Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
CARTER
The Next Morning…
We arrive at the abandoned barn where the priest waits for us. Two armed guards stand on each side of the building secured by Bones and his brothers.
When the guards standing by the door spot us they wave us over.
Heather walks in first, a confident and slightly crazed smile on her lips. Our immediate attention is drawn to the priest kneeling and shackled to the floor.
“How has death row been?” Heather giggles softly.
“I’m not on death row.”
She rubs her hands together and informs him that he’s wrong.
“Oh but you have been. Please don’t get upset though. It ends today.”
Father Desjardins stares at her, his eyes watery and bloodshot, looking like he hasn’t slept a wink since he has been here.
“There’s still time to save your soul. God will forgive you.”
Heather tilts her head at him, her blue eyes darkening as she balls her hands into fists.
“God is dead.”
He shakes his head.
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to his grace.”
She pulls her leg back and swings it forward, kicking him in the mouth.
“Ephesians will not save you. No scripture will. It’s all a pile of lies.”
What he doesn’t realize is there’s no Bible quote that will make her back down. Words from the Bible will only trigger her and cause more violence.
Killian glances at me, a small grin on his face as he mouths, ‘perfect.’
“How long has it been since your last confession, Father?” Heather asks with bitterness in her tone.
Blood drips from his bottom lip as he answers her.
“It has been awhile. I’m only required to go once a year.”
The smile that forms on her lips as she turns to me is foreboding and slightly sadistic, hinting at our girl’s plans for the priest.
“I will hear your confession now. Make it good if you want to be absolved of your sins.”
He shakes his head and glares at her like she’s an idiot.
Big mistake.
“You are a layperson. You cannot confer absolution.”
She squats down in front of him and stares into his eyes, her fury increasing by the second.
“Well, you’ll have to take your chances. You are the only priest here, and you cannot absolve yourself of your sins. Tell us what you’re responsible for in regard to Carter Bonetti. What did you do to him while you were supposed to help him?”
He glances at me for help and swallows hard.
“You could stop this.”
I shrug my shoulders as I glare at him, feeling as much hatred for this man as Heather does.
“Maybe. Maybe not, but I won’t bother trying. I wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire.”
Heather rises to her feet, her patience visibly dwindling.
“Confess your sins before you die.”
His eyes bounce from me to Killian as if hoping we will intervene.
“I was responsible for creating Carter's spiritual treatment plan. He had demons and obviously still does. His refusal of simple touch is a result of that demon wrapping itself around his soul. Everything I ordered was to save his charred soul from eternal damnation.”
This man doesn’t know it, but Heather is far angrier about what was done to me than what he did to her. That’s who this woman is. Hurting those she loves is worse than doing anything to her.
“Carter made you a gift. Wasn’t that nice?”
He glances at me, his gaze filled with fear as he trembles.
This man knows from experience what I am capable of if you push me to a dark place.
Human beings are resilient and can get through almost anything, but they can also turn into vicious animals if they are pushed too far.
When I was in St. Dymphna’s, that’s exactly what happened.
I was mostly a peaceful young man until they tied me to a bed as several of the staff touched me repeatedly as I begged and pleaded for them to stop.
They didn’t listen to my cries. Nobody cared.
Nobody intervened. Instead, they laughed at my agony.
Heather walks over to the metal shelf with supplies that Bones dropped off for her.
She picks up the wooden paddle with nails through it that I made for her and swings it in the air, a laugh bubbling out of her when the priest flinches, anticipating her hitting him.
“Not yet, Father.”
She walks over to him and strokes the nails over his cheek.
“Where is Jedediah?”
Tears fall down his cheeks, as his bottom lip quivers.
“I can’t tell you. He will kill me.”
She pulls the paddle back and swings it forward. He flinches as he cries out expecting the hit. We can visibly see the artery in his neck throbbing from his racing heart.
“Do you think I won’t?”
He shakes his head as he stares at her with a hopeful gaze.
“There’s good in you. Everything I’ve done is for money. I’m not an evil man—I’m greedy, but not inherently bad. I have never had sex with a child.”
I arch an eyebrow as I scratch my head, deep in thought.
“Is greed not one of the seven deadly sins?”
Heather walks around to his naked back and taunts him as she rubs the paddle up and down, the nails grazing his bare skin.
“Oh no” She fake pouts, jutting her bottom lip out. “It is, isn’t it, Father?”
Father Desjardins hangs his head down, knowing what comes next. His lips move, but his words aren’t audible as Heather pulls the paddle back, ready to strike him, but speaking first.
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some men, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
She swings the paddle forward, hitting his back, and the sound escaping from his lungs is something I’ll never forget. It’s loud, gut-wrenching, and earned.