Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Adam’s chest hummed with laughter, and he petted Gabriel’s back. “Then we’ll have to work something out. But don’t worry, I’ll help you.” With that and a kiss, he pulled away to start the car.
Gabriel’s stomach was in knots eased only by Adam’s presence. He couldn’t have done this on his own, but while Adam had gaps in his memory, he was obviously a much worldlier person than Gabriel. Maybe they would be all right after all?
The pyramid was just a short drive away, but as they stepped out of the car, Gabriel was shocked to see Adam open the trunk and pick up a roll of duct tape. “We’ll transport her in the back,” he said, already heading for the folly.
All Gabriel could do was follow, with his heart pounding again. “Just tell me what you need me to do.” His hands still had specks of Father John’s blood on them, but he wouldn’t hesitate with Sister Beatrice. Pregnant or not, she was a monster.
“Just be there to help me if needed,” Adam said and put his arm around Gabriel as they faced the triangular structure in the middle of the woods. The gesture felt so protective that despite their time running out and the upcoming sunrise, Gabriel relaxed against him and let himself be guided to the place where his innocence had been ripped from him so many years ago.
The cool air blowing from the open passage downstairs gave him a shudder, but Adam was there to keep him safe, so he took step after careful step, fighting through the instinct that told him to get into the car and forget it all.
His innards froze when a high-pitched shriek pierced the silence.
Gabriel stared up at Adam, and for a moment they were both sculptures unable to break out of the icy shells. They dashed down the stairs like a human avalanche.
Torch-like lamps led them down the corridor, toward the cry, but Gabriel stalled, overcome by terror as soon as the cell came into view.
Blood glistened in the warm glow, so bright in comparison to the purple shade of Sister Beatrice’s normally dark skin. Some of it had spread beyond the cell and marked the cement floor with rivulets of red, which reached toward Gabriel, inviting him to witness what he’d done.
Seeing the blood reminded him of his own smeared over the floor after Sister Beatrice had dragged him to his cell for the night, naked, shivering, and half out of his mind with terror.
And now, a baby lay on the cold floor.
Its cry pulled him out of the stupor, because he couldn’t fall down his own well of despair when this tiny being needed taking care of.
“Is she… is she…?” he gasped, first stepping over a large bloodstain, but when it became clear that he couldn’t open the cell without standing in gore, he took a deep breath and did it.
The newborn lay next to its mother, away from the fluids covering most of the floor. Stripped to her underwear, Sister Beatrice looked like a fallen doll, her thighs spread, the entire form slumped against the wall. There was no spark in her open eyes, even though they were turned toward the crying baby, which she’d wrapped in her outer garments before passing away.
They’d left her here for such a short time, she could have been still dying as they parked above.
Gabriel opened the cell with the key left on a hook several steps away and kneeled next to the baby, overwhelmed by the scene before him. He had to remind himself that he shouldn’t feel sorry for Sister Beatrice, because she’d chosen to get pregnant for the sole purpose of bringing up the child in a cult, as a vessel for the demon, but he couldn’t help a deep sense of sadness.
The child was an innocent orphan, just like he’d been.
“God’s will,” Adam said in a hollow voice.
Gabriel’s throat felt raw as he pulled the little bundle toward him and wiped the tiny face of still-damp blood with the edge of the thick cloth. The baby’s eyes passed over him, not yet able to see much, and it released another round of frantic cries.
He didn’t want to look at the nun.
The baby became his only focus and the center of his world as he cooed to it. “It’s okay, you’re safe now. You will be safe.” Emotion overcame him so rapidly it brought tears to his eyes, because he’d been that child. Given up by anonymous parents and put through the meat grinder.
“It’s okay, lamb,” Adam whispered, gently pulling him out from behind the bars and back toward the fresh air.
“This baby…” he babbled. “What do we do? We can’t leave it. And it’s your half-sibling too.” His mind was spiraling out of control into several possible outcomes, each one marred with a different problem.