looks to be in his early 40's perhaps, but lacks facial hair. The asshole smiles smugly. You have two first names ass, don't get too cocky. 

Mrs. Adams is not quite what I expected. She is a small thing; young and thin. She appears to be of Asian decent and looked like she could have been a model at some point. Her black hair is pulled up in a perfect bun and her makeup was exquisitely done. She held a bright smile to her face that threw me off. 

"Ofjames, we welcome you to our home. May the Lord indeed bless us abundantly." He said with a deep voice. 

Mrs. Adams called to the Martha, Lena was her name, to show me to my room. 

"You have nothing to worry about Commander Adams. Ofjames is truly a disciplined girl. She will give you no troubles I assure you. She will be of great service to you as well Mrs. Adams." She continued, describing me as if I was a car for sale. 

My room was in the third floor of the house, in it's own far corner. The Martha, Lena, explained that the bathroom was attached to it and the Adams slept in the second floor suite. The door creaked open and there sat my room, plain and devoid of decorations except for the bare necessities. She pointed out my clothes, closet, sheets, towels, etc. It was all a blur before she excused herself. 

I sat on the bed, which creaked of use. This was it. This was the first place I would be expected to breed. I would be expected to produce a child as quickly as possible. The weight of my situation suddenly hit me and I felt myself shake and breathe deeply. Relax Serene, relax. I gripped my dress tightly and counted my breaths carefully. 1...2...3...4...5. 

I breathed out deeply and stood up, taking my wings off carefully and placing them on my bed. I traced the walls, painted a dull grey, until I reached the door frame. I opened the door slowly and looked at the rest of the third floor. The stairs were to the far left of my door, but nearly across from my door was another door painted a mustard yellow. It stood out amidst the blue tones of the rest of the home and peeked my curiosity. As I studied it, the door suddenly opened and I jumped. 

A man walked out the door and closed it behind him before he noticed my presence. He stood tall as well, with wavy well kept brown hair. His face was pale, but had a rosy tint to it's cheeks. His eyes were a bright blue that stood out from under the hair that had fallen in his face. A sprinkle of freckles covered the bridge of his nose and he was dressed nicely in a casual suit of black. Once I realized I had been staring at his eyes too long, I dropped my gaze quickly and folded my hands behind me. 

"Blessed be the Fruit." I said not recognizing my own voice. 

He didn't say anything, so I looked up a little. His eyes were studying me. His gaze was hard and I was intimidated mildly by the young man at the yellow door. 

"Uh huh," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking past me to the stairs. 

The breath I held released and I fell back against the door lightly. I went to make my way inside my room, when I felt the same pair of eyes staring at me. Looking back through the bit of door left open, I found the young man paused at the top of the stairs looking back at me. My breath hitched and he smirked before going down the stairs. 

I closed the door finally and fell on my bed.

"What the fuck...."