p class="p1"span class="s1"Priestess meeting Jack/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Chapter I- The Red Church/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The fog was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. That didn't scare her, she was used to weird weather that announced weird events. What scared her was what could have been hiding in the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The Red Church wasn't frightening in itself. Being a spiritualist made her understand inexplicable phenomena, yet Fiona felt that there was more in that church than just cold stones and wooden benches. Sure, the benches were old and the stone was building an aura of death. But there must have been something good, like a bright side. The sun behind the fog. The good part. Isn't always a good part in movies, or books or whatever propaganda they us on us nowadays?/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Death was suffocating everything related to the church. That church was definitely not hosting any good events. Not a wedding, not a child being baptised-basically nothing that was related to joy, humans or life..span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Of course, no one was taking her seriously, especiallyspan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanthat Freddy Riley, with his realistic vision, and his closed mind. The lawyer wasn't able to see past facts and sometimes, just sometimes, there were things that couldn't be explained by reason. And emthat/em was pissing her off. After endless nights of argumentsem in the dining room/em, after long discussions and cheap wine, that lawyer was a pain for everyone. She took her time, trying to redeem the guy, but for some people there was simply no room for redemption, no horizons tospan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanbe extended. Those long evening of chit chat and laughter were long behind, so what's the point of thinking about them now, in what seem to be the darkest hour. span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""But nobody takes me seriously anyways, she do i".span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Walking through the dark alley she wasn't able to hear a sound. Maybe that's why the discussions and monologue was flooding in her mind. To keep something alive. To feel something close to her. Not a bird, not a snake, not anything that could've been marginally alive was there. Or they stayed quiet and hidden. Like she should class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Not even my heartbeat".span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She shook offspan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanthat class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Of course you have your heartbeat foolish, otherwise you wouldn't be alive".span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"And she was definitely alive. How else could she explain feeling cold and tired. Frenetically she started touching the stone on the walls, but everything was driving her class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""It's a labyrinth. I have not gotspan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanthe slightest idea where am I, and it feels like i have been running in circles for a lifetime."/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She wanted to laugh so hard. It was HILARIOUS. oh mind, what a nice metaphor. Images with her village invaded her. Small village, old village. The feeling of death was similar, yet different in her hometown. Death was inevitable there since children haven't been born since…/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Since she was. They called her the "cursed child", with an absent mother that abandoned her right after her birth and a father that knocked off her mom and then took his bike and left. At least that was the story, and stories were always half-true./span/p
p class="p4"span class="s1"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She sat on a bench. Her legs felt weak- maybe because of the effort of running around, trying to find and exit or maybe because of the effort of remembering who she was or how she got there./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""I was 6 when he took me", she said with a certainty that was lacking until then./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The priest visited the orphanage in that March and he laid his eyes on a pale 6-years-old girl, with long white hair-so white that it reminded him of cozy winter evenings when all you want to do is to stay inside and enjoy the scenery. He heard rumours about a child-the last child that was to be abandoned-since no life came afterwards, a child as pale as a ghost and as quiet as a speechless person. At first, he didn't have any intentions, he was there to offer his regular blessings, but it was for the first timespan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanin 6 years when he saw the girl. No one else knew her, mostly because the workers in that orphanage became superstitious and lock her in a dorm- with plenty of books- prayers, of course, and little to no human interaction. No affection. Not once have one of the girls came and see her, give her a hug or a kind word./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Maybe that's why I'm a lunatic. she giggled. Only I'm not"./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"After 6 years, they realised that it was pointless. The curse won't go away. No finished pregnancies, no new borns. Maybe it was because of the girl's sinful mother or maybe it was some force of thespan class="Apple-converted-space" /spannature punishing an entire sinful village. Anyway, punishing a child for this seemed a bit far off even for the not so kind, nor so bright orphanage workers. So what happened next only created more doubt and added more to the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"They unlocked the door and gave Fiona autonomy. The little girl was scared, so she wouldn't talk./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""That's right. I haven't learnt how to talk and they took it the wrong way. They said I was the devil's child. That I was cursed. They cussed at me and they prayed after they passed by. Those idiots, they haven't really considered that a child cannot speak if there are no words that he knows." she sighed. "But then you came along, didn't you?"/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"That March, the priest was mesmerised by the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Hello little one, what's your name?" he asked, his eyes locked into class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""She doesn't have a name" a fat lady said, throwing stones with her eyes. "She's cursed ya know? Nobody's child. Everybody's burden"./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Enough! he sounded harsher than he intended. I won't stand here listening to those accusations. Not here, not anywhere. "he turned his eyes from the fat un-welcoming lady who was now blushing and blabbering to the small class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Let's see. You're so fair and white, just like a . You seem like you could be a Fiona, what do you say?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She felt happy. She didn't understand what was going on, nor the human attention and affection, but she felt irrationally happy. She almost threw herself in the arms of the priest. Only had she known how../span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Ungrateful little…" the fat lady began. She raised her hand-but the priest took it./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Leave it! he said. Go and prepare the papers"./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""P-p-papers? she asked. What papers?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""The adoption ones" he said, but his voice was lost, like he had more important things to think about./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""With all the respect sir, but you're out of mind", the fat lady was able to articulate./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""You're out of mind. You people kept this girl locked, and although people talk in this damn village, never was I able to get past rumours. You said that this girl is the child of the devil, yet never had you came to my church and asked for help. May I know, how exactly have you figured that this poor soul has anything to do with the work of evil? Have you considered that maybe, just maybe, the emsituation/em in our town was driven by some other forces?"/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The fat lady was silent class="Apple-converted-space" /spanStil shocked by the priest's reaction, she went to the door, ready to execute his orders. She knew that she was playing with fire, yet she couldn't help but throwing one last response over her shoulder./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Maybe that's exactly why no one asked for your help. It's something that doesn't concern you, the fertility of this town. And we know. Everyone knows who's at fault. And everyone knows who defends the child of the devil here." Cowardly she didn't wait for a response. She went to prepare the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The girl, Fiona by name now, was…/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Happy." she said. The wodden bench was cold and smelled like rotten. She liked that smell. It reminded her of…/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""I can't remember. It's almost like I…like I can't find what I'm looking for. Here and in my mind."/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Her thoughts were interrupted by what seemed to be a discreet noise. She wanted so badly to jump in the arms of whoever was making that sound, just like she did in that March. Because that day changed everything and that man gave her a decent life./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The noise was getting closer. Now she was able to distinguish what was that noise, and she she wasn't getting a good vibe from it./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Hmm mhhm mhhmmm hmm"./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Someone was humming. And it was coming in her direction./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Chapter II-/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""i want you to have this". The priest offered Fiona a small box./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""There is no need". The girl was class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The dining room was enormous/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Of course there class="Apple-converted-space" /spanIt's not everyday my daughter turns 16"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""OH!" Tears of joy were now sparkling on the girl's cheeks. "I think that calling me your daughter is such a bigger gift than anything in this box!"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Mhhhm MMM Uhmm Mhmm"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Sorry, i didn't understand Priest. What was that?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Mhmm Mhmm "/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"'What are you humming?"/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The face of the priest was changed. There was a blank expression that she hasn't seen before, almost as if his face has been wiped. He seemed taller, or she seemed to have shrinked…/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""It makes no sense. What's…going"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She was unable to finish that class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""That never happened. Fiona, you're loosing it"./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Her 16th birthday changed everything about had shaped her and it gave her the..empower./em The Priest took her on a short trip. The box was being carefully held by Fiona, she was so excited yet so caring with it, almost as if she would hold it any tighter it would break. The red ribbon was hiding underneath something so precious, so rare, Fiona would learn later./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""The mountains"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""No"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Seaside"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""No"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Hmm…A lake?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""No. Fiona, just be patient. And we really must work on that intuition of yours"./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""I'm sorry Priest. I never got the chance to travel. Only through stories, but that doesn't really count."/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Fiona studied his face. He was getting wrinkles, but that was no surprise. He wasn't a young man at all when he decided to adopt her, now he was caught under the spell of time, reaching around 70s. His costume was neat, as always. His white hair gave him an allura of wisdom, which wasn't far fetched, since he lived his entire life reading and trying to solve world's mysteries./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""I've never been in a carriage before, said Fiona. Aren't the horses getting tired?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Oh you innocent soul. Always considered of others, aren't you?"/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The carriage suddenly stopped in the middle of a forest./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""We're here."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Her long braided hair was moving under the blowing wind. She looked like a wax figure. Over the time her skin remained pale, no matter how hard the Priest tried to expose her to the sun's light. It was actually under the full moon Fiona felt complete and powerful./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"" 16 is an arbitrary age, the Priest began. Might have been 13, might be later."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""What are you talking about? the girl said confused."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""We have to walk a few more miles and you'll find out."/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"And they did so. The branches were creaking under the Priest shoes. Fiona was bear-footed, since she discovered that she's more in touch with the nature that way. And nothing has seemed to hurt her, ever. A small necklace was covering her foot, an accessory she found while playing near a fountain. Looking at her, you could see a very weird looking young woman. Fragile, yet wearing an attitude that inspired power. She had unusual long necks, that she kept covered under her dress. Over her long dress a pink cape kept her body away from the curious looks. It was almost like she was trying to go unnoticed, yet failing. It was impossible not to remain speechless by her appearance, impossible to turn your head class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Are we there yet? she put her hood on as it was getting colder."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The Priest didn't answer as he was lost in his class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"emWhat aspan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanweird place , /emFiona thought. They were now deep in the forest, away from the carriage. There was nothing particular about that forest, It was dark, as you would expect it to be, the trees were tall and standing together, like an army who was waiting to complete a mission. It was almost like the scenery was taken from a paint and scaled back to real life./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""We're here"./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Fiona wanted to ask her companion how would he know that they were emthere/em, since there was nothing particular about that spot. It looked exactly like the rest of the forest. She held back that thought./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Open your box"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Her hand were trembling, she was so nervous she could die./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Easy now. What's in there is as fragile as you are" said the priest, laughing at the way the young woman was anticipating her gift./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""What is this thing?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Fona was holding in her hand some sort of artefact. It was round, like a plate, made of various metals. In the middle an eye was shaped and linked with the margin by various networks. "almost like veins" she thought. There was a strange feeling coming from that object. Like it belonged in her hands. Like it was glued to her. Like…/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""What do you think?" asked the Priest, obviously excited by the girl's curiousity./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""I-i love it! But what is it, if may i ask?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""That, my dear girl is…"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""That is…"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Sir?"/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The humming began again. Fiona felt shivers down her class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""How can this sound get into my memories? Almost like it alters them…"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She felt her heart racing./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""What is this? Am I..scared?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She was. Not only regarding the strange, almost spooky humming that she heard, but also by the steps that were complementary to the sound. Someone was definitely coming./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The humming was…joyful, but in a creepy way. It was a sort of humming that you would expect yo hear from a butcher, while he is completing in class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Joyful humming./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Fiona stood up, quietly from her bench. She looked around -now she was able to see that it wasn't just one bench, there were many others. They were arranged in two columns, like an aisle, a wedding aisle. As she lowered her sight she could see the red carpet, all dirty and old. She felt unsafe, uncertain on her feet, not knowing if it was a good time to stop bringing up painful memories from the past and start running./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""You and your head in the clouds! Riley would say. Can you focus on anything?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""What did you say? asked her, knowing how much it will piss him off."/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She was mad at herself, not even being able to focus, thinking about what that stupid Riley said to her./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Come on girl! It's time" she said to herself, almost like a soldier preparing for…/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"What exactly was that sound? She was standing in front of the wedding aisle, on the left side. She could see that after the small gate, there was more place, place she could run to, place she could hide in./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Who are you hiding from, little girl? asked the Priest."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Myself. I get this strange vibes those days."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Is that so? the Priest asked concerned. Maybe it's time"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"That was one week before her 16th class="Apple-converted-space" /spanShe was getting those vibes. Like something was changing./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Blessings father!" she respoded, not fully understanding what he meant./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Oh child, you can give blessings to people around you. It's like your special trait."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Fiona grabbed the Holly Key. Now the humming came from the last row of benches in the same aisle where she was. It smelled like rotten and death, a smell that turned her stomach upside down./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p5" /p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Chapter I- The Red Church/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The fog was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. That didn't scare her, she was used to weird weather that announced weird events. What scared her was what could have been hiding in the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The Red Church wasn't frightening in itself. Being a spiritualist made her understand inexplicable phenomena, yet Fiona felt that there was more in that church than just cold stones and wooden benches. Sure, the benches were old and the stone was building an aura of death. But there must have been something good, like a bright side. The sun behind the fog. The good part. Isn't always a good part in movies, or books or whatever propaganda they us on us nowadays?/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Death was suffocating everything related to the church. That church was definitely not hosting any good events. Not a wedding, not a child being baptised-basically nothing that was related to joy, humans or life..span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Of course, no one was taking her seriously, especiallyspan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanthat Freddy Riley, with his realistic vision, and his closed mind. The lawyer wasn't able to see past facts and sometimes, just sometimes, there were things that couldn't be explained by reason. And emthat/em was pissing her off. After endless nights of argumentsem in the dining room/em, after long discussions and cheap wine, that lawyer was a pain for everyone. She took her time, trying to redeem the guy, but for some people there was simply no room for redemption, no horizons tospan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanbe extended. Those long evening of chit chat and laughter were long behind, so what's the point of thinking about them now, in what seem to be the darkest hour. span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""But nobody takes me seriously anyways, she do i".span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Walking through the dark alley she wasn't able to hear a sound. Maybe that's why the discussions and monologue was flooding in her mind. To keep something alive. To feel something close to her. Not a bird, not a snake, not anything that could've been marginally alive was there. Or they stayed quiet and hidden. Like she should class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Not even my heartbeat".span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She shook offspan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanthat class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Of course you have your heartbeat foolish, otherwise you wouldn't be alive".span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"And she was definitely alive. How else could she explain feeling cold and tired. Frenetically she started touching the stone on the walls, but everything was driving her class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""It's a labyrinth. I have not gotspan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanthe slightest idea where am I, and it feels like i have been running in circles for a lifetime."/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She wanted to laugh so hard. It was HILARIOUS. oh mind, what a nice metaphor. Images with her village invaded her. Small village, old village. The feeling of death was similar, yet different in her hometown. Death was inevitable there since children haven't been born since…/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Since she was. They called her the "cursed child", with an absent mother that abandoned her right after her birth and a father that knocked off her mom and then took his bike and left. At least that was the story, and stories were always half-true./span/p
p class="p4"span class="s1"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She sat on a bench. Her legs felt weak- maybe because of the effort of running around, trying to find and exit or maybe because of the effort of remembering who she was or how she got there./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""I was 6 when he took me", she said with a certainty that was lacking until then./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The priest visited the orphanage in that March and he laid his eyes on a pale 6-years-old girl, with long white hair-so white that it reminded him of cozy winter evenings when all you want to do is to stay inside and enjoy the scenery. He heard rumours about a child-the last child that was to be abandoned-since no life came afterwards, a child as pale as a ghost and as quiet as a speechless person. At first, he didn't have any intentions, he was there to offer his regular blessings, but it was for the first timespan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanin 6 years when he saw the girl. No one else knew her, mostly because the workers in that orphanage became superstitious and lock her in a dorm- with plenty of books- prayers, of course, and little to no human interaction. No affection. Not once have one of the girls came and see her, give her a hug or a kind word./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Maybe that's why I'm a lunatic. she giggled. Only I'm not"./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"After 6 years, they realised that it was pointless. The curse won't go away. No finished pregnancies, no new borns. Maybe it was because of the girl's sinful mother or maybe it was some force of thespan class="Apple-converted-space" /spannature punishing an entire sinful village. Anyway, punishing a child for this seemed a bit far off even for the not so kind, nor so bright orphanage workers. So what happened next only created more doubt and added more to the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"They unlocked the door and gave Fiona autonomy. The little girl was scared, so she wouldn't talk./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""That's right. I haven't learnt how to talk and they took it the wrong way. They said I was the devil's child. That I was cursed. They cussed at me and they prayed after they passed by. Those idiots, they haven't really considered that a child cannot speak if there are no words that he knows." she sighed. "But then you came along, didn't you?"/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"That March, the priest was mesmerised by the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Hello little one, what's your name?" he asked, his eyes locked into class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""She doesn't have a name" a fat lady said, throwing stones with her eyes. "She's cursed ya know? Nobody's child. Everybody's burden"./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Enough! he sounded harsher than he intended. I won't stand here listening to those accusations. Not here, not anywhere. "he turned his eyes from the fat un-welcoming lady who was now blushing and blabbering to the small class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Let's see. You're so fair and white, just like a . You seem like you could be a Fiona, what do you say?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She felt happy. She didn't understand what was going on, nor the human attention and affection, but she felt irrationally happy. She almost threw herself in the arms of the priest. Only had she known how../span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Ungrateful little…" the fat lady began. She raised her hand-but the priest took it./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Leave it! he said. Go and prepare the papers"./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""P-p-papers? she asked. What papers?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""The adoption ones" he said, but his voice was lost, like he had more important things to think about./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""With all the respect sir, but you're out of mind", the fat lady was able to articulate./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""You're out of mind. You people kept this girl locked, and although people talk in this damn village, never was I able to get past rumours. You said that this girl is the child of the devil, yet never had you came to my church and asked for help. May I know, how exactly have you figured that this poor soul has anything to do with the work of evil? Have you considered that maybe, just maybe, the emsituation/em in our town was driven by some other forces?"/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The fat lady was silent class="Apple-converted-space" /spanStil shocked by the priest's reaction, she went to the door, ready to execute his orders. She knew that she was playing with fire, yet she couldn't help but throwing one last response over her shoulder./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Maybe that's exactly why no one asked for your help. It's something that doesn't concern you, the fertility of this town. And we know. Everyone knows who's at fault. And everyone knows who defends the child of the devil here." Cowardly she didn't wait for a response. She went to prepare the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The girl, Fiona by name now, was…/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Happy." she said. The wodden bench was cold and smelled like rotten. She liked that smell. It reminded her of…/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""I can't remember. It's almost like I…like I can't find what I'm looking for. Here and in my mind."/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Her thoughts were interrupted by what seemed to be a discreet noise. She wanted so badly to jump in the arms of whoever was making that sound, just like she did in that March. Because that day changed everything and that man gave her a decent life./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The noise was getting closer. Now she was able to distinguish what was that noise, and she she wasn't getting a good vibe from it./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Hmm mhhm mhhmmm hmm"./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Someone was humming. And it was coming in her direction./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Chapter II-/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""i want you to have this". The priest offered Fiona a small box./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""There is no need". The girl was class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The dining room was enormous/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Of course there class="Apple-converted-space" /spanIt's not everyday my daughter turns 16"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""OH!" Tears of joy were now sparkling on the girl's cheeks. "I think that calling me your daughter is such a bigger gift than anything in this box!"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Mhhhm MMM Uhmm Mhmm"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Sorry, i didn't understand Priest. What was that?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Mhmm Mhmm "/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"'What are you humming?"/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The face of the priest was changed. There was a blank expression that she hasn't seen before, almost as if his face has been wiped. He seemed taller, or she seemed to have shrinked…/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""It makes no sense. What's…going"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She was unable to finish that class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""That never happened. Fiona, you're loosing it"./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Her 16th birthday changed everything about had shaped her and it gave her the..empower./em The Priest took her on a short trip. The box was being carefully held by Fiona, she was so excited yet so caring with it, almost as if she would hold it any tighter it would break. The red ribbon was hiding underneath something so precious, so rare, Fiona would learn later./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""The mountains"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""No"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Seaside"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""No"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Hmm…A lake?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""No. Fiona, just be patient. And we really must work on that intuition of yours"./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""I'm sorry Priest. I never got the chance to travel. Only through stories, but that doesn't really count."/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Fiona studied his face. He was getting wrinkles, but that was no surprise. He wasn't a young man at all when he decided to adopt her, now he was caught under the spell of time, reaching around 70s. His costume was neat, as always. His white hair gave him an allura of wisdom, which wasn't far fetched, since he lived his entire life reading and trying to solve world's mysteries./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""I've never been in a carriage before, said Fiona. Aren't the horses getting tired?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Oh you innocent soul. Always considered of others, aren't you?"/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The carriage suddenly stopped in the middle of a forest./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""We're here."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Her long braided hair was moving under the blowing wind. She looked like a wax figure. Over the time her skin remained pale, no matter how hard the Priest tried to expose her to the sun's light. It was actually under the full moon Fiona felt complete and powerful./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"" 16 is an arbitrary age, the Priest began. Might have been 13, might be later."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""What are you talking about? the girl said confused."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""We have to walk a few more miles and you'll find out."/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"And they did so. The branches were creaking under the Priest shoes. Fiona was bear-footed, since she discovered that she's more in touch with the nature that way. And nothing has seemed to hurt her, ever. A small necklace was covering her foot, an accessory she found while playing near a fountain. Looking at her, you could see a very weird looking young woman. Fragile, yet wearing an attitude that inspired power. She had unusual long necks, that she kept covered under her dress. Over her long dress a pink cape kept her body away from the curious looks. It was almost like she was trying to go unnoticed, yet failing. It was impossible not to remain speechless by her appearance, impossible to turn your head class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Are we there yet? she put her hood on as it was getting colder."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The Priest didn't answer as he was lost in his class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"emWhat aspan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanweird place , /emFiona thought. They were now deep in the forest, away from the carriage. There was nothing particular about that forest, It was dark, as you would expect it to be, the trees were tall and standing together, like an army who was waiting to complete a mission. It was almost like the scenery was taken from a paint and scaled back to real life./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""We're here"./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Fiona wanted to ask her companion how would he know that they were emthere/em, since there was nothing particular about that spot. It looked exactly like the rest of the forest. She held back that thought./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Open your box"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Her hand were trembling, she was so nervous she could die./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Easy now. What's in there is as fragile as you are" said the priest, laughing at the way the young woman was anticipating her gift./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""What is this thing?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Fona was holding in her hand some sort of artefact. It was round, like a plate, made of various metals. In the middle an eye was shaped and linked with the margin by various networks. "almost like veins" she thought. There was a strange feeling coming from that object. Like it belonged in her hands. Like it was glued to her. Like…/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""What do you think?" asked the Priest, obviously excited by the girl's curiousity./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""I-i love it! But what is it, if may i ask?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""That, my dear girl is…"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""That is…"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Sir?"/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The humming began again. Fiona felt shivers down her class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""How can this sound get into my memories? Almost like it alters them…"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She felt her heart racing./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""What is this? Am I..scared?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She was. Not only regarding the strange, almost spooky humming that she heard, but also by the steps that were complementary to the sound. Someone was definitely coming./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"The humming was…joyful, but in a creepy way. It was a sort of humming that you would expect yo hear from a butcher, while he is completing in class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Joyful humming./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Fiona stood up, quietly from her bench. She looked around -now she was able to see that it wasn't just one bench, there were many others. They were arranged in two columns, like an aisle, a wedding aisle. As she lowered her sight she could see the red carpet, all dirty and old. She felt unsafe, uncertain on her feet, not knowing if it was a good time to stop bringing up painful memories from the past and start running./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""You and your head in the clouds! Riley would say. Can you focus on anything?"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""What did you say? asked her, knowing how much it will piss him off."/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"She was mad at herself, not even being able to focus, thinking about what that stupid Riley said to her./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Come on girl! It's time" she said to herself, almost like a soldier preparing for…/span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1"What exactly was that sound? She was standing in front of the wedding aisle, on the left side. She could see that after the small gate, there was more place, place she could run to, place she could hide in./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Who are you hiding from, little girl? asked the Priest."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Myself. I get this strange vibes those days."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Is that so? the Priest asked concerned. Maybe it's time"/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"That was one week before her 16th class="Apple-converted-space" /spanShe was getting those vibes. Like something was changing./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Blessings father!" she respoded, not fully understanding what he meant./span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1""Oh child, you can give blessings to people around you. It's like your special trait."/span/p
p class="p3"span class="s1"Fiona grabbed the Holly Key. Now the humming came from the last row of benches in the same aisle where she was. It smelled like rotten and death, a smell that turned her stomach upside down./span/p
p class="p4" /p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p5" /p