“You mustn’t be so cautious. I’m not going to hurt you,” he says.
When he turns, it’s with the same kind expression I’ve come to know. His face is softer than the picture, not as harsh or powerful. The pain and regret in his eyes are as clear as they were before.
“You’ve been here all this time,” I say. “When you said you came back after reclaiming your faith, where did you go?”
He clasps his hands in front of him, a gentle grin lifting the corners of his mouth. “You should know that there are things well beyond this world, Aiden. After all, you’re a Gateway.”
“Why didn’t you say anything before?” He’s calm and content. A little too much for my liking.
“I know what you think of me. I’m aware that most of us, how do I say it? Change? Others like me, they turn when they can’t handle it any longer on this plane. But I’ve paid my dues.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.” His answer is too simple.
“How does a Bleeder pay his dues?”
Father Raimi chuckles at this. “Bleeder? Is this your term for us?”
I don’t answer.
“Well, who do you think told the others where to find The Order?”
Others. The Men of Light.
“You mean you—”
“Gave up my brothers, yes. It took a long time to forgive myself, but I did what needed to be done.”
He could be lying, but when has he ever deceived me? I could have fallen into the depths of the tunnels. He could have let me, but he didn’t.
Father Raimi takes a step closer. In return, I take a step back.
“What is it about me that frightens you? Have I ever harmed you?”
“I’ve never been one to trust a Bleeder.” I take another step back to create more space between us.
“That didn’t stop you from talking to me before. What’s changed? I’m no different.” He follows, stepping forward again.
“Because… you’re one of them.”
“So because my brother is the Dark Priest, the fact that a higher power has granted me a life outside of darkness means nothing?”
“You’re asking me to believe in something I’ve never seen.”
Father Raimi nods with understanding. “You don’t believe in God, yet he has blessed you with his touch. A gift that grants peace to souls who need guidance. Even this is not worthy of your faith?”
He has a point, but he’s not telling me anything new. This is a lecture I’ve gotten several times from Father Martin. I know what I do is unique and magical in its own way. Though what it’s done to my life has been anything but. I have to remind myself that it’s the Light that’s kept me from becoming something too dark to turn back from. How can I ignore that?
“I’m not sure your faith and mine are the same thing,” I say.
“I see.” He nods again, a strange twitch of a smile coming to life. “What of the voices in your head, Aiden? Or that book you keep? Are you denying what those things make you feel in your gut?”
I regret confiding in him, exposing that part of me that shouldn’t exist.
A warmth inside of me burrows like the smoke of a fire inside a locked room. Darkness awakens, nudging me from the depths, searching for an escape. I can feel every part of me reacting to his words, believing what he says is true. A part of me that I wish I could remove, be rid of altogether, is alive and knocking at my bones. Let us out, Aiden. Let us out, it says.
“No.” I back toward the exit, picking my feet up slowly as I go. “You’re wrong.”
Father Raimi tilts his head, offering a hand. “Let me take you to the tunnels, Aiden. We’ll end this together.”
This could be it. My only chance to come face-to-face with the Dark Priest, putting an end to whatever he’s done to me. And if he has Koren, if she’s down there somewhere, how can I resist?
My mind is made up. Who better to have on my side than the brother of the very beast causing this nightmare? I accept his offer with a nod, despite the warning blaring in my mind. Father Raimi is pleased, pointing the way.
If something bigger than me can forgive him for his treachery, shouldn’t I?
blinding ray of light shoots across the room, so intense I’m forced to cover my eyes. I blink back the spots obstructing my vision as Father Martin enters the church.
“What in the world? How did you get in here?” He peers around me, investigating the room.
I turn back to the altar to find it empty, the candles extinguished. Father Raimi has fled before I can accept his offer, leaving me helpless for the time being. I curse under my breath.
“The door was open,” I manage to say.
Should I tell him about Father Raimi? Does he know? I consider this. He used to be the one person I could speak to freely on this matter, but even he can only take so much. Somewhere, I have to draw the line. I’m in this on my own, whether I want to be or not.
“Open?” Father Martin inspects the door handle, baffled. “It’s a good thing you discovered it first.”
“I agree,” I say, shaking off the remnants of anxiety and panic.
After thoroughly checking for a break-in, Father Martin calls a locksmith to confirm all is well, and carries on with his day. With the holiday coming up, hordes of families visit the church, keeping him too busy to over think it. By noon Father Martin has prayed with dozens of worshippers, and with each hour a new batch passes through the doors. The day shows no sign of slowing when Father Martin finds me at the back of the church.
“It’s Friday,” he says, as I finish polishing the last of the statues. “How about you take the rest of the day off?”
“Really?”
“Sure. I’ll speak to Father Williams this evening and see about getting you back in school come Monday.” He removes the cloth from my hands and smiles.
“That would be great. Thank you, Father.”
As I turn to walk away, he adds, “The time is now, Aiden. I suggest you gather your strength and call upon the Lord to see you through this.”
Great. Add that to the parting-words-you-never-want-to-hear list.
I find myself back in the cemetery sitting on top of Koren’s dusty blanket. The mausoleum is even darker when the sky is gray with clouds. It’s an ominous vibe today, counting the minutes, expecting the worst to happen. What good am I to anyone when I can’t even save myself?
It’s different this time. When Koren was gone before, I knew in my heart I’d never see her again. I hoped she’d gone somewhere safe, though my mind made me think the worst. Back then I didn’t know what had really become of her; anything could have been possible. But now that I know my worst nightmares have come to life, that she could be out there somewhere turning into something I can’t save her from, I feel even more useless. I want to save her. I would if she’d let me. If only I didn’t let her walk out of here before. If I’d just begged her to pass over, she wouldn’t be wandering the world, a complete stranger to herself. An out of control monster.
Pain pierces my fist as I lunge against the marble tomb, punching into the solid slab. I did this to her. There’s no going back now. Not for her. Not for me.
My fist meets the cold stone over and over. Pain throbs up and down my arm. I pull back to strike again. The clouds part, letting the sunlight wash over the intricate engravings along the tomb. They’re the same symbols I noticed the first time I walked through the mausoleum gate. I rub my fingers against the slab, removing particles of dust from the outlines. What I thought were symbols are not that at all. They’re words covered in layers of dirt.
I spit on the sleeve of my sweatshirt and clean the stone as best I can. Along the entire length of the stone, the words repeat themselves.
With the Light I send thee, forever into the depths of darkness.
I take in the words and their meaning, remembering what Koren told me. The Dark Priest was bound here by the Men of Light. If he ever stepped foot in this tomb, he could never leave. Were these
words the chant used to bind his soul?
My eyes read the words until they’re locked forever in my mind. If now is the time to end the Dark Priest, with these words, I may be more than ready.
he sun is still out when I run to my car. I have to get back to the church. Even if it means lying in wait until the Dark Priest shows his face. He’ll show. I know it.
My fingers are on the handle when I feel them coming up behind me. I whip around to face them. At least a dozen Bleeders, all bloody limbs, and ages from young to old, start forming a line in my direction. I feel like a man about to be executed, and they’re the firing squad. Each of them stares at me. A little girl with short brown hair holds the hand of a woman old enough to be her mother. An old man breathes heavily beside them as if he’d once depended on an oxygen tank. Three teenagers that have suffered some sort of car accident have glass embedded in their faces, and wounds in their torsos. One’s neck seems to have completely snapped, a clean break. I take in the sight of each of them as I stumble back against Izzie.
“Stop! You don’t understand. I can’t… I can’t do this.” I hold my hands up defensively.
The little girl’s bright green eyes look up at me. “But, he said you could help us.”
“I know. Trust me, I want to.” I keep my voice kind, not wanting to alarm her. To the others, I explain. “If I do this, something really bad is going to happen. He’s been using you against me. There are things that will escape if I let you in.”
“He promised!” A teen girl with an ashy dark complexion speaks, shards of glass moving along with her features. “We’ve been waiting for you. To go home. You can’t expect us to wait any longer.”
“We can’t let you leave us here.” An old woman in a hospital gown fights back the tremor of her lips.
What can I say to make them understand?
“I want more than anything to help you. Please believe that.” I look over their faces, my stomach aching for all them. “I have to do something first. Then I promise I will come back for you. I won’t let you rot here.”
“Why should we believe you?” The mother of the little girl is angry, frightened for her daughter. She pulls the little girl close to her side, tears beginning to roll down her small, round face.
“Because I’m the only one you can believe right now. Anyone else is not doing this for your benefit. That man, the one you speak of, he wants to use me for his personal gain. If any of you pass through me—you have no idea what that would bring into this world.”
“He’s lying!” The old man steps forward, his breathing ragged. “The man said so. He said he’d force us away.”
I shake my head, pushing my hands forward, begging them to stop as they inch closer. “Please! You don’t understand. I’m not lying!”
They’re an angry mob ready for a lynching. Nothing I say could possibly turn off the fear and rage they’re feeling. I’m asking these people to suffer longer than they already have. It isn’t fair.
One of the boys from the wreckage says to the others: “I don’t care about any of it. I can’t stay here anymore.”
“What if he’s right?” A woman comes forward, her head bald like that of a cancer patient. “What is it you’re afraid of?” she asks me.
I’m thankful for her, for her sickly brown eyes that hold so much understanding and compassion. “The man you speak of, he’s bringing something evil into this world. And he’s using me to bring them back. I have to stop this in order to help others like you, but until then, he could destroy everything.”
Her eyes watch mine. I can see the effect my words have on her. “We have to let him go,” she tells the others.
“What?” Several voices shout at once. “You can’t possibly believe him,” someone says.
“Let us through. Please!” says the mother. Her cries pain me, as does her daughter’s fear as she hides her face behind her mother’s leg.
All of them except one begin descending upon me. How much longer can I resist them?
“Stay away from him!” A familiar voice rings out. It’s harsh and frightening.
They cower, drifting from each other as they look back to find the source. From between them, Koren stands tall, a powerful force surrounding her. I can feel it vibrating through the air, hitting me like the tremor of an earthquake. Her skin is ashen and sickly, affected by the disease enveloping her. She’s trying to fight it, but there’s no mistake that she’s turning.
“Koren?”
She answers me with a look, those vacant blue eyes swallowing me whole.
“Go,” she says to the others. “Now!”
One by one they blink out of existence, leaving me alone to face a rogue Bleeder.
“Where have you been? We’ve been looking everywhere!”
Koren steps closer. “I’ve been doing what I promised I would do. Watching over you.”
“But—”
“You’ve let the infection take over, Aiden. I know what you can do. I know that he’s been using you. There was no other choice, I had to go look for him myself.” She balks with disgust. “Little did I know. You’ve been that priest’s puppet this entire time. He’s been manipulating you from the start.”
I take a long stride toward her. “Father Martin has done nothing but protect me. Whatever it is you think you know about him, I can assure you it’s bullshit.”
A shadow crosses over her eyes, a flicker of black catching the light before she blinks again, bringing back her pale blue. I have to remember what I’m dealing with here. She’s unstable. One step over the line and she could snap.
“Don’t be stupid. The priest is nothing but a bystander. It’s the other one you should be worried about.”
“Father Raimi? He’s the Dark Priest’s brother, I know. But he said…” I don’t finish, because I’ve finally looked past my own ignorance to see it.
“He could be anywhere, anyone,” she’d said the first time she brought me here.
“Father Raimi’s the Dark Priest, isn’t he?”
Koren’s unnaturally still as she says, “It took me a long time to find him. He’s been watching his tracks. The last thing I expected was for him to portray himself as a priest. I wondered why he never came looking for me, and then I figured it out. That’s why I circled the initials on the tomb. I knew eventually you’d come looking for me. All I could hope was that you’d see it.” With eerie movement, she tilts her head to observe me. “I kept an eye on him, making sure he didn’t go anywhere near you, but it was impossible since you kept going back to him. He doesn’t need me anymore, because you fell right into his hands. I told you to stay away from the church. That something evil was happening there. But you didn’t listen.”
She looks over her shoulder and raises a hand, signaling for me to be quiet. She doesn’t have to. I can feel it, too. More Bleeders are coming.
“They’re desperate,” I tell her.
“Too desperate,” she says. “Enough to do whatever it takes to get through you. We have to go.”
She doesn’t have to tell me twice. I jump into the car, turning to unlock the passenger door. Koren’s already beside me with a sly grin on her face.
“Guess I don’t have to hide it anymore.” A glimmer of pain reflects in her eyes at the reality of her words. That little bit of emotion is the one sign I need to know she isn’t gone yet.
“Guess not.” I force a smile.
Bleeders begin to appear from behind the trees and tombstones. I kick Izzie into drive, peeling around the bend toward the gates. In the rearview mirror, cold faces stare back at me, watching as their only hope of leaving this place fades away.
I half expect them to follow, but for whatever reason, they don’t.
My phone rings, Trevor’s name popping up on the screen. With a quick glance at Koren, remorse written all over her face, I remove the phone from my pocket. I have to make things right. To put a stop to his hold on her, and kill the infection inside of me that worsens every day.
&nbs
p; The only words I say when I answer are: “It ends tonight.”
e meet Trevor and Evan outside Trevor’s house. We have to bide our time until Father Martin and the families are no longer in the church. I need a plan, but the problem is: How does someone sneak up on and kill a Dark Priest? I’m sure there’s no handbook for something like that. It’s either strike quick or die. Can’t say I’m a fan of the last option.
“Maybe we need some type of distraction,” Evan suggests as he keeps a safe distance from Koren’s unnerving presence. I can’t help but notice the way he looks at her, like he’s ready for her to go rabid any second.
She’s haunting in a way, standing beside us as if she’s any other girl, but inside she’s battling a yearning for the darkness to overtake her. It’s this that makes us so alike. I may not be a Bleeder, but I know what it feels like to fight a part of you that is beyond your control.
Trevor considers this idea, and says, “He’s right. We can’t just go in there guns blazing and have no backup plan.”
“Wait. We?” I fail to see what good it would do to bring them along. “You guys are not we. Koren and I are going together. That’s it. We don’t have a clue what to expect once we get in there. The last thing we need is to worry about you guys.”
“He’s right.” Koren cuts in, her matted blonde hair draped over her shoulders. The frame of her body looks fragile, but the energy radiating off her says otherwise. We’re cautious of her, observant of her every movement. “You’re only gonna distract Aiden when he needs to focus. The Dark Priest will be expecting him, but he won’t be expecting me. He thinks I’m long gone.”
“How do you know?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I just do. Now that Aiden has proven himself, I don’t feel the lifeline between us anymore.”
That explains her deterioration, I realize.
“Fair enough,” Trevor says, like her explanation is perfectly normal. “Still. You’re thinking about going through the door and then what?”
“Well, like she said. He’ll be expecting me. Raimi has already offered to take me to the tunnels. All I have to do is accept.”
The Gateway Through Which They Came Page 20
