Soul With Sympathy

' This priest appeared different. He was young, beautiful, with an eerie glint in his eyes. But when it came down to the essentials, he was the same as them all. He preached for God’s love the same way those old, dusty men Devin knew all too well. Year after year, Devin had grown tired of the sermon.
“Do you remember how you got here?”
“I do,” he replied. Now that he was more awake, the memories were clearer.
“And?”
“And…what?” he sneered.
“You are unapologetic, crude and vile. Exactly as I thought you’d be.” Setting the plate on the tray, he leaned closer. His expression was still perfectly stoic. It was unnerving, the way bitter words came out of a perfectly neutral mouth. “What you did was unspeakable, animalistic. Evil. You’re very lucky.”
“I am,” Devin confidently replied. “If you’re planning on lecturing me about changing my ways, you will be wasting your breath, Father.” '

***

Maybe he was The Devil, for who else could burn a holy place to the ground without a speckle of remorse? But as life would have it, even the manifestation of evil isn’t safe from its jokes and so, nearing the brink of death, Devin seeks sanctuary in another monastery, where he is taken care of by a priest too young and too beautiful to be there. Surrounded and cornered like a mouse, Devin has two options; to either devote his life to God, or walk out and be immediately arrested.