"Will they recover?"
One day later, Jonathan stood in front of seven beds where exactly the same number of young women were lying, each with an IV connected to one of their arms.
Rafael, who had been in charge of bringing all the women who could survive, sighed. "In these aspects, their rehabilitation will be complicated. They will understand what is happening in two months and will know what to do in three…"
Jonathan nodded. Those seven girls would decide between living under the Order, which was his family's organization and in accordance with its protection, or seeking a different way to live outside this country under a different identity.
For a request from someone he had not known for long, Jonathan did everything possible to handle this situation as best he could.
"Alright, keep me informed about these girls' recovery…" At that moment, Jonathan had something very important to do; therefore, he had to prepare for old Smith's burial.
Walking toward an empty room, Jonathan looked at himself in a huge mirror, and his expression—indifferent to all human emotion—observed every aspect of his body.
In less than twelve hours, he now had two pistols under his Priest uniform, and now that he was in a peculiar situation, he had to be prepared.
His duty was to eliminate the supernatural, but he also needed to take care of himself from the living, and that is exactly what he would do from now on. His attention, so to speak, would also focus on certain people who needed to be eliminated.
…
Harry, who had no children, could be considered someone who lived a somewhat complicated life due to the fact that he was never able to have a larger family.
In his daily life, there were not many people who had any connection with him, but Jonathan, in just a few hours, gave him the most decent funeral process possible; at least he wanted to do it this way.
According to the letter he had left, Jonathan took care of burying old Smith next to his wife.
During the burial, Jonathan put on his Priest's robe, this simple garment that should not officially belong to him, yet with each passing day felt more bound to him than his own skin.
As someone who had come to know Harry's deepest memories, he spoke about his life, his passions, and his fears.
He spoke of those who were important in the lives of these elderly people and gave an example of life through a perfect marriage.
During the reading of the Bible and the prayer, Jonathan, for the first time, used the Bible to make Harry's eternal rest official in the eyes of the people.
The final step was the ceremony of rest and farewell.
In the presence of Jonathan and other participants, a cross was placed on top of the coffin, and some, as people close to him, placed white flowers.
After finishing this ceremony, the coffin was lowered, and shortly afterward, someone he knew was quickly buried. Jonathan sighed at death, at how the body becomes empty when one dies and how insignificant it is upon disappearing.
The body loses the aura of the one who owned it, something very difficult to explain.
The people who had accompanied this ceremony were acquaintances of Harry. Many were greatly surprised by his death because it was so sudden that they did not know how to react to the two burials, one after the other, of the Harry couple.
But in the face of death, there should be no surprise, so everyone listened in silence to Jonathan's reading.
"In this moment of farewell, we raise our thoughts and wishes of peace toward what transcends us, trusting that eternal rest will find harmony in the mystery that embraces our existence."
"May the memory of the beloved endure in the echo of our shared experiences, and may his transition be welcomed by the essence that transcends our understanding… Amen!" Jonathan finally said after offering this prayer.
At that precise moment, the funeral had ended.
Little by little, Jonathan said goodbye to those who were leaving, and shortly afterward, he was left completely alone in front of the grave of someone who had marked him deeply in this life, despite having known so little about him.
After an hour of silence, Jonathan sighed and moved away from old Smith's grave. There was nothing more to do; the dead rest, and the living take it upon themselves to carry their loved ones in their minds.
…
In a café, Jonathan met with a lawyer.
"Did you just say that old Harry left something to me?" As soon as he sat down, the lawyer handed him some documents he had been carrying.
"This is what Mr. Harry left you… All properties have been transferred to your name according to the deceased's instructions."
Jonathan was astonished and had never thought about this at all. According to the will Harry left, he had basically left all his belongings to him, who was a complete stranger.
"Did he personally ask you to do this?" Jonathan did not believe this could be possible.
The lawyer nodded and said seriously, "This was not a sudden decision. Mr. Harry was clear that he wanted to donate his properties to you, who are a Priest who has always cared for the people around him."
"Oh, I understand…"
After the lawyer left, Jonathan looked at the folder of documents in front of him and did not think about it for long. Although he and old Smith had gotten to know each other better only recently, he never expected that he had been observed by him since he arrived in this community.
At least he was a little happy that many people considered him someone special; that does not always happen when good deeds are done.
While Jonathan was eating, a girl approached him and sat in front of him while checking her cellphone.
"Help me look for information about these people. For you to keep in mind, they are dead, but I would like to know if you can find the trash that surrounded them before they died," Jonathan said as he handed a woman with pink hair some bloodstained identifications.
The girl named Number Zero looked at the IDs and murmured, "That's fucking disgusting. Couldn't you have cleaned them?"
"I haven't slept for two days. Right now, I'm staying awake only for this funeral, so I'll go to sleep after this… When I wake up, I want the information," Jonathan said as he walked back to his car.
The girl looked at Jonathan as he walked away and said, "All this trash is really changing you. You don't smile like you used to…"
"You'd better take this job seriously; you'd save me a lot of trouble."
"Yes, I understand…"