One night a week later Vanessa and Aleister dined alone together in the warm oak-paneled dining room. The table was lit with two large white candles. One of Lily's sumptuous meals was laid before them. "Do you still feel like a prisoner here, my dear?" Vanessa had not thought about it for several days. For she had begun to realize that escape was hopeless.
"I am a prisoner here," she said, "however well we may dine."
"Very well," said Aleister. "There are no prisoners here. You may leave any time you wish… you are free to leave now, my dear."
"Hah!" she smiled cynically. "And what about the precious baby I am carrying, your future priest?"
"A priest is not born in bondage. That is the teaching of our holy books. It must be born of a woman who has freely chosen the faith."
"You must be joking," she said. "I have given up a futile attempt to escape, but I am here because you bound and drugged me and sapped me of every ounce of resistance. You controlled my mind with your hypnotic powers so that I do not even known who I am any more."
"Ah, but you must know who you are… for that is the whole point of the church… therefore…" he paused, pulling a check from his pocket, "take this and be free." He handed her a check and she looked in astonishment at it. It was a cashier's check for the sum of one hundred thousand dollars.
"This should take care of you until your inheritance passes to you on your twenty-first birthday."
"You mean… you mean I can leave here."
"Yes… as I said. The new priest must be born in freedom."
"I don't trust you," she said coldly.
"You are free to leave," he repeated. "You may leave now… it is Billy's birthday tonight… and if you for any reason wish to return, we would be most happy to have you join the celebration."
"I am leaving," she said, "I never chose to be here and now I choose to leave."
She went upstairs and packed her bags. At the front door she was astonished at her hesitation. But then she turned the knob, opened the door and was free. She felt the cool evening air hit her face and she ran gleefully down the steps of the townhouse. I'm free! I'm free! she thought as she walked to the corner.
But her heart felt heavy. What's the matter with me? she wondered. I have finally escaped from that hideous place. I have money. I can do whatever in the world I please. But she stood at the corner for a long time. Cars rushed noisily by; people with angry faces passed her in the New York night. A man in a shabby coat eyed her obscenely and she pulled her own coat more tightly around her.
She became painfully aware of her aloneness in the world, in this huge cold city. Almost as if with a will of their own, her feet began to take the path back to the townhouse. When she realized what she was doing, she stopped dead in her tracks.
And then she allowed her body to take her where it wanted to go… back up the townhouse steps, back to the luxurious warmth of her Uncle Aleister's house… back to his guiding power, to the sweetness of Billy Butter, to the friendship of Lily and Kurt.
It was Lily who opened the door. "Oh, Vanessa," she breathed, throwing her arms around the girl. "I knew you'd be back. Oh, I knew it!"
Vanessa was laughing and crying and hugging everyone now. "Yes, this is home now. This is my home."
"Wonderful," said Billy Butter. "Now I can have my birthday wish."
"What's your birthday wish?" asked Vanessa.
"To have you and Lily all to myself tonight." He looked cautiously up at Aleister. "Is it all right? Is it all right, master?"
"You know the teachings say that on his birthday a man may have one wish fulfilled."