Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned

20 | Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned

VINCENT'S HEART SWELLED WITH relief as he saw the children safe. Then a priest emerged from the shadows, holding a Holy Book in one hand and a rosary in the other.

  Without hesitation, the priest stepped forward, his voice ringing out clearly in the silence. "You are not welcome here. Leave now."

  He then looked at the children, who looked at the priest in fear. It was odd. Then he noticed a group of armed men emerge. Vincent noted the church must have a basement.

  The armed men paused, unsure of what to do. But then one of them sneered and raised his gun, taking aim at Vincent. What a peculiar situation. Then he calmed his mind and spoke without a flinch.

  "Lower your weapons," he said and used [Blink], appearing just before the priest. The armed men fell back and scrambled in surprise – and so did the priest. "You know why I'm here."

⁂

As the young man reappeared just before him, Angelo couldn't help but feel a mixture of awe and fear. This man should be a High Sorcerer.

  "Bishop Angelo!" said one of the rebels in alarm.

  Angelo swallowed hard and signalled for the members of Kalis to lower their weapons. He knew he had to tread carefully.

  "You're one of us?" he asked, trying to mask his skepticism.

  "One of us? You're just a means to an end, Atharian. You're alive because you're useful," the young man said, his voice low. "Nothing more." Then the young man looked at the rebels, commanding them to hurry and ensure no civil guards came to the area.

  The men followed his instruction. This only confirmed Angelo's suspicion that the young man should be with Kalis.

  He noticed the young man had blue eyes. He figured he must be an insular. A high-ranking member of the Order, judging by his indifference and how he knew the location of the hide-out.

  "Speak... before I lose my patience," said the young man.

  Angelo gulped. He must be talking about that.

  "Speak of what? I've already done what Alzona asked," Angelo said, trying to keep his voice steady. "So why do you still keep me here?"

  During the chaos, just after he watched Isaac's execution, members of Kalis kidnapped him and locked him down in this small parish. They needed to ensure he wouldn't talk. As if he would even talk. That bastard Alzona already blackmailed him anyway.

  How Alzona found out about his involvement with an embezzlement, fraud, and sex scandal was unknown to him.

  Alzona then forced him to his authority to hide the forces of Kalis in Edares – in the parishes and the orphanages. Thankfully, there were children he could use to entertain himself.

  The young man leaned in closer, his eyes intense. "Alzona? Watch your tongue, Atharian, and show respect."

  Angelo felt a knot form in his stomach. "I'm sorry," he meekly apologized.

  Then the young man pointed to the children huddled in a corner. "Are you done with them?"

  "Y-yes," Angelo said with a swallow. He wasn't done yet. He didn't even start yet. But the fear growing within him urged him to agree.

  "Then it's time for them to die," said the young man as he turned around and looked at the rebels. He asked them if anyone was around. The rebels affirmed that none were within the vicinity.

  Angelo widened his eyes. While he may feed his urges, he couldn't bring himself to kill children. "You–" but before he could talk, the young man smiled and massacred the rebels.

  There were over a dozen of them. Some of them were even sorcerers in the second realm. But against a High, they were helpless. The young man must even be stronger than the average High.

  Angelo watched in horror as the young man disappeared here and there, leaving only blood in his trail.

  It perhaps took a minute when only the young man remained. The rest were all dead.

⁂

Vincent looked at the Bishop and walked toward him.

  "I meant these scums, not those children," he said with a low tone, looking at the priest with great disgust and hatred. Earlier, he remained stoic at the realization that the priest assaulted the children, but he kept calm to get intel.

  Then he halted on his steps before looking at the children still huddled together, looking at him with fear. Vincent's eyes softened when he looked at them. There were six of them, three boys and three girls, all around the age of five. "You all go to the basement. We'll leave once I'm done with this guy," he said.

  The children nodded and left, disappearing to the stairs that led down the church's basement. For some reason, their eyes shifted from fear to relief.

  Vincent then pulled a nearby small table and a pair of chairs. He positioned the chairs at each end of the table. It had been a while since he had done this. For some reason, he even missed it.

  "Take a seat," Vincent calmly asked the priest before sitting down himself at one of the chairs.

  The priest, with mechanical movement, sat down. Vincent noticed he was shivering.

  "So... let's begin with your name, Bishop," he said.

  While his family attended church services, he never saw the priest. But Edares is a big city with multiple Andeli churches. He must be a bishop to one of them.

  "Who are y–" the priest said before Vincent slammed his head on the table, breaking a few of his teeth. "Arrgh...! You basta–"

  Then Vincent slammed his head again, now on the sharper end of the table. "St..op! Do YOU know who I...!"

  Then Vincent slammed his head again... and again... and again.

  The priest's screams were music to his ears.

  He stopped and noticed the priest was losing consciousness. "Oh... we haven't even started yet," said Vincent and walked toward the entrance of the church. He grabbed the stoup, used by people to bless themselves with holy water before entering a church.

  It must have been blasphemy when he splashed the priest with the water the stoup contained to wake him up.

  The priest woke up, and Vincent calmly sat down. "So, what's your name?"

  "A-A-Angelo–" said Angelo, then Vincent slammed his head again against the table. But it was less powerful this time.

  "Speak clearly," said Vincent, despite knowing Angelo could not. He simply enjoyed torturing him. No, it wasn't even torture yet. He just enjoyed the feeling of smashing Angelo's head against the table. Torture? He did not consider this torture.

  "P-please! I'll tell you everything!" Angelo begged.

  "What can you tell me I don't already know? Kalis used the clergy, and in your greed, you hid your involvement. Yes?" Vincent said and pulled Angelo's hair, threatening to slam his head again on the table.

  "No! Don't! Patrick Alzona! He's a leader of Kalis!" said Angelo in a bid to convince Vincent he had more information to trade.

  "That Alzona? The oil magnate? How did you find out?"

  Angelo's eyes burned with fury. "He blackmailed me," he said but then hesitated. But as Vincent was about to slam his head again, he spoke. "I know where the rebels are hiding during the day!"

  "But why would Alzona reveal himself to you as a leader of Kalis? He could have blackmailed you without revealing himself."

  "Arrogance... That Alardi dog can't help himself but display his power and wealth. He enjoys it when Atharians kneel before him," Angelo growled.

  'How fitting. Pride can truly make even the wisest of men leave so many dead-ends,' Vincent thought to himself. He told Angelo, "So, why should I keep you alive? Why shouldn't I kill you now?"

  He has met many people, including people who said no word despite the torture. But Angelo was different. He's scared of death. It made his work so much easier. So much more satisfying.

  Angelo struggled to talk, but perhaps out of fear, he forced words to leave his lips. "You're with the colonial government, no? I can tell you who the members of the clergy are that demanded Isaac's death."

  Vincent smiled and stood before heading in the direction of the stairs leading to the basement. "Good. Take some rest. The fighting has already started. We leave tomorrow morning."

  And just as he expected, Angelo rushed for the door. Perhaps it was adrenaline that pushed him so. But Vincent only blinked and pulled him by the collar, slamming his head against the church's wooden floor.

  Angelo puked out blood and started to cry. Then Vincent dragged him down the stairs to the basement.

  Vincent could hear the sound of water dripping in the distance, and the echoes of his footsteps seemed to reverberate endlessly.

  He reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to face a large door before pushing it open, revealing rows of shelves lined with guns, ammunition, and explosives.

  Vincent couldn't help but feel a sense of unease as he surveyed the room. He knew that the Order of Kalis was armed to the teeth. But he had no idea it would be this big. He wondered if he could use the weapons in the cache in some way.

  He wondered where the children were when he heard a noise coming from one of the shelves. He cautiously approached the area and peered behind a stack of boxes, only to find the group of children who chose to hide there.

  "Come out," he said and slammed Angelo's body on the basement's concrete floor. "This man did you wrong, didn't he?"

  The children looked at each other before looking back at Vincent and nodding in unison.

  He unsheathed a dagger tied to his waist and tossed it on the floor, causing the children to jump in alarm. "I won't force you to do anything. But you can do whatever you want with him. Just make sure he doesn't die and bleed out too much. And make sure he could still talk."

  Without waiting for their response, Vincent headed up the stairs.

  He then headed toward one of the pews that weren't overturned and knelt, facing the altar.

  Seconds passed by... then it turned into minutes... then he finally heard Father Angelo's haunting screams.

  Vincent closed his eyes and prayed, "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned."