Sinner's Place {h.s}

forty-eight.

"I wouldn't." Pete interjected, sticking his palm out with a twitch of his nose, "Give me it. I'll test it later to see if there's anything funky in it."

I couldn't find myself to say anything. The only thing I could do was watch everyone indulge in the communion. So many familiar faces that I had grown close with when I worked here. No matter how I felt about this church, there was a time in my life that I felt the most alone and these people were somewhat of a new found family that took me under their wings. The only time I left my house was when I had sermons twice a week.

It was quite sad to see. Everyone looked dreadfully tired, instead of the smiles that they used to wear with their Sunday best, now they were pairing it with dark colored bags and elastic smiles that were forced by the treads of their ears.

"Harry?" Pete nudged my arm.

I blinked, just barely sparing him a glance out of the corner of my eye.

"Let's go. Wait for the sermon to start." I muttered as I adjusted my coat with the pads of my fingers and slowly walked to the corner of the room. This is where it was the darkest. I'd been on this stage before, I knew where all the shadows and crevices were. If someone wanted to hide away during church, this is where they would do it.

Just as we made a comfortable stand in the corner, the lights slowly dimmed and people made their way to their seats. This place looked a lot different now. It was still the same size, but they added a hell of a lot more pews for the victims they were roping into this shit show. My brow perked as I stared at the stage. You would have thought that I was thinking about the new mystery priest, but in truth, all I could think about was the memories I had in this church.

It was as if all the present people in this church disappeared as I stared at the very front pew. That was where me and Anna had our bible studies, or lack thereof. I would have never guessed that I would grow as fond of her when I first met her. I knew that I had to keep a distance, but I never thought I would find myself adoring every part of her.

I didn't trust myself, but neither did she, and within that grew a rotten flower that we bloomed from.

"Harry."

I glanced towards Niall who was pointing at the stage. I hadn't even realized that the sermon started and there was a man on stage who was thanking everyone for coming. My eyes pinched tightly as I tried to focus on him.

"Is he...?" Pete whispered under a breath.

"Yeah." I rubbed my face in stress with a nod.

His face was wrapped in some sorts of bandage. It was nearly impossible to see who the fuck he was. Whoever the hell he was, he looked like he went through hell and back just to get here. He was adorned in a black alb that draped all the way to his feet. He was much shorter than I, but I could tell he was older. I didn't know which was sadder. The fact his face was all fucked up or that he was old enough to be manipulated into this spot.

"Thank you everyone for coming today," He spoke softly, adjusting the papers on the podium as he smacked his lips through the clean white bandages around his mouth, "Today is a sad day, but we must have hope. Hope that our Nathan's soul went to Heaven with ease."

I rolled my eyes with a huff. As if they weren't the ones that killed him.

"His death has meaning," He continued, "He didn't die for no reason. He died for us. For you. For me. He died to save us all. His soul lingers in this church with us."

I shifted on my feet, suddenly feeling a wave of nausea wash over me as my stomach flipped. In my time of being a priest, I had never heard such fucking bullshit before. Sure, even when I was in a prior cult I heard some terrible shit, but this had to top it. This was foul.