Chapter 14
Flesh and Blood
There had been an older man preaching to the humans in the pen when Sister Oana and Nicoleta had arrived, but as soon as the people discovered that Oana was a monastic, they pressed her to offer what religious comfort and advice she could.
Soon Oana began preaching in the arena, where a few hundred people would collect to listen to her. Even at her first sermon, a crowd of people crammed into the arena, some occupying what sparse furniture was present, but most sitting where they could upon the ground. She stood before them in the back of the arena, difficult to see in the dim light, but easily heard, even as her voice echoed off the walls. She explained to them that despite the desperateness of their situation, they would still be granted bliss in the afterlife, which the vampires would be denied.
“It is better to be a slave in the vampires’ coven, than a vampire yourself,” Sister Oana stirringly began, “For all of you here, I tell you, your place in the afterlife is secure, so long as you continue to be virtuous and to seek forgiveness for your sins. But for the vampires, no such afterlife is prepared for them. For such is the fate for all who taste of the flesh of man. These caves are their Garden of Eden, and the flesh they eat, that is their fruit of the tree of good and evil. It is their original sin and temptation. And for that sin there shall be no redemption.
“For in the future when Christ returns, he will inflict a great judgment, and all of us will be brought before Him to be judged in body. For all of us that have already died, our bodies will be restored. Reassembled by the power of God, piece by piece. Even if your body has started to rot, even if the flesh has melted away from your bones and been eaten by worms, it will be reassembled. And it will be reassembled whole. So that, if you lost a hand in life, in the second coming that hand will be restored to you, whole. Even if you have only lost a finger or a tooth, it too will be restored whole. Your sight will be restored, your hearing, your strength, your youth, your vigor. All whole once again. By the power of God. For the power of God is great.
“But what about for the vampires? How will they be reassembled? Their bodies are made, piece by piece, from the flesh of the humans they consume. When they drink our blood, eat our meat and skin and gnaw on our bones, they take our bodies and make them part of their own. But God will need those pieces to reconstruct our bodies. Every last piece of the vampires’ bodies will be needed to reassemble the bodies of those the vampires have eaten. If they have a hand that is whole only because they have eaten your hand, then God will take the hand from the vampire and give it to you. If they have a foot that is whole only because they have eaten your foot, then God will take that foot and give it to you.
“So, what will be left for them? Nothing, I tell you. Nothing. For the vampires, no part of their body will remain. They have lived by stealing the flesh of others, and that flesh will be stolen from them. For them, they will have no part in the final judgment. Without judgment, then they can have no access to heaven, no access to the afterlife. What then waits for them after death? For them, death is only oblivion, eternally. Nothing, eternally. They will die into the hell of oblivion that is reserved for those that live off the flesh of man. Eternally denied access to the grace of God and eternally condemned to nothingness. Nothing, eternally. But for you, heaven awaits. At the judgment, the arms of heaven will open up to embrace you and eternally wrap you in their warmth.”
After Oana’s preaching, many people stepped forward and placed small bits of stalactite in her hand as donation. The stalactites formed the backbone of the small economy of the pen. They’d been broken from the ceilings over the years and formed a monetary system that circulated throughout the pen, with larger stalactites having higher values and smaller ones lesser. Balances had been constructed to compare weights and manage trading, though there wasn’t much to trade, mostly just clothing, services and extra food. The only wealthy person in the pen was Dragomir, who used his wealth to build around him a harem of women and occupy and furnish the best part of the pen.
Oana looked at the bits of stone and said to Nicoleta, Constanta and Crina, who were there with her, “With this money, I could employ some people to build an altar or a crucifix in here, don’t you think? Something to give this place a more edifying appearance.”
Constanta looked up at Oana and shook her head, “I don’t think you should Sister Oana. It would be beautiful if you finished it. But you won’t, because we won’t be here very long. Between Madalina and my brother (who’s an amazing hunter of vampires) it’s just a matter of time before someone frees us. We will see the daylight again. Madalina promised. This is not our home. And we won’t be trapped here much longer. I know it.”
Nicoleta and Oana exchanged a concerned look, neither of them trusting to Lina or to this brother of Constanta’s, whom they didn’t know. But they still were touched by Constanta’s optimism.
“We don’t need their help,” Crina disagreed in a whisper, “We can get out on our own.”
“What do you mean?” Constanta asked, “How?”
In response, Crina pressed a finger to her lips as an indication for her to be silent.
Elixir of Flesh Page 38