11 Chapter 11 The Caged

I bite in to Hiroto's shoulder and he grits his teeth before clenching me and groaning in pain as the blood drains from his body and he lets out a hellish cry. There is almost no pain from him at all for me. Just anguish from doing this to him. Thankfully the process didn't last that long just like Markus didn't. As I returned his blood something odd happen just like with Lucinda. He was still conscious as he takes steady heavy breaths before bursting out into a heavy cry that was close to a monsters voice call. And those can make a persons ears bleed, and even paralyze someone.

Blood rushes out of his pores to the ceiling, but his veins were still pumping. The blood flows back to his body and He collapses to the ground and curls in on himself groaning in pain. I watch as the marks appear on his head and shoulders. His was a bit different but the results were just like Lucinda. The cross on his face with new odd marks elsewhere. Now the biggest issue is that he's still conscious! He looks to me with a heavy breath, then tries relax as his body gets use to the new sensation he was feeling. I'm not sure what it was, but I know for a fact he's feeling something.

Lastly,... Finally, the timid, barely in her twenties,

"Victoria Millers." Like Hiroto, she wasn't surprised by her name and anxiously walks to me as Hiroto was dragged away back to his cell. She kneels down and keeps her eyes fixed on me. A look of many regrets mixed with painful memories. The only sin I can really see is in her urethra. Within her memories I know why that was the only corrupted area. She was a rape victim during her two years with us and because of her parents, she was forced to stay with the church of blood because they thought I or someone in our church could cleanse her misfortune. Though they called it misdeeds as if she was the one tempting all of her assailants. And at the end of it all they abandoned her and left her for dead. If I get the chance, I should ask her what happened during those eight years I was in charge. "What is your sin?" I whisper.

"Adultery and temptation." She answers. Does she actually believe she was at fault? I'm not asking if she wants to repent.

"Do you wish to be cleansed?" Her faces changes to confusion.

"I don't understand."

"... I know what happened to you." I say as I point to her stomach were the blackness was. "This... Is not your fault. As far as I can see from your past, adultery and temptation at that age up until now, they are not your fault. Those are the sins of others that have simply chosen to corrupt you and make you feel weak and wicked. They are corrupted for making you the criminal cause of their misdeeds. Do you understand?"

Well I'm glad she was easy. She starts to cry tears of joy from being told for the first time in her life something her parents should have told her... I should have told her. I should have noticed the moment they asked me to cleanse her of her wicked body. Yeah, she's drop dead gorgeous, but that's no reason to make her think she was born a hore because of her body. No one should ever go through something that painful ever in their life. "I'll ask again?" I say and lean closer to her ear and place my hands on her shoulders for comfort. "What are you sins?"

"... Adultery and temptation!" Now she doesn't believe it. Good.

"Do you wish to be cleansed of that pain?"

"Yes!"

"... Where is your faith?"

"... In the blood. My faith is in the blood."

I sink my teeth into her shoulder and again I feel no pain. Again, its a quick process. And again she receives a new mark. These mark each differed from each other. Lucinda, Hiroto, and now even young Victoria. By the way she passed out within seconds of draining.

Now at this moment there are only four people marked by the church of blood after the cleansing. Mark Roverren, Lucinda Jackson, Mikoto Harusakutori, and Victoria Millers. Out of the eighty-four that went through the cleansing, twenty-two escaped death.

Not much happened to me except excruciating pain from draining and replenishing all of them in one go. When I drained them and felt the fatigue after, it wouldn't take long for it to subside. And since I'm still technically a child now, my tolerance is super low for these sort of things. If I were part of a different church this would have taken me at most a year or so to cleanse all of those people. I'm so glad that we didn't actually have many people to begin with. Everyone that wanted to be, is cleansed. And I got four true members from it. I think that's what those marks mean. I guess I should ask Eve when we get back.

Edward guilds me back through the corridor of cells to head back.

Edward starts talking to me more now. "Wow. Over eighty people and more than half you... Executed. Why? They were..."

"Dead to begin with." I interrupt.

"What?"

"They were all dead to her until I judged for myself who was allowed to return. I can see how black a person's heart can get. The ones that died. All of them did not want to answer for there sins and only asked to return to the blood again. I only did what she told me what I should think was right."

"You did... What you thought was right?"

"... How long do the survivors have?"

"... Two years for the four that survived the worst of it. The rest are sentenced to work in the parliament underground mining iron and other minerals for five years."

That's... Actually a forgiving sentence. But I guess its because most of the action to place outside the city where none of the inner wall residence where disturbed. We walk on in silence for a while until I suddenly get yanked to a cell door by a large thin hand.

"Treven!!" Eddie shouts and pulls out his pistol from his back pocket ready to fire.

I'm force to meet the icy gaze of the blue eyed man we passed on the way to the blood church cells. Well, I won't be forgetting this guys eyes for a while anymore like this. Now that he has my full attention. He has me suspended off the ground from how tall he was now that I can get a better look at him. He was as pale as the white streak on my face. What the hell is going on with this guy that he looks like he hasn't gotten any food or sun in decades? What is this feeling of disgust?

"... Father of the blood." He grumbles. Holy shit that gave me chills. "Forgive my sins and release me from this prison."

"Drop him, Wild!!" Eddie shouts still holding the pistol.

"Hang on, Eddie! Its fine!"I tell him

"Are you nuts!?"

"No! You're a good. Just shut up and wait!" I don't have fear in me. Just disgust and slowly peeking rage that won't settle. I don't know this man but he makes me uneasy.

"Who are you to ask me this?" I ask him.

"Wolf Crophstein. Release me, father. No church would let me redeem myself. No one would allow me salvation no matter how many have come to try. None could save me."

"Then what makes you think I can? And why should I? I know nothing about you but you ask me for something like this?"

"I know of your church. I know what they have done. I know what you did to them from hearing it. You realised them, didn't you? From their internal prison in their hearts. You saved your church and removed the flaw of their ways. I want that. I want that peace. I will survive."

"That still doesn't give me a reason why. I'm not a compassionate person. I am not generous. I am humble. But that is all. What are you to me if not a stranger begging for his life?"

"Save me. And I will forever be your dog." Uh... Creepy. I'll give him that.

"... Wolf Crophstein, right? Put me down." He keeps me suspended for a long while before doing as I tell him nice and easy. I fix my cloak and step back. "... Open it, Eddie."

"No!! Crazy... Just no!" Was he gonna call me crazy little shit? He was wasn't he?

"Open this gate now!" I shout.

"Cuff don't work on him, Treven! I can only tranquilize him for so long! And none of the pastors from all around could save him because he can't be saved by normal means. He's an animal, Treven. He can't. Be. Trusted."

"... Then trust me."