The legacy of the dark blood

Chapter 70

Amelie's diaries

The German officer left the room while Sister Judith led Liz through the asylum. That her companion Jake and the others were in perfect condition was another reason for her to rejoice, a joy she could not share with the others as they passed a room where she found other sisters of the order attending to a person who had suffered serious injuries, it was Dr. Richter. They passed the bedroom until they came to a new room that looked like an oratory, apart from some benches and a small altar from which Judith grabbed a book, there was nothing else. Liz recognized it instantly; it was the compilation of the diaries that told the story of the Holzmann family.

"Well," the woman asked for Liz's attention, opening the book to a page, "the first thing you might be wondering is who we are. I'll let our founder tell you", she opened the book to a page and began to translate the contents of one of the texts.

Amelie Holzmann Diary, written in 1637

Several years passed since Anneliese left us, it was very hard for Dad and me, but the sisters of my convent said it was the best thing for the sake of our community. At my father's request, I did everything in my power to convince her to abandon the practice of sorcery, not only for the benefit of her soul; the last thing I wanted was to see her at the stake.

I roundly condemn any practice of sorcery, things like the Bamberg or Würzburg trials in Bavaria have no place within the teachings of sound doctrine, but Anneliese never saw it that way, she was convinced that we were her enemies.

For years I had no news of my sister, until the legends of a place called Reich der Finsternis began to spread fear among the population. We believed it was a simple fable, unfortunately it was not so; the place was nothing more than an earthly representation of hades, controlled by a sorceress who proclaimed herself empress of that place, the most heartbreaking thing was to learn that Anneliese was behind this cataclysm. With her power she was able to summon the most dreadful beasts to the area, they shared her flesh and blood; she gained more and more unwary people who received the gift of dark blood voluntarily by allowing themselves to be persuaded by her ideologies and with that, the confines of Reich der Finsternis grew.

There was no human who dared to face a similar power, I would not stand idly by. With all the pain in my soul, I was forced to break my ties with Anneliese and start an order of nuns that would fight against the dark blood curse. I promised that we would do everything possible to stop this cataclysm that Anneliese had started and prevent the beginning of a new dark age.

Although Liz already knew about the founding of the order by Anneliese Holzmann's sister, she found it interesting to receive this information, especially when she realized the real danger that the return of the dreaded sorceress could mean. She did not think, however, that it was really possible to bring someone back from the world of the dead.

"With that you know exactly what our cause is," the woman commented, still holding the book in her hand "This place was built by order of Amelie Holzmann years after the sorceress Anneliese was defeated by our order and all the beasts and the curse of blood disappeared," mentioned Judith as they entered a new room with the appearance of an oratory, "we are somewhat outside the confines of Reich der Finsternis, our mission since then has been to fight against the practices of sorcery and care for the needy, something like a hospital, inspired by the Hôtel-Dieu in France. We found it necessary to meet after the seizure of power by Friedrich Holzmann, who, as you know, initiated a new dark era in this country.

"So," Liz muttered doubtfully about what the woman was saying, "You have managed to keep this place a secret for years, and Mr. Holzmann doesn't know anything about it?" Liz frowned, she didn't think something like that was really possible.