Devil at the Vatican (BL)

Chapter 35

"How does a demon fully awaken?" Elio asked Marcel while they camped several nights later. By Marcel's estimations, they should be able to see St. Peter's Basilica in a couple more days. Tomorrow, they would likely hit Rome's northern edge. He stayed in the wilderness for as long as the journey would allow. Even with the pact in place keeping Jonah from fully controlling Elio, Marcel could not trust the demon.

"Something meaningful to that demon must occur," Marcel replied. He sat adjacent to Elio these last few nights, opting to stay as close as Elio's sensitive temperament would allow. "Now that we know the demon's true name, we can figure out the rest. The caveat with Biblical demons is that they are powerful enough to catch God's attention, but that also means we've written about them. So their strength becomes their weakness."

"I feel like Jonah needs something." Elio gazed at the fire and sighed. "Maybe he wants to go to the Vatican. All this feels... cheap. The town back there, I mean."

"Anything is possible. We don't know much. The Vatican archives should shed more light."

"I'm sorry for Petru."

"Elio, it's not y—"

"Just let me apologize," Elio snapped. "I know... but I'm sorry for what happened to him. He was a good man."

Marcel sighed and nodded, looking down at his hands in his lap. The camp fire light danced shadows across his skin.

"Have you lost many people doing this work?"

"I have. Friends, teachers... This work holds many dangers for us. Not just the possessed people or places... There are bandits on the roads, criminals."

Elio flopped back on the ground, staring up at the trees. From this angle, it looked as though they were leaning over him in their stretch towards the starry sky. "I can't imagine losing people like that."

They sat the rest of the night in silence, in contemplation of the ones lost. In the morning, Marcel took a small detour to Lake Bracciano, careful to stay far away from the city of Anguillara Sabazia along the southern-most edge. 

The lake waters were a deep blue, much darker than what Elio was used to on the coast of South Carolina. They climbed large rocks along the shoreline and sat there admiring the view for a while. Marcel noticed that one of Elio's eyes blackened, as though the demon were also enjoying the view.

"Do you want to swim?" Marcel offered. 

"We should be on our way," Elio said, his mouth tight. His eye returned to normal.

"The Vatican will always be there."

Elio smiled and seemed to relax a bit. The lake waters moved in ripples away from them. Marcel noticed this but Elio seemed oblivious as he watched the passing birds trek across the sky.  Maybe it was a fish.

"If I became an exorcist, would I travel with you?" he asked suddenly.

Marcel looked at Elio and found him gazing at him with such calmness, he couldn't help himself but lean over and give him a quick kiss. Elio looked at him then in a way that could make glaciers melt. 

"Yes, you would," the priest said, matching his smoldering stare. "You'd become my apprentice and once you graduated, you'd go off on your own. Landon was Ellery's apprentice actually, though they often lie about it."

"How long is an apprenticeship?"

"About ten years. Then we'd only see each other by happenstance or paired exorcisms, which may last a few days. There will be long stretches of time in which you won't know where I am or if I am alive."

"Sounds lonely. I don't think that's the life I would wish for myself if I had a choice."

Marcel looked back towards the water. Elio wanted to get his attention again, do something so that the priest would keep looking at him. 

"Why don't you retire from this life, Father?"

"I won't abandon it. The demons took something from me, and God gave me something else just as important. To stop fighting would be sacrilegious of me."

"Jonah took something from me too. What was your demon's name?"

"Let's settle in early here. I believe we'll make it to Rome tomorrow." 

Marcel got up and began collecting firewood. Elio watched him for a while, unmoving. As aloof as the priest was, at times, he was rather transparent. There was a side to him that was beyond soft. He was fragile. 

Finally, Elio got up and joined him in his preparation for camp. He collected their night things from the horse and set up the tent. By the time Marcel collected enough dry firewood, Elio's stomach rumbled.

"Care to fish?" Marcel asked him. 

"No poles to fish with."

Father Marcel chuckled as though he were being silly on purpose. The priest then undressed so that he stood only in a shirt and trousers, with both sleeves and pant legs rolled up. Elio watched as he waded into the water slowly, sticking to the shallow edge. Leaning over, Marcel dipped his left hand into the water just before his elbow, and remained entirely still. 

A strange thing, seeing Marcel so rugged like this. His face wore an anxious excitement that disarmed him completely. He was just like any other man in that moment, utterly human and so very dazzling. The cosmos ached in Elio's chest when he peered at him. 

A sudden snap of the water and Marcel snatched up a large fish. It flopped around violently in his grasp, but the priest held on, laughing in triumph. Elio gave a happy whoop, but before he could rush over to him, he heard Jonah's call.

The lake is haunted! Keep away from it!

Elio halted at once, utterly confused. 

Marcel started walking back to the shore, taking one heavy step after the other. It was strange. When he went into the water, his treads were slow, but normal. Marcel seemed to notice something was up too as his movements became jerky and tense. Still, he struggled pulling his feet up from the water with each step.

Abruptly, Marcel stopped in his tracks. His body froze. The fish in his arms squirmed to freedom and plopped back in the water. 

"Lord in Heaven," Marcel gasped right before his body was snatched backwards into the darkness of the lake waters.