Chapter 3 #3
“Father Fortier, I presume,” he croaked, his voice crackling with the tell-tale rasp of a smoker. “It is a pleasure to meet you. I was so grateful to receive your letter.”
Ah, I thought to myself, this must be Havencroft. How na?ve the poor bastard was to believe the word of someone he had never met.
I offered a smile and shook his hand “Please, call me Father Levette. I thank you kind fellows for allowing me the opportunity to be here with you all. It seems we have a lot to discuss.”
Havencroft nodded and began to introduce me to the men, each one stepping forward and offering his hand while analyzing me under their patronizing stares.
The medical examiner, mortician, three members of the medical board, two orderlies and Havencroft’s second in line were all in attendance, inserting themselves with an air of superiority as they informed me of their job status.
After the introductions were done and it was deemed that we were all adequately acquainted, we took our seats around the large oval table in the middle of the room.
Havencroft sat at the head of the table furthest from the door, while I chose the opposing end to ensure not one of them would be able to run past me to escape.
The others filled the seats on either side, looking between Havencroft and I to see who would speak first.
“Let me begin by offering my sincerest condolences–”
“Please do not apologize,” I said, lifting my hand to interrupt Havencroft’s little speech. I would not dare to hear the lies on his tongue as he apologized for Ria’s death when we both knew he was at fault. “I know Ria was a troubled soul.”
Though it felt ugly to say aloud, I was relieved in the knowledge that it was not a complete lie. Ria’s soul was bound, manipulated and tortured every time she was alive…troubled was severely downplaying it.
The men around the table nodded, looking at each other with an intensity reserved only for shared deceptions.
“A reliable source tells me that Ms. Radomir was being influenced by something demonic.” A collection of agreements were murmured as I continued on.
“As you can most likely tell, I have a fair amount of education in such matters,” I commented, gesturing to the cassock and collar I had on.
I longed to pull the blasted piece of card free and get the hideous clothes off my body, but it could wait a little while longer.
My discomfort was barely something to register in comparison to what Ria had experienced.
“Would one of you be kind enough to walk me through what happened leading up to Ms. Radomir’s untimely death? ”
Havencroft shifted nervously in his seat as all eyes turned to him, his heart thudding in his chest so loudly that I longed to pierce it with my fangs and watch the blood spurt out.
“Her suicide,” Havencroft corrected pointedly, “was a tragedy that shook this establishment. She was admitted by a concerned neighbor who claimed Ms. Radomir had been acting strange, talking about all manner of occultist things. Valeria—I hope you do not find fault in me calling her by her given name, Father, but I cannot bear to speak of my patients so callously—was distraught during her first few days. She refused to eat or drink, screaming like a banshee until her throat was raw. She thrashed around the room and once we realized there was a possibility of harm, we decided it was best to sedate her.”
I did my best to remain calm and keep my features schooled, but there was a part of me longing to get it over with. Every word he spoke was a bold lie; even if his pulse did not give him away, the sweat beads around his temples was indication enough.
“Within our dutiful care, we realized that the demonic entity was feeding on her. She grew weary and withdrawn. As I am sure you will agree, our only recourse was to begin trying to exorcise it out of her.”
“Hm, yes. That would be the correct course of action for someone possessed,” I agreed, choosing my words carefully. “These exorcisms did not work on her, did they?”
The doctor shifted in his seat and swallowed, shuffling the papers in front of him. I glanced around at the other men, watching their nervousness as they tried to bury their misconduct and cruelty with my friend.
Havencroft cleared his throat. “No, they did not work. It seemed like a stubborn spirit.”
“Did you contact an expert or seek help from the church?”
“Well, no, not exactly. We are well versed on it and did not feel that we had to outsource help. It was not such an extreme case that we could not handle it.”
I tilted my head as I looked at the doctor, scraping my teeth across my lower lip. “Then why did it not work?”
“She was too weak,” Havencroft said on a sigh.
“Then what happened?”
“My men—” he gestured to the two orderlies seated on either side of him, “—they found her in her cell, hanging from the bars. It was a great tragedy.”
Everyone nodded in agreement, and I felt the last piece of my resolve snap. They were filthy liars, degenerates in the suits of men. They would pay for their mistakes and I was more than happy to execute the justice they deserved.
I stood, walking over to the door. With my back to them, they did not see me slip a key from my pocket that I’d stolen from the clerk, and lock the door with a satisfying click.
Turning around, I offered a sickening smile, allowing my fangs to descend and my eyes to slowly change.
The men began to panic, leaping from their seats and looking around for another exit.
Unfortunately for them, the only way out was through the door behind me…
the one which they would most definitely not reach intact.
“What is happening here?!” Havencroft screamed, thumping his hand on the table. “You charlatan! Pretending to be a member of the clergy when you’re really a demon!”
I rolled my eyes, pulling the blasted collar free from my neck and dropping it onto the floor.
For good measure, I crushed my heel into the piece of white card and beamed when the fear palpitating in the room increased.
They watched in abject horror as I took the belt from my hips, lifting the crucifix to my lips as I kissed it.
“Me, a demon?” My laugh was bitter as I let the belt fall to the floor. “No, monsieur. I am the angel of death, and your souls are mine to claim.”
Tucking the key away, I listened for a moment to see if I could hear the secretary’s heartbeat. It was a distant sound, further away than even the entryway, and I smiled smugly knowing she had taken leave for her lunch. There would be no one to hear the screams or come running to their rescue.
“You have an immeasurable amount of audacity to call someone a charlatan, good doctor. After all, you play dress up and use your—what I would only assume is forged—medical standing to torture and murder the people who are sent to you for help.”
One of the orderlies screamed and tried to run behind me. My hand shot out and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him into the air. I laughed when his legs dangled, his blunt fingernails clawing into the skin on my hand. With a flick of my wrist, his neck snapped and I dumped his body with a thud.
“You say Valeria killed herself? I knew the very soul of that woman, and she would never leave this world willingly. She had a path and a pure heart and you ripped that from the world!” I prowled closer until I was standing in front of the medical examiner.
He cowered in fear, his gasps sending the foul odor of his breath towards me.
I scrunched my nose and smacked him hard enough that his body cracked the wall as he collided with it.
The tainted iron of his blood filled the air.
“You think a letter filled with falsehoods would deter me from finding out what truly happened to her?”
The other orderly and a member of the medical board tried to hit me but I swerved, tripping the board member with my foot while I delivered a punch to the orderly.
“Please, sir!” the orderly cried, pleading with me.
“What is your name?” I asked, helping him to his feet.
“Tyler, sir.”
“Well, Tyler, please keep begging.” I connected my fist with his nose, relishing in the crunch of his bones. I bent over him, hitting him again and again. “I want to hear your cries, your screams. Beg me to stop. Beg me the exact way I’m sure Ria begged you, pleading for some reprieve.”
Tyler opened his mouth to speak, holding his hands up to protect himself, but I moved quicker.
I stepped on his chest and grabbed both arms, yanking them hard enough that they tore free.
His blood spurted everywhere, spraying onto my face and neck.
I licked my lips, tasting the hot liquid, and felt the monster within me break free.
Crouching over his body, I held my hand out and drank handfuls of blood until his heart stopped beating.
With the bloody haze overtaking any rationality I had left, I ignored the screams of terror as I ripped bodies apart.
With each limb torn, each gulp of blood from the evil batards, I felt as though I was honoring Ria, bringing her the vengeance she deserved.
They had ripped their life from her, and now I would rip theirs away, too, along with their limbs.
When blood coated the walls and I had drank my fill, I willed the fog to clear until my eyes were focused solely on the only survivor—Dr. Havencroft.
“We didn’t mean to kill her!” he cried, shaking as he sat in the corner covered in the blood of his friends and employees. “I was just trying to heal her!”
“Heal her?” I spat. “You ruined her! Ria was perfect and you tried to convince her that she was crazy.
You beat her, and starved her, and killed her.
You snuffed her life out to feed your own ego.
The savior doctor. The God-fearing man. Well, let me tell you something, espèce d'escroc!” I yelled, picking him up to his feet.
“Your God is not here to save you, is he? Let my judgement be enough.”
Havencroft began to sob, shaking beneath my hands.
I smiled menacingly at his trembling. Letting go of him, I stepped closer, towering over him until he was encompassed in my shadows.
He looked up slowly, meeting my eyes, and I thrust my hand forward, ripping it through his body.
The look of shock and terror in his eyes soothed me and I took pride in it as I ripped his spine free from his body.
I dumped the bloodied bones on top of his crumpled body, watching his blood seep out beneath him.
“I hope you burn in Hell, connard.”