Devil at the Vatican (BL)

Chapter 46

Cassian's demon healed him enough to stay alive on the way to the hospital, but his body was still in poor condition. The burns covered every inch of his flesh, even his eyelids and lips. His hair had been fried off, leaving only patches of crumbs on his scalp. When Marcel handed him over to the medical staff, Cassian squeezed his hand enough for Marcel to understand that he needed to stay. 

Marcel and Ambrose waited for word from the doctor in the visitor's room. Ambrose took the call from another Cardinal on what happened, as Marcel was too much in shock to be of much help.

When Ambrose returned, he said, "They are reasoning it to be a lighter in his pocket that caught fire, and the flames just swallowed up his robes."

"Did you explain it was hellfire?"

"No."

Marcel leaned his elbows on his knees and wiped his face with his hands. "Why not?"

Ambrose shrugged. "Well, Cassian was with you. I think that if you did such a thing... you'd have good enough reason."

Something caught Marcel's attention about that statement. He jerked upright and looked at the other priest with a furrowed brow. "Me?"

Ambrose nodded. "Who else?"

"Elio Ellsworth was in my room."

"What was he doing in your room, Marcel? Isn't he to be exorcised?"

"You didn't see him in there?"

"Cassian was on bloody fire. I didn't think to take notice if you had any visitors."

"But Nikolai..." Marcel thought back to what Nikolai told him. "Nikolai told us to go ahead. He would supervise the boy. Elio was recently exorcised but the confirmation assessment wasn't completed yet so he can't be left alone. It is very recent. Only a couple of people know."

Ambrose furrowed his brow as well. "That's a strange thing to say. Even if he noticed the boy in your room, how would he know he needed to be monitored?"

They looked at each other then.

"Something's wrong, Ambrose. I fear, in all of our research, we've missed something horribly important."

"Tell me what you need from me."

"I need you to speak with Sister Blanca's doctor. He should be in the clergy wing."

"He won't talk to me about private patients."

"I need you to use your demon... Deep. I need you to make him talk."

Ambrose swallowed, his fleeting eyes scanning the room as though looking for someone to save him. He then straightened and nodded. His demon, Deep, once possessed Nero. He wasn't mentioned anywhere in the Bible to anyone's knowledge, but he appealed to the strange, depraved nature of people, whether it was eating pencils or stabbing their boss. He was not nearly as strong as Murmur, but he would have to do.

Marcel then fled the hospital, running as fast as his legs could take him on the path back to the rectory.

***

Nikolai stood in the corner of the room staring at Elio like a doll without its master. His wide-set eyes gazed at him with a blank openness, and his mouth was somewhere between a smile and neutrality. He stood there with his hands at his sides, straight and rigid.

Elio was almost too preoccupied too notice his strangeness, almost. He didn't know what happened with Cassian. It was a similar feeling to when Jonah was exorcized. He knew what to do so naturally as if born for such things. He wished Cassian would burn in hell, and suddenly Cassian was ablaze. And he wished Cassian would continue to burn, even though his screams rattled Elio to the core.

"You had sex recently," Nikolai said, sniffing the air. 

Elio lowered his head in shame.

"No need to feel embarrassed. I had sex recently too."

"Are you one of the Cursed Exorcists?" Elio asked. 

Nikolai nodded.

"Who is your demon?"

Nikolai nodded again though this was not a yes-or-no question.

"I think I've retained some of my demon's powers, like Marcel said."

This time Nikolai shook his head. "Your demon was cast out of you. Ours was bound inside us. We were never fully or truly exorcized. The power you have is entirely your own."

"What do you mean?"

A knock rattled the thin wooden door. Nikolai's neutral smile lit up into a true one and he opened the door immediately. When Elio saw who was on the other side, he scrambled backwards, falling to the floor and scraping himself into the far corner of the room. 

The advisor walked in, the one who made his torturous exorcism with Father Felipe into pure hell. The one whose eyes evoked his flight response like nothing he'd ever felt before. Elio's heart faltered. He tried to evoke the same feelings to set this man ablaze as he had Cassian, but fear muddled his focus.

"Why are you here?" Elio stammered, more afraid than ever. 

He wanted Marcel here with him, protecting him. When he saw this man outside his cell after the exorcism, his heart had nearly stopped. This man wasn't an exorcist, at least not really. That's what Father Felipe told Elio once. This advisor... he did something like administrative work with the exorcists.

"Is everything ready Nazaret?" Nikolai asked him. "Are we set to move him now?"

The advisor, Nazaret, stared at Elio in the corner, his beautiful face a mask of false kindness.

"You aren't taking me anywhere, fiend," Elio hissed, though his voice shook. "Marcel will be back at any moment." 

Nazaret laughed. "Marcellinus might be on his way back here... yes. He's quite clever. Too bad we will already be gone."

"Which demon do you have inside you?" Elio stood up, deciding to feign bravery at least. 

"I'm an exorcist, but not one of the 'special' ones. I'm much more important than that. I wasn't born to carry the soul of a demonic disciple."

Elio couldn't speak then. He tried to ask another question and stall for time at least, but his mouth would no longer open. His limbs froze and he fell forward, face down onto the floor of Marcel's room. Nikolai turned him over, then stood above him, staring down with those wide vacant eyes.

"You are entirely perfect, Elio," Nikolai said to him then. "No wonder he fell in love with you. Don't be afraid. We won't let any more harm come to you that is needed for the final steps in preparation for the Black Sabbath."

Nazaret slid his hands over Nikolai's shoulders, who then turned around and kissed him. Elio watched helplessly as they kissed above him. He witnessed their tongues rolling into each other's mouths and them nibbling suggestively on each other's lips and chin. He thought for a moment that they would have sex right above him, but they stopped to gaze down at him. 

"Let's get going."

"M-Marcel will find me," Elio managed to croak out in between clenched teeth.

"Oh, my sweet Elio... I'm entirely counting on it."