Chapter 2: The Church
873 Words
Showing is better than telling. One action overpowers a thousand truths. And so is my case.
After she saw the evidence of his crimes, she decided that we had enough. She grabbed my hand and rushed me to the church.
However, it was only when we started our journey that the weather decided to take a nasty turn. It felt like we were ambushed by a hail storm. And in a time like that, the umbrella just stopped working. For its delicate cloth could not defend us against the merciless stones of ice.
Alas! We reach the church hall, where we are accommodated by Father Viscoff.
" Is everything okay? " He can't help but ask, analyzing our soaking wet states.
" You decided to make a journey in the given weather. " He points out.
Any sane man would decide to stay in. But in my case, we need urgent help. Even at this time, I pray for the Father to put aside my thoughts as childish and tell me that I'm crazy.
It's far better than being the sole object of His obsession, or as He likes to call it, his Mate.
I can't help but hope he's not real and this is some sort of sickness that will go away with time.
Mother starts narrating to her the entire story and he listens keenly. In the end, she shows the gruesome mark to him.
Just the mere sight of it, and he's mortified backing off a little with caution.
" Where did you wander off? " He asks in an accusative tone, trying to figure things out.
Though his tone is now harsh in nature, trying to find my fault in all this.
" Nowhere. Ju...just the castle you referred me to. " I reply, feeling a bit cautious.
Could I have invited His presence? Was it because I stepped foot into the wrong territory?
" And I go there with Cassie. " I add.
The mansion is void of inhabitants, but it has always been a safe and secure place.
" If she were to catch the attention of an evil spirit there, wouldn't Cassie experience the same? " Mama is quick to defend.
" It's not that place. " Father agrees.
He wouldn't refer me to that place if it was haunted. And Cassie would be experiencing the same happenings if there was something dark hiding in between the walls of that castle.
" And neither is it an evil spirit. " Father argues.
" It's very much alive Martha, and a lot more powerful. " He tells Mama with a grim tone.
" What have you done? " He whisper-yells, all of a sudden. Eyeing me with disdain and animosity.
It's no rocket science that he finds me as the sole culprit, and now I'm the only one at fault.
" M...me? " I can't help but ask again.
How could it be me? No one wants relief more than me. Why would I invite my own doom?
" You should have never picked up an outsider, Martha. " Father berates, completely ignoring my question.
The look in his eyes has morphed into something foreign. Rather than love and understanding, he holds me as the prime suspect treating me with indifference. He doesn't even bother answering my question.
" She will bring peril to the place, to the town. " He bellows, exaggerating it a little too much.
And more than me, I spot fear in his eyes. Isn't he a man of God? Shouldn't he hold more courage than us? Why is he the first one to fear?
All sorts of negative thoughts cloud my better judgment of him.
" Why do you speak of her this way? She is my child. " Mama argues, reminding him of her relation to me.
" She is a bad omen, Martha. " Father retorts as if guiding her to the right path.
" She has incited the devil. " He accuses.
I can't help but be offended by his accusation. I have done no such thing. I don't even know his name or what he looks like!
" What if He isn't real? " Mama points out, once again trying to turn this nightmare into nothing more than a bad dream.
I observe that she often denies reality, but that doesn't change anything. What is meant to happen, will happen.
" You'll find that out soon if you don't send the girl away. " Father snickers.
He wants my own mother to send me away for the well-being of the town. But where will I go? I have no other place and this is all I know of. Surely mama would do no such thing.
" So...so he's real. " Mama says, trying to get it in her head.
" It's not a dream? " She asks, but she's already been answered.
" It's a nightmare turning true. He's very real. " Father corrects, alerting us of impending doom.
" And he's coming after her. " He reveals, stating exactly what the demon revealed to me in my dream.
He's coming after me, and there is no saving me!
He said it, and now so does the church.
- Writer
