Love & Exorcisms | 18+ | COMPLETE |

- Chapter 39 -

My bedroom - for I supposed that even in the brief time I'd been in Damian's house it had indeed become "mine" - was somewhat changed when I returned to it, still wrapped in the towel from my bath. The broken glass and spilled soup had been cleaned up, the glass shade upon the light was replaced. There was a small pile of garments folded on the chest of drawers, and a vase of blooming white magnolias sat on the bedside table. I was taken aback, and Damian was as well. He paused for a moment, as I looked about in the confusion, then he smiled softly.

"Rachel works quickly," he said.

"Rachel did all this?" I inspected the clothing lying folded on the drawers, and realized it was a pale gray dress and a loose cotton nightgown. They both seemed just about my size, and I could only assume these were Rachel's clothes as well. "How could she...she can't have...forgiven me already. Why would she do something so kind?"

"Because you and Rachel were not so different once," he said. "But her story isn't mine to tell. You'll have to ask her." I felt his eyes on me as I let the towel drop and slipped the nightgown over my head. The fabric was blessedly soft; I immediately adored the feeling of it brushing against my tender backside. When I turned, Damian hurriedly looked elsewhere. It was precious, in a way, how hesitant he was to allow me to see his interest. Yet he'd had so little shame in putting me over his knee.

"Damian," I began slowly. "Thank you...for everything...I suppose I'm...I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. No one has ever tried to help me before."

"I wish the circumstances had developed differently," he said. "I don't blame you for having been upset. I hope - truly hope - that I can help you. That we can end this, what's been done to you. Tomorrow I'll be writing to my grandmother. She's a far more capable exorcist than I. With her strength and mine, I believe we may find a way to stop this: to close the gateway that has been opened in you. And banish Legion." He smiled, nervous and uncertain. His eyes were still reddened. My mind was swimming with all that he had shared with me, the intimate memories he had trusted me with. And I was practically still a stranger...

I took a seat slowly on the bed, taking in the sweet smell of the magnolias. "Before you go, I want to tell you what happened after the wedding. Well, after...after I killed Richard."

He looked surprised, but nodded and stepped further into the room, closing the door behind him. After all he had been willing to divulge to me, my final admissions were weighing heavily on my mind. Words I had never uttered to anyone...memories only shared with the demons in my head. I exhaled shakily.

"I fled the chapel covered in his blood."

I was fortunate that no snow was falling that day, but it had in the days previous. The air was frigid even with the sun out. Everywhere I stepped I left pinkish stains in the pristine white snow. I had wrapped myself in my coat, but even that barely obscured the dark red stains on the hem of my dress. I kept my head down. I prayed that no one would recognize me.

I had barely reached the edge of town when I heard the bells at the church begin to toll. Rapid, incessant, their clanging meant only one thing: the alarm was being sounded. Soon enough folk would emerge from their homes to gather at the church. Word would spread. The watchmen would be sent out on horseback, dogs released from their kennels to track my scent, search parties would begin the hunt. My heart thundered in my chest. I could barely breath.

The road was not safe, but nor was the woods. My tracks would be all too evident in the thick snow. I had begun to panic. The world seemed to move like a kaleidoscope around me, and I had to stop in the middle of the road, clutching my belly lest the little food I had eaten for breakfast that day come up again. Waves of hot and cold washed over me. I couldn't stop shaking.