Leah stayed in bed for two whole days. 

While others assumed she had caught Adele’s cold, Leah knew her illness had nothing to do with Adele. During those feverish, exhausting days, she was relieved not to dream about the demon. 

When she finally managed to get up, her face was noticeably gaunt. A new fear now gripped her heart – the possibility of being pregnant. 

Although the demon’s attacks had been limited to dreams and couldn’t result in pregnancy, what had happened to the stranger was terrifyingly real. His seed had been forced into her and the thought of carrying his child weighed heavily on her mind.

Leah’s chest tightened with fear at the possibility of being pregnant with the Stranger’s child. 

“Come to the central sanctuary at midnight.” 

She remembered Zion whispering those words to her as he brought dinner to her room. 

As the clock approached midnight, Leah draped her outer robe over her shoulders and quietly made her way to the central sanctuary. 

The central sanctuary was a sacred space where the priests and nuns of the monastery gathered for prayer. Access was strictly regulated and only those with permission could enter at certain times, making it a place rarely visited by others. 

The door to the sanctuary was always kept locked, with only the bishop holding the key. 

“The door is open…” 

Leah hesitated before gently pushing open the sanctuary door and stepping inside, making sure to close it quietly behind her. 

Although the room was shrouded in darkness, it was easy for her to spot Zion sitting quietly in the shadows. 

“Brother…” Leah’s voice was soft, almost hesitant. 

“Come here.”

Leah had feared he would speak to her coldly, but her fears were quickly dispelled. 

“How are you feeling? Has your illness improved?” 

Zion asked quietly as Leah moved closer to him. 

“I feel much better now. I’m sorry I worried you…”

“Leah, I…”

Zion started, but before he could continue, Leah cut him off. 

“Brother, I want to leave the monastery.”

Consumed by fear, Leah could no longer bring herself to stay in the convent. 

No one else might know the truth, but she did – all too well. 

She was painfully aware of how defiled and unworthy she felt, her body stained with what she saw as lewdness and immorality. Staying here, pretending to serve God, felt like a hypocrisy she could no longer bear. 

Now she had to unburden herself. She had to confess. 

“I… I want to confess my sins to you, brother.”

Not to Brother Zion, the friend she had always known, but to Father Zion, the priest. This sin had to be absolved. 

“Leah”

“Father,” she corrected herself, her voice firmer now.

“I wish to confess my sins and ask for forgiveness.” 

Leah knelt before him, trembling as she prepared to speak the words that had weighed so heavily on her heart. 

She should have done so long ago. 

“I have committed lewd acts in my dreams, consorting with a demon. And I also…”

Leah struggled to continue her confession, but when it came to talking about what had happened two nights ago, the words seemed impossible to find. 

Even though she knew Zion already knew, she couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud. 

“I… I… Two nights ago… I was r*ped by a stranger.”

“You bear no sin in this.”

As Leah knelt before him, trembling and clutching her hands tightly, Zion placed his hand gently on her head, his touch steady and comforting. 

“This is the demon’s sin, not yours. It wasn’t something you wanted, was it? You didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“No, I swear, I never wished for such depraved things.”

How could she? The very thought of wishing for such a vile act was unthinkable. 

“Have you ever wished for the demon to come to you?” 

“Never. I swear, never.” 

“Then what happened to you wasn’t your fault, it was the demon’s,” Zion said gently but firmly.

“This isn’t something that requires forgiveness – it’s something that requires the demon to be cast out.” 

Zion dropped to one knee and met Leah’s trembling form as she knelt before him. He reached out and gently took her hands in his, his touch steady and reassuring. 

“My dear sister, let me help you. Together we will cast out the demon that is trying to consume you.”

“But… what happened two nights ago…”

“That was not your doing either,” Zion interrupted gently.

“It wasn’t something you wanted, and you’re not to blame. You have no need to ask for forgiveness. But I know a way for you to be clean again, to be free of all this. Let me show you the way.” 

“A way to be pure again?”

Leah repeated, her voice trembling with a fragile mixture of hope and uncertainty. 

Could it be true? Could there really be a way to cleanse a body so polluted, a soul so weighed down by despair? 

If such a method existed – if it could erase what had happened to her – Leah was ready to do anything. 

“I’ll do anything. If it can make what happened disappear…”

“The defilement is cleansed by something sacred. You know that, don’t you? That’s why holy water is poured over your head at ordination or when you take your vows”.

“So… if I bathe in holy water, will it wash away the impurity from my body?”

“That would only cleanse the outside of your body,” Zion replied. “But the place you need to be cleansed is not outside – it’s inside, isn’t it?” 

“Yes, Father.”

At that moment, Zion was no longer just her brother; he was a priest – a representative of God. She looked to him as the one who could resolve her deepest shame and fear. 

In Leah’s eyes, Zion was a beacon of divine light. He was the saviour God had sent to her, the one who would defeat the demon that haunted her and cleanse her of her sins. 

The representative of God who had come to save her spoke with a voice that carried the weight of heaven. 

“To cleanse your sins, purify your body and cast out the demon that comes to you, you must wash yourself with holy water.”

“Wash myself with holy water…”

Leah repeated softly, her voice trembling with a mixture of hope and uncertainty. 

“Do you trust me, Leah?”

“Yes, I trust you.”

“When we perform this ritual, I want you to think of me not as your older brother, but as a priest. Can you do that?” 

“Yes, Father.”