The Devil's Labyrinth

Her body burning with pain and her soul with humiliation, Sofia began to cry.

The nun stopped in front of an old wooden door, unlocked it with a heavy key she took from her pocket and pushed it open to reveal a tiny chapel with an enormous carving of a crucified Christ hovering over its altar. “Stop crying and light the candle for your soul,” the nun whispered.

Sofia sucked in her breath and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She picked up the single candle that lay in the box, and struck the lone match that lay next to the box. Both shook so badly in her trembling hands that she could barely touch the flame to the candle’s wick, but finally it caught.

She blew out the match.

“Now get on your knees and pray to the Holy Virgin for forgiveness of your sins,” Sister Mary David said.

Sofia obediently dropped to her knees on the stone floor, clutching the small candle.

“You will stay here until I return,” Sister Mary David said, her voice devoid of any warmth — any mercy — at all.

Sofia nodded, her chest heaving. “Please don’t expel me,” she choked out. Then she crossed herself and took a deep breath. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “I am heartily sorry for having offended thee and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they offend thee, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life.”

The nun nodded once, then backed out the door.

Sofia began the prayer again.

Then she heard the ancient lock turn in the heavy oak door, and her heart lurched.

A moment later, the overhead light went out.

The chapel was completely dark, except for the tiny flame in Sofia’s trembling hands. The room seemed to close in on her, and she felt as if she could no longer breathe.

“Oh my God,” she began again, “I am so sorry…please don’t expel me…please don’t let my parents know what I did…I am heartily sorry for having offended thee…”

Sofia spoke faster and faster, trying to rid herself of the panic that was closing in on her with the darkness.

All she could see was what the flickering candle flame in her hand illuminated, and as she looked up, the visage of the tortured Christ seemed to lean closer, leering down at her as she knelt repeating her prayer of contrition. She shrank away from its ruthless gaze, doing her best to hide her shame.

But the figure on the cross held her. This being was not the Jesus who loved her and forgave her all her sins. This was an angry Christ who hated her sins. This was a terrifying Christ, looming over her, judging her.

Condemning her to an eternity in Hell.

She started the prayer yet again, careful not to breathe too hard on the flame, terrified of losing that last tiny flame that was all that held her fears at bay.

What if something happened to Sister Mary David and she never came back?

Would anybody ever know where she was?

Did anybody else even know about this chapel?

Sofia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Now she welcomed the pain in her knees on the stone, for she knew she deserved the pain, the fear, the threat of expulsion.

She was truly contrite now, truly ashamed.

And terrified that the Christ above her might extinguish the single flame that stood between her and the darkness, until Sister Mary David returned to pronounce whatever penance she must perform. But whatever it was, she would do it. Just as long as the candle in her hands did not go out…

“Oh my God,” she said a little louder, the sound of her voice her only company. “I am heartily sorry for having offended thee…”

CHAPTER 17

DARREN BENDER STARED AT the television without seeing the screen. He wasn’t exactly hiding in the dorm’s common room, he was just avoiding Father Sebastian. Not that it really mattered where he was; the priest would find him sooner or later.

Still, at least he would get to deal with Father Sebastian instead of Sister Mary David — he didn’t even want to think about what she might be doing with Sofia.

The door to the common room opened, and Darren could tell who it was just by the expression on Clay Matthews’s face. The fact that everyone else in the room sat up a little straighter only strengthened Darren’s feeling that his time had come, and Jose Alvarez’s picking up of the remote to click off the television was the final confirmation. No one ever straightened up for Brother Francis, let alone shut off the TV.

“Darren?” Father Sebastian’s voice asked.

Darren’s face began to burn and his heart pounded. He’d made a mistake coming to the lounge — he’d rather have this conversation in private, where at least all his friends wouldn’t hear him getting chewed out. But now Father Sebastian was going to use him as an example in front of all the other guys. Just what he needed. “Yes?” he finally said, doing his best to make the single word sound neither guilty nor frightened, and succeeding at neither.

“I hear you and Sofia Capelli were breaking a few rules this evening.”

Father Sebastian didn’t sound too upset, so Darren risked a slight shrug. “I guess.”

“I’m sorry?” the priest asked, his voice taking on an edge that made Darren instantly turn to face him. “You ‘guess’?”

Darren looked up at the priest, his tongue running nervously over his lower lip. “I mean, yes, we did, Father.” He said it so quickly that a faint snicker emerged from his roommate.

Father Sebastian silenced Tim Kennedy with nothing more than a sidelong glare, then returned his attention to Darren. “So you think you can just break rules whenever you feel like it?”

The sudden shift back to an easy conversational tone only served to set Darren’s nerves more on edge. “N- No, sir,” he replied.

“Well, then?”

Darren took a chance. “We were just making out a little.”

“That’s not exactly what Sister Mary David tells me she saw,” the priest countered.

“But we weren’t doing anything really wrong,” Darren protested, immediately regretting his words as he saw Father Sebastian’s expression darken.

“Well, let’s see,” the priest began. “First off, you were in the girls’ dorm. That in itself is wrong, given that it’s against the rules. Whether what you were doing once you were in Sofia’s room is wrong is—”

“Maybe the rules are wrong,” Darren blurted out, knowing as he spoke the words that he’d just made yet another mistake.

Father Sebastian lowered himself onto the ottoman in front of Darren’s spot on the couch, his eyes boring into the boy’s.

“That may be so, but it’s not your decision to make. When you entered this school, you agreed to abide by the rules, whether you agreed with them or not. And breaking that particular rule is grounds for expulsion, as I’m sure you are very well aware.”

Darren heard someone gasp and felt his face start to burn with humiliation. “We — Sofia and me — we just wanted to be together.”

“You can be together anywhere on campus other than the dorms. And I repeat: you knew that.” Darren sagged on the couch. It was actually going to happen — he was actually going to be expelled. “I want you to think about what you’ve done,” the priest went on. “Not just in the eyes of the school, but in the eyes of God, as well.” He paused, and his voice dropped slightly. “You are sixteen years old. When a boy your age stands his moral ground with an innocent young woman, God is pleased. But when he gives in to his basest urges, it pleases God not at all. It will spell trouble for both you and Sofia, and my job is to help you keep from