The Van Helsing Conjecture – Excerpt No. 182

Confessing after nearly a century would be lengthy. She assumed that being with Evelyn alone would make things… interesting…

“Benedic, Pater, quia peccavi; Nonaginta tres anni fuerunt ab ultima Confessione, cuius peccata sunt innumerabilia,” Clara said in flawless Latin. (Bless you, Father, for I have sinned. Ninety-three years have passed since my last Confession and my sins are innumerable.)

As he had yet to interrupt her for speaking in Latin, Clara went onto the next part.

“Pro his et omnibus anteactae vitae meae peccatis, veniam a Deo, poenitentiam et absolutionem a te peto, Pater.” (For these and all the sins of my past life, I ask forgiveness from God, repentance and absolution from you, Father.)

“I can’t remember the last time anyone confessed their sins in Latin,” the father said. “Although, I suspect that was more common ninety-three years ago.”

a high-contrast, warmly-toned cinematic photograph of a priest's silhouette, illuminated by soft, golden light, visible through the ornate, wooden confessional screen, adorned with intricate carvings, in a dimly lit, rustic, Catholic church, set in a 1915 Canadian coastal mining town, with the priest's traditional, long, dark attire, including a cassock and biretta, evoking a sense of secrecy and introspection, captured in a shallow depth of field, with the confessional's wooden lattice casting subtle, geometric shadows on the stone floor, in a haunting, nostalgic, and contemplative atmosphere.

Disclaimer: This novel is an work in progress and readers may encounter grammatical errors and inconsistencies. Please view this a draft and not a published work.