Sin-Eater: The Condemned Man – Chapter Three
Grady begins to feel the place as he walks. It is unlike anything he has felt before. The power of this place overwhelms him and he staggers for just a moment. No one seems to notice this and he is grateful. The residue of the men who have died here emanates from the bars, the beds, the walls, even the floor. Grady can almost see the residue glowing off the surfaces like they were painted with phosphorescent paint. Grady looks to his right into the first cell and a man stares back at him from a bunk bolted to the wall. There is a large law book in his hands and he reads it while on his back. His eyes look old and haunted to Grady. Grady can see the shadow of death hovering around this man’s shoulders without having to touch him.
They continue down the hallway. The entire place seems to be white. The bars and floor are white. The painted bricks of the wall to their left is white. Set high in the wall to their left, as a kind of taunt, it seems, to Grady, are windows criss-crossed with chicken-wire. Everything seems abnormally clean and Grady gets the impression of a hospital. Considering how messy death is no matter how much you try to pretty it up this strikes Grady as odd.
In another cell a black man types furiously on what appears to be an ancient and battered manual typewriter. His cells appears cluttered to the ceiling with more legal books. Grady figures that this man is probably the supplier of the reading material to the first man he saw but he does not know this for sure. Perhaps no inmate in this part of the prison is allowed to socialize or speak to the others. The man is typing so furiously he is sweating and muttering to himself. The shadow of death surrounds this man as well but it is not as dark or intense as it is around the other man. Grady guesses this is because this man’s appeals are so tied up in court it will be a long time before he has to face the needle.
The feelings and emotions wash over Grady like water in a warm stream as he walks past. He hears whispers from voices long dead inside his head. He has to resist the urge to turn and look to see if someone is whispering in his ear. Despite all of this there is something even more powerful and it pulls at Grady like a magnetic force. The origin of this pull comes from a cell at the very end of the hallway. It is powerful and it seems to reach right into Grady’s chest and squeeze his heart. He is terrified of this feeling and urged forward by it at the same time.
At the end of the hallway is just another cell. Light comes from within this cell and Grady has to blink to figure that he is again seeing things that others without his abilities cannot. The power within that cell gives him the perception of light. In fact, the cell is lit the same as the others. The one difference with this cell is that there are two guards standing outside the door to the cell.
Grady’s feet start to feel heavy and it seems as if the more he walks the further away the cell at the end of the hall gets. He starts to wonder if he is still dreaming. Perhaps he will continue to walk and walk and never reach that cell. Luis Grafton will forever remain out of his reach no matter how fast or how far he were to walk. Were he to break into a run he thinks that the hall would just stretch further.
“Hello, Father Marten.”
The voice comes from Grady’s right and to his surprise he sees that he has managed to cover the distance after all. The guards stand to his right on either side of the cell. Father Marten is to Grady’s left and they are standing directly in front of Luis Grafton’s cell. Grady turns slowly, unsure how one should feel when you confront Satan directly. He doesn’t know what to expect when he sees the man responsible for so much pain and evil but he finds that the man does not disappoint when seen head-on.
Luis Grafton stands at the bars of his cell. His hands hold the bars in a tight grip. He is dressed in the orange jumpsuit pants but wearing just a white T-shirt on his chest. He is tall. He is taller than Grady by several inches. His frame fills the doorway. He is very muscular and his T-shirt bulges. His hair is long and hangs down his back. The top of his head forward is going bald and the hair that is left is turning gray. He still has his long mustache. His eyes are even more intense and burning in person. He exudes a kind of menace that Grady hadn’t thought possible in human beings. It is like looking directly into the face of a wild bear or perhaps a rabid dog. Grady expects the man to open his mouth and drip saliva to the floor. Despite this, Grady feels the emotions and sensations he felt from his walk push back and away. His mind clears. He turns to face this man and he deliberately allows his eyes to measure the man from his head to his feet.
“Luis Grafton, I presume.”
“You presume correctly.”
Grafton’s eyes do not waver as he stares back at Grady. Grady smiles and approaches the bars. Father Marten steps forward as well.
“Luis, this is the man I talked to you about. This is Grady McDonnell.”
“I was expecting something different.”
“What were you expecting, Mr. Grafton?”
“Someone older, Mr. McDonnell.”
Grady turns to Father Marten.
“Can I talk to him alone?”
“I’m not sure – “
“Without the guards as well.”
One of the guards overhears this and steps forward.
“We’re under strict orders not to leave the prisoner alone with anyone.”
“Not even his family?”
“He has no family that wants to visit him, sir. Regardless, you/’re not family.”
Luis claps his hands together and then slams his fists on the bars.
“Let me talk to him. I want to talk to this man of death or whatever the hell he is.”
The guard looks as if he would prefer to shoot Grafton through the bars right now. He turns to look at Grady and then Father Marten.
“We’ll back off down the hall a bit. We aren’t letting you into his cell.”
Grady nods and then gives a look to Father Marten. Father Marten shrugs and walks back down the hall. The guard motions to his partner and both of them stand down the hallway beneath the windows.
“So, do you see dead people like the kid in the movie or that schmuck on television, or what?”
“Not exactly.”
“You a priest?”
“No.”
“Then what do you do?”
“I come from a long line of sin-eaters.”
“I see. What does that mean?”
“In days long ago certain men were invited into the homes of the recently deceased. They would be served a meal in close proximity to the dead and it was believed that this eating was actually the eating of the deceased’s sins and allow them easy passage into heaven.”
“Sounds like something someone who was very hungry made up.”
“Perhaps. However, some of us indeed have the ability to absorb the souls of the recently dead and clean it of the sins.”
“How did you discover this talent of yours?”
“The details aren’t important but I am just the most recent with the ability in my family. My father had it before me and my grandfather before that.”
“How do you know it works?”
“I just do.”
“Do you have to touch me or something?”
“No, just close proximity should do it. Being in the same building I figure would do it.”
“Do you have to eat something?”
“No. The eating was symbolic. Some people do prepare meals for us but it’s largely a meditative thing. I use the eating as a way to sort of open my mind up.”
“Very interesting. What if I tell you I don’t believe a damn word of this?”
“Why would you request that I come here if you don’t believe?”
Grafton’s mouth splits wide in a toothy grin. He laughs. He laughs loud and hard and for a moment the guards look on in concern and start to move forward. Grady waves them back.
“Do you think I requested you?”
“I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
“I think you need to be asking your questions of your priest friend, Mr. McDonnell.”
Grady steps closer to the bars. He wants to see Grafton’s eyes.
“Father Marten told me he’s been ministering to you for weeks. That you’d become penitent and wanted absolution for your sins.”
“Your friend is lying to you, Mr. Sin-eater. I don’t believe in souls. I don’t believe in God. I don’t believe in heaven or hell or sins.”
Grafton bends down slightly so that Grady can peer into the dark eyes. The eyes are beyond description as cold. They are eyes filled with hate and they are eyes not remotely sorry for anything he’s done. If anything, Grady realizes, this man is proud of his acts.
“As they say, Mr. McDonnell. Let he who is without sinâÂ?¦”
Grafton erupts in laughter again. He can tell by the look on Grady’s face that he has wounded the man without having to touch him. He turns away from the bars and lays face down on the bunk. He laughs into his pillow.
Grady turns and storms down the hall. He is seething with anger. He rushes past the bewildered guards and finds Father Marten at the end of the hall. He grabs the priest by the collar of his coat.
“You and I need to talk.”
Grady drags the priest away from the entrance to Death Row. Father Marten lets loose with a stream of noises that are confused but mostly defensive. Guards watch them unsure whether they are witnessing some kind of assault or something else entirely. One of them steps forward to intervene and a look from Grady causes him to step back. They find a spot against a wall and Grady at last lets go of the priest.
“Grady, what is going on?”
“You lied to me, dammit!”
Father Marten’s face turns red. His eyes wander down to the floor. He sighs a deep and pain-filled sigh.
“He told you.”
“Yes. Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”
Father Marten looks back into Grady’s face and there is a look of utter despair and anguish.
“I don’t know, Grady. I’m desperate. I thought I’d be there with you and I could maybe direct the conversation. You don’t understand.”
Grady puts his hands on the man’s shoulders to stop him from walking away.
“Then tell me. Tell my why you want me to send that monster into the afterlife with a clean soul. Tell me why you want to send an unrepentant monster to meet his maker without a stain and to stain myself with his deeds.”
Tears form in the corner of the priest’s eyes. His hands are shaking and he folds them together to stop them from doing so.
“We can’t do it here. I need to tell you everything.”
Father Marten turns and walks to one of the guards that checked them when they came in. Grady’s blood feels as if it is boiling. He feels used. He wants nothing more than to storm past the guards and directly to the airport. His hands shake much like Father Marten’s but his shake from rage.
Father Marten walks back and his head is hanging in such a way that Grady is struck by the image of a young boy who is about to be punished by his mother. He resists the urge to yell and to hit this man.
“We’ll find a room. Grady, please, don’t look at me like that. There are things you just don’t understand here.”
They are led down the hall into a room that contains a number of plastic chairs colored an obnoxious orange and a table apparently made of Formica. There is a coffee pot in the corner but the coffee at the bottom of the pot appears to be the consistency of tar. Grady stands near the table. Father Marten sits down and indicates that Grady should sit.
“I think it’s time I leveled with you, Grady.”
