by Con Template
He looked equally as shocked. It was only after another second of ruminating that awareness began to saturate his eyes.
“This area is no longer a part of the Holy Land,” he finally shared. He seemed stunned with this discovery. “Something unearthly powerful marked this area as their own. This type of magic is very dark and very ancient. Even I’ve never seen anything like this before.” He looked at me, his eyes rippling with more realization. “Do you remember the blood rain that fell when I attempted to channel your memories?”
I nodded, my mind still trying to grapple with the sight below me. Eclipse had attempted to channel my memories from the night my family was murdered. While he tried to unearth these memories, a flood of blood rain started to pour from the sky, forming a circle around us. I later found out from Eclipse that someone had not only placed a veil over me to keep me from remembering what took place on the night of the massacre, but that someone also stole a piece of my soul.
“The same entity not only sacrificed a portion of their life force to place a veil over you, but as it would appear, they also sacrificed a portion of themselves to taint the Holy Land underneath your home.” His expression morphed from one of bewilderment into one of foreboding. “Something this powerful cannot step foot here or even have the opportunity to taint the land unless your family welcomed it—unless they invited it in somehow.”
His words astounded me to the core.
My hands went slack. I hadn’t realized that in the process of grabbing the flashlight, I had also clutched onto my brother’s bible for comfort. I didn’t even realize I was holding it until it fell to the ground, nearly tumbling into the ditch before it stopped.
Whoosh.
At that precise moment, a huge gust of wind came and flipped the book open, blowing the pages about. It was only when the pelting rain grazed upon it that the bible pages stopped at a page that looked different from the rest.
Chills dripped into the fibers of my body when I realized what it was.
It wasn’t just a bible.
It was also my brother’s diary.
Paralyzed from head to toe, I watched Eclipse lift the bible up and hold it close to me. Hearts racing in anticipation, we read the contents of that page under the illumination of our flashlights. What seemed to be the last entry in the book read:
“Mom, Dad, and my sister won’t stop crying. I can’t stop crying either. My heart hurts. She died today. My baby sister died today.”
I smothered a gasp at what I read. I then felt the shock and confusion within me grow exponentially when I read his edited entry that was written in another color of ink:
“Thank you, God. She’s okay again.”
I gazed at Eclipse, whose expression mirrored mine.
He was absolutely thunderstruck.
“Is it me?” I incited at once, the blood draining from my face. “Is he talking about me?” My mind swirled while the storm continued to deluge over me. “How could I die and come back to life again?”
“Is there a date there?” Eclipse flipped through the pages in search of anything that would give us an indication of when my brother had written this. The closest he could find was an earlier entry that was dated several months before I was born—a couple of months before December 26.
“They had a miscarriage?” I asked, the curiosity rising like a typhoon within me.
“We need to learn more about your family’s past,” Eclipse prompted at once, also perturbed by this diary entry. He looked at me through the rain. “You know nothing more about your family’s past, right?”
“Nothing,” I said honestly. “I told you everything I know.” My lips quivered uncontrollably. This new discovery was too climatic for me. I couldn’t let it all end here without getting an explanation. “Where do we go from here?” I asked, conveying my desperate concern. “We can’t just stop here. We have to find out what my brother meant.”
Eclipse was quiet for a while, his thoughts already stirring on how to deal with this quandary. Fortunately for us, his resourceful mind had figured out a possible solution.
“Your family is very religious and this is a small town.” His eyes locked with mine. “What do religious families do when they need guidance?”
I thought for a moment before saying, “They turn to their church.”
Eclipse surveyed the surrounding terrain. “On the train ride here, while we were attacked, I remember seeing a cathedral. I’m sure someone there can help us.”
“It’s a long shot,” I whispered as rain continued to beat down on us. There was no guarantee that my family even turned to the church for guidance and no guarantee that what my brother wrote should be taken seriously.
“It’s a shot,” Eclipse retorted with the same frustration. “Do you have any better ideas?”
I didn’t.
So with one final sweep of the house, picking up all the crime scene photos and clearing the home of our presence, we sprinted out of the house. We journeyed to the last place in Serenity that I hoped would give me answers to the new questions I had.
What did my brother mean when he said that ‘my baby sister died today’?
What could’ve happened to me during my mother’s pregnancy that would’ve caused him to write that entry?
And the most important question: What could’ve happened that would cause him to write that addendum?
“Thank you, God. She’s okay again.”
“And forgive me for the joy I will take in the extermination to come.”
12: Cathedral
The storm worsened after we left my family’s home.
Thunder and lightning crashed above us in the darkness, eventually causing streetlights to flicker before the electricity around town died out indefinitely. With nothing but Eclipse’s jacket covering over us, we ran through the downtown area of Serenity. People were closing up shops early, running to their cars and driving home to hide from the worsening storm.
As people ran in the opposite direction from the storm, Eclipse and I continued to make our way past civilization, literally towards the eye of the storm. After sprinting down the grassy slope, we stopped when we finally arrived at the front steps of the imposing cathedral.
I took in a deep, shuddering breath as I peered up at the religious infrastructure. I felt so small standing before it.
The cathedral was built neo-gothic style and was grand in every sense of the word. Tucked away from the rest of town on its own acre of land, it stood powerfully under the gloominess of the dark sky. It looked welcoming for a lost soul, but intimidating for someone like me, who was missing a part of her soul.
As I stared up, I couldn’t help but recall different scenes from my childhood surrounding this place. I remembered images of me running up these steps, laughing and enjoying myself. At that precise second, that memory made me sick to my stomach. The last place I wanted to be in was a cathedral.
“You okay, Teacup?” Eclipse prompted. It seemed like the question of the night, but in the face of all that I was being exposed to, it felt appropriate.
I forced a smile and nodded before we shook off the rain and climbed up the steps. We walked into the main hall where we saw a glimpse of the long cloister hall that led into the courtyard. There were people standing in front of the entryway, whispering goodbyes to one another. We smiled courteously and stepped past them. We advanced into the cathedral and it felt like I was transported into another world entirely.
The cathedral was dark, but completely warmed by the illumination of candles set all throughout the enormous room. The lack of electricity did nothing to detract from the beauty of this wondrous place. If anything, it enhanced its splendor. We strode past the pews, our eyes roaming over the high ceilings. There were individuals seated across various areas of the cathedral, lost in their own world of prayers. I looked past them and had to hold my breath as I examined the entirety of the cathedral.
I appraised the fresco on the walls and ceilings, heavenly images tha
t told of divine stories that I never wanted to hear about. The gilded altar stood proudly in front of us, twinkling under the kiss of the candlelight. The cathedral was the personification of beauty and grandeur. It was as if those who built this building poured their entire heart and soul into this work of art. They believed in nothing but the best for their Lord above.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” I muttered under my breath, feeling incredibly uncomfortable with all the heavenly images surrounding me.
I could still feel remnants of the cold breeze filter into the cathedral, causing goose bumps to cloak over my skin. It was one thing to step into a cathedral for a brief period to ask for holy water, but it was another thing entirely to purposely walk in with a Demon by my side.
I hated it in here.
This holy building was too flawless. It reminded me of my own impurities, it reminded me that I was far from human, and it reminded me of my torrid past. In short, everything about it aggravated and offended me. I was surprised I hadn’t burst into flames from breathing the air within these walls.
“We have to be here, Gracie,” Eclipse reminded, residual rain droplets dripping off of his structured jaw.
“I get uncomfortable when I see crosses,” I told him tightly, already regretting our choice to come here. My brother could have just been bullshitting when he wrote those journal entries and we could easily be chasing a dead end. “Do you think I want to be in a cathedral of all places?”
“You think this is comfortable for me?” Eclipse asked harshly. “I’m the Demon here.”
“This is such a bad idea,” I continued, every part of my body churning in dread. “This is not like the movies. We’re not talented crime scene investigators. We’re going to screw up and the people here are going to call the cops on us for asking too many shady questions.”
“Do you want to find the missing piece of your soul or not?” Eclipse impressed before adding, “Can you really live with yourself if we leave now simply because you’re feeling uncomfortable in a church?”
I bit my lower lip at his convincing argument. I said nothing more and simply turned away because I knew that he was right. I didn’t come all this way to leave just because I was uncomfortable in a church. I was stronger than this.
Satisfied with my concurring silence, Eclipse continued to walk with me through the cathedral. We were still looking around when we locked eyes with a priest standing in the corner. He had just finished talking to two couples who were now bidding him goodbye. I couldn’t really make him out in the darkness until he smiled and began to approach us. My heart stilled the moment the candlelight flickered over his face.
He was relatively short, plump, and just plain friendly looking as he came over to us with a big, kind smile on his face. His black robe swished as he walked, and I immediately recognized him from snippets of my past.
My family’s priest . . .
My heart rate quickened. I couldn’t believe that I was meeting someone from my past. I was utterly flabbergasted by this unexpected turn of events.
“Good evening, Father,” Eclipse greeted politely, inclining his head as a gesture of respect.
“The Heavens have really opened up tonight, haven’t they?” the priest asked warmly, his eyes surveying the stained glass that had streaks of lightning and rain illuming from behind it.
Eclipse and I faked a genial laugh.
“That’s actually what brought us here,” I told him respectfully, putting on my actress face. It was a bewildering feeling to meet someone from my past—even if I couldn’t remember him entirely—and despite my excitement and nervousness, I couldn’t let it frazzle my thoughts. I had a plan and in order for it to come to fruition, I had to maintain my cover.
Let the acting begin.
“Are the two of you having some trouble?”
Eclipse nodded, glancing down at me with a troubled expression.
“My wife”—I froze briefly at the term. Luckily, I was able to regain my composure. It was smart thinking on his part to tell the priest that we were a married couple to cultivate trust and make him think that we were harmless. Still, I couldn’t help but blush as he casually went on with his lie—“and I were traveling and we had some car trouble along the way. All the electricity and phone lines are down because of the storm.” He feigned an uncomfortable laugh. “Long story short, our cellphones are useless in our time of need, we have no way of getting help tonight, and we’re afraid of traveling further in this storm. A hotel isn’t around for miles and—”
“There’s more than enough room here for the two of you,” the priest interjected with a benevolent smile, already knowing what we were getting ready to ask him.
I beamed appreciatively. Eclipse and I weren’t exactly the picture of normal. We were drenched from head to toe and looked horrible due to sleep deprivation. We were essentially the embodiment of what “unkempt” would look like. I had the distinct feeling that as soon as he saw us, he knew what we needed from him. And being the generous man that he was, he was already willing to offer a place for us to stay for the night.
“It won’t be too much of an imposition for you?” I asked timidly.
He laughed kindly, holding up a gracious hand. “Please stay. The Lord will not forgive me if I allowed his children to fend for themselves in a horrible storm like this.”
We smiled, knowing ourselves that the Lord would not forgive him for inviting abominations like us to stay on holy ground.
So be it, though.
What the priest didn’t know would not hurt him, and what he did know could only help me.
“Are you sure it won’t be too crowded?” Eclipse inquired, looking around the occupied, but slowly dwindling cathedral as people started packing up for the night and heading home.
The priest shook his head. “It won’t be too crowded at all. It’s just me here tonight.”
Our eyes twinkled like stars in the night.
Just him tonight.
That was exactly what we wanted to hear.
●●●
After directing us to a room in the back, the priest, whose name was Father Baek, left us to settle in as he went back to finish up with the people left in the cathedral.
While we impatiently waited for him to return, Eclipse and I stood underneath the arch of the open gallery, staring out into the beautiful courtyard.
A water fountain played musical notes for us while the stone pillars that separated the cloister from the courtyard gardens blocked the wind for us. The menacing storm above sounded like nothing more than a stream of whispers within the majestic space. There was a sense of purity to these grounds. It was as though all the evil in the world could not remotely penetrate these holy walls. It was incredibly peaceful standing there, listening to the sprinkle of rain as it cascaded into the garden. For the first time since we had been in this city, I truly felt like it lived up to its name: Serenity.
“What’s the plan?” I asked secretively, trying to act like admirers while the other people trickled out.
Remnants of rain sprinkled onto the walkway, causing Eclipse and I to take a step back to avoid becoming further drenched.
Eclipse flashed me a questioning look. “We need a plan to interrogate a priest?”
I gaped at him. “Shouldn’t we?”
Who did he think we were trying to get information out of? Gossip girl? Of course we needed a plan.
“Why wouldn’t he tell us what we need to know?”
My gaze on him turned critical.
“He is bound by his religious duties,” I deadpanned.
“He is a human being with a mouth,” Eclipse answered indifferently. “Religious duties or not, when under the right circumstances, all humans will sing like a bird.”
My eyes bulged at him in shock. “What do you plan on doing to him to make him ‘sing like a bird’?”
He gave a noncommittal shrug. “Perhaps I could physically overpower him and force him to tell us what we need
to know.” He evaluated the tranquil courtyard. “This place seems very quiet and people are weeding out. In this storm, no one can hear him if I torture him.”
“Don’t you dare,” I chided at once, outraged by how careless his plan was.
Eclipse blinked at me in mystification. His ignorance when it came to the human etiquette of politely asking questions truly surprised me. “Why not?”
“You’re not going to beat up a defenseless old priest!”
“It would be poetic,” he reasoned with a note of humor in his voice. “Good versus evil.”
“No, it would be a thug picking on the elderly.”
He sighed, relinquishing his negligent plan after my obvious opposition.
“Then Plan B is to bond with him and hope that he loosens up enough to spill something.” He shook his head in bitterness. “I should’ve brought a bottle of Jack Daniel’s with us.”
“This is such a bad idea,” I grumbled, still feeling awkward with being on holy ground.
“Wow, you’re really uncomfortable here, aren’t you?” Eclipse noted, clearly sensing my unease.
“How are you so calm?” I incited, moving the spotlight off of me and back onto him. The less I was reminded of my own uneasiness, the better. “Does being in a place like this do nothing to you?”
Eclipse’s lips curved into a half-smile. “Any other Demon would be shunned from here or at least feel uncomfortable. For an entity of my caliber, this is simply another ground for me to stand on—Hey Father Baek!”
Eclipse’s tune changed drastically once he heard footsteps approaching us.
Like a snake, I whipped around and felt a fake smile spread across my mouth at the sight of the priest.
“Hi Father Baek!” I greeted just as chirpily.
He approached us from the other end of the cloister with another one of his big smiles. It was a smile that could make the most nomadic of people feel at home.
“Thank you again for giving us shelter tonight,” I said politely. “I know that this is completely unorthodox and such a burden. I want you to know that we really appreciate it.”