Mortal Sins

Mortal Sins

Mortal Sins

It was the gun-shot that jolted her to this place. Eyes wide she turned and moved towards the sound. She felt her hand tracing the wall unconsciously; oddly the sensation of touch seemed to stop at her hand. The wall itself seemed devoid of texture despite being covered in hideous brickwork. She’d have walked straight past the room, if it hadn’t have been for the smell of gun powder. Its distinct scent reminded her of fireworks, an old remnant of her childhood. Softly she pushed the door open to reveal the grotesque scene within.

It was another girl, standing over a fresh corpse. There was no chance of survival for the victim at her feet, not with hole ripped through the back of her head. The wound was still smoking with gun-shot residue and heat as was the offending weapon, dropped beside the body. Confusion flew across the interloper’s mind and then acceptance.
“Don’t leave me.” The girl spoke. Her soft blue eyes turned to face her intruder, briefly covered by her short hair. Her hair was something of a rainbow of shades and tones, all focused on what looked like a fiery effect. “I’m so lost”, a simple statement for the much bigger predicament surrounding her.

“My Name’s Katherine, and you are?” It seemed best to ignore the scene, for the minute, and an introduction seemed more appropriate than ‘Hi, wow what a mess’.
“I’m not sure, but Jessica rings a bell”. Jessica’s eyes flickered briefly, a sparkle in dull ice. She didn’t seem able to move from her position, facing the body which she immediately looked down at again. There were several scratch marks running down the left arm and a compass beside the right. A form of torture, to convince the victim that the end results were far better than going on like this.

“May I ask why?” Katherine had to bring it up at some point and quickly now, time was against her. The question caused Jessica to recoil, as if it had bounced off her in a manner similar to that of a physical object. She still answered though.
“Because it got too much, and I guess I snapped” Her eyes again flickered, but this time they were focused on those cruel looking rips in the upper arm. There were more than a single compass used on those. The whitening skin had separated into jagged folds on the side of a darkening incision. The resulting effect of continuous attacks on this area was something resembling netting. A continual criss-crossing of dark red and white, almost artistic if it hadn’t have been in that poor arm.

Sounds in the corridor alerted Katherine that time was pressing. There was so much more she could learn from this one and she wasn’t going to have time for that. Obviously her irritation had shown.
“Not the answer you hoped for?” the comment dripped with several emotions, sarcasm being the most noticeable but there were hints of regret and bitterness mixed with an impossible sense of pride. A slight saddening smile masked her blend of emotions brewing under the surface. “Or not quite the question you wanted to ask?” She picked up on emotions quickly did this one; Katherine instantly liked her attitude. “So why are you lost?”
An arch of an eyebrow, sadly the effect was lost as both eyebrows raised instead of one. Such a shame.
“Wouldn’t you be?” Again Katherine’s impatience must have shown. A sigh. “Because I don’t know why they didn’t stop and I don’t understand why it had to be now and because I don’t understand why I’m here and what’s going to happen to me now, enough for you?” It was more than Katherine had expected and definitely helpful. There was that flash again, less so that time, more of a glint. Sadness instantly replaced it and an edge of fear laced her next comment. “I’m not going to be coming back from this, am I?” All Katherine could manage was a short shake of the head, just rippling her hair slightly. Jessica’s head bowed and another sigh echoed from her lungs. “I wasted that second chance”.

Katherine hadn’t even noticed the third person enter the room, but her head snapped round when his quiet voice resounded through her.
“Yes, you did and for that I’m sorry. It should have gone to someone more worthy, but at least you made sure this time. This time there’s no chance to repair the damage”. It was a lengthy answer, especially when a simple yes would have done. There was no need to add to the pitiable girl’s guilt. The mask fell away and shattered with her first sob. It wasn’t long before her face finally matched that of the victim, tear stained and wearied. Her hair had lost the fiery tones and similarly the fire in her eyes had died with it. She wasn’t pretty when she cried, so unlike those descriptions in stories. Such a paradox from the girl who had been standing there so calmly mere minutes ago, but then they always are. A proud and strong exterior, until they break and drag out all their pain and suffering and in a simple moment are their true undeniable selves until, “Please come along”. His cold tone echoed in the ever tightening space, and her plea seemed nothing but a whisper compared to his strong voice, “Katherine?”
Katherine’s second head shake was as unnoticeable as the first, and she could feel her heartbreaking for the young girl. As if her entire ordeal leading up to this hadn’t been enough, her future was a terrible one. It was then Jessica finally moved away from the corpse, into the open arms of Seth. Katherine knew his touch would sear her instantly, such a shame.
“You can leave now, judgement has been passed and her answer was not acceptable. I’ll be leaving now with Jessica, please don’t stay Katherine. There’s nothing more to be done” Again his answer was far lengthier than needed, but he was right. There was nothing more to be done, except leave and wait to be guided to the next one. A final look into those tortured eyes, stripped of their ice like shields, as Jessica disappeared into an eternity of that burning. Katherine’s eyes at last stared into the eyes of the body. The same broken pain reflected in those eyes, though dulled by the tint of death. A lifetime of suffering exchanged for an eternity of pain, it seemed so wrong. Damned by her moment of weakness, Jessica’s dead pained eyes would never soften and flicker again. Such is the price of Mortal sin.

Katherine faded away just as the door opened and the screams began. It wasn’t the time for them to see angels, not when their daughter had just pressed a gun inside her mouth and forgotten everything she’d ever known.



Author’s Note: I believe that souls don’t have to take on the appearance of their physical counterpart; they are a manifestation of who we are ideally. This is why ‘Jessica’ changes appearance as she breaks down; she is no longer that fiery, strong idealistic version of the corpse lying at her she becomes that broken tortured soul, which destroyed her physical self.