Author's Note: Hey, everyone! Yeah, it's been a little while, since I've had an update, but things—as usual—get in the way. Originally, I was going to make this a longer chapter, but when I saw where I was in terms of length, I thought that I should divide the two up. I am glad that I have received some feedback so far. It is always good to hear from people. And let me point out that I can take criticism, so long as the person explains exactly what is wrong. With that being said, I again ask that those who read will give me some critical reviews.
Jesus Christ,
have mercy on me,
a sinner—
"The Jesus Prayer"—(Ancient Christian Prayer)
Darkness and Light
Chapter VI
Upon opening the front door of the Hyuga home, Johnny and Jeanne noticed the footprints of Lenny on the steps. But after leaving the steps, the footprints of Lenny were nowhere to be found—they were lost in the blanket of snow. The snow was still descending, although not quite as hard as it was earlier in the day. Johnny and Jeanne were faintly able to make out the moon, and the light from homes and city streets provided them with some extra light.
"I wish that I could follow Lenny's footprints," Johnny said. "Hot flash or not, he should have been back by now."
"You care about him a lot, don't you?"
"Yeah, he's not just my butler; he's also my friend."
"How long have you known him?"
"Wow!" Johnny said, placing his hand to his forehead. "I'm not sure exactly. Me and my dad first met him in Europe, and I think it must have been shortly after the end of the Great War, so guessing late 1918 or early 1919…I guess that means that I've known Lenny for about ten years."
"Well, I'm kind of worried about him too. I hope that being in the cold air too long with his hot flash doesn't cause him to get sick."
"That's the thing, Jeanne, I've never known Lenny to have a hot flash. That makes me wonder if something else isn't going on inside his mind."
"What do you think it is?"
"…I don't know."
As Johnny completed his sentence, he was able to look up and see the shadowy image of the parish church. Although the exterior of the church was a mostly a shadow, with the exception of the cross on the steeple that cast a shadow in the snow, light could be seen shinning through the stained glass images—probably due to the prayer candles.
"Just the way the church looks at night made me think of something," Johnny said.
"What's that?"
"There are some pretty bad areas in New York, like there are in any major city, and it seems like the once place that is safe in those areas are the churches. Just the way it looks tonight, the church looks like a safe haven."
Jeanne smiled.
"I never did ask, but what's the name of that church?"
"St. Remigius. Are you Catholic, Johnny?"
"No, I'm Episcopalian."
"What's that?"
"It's the Anglican Church in the United States."
"That name sounds familiar. Is that the Church of England?"
"The very one!" Johnny said, smiling.
"Ah, okay. Have you ever been inside a Catholic church before, Johnny?" Jeanne asked, while the two stood outside the church's iron door, which appeared to be about two hundred years younger than the stone building it was attached to.
"Sure. There are hundreds of Catholic immigrants in New York."
"Are they much different from the church that you belong to?"
Johnny chuckled. "Not really, but we don't we go on inside?" Taking his fingers to his hair, and feeling it stick together, Johnny added, "It's freezing out here. My hair is beginning to have ice form over it!"
Jeanne giggled, while she took her fingers to her hair. Her hair was moist, but not frozen. "I guess I just have Mom's blood. I've seen her go outside in a skirt with only stockings to protect her legs in the dead of winter."
Johnny grinned. "Hmm, I wonder how Jeanne would look dressed exactly the same?"
"What are you grinning at?"
Johnny immediately stopped grinning. "Oh, nothing, sorry."
Jeanne, however, seemed to know what Johnny was thinking, as she opened the door to the old church. The interior was 'pitch black,' obviously due to very little light. Most of the light came from the prayer candles, but even inside that dark church, Johnny was able to make out some of its interior. A statue of Christ stood in front of the prayer candles. Along the walls were pictures of the Stations of the Cross and a portrait of the Holy Family.
"How old is this church?" Johnny asked.
"It's nearly 600 years old."
Johnny heard Jeanne's answer, but he gestured for her to wait. Something pierced his ears.
"What is it?"
"We're not the only ones in this church. Someone else is here."
Maintaining the same gesture, Johnny tried to hear whatever it was he heard earlier.
"Our Father," began a deep voice, "who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen."
"That's Lenny praying."
"You sure?" Jeanne asked, while the man praying began to recite the Hail Mary.
Johnny nodded. "Yeah, I'd know that voice anywhere. But this is weird. I've seen Lenny pray, but I don't know why he'd chose to do so in a church so late at night. Something's going on."
Johnny gestured for Jeanne to follow him, while he followed the sound of Lenny's voice, who was now reciting the Doxology.
Lenny sat in a pew at the front of the church—near the statue of the Virgin Mary, holding the infant Christ. Lenny recited the "Oh, my Jesus" prayer, and did not appear to be aware of the presence of either Johnny or Jeanne, who now sat next to him. "Save us from the fires of Hell," he continued, "lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy. Amen." Lenny crossed himself, but when he turned his head, he gasped. "Master?! What are you doing here?"
"Jeanne wanted to show me this church. She said this was the church were St. Jehanne of Arc was baptized."
"Oh, is that right?" Lenny said.
"Yes, that's right," responded Jeanne.
"But what are you doing here, Lenny?" asked Johnny.
"What? You know that I like to say my prayers at night."
"Yes, but you often don't do so in a church."
"Well, no, but I was out walking, and I just decided to come into the church. What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing, but I've never known you to have hot flashes. Are you sure something else isn't on your mind?"
"N-no, it's…"
Johnny shot Lenny a look.
Lenny sighed. "Okay, there is something."
"What?"
"This is the place where that incident happened."
"That incident?"
Lenny nodded. "With that girl. It was here in this church that I held her with a dagger beneath her throat. And it was here in this church that I watched her die."
Lenny turned to the floor.
"Lenny," Johnny began, "did you…?"
"No! I didn't kill her, but I saw her die."
"What happened?" asked Jeanne.
Lenny looked at the ceiling, sighed, and returned to the altar. "I take this as part of my penance. It happened on the day that Nicholai and I confronted Yuri. In this church that day it was Nicholai, myself, Yuri, and this German lieutenant named Karin, who was originally brought in by Nicholai to help him get into the church. Karin, of course, knew nothing about what was really going on. I remember holding that girl, but Karin fired a shot into the air that took me by surprise, and caused me to drop that girl. She ran. However, there was too many of us too keep her from exiting the church. Nicholai went to attack Karin, and although Yuri knocked him away, he was able to stab him with the Holy Mistletoe, and this light engulfed the church."
"Dad mentioned about being stabbed by this thing called the 'Holy Mistletoe' earlier, but I never did ask him what it was," Jeanne said.
"It was apparently a device that could defeat any opponent by killing their thoughts and their memory."
"This light that engulfed the church, you said," responded Johnny. "What kind of light was it?"
"I can't quite describe it, but I think it was malice entering Yuri's body."
"Was it red?" asked Johnny.
"…I think it was. Maybe it was a mixture of red and white. I just can't remember. But what I do remember was Yuri falling to the ground unconscious, and the light knocking back Karin as well. Then the next thing I knew this old man entered the church with this wolf. I think that the wolf was the pet of that girl, but he ended up following Yuri throughout his mission against us."
"Was the wolf's name Blanca?" asked Jeanne.
"I don't know. It was a white wolf…"
"That's definitely Blanca. He ended up in Inugami Village, and Mom and Daddy used to take us to see him."
"That's probably him," Lenny said. "Anyway, that old man helped pull Yuri and Karin out of that church, while the wolf was going to rescue the girl. The wolf lunged at Nicholai, but Nicholai kicked him in the jaw, and he fell back unconscious. Then that girl ran over to that wolf. Comforting him—trying to find a way to get him to get back up. That's when I saw Nicholai with his sword drawn. I could tell he was going to stab the wolf, but where that girl was, I knew he would end up stabbing her. I remember asking for him to wait, because I knew he would end up stabbing the girl. But he told me to shut up, and even though I could have easily pushed him out of the way, and saved that girl, I did nothing."
Once again, Lenny looked at the floor.
"And he stabbed the girl?" asked Johnny.
Lenny nodded.
"And he killed her?" added Jeanne.
Again, Lenny nodded.
"That wasn't your fault, Lenny," Johnny said.
"Maybe not, but…I always thought that there was something I could have done to save her, but I was just blindly following orders. I can't believe how many stupid things I did in the name of the society. I did things, without even questioning if it was right or wrong."
"But I can see how sorry you are," Jeanne said, with a hand on Lenny's shoulder, "and I believe that God has forgiven you."
Lenny turned to her. "I know God has forgiven me, but this is part of my penance."
"Penance?" Johnny asked.
Lenny nodded. "When I confessed years ago, the priest thought I was crazy—talking about a secret society and such. But he told me that if I ever did get the chance to return to the spot where all of this happened, I should say a prayer for that girl. I'm doing that now, even though Yuri told me that the girl has gone to Heaven." Lenny looked at the stained glass images above the altar that showed Jesus and God the Father crowning Mary as Queen of Heaven. "It's really no longer necessary," he said, looking back at Johnny and Jeanne, "but I'm doing it anyway. But what about you two? I seriously doubt that you're going to remain in the church all night."
"I was just about to take Johnny somewhere," Jeanne said.
"Take me somewhere?" Johnny replied. "Where to?"
"Ohh!" Jeanne said, while she slapped Johnny on the back. "To St. Jehanne's, you idiot!"
"Ow! Damn!" Johnny said, as he poked Jeanne's tummy.
She giggled.
"So that's why he didn't say Shania was his girlfriend," Lenny said with a smile. "I'll have to ask about this later."
"Yes, I'm ready to go," Johnny said. "Care for a drink, Lenny?"
"Eh?"
"Yeah, a drink will do you some good."
"Besides," Jeanne added, "I think they will have music tonight."
"Well, okay, I'll go with you for a little bit."