La Mort et ses Merveilles ✔

5. Unholy Sanctuary

He looked to the ground, as if he was hanging his head in shame. I noticed him biting his lower lip.

How audacious, I thought to myself as I held onto Isabella. It reminded me of the time he apologised –moments after shooting my father in cold blood. What's the deal with him? Does he think that things will just magically absolve him from all responsibility? From what he did? He certainly wasn't the most stable or rational person out there, to put it frankly.

Josephine lowered her gun, letting out a deep sigh.

"Just get out of here," she said, a resigned tone in her voice. "But if you try to hurt any of them, I'll kill you."

He began to walk away, but as he passed me he stopped right in his tracks.

"Hey," he began, his meek tone a stark difference from earlier. "I-"

"Leslie, just go!" Josephine cut in. "Leave."

Biting his lip, the young man only looked at me. He was taller than me, but in that moment he seemed small. Vulnerable, almost. Perhaps it was because of his glossy eyes. Were his eyes pooling with tears?

After a few tense seconds of silence, the young finally walked out of the room. Josephine immediately slammed the door shut behind him and locked it tight. It was only the three of us left in there. I heaved out a sigh of relief.

"Are you alright?" the young woman said as she helped me back to the bed.

"Yeah," I muttered underneath my breath. "It's fine."

Josephine took a closer look at my neck. With a delicate finger she pressed lightly, checking. It hurt at some parts, but only slightly.

"There's some bruising but you should be fine," the woman said, a forced smile on her lips.

There was a heavy, pregnant silence.

"Thanks for stepping in," I finally said.

"I am so, so sorry," Josephine blurted out, as if she was just waiting for me to say something so she could just get it out. "

She looked distressed, and she just paced the area in front of us.

"I didn't know he was going to do something like that," the young woman said. "But of course he would. He wouldn't want the mother superior to know what he's done."

My eyes widened, staring at her.

"You knew what happened?" I asked, raising my voice.

Sister Josephine came up to me and sat beside me. Holding my hand between both her palms she looked at me with sad grey eyes.

"Jason," she began softly. "I am so, so sorry about your father."

"How did you-"

"Please hear me out," she said, exhaling. "He told me. When he left the infirmary I went to ask him what was wrong, and he told me what he did. I should've known that he wanted to try something like this, you're the only ones who knew what happened out there and he'd rather die than let his mother find out.

"I'm really sorry," she continued. "For everything. If I had stopped him maybe your father might've still been alive."

"What do you mean?" I asked, slightly confused.

The nun paused for a moment.

"I think I've said too much," she replied. "I just hope the both of you will keep this to yourselves. We already have enough problems with everything and with Leslie as it is but knowing what he did out there, Mother Agnes won't be able to take it."