Alyza rushed down the busy street, her heart drumming in her
ears as she navigated her way to the unorthodox church. Her mind was still reeling when she began opening
the large iron gate.
“I see you’ve heard.”
Alyza turned and saw the familiar grey-haired priest tending to his garden. “Good morning, Father Warren. Did he tell you why?”
Confusion showed in the priest’s face. “Why?”
“I’ve known Zed for as long as I can remember
and he has never expressed an interest to attend a normal school, why now? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that he is
going to transfer to my school, but why now?”
Father Warren smiled slightly. “He told me that he’s doing it because he thinks it would make you happy.”
Alyza tried and failed miserably to hide her embarrassment. “Oh, well, ok.”
The old priest bent over and took in the aroma
of a nearby patch of tulips. “To be
honest, none of us here are particularly fond of the idea of him leaving the
church. He was just a little boy when
his foster parents died in that fire, but everyone still suspected him due to
the suspicious circumstances surrounding his survival. His parents were colleagues and dear friends
of mine, so I adopted him when they passed away, but he was entirely
uncontrollable until he met you. I would
have never allowed this transfer if it wasn’t to your school. Arrangements have already been made so that
you’ll be in the same class, please keep him out of trouble.”
“I will.”
“Well, I’m sure you didn’t come here to spend the whole day talking with an old fossil like myself, off you go,” said Father Warren, giving Alyza a slight push towards the church.
Any casual pedestrian would have barely spared a
glance to the seemingly average structure, but Alyza knew that it was far from
average. Upon closer inspection one
would find thousands, if not tens of thousands of strange small symbols carved,
engraved and painted all over the church.
She also knew that over twenty priests lived within and they were all
exorcist, but what they did exactly? She
could only speculate, since they were incredibly secretive. In fact, calling the building a church was
being generous, since no services were provided and the entire interior had
been changed to resemble a barracks, if a barrack had separate rooms.
Alyza passed some of the priests as she made her way to
Zed’s room and was universally greeted with affection; her presence had been at
first unwelcome, but as the years went by even the most stubborn priests grew
to love her as a daughter.
“If you are looking for Zed, he is in his room,”
said one of the priests as he exited his own quarters.
“Thanks, Father Steven,” said Alyza as she rounded the corner and opened Zed’s bedroom door.
“Thanks, Father Steven,” said Alyza as she rounded the corner and opened Zed’s bedroom door.
There he stood, buck-naked.
