Games with the death (Rain×Reader)

Ch 14

The night thickened the dark colors over the city.  Almost no lights were on in the houses.  Only a few "owls" were awake now, despite the late hour.  The clock was about to strike 03:00.  The fair-haired woman wearily sorted through the documents.  The bruises under the eyes could no longer be hidden even with cosmetics.  It was immediately clear that this was not her first sleepless night.  There was a tactful knock on the door.  The woman's eyes were already hurting from small numbers and letters on snow-white sheets of paper, so, closing her eyes, she answered:

"Sign in."

“Sister, you need to rest,” the person who entered turned out to be none other than Cardinal Copia, “We all need a clear mind and fresh thoughts now."

“Who would say,” the woman grinned, finally opening her eyes, “when did you last sleep at this time?”

"Okay," Copia muttered quietly and, changing the subject, he said louder, "That's why I came.  Aether stumbled upon their trail.  And now we know they're hiding in the east park area.  Or rather, in one of the abandoned houses."

"You have no idea how timely this is," she said with some relief.

"I still don't understand anything and I'm waiting for an explanation," Copia reminded him.

“I will tell you only a part, more, alas, I cannot yet,” she said.  Copia, who had been standing until that moment, sat down on the sofa.  Sister Imperator began, "I will not beat around the bush.  Riana's abusers are connected to someone worse.  Something happened again recently.  Do you remember why there were many murders in 1984?"

"Yeah," Cardi replied warily, "Don't tell me that..."

“These incidents are connected,” Sister finished for him, “only this time it's much worse.  A lot of them.  The Luciferians have recently spotted them in their area."

"It's hard to believe, but let's assume.  Something in the forest died, and it happened.  What side is Riana here?" Papa Emeritus asked expectantly.

“We need her blood to bring them all back.”

"Wait wait.  No.  Last time there were no casualties.  Why does it have to be complicated this time?"

"We have no other choice!  Satan helped us last time.  This time, we will have to act on our own,” Sister said seriously.

"Will it hurt her?"  Anxiety washed over Papa Emeritus, who until now had tried to remain calm.

“I hope not,” the woman lowered her voice.

"That is, you want to involve the unfortunate girl in OUR problems, and you don’t even know if it will harm her or not?  Rave."

"No one knows.  The first and last time such a large-scale situation occurred more than a thousand years ago.  Nobody knows what happened to that guy then.  But you saw.  Everything heals on her like on a dog.  Most likely her body will cope with this."

"That guy?  Is she the same?"

“Exactly,” Sister Imperator grinned.

“It’s even harder to believe,” he wearily lowered his face into his hands, and, after a pause, added, “I trust you. When do you want to tell her?"

“Now we need to fully focus on the ritual.  After that, we have a lot of work to do.  By the way, did Riana go to the alcohol party?"

"It is unlikely that she would have missed it," Cardi grinned, "I want to ask for a long time.  Are you against her association with ghouls because of...?"

"The upcoming ceremony.  Yes, because of it,” Sister Imperator said in a steely voice that even Papa Emeritus felt uneasy, “You know ghouls much better than I do.  They are often driven by emotions.  And between Riana and the water ghoul there is a family connection.  I'm not a blind fool, I saw it right away.  Ghouls in love, especially during their cycle, are too unpredictable.  Especially if something threatens the object of adoration.  It would be better for them to stop it themselves.  The faster is the better."