The Forgotten Sin (Purifiers Book 1) (10 page)

           
"Lucas!...."

A smirk stretched across his face as he placed a hand on the wall she was pinned to and
leaned closer to her. The smell of his faded woody cologne filled Iliana’s nose just like the
other night.

           
"You have been avoiding me all day today." Lucas said in a soft yet eerie tone.

           
"Do not tell me... you are offended that I do not flutter around you like the rest of the
school does!" Iliana remarked sarcastically trying to sound confident when in actual fact
her legs were shaking, luckily she was against the wall otherwise she would have collapsed
already.

           
"I do like those who have spirit." Lucas said the smirk on his face getting bigger.

           
"
Why
?... Because you do not have one?"

Lucas punched his fist on the wall irritated by her comment and making Iliana jumped, but
she carried on talking.

           
"I know it was you the other night dressed in black, I recognise those eyes anywhere.
It is somehow different from a human’s!"

           
"You really have no idea about anything?" He replied back in a dark and serious
way.

           
"I know you were there at the warehouse, but I just do not know your reasons behind
those possessions." Iliana said.

Lucas looked at her for a moment as if he did not know what she meant. But then he threw
his head back and laughed out quite loudly. Clueless to why he was laughing so much
Iliana just watched him until he stopped.

           
"You think I was behind that?" He questioned. "Do you not know where I was for
the past two years?"

           
"I know..." Iliana replied knowing her accusation did not quite fit the facts. "I am
still figuring it out but for some reason, I feel that you have something to do with it."

Lucas pierced his eyes into Iliana’s as if again he was searching inside her mind.

           
"You still
do not remember anything?" Lucas said leaning even closer to Iliana that
their noses were just inches from touching.

Iliana tilted her head back and tried to look away, but Lucas grabbed her chin and forced
her to look at him. Iliana was positively sure she could see fire in his eyes as he asked her in
a deep husky voice.

           
"Iliana D’coye... do you really
not know who I am?"

Iliana frowned not knowing exactly what he meant by that question, but he asked her again
in the same tone.

           
"Do you know who I am?"

Before Iliana could say anything a clear plastic folder slipped in between her and Lucas,
making them both a little cross eyed. Iliana turned to where the folder was coming from
and felt her heart alleviate with relief. Kazuki stood there with the folder in one hand and
the other in his trouser pocket.

           
"Mrs. Rawlins was not
happy when I stopped by her classroom to pick up my
English Project folder... because you
left your Project folder on your desk. And I
am not
happy because she forced me to find you and give it to you, otherwise we both get
detention!" Kazuki announced in a vexed tone.

           
"Ooh..." Was all Iliana could muster as she took the folder.

Lucas stepped back away from Iliana and placed his hands in his trouser pockets.

           
"You need to sort out your timing skills Kazuki Jacob Williams!" Lucas said
sighing.

Kazuki did not say anything back to Lucas but just glared at him. The awkward and intense
atmosphere was broken when a group of boys down the end of the corridor appeared and
called out.

           
"Hey Lucas!..."

Before making his way to them Lucas gave Iliana one last glance with a smug look on his
face.

           
"See you around... Iliana D’coye!..."

Watching Lucas meet the group of boys and then disappearing round the corner Iliana let
out a sigh as if she had held her breath for so long. I wonder what he meant when he said...

           
‘
You still do not remember anything
?’ Iliana thought before turning to Kazuki. But
Kazuki was already heading up the other end of the corridor towards Father Benjamin’s
classroom.

           
"Hey!... Wait a minute, Kazuki!" Iliana cried out. "I need to tell you and Father
Benjamin something."

           
"WHAT?..."

Iliana had just told Kazuki and Father Benjamin everything she knew, from her Mother and
the cloak to Lucas at the warehouse. It took her almost fifteen minutes to explain and when
she finished Kazuki yelled at her.

           
"And you tell us all this now!... What were you waiting for?... Until half the city is
possessed and the other half wrapped round his fingers?... That vexing man has been
planning something for the past two years... and that information could be crucial to us!"

Iliana winced at Kazuki’s shouting but then as if all he had just said clicked into sense, she
looked at Kazuki.

           
"Wait a minute... you suspected Lucas Baddesley was behind it all... all this time?"

Kazuki bit his lower lip and looked away as if he should not have said something. So Iliana
turned to Father Benjamin who sighed and replied.

           
"Not Lucas Baddesley..."

Thinking about what Kazuki said Iliana finished his sentence.

           
"Lord Baddesley!"

           
"Wow!... You are not as thick as you look!" Kazuki said sarcastically.

Iliana threw him a deathly glare which could have frozen water.

           
"That time when Lord Baddesley lost his wife and his son went into coma was when
the unusual high amount of possessions started!" Father Benjamin exclaimed. "Remember,
when we told you those town people who were the culprit for the death of his wife?"

Iliana nodded thinking how could she forget that tragic story.

           
"Well, Lord Baddesley visited them in the first week they were all admitted in
prison, the next day they were insane. They talked to themselves in multiple languages
including Latin which when I talked to their families was impossible, because English was
the only language they knew. They did not eat or drink for the three weeks they were in
their cells." Father Benjamin informed sitting on the edge of his desk and folding his arms
in front of him. "When the Mayor called me to visit them in private I knew instantly that
their inner demon had fully taken over the human soul and body, and would be very
resistant in Arising if I did the Chant. Even so I tried anyway to draw out the demons from
the human bodies, Kazuki and Jung were ready to Purify. But as the demons struggled to
Arise the human body began to deteriorate and bleed out from the inside... I had to stop. I
mean... we would have been able to kill the demons and Purify the souls. But if the human
body dies, that soul will go into limbo... I could not bare to have that weight on my
shoulders for the rest of my life."

With his eyes fixed on the floor Father Benjamin sighed as if it was still very raw in his
mind. Even Kazuki had a distasteful look on his face, but it was him who carried on for
Father Benjamin.

           
"The next day they were found dead in their cells apparently Jung said... their bodies
were mutilated... as if a bomb had exploded from inside their bodies. Obviously for
everyone’s peace of mind... especially for their families, they were told they killed
themselves. However, there was a witness who reported that the night before their deaths,
he saw Lord Baddesley’s black Jaguar car, parked behind the prison and a silhouetted
figure getting into it, then drove away. Of course a couple of days later... that witness
supposedly killed himself too."

           
"But was there no guards at the prison or cameras?" Iliana asked.

           
"The guards had no memory of anything suspicious... The cameras showed no
images of anything unusual, and Lord Baddesley... thanks to your Mother... he was cut off
of all the accusations connected to him."

Iliana pulled out a chair from the desk nearest to her and slumped herself down.

           
"Why did you not tell me any of this?" She asked looking up at Father Benjamin in
front of her.

           
"Because... your Mother is closely involved with Lord Baddesley. And I... we did
not want to scare you." He replied.

           
"I thank you for your concern but I can manage, honestly... I have
to go to my limits
for those who need me out there... who need
us!" Iliana responded firmly sitting on the
edge of her chair.

Kazuki looked at her a little taken back by her courageous remark and Father Benjamin
smiled as he nodded then he added.

           
"And... about your Mother. We have suspected your Mother as one of Lord
Baddesley’s close followers, but what you had told us... just adds to our suspicions in her
involvement in all this. But how far involved she is in... remains a mystery."

           
Iliana lowered her eyes to the desk. Even though she had told Father Benjamin and
Kazuki all she knew, she did not mention that her Mother might be in the first stages of
possession. Kazuki watched Iliana thinking to herself knowing that she was keeping
something from them, but did not say anything as Father Benjamin carried on talking.

           
"And there is Lucas... he has
changed a lot since he woke up from the coma. But to
be able to wave off your powers with a flick of a hand... is another thing altogether." Father
Benjamin sighed, rubbing his fingers over his forehead as if thinking too much was giving
him a headache. "What part does he play in all this?... What power does he possess?...
There is still so many un-answered questions."

           
Father Benjamin got off from the desk and started to pace up and down the room
frustrated with how little they know. Silence took over for a few minutes, the sound of
students running past the corridor on the other side of the classroom door was heard. But it
did not hinder the thoughts from the minds of the three inside the classroom. It was Iliana
who broke the silence as she remembered the big news that saturated the whole school.

           
"The party!" She said.

Father Benjamin and Kazuki both snapped out of their deep thoughts and looked at her.

"The party?" Father Benjamin repeated then understanding what she meant he said.
"Yes, that is it!... The party will be held at Lord Baddesley’s mansion. Your Mother
must have been invited, right Iliana?..."

Iliana nodded.

           
"Are you suggesting she should go and investigate his mansions for any clues whilst
he is occupied with the other crowd?" Kazuki asked trying to work out Father Benjamin’s
methods.

           
"Not just Iliana... apparently the invitation says... that those who have children that
attends St. Anthony Preston’s Academy, can invite one friend. Iliana... have you invited
anyone yet?"

           
"No... I do not know who to invite as my friends are already going."

           
"Then Kazuki will be your attendee."

           
"What?" Kazuki and Iliana cried out in unison.

           
"It would beneficial to have both of you working together, especially as we do not
know what the security is like on the night." Father Benjamin explained. "And also, Iliana
would need your protection Kazuki. Lucas knows about Iliana and her powers, but we do
not know about his or even if he is working with his father... In fact I have to confess, after
hearing Iliana’s news today, we do not know a lot."

Then Father Benjamin added before neither of them could say anything.

           
"For one night... can you two get along and work together?"

Iliana and Kazuki’s eyes lowered to the floor, looking like they have been scolded.

*** Chapter 5 ***

           
The week went by pretty quickly and soon enough Saturday arrived in a hurry. Iliana
found herself rushing around to get ready for the big night which got most of the people in
the city fussed for the past week.

           
"Iliana!... Come on... We are going to be late!" Mother shouted from the bottom of
the stairs whilst putting on her emerald tear drop earrings.

           
"I am coming!..." Iliana yelled back.