Father of Sin

FATHER OF SIN

Lucy entered the church, her head hung low, her eyes red from a million tears shed. Those that knew her could tell she had changed; something was very different about her. It was like a dark cloud had come down and enveloped her entire existence. She approached the altar, and for a moment, knelt in prayer. Maybe she was asking for forgiveness. If she was, there really was no need; it was she who'd been wronged, she who'd suffered. Rising up from her prayers she caught a glimpse of the reason she had came here in the first place, the confessional chamber. She had kept this in too long, she couldn't do this anymore it was killing her inside, but still she was terrified. It took all her courage, but she entered the confessional. "Forgive me Father, forgive me".

"My child, God forgives all those who repent" spoke the Father. She knew he'd not understand, she knew that there was little he could do to ease her pain or to make her hate herself any less but she didn't know what else to do or where else to turn "It's so hard, Father, it's so hard" Lucy sobbed.

Lucy started to explain the events that brought her to her sorry state. She told how three weeks ago she'd gone out with some friends. She'd missed the last bus home and didn't have enough money for a taxi so she had decided to walk, after all it wasn't far. She never dreamt that anything like what happened could happen.

"...I heard footsteps behind me, at first I never thought much of it, but after a while it made me a little nervous, so I decided I'd walk a bit faster. As I did though the footsteps became more rapid, like whoever was behind me was following me, keeping pace, I got scared, but I was also angry. I tried several times to turn around and see who was behind me but each time the footsteps were gone and no-one was there to be seen. Each time I'd carry on, a few moments would pass and the footsteps would begin again. I panicked; scared I just started to run as fast as I could, I just wanted to get out of there. As I ran though, I just heard him behind me, chasing after me, the next thing I knew I was grabbed from behind, I tried to struggle but he was too strong."

As Lucy told her experience, the Father's demeanour in the confessional chamber changed, not that Lucy could see. He suddenly looked uncomfortable, maybe he was just disturbed by what he'd heard, finding the whole scene shocking or maybe it was something more.

A highly emotional Lucy continued "He dragged me into an alleyway, I was kicking and trying to scream but I was terrified, it seemed the more I tried to scream the more impossible it was to make a sound, maybe he had his hand over my mouth. Then he forced me up against the wall, put his hand under my skirt and ripped off my underwear, while restraining my arms above my head. I couldn't move. I didn't have any energy to fight him, no matter how I tried. Before I really knew what was happening he'd forced himself inside me and was being really rough, it hurt, I could feel blood trickling down the inside of my leg. All the while he was groping my chest with his free hand while restraining me against the wall with the other. It seemed to go on forever. Eventually I felt him cum inside me, as the tears ran down my face, then he threw me to the ground. I tried to turn around to catch sight of who had done this, but by the time I turned around all I could see was the back of a dark figure exiting the alleyway."

The Father looked shaken, terrified in fact. His skin had turned pale, white as snow. Why was he so worried? He spoke out with a tremble in his voice; "Lucy?" There was silence. The Father continued "Lucy, is that you?"

"Yes it is, please Father, don't tell anyone, don't tell my parents, please Father." panicked Lucy.

Moisture formed on the Father’s brow "Are you sure you didn't see who was responsible for this, do you have any idea?" The Father asked. "No" replied Lucy. The look of terror on the Father's face seemed to dissipate for a moment to be briefly replaced by relief, he was safe.

Lucy continued to explain how she had felt so dirty, as if maybe she was to blame, maybe she had dressed too provocatively, that it was her own fault for not being more precautious. All the while the Father was playing his act of sympathy and reassurance all too convincingly, doing what any good priest would, only in this case, it was all fake, and all the time with a wry smile on his face.

Father Andrews, had always taken a liking to Lucy, had known her since she was a baby, baptised her in fact and watched very intently as she'd grown into the beautiful young woman she had become. The night she had been walking home he had passed her in his car as he returned from giving some poor soul their last rights. When he saw Lucy all dressed up, from her night out, he couldn't believe his luck. Father Andrews parked up a little further down the road and waited for her to pass, followed her and waited for his opportunity to rape the object of his forbidden desire. Lucy told of how after the event she hadn't spoken to anyone, she'd just ran straight home disposed of her tattered clothes and showered and scrubbed until her skin was red raw, all the evidence was gone, he'd gotten away with it.

At this point he felt a sudden pain in his chest; he was not in his chamber alone. In there with him was a darkened figure hovering in front of him, with a look of pain and disgust on his face. The priest tried to shout for help but the inflicted wound to his lung prevented him being able to. The figure spoke but would only be audible to Father Andrews "I may be the angel of death, the taker of life, the reaper of souls but you are a far worse evil. God will not see you, will not forgive you, will not show mercy on you. Even Satan himself, the bane of all evil, feels pain at your actions, and a sickness to extreme for words. Neither want you, neither will have you and neither care at your demise. So my toy you will be, to suffer more pain than you can ever imagine, doomed to spend an eternity in purgatory, raped by a million others, by those like you, to live in eternal suffering. This awaits you and for all those guilty of your crimes."

With this, Father Andrews breathed his last breath and left our domain. Lucy was then addressed by our Reaper friend in the voice of our late Father. "My child, you have nothing to forgive, and you are not to blame. But from now until you die, angels will watch over you, make you strong again and be forever by your side."

With that Lucy cried, it was like a weight had been lifted from her chest, it was no longer her secret, she felt the release of so much pain trapped inside. She knew now she had spoken about it, she could start to heal and slowly rebuild her life and hopefully one day be happy again. Most of all she felt reassured that it wasn’t her fault.

When Lucy had composed herself she left the confessional box, thanking our Reaper as she left. All the time unknowing of the identity of her attacker, and oblivious to the small trickle of blood, emanating from the bottom of the Father's confessional chamber.