The night was still young but the cruel darkness had already reigned. The place was said to be welling with purity but the odor of sins was actually swaying on the vicinity. Four figures were gathered. The three of them were facing the altar where in a wooden cross statue was standing upside down.
"The All-knowing said," a wrinkled man wearing a brown robe worded with his arms wide opened, "the stray would be guided by the shepard."
Few meters in front of the altar, the wooden benches were scattered. It must had been years already since those were freed from dusts. Arzi was currently having a hard time managing her breathing. The sounds made by her gasps were noticed, making Cruzanna heightened her worries.
"Are you well?"
Standing by Arzi's right was Cruzanna. She was covered by a grape-colored veil from temple to sole. The edges of her garment were stitched with white lines. Her orbs in violet hue were trembling as she waited for Arzi to respond.
As Arzi faced her, she uttered, "Hey! Sister. I think you should ask yourself."
"Girls, focus," Dom commanded, making the two eyed him. His gaze roamed, trying to locate their objective. A few seconds passed, he looked to Cruzanna. "Do you know where they are keeping him?"
Arzi was about to move her right foot when Dom stopped him. "Make a wrong move and we're dead."
Though, she had already been given an insight of the things that that preacher could do. But, experiencing it in live action might be overwhelming to her. The old man was just still standing, his hands were still raised, however, his eyes were stapled on the point where the three were standing.
"The wolves used to chase the lamb . . ."
The deep voice echoed as he continued his speech, he could not care less of the reason why he had this surprise visit. It was already more than a half hour when the three arrived, but, he had not blinked his eyes, even a single time.
". . . not until the lamb lost his mother."
Suddenly, Arzi found herself strangled. She could not make any single budge. She tried to turn around to face her comrades, yet there was something that was stopping her that she could not see.
"Cruzanna, can you cast your barrier?"
The three were now restraining the force that was not allowing them to move. This must be what they were warned about by their client.
Outside the ruined sanctuary, Brother was still waiting for the other possible enemies to arrive. According to the information that was given to them, there were seven robed individuals in total. The leader was the one guarding the altar.
He might had swatted a dozen of mosquitoes already, when a fainted shout sounded from the inside. Immediately, he floated, gliding to enter on the vast arch serving as the Sanctuary's entrance, leaving the post he was assigned to.
"What happe--"
He quickly fell on the ground as the unknown presence pulled him down. His face was smacked on the dusty floor, and his arms and knees were positioned apart from one another.
A pissed off Dom cursed lowly as he saw the current state of their comrade. He was about to scold him when Arzi howled again.
She must had lost her self-control already.
Another man hiding on a brown robe showed from one of the pillars. He walked slowly, stopping on the left of the aged man. Leaning towards the wrinkled man, he whispered. A nodding response from the preacher was noticed afterwards. As the robed guy faced them, he laughed silently before walking again.
Before he reached the pillar where he came earlier, he clapped his hands thrice in a quick succession. After that, Arzi opened her eyes, gasping the air in her surrounding like she had not breathe for a long time.
"The lamb became furious . . ."
Cruzanna tried to clasp both her hands, after a few attempts, she then became successful. A pale-colored yellow light started to appear from her hands, it grew larger, and larger. Slowly, it covered their entire positions. However, a face of dismay painted as she turned her face to Dom. "It's not working, his ability did not intend to harm us."
Another malison escaped from Dom's mouth. His voice sounded somewhere between annoyance and despair.
"We need to think of a plan, we're running out of time." Even though her body was still stiff, Arzi tried to move her hands again. She had her opened right palm pointed on the floor. Little by little, a swirling sound was heard. She pointed her forefinger to the preacher. Few seconds passed, an unseen force crashed towards him, making him stumbled down the cracked cemented floor.
After a few gasps for breath, Arzi, Dom, and Cruzanna were able to move their bodies again. The strange presence that was stopping them seemed to be gone as well. On the contrary, Brother was still lying unconscious on the floor. He must have fallen that hard to experience that state. Cruzanna was about to face Brother when the preacher suddenly reacted. A few creaky sounds echoed as the old man moved. He was kneeling as he slowly lifted his face to look at the others.
He began cackling. The menacing laughter resonated around the ruined hall. "That's why he sold his soul to the wicked."
"We need to escape for now," Dom said, quickly turning to Brother. He desperately moved, but lifting his unconscious comrade gently as he look to the two girls. "We could not handle him yet."
The ladies were quick to acknowledge, and they found themselves back to the their quarters again.
..
"As expected, we fell right into their trap."
The four of them who accepted the request were gathered together with the rest of the team to discuss the outcome of the said mission.
Though, they felt dismayed as they hooked their gaze on their feet. But a more doubtful look was painted to the president face. His chin was rested on the tabletop as he turned his vision to the four of them, one at a time.
"Allyson!"
The little girl shrugged her shoulders. "What is it that you want, Mr. President?"
The leader might had felt enough pestering today, so he did not bother himself much of the unwilling face that Allyson presented to him. "What's the client's name again?"
"It is something like Peter, or Pablo . . ." She scratched her chin twice, looking up in a narrow-slit eyes. "Ow! Wait. It's Paul."
Her eyes glimmered as she recalled the name. "He said that these Children of the Sanctum were one of those Blind Readers."
"Okay?" The president still had this slack off figure. He faced Arzi, making the latter uneasy.
She looked away and noticed that there were fewer paper files on the table compared to what she normally saw each time she entered this gathering room. "The spirits... I think they can't act on their own."
The president's face awakened as he heard that. He relaxed and seated himself straight. This time, he looked forward to Arzi as he waited for her to continue.
"When I tried to control the air, they did not notice it." She now then turned her gaze to the president. "I think that the preacher just control it fully. So, if the other forces are not in his line of vision, or he can't see it with his naked eyes--"
"He can't avoid it," the president cut her off.
"That's what I think so far," she added.
"But I can't just explain yet why Cruzanna's barrier is ineffective." Dom, on the other hand, was still in deep thought as he tried to figure out what must be the reason was. His right hand was in position below the part of his mask that covered his chin.
"Her shield is only limited to nullify energies that are intented to hurt someone," president explained, "Or that may be something that we're only thinking."
"Or was there other member of the Sanctum--"
"President!"
Three knocks sounded from the wooden door as the girl from the outside called their leader.
"Come in quick, Eloise!"
A girl wearing a bunny-ear headband entered. As she walked closer, Arzi noticed that her all white dress was made out of some paper materials, including her headband. Her white skirt was from her waist down to the part above her knees. Even her shoes were made of hardened paper fabric, which made Arzi winced a little.
Eloise stopped just few inches before the president's table. "I found out that The CRIMs are behind this." She then handed a file of documents to him enclosed on a brown large paper envelope.
"Attached are all the information not only from the recent attacks, but also are some profiles of the person behind those, however," she paused, eyeing the room for a few seconds, "Where's Brother?"
"He's still unconscious," Cruzanna answered. She faced Allyson who was currently swaying his headless doll in a strange pattern. "We're starting to think that it's not just because of that knock off."
"I'll check him later, anyway," Eloise continued, looking straight to Arzi, "Just like the result of the investigation involving Arzi's parents, the suspects do not know anything."
"Are they still saying that this 'strange voice' is commanding them?"
Eloise turned to the president. "Yes."
"Is there anything they remember that may lead us to know the actual person behind these assaults?"
Eloise gulped before looking to Allyson. The latter was still focused on playing with her toy and unaware of what the adults were talking.
"Actually, they all say that the last person they talked to," she then looked straight to the president, "is named Paul."