Obsessed to Hate Him-Chapter 45: Unusual

Chapter 45: Unusual
KIAN
One word for the cathedral? Sure. Spooky. It has this kind of aura around it which tells you to stay as far as possible away from it. But it only challenges me more to take head-on whatever there is in this cult.
The exterior and the interior of the cathedral resemble what of a prominent church, except the cult looks anything but holy. The women sitting on row after row before the high platform of the church resemble nothing but a horde of ghosts dressed as nuns. It makes it even creepier. Everything is so eerily still, not even the wind blows as if it is too getting suffocated by the restless and unsettling energy emerging from the place.
I look around with curiosity. Things that oppose the Gods are never meant to be holy. They always carry something that is related to the devil. And I have this tugging feeling in my guts that this cult is not too different.
The nun who brought us in has gone off to talk to the priest and told us to wait here. She also said not to disturb the ’meditation’ of the nun sitting there.
My heart thumps warningly against my ribcage when my eyes don’t hold a certain five ten with brown hair and emerald eyes. My eyes dart around alarmingly, my jaw tight as I try to find Lain. He has come inside with us. Where did you go? Or no, he didn’t. We walked inside first. Could it be that he took the chance and ran away?
My heart thumps louder at the thought and tension simmers my muscles.
Just as I am about to run outside and see if my theory is correct this time as well, Lain walks in. He is looking wary, and the deep grooves on his face are smeared with tension and alarm. There is something about him that doesn’t fit right.
When Lain saw the cathedral from outside, he looked as animated as he was supposed to be because Lain likes challenges as much as I do. But now that I am looking at him, his demeanor has changed. He looks very serious and stoic as if he is anticipating something. And the something isn’t surely a very good thing.
"What happened?" My hushed voice disturbs the unnerving stillness inside the main hall of the cathedral. I have lowered myself to Lain’s ears so that I don’t have to raise my voice more than necessary.
I didn’t expect my hushed voice to startle Lain. But it does, to my surprise. He almost jumps out of his skin as his eyes dart at me, panicked. He relaxes when he finds my blue ones boring a hole through him, my eyebrows knitted together.
"W-What?" He stutters, his voice full of air.
The frown between my eyebrows deepens as I look down at him, "I should ask you that."
Lain averts his eyes, "It’s nothing."
My eyes flit to the balled fists by his sides. His nails create small crescent from how tightly he is clenching his fist, his jaw tight.
My eyes narrow as the seed of suspicion starts to grow inside me. But I don’t push it. Maybe the cult is pushing Lain on the edge.
The nun from earlier emerges from inside of the cathedral. There is a white-clothed priest—or what it looks like—with her. Unlike her stoic and spooky expression, a large smile has stretched across his pale, wrinkled face.
The man isn’t particularly charming but he has a charismatic aura around him that grabs everyone’s attention effortlessly. His gray eyes are twinkling and his white hair is pushed back neatly. He is tall and lean. Nothing like the old people around his age but then again, my own aunt is one of the weirdos. Who am I judging?
"It is really a pleasure to have you around, my dear lady and gentlemen." The priest smiles, his hands clasped behind his back as his eyes regard us, "My name is Saint Christopher. I am the founder and the head priest of this cult. I am ecstatic to show the lady and the gentlemen around the cathedral to show you how prominent our Crimson Pact is. To show you the God we worship and the God who has his kind grace on us."
Something about the word of this Saint guy doesn’t settle right. But I don’t show it.
"The pleasure is all ours that you have granted us permission to know more about this interesting cult of yours..." Jennifer starts to exchange pleasantries and I shut her out as my eyes drift to the Lain standing beside me.
He is as stiff as the wire of a bow and his face is a shade paler as he eyes the priest with wary. I feel like he isn’t even breathing at this point. I take in the information and keep a tab on it.
Then Saint Christopher and the nun start to show us around the cathedral. It is nothing out of the ordinary because duh, if they are doing something illegal—which they are definitely—they won’t show it.
At some point during our ’cathedral tour,’ I start to inquire the priest, keeping my tone pristine and carefully taking the suspicion out of there and keeping it neutral curiosity. "So, Saint, I thought that you were taking in children recently? Is that true?" I keep my eyes trained on the surroundings as I ask.
I can feel Jennifer and Lain’s ears perk up at my mention though they keep their expression neutral as well. The thumping tension is palpable and intensified by a pause.
Saint Christopher pauses, his smile unfaltering as he replies to me calmly and collectedly, "Oh yes. We are. This is such a delightful topic to talk about. We are arranging education for the children and teaching them our religion as they have expressed their willingness to learn more about the holy religion"
I shift my gaze back to him, "Oh yes? This is indeed a delightful news. So, if you let us, then I would love to see the kids. Where are they?" My voice drops dangerously a little, almost undetected.