Chapter 60 Sisters in the Dark
Leitana’s hand kept moving in slow, soothing circles through Avery’s hair, even as her own tears fell silently onto the blanket.
Avery slept fitfully, brows faintly drawn, lips pressed thin, the red around her eyes still visible in the dim lamplight. Even unconscious, pain clung to her face like a shadow she couldn’t shake.
Leitana’s chest ached so deeply it felt like something inside had cracked.
She had almost lost her.
The sister she never knew she had.
The one who shared her face, her blood.
Leitana had grown up accepting the orphanage as her whole world. Someone had left her there as a baby—she knew that—but she never fought it. Life was hard: food scarce some days, water rationed, electricity flickering. But the love between the children and the sisters had been real. Fights happened, tears too, but never despair deep enough to make anyone want to leave this earth early.
She had trusted Papa God completely.
Her soul was safe.
That was what mattered most.
But now…
Now everything felt uncertain.
Coming to America. Marrying Ravial. The lies she had told today. The things she had done with him—things that felt beautiful and sinful at the same time.
She didn’t know if Papa God would still call her name when the trumpet sounded.
That fear sat heavy in her heart.
But it wasn’t the heaviest thing tonight.
Avery’s pain was.
Leitana looked up through the window at the darkening sky. Stars were starting to appear, faint but there.
“Papa God,” she whispered, voice trembling but earnest, “mi know yu seeing mi. Yu listening right now.”
Her hand never stopped stroking Avery’s hair.
“Mi no understand everything happen. Mi no know why yu bring mi here. Why mi sister hurt so bad she want leave dis world. Why she carry pain mi never see before.”
A tear slipped off her chin.
“Plis… watch over her. Heal di hurt inside she heart. Take di darkness away. Give her peace like yu give mi when mi small an’ scared.”
She leaned closer to Avery’s sleeping face.
“An’ if mi do wrong… if mi sin too much… forgive mi. Mi only want keep mi family safe now. Mi only want love dem right way.”
Her voice cracked.
“Even if mi no deserve yu light anymore… let Avery have it. She need it more.”
Avery shifted slightly in her sleep, a small sound leaving her lips. Leitana froze, then leaned closer, brushing a soft kiss against her sister’s temple.
“I here,” she whispered. “Mi not going nowhere.”
Avery settled again, breathing uneven but steady.
Leitana exhaled shakily.
Her fingers continued their slow, soothing motion through Avery’s hair, but her thoughts wandered—back to the study window. To the silence from Ravial. To the way the staff had looked at each other, afraid to speak.
Something was wrong.
She didn’t know what Ravial truly was. She didn’t know what lived behind his blindfold.
She didn’t know why but ever since Ravial entered her life, pain seemed to follow close behind him.
Her grip tightened slightly in Avery’s hair, a protective instinct rising sharp and fierce in her chest.
“No one else will hurt yu,” she vowed softly. “Not again. Mi promise.”
As Leitana sat there watching Avery sleep, a sudden chill crept through the room. Shivers ran down her spine. The hairs at the back of her neck stood on end.
She turned her head to the left, then to the right.
No one was there.
Yet the cold remained, thick, heavy and with it came the crushing sense of a presence. Something strong. Something wrong.
“Papa God, help mi see,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut.
When she opened them again a few seconds later, the world had changed.
Her spiritual senses snapped open.
Leitana rose slowly from the bed, her gaze sweeping the room. Dark energy swirled around her, thick and alive, filling the air like smoke. It clung to the walls, the ceiling, the very space she breathed in.
Her heart stuttered.
There was so much of it.
Then she turned toward the bed and almost staggered back.
Avery was covered in it.
The dark force wrapped around her body like a living thing, curling tighter and tighter. As it pressed closer, Avery whimpered in her sleep, turning restlessly. Her brow creased as she muttered softly,
“Who nao yu?”
Leitana’s mind snapped back to the conversation from earlier, with Avery.
“I didn’t fall on that tree,” Avery had said, shaking her head.
Leitana had frowned. “But dey say yu fall…”
“I…” Avery had cut herself off sharply, gripping Leitana’s shoulder. “That’s what they want me to believe.”
“They?” Leitana had asked.
Avery’s eyes had darted to the window, then around the room. Leitana had followed her gaze, her unease growing.
“Something caught me,” Avery had said, desperation written all over her face. “I know it. I’m not crazy.”
Leitana had shaken her head slowly. “Mi no understand, sister. Wetin catch yu?”
Avery had sighed heavily, dragging a hand through her hair. “I don’t know. But it had wings. Large, golden wings.”
Leitana’s eyes had gone wide. “An angel,” she had whispered.
Avery had stared at her in surprise. “Could it be? It was the most radiant thing I’ve ever seen.”
Leitana had nodded then, hope swelling in her chest. Papa God must have been there. He must have saved her sister.
She had opened her mouth to speak but Avery had continued.
“And it had large red horns…”
Everything inside Leitana had gone still.
The blood had drained from her face. The rest of Avery’s words faded into noise.
No.
No, no, no.
Red horns.
Leitana had seen angels before. Never once, never had any of them had red horns.
If something had caught Avery… if it wasn’t human or Angel…
Then what was it?
Her breath hitched.
She had forced a smile, even as fear crept cold through her bones. Taking Avery’s hands, she had squeezed gently, grounding them both.
“Sister,” she had said softly, steadying her voice, “yu don pass through shock. Big shock. Yu fall. Yu hurt. Yu mind dey mix tings.”
Avery had shaken her head weakly. “Lei, I know what I saw.”
“I know,” Leitana had whispered quickly. “An’ mi believe yu believe it. But sometimes fear dey dress like vision. Papa God no dey confuse us like dat. He bring peace, not terror.”
Avery’s eyelids had drooped, exhaustion weighing her down.
Leitana had brushed her thumb beneath Avery’s eye. “Sleep now. Tomorrow we go talk again. Yu safe tonight. Mi promise.”
Avery had searched her face one last time, then nodded faintly.
“Stay,” she had murmured.
“I here,” Leitana had said. “Always.”
She had guided Avery back down, pulling the blanket higher, humming softly, an old hymn from the orphanage.
Eventually, Avery’s breathing had evened out. Her body relaxed. Sleep claimed her.
Now, back in the present, Leitana stood with her spiritual sight wide open.
The dark force still filled the room.
It moved slower now. Heavier.
Waiting.
Leitana rose fully from the bed, her heart pounding but her feet steady.
“Papa God,” she whispered, “if dis evil still dey here… show mi.”
And then….
A hand settled on her shoulder.
Warm.
Heavy.
Leitana froze.
Her breath caught as every instinct screamed at once, warning, fear, danger.
The dark energy stilled completely.
Behind her stood a presence so powerful that the air itself seemed to bow.
Leitana did not turn.
She couldn’t.
Her voice came out barely louder than a breath.
“…Who yu be?”