The Gargoyle's Sin

Hail Mary

I had spent all night at Sybils. It was extremely late before Grimald told me to go get some sleep so I wouldn't wear myself down. The discussion was how we would get the cross from around my aunt's neck. If I'm honest, I don't really think that this plan will work. The moment we try to sneak it off her neck she'll notice, she is freakishly aware of everything going on around her. Today though I have my first, what I am calling, assignment.

"Good morning dear. How did you sleep?"

Sybil's voice came from behind me and I turned to give her a small smile before answering.

"I sl-slept very well l-last night Sybil. Th-thank you for letting m-me stay here."

"Oh of course dear. You have become like a daughter to me and I love having you around. How are you feeling about today?"

I took a deep breath and looked down at her dining table I was sitting at. Last night we worked on a plan to get the necklace from my aunt. The doctor had given her some sleeping pills to take at night since she was struggling with nightmares about the accident. I haven't noticed her having any PTSD nor have I seen her take any pills for sleeping, but Sybil swears that she has some. So I will crush them into her evening tea and hope and pray to the high heavens that they work so I can slip the necklace off her neck and take as many pictures as I can.

I sigh before saying, "H-honestly Sybil, I a-am terrified. I d-don't want this pl-plan to expose Grimald, b-but I also know w-we have to do this. It m-may be our o-only chance to h-help him."

I couldn't shake this feeling in the pit of my gut, like something wasn't right, that everything will go wrong. Every time this feeling landed in my stomach my mind would go back to the priest. There was something off about him, something dark.

"Listen honey, you don't have to do this if you don't want to. No one will blame you, this could change the course of your visit. This could put you in some serious danger, so please if you are having second thoughts, then don't do it."

The serious undertone in her voice cause a panic to rise in me, but I swallowed it down and tried my best to give Sybil a wobbly smile.

"I-it's ok, I w-want to help Gr-Grimald."

After talking to Sybil for a little longer I walked across the yard to my aunt's home. I had to force myself to hide my anxiety and fear, because my aunt can smell fear and she feeds on it. Once I was inside the orders started being barked. "Alexis, do this. Alexis do that. Alexis you aren't doing it right!" I really miss home.

Finally dinnertime rolls around, and after dinner my aunt always has her tea. So I quickly excused myself to the bathroom so I could enter my aunt's room and retrieve the sleeping pills from her bedside table. Stuffing them into my pocket I hustled back to the kitchen and started on our dinner. My hands were sweating, my heart was racing, and I was beginning to feel nauseas. I took slow deep breathes and forced myself to focus on the food which only made it worse, the food just made me feel even sicker.

"H-here you go. Hope y-you e-enjoy."

I placed her food on her lap with her silverware and went to sit across from her, this way if she needed anything I was available.

"Finally, I was wondering what was taking so long. It looks edible."

If I wasn't so afraid of her I would laugh at how quick she is to act like a know it all. One minute she's a frail God fearing woman and the next she is a food critic. She just seems like a miserable woman who just wants to drag everyone down with her. As she was tearing me apart I was fidgeting in my chair and keeping my head down, I was trying my best to just make myself small. I kept rubbing my hands together and bouncing my leg.

"Why are you shifting so much? Sit up straight, don't want you getting a hunchback. Stop bouncing your legs. What is with you tonight?" My aunt demanded.

"I-im sorry m-ma'am," I whispered.

"Honestly child, I don't know what you are being taught by that sister of mine. Go get me my evening tea."

I slowly stood up and shakily walked over to the kitchen and began working on her tea. Slipping the pill bottle out of my pocket I took two of them and tried to quietly crush them up before mixing them into her tea. Once finished I took her the cup and placed it in her waiting hand before grabbing her dishes and taking them to the kitchen to wash. I took my time washing the dishes, cleaning the counters and the stove and even sweeping the floor.

After finishing I went in to check on my aunt and saw her cup of tea was empty and on the table. I reached for it and took it to the kitchen to clean before taking deep breath and walked back into the living room to check on my aunt. She was laying down on the couch with her eyes shut and her chest slowly rising and falling. I wasn't sure if she was totally asleep yet but I was just ready for this to be over and done.

Pulling my phone out and turning the camera I silently prayed that this would work. If this went wrong I didn't know what would happen or what we would do. I slowly crept up to my aunt and took a couple pictures of the cross before I reached to flip the cross over so I could get pictures of its back.

As I was in the middle of turning the cross a hand grabbed my arm and a groggy voice asked, "What are you doing Alexis?"