A Dark Destiny

Chapter 19

Five years ago
Rome, Italy.

Narrator's POV:
The majestic, heavenly singing from the choir echoed around the grand church that the place had never felt so holy. The burning smell of incense filled the air. The pews in the church weren't entirely full as there weren't many people who had come to attend the evening Mass.

The session had reached the consecration of the Holy Eucharist where the priest in his white and green vestments stood behind the altar with his hands raised in mid-air, offering up his prayers to the Lord. The altar boy in white, knelt on the floor in front of the altar swinging the thurible containing the burning incense while the other altar boys kneeling on either side of him rang the tiny gold bells in their hands. Those who came to pray while observing the consecration of the Eucharist looked up at the priest as he raised both the cup and the bread to symbolise the unity of the Holy Spirit: the body and blood of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

At the far end of the church in the last pew is a man in a black suit, sitting with his arms folded, observing Mass without doing much as participate in it.

After the blessing of the Eucharist, the priest came down the altar with the chalice in his hand to give the body of Christ to those who already made a line in front of the altar. The man at the back felt his phone in the pocket of his jacket beep. He pulled it out to check and looked to the left side of the church where there stood large stone pillars beside the pews. There's space behind them, almost like a corridor. And there stood two confession boxes and doors that led to other parts of the massive church.

The man noticed a shadow behind one of the pillars and he took it as his cue to leave. He stood up and approached the pillars. Before disappearing behind one of them, he made sure to look to see if he had eyes on him. But the back of the church was practically empty and most of the congregation were praying after receiving the Eucharist. He didn't have anything to worry about.

He went behind the pillar and came face to face with an altar boy. The boy looked taller than the man in black anticipated. He looked to be twelve or thirteen years old, but too tall for his age, the man in black thought.

The section of room they stood in barely had any light except in the main hall where Mass is being held with the light slightly streaming its way in between the pillars.

The tall altar boy turned around and went quietly down the hall. The man in black took it that he should follow and did just that.

The boy approached the wooden confession boxes and the man raised an eyebrow, wondering where the boy could be taking him. He may have grown up in a Catholic home and attended Mass when he was younger, but he never thought he would've to go for confession today of all days.

The boy stood in front of a confession box and drew the wooden door open where the confessor entered from. He looked up at the man in black and gestured with his head that he should go in. The man looked at the boy and thought better than to ask what's going on. He had to bend his way in as the entrance was too short for his height. The boy closed the door to the box behind him and the man looked around in the dark, stuffy cabinet. He sat on the small wooden bench and leaned his back against the box's wall. He hoped that he wouldn't have to wait for too long. He isn't claustrophobic, but sitting in a cabinet for a long time might get him on edge.

Five minutes hadn't passed when he heard someone knocking on the wall of the box. The man turned around. The knocking continued. The man in return knocked back and soon enough, the wall of the box slid open, revealing a dark passage with someone standing at the entrance. The man stood up from the bench and bent over to go through to the other side. He stood upright as soon as he entered the tunnel. Right beside him stood a woman dressed in a white long, sleeved dress, wearing a gold mask. She had short, brown curly hair and bright blue eyes. The mask looked similar to those worn at masquerade parties, yet this one covered the person's face entirely. She held up a torch as they stood in the semi-darkness.