Aria: Emanations of the Devil

(Page 3 of ??)

Cathedral of the Madeleine; Salt Lake City, Utah
Saturday, February 20
7:34 AM

After the land purchase in 1900 CE, the first Catholic bishop of Salt Lake City, the Right Reverend Lawrence Scarian, led construction on the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Its architects, Carl Neuthausen and Bernard Mecklenburg, completed the construction nine years later. At a price of almost ten million dollars, it became one of the most beautiful holy sites in the state.

Today, its fantastic stained glass windows pour filtered light through the resurrection of the executed Christ, among other biblical pieces. Further in the building a small office holds two men. They hover over photos of death and quickly written reports. Reports that explained the everyman: a brother, a son, a husband. Reports that guaranteed there would be more victims tomorrow.

The print of half accurate news clippings left dark stains on the Alistair’s fingers, but the words could only hint at the horrors filling the mind of the killer. Ink would be easier to wash away than memory, but he and the priest studied the text with intensity. Shadows struck the walls of the locked room, the lamp on the desk shedding little light on the darkness the papers spoke of.

Alistair closed one of the many files that lie before him, slipping the article inside. He rubbed the back of his neck as he sat back in his chair. Looking at the crucifix that hung from the priest’s rosary, he noticed it was slightly altered from the norm. A curious symbol or letter in gold was carved into its design, along with the words “in hoc signo vinces.” His eyes wandered away from the decoration, his mind too engulfed in a different mystery.

“Father, I’ve gotta’ tell ya’, I’m not sure why you want me in on this one.” He motioned to the bottle of scotch on the priest’s desk, acknowledging the desire to cloud his mind.

Turn to the beginning