SWNOVELS Redeemer (Chapter 24)
Dunn:
Stale piss, rotten flesh, old straw, and mildew hit me as the door creeks open.
The sound echoes through the small room on the other side of the door. I never come down here- I’ve never needed to come down here, and goddess knows I hope to never need to come down here again.
It’s a small room, with a torch and a priest acting as guard. The depressed-looking priest with thick brows and a thin nose in black robes looks up at me as I enter and nods at me before going back to the pamphlet he’s reading. I pause for a second, thinking that he would question my presence, but he doesn’t.
I pass him, going to the door next to him. Placing my hand on the door handle, I turn to face the priest one more time. I don’t know my way around the Redeemer’s level and I don’t want to walk into anything that would draw notice to my presence.
“Brother, where do they keep the recently acquired women?”
He looks up thoughtfully as though it was something that needed be to carefully worked out, “do you know the designation of crime?”
I had no idea they had different designations or what that means, “no”
“Then I cannot help you” he goes back to his reading.
“The priestess just came in; she had a baby with green eyes” I explain reluctantly.
He looks up at me again, “Ah, level three designation. You’ll find her on the second floor down unless they are working on her but they usually let them sit in their cells for a few days before starting their work”
They have made crimes in the goddess’ name into a sick science.
“Thanks” I continue through the door. On the other side is a large spiraling set of stairs going down and a well-lit corridor.
Crying echoes up the stairs and I purse my lips bracing myself for whatever horrors I’ll see. Each step takes me closer to the noise and the sense of foreboding. Each step I take also gets darker until I can barely make out what is in front of me.
Once I reach the next level I can’t help but look down the corridor, It’s a series of closed doors leading to goddess knows what. I keep going down the stairs and the crying continues.
The next floor is only slightly better lit, but I almost wish it wasn’t. I can make out the smeared liquid on the floor, but I can’t tell what it is. I hold up my robes so that I don’t drag them through it and try to step over as much as I can. I look up. This floor is a series of barred rooms separated by stone walls.
I walk forward, looking in each cage for Ava, a priestess I vaguely recall. They all look so similar in the same blue priestess robes, the same drawn expressions on their faces.
It’s oppressively humid down here despite the cool winter weather above ground and I can feel a drop of sweat sliding down my back as I walk. Most of the cages are thankfully empty- I don’t want to deal with anyone that I don’t have to.
I see movement in one cage and stop. I step towards the bars to squint at a woman scurrying as far back into the spare room as she can. Her dress is filthy and torn in strips, her hair is ratty, dirty streaks across her face, but she’s not Ava. There is nothing I can do for her.
I turn away and continue down the hallway. The next room is also occupied and I can see immediately that it’s Rachel’s friend. She doesn’t scurry away like the last woman; instead, she sits on a rough-looking cot in her priestess robes which remain starkly clean except for a long streak of blood starting mid-thigh. Her hair looks greasy as she leans forward with her head in her hands.
“Ava” I call out softly. If I can avoid it, I don’t want any of the Redeemer’s men to notice me.
Despite the gentleness of my voice, she jumps. She looks up. Her eyes look swollen, red.
“Ava, I have a message from Rachel”
She stands slowly; I make out her bloated post-partum stomach over the skirts that stick to her legs. She waddles over to the bars until we are standing only a foot apart. She grabs the bars as though they held up stay upright, but says nothing. Closer I can see the trails of old tears down her cheeks, the purplish skin under her eyes, and the redness of her nose.
I reach into my pocket and pull out the little folder paper that Rachel gave me. I thrust it through the bars. She looks down at the paper for a moment before slowly reaching out her hand to brush it delicately with a finger before finally grabbing it.
My task complete, I should leave, but I can’t help but ask, “the blood…?”
Ava looks down at herself as if to confirm that it is there, “I have nothing to stop the post-birth bleeding”
Goddess. How did Maya survive down here? How did any of them? And I know I haven’t seen the worse. I hear no screams, no torture, if anything this level is too silent.
“I need to go,” and I walk away from her while she still stands by the bars. I need to leave, not only so I don’t get caught, but I need to get away from what has become of my temple- no not become- what it always has been.
I escape leaving the Redeemer’s behind me.
*****
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