Chapter 33: Clash of Faiths (7)
That was unexpected for all three girls, and Irina who felt initially nervous began doing her preaching on God and love, and how committing Sin even if it was small would require a confession to a Priest that would absolve them of such sin, less they descended into Hell.
Sarah chuckled softly, finding Irina's earnestness endearing. "Oh, honey, you're just too precious," she said, her tone affectionate. "But you know, sometimes life isn't as simple as that. People can be cruel, and sometimes they deserve a little payback. If that payback means they rot in Hell then isn't that also God's Justice?"
Irina's eyes widened at Sarah's words, a hint of confusion flickering across her face. "W-Well…"
Emily's expression softened as she regarded Irina with a mixture of fondness and concern. "Dear, you're still so young," she remarked gently. "Continue on with your faith and in the future be careful of those jackasses, don't be like our sister who got a bit of heartache, only to heal up with another bad boy."
"Huhuhu, just be careful not to let it blind you to the realities of the world," Sarah followed up with another remark, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Once you find a boy you like, make sure you check for his Red Flags."
"Red Flags?" Irina asked, her curiosity piqued by the unfamiliar term.
Without realizing it, the older women began imparting their wisdom on dating and relationships to the young nun, their advice colored by their own experiences
Irina felt a wave of overwhelm wash over her as the conversation took a turn towards personal matters she wasn't quite prepared to discuss. She shifted uncomfortably as she looked at the two women in their late 20s, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment as Sarah and Emily continued to share their experiences and advice.
As the questioning turned towards her own romantic life, Irina stammered out a response, her voice barely audible above the din of the café. "I-I, um, well... I don't... I'm not... I don't have a boyfriend," she admitted, her words stumbling over each other in her nervousness.
Sarah leaned forward eagerly, her eyes glinting with curiosity. "Oh, come on, Irina, you can tell us. We won't judge," she said with a playful grin. "Have you met any cute boys at your church events?"
Emily chimed in, her tone gentle but probing. "It must be quite a lot being a young nun in training. Have you ever felt tempted by worldly desires, like love or romance?"
"Um, I-I..." she stammered, struggling to find the right words to convey her discomfort. "I-I don't really... I mean, I haven't... um..."
The gossip queens, Sarah and Emily, seemed on the verge of pressing her further, eager to uncover any juicy details about the young nun's love life. But before they could delve any deeper, Jeanne stepped in, coming to Irina's rescue.
"Hey, come on, girls," Jeanne interjected, her tone gentle but firm as she directed her attention to Irina. "Let's not overwhelm our little friend here. This girl seems quite the darling. And look at you girls, getting all excited to know if she has a boyfriend or not. Why do you even care? Single women sure are a bad-luck charm…"
"Anyway, stop asking her uncomfortable questions. Young Sister, I appreciate your words of encouragement. Don't worry, I'm nolonger that upset about what happened with my former partner. In fact, it might be God's work that I found someone to fill up the void in my heart."
Jeanne turns their attention back to their own drinks and leaves Irina to breathe a sigh of relief, grateful for Jeanne's intervention, and as she gives her a grateful smile, out of curiosity, she peeks into the gorgeous lady's phone where the photo of a man was on display.
'No way… This is the man we were searching for all this time! He had sunglasses when we stumbled on him, but the facial and body structure is around the same.'
Her angelic, grateful smile suddenly froze for a brief moment, unexpectedly, and Jeanne, feeling something was wrong, closed her phone screen, withdrawing her phone to her friend's complaining looks.
"Something's wrong, Sister?"
Caught off guard by Jeanne's sudden movement, Irina quickly composed herself, shaking her head slightly to dispel any lingering doubts. "N-No, nothing's wrong," she replied with a forced smile, though her mind was still reeling from the discovery. "I was just...lost in thought for a moment. I'll take my leave.."
'It's not a mistake. The man in the picture has the red eyes of a Vampire or Devil. To think we would find our target in such a way. This is all God's work.'
The young nun trailed off back to her seat, just the moment where Xenovia returned with two cups of coffee, while a look of satisfaction was plastered on her once stoic expression as she distributed the drinks to her companion.
"Is everything alright? You look a bit constipated." Xenovia asked, her voice dull, unsure if she was sarcastic or concerned about Irina's wellbeing, since there were a difference from their practiced religions, she being a pure Catholic while Irina was an Anglican Protestant.
Irina forced a smile, and with the first sip of the aromatic coffee, she responded. "I found our enemy. He was hiding in plain sight all this time, where we thought all sort of criminal activity around the Old Town were committed by this individual…"
Xenovia, settled down on her seat, and following Irina's whispering tone, she glanced once at the neighboring table, and it was clearly she was suspicious of what Irina was telling her. "Could it be, the Vampire is one of those girls?"
"No, but the blonde lady is seeing the Vampire. I didn't dare to ask much because it would make her suspicious of my intentions."
"Wait, but if that's the case… why is she still alive? I thought we're dealing with a High-Class level Threat, an Ancient Vampire for all I care. Isn't this strange?"
"I don't know, Xenovia. From what I know about Vampires, they usually devour their targets to satiate their thirst for blood. It's strange, all of the incidents I've heard from Mr. Van Helsink's book, say that there is a pattern in a Vampire's Hunt."
"Easy, girl, I can feel a pair of eyes on us. Could it be that the blonde lady is cooperating with the Vampire and is allowing herself, willingly, to be his meal? She does have some signs of being under a Charm Spell."
Meanwhile, as the two young nuns were laying out the next steps of tackling this problem, the one who became their new target, felt a slight pain of a insect bite around her wrist, shifting her attention to her 'Guardian Angel' the tiny Blood Spider.
She tried to shift a bit her hand, hiding the Blood Spider, who began climbing under her sleeve, and she could feel the tiny creature who remained in a passive state all this time.
It was clear that something wasn't right if the Blood Spider reacted, and while Carl didn't explain what the role of this creature was, she interpreted it as a Guardian of sorts that would alert him of any mishap that might happen to her.
'Could it be? My suspicion is right? That young nun is by chance Carl's enemy?'
She went into introspection and played out the whole interaction the chestnut haired nun had with herself, Emily and Sarah, and those 'shy', 'naive' and 'harmless' reactions of hers, especially after that prying look into her phone opened on Carl's photo that she displayed for her friends.
'Truly. They are after Carl. Tsk, can't a woman show his new love without suffering?'
'Still, I have to warn him, and it would be better if we don't meet since I would expose him to his enemies.'