Page 53 of Destined for Dreams
“You’ll see. Let’s just say one almost has to stumble across it to find it, but I was concerned by the lack of blood and evidence as well. There should have at least been a scent left behind, so I kept returning to investigate until I happened to show up at just the right time. Then I realized what the demon had done.”
He shifted on his feet, impatient. “Very well.”
“Come.” She beckoned. “This is the best place to see it.”
Bartol followed her to the side of the cathedral where a narrow spiral staircase was located. They followed it up to a small dais. It was an excellent vantage point where one could see almost all of the room from above but not so high that one might miss the small details. He studied the scene below, wondering what Sofia expected him to see when the lighting in the room suddenly changed. It was as if his blinders had been removed.
His gut clenched. “It appears like everything is still here.”
“Yes.” She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and used it to cover her nose and mouth. “I came in here so many times thinking the demon must have cleaned up after himself—the same as the authorities—but then a few days ago I found this.”
“Even the smell…” Bartol could handle a lot, but he feared this might be the first time since his youth that he might lose his lunch.
“It’s dreadful.”
He ran his gaze around at all the blood and decaying pieces of flesh. They were on the floor, the altar, the front pews. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.
“What did the authorities find exactly?” he asked, wondering how they’d known there was a slaughter with most of the evidence hidden.
“Only the carcasses of the human bodies and the bones. They were in pairs.” Sofia began pointing to various points of the cathedral with her free hand. “There, there, and there.”
“The humans can’t see this—even at this time of day?”
She shook her head. “No—only those with angelic blood and only for an hour each day. He is mocking God and us.”
Haagenti was cleverer and even more demented than Bartol expected.
“Caius and Tormod will be here tonight.” His jaw hardened. “We will return together tomorrow to clean this up.”
Sofia’s shoulders sagged in relief. “I was hoping you’d offer to help. In this city, I’m the only one who can see the mess, but I just couldn’t do it alone. It’s too much.”
“We should acquire masks and gloves to wear as well.”
“That would be wise,” she agreed, eyes glistening as she stared at the carnage.
Sofia was strong, but she had her delicate moments. One thing she could never stand was the suffering of others and had often made a point of rescuing those who were weaker and unable to help themselves. Having empathic abilities like a sensor, she was more sensitive to tragedy than most. Cleaning this up was going to take a heavy toll on her.
Though Bartol would have preferred to limit his time around her, he could not leave her to do this kind of work alone. This wasn’t only a horrible way to die; it was also a terrible way for one’s remains to be left. If they didn’t clean it up, these people—or at least parts of them—would go on rotting in the church forever, unbeknownst to the parishioners. Bartol might not be religious himself, but he would not leave a holy site in such a horrible state. No matter how long it took, they’d remove every trace of the evidence in the hope it would give the victims some sort of peace.
