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Obscurity 1 Obscurity, The Prologue Free 2 Obscurity, The First Chapter Free 3 Obscurity, The Second Chapter Free 4 Obscurity, The Third Chapter Free 5 Obscurity, The Fourth Chapter Free 6 Obscurity, The Fifth Chapter Free 7 Obscurity, The Sixth Chapter Free 8 Obscurity, The Seventh Chapter Free 9 Obscurity, The Eighth Chapter Free 10 Obscurity, The Ninth Chapter Free 11 Obscurity, The Tenth Chapter Free 12 Obscurity, The Eleventh Chapter Free 13 Obscurity, The Twelfth Chapter For paid subscribers 14 Obscurity, The Thirteenth Chapter Free 15 Obscurity, The Fourteenth Chapter Free 16 Obscurity, The Fifteenth Chapter Free 17 Obscurity, The Sixteenth Chapter Free 18 Obscurity, The Seventeenth Chapter Free 19 Obscurity, The Eighteenth Chapter Free 20 Obscurity, The Nineteenth Chapter Free 21 Obscurity, The Twentieth Chapter Free 22 Obscurity, The Twenty-First Chapter Free 23 Obscurity, The Twenty-Second Chapter Free 24 Obscurity, The Twenty-Third Chapter Free 25 Obscurity, The Twenty-Fourth Chapter Free 26 Obscurity, The Twenty-Fifth Chapter Free 27 Obscurity, The Twenty-Sixth Chapter Free 28 Obscurity, The Twenty-Seventh Chapter Free 29 Obscurity, The Twenty-Eighth Chapter Free 30 Obscurity, The Twenty-Ninth Chapter Free 31 Obscurity, The Thirtieth Chapter Free 32 Obscurity, The Thirty-First Chapter Free 33 Obscurity, The Thirty-Second Chapter Free 34 Obscurity, The Thirty-Third Chapter Free 35 Obscurity, The Thirty-Fourth Chapter Free 36 Obscurity, The Thirty-Fifth Chapter Free 37 Obscurity, The Thirty-Sixth Chapter Free 38 Obscurity, The Thirty-Seventh Chapter Free 39 Obscurity, The Thirty-Eighth Chapter Free 40 Obscurity, The Thirty-Ninth Chapter Free 41 Obscurity, The Fortieth Chapter Free 42 Obscurity, The Epilogue Free

Obscurity, The Fifth Chapter

In which the widow confesses her sins in the sacrament of reconciliation.

We last read The Fourth Chapter, in which a rather mysterious figure appeared to know the widow’s secrets.

Séverine always had a fair amount of darkness within her. Like an enchantment, sometimes she could only feel the very edges of it, and yet other times she felt entirely enveloped by it.

In her dreams, she saw beings beyond her recognition—shadows that hung suspended over her bed as she slept. Demons, her confessor had called them, lost souls who clung to those at Providence’s doorstep. Pray, he instructed her, and be assured that they cannot reach you. Providence created us as human beings for a reason, he said, to lovingly spare us from the dangers of the spiritual world.

She hid as best she could—attending church, singing hymns, reading scripture, and dedicating her life to charity—but as soon as the lights were out and her eyelids closed she would fall victim to the reverie of her dreams and the darkness would descend upon her once more. Visions of those sinister beings filled her head, until at last she awoke, lit the candle by her bedside, and tried to forget her visions of the dark.

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