The Rochester Confessions

by James Brown

  The helmsman boarded the ferry five minutes to 4 p.m. and fired the engines. He eased the big boat out of the harbor. Nick and Rob had been assigned the duty of keeping the helmsman busy. Achooka had disappeared. Father Paul was sitting on the deck, right in front of the stairs, as a precaution.

  Steve heard the engines rev up and the boat started to move. He was checking all the rooms one by one. He reached the engine room and opened the door. He got in quickly, as he didn’t want any sound to reach the people upstairs. He looked around and didn’t find any trace of Quinn. As he came out, he saw the chiller room and moved towards it.

  Father Paul heard the sound of the big engines the moment Steve opened the door. He got up quickly and rushed down the stairs to the engine room, just in time to see Steve enter the chiller room. Father Paul entered the room quietly behind Steve.

  But Steve heard him come and was ready for him. He had a thick metal rod, which he had picked up on the way, and he swung it at him. Father Paul tried to get away from its path but it caught his right shoulder, causing a searing pain and a big gash. With blood oozing from his shoulder, Father Paul grabbed Steve and brought him down on the ground heavily. Steve’s head struck the hard metallic floor of the room with a thud and he immediately blacked out.

  As Father Paul was getting up, he heard the same devilish voice once again. “I know your plan, Nathan. You will never be able to stop me.”

  Quinn was standing at the door with a sailor’s axe in his hand. He had a weird and ferocious expression on his face. He came forward and hit Father Paul with the handle of the axe. The force of the blow was so much that it lifted Father Paul off his feet. He fell down with a bang on the floor. But Father Paul leapt back at Quinn. By then he had taken a knife out from under his belt. He plunged the knife deep into the upper chest of Quinn and pulled it out quickly. Quinn seemed to crumble.

  “Quinn is long dead, you fool. You are wasting your time. I killed him and then took possession of his body.” Again, the same voice came out of the now listless body of Quinn.

  Rob was scanning the deck anxiously. Father Paul was nowhere to be seen. He wanted to press the red button on the remote, as this was the right time to explode the boat when it was moving at full throttle. The helmsman was relaxed and had no inkling of the impending danger. Every minute was important. He thought he would press the button but then something prevented him from doing so. He suddenly remembered Quinn. They had completely forgotten about him.

  It was then that he got a call from Father Paul.

  Father Paul knew he was in a desperate situation and he could not fight the Devil by sheer brute strength alone. He then remembered the teachings of the Bible: the sole motive of Satan was to disrupt whatever God had planned. That was Satan’s victory and his ultimate achievement.

  The truth suddenly dawned on Father Paul. God Almighty, in all his benevolence, wanted to protect him. But he had his duty towards God. His life was endangering numerous other lives. Whatever be God’s plan, Father Paul was duty-bound to protect his people. As it involved his own life, God had left the decision to him. And he was ready for the supreme sacrifice, for the sake of His people.

  He decided that moment that he would play his own game. I will help him defeat God‘s plans, thought Father Paul.

  “This is between you and me, Sandy. The God Almighty has pardoned me for my sins but I feel that I should be punished. I will give myself up to you. I will surrender if you promise to leave along with me and spare the innocent. I will atone for all their sins by giving myself to you. But you will have to spare the others. God will never go back on his word and I trust you will also keep yours.”

  Saying this, Father Paul took off the necklace and the cross from his neck and dropped them on the floor. He then called Rob’s number from his handset.

  As Rob picked his call, Father Paul spoke, “I have found another way, son. We need not blow up the ship. Tell Nick that his secrets are safe. Quinn is dead. All your confessions will be buried with me.”As he was speaking, he saw the axe coming down on his head. He took the full force of the heavy axe on his skull. His skull ruptured and he fell on the floor, finally uniting with his beloved Jade.

  Epilogue

  Father Paul and Quinn’s bodies were found in the chiller room of the ferry. The bodies had no telltale marks or bruises. It was assumed that they had been accidentally electrocuted while doing the inspection of the ferry.

  Steve suffered severe amnesia due to the concussion from his fall and could not remember anything.

  There was a fire in the office of the Herald the same day. Most of the notes and records from the current investigations were destroyed.

  The ferry returned to Rochester and started commercial operations. It soon became profitable.

  Nick went on to become the Governor.

  Rob’s nightmares stopped.

  A statue of Father Paul was built for his outstanding contributions to the community. The statue stands right opposite the church from where he still blesses the townsfolk.

  Even today Achooka sits atop the hills and keeps a watch over the town.