The Savior Of Hades

His intrusive thoughts got the best of him, he sighed as he admitted, adjusting his hold on the chimney on top the monastery roof.

The cold wind was settling in but he didn't want to give up lest he would fall and lose a limb or two. There was no one to help him quickly if he were to as most of his fellow students had gone home, except those who lived far and were asked to wait back for the first morning bell to ring for them to use the train.

Even as they were in, no one would hear his voice if he were to shout as they all would be tucked into their beds and asleep by now. So he held on tightly to the chimney and another hand the wood from the opening from where he watched the scenes in the hall from.

"Who are you?!! Reveal yourself before the Holy Spirit!! Who are you and what do you seek fearlessly in the House of God??" Father Gaufridi's voice shook the hall as he questioned.

Ed could tell Father Romillon had asked him to exorcise Catherine this time around. It might seem fair but to him it wasn't.

Priests studied for years before they could become Exorcists. Being one isn't an easy feat as it involved fighting against demons and there were millions on them. How did the head priest then find it fair in his eyes, asking Father Gaufridi to exorcise Catherine when he knows these rules and the fact that Gaufridi just became a priest of recent and would know nothing about exorcisms, especially of Catherine's and the malevolent demon inside her that seemed to have a personal vendetta against Gaufridi.

Catherine bursted into a laughter and her voice shook her hall like a siren wailing. Ed almost covered his ears with his hand but remembered immediately, on instinct where he was and how death awaited him if he were to forget.

His stomach growled loudly and he closed his eyes as he silently wished for he noise not to have been heard by the demons in the hall or those that had invaded the monastery like Father Romillon had said.

Pangs of hunger still shook him as he hadn't eaten for the whole day. He had overheard the chefs arguing whether to give food to them before they went home and some had been of the opinion not to, for the remaining food to be rationed to the remaining students for dinner and breakfast before they would be sent off the next morning to their homes.

Well, there was no use thinking about which party won the argument as his stomach's rumbling could already tell.

Gaufridi sprinkled holy water countlessly on the three nuns on the floor waiting to be delivered but nothing seemed to be working.

That was when Father Romillon took over and had Gaufridi stand behind him.

There was something about the way he always sent for Romillon each time Catherine had a seizure.

As if he always wanted to accuse him of what Catherine said, as if looking for even the smallest piece of evidence he could find against him.

Darting off from his side talk as he took note of Romillon's voice that was firm and commanding as he began to recite the prayers of exorcism. Ed watched, transfixed, as the priest sprinkled holy water again on Catherine's writhing form. Extending the gesture to the other ladies on the floor with her.

"In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti," Father Romillon intoned his voice rising above Catherine's screams, which was in sinc with that of the other ladies.

Before Ed Warren's eyes, Catherine and Father Romillon were the bad guys and the other ladies and father Gaufridi were being caught up in their trance. They both came from wealthy families,but reverse were the cases for the others.

The demon possessing Catherine let out a deafening roar causing the lighted candles in the hall to flicker wildly. Ed's grip on the chimney tightened as he felt the roof creaking beneath him. Fear slowly crept inside him but he held on tighter, he couldn't give up now.

Father Gaufridi, still shaken, stumbled backward, his eyes fixed on Catherine's body. Ed noticed that his hands were trembling and his face was pale.

Suddenly, Catherine's body arched upward and she turned towards the direction Father Romillon stood at. A voice not her own spoke in a low rasping tone.

"You think you can cast me out, priest?" the voice sneered. "I have been awakened, and none of you can stop me."

Father Romillon stood firm with his voice unwavering. "We will not be intimidated. We will cast you out unclean spirit and free this child from your grasp."

" Are you the one to cast me out? Or this unskilled demon that is by your side?" The foreign voice mocked, turning Catherine's gaze towards Gaufridi's direction.

"If I were a demon, I would certainly give my soul to a thousand devils and make sure it is beyond your reach!" Gaufridi retorted back angrily.

" Be gone you unclean spirit!!" Romillon commanded as he took Catherine by surprise while she talked and poured a certain amount of Holy Oil into her mouth.

The demon let out a loud and anguished scream which caused the hall to shake.

Ed's heart raced as he wondered if the exorcism would be successful or if the demon would prove too powerful to defeat.

****************************

The chirping sounds of the first morning birds were what awoke Ed Warren from his deep slumber on top the roof.

Upon opening his eyes and groggily taking in his surroundings and the events of the previous day, he peeped through the little opening on top the roof.

Catherine laid motionless on the floor and so did the other ladies, as well as the two priests.

He wondered what had happened the previous night when he fell asleep but could not wait to find an answer as his stomach growled loudly.

He stared at the sky. It was still dark and would be so for a few more minutes before the first morning bell would go off.

As noiselessly as he could, he climbed down the roof as he had come up, preparing to make his way to the kitchen.

On reaching there, be saw the bread he had waited over till the next day for, and picked a few off the table, running as fast as he could to a secluded corner where he devoured all four pieces of them without mercy.

The water went down his throat in gulps without a chance for any interval to digest, but even as he was done, he still felt hungry. The four loaves he ate didn't go anywhere in satisfying him.

He thought to himself. The students remaining must be few and the whole loaves of bread he had seen on the table would be too much for them. Taking a few more with him wouldn't hurt and would go unnoticed as the monastery had more than enough. Afterall, it was only a loaf each person was usually given.

With this in mind, he turned back towards the direction of the monastery kitchen. Two loaves for himself, one to eat now and one for when he would return to his home of hunger didn't sound like a bad idea.

While almost reaching the door to the kitchen, the bell went off and Ed paused immediately he heard his name being called.

"Ed Warren Pa Lud!!"

He bowed his head at where he stood without turning back, his hands behind him as if renouncing from his sin. But even as he stood, he still thought of possible ways to maneuver the nun that had seen him, steal a few loaves and running away, leaving his punishment till whenever they were asked to return.

"What are you still doing here? You were supposed to return to your parents home yesterday! Your house isn't far from the monastery!"

Ed Warren thought she had ended on that note but sighed frustratingly when she continued.

" Aspiring Monks of the Franciscan order are always expected to be in their best behaviors. If you're disobedient to your father and guardians here on earth, how do you think you would find it easy obeying the will of the Father in heaven who....."

He didn't have the chance to listen to all she had to say when something caught his attention.

Father Gaufridi was being led out with his arms bounded by the Franciscan soldiers.

They had succeeded in framing him, he thought.

Catherine had succeeded in getting her revenge against him for rejecting her advances.