The Brotherhood

By Mario Milosevic

Abbot Francis and the brothers of the monastery prepare to celebrate their many years of service to God in a gala 150th anniversary celebration. But an unexpected and disturbing discovery about the activities of previous brothers threatens to wreck their world and all the good work they have done for their community. Evil lurks like a bloody wound in the genesis of the monastery and Abbot Francis must find a way to make sure it does not destroy them all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Green Snake Publishing
• Release date: Jun 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201990251

Mario Milosevic

Mario Milosevic was born in a refugee camp in Italy, grew up in Canada, and holds a degree in philosophy and mathematics from the University of Waterloo. He now lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, fellow writer Kim Antieau. His poems, stories, and novels have appeared in many venues, both print and online.

Book preview

Chapter One

Abbot Francis finished checking his email for the morning and considered a leisurely stroll across the square to the kitchen to see if Brother Juan was baking any of his outrageously scrumptious chocolate chip cookies when he heard a light tapping on his door and Brother Earl’s muffled voice.

Begging your pardon, Abbot, may I come in?

Even with Brother Earl’s voice having to penetrate a particularly heavy and solid wooden door, the abbot detected an air of desperation in the words. The visions of Brother Juan’s cookies, all laden with macadamia nuts and rich brown sugar and the biggest chocolate chips imaginable, faded from Abbot Francis’s head.

Enter, he said.

Brother Earl opened the door and stepped inside. He bore a book in his hands and a decidedly sour expression on his face that alarmed the abbot immediately.

I have some—ah—disturbing news, said Brother Earl.

Indeed, said the abbot. Please enlighten me.

I was going through the monastery’s historical archives, said Brother Earl. Preparatory to our 150th birthday celebration.

Yes, said the abbot. No need to recapitulate my instructions. It seems clear you found something you need to tell me about.

Yes, said Brother Earl. He presented the abbot with the bound volume, placing it on the desk in front of him, next to his laptop, not saying a word.

The volume was opened to a page approximately in the middle. The abbot saw that the pages were made of fine cotton paper. They were not yellowed with age, nor were they brittle, though they bore an aura of age about them. The abbot placed a hand on the page. It felt soft and textured at the same time. The binding was finely wrought in what the abbot guessed was lambskin. The object was probably at least 100 years old, maybe more.

He tilted the volume slightly to allow more convenient reading and looked at the page. It appeared to be some kind of diary. Or a log. In any case, a recording of events of the day.

He was happy to see that his guess was correct about the age of the book: the entry at the top of the recto page before him, written in a staid and careful