Saintsmourn

[giveanything]

"Bless me father, for I have sinned," the words tumbled past his lips, ingrained in the well worn pathways of his memory from the years he'd spent in catechism and as an altar boy. Not that Liam was devout anymore -- how could he be, given what he'd become, given what he did and continued to do. The confessional booth was small and dark, light filtering in only dimly through the door and its screen that kept him hidden from the sanctuary beyond and from the priest he assumed would be on the other side.

"It has been... a very long time since my last confession."

What was he doing here? This was ridiculous. He couldn't possibly expect forgiveness and absolution. There had to be true repentance for that, real contrition, and Liam knew he couldn't manage either. He hated what he did, despised every moment of it, but he wouldn't stop. He couldn't stop. The price for disobeying was far too severe, and he would not be the one to pay it. The price for his disobedience and his failure would be paid by his brother, and he couldn't live with that.

So William had made his choice, made it again and again, putting that one life ahead of so many others. And oh he was good at what he did, talented at ruining people, in shattering whatever it was in a human being that kept their souls in place, until they were ready to throw it away. His watcher commended him for it, in a sick and sadistic sort of amusement.

Today's lost soul had been... fuck. It had been hard. She was young, barely nineteen, and her road had already been a hard one. He'd played the game with her for the past few weeks, insinuating darkness and doubt into the cracks of that already-battered soul. Today. Today she'd shattered, and there would be no recovering from it. Another soul for the demon who owned him.

He could feel the panic rising up in his chest, cold and hard and threatening to freeze his lungs so he couldn't draw in enough breath. In the dimness and silence of the confessional, all the carefully constructed walls and facades trembled and fell away. Gone were the easy smiles and quite literal devil-may-care attitude, all the charisma and charm that he relied on in his cursed excuse for a job. It was him and his breathing and the silence and the faceless priest in the chamber beside him. Liam wondered if he could hear the panic in his breathing.

"I... sorry. This was a mistake. I should go. I'm sorry, Father, for wasting your time."

Comments

[eblouissant]

Here within the sacred halls of Saintsmourn, Father Riley was the type that kept for the most part to himself. He walked the halls and the grounds regularly, he oversaw a bit of what went on in the dorms while he acted as a guiding influence on the young men who passed these halls and offered advice. It was very rare that he stepped into the Confessional, it was not his usual to listen to the sins of others.

So perhaps this was not the usual kindly old priest who would listen. Never say that Riley was not kind, but he had too many burdens of his own and he had no true power to forgive sins. Not really, he struggled with his own issues but they were kept quietly just as much as the beads that were held lightly between his fingertips.

When the voice came, he straightened considerably.

This was not the normal and yet he was not one who would brush off confession. He would listen as he ought; he sensed the doubt in the voice but also something far deeper, a tenuous thread of heartbreak. His fingers clutched his beads and then he rested his head against the wood paneling.

"Your steps lead you here so that you may ease whatever is lingering upon your soul and I would listen, speak and worry not of judgement." It was not in his place to judge, his voice was far younger than the Priest who resided here, a soft timbre that seemed to hold the silence in reverence and invited the other man to speak within this sanctuary.

TEXT

[giveanything]

Hey Father. Sun's out. Doesn't happen often. We should make the most of it. I know a place. Come with me and you can know the same place.

This is Liam by the way.

In case you hand out your cell number to all the lost causes.