"What have you done, Mr. Smith?" Anton asked as his trembling hands were placed on the wounds of the elderly man, who was agonizing on the ground.
"Give me your hand, son. Now that you're here, I feel more at ease, and it comforts me not to die alone," Smith looked at Anton, sensing his presence, believing that he wasn't dreaming.
Anton's eyes showed clarity; he couldn't bear these overwhelming emotions that surged within him. He could only silently gaze at Old Smith, who was in front of him, maintaining his friendly smile.
Anton was engulfed in a tide of intense emotions, witnessing the departure of someone close. A deep sadness overcame him, like a weight on his chest that hindered his breath. He felt, for the first time, the sting of loss—an absence that seemed to fill the room.
But his outward expression soon changed to one of indifference, even though his inner self was currently crying. Externally, Anton remained serene, as if someone were watching him at this moment.
Breathing abnormally, Anton held the old man's hands tightly, while overwhelming helplessness enveloped him. He knew that if he had tried harder, maybe this old man wouldn't have died. This was his fault.
If he had been better and hadn't respected what Smith wanted to do, maybe this person seeking a way to die wouldn't have died in these circumstances. Once again, all of this was his fault.
"Priest Anton, can you say a prayer for me?" asked Old Smith while still holding Anton's hands tightly.
"Of course..." Anton murmured with a hoarse voice and said, "May you find peace in this moment, hoping for the love you have sown. May each breath lead you gently to serenity, knowing that your legacy will endure in those who love, appreciate, and esteem you."
In his final moments, Smith embraced serenity, recognizing that his journey was coming to an end and that he was about to see his wife again. Peace seized his thoughts as he reflected on the moments lived and shared connections.
"Thank you, Priest Anton. May you also find your way..." Speaking these last words, Smith stopped breathing, and his eyes slowly lost their light.
Anton, who was holding the hands of old Smith, could feel his strength diminishing, and in a few moments, he knew he had died.
"I'm sorry..." Anton murmured, kneeling in front of Old Smith.
A dead silence lingered in his surroundings; loneliness, guilt, and anger were the only things Anton felt at this moment, knowing that Smith had died.
"Help me..."
In that moment of silence, Anton opened his eyes upon hearing a dying voice calling him. Getting up, he looked as if a tattooed man crawled while staring at Anton, who observed him indifferently.
"Rest in peace..." Anton pulled out a silenced pistol and closed his eyes, thinking about the consequences. However, firmly believing in what he was doing, he ignored these thoughts.
"No, please!"
Bang!
"Let's go home, old Smith..." Anton said as he lifted the old man in his arms after finishing off everyone who was sprawled on the floor.
Before that, Anton had sent a message to Rafael to come for the women who had survived this and take them back to the church.
If, for some reason, some of the people who are saved in these places go to a hospital, besides the questions the doctors will ask, they would have to explain a lot to the police. Also, it's very likely that the mafia behind these people will find them. Therefore, no one would touch the churches where there is an exorcist priest; these were the rules.
Just as everyone respects the Continental Hotels for the consequences, all others respect the churches where there is an exorcist priest also due to the consequences.
And at this moment, as Anton walked with Old Smith's body in his hands, he sighed deeply, knowing that he had failed.
"Let's go home, old Smith; now you can rest in peace."
As the shadow of death approaches on every occasion, Anton experiences a mix of intense emotions. A deep nostalgia for past moments arises, while the uncertainty of the beyond hangs like a mist in his mind. However, amid memories and the unknown journey, he feels a strange acceptance, a resigned calm that relates him to death.
Will they be going through the same thing as him? Will everyone have the same chance to change their future? Anton didn't know if he was special, but what he felt at these moments was an infinite doubt about who he is, arising every time there is darkness in his path, and even though it doesn't affect him much now, the aftermath is staying with him.
Once again, he imagined that this was his punishment, a discreet way of making him pay for all the bad things he had done in his life. He had read that people, when they have a bad life, pay for their sins from the past; his situation is the same, only with the sole defect that he remembers his past life.
Now he pays for all of this with the only hope of being able to touch the sky and be forgiven. Now that he knows there is a heaven, he has abandoned his thoughts about there being only one life; what he does here is cultivate his virtues to earn a place in heaven once he dies.
But that was changing; that desire to be in heaven was fading away, and now he acts only on impulse, believing that it is his duty to do so, ignoring the fact that he does it for his own whims.
The Anton of now had changed completely.