The Chamber of Sins

“Are you alright, sweetheart?”

“I have done something horrible,” Margo said.

“Don’t worry about that. Do you still have the book?”

The girl took it out from inside her shirt. It looked simple, with dark brown leather covers, and radiated in a warm yellow light.

“We need to give it back,” Lionette softly spoke.

Margo glanced around.

“Where is Robert?”

Lionette said nothing.

“The man who took you here, where is it?”

“Do you mean my granddad?” Margo said as a smile showed on her face.

Lionette nodded, her eyes glossy with tears.

While they were talking, a shadow prolonged behind them.

“What-” Margo got to say.

Anna growled and sprang at her. Margo only had time to put the book on her back when she felt a sharp claw tearing her flesh apart. She panicked and pushed Lionette to the side. Anna aimed at the book and prepared for her attack. Her hypnotic abyss eyes were staring at her enemy, her lips black like pitch. She grinned, and a hellish smell exited her mouth. Her sharp teeth bit her lower lip, a drop of blood running down her grey skin.

Stephionee rose behind her, and grabbing Anna’s both hands, she handcuffed them with a silver thread. It was useless as the demon jumped on the walls and, walking on the ceiling, jumped edgily on Margo. The girl avoided the collision and stuck her back to the wall. She gawked at Anna as the demon possessing her was contorting her body in unimaginable ways. Now only an inch separated them, and a dense mist detached from Anna’s body and reached Margo's.

Anna’s eyes googled while the sharp blade of Stephionee’s sword impaled both her body and the mist. Black blood squirted through her nostrils and mouth. Her face became snow-white, and her entire body deflated like a damaged beach ball. Anna’s empty eyes stared at the small group in the room. A deep line appeared between her eyebrows as she realised something was wrong with her.

Muttered words came out from almost lifeless lips, and Margo has kneed by the girl and took her icy hands in hers.

“He is evil,” she said while her finger pointed somewhere in the shadowy corridor. Margo squinted her eyes, but nobody was there. She flexed forward, closer to the girl’s lips. Anna's last words disturbed her terribly.

Robert found himself in a sea of white, his soles stepping on a velvet-like ground. In front of him, in the milky light, an impressive doom was looming. An elongated figure approached him to his right as he looked at the ocean, calm and turquoise.

“Mom?”

The woman said nothing. She stretched her hand and pulled him towards the silvery construction. The boy inhaled his mother’s scent, the scent of fresh milk and vanilla. They walked on water, and Robert watched shoals of small fish changing direction frequently.

The time dilated, and he sensed his body and mind clear, without weight and thoughts. The doom entrance was straight in front of him, and before entering, his mother dissipated in the air. Robert’s eyes caught a small dot floating in the air. Sparkling and light, it was wobbling in the air. He reached for it and let it settle in his palm. As it touched his skin, the boy got absorbed into a kind of white hole.

He found himself in an unconventional waiting room. Palm trees swaying gently in the wind, long fine lilac-sand beach and lined sunbeds rested under a gentle artificial sun. Flowers shaped their fragile body under the touch of the wind, and birds that borrowed their colours from the sun hovered close to the ground.

Someone occupied one sunbed, and Robert hurried towards it. The whisper of the ocean water caressing the sand filled the air.

The occupier was a man with pure blue eyes and dark hair, relaxed features and a cynical smile in the corner of his mouth. You couldn’t say he was the ruler of the universe. A misty glass with pina colada with a generous slice of pineapple lay on a small table beside him.

“Would you like a drink?” he asked, almost at the same time as another drink appeared next to him.

“I’m not...”

“I know, I know. It is not alcoholic. Try it; it’s heavenly,” He chuckled. His face became still as his eyes were brushing the boy’s face.

“So, Robert. You saved humankind, but unfortunately, you died. Improperly said died as you were a hybrid - a made-by-mistake angel. Your human part died.”

Robert sighed.

“Once you dived in the queen demon’s blood, you got infected. Now, you are a mixt with a pinch of divinity, as the pendant was yours for a long time. The question that arises is: do you want to live?”

Robert looked behind.

“You will have your moment with your mother later. I could need some help here,” He said and looked around. “And I know a certain young lady, who by the way it’s in big trouble, that will love seeing you again.”

Robert glanced at Him, confused.

“I have the right thing for you. You will be part of my personal, and as for now, you will help humans fight against demons. You can start helping that Order,” he paused, “with a French name. I am not so good at languages,” he giggled.

“Les Arch,” Robert completed.

“Half-angel, half-demon, or vice versa, will see in time the effects of your sacrifice. And if you wonder, if you can stay on Earth - yes, you can. I will make an exception for you. Do you have questions?”

“What about Margo?” the boy asked after a few moments of hesitation.

“We will see, my boy, we will see. Now, your mother is expecting you. You two have a lot to talk.”

Margo closed her eyes and let the warm rays caress her face. The wooden swing moved back and forth, and the sky followed. Their new house was exactly as she dreamed of.

“Margo? Come and eat; the buns are hot.” Sister Mary’s voice interrupted the perfection of the day. “And Robert is here,” the woman dropped at the end, amused by Margo’s speed walking.

Margo kissed Robert’s cheek and kept his hand in hers for minutes as the other hand was grabbing the delicious buns straight from the tray.

“Have you heard about Adrian?” she asked, her full mouth struggling to articulate the words.

The boy nodded.

“They are still looking for him. I cannot believe that he fooled us all. He raised an incredible fortune. We succeeded to track hundreds of families robbed of precious pieces of jewellery belonging to their ancestors. Derek said will have to ask deceased people about him. You could help us,” Robert said.

“Of course I will help. But I refuse to work with Derek. I don’t like him,” Margo said.

"I am afraid he is busy enough with torturing his brother," Robert said. "I've heard that Salatiel doesn't like hell at all."

“By the way, Lionette says HI. They are in South Africa. A new horde of demons wreaks havoc. She is waiting for us. Do you want to take the plain or-”

Robert chuckled, his wings fluttering.

“It smells delicious,” Alex said, as he entered the kitchen. “I love your buns,” he said as he kissed Sister Mary’s hand.

“You are a sweetheart. You all are,” Sister Mary said, her eyes watery.