Page 117 of Heartless Heathens

“Sub magna Dei potentia opprimitur; contremiscite et flete. Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine.” I could hear an older woman’s voice join in with his chanting, making the pain in my head even worse.

She was ancient, her gray hair peaked through her habit as she circled me, sprinkling holy water over me despite my yells to let me go. It was Sister Sophia.

“Why are you doing this?” I begged but they didn’t stop.

“Exorcizamus te, immundissime spiritus.” He began again without a moment's break. “Satanicae potestatis. Vade, satana, creator et magister deceptionis.” I pulled against the ropes with no success, feeling angrier by the second.

Angry at myself for thinking that anything good could have come of this. Mad that this was the man who was my parent. Regardless of what he said about it. None of us chose our parents, but my parent didn’t choose me either.

I was still wearing my clothes, which meant there was a good chance my knife was still in its holster, under my skirt. I just didn’t know how I was going to get to it.

“Sub magna Dei potentia opprimitur; contremiscite et flete. Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine.” It was becoming a shrill annoyance the more my wrists burned against the ropes from my wiggling in attempts to get loose. “Exorcizamus te, immundissime spiritus.”

“AHH!!” I screamed, thrashing against my restraints.

“You see now Sister? We musn’t stop until she’s cleansed,” he told her and she nodded blindly, unable to see that the only evil in the room was them. “Satanicae potestatis. Vade, satana, creator et magister deceptionis.”

On the seventh or eighth repetition I began to cackle, laughing at the hypocrisy of his own words. A scowl carved deep between his eyebrows.

“Crushed under the mighty power of GOD?” I cackled out in laughter after translating his latin prayers back at him and he threw the holy water directly in my face.

I laughed even harder. “What God? What God allows something like this to happen? What God decided you should live and I should suffer?” The realization was more for me than for him.

They went on, ignoring me and repeating the verses louder as if to drown out the sound of my mental breakdown.

Or was it mental clarity?

“Sub magna Dei potentia opprimitur; contremiscite et flete. Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine.” Sister Sophia finished for him, starting another round without taking a breath. “Exorcizamus te, immundissime spiritus.”

“I’ll cut this demon out of you if I have to, girl. I fought too hard to keep you pure for it to all be wasted.”

I cackled wildly again, knowing it would provoke him.

His palm struck against my face, the metallic taste of my blood trickled over my tongue but I bared my teeth at him instead after licking it off my lips.

“Satanicae potestatis. Vade, satana, creator et magister deceptionis. Sub magna Dei potentia opprimitur; contremiscite et flete. Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine. Exorcizamus te, immundissime spiritus.”

“Why did you keep me locked away?” I sobered up my laughing to ask, the real reason I’d come here to begin with, I would at least get the answers I’d come seeking if I was going to suffer for them regardless.

“Exorcizamus te, immundissime spiritus. Satanicae potestatis. Vade, satana, creator et magister deceptionis. Sub magna Dei potentia opprimitur; contremiscite et flete. Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine.” He rejoined Sister Sophia.

“ANSWER ME!” I yelled, jerking the restraints and only dishing out more pain to myself. “AHHH!” I screamed from the top of my lungs, but they both continued as If I were the deranged one here.

Eventually my screams turned into tears, and then my sobs turned into quiet cries.

“Four more hours, Sister Sophia, every day until the demon is gone. Nothing but water until then,” he told her before giving me his back and making his way out of… wherever we were.

“Father Frollo,” I screamed but he didn’t answer and eventually disappeared.

Sister Sophia took slow steps towards me. Her fingers dipped into the wooden bowl, and she sprayed me with holy water again. I growled at her, angry that this woman was following the archbishop without question.

“Let me go.” I tried to reason with her.

“Quiet demon.”

“There is no demon.”

“I’ve seen you, with all of those men. Demon. Whore of Babylon. Succubus.” She scowled, sprinkling me with the holy water once more.