Tess

“This woman is possessed by an evil spirit!”

A believer jumped up and pointed at the woman. Others rose in succession, supporting him.

“That’s right! I saw it!”

“There must be evidence of evil spirit possession!”

“Check for the mark of the evil spirit!”

A watchman grabbed the woman’s hair and cut it. Snip, snip. With each move of the large, blunt scissors, long strands of hair fell to the floor. On the back of Mrs. Rollins’s neck was the number 666. Looking closely, it was a brand that had been recently burnt, with the wound still unhealed. Iliya could smell burnt flesh, but the believers, already blinded by the leader’s words, saw nothing.

Mrs. Rollins said nothing. Her eyes were lifeless, like someone who had given up everything. People shouted to kill the evil spirit. Tinnitus returned to Iliya. Their clamor was blocked by a buzzing sound in his ears, making it seem distant, as if not part of reality. Mrs. Rollins suddenly looked at Iliya. Those eyes were saying something. Iliya couldn’t avoid her gaze and remained motionless. She moved her lips, silently forming words.

‘Save the child.’

Iliya, without even the strength to move, tightly closed his eyes. The sound of flesh being crushed came to him, seeming unreal.

“Enough now!”

At the leader’s command to stop, Iliya opened his eyes. People stepped back, and the elite guard came forward to cover the corpse with cloth.

“God has granted me the authority to destroy evil spirits. Now I will annihilate her soul.”

The leader extended his hands forward, grimacing. With a face contorted as if drawing all power from within, he spread his fingers and exerted force. Suddenly, flames shot up from the cloth covering the corpse. Startled people retreated in fear. Blue flames, not red, flickered up to the ceiling. During the burning, the leader shouted in an agitated voice.

“Was she possessed by an evil spirit from the beginning? No. She was a more faithful child of God than anyone. But how did she end up receiving the mark of the devil? Without our knowledge, they dig into our weaknesses. If we lose our faith even for a moment, what happens? Doubt! The moment we doubt, the devil burrows into our souls. We must not doubt. Not for a single moment, we must not allow the devil to rule us. When the soul is consumed by an evil spirit, it is annihilated and can no longer be saved.”

As his words ended and the flames disappeared, the guards lifted the cloth. Only slight burn marks remained, with no trace of the corpse.

“Now her body and soul have both been annihilated. Do you want to meet the same end?”

The believers were terrified. Some burst into tears. Once the atmosphere begins to be swept in one direction, it becomes unstoppable. That’s how group phenomena work. Everyone wailed and prayed. Fanatical screams filled the church. It was closer to a desperate struggle in the agony of hell than a desire for salvation. The leader stood in the middle of it all, laughing like a jackal.

*

*

Exhausted people collapsed on the floor, while those who still had energy continued to pray without stopping. The massive flames in front of the church burned all night without extinguishing. As if to remind them that the only place for salvation in the darkness was the “sanctuary.”

Among the people screaming in anxiety, Iliya was frozen for a different reason. Mrs. Rollins’ gaze. That expression. That moment kept repeating in his head. His legs still wouldn’t move, and his trembling wouldn’t stop. From the moment Mrs. Rollins first spoke to him, he should have told her not to think about anything. Or at least strongly warned her to pretend not to know. He should have said something to that alpha. If he had put aside his pride and begged, could he have helped her?

He had been too complacent, placing too much hope in the word “next time.” Belated regret washed over him, but time could not be reversed, and Mrs. Rollins had already vanished from the world.

‘Where did they bury her body?’

When he first came to Holyland, he often had trouble sleeping because it was unfamiliar. One night when he woke up and sneaked out, he saw the leader and the sentinels secretly digging the ground. Sensing it was something he shouldn’t be caught watching, his young mind made him hold his breath as he observed. After digging a hole, they brought a large sack and threw it in. After covering it with soil, they sprinkled alcohol on it and snickered. They made jokes about the deceased. Iliya instinctively knew that the sack didn’t contain potatoes or sweet potatoes.

After that day, he never went outside at night again. Hoping that the lump to be thrown by their hands someday wouldn’t be him. He knew he couldn’t tell anyone. So he locked the memory in his mind without speaking of it. Though he wondered if he had the right after pretending not to know for so long, he felt he should at least know where the person who was almost his family was buried. Since there were watching eyes, they wouldn’t bury the body today and had likely hidden it somewhere in the church. Even if he knew where, there was probably nothing he could do…

He went outside into the cold, heavy dawn air. The wind struck his cheeks like a rake. Nancy was sitting at the boundary between darkness and light, sniffling. His heart sank. His own fear or guilt wasn’t the issue now. Nancy had lost her only family. How could anyone understand that loss?

“Nancy…”

What words could comfort her? Did he have the right to offer comfort? As he hesitated, unable to approach, Nancy suddenly stood up.

“Iliya…”

Nancy approached and was about to bury her head on Iliya’s shoulder when she abruptly changed her posture.

“Leader…”

At those words, Iliya turned around too. The leader was looking at Nancy with an infinitely sympathetic face. Nancy ran to him and buried her face in his chest.

“How, how could Mom…”

“Shh, Nancy, don’t be too heartbroken.”

“How did Mom get possessed by an evil spirit? Was it because her faith was lacking, right? Leader, what should I do? What if the evil spirit that possessed Mom comes to me too?”

“Nancy, keep your faith. You have the strength to do so.”

“I believe! I will believe!”

“Yes. I will protect you too.”

Protect. How sweet those words were. What more reassuring words could there be for a teenage girl who had lost her family and was heartbroken? For her, salvation was the presence before her eyes rather than a distant God. Nancy held onto the leader’s arm as he turned away.

“Leader!”

“What is it, Nancy?”

“Purify me.”

“Now?”

Hmm, the leader pondered. Nancy became more urgent and clung to him.

“Please, purify me right now! The evil spirit that left my mom might have attached to me. Protect me with your purification!”

“To perform purification, we need to go through preparations, but…”

“Please, I beg you…”

Nancy held onto the leader’s waist and pleaded. As if she wouldn’t let go unless he agreed. The leader slowly stroked Nancy’s sobbing back. A fleeting, sinister smile crossed his face.

Then, becoming aware of Iliya, he composed his expression.

“Then I’ll go and prepare…”

“Nancy!”

Nancy turned her head at Iliya’s sudden outburst.

“What?”

Nancy wiped her tears and sniffled. Though urgency made him call out, Iliya hesitated as words failed him. Not understanding, Nancy shot him a glance urging an answer. The leader’s gaze also stung sharply.

“The leader must be tired after driving away the evil spirit today…”

“Ah…”

Though his excuse was hasty, Nancy let out a sound of agreement. She seemed to take his words at face value. Though she didn’t want to tire the leader, Nancy pouted with regret.

“It’s alright, Iliya. God will work through me for the precious lamb. Human fatigue is nothing before His power.”

While a bright smile spread across Nancy’s face, Iliya’s face grew increasingly stiff. Thankfully it was night. The leader couldn’t properly see Iliya’s pale complexion.

*

*

Rus had been attending events and gatherings without fail recently. Some were small-scale events where his absence wouldn’t have mattered, to the point that those who sent invitations were surprised. Though he only made brief appearances, his active movement led some to speculate whether the central figure of the Briane family was changing. In reality, his father’s health wasn’t very good. Though Rus didn’t show ambition, he was more proactive than expected, which surprised his father. While he still seemed uninterested in social networking, even that level raised expectations for succession.

Regrettably, Rus’s purpose differed from his father’s thoughts. He had developed a habit of observing the areas outside event venues. Until then, he had focused solely on work until reaching his destination and didn’t pay attention to the outside. Now he would raise his hand as if thinking about something and stare outside. Sometimes he even instructed the driver to drive slowly. He took extra time to observe when people were gathered, as if searching for something. No one knew the reason. Not even Rus himself.

“That reporter doesn’t have a good reputation. Though it’s hard for journalists to have good reputations anyway.”

Sharp-witted Andrew acted first without Rus having to say anything. As naturally as if presenting something requested, he handed documents to Rus.

“Connection to the Holy Church?”

“I’ve done some investigation on that.”

“You’ve always had good intuition.”

This was the highest praise from Rus. Andrew seemed satisfied with the response and smiled slightly.

“Ha, I wish that ability would manifest in investments too. Anyway, see for yourself.”

Andrew inserted a USB and showed a video. A man was talking with someone. The image was so blurry that distinguishing individuals wasn’t easy, but Andrew wouldn’t have presented an unverified video. Though faces weren’t clearly visible, their actions of exchanging something could be seen.

“Where did you get this?”