The Forgotten Sin (Purifiers Book 1)

by Mika B. Coit

  "My little brother has been feeling really rough this past few days. I said to him it is his punishment for hitting on the girls at the party." Claire said as they made their way out of the school building and into the field.

  Even though it was a cloudy day it was still a mild and pleasant temperature for October.

  "I still feel so sorry for you when you had to pull him away from that blonde girl." Chloe said combing her fingers through her auburn hair.

  "He was fondling her like there was no tomorrow... honestly, it was so embarrassing. I felt like I was doing him a favour by dragging him out of there instead of the security guys. Father would not have been amused!" Claire fumed.

  "When did this happen?" Iliana asked not remembering them talking about this before.

  "After your Mother took you away for scolding." Victoria informed then changing the subject. "We never asked... what did your Mother say to you anyway?"

  With her eyes on the ground Iliana answered.

  "N-nothing much... just that... I was not welcoming enough to Lord Baddesley and Lucas."

  Lying was something that Iliana was not good at or even liked doing, especially to her friends. But it could not be helped in her situation. Talking about her Mother at the moment was a sore topic.

  Ever since the party Mother seems to flutter in and out of the house without speaking a word to anyone. And when she does stay home the night, she sleeps in the spare room. Iliana tried to make conversation with her but Mother ignores her and does not even make eye contact. When Iliana talked it over with Father that morning when Mother left at dusk, he quite calmly and understandingly said...

  ‘She is going through some hardships, it comes with the line of work she is in. And I have been there trust me, I know what she is going through... And I know she had said some hurtful things especially to your friend at the party, but I am sure she did not mean it, and I hope you will apologies to... umm... Kazuki was his name right? Yes... apologies to Kazuki for us.’

  Father obviously had no idea what was really going on with Mother, and Iliana had no intentions in inviting Father to the Unknown World. But if he did know, would he still be so supportive and positive? That was the question that Iliana had in her mind for some time.

  After sitting in Father Benjamin’s lessons and learning about Jesus, Iliana was called back when the bell rang.

  "I will see you in Art." Iliana said to Victoria who was willing to wait for her before heading to the Art department.

  "Iliana... I need to talk to you, Kazuki and Jung after school. Can you meet me at St. Mary’s Cathedral?" Father Benjamin asked quietly.

  Iliana had been walking to school lately as Andrew’s wife called home at the beginning of the week to say he was unwell. So Iliana had no one to wait on her which she much preferred.

  "Sure!" Iliana replied.

  Kazuki showed Father Benjamin the pictures he had taken on his mobile the day after the party. But he had not spoken about it to Iliana, Kazuki or Jung despite the strange but worried look he had on his face when he first saw the images. Iliana was quite intrigued and could not wait to know of his findings.

  Standing at the entrance of the magnificent Cathedral Iliana had to take a moment and admire its gothic like stoned structure. It was huge. The central tower and spire shot up towards the sky. The windows around it were tall and the outer walls were embossed with elaborate carvings of flowers and figures from the bible. A beautiful statue of Holy Mary carrying baby Jesus stood at the entrance of the Cathedral. Walking inside Iliana was welcomed by a font that stood at the centre of the entrance. It was full to the brim and the holy water that overflowed smoothly from the four spouts and dropped gracefully into a cross shaped base made out of white marble. The nave of the cathedral was impressively high and narrow. The walls were made out of light grey Chilmark stone. Dark polished Purbeck marble was used for the columns and the row of pillars from the high rising arcade at either sides of the nave giving it a strong visual rhythm. The interior carried on the gothic like look.

  Still admiring the beauty of the cathedral Iliana did not notice Father Benjamin standing at the end by the altar waving at her until he called out. Her name echoed down the nave making Iliana and the other people inside jump. Whilst Father Benjamin apologised for the interruption Iliana made her way down to him. He took her to a side door by the impressive altar and led the way up the stone spiral stairs past the cloister into a large private room. Shelves of books dominated every inch of the walls. Ancient looking scrolls were gathered in wooden boxes just in front of the shelves. Wooden beams stretched from the centre of the ceiling to the sides giving the old looking room a quirky character. Jung was sitting on one of the wooden chairs by the round table that stood in the middle of the room looking at his mobile. And Kazuki was standing by the multi panelled window with a book in his hand.

  Seeing or even thinking of Kazuki now makes Iliana blush as her thoughts kept going back to when her lips were just centimetres away from his. When he looked up from his book as Father Benjamin closed the door Iliana’s heart did the jive and had to quickly look away.

  A grin stretched across Jung’s face as Kazuki also looked away when Iliana approached the round table with her cheeks as pink as a flamingo. Father Benjamin who did not notice the awkwardness between them encouraged Iliana to sit down, and after shuffling the wads of paper and scrolls that carpeted the table he began his talk.

  "Okay... I am sorry I have not said anything to any of you beforehand but... I had to do some research first." He started waving a batch of papers in his hand. "Right... after seeing those pictures that you both took at the party made me realise what I think Lord Baddesley is doing. The marbled table that you saw is in actual fact a sacrificial table."

  "Sacrificial table?" Jung repeated making sure he heard right.

  "Yes."

  "Sacrificing what?... And for what reason?" Iliana asked.

  "Animals or Humans... to appease a God." Kazuki answered reading from the book he was holding.

  "But that is where it gets complicated!" Father Benjamin said sitting down on a wooden chair. "Historically in other religions, animal and human sacrifice is performed for the need of blood to survive. Other religions as Kazuki read loud... do it to appease a God. But that was in the old world and is rarely done nowadays, and if Lord Baddesley is doing that..."

  "I would know about it!" Jung added finishing off his sentence. "I would have a string of death reports piled up on my desk."

  "Exactly... although there maybe another reason. There are some humans who are willing to do anything to serve the Dark side." Father Benjamin said.

  "What?... Like... sell your soul?" Iliana said trying to keep up with the conversation.

  "In a way... it is more like... inviting another demon spirit into your body. And if a human has multiple demon spirits, they would probably push the human’s own soul out eventually. So it is in theory, selling your body and soul for the demon’s own use."

  "But what of the sacrificial table?... I thought a demon can possess a human anywhere as long as that human invites that demon into their body." Kazuki questioned.

  "Well... if Lord Baddesley wants a demon spirit fresh from hell to enter a willing human, he would need to perform a special ritual. As evil spirits who are condemned to hell cannot resurrect, and also cannot escape from hell without the permission from Lucifer." Father Benjamin explained sitting back on his chair. "The chairs around the table are for those who help perform the rituals. And they are also there as a barrier to prevent the demon spirit from escaping outside the circle and to help guide the spirit into the human body."

  "So... what is he doing?... Forming an army of demons in a form of a human to stroll around on Earth or something." Jung said jokingly with a hint of sarcasm.

  The five second silence and the look on Father Benjamin’s face wiped the smile off Jung’s face.

  "Your kidding me?" Jung said loudly in disbelief.

  "That is no
t possible... that would break the barrier between the worlds of Earth, Hell, Heaven and even the other Unknown Worlds out there!... It would unbalance everything!" Kazuki cried out, then as he said that his eyes glanced over to Iliana.

  Iliana knew, he just remembered the time at the party when she told him how she felt something was out of balance.

  "This is just my theory... I do not know whether this is actually happening!..." Father Benjamin started.

  "But it could be!" Jung interrupted. "I mean... remember those people at the warehouse behind the Noire Club? There were loads of them... and they looked as if they were waiting for something... None of them went out of the warehouse."

  "But since then we have not had similar cases of missing or insane people. In fact it has been unusually quiet... do you not think so?" Kazuki pointed out.

  "Then what the hell is going on?... I hate not knowing or understanding!" Jung cried out slumping back into his chair in a huff.

  "It always seems like... when I take a step forward in finding clues like this... I end up taking twenty steps back, after hours of trying to link these findings to Lord Baddesley." Father Benjamin said also sighing.

  "Just a thought... if Lord Baddesley is forming an army of demons by using the humans, how do we Purify the soul?" Iliana asked just out of curiosity. "I mean... if the demon spirit took control of a human’s body and who willingly invited them in, they would not want to Arise if you did the Chant... right?"

  Thinking about it for a minute, Father Benjamin nodded and replied.

  "True... that would be difficult because drawing out a resistant demon would damage and destroy the human body... and if the human’s soul still exists... it would go into limbo!"

  "Let’s hope Lord Baddesley is not doing what we think he is doing." Jung said rubbing his smooth chin.

  "Let us hope so." Kazuki repeated closing the book he was holding.

  "I am not going to say anything to the Mayor about any of this, and I want you all to do the same." Father Benjamin ordered, his hazel eyes mainly levelling with Jung.

  "Would he not want to know?" Jung questioned frowning as he leant forward.

  "Not for now." Father Benjamin replied quickly and firmly, that is almost sounded as if he snapped.

  "Where is this Mayor?" Iliana asked as she had not heard of him from anyone apart from the boys. "I have never seen him before... Is he a Purifier too?"

  "No, he is not a Purifier or even a Chanter. He... he knows of the Unknown World and presently, he is house bound. He lost feelings in his legs and apparently the doctors said... it is incurable." Father Benjamin explained avoiding eye contact with everyone.

  "Oh... I am sorry to hear that." Iliana said her eyes darting from Father Benjamin to Jung.

  An awkward atmosphere suddenly swamped between them. Kazuki also flitted suspicious glances towards Father Benjamin and Jung but said nothing.

  "Anyway... changing the subject. I am going to need to end this discussion for now until we find any more information. The English teacher Mrs. Rawlins called in sick this morning and I have to substitute some of her lessons. I need to prepare for tomorrows classes." Father Benjamin announced. "It might do me some good after all this researching."

  "Oh guess what?... My Caitlyn is coming home tomorrow." Jung said excitedly.

  "Great... it is about time we have her back and good timing too!" Father Benjamin exclaimed forcing a smile.

  "Is Caitlyn your girlfriend?" Iliana asked remembering Jung mentioned that name once before.

  "She is... she went out to America to do a few gigs for a few months. She called me to pick her up tomorrow late afternoon. I cannot wait to introduce you to her, and I know she will love you and vice versa." Jung said beaming from ear to ear.

  "Caitlyn is also a Purifier and a Chanter, like me." Father Benjamin explained to Iliana.

  "A Purifier and a Chanter?" Iliana repeated not realising one could be both.

  "Yep... she has the voice of an angel and has the precision like Robin Hood with her bow and arrow." Jung responded proudly.

  "Her holy weapon is a bow and arrow?"

  "Yep... a Cherub’s bow."

  "I cannot wait to meet her."

  "I will come round to your house tomorrow and introduce you to her, I will be in the neighbourhood anyway. I’m picking up Kazuki from school after picking up Caitlyn."

  Looking over to Kazuki Iliana asked.

  "Why are you staying at school so late?"

  "You sound like my Mother." Kazuki said with a sprinkle of sarcasm. "I have after school club."

  "You are part of an after school club?" Iliana repeated in a slight disbelieved tone and then going through all the clubs that the school had in her head and trying to pick one that suited him.

  "What is wrong with that?" Kazuki asked raising an eyebrow.

  "Nothing!"

  The next morning running down the stairs in a rush again, Iliana dashed into the conservatory. On the dining table was a cup of coffee and a freshly made omelette on a plate. Father then walked into the conservatory from the kitchen with a toast in his mouth whilst putting on his blazer and Yuki following him.

  "Good morning blossom!" He chirped after taking out the toast from his mouth.

  "Good morning Father... morning Yuki." Iliana said tickling Yuki under her chin then pointing at the laid out table for one. "Is that for me?"

  "Of course, got to look after my little piggy." Father replied chuckling.

  Iliana smiled but it soon faded. Mother did not come home again last night. Father knew exactly what was going through Iliana’s mind, but he put on a brave face.

  "Your Mother will be back home soon, I know she will. Iliana... look at me."

  Iliana looked up at her Father, she had a sad yet annoyed look splashed on her face.

  "I know your Mother maybe ignoring you, saying hurtful things and making you feel unloved... I am going through it too... But it does not mean that you turn your back on her. You may not know it but this is the time when she needs you the most. Do not lose faith in her... okay?" Father said in a soft yet serious tone and patting Iliana’s shoulder, then sighed as he looked at his watch. "Ooh... now I really need to get to work. There is a bug going around and people keep going to the hospital when they should be going to their local doctor, it does tick me off sometimes. And I have a new doctor starting today, he will be shadowing me around... what a day it shall be today. Anyway... have a good day at school blossom... bye Yuki."

  Later that afternoon Iliana decided to give Yuki a walk earlier before Jung and Caitlyn arrived.

  "Hang on Yuki... I am sure I put the house keys on the table earlier." Iliana cried out seeing Yuki patiently and quietly waiting for her by the front door as she dashed from the conservatory into the open lounge.

  Iliana searched high and low and as she found the keys which were on the coffee table Yuki began to bark loudly, nonstop.

  "Okay, okay, I found them... I am coming!" Iliana said rattling the keys.

  Iliana turned into the hallway where Yuki was walking back growling and barking with her eyes fixed on the front door, Iliana sat down next to her.

  "Hey... what is wrong with you?... I know I kept you waiting but there is really no need to get angry!" Iliana exclaimed tickling her under her chin which usually calms her down.

  But Yuki kept barking and walked back as if she was scared of something. Iliana followed her gazed, as she did a shadow appeared behind the frosted glass of the front door.

  The door unlocked and opened, it was Mother. Her usual warm brown eyes was smothered in darkness. On top of her black suit and trousers she wore the black cloak with the hood down. Without looking at Iliana Mother walked to the small shelves next to the coat stand and picked up her phone and some sealed envelopes where she left it there the other day which Father did not dare to touch. Whilst patting Yuki to stop her barking so loudly Iliana watched Mother as she made her way back to the front door. As she reached the door Mother turned to
Yuki and glared at her making Yuki whimper in silence as she laid on the floor. Iliana stood up quickly with clenched fist, her head pounding with so many emotions. Iliana could not describe how she was feeling.

  "Mother!... Stop this!... Please!..." Iliana cried out, her eyes filling up with tears.

  Mother’s eyes quickly changed from as dark as night to the eyes Iliana recognised, but had not seen for awhile.

  "I-Iliana..." Mother muttered in a soft yet anxious tone, stepping forward and dropping her phone and the envelopes onto the floor.

  Iliana stepped back a little confused. ‘

  Was it the real Mother or was it her demon playing games?’

  Was the question that formed in Iliana’s mind.

  "What is going on?... What is wrong with me?..." Mother asked in a shaky voice, raising her trembling hands out in front of her and staring into them.

  "M-Mother?... Is that really you?" Iliana questioned still unsure whether to step forward.

  Mother fell to her knees tears rolled down her face.

  "What is going on with me?... There is something inside of me making me do things... things I..." Mother wailed.

  As Iliana rushed to her Mother started to shake her head violently side to side and when she stopped a different voice spoke out loud making Iliana stop in her tracks and Yuki whimper.

  "Get out of my way... weakling!"

  "No!... Please!.... Stop this!"

  Iliana watched as Mother argued to herself with her voice changing from a deep and gravely pitch, to a mewling and scared tone.

  "M-Mother?" Iliana mumbled her eyes open wide and her heart racing.

  Mother instantly looked at Iliana, her eyes were slightly red from the crying. She stretched her arms out to Iliana.

  "Help me!... Iliana!... Please... help me!" Mother pleaded. "I am so sorry."

  Iliana quickly dropped to her knees in front of Mother and held her hand. But almost instantly felt a burning sensation and had to let go quickly. Mother started to laugh out hysterically.

  "She cannot help you because she is born to kill a demon like you and I!..." Bellowed a voice.