Father, Forgive me my Sins

Chapter 2: Hallowed be Thy Name

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It was two months later before Elizabeta Héderváry would enter the Church doors again.

Two months before the image of the little albino boy would bother her so much that the nine-year old would give in and go back to the supposedly haunted Church at the fringe of her small town.

Two months of a relatively normal life, if one didn't count the haunting of her mind and dreams with blood red eyes and gleaming white hair like moonlight.

Two months before she realized she didn't even know his name, and felt guilty and slightly embarrassed that she had forgotten to ask.

Two months of thinking of Father Beilschmidt, and wondering how he could tell a child like the boy that he was a sin was in any way righteous in the eyes of the lord….

It wasn't righteous, wasn't going to bring him glory….And maybe it was why he left for Europe suddenly with a younger Priest, and a pregnant woman.

She was left to wonder, and because that young woman was apparently on her way back to this town, after six years of being gone, with a young boy- the child she had been carrying- she was curious. They would be arriving in a week or two, and one of the houses nearby was sold in her name. Curious, she passed by it, and the House had the same feeling to her as the Church- a sinking feeling of evil.

But today was the day her wondering came to an end. Feliks, one of her close friends, was being bullied by a bunch of kids, and had run off straight to the church. His best friend, Toris, had heard she had gone inside and had also unscathed, and was asking for her help. "Please, I don't want him to be hurt! He's really not thinking!"

She walked towards the large building with Toris holding onto her arm. He was still a little shaken from where Ivan had bullied him earlier. She had, of course, kicked his ass for it, but something always seemed… off… about Ivan. Like he didn't realize he was being mean and cruel to the smaller Toris.

She heard the door to the church slam shut ahead of where she and Toris were walking. They hadn't gotten there in time, she realized with a sinking feeling, and the two of them would have to go into the church to get him. On one hand, she was happy she had an excuse to go see if the boy with red eyes was still there, but on the other, she was dreading what would happen if the two boys who were also going to be in the church with her.

Elizabeta felt a little selfish, but she wanted to keep the secret of the albino boy that was hidden in the church all to herself. She found him there, she wanted to keep something like that too herself- it was only right, since only she had been brave enough to go inside the supposedly haunted church. It was obviously right. She comforted herself for the possessive thoughts.

Even though Toris and Feliks were going in now, she had been the one to break the ice, to become the exception to the rule.

Only she should reap the benefits of it. Specifically, being given the friendship of the so called "demon of the church".

She looked to Toris, who was in awe of the building standing in front of them.

"You alright?" she asked, snapping the younger boy out of his trance. He looked at her, blinking owlishly, before nodding.

"Let's go." He said with an air of finality.

She pushed open the door.

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As Elizabeta walked into the church, she could hear Feliks somewhere in the pews, probably crying because of something someone told him. But, there was something off about the church. It wasn't as bright, despite the fact that more light was pouring in through the windows than she remembered last time. It looked like someone had finally gotten around to cleaning the stained-glass, which was sparkling and colorful….but it was darker for another reason, one she had yet to place.

The church seemed lifeless. As though someone had sucked out all the light of the building, and when Elizabeta looked around, she saw that there was a little bit of dust on the flat surfaces, when last time she had been here, they were spotless.

It scared her more than she was willing to admit out loud.

Where was the little red-eyed boy, who took care of the garden in the back and ensured the place was clean?

"Feliks!?" She called down the halls with a worried, shaky tone, and for a moment, she felt Toris' grip on her arm tighten. "Are you alright?"

At first, there was silence. Then, "Elizabeta…?"

Both she and Toris sighed with relief. "Feliks, it's me and Toris!" She called out, and he stood up from his hiding place, wiping the corners of his eyes with the palms of his hands.

She and Toris ran to him, and Toris let her go in favor of holding on to his best friend tightly. The brunette boy hugged Feliks, before scolding him beneath his breath, some words of comfort that were obviously only for Feliks' ears.

Until a rock came down from the upper level of the church, and hit Toris smack on the head. "Ow!" The brunette boy cried out, looking around. Another rock came hurtling down, and hit Feliks. But Elizabeta saw something that the two boys didn't as they cried out, "Demon of the church!" And ran out of the building quickly.

She saw the notes attached to the rocks.

She picked up the stone that hit Toris. Help me…. It read, in shaky handwriting that appeared as if it looked like it was out of practice. The second one had an apology, asking the brunette to forgive him.

Elizabeta looked up at the sanctuary that was upstairs. Should she…?

She looked back down at the shaky note.

….Yes, she decided, she would. She gulped. Elizabeta walked over to the other side of the church, and placing a hand on the rail, she slowly walked up the stairs, her hands shaking.

Looking around, she saw all the usual things in that part of the building, but still no sign of red-eyes.

"Hello? Are you here?" She called around in a whisper, as little good that would do her. Thankfully, she didn't have to repeat herself, and instead heard his voice, shaky and soft, quoting something from the bible.

""For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.'"" He paused, thinking of where he got the comforting words. "Romans, 1: 16-17…."

She followed the voice of the little boy, and found him curled up by the railing of the sanctuary. However, blood red as his eyes was in a pool around him, despite his obvious efforts to stop it with his pure white clothing.

"Hello…?" She called out to him, this time loud enough to garner his attention. And his red eyes focused a little bit on her hazel ones.

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer…." Another pause, "Romans 12, verse twelve. God has sent me a savior from such an unfortunate death. Praise the Lord, for His son died for us."

Elizaveta realized that some of his prayers were blending together. And she walked over to him, before bending down in front of the boy. "Hey, what happened to you?" She gestured to his leg, which had a white cloth stained with blood wrapped around him. She struggled to keep a straight head, even as he struggled to find the right words to explain what had happened to him. She had to keep a straight face. He obviously could do that no longer.

"…Cleaning the windows…..Fell…." He groaned, and was lost again in words of prayers. Who knew how long he had been like this. Her mother often warned her about things like infection and bacteria, but she didn't know everything. Blood continued to seep out of the white fabric.

She couldn't handle this on her own. Now he had gone on a rant on how sinners would not inherit the kingdom of the righteous, and she remembered that he considered himself a sin. He was contradicting himself.

She whispered something into his ears. "God Hates the sin, but loves the sinner," He looked to her, eyes glazed, and mumbled something in Latin.

Before saying aloud, "Ah, but I am a sin…so God hates me…." He made a look of self-loathing so strong; it broke the nine-year old girls' heart.

"You are a boy, just as I am a girl, and though we all are guilty of sin…The eyes of the Lord are righteous." She frowned at him, trying to get him to look at her again, but he was gone again. "I'll be right back. I promise," she whispered to the boy, even though it was likely he couldn't hear her any more.

She stood up and ran down the stairs as fast as she could, her heart pounding in her chest. It was only three years ago that her father had died, and she knew that she had this young boy's life in her hands. She couldn't let him die, even though it would send him to heaven. There was something that did not sit right with her.

He hadn't yet had the chance to live.

"Do onto others as you would have them do onto you," She whispered to herself between pants. She kept running. Who could she turn too, who would be brave enough to go into those walls with her to save a little boy who claimed to be born from sin?

She ran into something with a loud 'oomph', and heard a kindly voice speaking to her.

"My child, what is wrong?" An elderly priest bent down to see her eye level.

"Father Fredrick!" She cried out, recognizing him from her own church.

"Elizabeta, what is it?" He asked, slightly more urgent when he realized that the child in front of him was Elizabeta, and she was crying.

"Please! You have to help me!" She cried out, and fisted her hands into his clean robes.

"Elizabeta, you must use your words, take a deep breath." He ordered her, getting down on one knee, and one of his hands rubbing against her back to try and calm the panicked girl down. She took in a deep, shuddering breath, before trying to explain.

"The boy- The red-eyed boy in the abandoned church- he needs help!" She pleaded with him, and her hazel eyes bored into his own kind pair with desperation. "He's bleeding everywhere! He needs someone to help him!"

The Father's eyes widened. "The old church, you say?" He stood up, and ordered, "Take me to him, hurry!"

She didn't need to be told twice, taking off at a run, her heart pounding in her head by this point in time. The elder priest just barely kept up with the girl, and soon the crumbling building came into view, she would have sighed in relief, but she could only pant as she tried to get back to him in time.

She had to make it in time to help him, because she didn't even know that little boy's name, and she didn't want that guilt of seeing someone burying a nameless child simply because she had never bothered to ask it from him.

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One of her greatest mistakes, she realized in later years, was not finding him directly after Roderich broke their conversation. Not reassuring him from the start that she wasn't scared off by his so-called admission of guilt for a sin that was utterly out of his control.

Her second greatest was not going to see him again sooner. He was too bony, to skinny to be eating regular meals. And on top of that, why had she not asked him if anyone was watching him?

Her many mistakes glared down at her now, because they were the reason he ended up in such a way.

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