“A welcome challenge, your holiness.”
“Good.He is yours to purge.”
I blinkedup at the being before me, taking in the tall, lithe form. He was stern and had coarse grey hair that sat in a structured cut atop his sharp, angular head.
“Who are you?” I asked, startled at the sound of my own voice. It was the first I had ever heard it. I thought it sounded nice.
“I am Raziel.”
“Oh…” I mulled this over, wondering if I was supposed to know what that meant. Raziel’s voice was deeper than mine. Older. He sounded like someone who knew things.
I didn’t know much of anything.
I was pretty sure I was brand new.
“Who am I?”
“You are Shemhazai.”
“Oh,” I repeated. “Shemhazai,” I said, testing my name out on my own tongue. I liked it. Shemhazai felt like a name you would give to someone that people might like.
I wanted to be liked.
“What am I doing here?”
“You are here to be cleansed of your sins, Shemhazai.”
I frowned.
“Sin?”
“Yes. You were born infected with it. We will need to begin the task of cleansing you. It will be a long, arduous process. It might take years.”
I didn’t know what a year was, but a year sounded like a long time. “How many years?”
Raziel shrugged an elegant shoulder, his white coat blending in with the blinding white of our surroundings. “That’s up to you.”
A chill rolled through me, and I was suddenly afraid. I didn’t know what sin was, but it didn’t sound like a good thing.
“Stand up, Shemhazai. We must begin right away. The longer you’re here, the higher the chance you might infect others with your unholiness.”
I nodded, eagerly getting to my feet.
Raziel was going to help me. He was going to rid me of my sin so that I could be liked.
“Turn around.”
I did as he said and jumped slightly to find a large, imposing wooden cross waiting behind me.
It was slightly taller than I was, and I wasn’t sure what it was for.
“This is where we will do most of our preliminary work. Please put your back against the cross and hold your arms up.”
I nodded, feeling strangely shaky and nervous, but if this was how we got rid of the sin, then I knew I had to do it.
The wood felt rough against my bare back, and I noticed for the first time that I was naked and Raziel was not.
“What is that on your body?”
