Chapter 16 - A Kiss That Endangers Part 2

Lunch was just the same as the priests’ first one when they arrived in the mansion. However, this time, the members of the Rogratiatto Family were nowhere to be seen. No one, not even the Master of the House, cared to dine with them. Father Julien understood the Master and Mistress’ absence, knowing they were still spending time with their son, but Ysabelle? He was expecting she would eat together with them.

“I guess all of this food is ours to take, ” was his joke, looking at Father Marcus’ way who was silent the whole time of their meal.

“I guess so, ” Marcus replied, curving a small smile on his secretary. It was only brief though, for the prick of disappointment in his heart was too strong not to acknowledge. He was in fact looking forward to eating with Ysabelle, hoping to ask her again about her cousin’s cause of demonic possession -- if she knew it-- and also to renew their uncomfortable relationship with a lighthearted conversation of her hobby. Remembering about her in the plaza taking pictures of him and other people, he was inclined to believe she was an avid fan of this pastime.

“Were you able to take the call of Father Einsle?” he asked, changing the subject.

Father Julien nodded then, drinking a glass of orange juice to clear his throat before he elaborated, “Yes, I was able to. Father Einsle gave me instructions on where we will go next after here.”

“I hope the possession isn’t on another continent. You know I don’t want to leave this mansion yet not until I get the answers I need from the family, ” Marcus let out. It was obvious to see that he was serious to find out the truth about André’s unclear possession.

“Oh, actually, you are in luck Father Marcus.” The priest beamed a smile on him then. “The next case will be just south of the city of Prague. It is in Dob?í?, I believe. A quiet town, which is very typical for a demonic possession case.”

Well, that did please Marcus more.

“And what of the victim? Is it typical too?” he further queried.

“It is, ” was Father Julien’s quick reply. “Very. A widowed man in his early forties who is the caretaker of the castle.”

“Castle?” Marcus thought he hadn’t heard it right. A castle? Seriously? Like one of those Disney royalty movies? Now, that’s something new.

“Yes, the Dobríe? Castle Father, ” he enlightened. “It is a very historical place here in Czech.”

“Hmm... interesting, ” Marcus announced. He had never stepped inside a castle before. Well, there was one building in particular that looked like a castle in Italy owned by two very important friends of his, a Clave woman and her archdemon/archangel husband, but they usually call it a humble mansion, not a castle. “How about the possession? Do they have details about it?” he asked, feeling curious.

Father Julien shrugged his shoulder. “Just the same old gory details you get as noted by Father Einsle. Unexplained scratch marks in the victim’s limbs and faces, red, pinpoint pupils, and inhuman strength, ” he enumerated.

“I see. I think it is just a low-class demon. Very easy to exorcise. If the Holy Pope wants me to do it, then that’s fine. We are here anyway. Might as well make the most of this trip.”

Marcus took his glass of orange juice and drank it wholeheartedly.

“Oh, about that, ” Father Julien stated, suddenly turning sheepish. “The Holy Pope ordered me to return to the Vatican.”

“Why so Father Julien?” Marcus questioned, his brows making an arch. They had always been together in his exorcism activities, so to bring that subject into view was unusual.

“The annual World Youth Day remember?” was the priest’s cool answer, already expecting Marcus to understand.

And he did, lifting both his brows in recognition. “Ah, yes, of course. You are the overseer of the preparations for it.”

They both smiled and had a moment of friendly silence.

“We will be leaving tomorrow Father. My plane ticket is scheduled at ten in the morning, while you are expected to arrive in the castle by lunch.”

“So, I guess I’ll have to defer investigating André’s case huh?” Marcus stated, feeling a little spark of regret.

“Most likely Father, ” was Father Julien’s reply.

“Hmmm... that’s too bad.”

Without intending it, his vision strayed and fell directly on Ysabelle’s empty chair. He stared at it for quite some time, whilst pressing the rim of the glass against his lips. A certain memory surfaced in his consciousness and this made his heartbeat spike up.

Damn... Of all the memories, why the kiss?

“But you can come back here once you are done in Dob?í?, ” Father Julien stated, managing to haul Marcus out of his unwelcome predicament. “That’s if Sir Alfon will still admit you here. I believe the man hates priests too much, but he is keeping himself patient on our presence for his eldest son.”

Marcus released a small grin. “That and the fact that we seem to be trespassers in his eyes. I have the feeling that he is hiding something. Something he doesn’t want us to know.”

“Well, I believe he’d be very pleased that we will be out of his mansion tomorrow, ” the secretary remarked, touching his slightly distended belly due to eating too much of the table’s sumptuous feast.

By afternoon, Father Julien was busy preparing his bag, while Father Marcus felt like taking a nap. He did try visiting André’s room once again after lunch, but Regina was adamant on not admitting him in. She said that her son was sleeping and that she didn’t want him to be disturbed. However, when the door was open enough for Father Marcus to peek, he noticed a man standing in front of the fireplace. It wasn’t Alfon clearly for the man was a lot older than he was, hunched over with a cane in his right hand. Amidst this though, there was no denying that the old man had an authoritative aura; one that was sharpened with time and experience. He had a wrinkled face, but a smooth bald head. His sharp, calculating eyes were directed down to a man sitting in the master chair, Alfon, who was talking to him with a tone that Marcus could only think of as submissive.

Odd.

Never had once he thought of Alfon as a servile type. Who could the old man be to make the Master of the House and his Mistress fidget nervously?

He had thought of the many possibilities and answers to that question while lying in his bed. In fact, it was too much for him to take that he simply dozed off, forgetting all of them all at once... or at least for the time being.

***

Marcus was in the gloomy dream again. The same different shades of black were ever noticeable in his line of sight when he decided to wander around the place. The coastline of black sand dunes seemed to feel a lot colder against his bare feet than it was in his last visit. Very cold. But--

‘Everything is cold here anyway, ’ was what he thought when he reached a rocky clearing. It wasn’t odd. Not at all.

However, something was out of place.

His shadow.

He found it absent now.

Was it a good or a bad sign? He didn’t know the answer, but a sudden echoing sound of laughter did strike a warning signal in him.

Marcus turned in circles in haste, wanting to find the source of the sound. His eyes immediately found it, from a man particularly, sitting in a big gray boulder with his elbows resting in his knees.

‘...slick blackness like a panther's...’ he immediately recalled André’s comment as soon as he noticed the waist-long hair of the man.

Their gazes connected and that did it for Marcus.

He writhed in pain as the black ink in his right arm reacted, releasing a gnawing, bone-sawing pain. Then, blue and violet flames stretched as high as his height danced wildly around him.

‘It will be soon...’ was the man’s vague statement Marcus could hear after he fell on the ground and lost consciousness.

***

Father Marcus woke up with heavy sweat in his forehead and temples. He quickly turned to look at the time in his right-side wall clock and found that it was thirty minutes past six. So it seems he actually slept the whole afternoon away without being productive of his investigation.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, he stood up and pulled the soaked white V-necked undershirt out of him. Dropping it on a nearby basket, he crossed the bed and entered the bathroom, intending to wash his face and wash away all of the distressing feelings he had while he was in the artificial world.

Yup. Another insane dream huh?

Another dream to tally in as a sign of his now-precarious situation. Another dream to prove to himself that he was now the host of the demon, and that demon had finally showed itself. It was exactly what André had detailed: heterochromatic eyes and long black hair.

Dammit! He cursed for the first time after taking a cool splash of water into his face. He turned off the faucet and leaned back against the granite bathroom sink with his arms folded in his chest. Beads of water from the edges of his hair dripped down his face, but he was not bothered by it.

Studying his recent exorcism rite thoroughly, there wasn’t anything that he could deem out a hole for the demon to cross through. How was the demon alive when in fact, he had exorcised it properly? It being a high-class demon would be a good answer, but surely there are other reasons why.

He examined the black ink of his right arm, raising it up higher in front of him, and found that it had a mixed different shade this time: blue and violet particularly. This was clear cut evidence that the demon inside him was taking action now.

‘It will be soon...’ that’s what Marcus remembered before he lost consciousness. What did the demon mean by it? Marcus hoped to know the answer. It wasn’t a matter of investigation or filing a Vatican report anymore. It was a matter of his life and if he was planning on exorcising the demon again himself, he must know the origin of it first. With that in mind, he quickly changed his priest slacks into faded jeans and partnered it with a white polo shirt for his last dinner tonight with the Rogratiatto Family. He was going to force the truth out of the family this night in one way or another, and he was going to start with Ysabelle if André was still unattainable.