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THE JESUIT CONTINUED to circle the hard backed wood chair in the center of the room as he had for been for the many hours previous. He moved without speaking, simply circling, eyes planted firmly on the chair and its occupant.
The Novice sat in the chair, silent, still. He pressed his back against the carved ornate wood of the chair back, allowing the relief of Christ’s crucifixion to dig into his skin. He had failed the Jesuit and his church. The self-inflicted pain was a reminder to him of that failure.
The Jesuit kept circling, as though he were a caged animal in a zoo exhibit. Circling. Circling.
The Novice wanted to speak, but dared not. He kept his eyes straight ahead, catching sight of the Jesuit only when he came around from the back of the chair. Like the hands of a clock in a counter-clockwise motion, the Jesuit circled. Circled. And The Novice watched.
He had been so close to the Key and the slut. He could have killed them both. It would have been so easy and so poignant to do so there. They would have died in the same flat as the Cardinal. A Cardinal, a priest and a slut. A trinity of death. He almost smirked at the thought, but caught himself. He had underestimated the cunningness of the Key. His mind had been clouded. Confusion had set in and he could not focus his thoughts. It must have been that the Key had come knowing that, he thought, and took advantage of it. He would have to be more careful or simply act more quickly in the future. He would not allow the Key to have the upper hand again.
Their next meeting would be their last.
When he came to, at the bottom of the stairs, his head throbbed and his body was torn and bruised. It ached. Still, he came willingly to the Jesuit to confess his failure and to receive his punishment for that failure. He expected to be punished. His failure demanded it. His body and muscles as hard as the wood of the chair that he pressed himself into. It tingled with anticipation of the punishment. And again he had to repress a smirk and an engorged cock.
The Novice concentrated on his muscles working from his heel up to his calf, then on to his groin. Willing, demanding each set of muscles to relax. To become numb to the pain or excitement. His muscles responded, blocking the nerve receptors from processing the pain and sending that energy to the brain. Soon his entire body was relaxed, despite the hours he had been sitting upright and ridged in the chair. His thoughts came back to the room and the Jesuit. He listened, waiting for the counter clockwise walk of The Jesuit to pass in front of his face, as he had for hours. The Jesuit’s steady pace, ticked off the moments, then hours. But now there was no movement. The Novice turned his head slightly and listened. His senses heightened. He heard only the air that seeped in under and around the uneven seal between the door and the doorjamb. No other movement, no other sounds...not even that of man breathing.
The Jesuit was no longer in the room.