Chapter One

*~°*~°*~°*

Elizabeth

*~°*~°*~°*

There is a man bleeding on the altar.

I blinked-once, twice, to be sure I wasn't seeing things.

I'm not, because he is still there and he's bleeding quite a lot. There's blood all over the floor that I have to force myself to breathe... and not throw up.

My eyes dart across the cathedral, but there is no one here but him... and me-an ordinary nun who is yet to take her vows.

What should I do?

I can't just run and leave him here...

The only reason why I'm up at this ungodly hour is because I couldn't sleep. I've been having trouble sleeping this days and I only needed fresh air. Maybe Mama was right-where ever I go, bad things tend to happen.

Take a deep breath, Liz.

Take. a. deep. breath, Liz.

Exhaling deeply, I walked towards him, clutching my rosary like it was meant to protect me from him.

He could be a bad man. What if him bleeding on the altar is an act? What if I get there he'll grab me and-

Oh. My. God.

He's looking at me now. He's really looking at me with eyes so dark that I could have sworn-if nuns are allowed to swear-that there's something dangerous about him.

"Come here," he commanded, in a deep and raspy voice that does something to me that I can't explain.

My heart skittered to a stop.

The way his voice comes out makes it seem like he says that to a lot of women and they listen immediately. And I had an awful, awful impulse to listen.

With an erratic heartbeat, I took sure steps towards him. As soon as I reached him, he grabbed me by hand, pulling me onto him. One moment I was standing and the next moment am on him, my entire habit is stained with blood now.

What will I tell Mother Superior now?

He tilted my chin up to meet his gaze, studying me like he's trying to uncover if I'm a threat or not. His eyes stopped on the rosary around my neck, his gaze softening right after.

We're too close to each other so I rocked back, not fighting him because I'm afraid that if I do, I might end up worsening the injury-a bullet wound at his side. I pulled back again and for a man who is bleeding, his grip is surprisingly tight and I'm already shaken with the lightening bolt exploding in my chest and fizzing through my veins.

My breasts are pressed against his hard, warm abs and a shiver rolled through me.

He's a dying man, Liz.

Control yourself!

"Y-you're really hurt. I'll have to go find help," I told him, trying to get up because the position we were in was not one I needed someone else to walk into. A lot of things could be misread, and as it already is, I'm not really in the good books of many. But he dragged me back before I could succeed in rising up, hauling me back onto him.

"Don't call anyone, angel..."

Angel?

Angel?!

Is he seeing angels already?

Oh my God, this man is going to die. Mother Superior always says that when people are close to death, they begin to see ghosts, visions of their loved ones who are dead and most importantly, angels who have come to take them.

But if I can't call anyone, how am I supposed to save him? We tend to the sick, wounded and those dying in the convent. Well, exclude the latter part because this is the first time am this close to a dying man who is bleeding this much.

If I don't save him, the Lord will never forgive me. I can't let him die. I won't.

"But..."

"Take me to your room," he asked in the same voice as earlier that I'm beginning to hate, it does things to me that I shouldn't like.

To my room?

Does he not realize who I am or is his brain so fuzzed up that he can't think properly? If anyone sees a man in my room, I'll be kicked out of the convent for sure.

No man should even be on the monastery grounds at this hour, let alone taking him into my room.

I'm just about to tell him that but he repeated the words again,

"Take me to your room." His tone more firmer than before, with added force than necessary.

Taking a deep breath, shutting all the screaming voices in my head, I manage to lift him up, although I don't do it on my own. He helped by trying to get up as well. I guess he understands how huge his body frame is.

With slow steps, we make our way out of the cathedral, heading to the convent and specifically to my room. Luckily, the rest of the sisters retired early today, so it's just me and a man twice my height beside me.

I'm not going to lie, I'm panicking.

What if someone sees us?

What if he dies and am accused of murder?

I hope he doesn't. I just want to help a man... an innocent man perhaps.

Please, Lord... help me this time. Help me pass this test, please.

With a little push, my room door opened and we stepped in. After helping him onto the bed, I quickly rushed back to close the door, locking it after me.

A low ragged groan erupted from him, dragging my attention back to him, then I realized his eyes were closed now.

I don't have much time.

"Please don't die," I whispered, almost crying now. "Please, stay alive for me. Please..."

He didn't respond. Rather, he was mumbling something under his breath, something I couldn't quite hear. Opening my closet, I grabbed the first aid kit, blowing off the dust scattered all over the top of the box.

Clutching it to my chest, I walked towards the bed, sitting beside him and dropping the box next to me.

I inhaled.

I exhaled.

You can do this, Liz.

Just don't kill him and you'll be fine. I took one look at the door again, listening for footsteps before returning my eyes to him.

Lord, I should have stayed in my room today.

Chapter Two

*~°*~°*~°*

Elizabeth

*~°*~°*~°*

Resting my hand against his chest, a feeling of relief washed over me when I discovered he was still breathing.

That counts for something, doesn't it?

When I made a move to undress him, I started feeling fidgety and nervous all over, and I know why.

I've never been this close to a man before. Never ever.

I'm twenty-three and still a virgin. And I'm bound to remain one till I take my last breath. So this feeling should be totally normal. Right?

"Lord, please help me," I muttered to myself before reaching out to undress him. Each button I opened revealed a perfectly sculptured chest and I had to force my eyes back to his face.

This man was incredibly good looking. That was one fact that I couldn't deny, no matter how many voices in my head screamed that I should.

I peeled off his blood-soaked shirt completely and really took my time to look at him. Swallowing, my eyes roamed all over him in fascination. His chest and biceps are all covered in tattoos. The man is literally ink and muscle. All of him. Not an ounce of fat anywhere.

Heat flushes across my cheeks when I realize what I'm doing, and I have to drag my eyes away from him and on the first aid kit.

No distractions, Liz.

"Mister bleeding man," I started off, half to him and half to myself as I bring out all the items I would be needing for this inexperienced surgery. "I've never done this before, okay? Mother Roselyn is usually the one in charge of this kind of stuff, then she appoints someone to work with her." I started cleaning him up to make things easier and smooth for me. "I've never been chosen before, because the last time I was close to a bleeding person, I ended up lying in the sick bed right next to the bleeding victim. Mother Roselyn was furious with me, she called me dramatic because I fainted at the sight of blood."

I looked at him when I was done cleaning to check for signs that he might be listening, but there wasn't. I'm only talking to myself.

Regardless, I spoke up again, "But I promise... I promise to do a better job on you."

Wrapping my hair into a bun, with my hands still shaking all the way, I managed to stitch and bandage him up in places where necessary. My eyes strayed to the clock hanging above my closet and I realized that I've been doing this for over an hour.

Nevertheless, I did it. The stitches might not be so perfect but I really did it. I saved someone's life today.

I'm almost at the verge of crying out joyful tears when I remember I'm stained in blood too. So slowly, I lift myself off from him and step away from the bed.

His chest is rising and falling and that was all the hope that I needed. A lock of hair escaped, resting over his eyebrow and the urge to tuck them back grew with each passing second that I stood there. Shaking myself off from whatever trance I was in, I dropped the first aid kit back in the closet and made my way to the bathroom.

I needed to wash off every sign that I was close to a man... so close to him that I took his shirt off, that I imagined things.

Now I've got so many things to say during confession period.

After I took one good look at him to make sure he's perfectly okay, I hurriedly entered the bathroom and shut the door behind me, locking it like there was any way the unconscious man could break in.

Slowly, I took off my clothes, dropping them into the laundry basket before stepping into the shower.

As each droplet of water trickled down my skin, I start scrubbing, washing every trace of blood on my skin, and every attempt to shut down thoughts about him failed miserably.

Because, I had a thousand questions.

How did he get wounded?

Who shot him?

Was he running from someone... or was he the one behind the chase?

Why did he end up in the cathedral?

If he wakes up, would he remember my face?

Goosebumps rise on my skin as the last thought settles on me and I realize that I don't know if I want him to remember me.

What if he wakes up and gets everything all juggled up?

What if he ends up thinking I'm behind whatever happened to him since I was the only one up at that hour?

No.

No.

No.

Could such a thing happen?

I've heard stories where the good guys end up being framed for something they didn't do. What if I end up in that situation?

I reach up and wipe the tear rolling down my cheeks.

I'm not a murderer, but who would believe me? Not when there's proof of blood on the altar, proof of an unconscious man in my bedroom.

I'm scared. I've never been this scared before even when Mama hits me.

I'm really scared and I have no idea what would happen when he eventually wakes up.

"Lord, I just wanted to help an injured man. Please, let this not come back to bite me," I pleaded to the Almighty, hoping he was listening... hoping I wasn't alone in this.

It took me a total of thirty minutes to be done in the shower and dressed in a plain white nightwear that stopped just right after my knee-the kind of nightwear Mother Roeslyn expected us all to wear. Taking a deep breath again-something I've done quite a lot since today, I reached for the door handle, pulled and let myself out of the bathroom.

I released the breath I didn't realize I had been holding when I see him splayed on my bed, eyes closed and no signs of blood anywhere on my sheets.

I don't know but some part of me expected him to be gone by the time I was out. Seeing him still lying down on my bed unconscious made my nerves calm down a little bit.

I'm not going to lie, I feel so tired and sleepy altogether but I can't lie on the same bed with him.

That would be me going against everything Mother Roselyn taught us, everything a nun was supposed to stand for. So instead of lying on the bed, I walked towards my reading table and sat on the chair-waiting.

Waiting for sleep to take over so when I wake up, I'ld realize that all these is only a dream.

But as I tried to shut my eyes, I caught on to something on the bed, something I didn't notice before when I sat so close to him earlier.

With curiousity poking at me, I walked towards him and then I got a better view. My chest tightened when I saw it...

A gun.

There was a gun underneath him, almost like it slipped out when he slumped on the bed, and I was too blind to notice it.

My heart raced faster than normal as my gaze remained fixed on the weapon in my room.

What sort of man was this?

Who did I just let into my room?

An assassin? A murderer?

"Oh, God..." I slapped a hand over my mouth, suppressing whatever sound trying to crawl its way out of my throat.

What if... what if he killed someone and was only paying for his sins?

What if I saved the wrong person?

I'm still pondering over the numerous thoughts making their way to my head when I hear a loud thud at the door.

My heart skipped a beat.

The knock came again after a few seconds.

"Elizabeth! Open up, now!"

Oh, my. It's Mother Roselyn.

Chapter Three

*~•*•~*•~*

Elizabeth

*~•*•~*~•*

When I finally opened the door, Mother Roselyn stood at the other end, fuming with rage.

"Mother-" I didn't even finish because she cut me off mid-speech.

"Where have you been? I've been calling you for a while now, and don't tell me you didn't hear me screaming your name like I've lost my mind."

I couldn't tell her the truth. She wouldn't believe me. Worse still, the mister was undressed and on my bed. There were so many theories that can be cooked up and I'm very sure none of them would end up in my favour.

"Elizabeth!" she yelled out, trying to look into my room but I blocked her view. She can't look inside not while he's still on my bed.

"Yes, Ma," I answered too quickly, my attention diverted. I hoped she didn't notice that I was shaking.

"Didn't you hear my question? Or have you suddenly gone deaf?"

"I did... I was sleeping. I didn't hear when you called earlier, I'm sorry."

She looked at me like I was another mystery she was trying to uncover.

"You've become way too sneaky these days," she uttered, refusing to leave.

"I'm not... I've been in my room the whole time," I said, choosing my words wisely. Mother Roselyn was always prune to getting angry easily. One word, one slip up and she would be yelling over the place, and threatening me with exorcisms.

"I can never know with you... you know," she murmured. "Is Leah here with you?"

Leah was one of the children who I had grown attached with since my stay at the convent. Sometimes I fed them, sometimes they came to my room to hear bedtime stories, they also sneaked into my room at night when they got too scared of the rain and most of the time, I'm the one who braids Leah's hair so it's expected that when any of the children who am fond of, especially Leah gets missing, my room is always the first prime suspect.

"No, she's not. I slept early today," I lied smoothly.

Another confession to make.

"Your eyes does not look like you've been sleeping at all," she fired back, hinting that she did not believe me at all.

"My eyes?" I repeated, rubbing at them to dissuade whatever doubting thoughts she was having. "You're mistaken ma. I've been asleep for hours now. Remember that's why I didn't hear you earlier."

She gave me a once over look, trying to look inside my room at some point, but I still didn't let her.

Oh, dear Lord, wasn't she going to leave soon?

Apparently not.

"Come with me then. We'll go find her together."

I almost heaved a sigh of relief when she said that, but I didn't because if I did, she'll get the hint that I'm hiding something. And she would probe further, and I know fully well that the outcome wouldn't be good at all.

"Okay," I responded, stepping out of the room and shutting the door behind me.

Her eyes darted from me to my door. I know she wants to say something else, particularly about why I'm being so uptight about my room, but I was glad that she didn't.

We took the stairs, heading downstairs. We both froze when someone screamed loudly,

"MOTHER ROSELYN! OH MY, MOTHER ROSELYN!"

The voice was persistent, like how someone who saw a ghost would scream. Panic clawed at my chest.

I didn't know why, but I was panicking real good.

Mother Roselyn stilled for a bit, trying to detect where the voice was coming from. She only stayed still for a few seconds before she began running down the stairs faster than someone her age should, and I followed suit.

When we got to the exit leading us outside, Sister Maria stood there. Tears rolled down her cheeks, she looked extremely terrified.

"Mother... I think... you should come see this," she managed to utter, the words coming up as gibberish.

"What's going on?" Mother Roselyn asked, following Maria as she led us to whatever had terrified her that much. Maria took us out of the convent, heading towards the cathedral.

It was at that moment my heart began to thump loudly against my chest.

What if she saw the pool of blood? Was that what terrified her?

Would they conduct a search party to check who the blood belonged too?

But to my utmost surprise she wasn't leading us into the cathedral. No, not at all. Instead, she was taking us to the far end of the cathedral, specifically to one of the exit doors, the one I didn't follow when I helped the bleeding man out.

After what seemed like a minute of following Maria, she finally stopped.

Mother Roselyn was the first to scream. Her loud cry erupting into the darkness. I stood there, horrified... frozen for a while until I joined in the screaming.

I couldn't help myself, because on the floor was Father Philip lying in his own pool of blood... out cold and dead.

Holy Mary!

Was that a slash on his neck? I looked closely and it was. There was also an outpour of blood gushing out from his throat.

Oh my God. I placed one hand to my chest and the other over my mouth.

I couldn't breathe... I needed air.

I need air.

Someone killed Father Philips. Right here in the cathedral.

And I think I know who that is.

Oh, Father Lord, I've done something really, really bad. I saved someone I shouldn't have.

"What happened?" Mother Roselyn asked, visibly shaking. "How did he... how did you..."

"You asked that I look for Leah, and that was what I was doing until I stepped outside and I saw someone lying on the floor." Her voice cracked, and she gripped her dress, trying to put herself together. "At first, I thought I wasn't seeing properly because no one is supposed to be out at this hour, but my curiousity had the best of me. And when I came close, I realized..."

She didn't finish, didn't have to because we knew what words would come next.

I hadn't said anything since we got to the spot and I hoped they wouldn't notice.

"What do we do?" Maria asked, her gaze refusing to leave the body.

"We'll have to tell the other priests, we can't handle this ourselves. Come on." Mother Roselyn answered, already turning to leave.

I managed to say the words out, "And me?"

"Go back to the convent and look for Leah." she said, not sparing me another glance.

I nodded too quickly, running back. Not once did I turn back, because I was too engulfed in fear.

One thought stayed on my mind as I ran all the way back to my room -the killer was still in my room.

And I was an accomplice... an accomplice to murder.