Cursed Souls Blood, Brains & Rock'n'roll

Chapter 8 The Colt of God

Abraham Moore, Cardinal of the Order of St. Constantine, slid his hand across the oak table.

"Do you know what they told me?" He turned to the nun standing at the door of the office.

"They said that the devil's spawn wouldn't hide in small towns like Springwood. They said that monsters seek refuge in big cities because they're crowded and easier to hide in. Do you believe that, Anna?"

The nun, who was apparently named Anna, replied quietly:

"I believe they are blind, Father."

Abraham glanced at the scattered papers on the table. Here were all the records they had found in this office and Cardinal Angelo's house. In the pile of papers and notebooks were accounting reports, reports for the Order, and various documents of an organizational nature. But most importantly, it also contained the late Cardinal's personal notes on his life in Springwood.

"Do you think Cardinal Angelo was a good man?" Abraham asked after a couple minutes of awkward silence. It should be said, "awkward" for Anna.

"I saw the way people spoke about him at his funeral. And I saw his wife's eyes. So, I think yes."

"But was he a worthy member of our Order?"

The girl was silent. How should she answer? She was well aware that Abraham Moore was very fond of very strange and incomprehensible conversations. This habit, in her opinion was common to all ministers of the holy cause, but Moore had reached unattainable heights in this matter, compared to which Everest was only a small hill.
Abraham sat down in the chair where Cardinal Angelo had once sat, and continued his monologue in a pathos bass:

"And I saw the beast that attended the farewell. The beast was terrible, and death reeked from its mouth. He waited for the full moon to take the power of darkness and take the lives of men. And I saw with him a dead man whose body hadn't been buried and whose soul had long ago passed away. He was dying in front of my eyes, nature itself opposed him and didn't accept his existence. I saw the creatures of the night; I saw the damned souls who couldn't be saved. And I realized that among my brothers and sisters, a vile serpent had taken hold."

Abraham fell silent and sank back into his thoughts. Anna, who didn't want to stand for another five minutes waiting for any clear orders, coughed softly.

"What?" Abraham asked, as if just waking up.

"You called me here for a reason, didn't you?"

"Of course not," the cardinal seemed to be still awake. "You are going to be my eyes and ears in this city, along with your sisters. I want to know everything about this place and its people."

Anna leaned in slightly. She already knew that Abraham Moore smelled Evil and was ready to begin the hunt for that very Evil. That's right, capitalized, since the Cardinal never traded on an evil that started with a smaller letter. And she and her sisters would play a modest role in the hunt, as a support group that did all the dirty work.

"And Anna," said Abraham Moore, once nicknamed "Colt of God" by his envious friends, "don't let yourself be fooled. In places far from civilization like this city, monsters of exceptional strength and power are hidden. Those who can twist and mutilate the souls of men. Monsters whose mere sight is hideous and terrifying enough to drive a man mad."