To Be Obscure

| Ch. 34

The yells weren't regular screams, but chants and calls, leading into songs and hymns. I followed the sounds and rushed up the stairs from the left side. These were darker, slimmer, with no candles lit; my eyes became my light.

The first floor reminded me of the room I'd woken up in with Victor. The walls were black, without paint or wallpaper; the smell of mold lingered in the air. I knew the manors were in need of repair, but this was by far the worst out of the three. Every bit was dirty and dingy, and the blood that dripped through the towel from my wrist, didn't help at all.

That it didn't matter. Once Abigail was gone for good, the properties would return to the city, and I could return to my life.

"Tonight, we welcome all newcomers!" Abigail's voice echoed from the garden, and I turned my head to look further down the hall. The build of the manor was the same as the others.

"Young, old—you're all welcome within the Lord's light! Tonight, we will bless those who have come forward, wishing to repent for their sins. Our Lord will choose who can enter Heaven, through us and our blood!"

A blessing; they were conducting the blessing. Through the large, open windows, I could see the circle of Evergreens and their lit candles. They hummed quietly as Abigail stood within their center, circling a group of six men and three women, all of whom were seated on the ground. I inched towards the glass, stepping over an overturned refrigerator to hide next to an old cabinet; I pressed my shoulder against it as much as I could, and dimmed my eyes.

I watched from the dark.

"You see, man was forsaken the moment he was created on this Earth. Thousands of Angels fought to prove the fact that we, as humans, do not deserve his full love and grace. They—casted down onto this Earth as scum—have given us the power and insight to prove their sentencing unjust. We can save the souls of the deserving man, just in time for the Second Coming. Together, we can walk through the gates of Heaven."

Her voice was beautiful, I had to admit, and the way she spoke to everyone was convincing. I could see how I was deceived at one point in my life. She'd spoken to me the same way, and I was happy once, wound tight on her finger. Just like those people who groveled at her feet.

"And I, Abigail Sutton, will be the one to judge you. To free you from your sins." Ron broke through the crowd, carrying a knife in his hand. He was dressed in white, just like everyone else; his curls shadowed parts of his face.

I bit back my snarl and urge to run out the doors. Not only was I outnumbered, I was still alone; I thought if I ran up the stairs, I'd find Victor. Instead, I walked into the blessing on my own.

Outside, Ron circled Abigail as she continued, quoting scriptures. She held her hands up above her head as the clouds parted and revealed the moon. The people on the dirt awed at the sight; I looked up at the sky, and thought, pure coincidence.

"Tonight, my children—"

Ron slid the knife along her right wrist, catching the blood into a glass that shimmered in the moonlight.

"You shall drink from this glass; you shall drink my blood—"

Ron did the same to her other wrist, pressing the glass against her skin. He watched—everyone watched—her blood slowly trickle in with the rest.

"If you are worthy of his light, you will live, eternally, with us; be one with the Evergreens."

Abigail took the glass from Ron's hand and nodded at his grin. When she turned her back to him, he slid his tongue along the blade, tasting her. His eyes rolled back; he savored her.

"If you are far too full of sin, I cannot save you. By morning, after the blood has settled into your being, you will have died. You will have been consumed by the evil within your soul. If that happens, I will pray for you and ask his Lord to grant you some sort of acceptance. For that, I need each of you to repent to me, now, and reveal your sins."

I remembered her words, because I had said them before. Hundreds of years ago, I poured my blood into a Goblet and asked those who chose to follow us to drink from it; I would've been their savior.

She wanted me to do this again, and I'd agreed. Yet, no one fetched me.

"You know you can't trust me," I said quietly to her, even though she couldn't hear me, "that's why you tried to kill Nathan. I'm next. Who else, Abby? Who else will you kill? These people? I can't—"

I pushed my bloodied arm against the door and it creaked into the night, stopping the hums of her Evergreens.

"—I can't let you kill these people."