The Church Read online

  Kane nodded his head at the information. Kane thought back to the incident he had with the hacker. The first time he went into Marisol’s account, both he and Freddy were appalled. Her data was inconsistent and she sounded like a complete madman, completely different from the Marisol they know and love.

  “That explains the inconsistency...” When Kane first logged into Marisol’s account, he immediately changed the password, just for safety precautions. And as Clarke told him about Dennis’ ventures with a man who calls himself ‘the Big Guy’, he realized that he made the right call. Who knows what else could have been lost if he hadn’t?

  “That Marie of yours...do you know her full name?”

  “No. I wish I asked her.” Clarke sighed. “Guess there’s no way of telling now, huh?”

  “There Is,” Kane said, puffing out another smoke ring. “Her name is Marisol Campbell, otherwise known as ‘Marie Belle’ back in 2012. She’s a dear friend of mine. Ever heard of her?” To no one’s surprise, Clarke simply shook his head. For nearly 20 years, all he’s seen was the estate, the church, and the forest between them until he met Marisol. He wondered how he must have felt when he first saw the world beyond.

  “We don’t get a lot of news here either. The nuns don’t really let me read newspapers. They just tell me what happened that day after they come home from the market. I never really understood why.” He mumbled. Kane felt something tug inside of him as he looked at Clarke’s eyes.

  “Have you ever tried to go outside?”

  “Yeah...”

  What happened?”

  “Bad things,” Clarke whispered. He looked straight into Kane’s eyes then. In the dark, his blue eyes looked more haunting than in the daylight. His face was now void of emotion. After a few minutes of silence, Kane whispered.

  “Bad things? I thought this place is owned by a church. What did they do? Made you recite half the Bible for them?” Kane said, laughing. Clarke kept a straight face as he did.

  “No...” He said, calmly. “But they did kill a stray dog once – the one I used to pet and play with. He hung around a few blocks away from the church. Needless to say, after that, I never left without permission ever again.” Kane sat there dumbfounded by the disturbing information and even more so by Clarke’s apparent indifference about the whole ordeal. Clearly, a situation like that was already normal to him. He felt sorry for the young man huddled up against the wall.

  “Who killed the dog?” Kane said after a few minutes of deafening silence.

  “I have no idea. Probably just some kids or maybe even a priest or something. I don’t care anymore, really.” He said, pulling his knees closer to his body. The chill was starting to get through their soaking wet clothes. The conversation didn’t make the room any warmer, however.

  “Exodus chapter 20, verse 13,” Kane whispered. “’You shall not murder.’”

  To his surprise, Clarke laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” He said.

  “Nothing. It’s just that, I never really took you to be the type to read the Bible, and yet, here you are, quoting it.” Clarke said after he composed himself, “Ironic, isn’t it? How the most devout people you will ever meet can be the cruelest?”

  Kane stayed silent.

  “Don’t get me wrong, religion is not a bad thing, It really isn’t. For hundreds of years, it has successfully brought people together, whether if it’s for the better or for the worst. It united people to one cause, good or bad. It made them believe in something...it gave them a reason to wake up in the morning.” He laughed then. Kane kept a straight face as he listened to his rant. “It gave me a reason to wake up in the morning, that’s for sure.”

  Since the dawn of time, religion has been an integral part of our world and it still is to this day. From the stars to the oceans, we humans have worshiped anything that proved useful to us or simply left us feeling enamored by its beauty and complexity. As time went on, we outgrew certain beliefs and changed certain traditions, but one thing remains clear: we humans need a reason, may it be the cosmos or God. Religion is just one of those things in life that make us feel human, or in this case, a human with a reason to live.

  “I’m a junior minister in a church that caters to the holiest of people and I still find myself questioning if I’m standing in the right place...or if I’m looking at it from a different angle than everyone else.” He said after a few moments of deafening silence. His eyes were filled with conflict.

  Kane kept quiet.

  “’Whoever believes in Jesus Christ for salvation is forgiven,’” he whispered in a low, raspy voice, “do you believe that, Kane? They certainly do. They think they have every right to do whatever they can in order to do fulfill their deed and destroy anything or anyone that stands in their way.”

  “Even if it means murder...” Kane said as he looked at the forlorn expression etched across Clarke’s face.

  “Even if it means murder.” He replied as he looked at Kane straight in the eye.

  “I came here to investigate her sudden death. Before she died, she led me here. She led me to you.”

  “Well, you got what you wanted. Behind this wall is the church. Just raise that metal thing,” He said, pointing to the metal bar that hung against the wall, “I trust you can find your way around. I can’t tell you anything more beyond that.”

  “My job’s not done yet.” Clarke scrunched his brows at his remark.

  “Why not? You already know who the killer is.” He said, picking up the flashlight from the middle of the room.

  “Yeah I do,” Kane said abstractly. “But I still don’t know what it was that led to her death...I was hoping you knew.” He then picked up the notebook from the ground and flipped it over to the page he bookmarked.

  “Clarke, what do these numbers mean?” He said, pointing at the digits messily written on the notebook. Clarke simply shook his head. Kane sighed and closed the notebook. As he studied Clarke playing around with the flashlight across the room, he saw her. Clarke had that look in his face: fear masked with indifference. He was deprived of experience by these madmen who dare call themselves holy in the eyes of God. And within the walls they made him call home, they made him go through hell. They made him believe he was nothing but a worthless speck; an object to be used in any way they saw fit. They tried to make him a madman, just like them.

  But Clarke knew better than that. Unschooled and depraved as he was, he knew better than to give up and give in. Clarke reminded him of the only other person who has the same amount of strength and willpower as him. They both have gone through hell and lived to tell the tale.

  “Clarke...” Kane croaked, “I want to help you.”

  “Why do you even want to help me? You barely know me...” He laughed nervously. Yet in his nervousness, Kane saw hope flicker in his blue eyes. “You might end up like Marie and all. She said that too and look where it got her.”

  “You’re right. Logically speaking, I have no reason to help you.”

  “Then why do you want to help me?”

  “Because...” Kane paused. All of a sudden, grief tugs on his heart. He saw her face again. That beautiful, friendly face that always said home. Yet whenever she was at home, that face knew no happiness. As Kane sat there, looking at the Clarke – poor, innocent Clarke – he saw her face again.

  “You remind me of my mother.” Kane nearly cried as he said those words. His mother came from a strict, overbearing family that had the highest expectations for her. When she passed the entrance exam to her dream university, they were so proud of what she had achieved. Around campus, she was known to be a prodigy; a force to be reckoned with. Her family considers her as their golden child. But one drunken night at a college bar ruined it all.

  A taxi driver took her home that night, but that’s not the only place he took her to. He took her to an abandoned parking lot where he raped her drunken body and planted his seed in her. Naturally, she got pregnant from the attack. She had nobody to turn to and
no one to help her, so she decided to keep it a secret. She never filed a case against the man. But, eventually, news of her pregnancy reached her family and just like that, they disowned her.

  As if that wasn’t bad enough, the man kept visiting her every day after the rape, asking for her hand in marriage. 7 months into the pregnancy, she received word again from her family. They said that they would agree to take her back if she marries the child’s father or any man that would take her in, and as expected from an obedient, dutiful woman like her, she accepted her attacker’s proposal, and every day since then became Hell on Earth for her.

  Kane knew all of this was because his mother told him everything in excruciating detail before he died. Every day, he watched his father physically, mentally, and emotionally abuse his mother. His mother even resorted to sending him off to the hands of the Church just to protect him. When his father died, Kane felt no remorse. In fact, he was blissful. His mother was finally free. The man was only good for one thing: he was the man who made Kane who he is today. Kane dedicated his life to protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves, and as he looked at Clarke that moment, he knew that he was one of those people.

  “Well, if that’s the case...we’re going to need a plan.” Clarke said with the brightest smile Kane has ever seen.

  Chapter 20

  With trembling hands, Clarke rummaged through each and every drawer inside Dennis’ office. The clock was nearing 6:30 and with every minute that passes, the anxiety builds up more and more inside of him. Four days ago inside the trap door of the church, he made a promise to Kane. He promised he would do his best to find a way for him to get out, unseen and undetected by anyone inside the estate along with sufficient evidence that would aid him in his ventures beyond the walls.

  It’s been four days since then and still, he’s clueless. He doesn’t dare show up empty-handed in front of Kane, knowing his fickle temperament. In spite of the kindness, Kane extended towards him, Clarke can’t help but feel afraid of the man. Something about him spells out trouble. Wherever he goes, mischief comes along with him.

  The plan was to find his phone and give it to him. The rest would be decided at the dinner party. The only problem was, Clarke didn’t know where to find it. This was a job typically handled by the guards and he rarely mingled with any of them.

  “It’s got to be here somewhere,” He said as he drew out the cabinets. All he could find were a bunch of archived files and loads of unnecessary junk that Dennis still keeps in his office. After a few more minutes of searching, he sank on the ground and gave up the search.

  “I am so screwed.” He said as he pushed one of the cabinets closed. He sat on the red carpet and looked around the room. “There’s something I’m missing...”

  Then it dawned on him. He hasn’t checked Dennis’ room. Quickly, he ran out of his office and walked briskly through the halls. He stood in front of Dennis’ room and took a deep breath. Timidly, he raised his hand and gave the door three solid knocks. When no one called out or opened the door, he twisted the knob. To his surprise, it wasn’t locked.

  He got inside the room and looked around. Everything was in its place. The bed was kept, his nightstand was clean, his desk was neatly organized, and his closet was firmly shut. As a precaution, he approached the closet and slid the door open. It was empty, save for a few shirts and jackets hanging on the rod. There was nothing under the bed either. He wasn’t too worried about any surveillance cameras inside Dennis’ room since it was the only room he knew that didn’t have one.

  When he was assured that he was all alone, he flipped through one of Dennis’s notebooks. When he opened the cover, he saw a list of 8 figure numbers, all neatly written down the page. Each had a label at the end of it. It took him a moment to realize that what he was looking at were pass codes to each of the rooms inside the estate, including the ones he never even heard of.

  “If I was a confiscated item, where would I be hidden?” He thought as he flipped through the pages. After what felt like ages, he finally found it. He hurriedly ripped off a piece of blank paper from the back, took a pen from Dennis’s desk, and wrote down the pass code for the estate’s storage unit.

  “Are you ready for your speech?” He heard someone say from outside the door. He recognized the voices immediately, and they belonged to the last people he would want to find him flipping through someone else’s stuff. Panicking, he put everything back in their place and shoved the piece of paper down his pocket.

  The voices were getting nearer and he realized, he had nowhere to hide. As a last resort, he opened the window and looked down. Dennis’ room was located on the second floor of the building. Beside the window was a drain pipe he could climb down from, however, Clarke is not exactly the most athletic person. If he jumped, the place is not high enough to kill him but it was certainly high enough to break a few bones.

  “I’d rather break a foot than break my damn neck.” He thought as he grabbed the drain pipe with his sweaty palms and slid down.

  IT WAS THE NIGHT OF the Church’s 45th Anniversary Dinner, and everyone, even a handful of the guards themselves, hung around the Great Hall. It was a spacious room, with magnificent chandeliers hanging like teardrops from the high ceiling. The walls were lined with white and gold streamers. The long tables were lined with beautiful table cloths with golden details swirling across the silk. The once bland chairs that sat in the tables were covered with a matching white and gold chair cover with a big bow on the back. The whole room was beautiful to look at the smell of the food on the table was divine.

  Kane’s mouth watered as the fresh aroma of the freshly cooked food traveled to his senses. It was nearly 7 o’clock in the evening and so far, Clarke hasn’t made an appearance. He was growing tired of waiting. On top of that, he didn’t get much sleep the previous days. As punishment for mysteriously disappearing during his shift four days ago, Father Dennis decided to make him pay by making him work extra hours in the afternoon, shortening his time for sleep.

  Agitated and exhausted, he got inside the room and sat in one of the chairs at the back. As he idly watched the maids go about their business, he found himself drifting off into a sleep-like trance with his eyes still wide open.

  Until he felt a strong tap on his shoulder, pulling him off the whirlpool of relaxation he was about to enter.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Clarke said with his thick brows furrowed in confusion. “You’re not supposed to be inside here yet.”

  “The door was open and there were chairs and I was tired. What did you expect me to do?” Kane said, faintly annoyed by the interruption.

  “Now is not the time to be dozing off, Bamidele.” He said, running a hand down his face. He took a quick look around the nearly empty room and shifted his eyes back to Kane, who was sitting listlessly in his chair. “I have what you need. Come with me...quickly.”

  He led the half-asleep man outside of the room and down the hall of the West wing of the living quarters. The place was nearly deserted, with only a few people lingering by the windows, minding their own business. He took a sharp turn to the left and went down a narrow hallway and Kane managed to follow him to the men’s bathroom.

  Inside, he found Clarke kicking open the three cubicles and studying the walls. Kane followed suit by pressing a finger down the huge mirror, checking if someone replaced it with a two-way mirror used inside interrogation rooms. Luckily, the mirror was just your regular bathroom mirror.

  “Are we really going through this?” Clarke said as paced around nervously inside the room. Kane stood against the door in pensive silence as he watched the young man limp around the room in a panic. His mind wandered back four nights ago when the once brave Clarke Tristen boldly presented him a plan to dismantle the very organization he was sworn to protect.

  “What the fuck happened to that guy?” He thought as he shut his eyes and massaged the bridge of the nose with his two fingers.

  “Just give me what I asked, Clark
e. No one’s going to hurt you for fuck’s sake.” He said, snapping his eyes open. Clarke was leaning against the sink and was looking at his reflection. “Tell me where it is.” After a few moments of silence, he sighed and looked at Kane.

  “One of the building’s here is used for storage. No doubt you already know that.” Clarke said, fishing a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. “When you go out of the back door, look to your right. You’ll see two small buildings. Go to the backdoor of the first one. That’s where they keep all the confiscated belongings.” He said, handing over the piece of paper.

  “What’s this?” Kane said as he read the numbers. 8246 – 9113.

  “The password. Knowing how curious you can get, no doubt you’ve already tried getting in.” He replied, “Hey, Kane?” He whispered.

  “What?” He said, still staring at the paper, trying to memorize it. As he counted the numbers, something clicked.

  “Don’t do anything stupid. Just grab your phone and get out. There’s no cell reception here so I think it’s best if you run out the gate you left from that night. I planted the key under a rock beside the gate.” He whispered as he approached Kane.

  “Didn’t you say this thing’s a password or something?” He said with a raised brow.

  “Yes, weren’t you listening? Did you even hear any – “

  “This has the same amount of numbers as the one I read in the diary. 3496 – 8510.” He tucked the paper into his jacket pocket and looked deep into Clarke’s eyes. “Where did you get this?”

  “It’s in Dennis’ room. He had this weird list of numbers he kept in his notebook. I guessed it was a list of pin numbers for every door in the place in case he loses his key, like always.” He said, calmly. “Everyone will be at the dinner tonight. Even the guards. You can slip out during the speech but I suggest you do so quietly. They have keen eyes.”