“You understand why it is that I asked you to come in here this morning?”
Lauren sat in Sister McDewey’s office, although this time, it didn’t seem nearly so cozy as it had on other occasions. Even the nun’s demeanor had changed from tepid to almost hostile. The look she regarded Lauren with almost shook Lauren to her core.
“You have some questions. I’ll do my best to answer them.”
Sister McDewey steepled her fingers. “Right now, what concerns us most is the disappearance of not one, but two of our nuns. Sister Donovan, granted, was not long for the earth. But Sister Mary was young. She had years ahead of her. And now both of them have vanished. No trace. No note. Nothing.”
Lauren tried to keep her face from revealing anything. “You’ve spoken with the police?”
“They told me there were no bodies at the residence. Despite the fact that you claimed seeing both of them dead.” Sister McDewey sighed. “All of which leaves me feeling very perplexed.” She shifted in her chair. “On one hand, we could endeavor to find some degree of foul play. But without bodies, the police aren’t apt to look into it all that much.”
“There were bodies,” said Lauren quietly.
“And yet, you were the last person presumably to inquire about Sister Donovan and her whereabouts. You understand how unusual this whole thing looks?”
You ought to see it from my perspective, thought Lauren. She nodded. “Absolutely.”
“So, what I’m asking you right now is to tell me what exactly is going on here.”
Lauren cleared her throat. “I don’t know exactly.”
Sister McDewey shook her head. “That’s not the answer I was looking for.”
“It’s the truth.” She sighed. “My brother was killed a week or so back.”
“You told me that.”
“The killer, apparently, is known to a detective on the police force.”
“Again, I believe we covered this ground already.”
“I’m getting to the point, Sister,” said Lauren. She wanted to say, now just shut up! “When this detective was with the FBI, he ran into the killer several times. Or I should say, the killer’s handiwork.”
“He never caught the killer?”
“No.”
“Not much of an FBI agent was he?”
Lauren frowned. She didn’t like hearing dispersions cast about Steve. “I’m sure he worked very hard to find him. But it didn’t pan out.”
“What does the death of your brother have to do with two missing nuns?”
“The cases are connected. I feel very strongly about that.”
“Specifically?”
Lauren took a breath. “The killer seems to be…supernatural.”
Sister McDewey’s eyebrows shot up. “Pardon?”
“Supernatural. I know how crazy that must sound, but it’s true. At least as near as we can figure.”
“We?”
“I’ve been working with the detective.”
Sister McDewey leaned forward. “Aren’t you supposed to be studying right now?”
“Surely the death of one’s family can take some degree of precedence over academics, even for just a short time.”
“That’s your decision.”
“All the victims — “
“How many are there?”
“They’ve spanned a number of years across a variety of states.”
Sister McDewey leaned back. “Go on.”
“All of the victims were killed in the same manner. But their bodies showed no signs of death — that is to say no signs of foul play. Each one seemed the picture of health, and yet, the were killed.”
“This is sounding a bit unusual, Lauren.”
“I agree. It sounds insane. But it’s not. Remember when I visited you earlier this week asking about research material?”
“You were asking about a reverse laying of hands. I remember that.”
“I asked you if there was a way to look into it — some kind of special library that might aid me in my search.”
“And I told you to forget about it.” Sister McDewey’s eyes narrowed. “But I can see it did no good trying to steer you away from that.” She sighed. “You found the library, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“You know you’re out of your league here?”
Lauren didn’t think the Devil played by any organized rules, but didn’t say so. “I don’t know that. I know I was able to find out some very interesting things.”
“Such as?”
“I read about something called a Soul Eater.”
“Soul-“ Sister McDewey sighed again. “Lauren, listen to yourself. Don’t you realize that the problem with historical texts is the inability on our part to accurately verify what might be truth and what might have been simply written to help persuade the local populace of the power of Christianity? That’s exactly why I told you not to go nosing around. The babbling of some intoxicated monk writing with ink and quill could very easily distort the logical mind.”
“So you don’t believe in any of what is stored in that special room within the library?”
“I wouldn’t.”
“I wish I had the courage to disavow it.” Lauren shook her head. “But I know what I read and how I’ve been feeling lately. Something is definitely happening. Whether or not we want to believe it.”
“You think this Soul Eater is afoot? Is that it?”
“Yes.”
“For what purpose? Why would he come back now to wreak havoc? It makes no sense.”
“How is good able to fathom the evil mind? Just because we can’t see it, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a good reason for this happening now.”
Sister McDewey leaned back again. “A Soul Eater. He eats the souls of his victims, I take it.”
“It seems to fit the way the corpses turn up.”
“And how many has this Soul Eater killed so far in Boston?”
“Well, that’s another aspect of the problem.”
“What’s that mean?”
“The homicide detective discovered that all of the other victims all had one thing in common: they were all incredibly evil.”
Sister McDewey shrugged. “Seems odd a creature of Satan would target the evil. I would think he’d go after the good instead.”
“That’s a good question. We’re not sure why that’s been happening.” Lauren sighed. “But since coming to Boston, the Soul Eater has killed two evil men, and two good.”
“Sisters Mary and Donovan.”
“Yes. He was in the house the other night. I know it. I couldn’t see him, but I could feel him. His presence. I’ve felt it before.”
“But he left you alone.”
“I don’t understand it myself. I can only relate to you what I’ve been going through.” Or at least part of what I’m going through, she thought.
“You’ve definitely got a lot on your plate right now.” Sister McDewey frowned. “I’m trusting you on this that what you’re telling me is an honest account of what occurred. You understand that?”
“Yes. And it is.”
“You also realize that I’m bound to report this to the Bishop and his council.”
“Is that wise right now?”
“Child, if there is truly a servant of the Devil afoot here in town then steps must be taken to stop it.”
“But we don’t even know for what purpose it’s here.”
“Nor should we delay in finding out what it is. Perhaps some on the council have dealt with such things before.” She shook her head. “I’m the first to admit my own knowledge of the arcane and occult is severely limited. I never had much time for such things. Perhaps that’s my own fault.”
Lauren said nothing. The last thing she wanted was a bunch of old Church officials spreading the word that something evil was prowling the streets of Boston. She doubted Steve would be thrilled with the idea, either.
“Sister McDewey, I need to ask you a favor.”
“Don’t try to dissuade me, Lauren. I won’t have it.”
“I won’t try. But I would like to ask you to hold off on informing anyone for forty-eight hours.”
“There could be other victims in the meantime.”
“Yes. Perhaps.”
“Are you comfortable accepting responsibility for that? If I don’t tell the Bishop today and they are unable to act, those deaths would be on your conscience.”
“I know that.”
Sister McDewey sighed again. She seemed to be doing that a lot today, thought Lauren. “Very well. Two days. From now. If you don’t have something more concrete, then I will tell the Bishop. It’s lucky for you he’s still busy dealing with sexual abuse scandals or I’d be hard-pressed to accept your deadline.”
A small victory. Lauren inclined her head. “Thank you.”
“What will you do if you find this Soul Eater, anyway? You aren’t trained for dealing with the supernatural. Certainly not something as ominous sounding as a Soul Eater.”
Lauren stood. “I’m not sure what I’ll do. I’m hoping that it can be killed with bullets. As is the homicide detective.”
“Let’s hope so,” said Sister McDewey. “I’ll expect to see you back here in two days’ time.”
Lauren turned and headed toward the door.
“Lauren.”
She turned. “Yes?”
“Have you given any thought to how you’ll find this Soul Eater?”
Lauren could see the concern evident in the old nun’s eyes. The crows feet at the edges of her eyes had deepened and the creases by her mouth seemed firmer.
“I don’t think me finding the Soul Eater will be much of a problem, Sister.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s had no trouble finding me.”
Sister McDewey’s eyebrows lifted again. “What do you mean by that?”
“Last night at the library, someone was across the street. Waiting for me. If my friend hadn’t shown up, I’d hate to think what might have happened.”
“My God.”
Lauren nodded. “One way or another, I’m starting to think that I might just somehow figure into this whole bizarre mess.”
And God help me if that’s true, she thought.