The Forgotten Sin (Purifiers Book 1) (24 page)

           
"From what your Father saw, it was pretty up close and personal... and your faces
were almost touching!" Mother stated her eyebrows raising even higher, it almost reached
her hair line.

           
"Woo!... Stirring it up with the enemy are you Iliana?" Jung remarked both he and
Caitlyn staring at her with a bemused expression.

As Iliana turned to them her eyes flitted to Kazuki. He too had his eyes on her but with a
poker-faced look.

           
"Honestly... we were just
talking. There was absolutely nothing
to it. In fact I found
out he knows of the Unkn..." Iliana started to explain but stopped knowing she could not go
any further with Mother present.

           
"It is alright, you can carry on." Mother said pulling on Iliana’s hand a little and
forcing her to look at her. "I know of the Unknown world."

           
"What? Y-you do?"

Mother nodded forcing a small smile.

           
"I do now... that is why I have asked your friends to come here."

           
"How long have you known?"

           
"Since that night of Lucas’s welcome back party. Lord Baddesley opened my eyes to
the Unknown World after I accepted his proposal."

           
"That was the night when you decided to sleep in the spare room for the first time!"
Iliana recalled. "And you did not speak or even look at me from that night onwards."

Mother winced at Iliana’s comment, her hand slipped from Iliana’s and rested it by her
side.

           
"Please do not remind me of what I have done... It pains me to hear it, especially
coming from you."

Iliana gazed at Mother’s saddened face that stared at the bed sheets, Iliana sat on the chair
that stood next the bed and placed her hand back on top of Mother’s.

           
"I knew what I was doing was wrong but the demon I invited was so strong and my
own demon relished it’s power. I could not fight them both. I hurt you in many ways... and
even lured you to Lord Baddesley’s mansion. I knew you would follow me..."

Tears rolled down Mother’s cheeks unable to continue. Iliana felt a lump in her throat
whilst holding back her own tears.

           
"It is all over now Mother... you have been Purified." Iliana reassured stroking
Mother’s arm and comforting her as much as she could.

Mother sniffed, took a deep breath and nodded.

           
"I still cannot believe that you are a Purifier, one with the power over water. That
was why you have always loved water because you could control it. I knew you were
special."

Mother turned to the others.

           
"You all save people but you do not receive any gratitude from them... They do not
know of your heroic actions."

           
"Well... you know... it cannot be helped!" Jung remarked sounding very cocky.

Caitlyn nudged him in the arm with her elbow laughing at his comment.

           
"Do not let that get to your head... otherwise you will never pass through the door,
my little Korean big headed bear."

           
"Do not reign on my parade little Welsh bear. Just give me a moment to soak in this
glory." Jung said jokingly stretching his arms out like an spread-eagle and closing his eyes.

           
"You are a nutter." Kazuki commented shaking his head yet unable to hide his smile.

           
"I must tell you though... Lord Baddesley has a plan that I need to tell you." Mother
stated after the amusing commotion with Jung ended.

Before Mother could carry on with her explanations, Iliana suddenly felt a cold shiver
ripple down her spine. She spun round to face the closed door behind her, feeling a strange
presence nearby.

           
"What is wrong?" Mother asked.

           
"I do not know... something does not feel right."

           
"I cannot feel anything." Jung announced, then turned to Caitlyn. "Can you?"

Caitlyn shook her head, her neat and tidy blonde locks bouncing effortlessly at every
movement.

           
"I can." Kazuki responded in a deep tone, taking off his silver chain from under his
black shirt and preparing himself to morph the cross pendant into a sword. "It is coming!"

           
All of a sudden the room door flew open. Iliana turned round shielding Mother with
her body. Jung, Caitlyn and Kazuki also ducked as the flying door crashed to the other side
of the wall just missing them by the skin of their teeth. A deep growling noise that
resembled an angry wolf echoed through the room. Iliana whipped round and gasped.

           
"Mrs. Rawlins!"

The ringleted mass of brown hair gave away her identity. Her eyes were as black as night.
Her skin was pale and dry. She was just wearing a simple white night dress. Continuously
growling under her breath Mrs. Rawlins stepped into the room. But before she got any
further Caitlyn began to sing. Her angelic voice enveloped the whole room causing Mrs.
Rawlins to cower and drape herself on the door frame. She fell to her knees, black thick
smoke emerged from her eyes, nose and her open mouth. The smoke materialised into not
just one or two demons, but twelve. All of them lined the entrance of the room like
regimental soldiers. Their skins as dark as charcoal, their claws like knives and their beady
eyes scanning the large room.

           
"That’s new!" Jung commented before he began to shoot them with his guns which
he whipped out from behind his black jacket.

Like the speed of a lightening bolt the remaining demons lunged forwards. Almost just as
quick Kazuki leapt right over the bed that Mother laid on and landed in front of Iliana. His
slender sword in his hand swiped off the heads of at least two demons in one hit. Three
glowing long white arrows shot passed Kazuki in unison and targeted three other demons
straight to their foreheads. Iliana turned to where the arrows originated from. Caitlyn stood
towards the back of the room. Her hand gripped round a glowing white bow and three
arrows appeared as she pulled back the bowstring. Within moments the twelve demons
were gone and Mrs. Rawlins inhaled deeply before letting out her breath again.

           
"She is fine, just unconscious." Jung reported after checking her pulse.

           
"I cannot believe she dwelled a dozen of those demons along with her own soul!"
Caitlyn remarked lowering her bow.

           
"This is Lord Baddesley’s plan... It is happening!" Mother cried out sitting up on the
bed and breathing heavily.

           
"What do you mean?" Iliana asked as everyone turned to Mother.

           
"All those that attended Lucas’s welcome back party are all possessed by other
demons." Mother responded, her eyes now fixed on the bed sheets again.

A pinch of pain splashed on Mother’s face when everyone cried out in unison.

           
"What?"

           
"Every person that shook the hands of Lord Baddesley that night... is affected. And
everyone
shook his hand at some point at the party. He said that..... with the touch of his
hand he would feed everyone’s inner demon with darkness. And after performing the
special ritual later that night, everyone’s body would become an open vessel for other
demons who would be called out from Hell!"

Staring at Mother Iliana felt nauseated and was unable to think properly, yet Mother
continued.

           
"The first symptoms that everyone suffers is a fever and sickness. A result from their
own soul being tampered with."

           
"The bug!" Caitlyn said, her eyes wide and alert. "Loads of people have been off
sick with this bug!"

           
"I-I do not recall seeing Mrs. Rawlins at the party!" Iliana exclaimed, trying to
remember that night back in her mind.

           
"She was there with her husband who is a member of the County Council. You
disappeared somewhere when she arrived. And when you came back... she and the rest of
Council members gathered for a private meeting."

           
"W-what about Father?... He shook his hand yet... he seems
fine."

           
"I asked Lord Baddesley not to involve him."

           
"What of Andrew... our driver? He..."

           
"Lord Baddesley went out to the back of the mansion where all the chauffers had
parked the cars and shook their hands as ‘
a kind gesture’
."

Iliana rubbed her forehead, annoyed of how she did not see any of this at the time.

           
"That’s why you acted strangely when you shook his hand!" Kazuki stated looking
down at Iliana. "He tried to possess you."

           
"He knew what you were and I was so obsessed to please him that I agreed to give
up my own daughter... Just so I could be... so I could be... higher up in society along side
Lord Baddesley." Mother sobbed into her hands.

Iliana began to feel a pulsating pain in her head. She shut her eyes tightly. Her legs felt
weak and her stomach felt queasy.

           
"Iliana... are you okay?"

           
Iliana heard Caitlyn ask but it sounded as if cotton wool was stuffed in her ears. Her
throat was so dry she was unable to speak. The same shrill screams blared loudly in Iliana’s
head, it felt like she was listening to a voice player with the volume to it’s maximum
capacity.

Her body went stone cold as the same flashes of fire sparked in her mind. Then something
gripped her upper arms sending warmth back into her body like a surge of electricity. Iliana
opened her eyes to find blue sapphire eyes staring into hers. She was sitting on the chair
with Kazuki kneeling before her with his masculine yet gentle hands wrapped round her
arms. His silver chain was now hanging round his neck and dangling over his open collared
black shirt.

           
"Iliana... are you alright?" Mother asked sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs
dangling out and showing the leg that had been bandaged up to the upper calf.

Iliana nodded wearily, shifting her arms so Kazuki could let go and avoiding his heart
melting eyes.

           
"Just a... bad headache, that is all." She replied wiping the cold sweat that moistened
her forehead with the back of her hand.

Jung and Caitlyn rushed into the hospital room panting as if they had run a marathon. When
they saw Iliana sitting on the chair, Caitlyn asked worriedly.

           
"What happened to you?... Are you alright?"

           
"I am fine... it was just a bad headache." Iliana replied.

After a little sway on her feet, Iliana steadied herself and stood up straight. She then noticed
Mrs. Rawlins was not where she last saw her.

           
"What happened to Mrs. Rawlins?"

           
"We told the nurses to take her to the chapel room... she is fine." Caitlyn answered.

"But the others are not." Jung added then pointed his thumb towards the open door.
"According to the panicky nurses out there, patients are attacking other people out
there and kissing them."

           
"Kissing them?" Mother repeated in a high pitched and shocked tone.

           
"They are breathing the darkness into them and causing the others to become vessels
for more demons!" Kazuki exclaimed then ordered firmly. "We need to Purify them and we
need Father Benjamin."

           
"I have already just got off the phone with him a minute ago.. he is coming." Caitlyn
stated.

           
Caitlyn pulled one end of the small knotted bow releasing the white leather string
that laced round her silver bracelet. Within moments the silver bracelet unclipped from her
small wrist and morphed into a glowing white bow.

           
"I love it when you do that!" Jung commented gazing at her with admiration.

Caitlyn smiled flirtatiously and winked at him.

           
"Come on my little Korean bear... let us do our thing."

           
"Take care." Iliana said to them as they turned to the door.

           
"You too." Jung responded before they both disappeared.

Kazuki turned to Mother and said...

           
"We need to get you to safety incase they come after you."