"Will they recover?"
A day later, Anton stood in front of seven beds where exactly the same number of young women lay, each with an intravenous drip connected to 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 know what to do in three."
Anton nodded. These seven girls would decide whether to live under the Association of Light and according to its protection or seek a different way of living outside this country under a different identity.
For a request from someone he didn't know much about, Anton did his best to handle this situation as best he could.
"Well, keep me informed about the recovery of these girls." Anton had something very important to do at the moment, so he had to prepare for the funeral of Old Smith.
Walking into an empty room, Anton looked at himself in a huge mirror, his indifferent expression to all human emotions observing every aspect of his body. In less than twelve hours, he now had two pistols under his priest's 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 the living, and that's exactly what he would do from now on. His attention, so to speak, would also focus on certain people who needed to be eliminated.
...
Old Smith, who had no children, could be considered someone who had lived a somewhat complicated life because he could never have a larger family. In his daily life, there weren't many people who had any connection with him, but Anton, in just a few hours, gave him the most decent funeral possible.
According to the letter he had left, Anton took care of burying Old Smith next to his wife.
During his burial, Anton put on his priest's robe, this simple attire that shouldn't officially belong to him but was becoming more attached to him than his own skin.
As someone who knew Smith's deep memories, he spoke about his life, passions, and fears. He talked about those who were important in the lives of these elders and gave an example of a perfect marriage.
During the reading of the Bible and the prayer, Anton, for the first time, used the Bible to officially declare before people's eyes the eternal rest of Old Smith.
The final step is the ceremony of rest and farewell.
In the presence of Anton and other participants, a cross was placed on top of the coffin, and some, as close people, placed white flowers.
After finishing this ceremony, the coffin was lowered, and shortly afterward, a person Anton knew was quickly buried. Anton sighed at death, at how the body becomes empty when one dies, and at how insignificant they are when they disappear.
The body loses the vibe of its owner, something very difficult to explain.
The people who accompanied this ceremony were acquaintances of Old Smith. Many were so surprised by his death because it was so sudden that they didn't know how to react to the two burials, one after the other, of the Smith couple.
But there should be no surprise at death, so everyone listened in silence to Anton's reading.
"In this moment of farewell, we elevate our thoughts and wishes of peace towards the transcendental, trusting that eternal rest finds harmony in the mystery that embraces our existence."
"May the memory of the loved one endure in the echo of our shared experiences, and may their transition be embraced by the essence that transcends our understanding... Amen!" Anton finally said this after this prayer.
At that precise moment, the funeral had ended.
Slowly, Anton bid farewell to those who were leaving, and shortly after, he was completely alone in front of the grave of someone who had marked him a lot in this life, even though he knew so little about him.
After an hour of silence, Anton suppressed his emotions and walked away from Old Smith's grave. There was nothing more to do; the dead rest, and the living will take care of carrying their loved ones in their minds.
...
In a café, Anton met with a lawyer.
"Did you just say that old Smith left me something?" As soon as he sat down, the lawyer handed him some documents he was holding.
"This is what Mr. Smith left you... All the properties have been transferred to your name according to the instructions of the deceased."
Anton was stunned and had never thought about this at all. According to Smith's will, he basically left all his things to him, a complete stranger.
"Did he personally ask you to do this?" Anton couldn't believe this could be possible.
The lawyer nodded and said with total seriousness, "This was not a sudden decision. Mr. Smith was clear that he wanted to donate his properties to you, who is a priest who has always cared for the people around him."
"Oh, I see..."
After the lawyer left, Anton looked at the bag of documents in front of him and didn't think about it for long. Although he and old Smith got to know each other better 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 special; that doesn't always happen when you do good deeds.
While Anton was eating, a girl approached him and sat in front of him while checking her cellphone.
"Help me find information about these people. Just so you know, they're dead, but I would like to know if you can find out about the garbage that surrounded them before they died." Anton said as he handed a woman with pink hair identifications covered in blood.
The girl named Moon looked at the identifications and murmured, "How 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." Anton said as he walked back to his car.
Moon looked at Anton walking away and said, "Damn, all this trash is changing you. Now you don't smile like before."
"You better take this job seriously; it would save me a lot of trouble."
"Yes, I understand..."