CHAPTER 18:

  A few thoughts raced in Sylvia's mind, could it be perhaps an outside force, or could it be their guests?

  She took a moment to recollect her thoughts, and a soft sigh escaped her lips. It was probably those who she was anticipating

  She turned around to face the door of the church, she started walking again on the red carpet silently

  Haru looked at her while still leaning against a chair. He fully pushed himself off the chair before addressing Sylvia

  “You were expecting this, yeah?”

  With steady steps and a steady breath did Sylvia responded

  “I don't know for sure, I'm purely guessing”

  She continued to walk ahead until she had reached the front door from where they had originally entered from

  Haru frowned slightly. He knew better than anyone else here not to take Sylvia's actions lightly

  The others watched in silence and, at the same time, curiosity, lots of questions to be desired, minimal possible answers from Sylvia

  Sylvia now stood in front of the door, her gaze on the floor. She didn't know how far away they were or when they got here

  But to her, it's tradition and etiquette to greet who was attending

  On the flipside, with now the boar dead, the two men continued on with their path

  They followed a familiar to them trail, leading to the delta of the river

  For them, this was a regular sight to behold. Nothing in the forest could scare them away or surprise them anymore

  On their way, they exchanged profanity between one another to pass the time. Even if people were to be around, they still wouldn't care

  They would push each other and jab at each other, making each other fall multiple times

  They didn't care who you were

  Unless you were an esteemed person who is

  They were that kind of shady people who would do things for their own amusement if they wanted to, without moral limits

  A short while after, the two men almost reached the church itself. They weren't sweating, they weren't nervous either

  The 9 in the church were trying to ease themselves from Sylvia's weirdness and the cry from earlier

  Due to the approach of the two men, they felt slight pressure around their throats, the closer they got, the more sinister the atmosphere inside the church got

  While Sylvia was still standing at the door, not even moving a single muscle

  She had no thoughts, standing there, waiting. It seemed that the pressure wasn't getting to her

  At that instance, could a knock on the door be heard

  Upon hearing it, Sylvia raised her hands to push the door with both hands, giving it a gentle push to open

  Surely enough, on the other side, did the two men stand, hands in their pocket or behind their head

  Their faces were laid back, but not unserious. They cared the most of how they looked in front of those who mattered

  “You two actually showed up, I guess this squabble of yours had to be important for the late timing”

  “We wouldn't dare to miss it if the church called us. It's our sacred duty after all”

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  “Even if it is that we lace our boots, it would always be a pleasure to be in this place”

  “You're fooling no one, you two, credit where credit is due. That was a good try”

  The 3 of them at the door exchanged words. There was a certain sense of familiarity, not that of friends, but of spiteful people arguing with each other

  Sylvia then turned around. She started walking, motioning for the two men to do so they could fully enter the church

  Sylvia looked both on the right and left of her, mustered up the courage to talk to the others

  “These two gentlemen work for the church. It just so happens that they were called for here, during their break”

  She paused slightly before continuing

  “They're names are Micah and John”

  Micah chuckled slightly while looking at the 9, fully aware of what's going on

  While John, who was keeping his facade, did not seem to be interested in them

  “And what's the deal with them? Do we need to amend their facial structure too?”

  Said Charybdi, stepping up slightly

  That alone earned Micah's loud laugh for inexplicable reasons

  Sylvia turned her head towards Charybdi, she resumed her walk

  “Don't say anything”

  “What? Come on, Sylvia, I didn't even say anything that harsh”

  “Either way, they are guests, so behave”

  Without a second thought John walked forward of Sylvia as well as Micah, who besides him

  By the sidelines, Haru looked at them very suspiciously, from the gecko. Everything about them was off putting

  Scylla looked at them with her usual like stoic behavior, while Preston disregarded them completely

  On the other hand, Matthew and Garfia seem to already have a sense about them, based on the past and future

  Zoe felt uncomfortable. She unknowingly rested against Sasha's arms, Sasha tried to ignore it but couldn't completely

  Annabelle and Lana had the same expression as Haru, but they couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly

  Not only were they sinister, they were also mysterious. It was a wonder to them how Sylvia could keep her composure so easily

  Sylvia and the two men reached the podium, where the Bible was

  John stepped up on the podium and opened the Bible, not picking it up in his hands

  “Let us pray, in the name of our lord”

  John said with a quiet tone

  Micah, who was standing by the side of Sylvia, was still smiling, which faded for the prayer

  Sylvia glanced back at the 9, she spoke softly

  “We have no choice. We have to pray with them”

  John moved his hands through the pages of the holy book, It seemed like he was searching for a specific page

  The 9(holy beings) looked at each other with hesitation. While John was still searching for the page, they silently agreed to obey Sylvia

  They had no reason not to trust her

  So they all quietly sat down in the front seats, across each other, the pairs being just like before, this time, only with Haru being sat at the edge of the small row of seats

  Away from the other's

  When they all sat down, John stopped at a passage. He then took out another book, most likely a scriptura

  A kind of text the eastern orthodox church had made for prayers that suited their own style, whatever was to be in the scriptura, couldn't contradict the Bible

  John used the passage of the Bible as a reference, holding the scriptura in his right hand

  For a short amount of time, the entire interior of the abandoned church was quiet before John started the prayer

  He sang a prayer that was talking about salvation in the name of Jesus Christ, a typical prayer in the eastern orthodox Church

  While the prayer had commenced, Sylvia kept her face neutral and her gaze on the ground below her

  Micah did the same, while John could only focus on the scriptura and the Bible

  The song itself was nice, melodic even to the ears, it was calm and high pitched, it required total silence

  While Sylvia wasn't looking, the 9 exchanged very hushed whispers amongst each other and gazes

  “Why did we even agree on this?”

  Scylla first asked

  “A bunch of horseshit”

  Lana kept it short and sweet

  “It is unfamiliar even to me”

  Annabelle noted while crossing her arms below her chest

  “I have seen it somewhere, but I can't remember where exactly”

  Matthew scratched his chin gently

  The chat went on for a bit, and the others didn't seem to notice it, not even Sylvia

  Or so they thought to themselves

  While Haru was the only one who did not speak, through the corner of his eye, did he see John peeking while singing

  John was directly staring at him, with a malicious intent in his eyes, an intent crystal clear to anyone that was looked at that way

  Haru, knowing that if he were to avert his gaze he would only feed his ego

  Stared back at him, with no raced eyebrows or changed facial expression

  A cold and stoic face one would say

  Upon seeing that, John would let out a smirk

  When the song finished, they were allowed to speak freely

  John put back the scriptura in his right pocket, closing the Bible, stepping down from the podium

  Half serious Mcah nudged Sylvia's ribcage slightly

  “I think it's time for our true intention here, don't you think?”

  With a sigh, Sylvia responded, while slightly rubbing the side of her chest

  “There's no point in beating around the bush”

  “Haru, could you come over for a second?”

  Haru already knew that something like this was coming. He could tell from the way John had looked at him

  With no hesitation, he stood up, making his way there

  “Don't you worry, it will be just a meeting, boy”

  Micah spoke with a falsely reassuring tone

  “Enough with the games, let's move on”

  John said he was already walking towards the far side of the interior

  “A meeting?, with who exactly?”

  “Someone very important, like I said before, it's crucial that you meet him”

  Despite Sylvia answering Haru, there was a noticeable disdain in her voice, almost like she forced herself to say it

  Which is how she had been acting all this time that they were in the forest, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say from the moment they stepped foot there

  “I trust you…for the most part”

  Haru paused in the middle of his sentence, walking past Sylvia without directly looking at her

  Micah laughing to himself like he always does, started walking too, following John

  Sylvia knew what Haru meant and why he even paused, with frustration etched on her face. She pushed herself forward, following them

  John led them to a staircase that was in the far edge of the interior, too dark to be seen with the naked eye

  He signaled for Micah to light up a bonfire that was hanging on the wall

  Micah took the bonfire and lit it up with a lighter that he had in his pocket. Most likely, he also had cigarettes in there

  The now 4 of them began walking down the eerie and spiral staircase

  The staircase was even more weird than the church itself. Spiders roamed the walls down there, and the ceiling had a leakage

  So the stairs had become partially slippery

  No one spoke. No one needs to speak down there

  Sylvia wouldn't accept any other questions

  Either way, Haru didn't need to ask any more questions

  John and Micah had already made themselves very clear, so they needn't speak

  Back to the row of seats, the 9, well now 8 due to Haru leaving, begun to speak amongst themselves again

  Already confirming their suspicions from the way Sylvia had just acted

  But, they didn't have any concrete proof to back up the claims

  All they could do now is speculate as to why they were even brought here

  By now, it was clear to everyone, no matter how composed and secretive Sylvia tried to be

  Her fault was that she hid her ulterior motives very clearly

  Kind of like reverse psychology, when by trying to act less and less like you are acting, you are effectively making your acting more obvious

  The slight uneasiness in the atmosphere was lifted up from their shoulders, at the same time

  But not completely

  Maybe it was John and Micah who produced that kind of atmosphere in the first place

  In hindsight, that would seem to be the most obvious obvious answer

  As none of the 9 liked their guts to begin with…