Remorse

Chapter 2

Los Illuminados's Church, Spain

Somehow, this was much worse than the constant threat of being murdered. Maybe now, this was finally something he simply couldn't expect. He could hear the curses in Spanish and the distinct clinking of metal weapons from the bloodthirsty villagers from a mile away. But this? The only way he could handle her being here- simply knowing of her presence near him, even if she didn't interfere with his mission- was by treating her as a distraction and nothing else. She certainly seemed to be good at it. It was time he took after that. Every thought and movement had to be for the mission and nothing else. Even her.

It had taken him half a day of fighting through hordes of villagers dead set on his murder, taking down a sea monster, and finding his way back to the village after passing out from exhaustion, but he did it.  The key to the church and both Ashley's and his own salvation laid in the palm of his hand. Finally, he was here.

This must be it.

He had a lot of reasons to hate this village and its inhabitants, but he had to give them credit for the church. It was gorgeous- dark stone culminating in a high pointed roof and bell tower. The building was surrounded by orange and brown trees that highlighted the ominous beauty of the structure. It stood atop a small slope of dead and faded grass and seemed almost like a beacon in the midst of a bruise colored sky. Purples and pinks intertwined to settle over the village and bid farewell to the day. Who knew what the night held.

He fitted the key into its designated slot and glanced at the two entry-way doors that were engraved with an elaborate design- a cross with an X in the center of it. It did nothing more than unsettle him- maybe it would've intimidated him if he had time to think about what it meant.

"I'm coming for you, Ashley," Leon whispered under his breath, almost like a prayer.

With a grunt, Leon pushed the heavy doors to the church open. They landed against the wall with a thud, the sound of impact reverberating and echoing in the empty building. In front of Leon was a rainbow mosaic that illuminated the church. It was enchanting, the colors filling up the room and engulfing him in an unnerving feeling. Rows of wooden seats with burgundy cushioning stood in rows and parted down the middle to create a pathway to an altar. The right and left walls had floor length windows that let some of the fading daylight into the grand room. He was careful not to make any noise, evident in his soundless and meticulously placed footsteps. He scanned the room for signs of Ashley- a stray hair strand, a photo- anything. Nothing yet. He huffed in annoyance.

"Ashley?" he whispered to the empty room. Nothing except for the sound of his own breathing could be heard. Leon looked from side to side before his eyes had landed on something in the corner of the room. A door. He walked over to it and opened it. What supposedly led to a storage closet instead gave way to a ladder. He hoped the next floor would have Ashley as the bottom had proven fruitless. In that plea to himself, he also silently hoped that whatever Evelyn was here for had nothing to do with Ashley. He knew full well what she was capable of.

After climbing the ladder, he pushed himself up to his feet with a small grunt and took in his surroundings. He was standing in an indoor balcony that lined the rim of the church. His heavy combat boots made the dark floor board of the second story creak slightly as he walked. Pistol in hand, his eyes studied the area. The only noise he heard now (that had made his heart nearly stop) was something he stepped on. He looked down and lifted up his foot. A pink flip phone? He reached down and picked it up to inspect it. The glass screen was shattered and the bottom had stickers of sorority symbols adhered. It certainly couldn't have belonged to a villager, or even Evelyn if she had been here. That meant..