For I Have Sinned

12

Now how the hell am I going to tell Father Barnes that his childhood friend is being possessed by a demon. I could barely see it, I had felt it sure, smelled it faintly, but it let me see it, this wasn't like the demons I was used to seeing attached to people. This one was stronger, I could feel it's power resonating off of it. Not to mention the fact it was sitting in a church eating breakfast with a priest.
Suddenly I was uninterested in the food before me, my stomach souring at the thought. I stared down at the plate in front of me, keeping the demon in the corner of my eye. How in the hell am I going to do this.
"Sparrow, are you alright?" Father Barnes asked me, I swallowed what felt like thick bread in the back of my throat.
"Yes, Father." I said softly, trying to keep the beating of my heart even.
"Are you sure, Sparrow?" Steve asked along side him, I could hear the humor in his voice as he spoke.
Slowly I looked up at Father Barnes, his blue eyes held mine. I took a deep breath, I could feel tension in the room slowly starting to build. Slowly breathing out I looked over at Steve from the corner of my eye, a cocky smile was on his face, the demon within him found this humorous.
    "Father Barnes." I began slowly, the steady beat of my heart began to quicken. My finger tips tremble again the wood of the table. "How well do you know him?"
    "What?" Father Barnes seemed taken back by my question no doubt, he had known this man his whole life. And at some point in time the demon had confiscated his friend and was wearing his body. "Why would ask that?"
    "Because Father, she can see me for who I truly am." Steve replied slowly, the scent of sulfur thickening in the kitchen as I slowly stood from the table and move away from the demon.
    I watched them both as I backed away, the confusion written in the way Father Barnes's brow pinched and his mouth slightly opened. The glint in Steve's eye was no doubt of that of the demon who currently resided in his body. Every muscle in my body tightened, and I felt the hairs on the nap of my neck stand on end. A dark chuckle fell from the man's lips as he slowly rose from the table, wiping his arms over his shirt brushing at the nothingness there.
    Father Barnes was flung into a wall as he went to stand, the shelf above him came loose and the bottles of seasoning fell over landing on him and breaking open across the floor. Steve slowly walked around the edge of the table toward me, his eyes slowly turning black as he did. I see could the demon more clearly, it's dark silhouette moving in tandem with the man.
    "Oh, little bird, little bird, how far you've fallen." He whispered as I felt the wall behind me, my back pressing against it.
    He reached up, and brushed his finger against my the exposed skin of my shoulder. They were cold, icy cold, and they burned on contact, my skin turning black instantly. He hissed as he recoiled from my skin, the pads of the fingers turn black as well. His eyes narrowed at me, and he snarled his lips.
   "Evidently, not far enough." He whispered before turning on his heel and walking toward the back entrance stopping to look down at the Father who laid unconscious on the floor. He knelt down and brushed a strand of loose hair out of the man's face before looking over me.  "We aren't done, birdy. And before you get any crazy ideas, as your kind has so many of, just remember, I have been up here longer then you have. His soul will be mine, along with the hundreds of other I plan to reap."
    "My kind?" I asked, my eyes tracking him as he stood. Steve face didn't move but I could the demon grin behind him, long teeth, sharp and glistening showed to me.
    "They really did a number on you, didn't they." He stated before walking out of the church into the light of day.
    I rushed over to the fallen man, placing my hand gently on his shoulder, my chest tight as I watched his chest rise and fall with each breath. I looked up at the open doorway, it knew me, the demon knew me. I stood and walked to the open door, the morning sun gracing my skin, yet a chill still ran down my spine. The wind gently blew into me and I took a breath, Father Barnes groaned on the floor next to my feet.
    "Father Barnes are you okay?" I asked looking down at him. He blinked hard a couple of time while trying to get to his feet, I reached my hand down to help him. His hair in front of his face as he looked up at me.
    "You knew?" He asked, wincing as he stood.
    "That he was a demon, yes." I responded as he finally got to his feet, looking around a bit before his eyes landed on me again.
    "How?" He questioned, his eyes narrowing at me.
    "I could feel it, but to be honest if he hadn't shown himself to me I'm not sure I would of noticed. I knew something felt off when I came in but, I didn't know what it was." I replied with a shrug, crossing my arms in front of my chest, looking down to the floor.
    "I would never suspected Steve." He said in disbelief.
    "Father it said something to me." I said with a shaky voice, I saw him look over to me as he picked up the spice bottles that were on the floor. "It said that it would reap your soul and others, that he's been up here longer then me and not to get any crazy idea that my kind does. I don't understand, he said they did a number on me."
    "Demons lie Sparrow." He replied, grabbing my shoulder to force me to look at him.
    "But what if he isn't? What does that mean? What is my kind?"
~~~
    Bucky looked at her, eyes pleading him for answers, ones he couldn't provide. She knew Steve had been a demon, one he couldn't see, and that worried him. Not only the fact he couldn't see the demon but the fact it had entered the church with no problem. How many others had walked in, how many other souls were being tortured that he couldn't help because he couldn't see them.
    "Sparrow, maybe you were sent to me to help.. to help rid the world of them." He stated, his eyes locking into hers. "Maybe you have the same calling that I have, it's as if fate has sent you here to help, there are no coincidences."
"Father, how can I know if the life I led before this was one that follows what you preach?" She asked him, biting her bottom lip.
"Because a good person will always be a good person. Memories or not." He smiled.