Page 10 of Where the Dark Knelt (Worshipped by Darkness #1)

Eveline

I finally made it to the hot baths. Although, calling them “baths” didn’t quite capture what they truly were.

They weren’t like any baths I had imagined before.

Instead, it was a whole complex built around natural hot springs near the monastery.

A sacred place of warmth and cleansing where we came to maintain hygiene and soothe our bodies in the mineral-rich waters.

By the time Astra and I arrived, everyone else had already left.

The sky above was dark and clear, dotted with trembling stars, and we sat together in the steaming pools lit only by the flickering glow of candles arranged along the stone edges.

The little flames danced and twitched with the quiet breeze, yet did not go out.

It was windy enough for the night air to feel fresh on our wet skin, but gentle enough for the candles to remain, their reflections trembling across the water’s surface.

Astra sat across from me, her knees pulled up slightly, holding her sketchbook above the water. She was drawing in silence, her brows knitted in concentration. We had decided to draw each other while soaking, and though it felt silly at first, there was something deeply calming about it.

I opened my new sketchbook to the first page.

This would be my first drawing here. I thought about how I would fill it – not with words, no…

there were already too many words swirling in my mind each day.

I wanted to capture moments like these instead, simple quiet moments that spoke louder than any diary entry.

“Will you tell me something about yourself?” I asked softly, breaking the gentle symphony of rippling water and the wind’s distant singing. My voice sounded small in the vast night.

Astra let out a heavy exhale and lowered her pencil slightly, looking at me with tired eyes that held endless depths. “Well… I don’t even know where to start.”

“Start with your story,” I said, my voice gentle, not pushing her but hoping she’d trust me with it. “Why did you end up here… in the monastery?”

She didn’t reply immediately. I lowered my eyes to my sketchbook so she wouldn’t feel the weight of my gaze, focusing instead on the delicate lines of her shoulders.

Her collarbones glowed in the candlelight, like polished ivory under liquid gold.

I sketched their curves and shadows, capturing how the water lapped softly at her skin.

I heard her breathing ease. She seemed to relax, as if my attention turned to paper instead of her face allowed her to sink into her memories without fear of being judged.

“The story is actually… probably pretty classic.” Her shoulders tensed visibly, but I stayed silent, listening.

She sighed again, long and shaky, before continuing, her gaze lifting to the scattered stars above.

I kept sketching, capturing her beauty in lines of graphite – the way her hair, damp at the ends, clung softly to her shoulders, the delicate way her chest rose and fell with each breath.

“I had a boyfriend…” she began, her voice faint, almost like a memory itself.

“We dated right from school… from the moment we met. You know how it goes in those classic novels – two kids find each other at school, end up sitting together at the same desk, and then… well, they get married and live happily ever after.” She let out a bitter laugh, though it sounded more like a choked sob.

“Unfortunately… the happy ending wasn’t meant for us. Or rather… it wasn’t meant for me.”

The words “happy ending” made something shiver inside me. I wanted to know more. I needed to know.

“And what… happened?” I asked softly, eyes still focused on her collarbones, the curve of her neck, anything to keep from overwhelming her with direct eye contact.

“We’d been together since we were eleven.

He transferred into our class from another school, and…

” Her lips trembled slightly with a half-smile at the memory.

“He won me with his charisma. He was the most handsome boy in the entire school. And me… well, you know, I wasn’t anything special.

I wasn’t one of the pretty girls, not in anyone’s top list. But somehow…

somehow we ended up sitting together, talking, laughing…

and he fell in love with me. Later than I fell for him, but…

it didn’t matter. We started dating as kids, and then, at sixteen, with our parents’ permission… we got married.”

“Wow… so early…” I whispered, unable to hide my surprise. Sixteen… it was so young to tie yourself to someone forever.

“Yes… it was early,” she breathed, and her voice faltered, cracking under the weight of the past. “But…”

Her words broke, swallowed by silence. I looked up just in time to see her eyes fill with tears. A sob escaped her lips, so fragile, so human, it made my chest tighten painfully.

I laid my sketchbook back on the warm rocks surrounding the hot spring and moved closer to her, pressing my shoulder against hers.

Gently, I slipped my hand onto her thigh under the water.

She swallowed hard, nervously, and her eyes flicked down to her own sketchbook.

She set it aside next to mine, the candlelight flickering over its damp cover, before turning her gaze back to me and taking my hand in hers.

“Ah… well…” Her lips tightened into a thin, trembling line, her jaw clenching so hard I thought it might crack. She drew in a long, tired breath before finally speaking.

“We got married because… because I got pregnant.” Her voice shook with each word.

“It was an early pregnancy and… everyone was in shock. Especially him. His parents too. But… we didn’t really know about…

safety or anything like that. We wanted to imitate adults, to be cool, like in those romantic movies we watched. And… well… that’s what happened.”

“I’m sorry…” I whispered, my voice breaking under the weight of her pain. Tears were already streaming down her cheeks, and guilt twisted deep in my stomach for even asking her to share this story.

“It’s not your fault, sunshine…” she whispered back, squeezing my hand and giving a small, bitter chuckle.

She wiped her tears away with her free hand, though more quickly replaced them.

“It turned out that, at the third month… I miscarried. Because of our different Rh factors… no one understood at first, but after all the tests, they told us my body just couldn’t accept it…

” Her voice quivered, a sob escaping as she shook her head.

“And while I was… trying to recover… he… he cheated on me. At some party, with girls from high school… and…”

Her face darkened so deeply that it hurt to look at.

“I hated him. For leaving me like that. For abandoning me when I needed him the most. Yes, we were naive… but he was even dumber. My parents… they insisted on a divorce. And… I can’t have children anymore.

” Her words came out hoarse, shredded by tears.

She sniffled, trying to collect herself, but her composure was in tatters.

“And so… I came here. After years of depression… and drama… I just couldn’t handle it anymore. I turned to religion, to… this place. That’s how I ended up here.”

I didn’t say anything. Instead, I leaned in and hugged her tightly.

For a moment, she only froze, her hands hovering in the air as if she didn’t know what to do with them.

Then she exhaled shakily and wrapped her arms around me, stroking my back before finally pulling me into her fully, pressing her wet cheek against my neck.

“I’m so terribly sorry, Astra…” I whispered into her hair, feeling tears burn in my eyes. “You deserved so much better.”

“I know,” she murmured, her voice so soft it almost vanished into the sound of water rippling around us.

“But… that’s fate, isn’t it? Even when it’s cruel…

Now I’m here. In the monastery. Looking for peace every day…

trying to serve others… to find meaning in something more worthwhile than family and children… ”

“I’m sorry…” I repeated, my voice cracking, and suddenly tears poured from my eyes before I could stop them.

“Why are you crying for me, sunshine?” she laughed softly, though her voice trembled.

“It’s just that… it touches my wounded soul…” I sniffled, wiping my cheeks with trembling fingers. “And the fact that I recently broke up with my girlfriend, and I left everything behind to come here after all the chaos at work… it just feels like nothing compared to the hell you went through.”

“Hey, hey…” she patted my back, her touch gentle and warm, trying to calm me.

“Everyone has their own path, Eve. Your experience, your feelings – they’re important too.

No one should devalue them, and neither should you.

You’re important. Your pain is important too…

and now you’re here, among the sisters, and we’re all united.

Remember that… we will always help you.”

“Oh, Astra…” I sobbed again, my tears falling uncontrollably under the quiet night sky. It seemed my tears couldn’t be stopped that evening of revelations.

“I hope he burns in hell for what he did to you,” I whispered harshly, anger bubbling up inside me for that random guy who broke this girl’s fate so cruelly.

“You’re evil, Eve!” Astra burst out laughing, her eyes glittering with tears and amusement.

“Yeah, I’m worse!” I giggled through my tears, and we continued to sit there, holding each other tightly, stroking each other’s backs and sharing broken little stories in the glow of flickering candles.

Only the silent stars would have been our witnesses that night…

if not for the sudden flash of something else.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw bright green eyes, glowing vividly in the shadows nearby, darting between rocks uphill but stopping to watch us closely.

“Astra…” I whispered nervously into her ear, not daring to move.

“Yes? What is it? Is it time to get out already?” She stretched languidly, following my gaze to where the eyes glowed in the dark.

“What kind of animals live here?” My voice shook as panic rose in my chest, and I started coughing from the tension.

“Well…” Astra narrowed her eyes, squinting into the darkness.

“Oh yeah! I see those green eyes too… but it looks like something small. It’s okay…

Sometimes there are foxes or coyotes in these mountains.

But they wouldn’t come close here – the water is too hot, and the rocks are heated by the gases rising from inside the mountain.

They wouldn’t get too near, and besides, we have fire. They’re afraid of water and flames.”

Her words were reassuring, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from those glowing green eyes in the shadows. Whatever it was, it wasn’t moving away. It watched us silently, unblinking, and something deep in my soul twisted with dread.

What the fuck was that…?