Page 144 of For I Have Sinned

I find the ounce of strength that I have left and steady myself. I won’t let Father Keaton see me break. I won’t let him find pleasure in the sadness he’s caused. I straighten my back and take a deep breath, pushing through the pain.

Slowly, I exhale through my nose and release all my worries, my heartache, and blink the tears away. I squeeze Alex’s hand, letting him know I’m okay before he turns us around.

When we face Father Keaton, I see the gun pointed straight at us. The same one I found in his desk drawer. My gaze gets pulled away from him briefly as one of the priests has taken over the job of drowning the woman who had been fighting against him. A chill runs down my spine at the sight.

“Father Keaton… please,” Alex begs, which I don’t know why he does. It won’t help in this situation.

“Aren’t you ready to grow closer to God, Celine?” Father Keaton asks, his sudden excitement bringing my attention back to him.

His eyes are crazed as the corners of his mouth go from ear to ear. With his eerie expression and the weapon aiming at us, I know I should keep quiet, but what’s the point? It doesn’t matter if I keep my mouth shut or go off on him because he will do whatever he wants.

I push the fear to the back of my mind, look him directly in his deranged eyes, and bravely say, “If this is the way to do it, then no.”

My gaze leaves his to search around the stage for a weapon. Not that anything would overpower a gun, but something is better than nothing. I spot a golden cross propped up on a podium against the back wall. It looks heavy enough to inflict pain and maybe provide a momentary window for us to escape.

Father Keaton huffs, “Mmmm, no. Wrong Answer.”

Before I can even move my eyes back to him, a deafening blast sounds near me. My hands slam against my ears as a high-pitched yelp leaves my lips. Alex acts quickly, tucking me into his side, trying to protect me from the glass that is shattering around us.

I can feel Alex’s breathing become heavy, his chest heaving, but he is still able to sound calm when he whispers, “It’s okay, baby. I got you. I’m here.”

The clashing noises begin to settle, and through a shaky voice, I ask, “What was that?”

I slowly open my eyes and see sharp, colorful pieces of glass covering the floor. Is this… stained-glass? I don’t remember seeing a window by the stage.

I glance to the side, where most of the glass lies, and peer upward to find a frame hanging on the wall. Only small spikes of glass along the edges remain, and that’s when I remember someone mentioning that the convent stores spare stained-glass windows throughout the chapel.

But why did he shoot it?

Alex and I make eye contact, both our brows furrowing as we turn our heads and see Father Keaton standing in the same spot, with his gun directed our way.

I can hear Father Keaton muttering, cursing at his clothes and kicking his foot out from under the hem of his robe, blaming the fabric for making him miss and waste a perfectly good bullet.

He didn’t want to shoot the window.

He wanted to shoot us.

But he missed.

“I was going to save you for last to be nice,” his dark eyes lift to meet mine, “but since you want to be ungrateful, then I think you should go next.”

Alex tucks me further into his side. “That’s not going to happen.”

Father Keaton laughs dryly, directing the barrel of the gun at Alex, and I feel his body go rigid. “You think you’re going to stop me?”

I glance behind Father Keaton to see that they have already brought the last woman up to the stage and are continuing the process without his help.

“What is the point of killing all these women?” I ask him as the men lower her into the water, my eyes burning as tears want to break free, but I don’t let them. I won’t let my tears add fuel to his demented satisfaction.

“This was my way of showing my commitment to God,” Father Keaton states proudly. “He told me to sacrifice all of you, and you’d be resurrected. You will all come back in a new light.”

“You’re delusional,” I laugh in disbelief, removing my eyes from the atrocity happening behind him. “He wouldn’t have asked you to do any of this.”

“What do you know, Celine?” His head cocks to the side. “You don’t believe in a God.”

“That’s enough!” Alex shouts.

“This was all part of His plan.” Father Keaton directs the gun to the ceiling, pointing to the man in the sky who made him insane, as he ignores Alex’s plea to stop this madness.