Free Me Without You by Rona Go

orders,
remember?"
    "She's your girlfriend, remember?" Hugh
asked. "It'll look funny."
    "We—" Xavier stopped and looked
thoughtful for a moment. "But you like her, don't you?" he asked,
catching himself by surprise.
    Hugh was silent but he did not break
eye contact with Xavier. Neither a single crinkling between the
eyebrows nor the quivering of the mouth would have betrayed what he
was thinking or feeling. The expression on his face was
bland.
    Xavier dismissed the idea with his hand
before Hugh could say anything and turned to leave. He pulled a
bonnet out of his pocket and put it on his head. He called over his
shoulder and said, "I am out of here, man. If mom asks—I need some
air. And yes, I feel better already."
    Hugh heard the last of
Xavier's footsteps died down before he was able to breath freely
again. He mused. Did I like Jonah? Did it matter? It wouldn't
have mattered because Xavier loved her and she loved him back. And
there was no way he could take away from Xavier the one thing which
kept him alive, couldn't he?
    It was not about Xavier. Or
Jonah. It was about how he truly felt for Jonah. Did he like Jonah? That
was the issue.

Chapter 9
    The Healer's Gift
    Jonah had been roaming around the
600-hundred-year-old Church for the lack of anything better to do.
She bounced off, coming down from the balcony of the building. It
was there when she felt like a CCTV camera was following her every
move, secretly knowing the times when she snuck out with Xavier to
make-out at the farthest corner of the balcony. Despite feeling the
guilt, prompted by a conservative religious mindset instilled by
Rebecca's voice in her head, she smiled mischievously looking back
at those moments.
    She could hear the piano and a very
familiar male voice singing in the background from down
below.
    It can't be
X … Jonah told herself. Probably a member of the church choir practicing. But it
couldn't be X.
    When Jonah reached the first floor, she
sat at the farthest corner at the back. She had opted to remain
inside the Church than to go with Jane to Father Ulysses’ office to
discuss the services for Rebecca.
    Jane was the only one who insisted that
Rebecca be given a proper religious service. Jonah had thought it
wouldn't make any difference. The other Blood siblings had agreed
it would be laughable to include the Church to bury their mother.
Even Aunt Judith had not opposed.
    "It's the least we can do for her
funeral!" Jane had insisted. "It'll be like an acknowledgement for
the good that she has done."
    It wasn't a secret that Rebecca had
earned the ire of the bishops. While both Rebecca and the bishops
rubbed elbows in charitable functions, they were stabbing each
other behind their backs. Rebecca may have been a staunch supporter
of the Church but Jonah doubted her mother was a true
believer.
    Rebecca had often said, "The Church is
where the influence is. And I want to be in the middle of
it."
    But the worse scenario for Jonah would
be for the people to flock to the Church to see if the rumors were
true—that Rebecca and the rest of her family cannot really enter
the building without turning into witches and burning.
    It had started even before Jonah was
even born. The tale went on that there was once when people
witnessed Rebecca in a heated argument with a woman just outside
the Church. And when Rebecca tried to enter the building, a strong
wind blew, her hair had stood on its ends and her eyes had turned
red.
    A few days after, the woman whom
Rebecca had a spat with, died mysteriously.
    The older members of Jonah's family
took the rumors as a joke. However, Jonah had never quite gotten
used to it. She still felt embarrassed every time she heard of it.
And there was the burning desire to prove people wrong.
    The last time Jonah had been inside the
Church, it had already been months. And it was not to attend
celebrations. Blushing with embarrassment, she was reminded again
of her not-so-religious adventures and intentions when