Book 1, Verse 2

Now don’t misunderstand me; I still don’t think prayer will actually do anything. Obviously I’m hallucinating. Or dreaming.

Still, it’s not like it’ll hurt.

“Please, either send me back home or send me someone who can help me. Someone I can understand.”

I stood up from my position and looked around.

Of course, nothing happened. I feel kind of stupid now; that was a waste of time. Honestly, I’ve been listening to John too much. When I get back, I’ll–

The sound of glass breaking shocked me.

None of the stained glass windows in the sanctuary were broken. I looked at the back of the hall, where there was a simple wooden door. It used to lead to a dining area, back in the real world. Now I don’t know where it goes, and I’m not too excited to find out.

I looked around for any other place I could go.

If I tried to leave this cathedral and follow the dirt path into the wilderness, I might get attacked by a wild animal. It could also go on for too long and I’d be stuck out on a road in the dark.

Wandering into the surrounding forest was completely out of the question.

The pews were too heavy to move in front of the back door.

My eyes wandered over to the table holding the various holy tools that I didn’t understand in the slightest. They looked like they were made of gold, silver, and other valuable things.

I could definitely move the table; and I’d have to pocket those things later.

I put the holy stuff on the ground and started shoving the table towards the back door. After a little longer than I care to admit, the table was propped up. For good measure, I sat against the table, just to make sure that whoever was on the other side would be completely incapable of opening the door.

After a few minutes, I felt the door try to open. I held my breath.

The person on the other side slammed their shoulder against the door a couple times, trying to force it open. Nothing happened. Eventually, they started swearing under their breath. I listened closely, hoping that I’d be able to learn a little more about the person.

“This is absolutely ridiculous!”

The voice was coming from a woman. I breathed a small sigh of relief.

After all, between me and John, I was the handsome one.

But it didn’t come to that. After a few more attempts, the woman on the other side gave up.

I still stayed next to the door for a little while, in case someone else was with her or she tried to get a running start.

She didn’t.

I stood up and dusted myself off. I honestly wish someone else was here to see me, because this was the perfect dichotomy between praying and actually doing anything.

The giant wooden doors of the cathedral opened.

Fight or flight kicked in, and let me say that I’m not a coward.

I ran back to the holy stuff and picked up the candelabra, before turning to stand against whoever was there.

“Table in front of the door. Pretty smart.”

It was the same woman; her voice matched.

Why didn’t I think about the front door? It was unlocked!

“I thought this place was abandoned.” She mused.

She was a little taller than average, with blue eyes. She was wearing a mask that covered every other part of her face, and her hair must’ve been cut short in order to fit under the hood without spilling out. The rest of her body was hidden under a wide, dark green cloak.

I stared her down.

“Why did you break in?” I asked.

“I could say the same thing to you.” She put her left hand on her hip. “And what’s with that getup?” She gestured with her other hand at my outfit.

I looked down at what I was wearing. It was my regular button-up shirt with a nice pair of slacks.

“What do you mean?”

She wasn’t standing in the doorway anymore.

An arm wrapped around my neck and I felt the tip of something sharp poking into my lower back.

“Let go of me, please.” I raised my arms up slowly with the palms open and exhaled.

“Why should I? You’re a witness.” Her voice was tense.

I looked around the cathedral, desperately hoping to find something that would let me save my skin. An idea came to me.

“Because I’m a priest.” I said, mustering as much piety as I could. “You wouldn’t murder a priest on holy ground, would you?”

The tip of the knife left my back and she shoved me away quickly. I spun to look at her and she raised her eyebrows.

“Really? You don’t look like any priest I’ve ever seen.” She toyed with the dagger in her hands. “But to be fair, I haven’t seen that many.”

I swallowed nervously.

“I-I’m from a new sect.” I say quickly. “We have a much more liberal dress code than the others.”

She stared at me and nodded seriously.

“Okay…”

She put her knife away.

“What’s a sect?” Her voice was slightly curious.

She’d bought it!

“It’s a division. Certain groups in the larger church have different beliefs from other groups.” I tugged at my shirt. “Like with dress codes.”

“I guess that makes sense.” She muttered and kicked at the ground. “Hmm.”

I wiped a little bit of sweat off my brow.

“Since you’re a priest, I guess I can’t really kill you here.” She said calmly.

My ears perked up at the use of the word ‘here.’

“M-might I ask why you need to kill me at all?” I prodded gently. “Murder is a… a pretty big sin, you know.” I said, trying my best to sound priestly.

She sighed before she spoke again.

“That’s true. I don’t know, I’ve never been seen during work before.” She shrugged and her eyes shut like she was smiling. “I’m just that good.” She put her arms back behind her head and stretched. “Goes to show I can’t relax, even if the place is supposedly abandoned.” She quickly walked past me towards the entrance of the cathedral. “Goodbye, strange priest.”

It was starting to get a little late in the afternoon, and the sunlight was pouring in through the large stained glass window behind me.

“W-wait!” I called out awkwardly.

She stopped.

“There is something… important, we need to discuss.”

“Like wh–.”

When she turned around to look at me, she stopped talking. She seemed to be awestruck by something. I resisted the urge to turn around; if I wanted to keep her here, I needed to look like I knew what I was doing.

She took off her hood and mask. I was wrong about her hair being cut short, because it was long and brown, and her face had slightly angular features.

Her ocean blue eyes were wide with wonder as she looked up at me. I was standing in front of the pulpit, with light from the stained glass window silhouetting me in reds, yellows, and blues while I spoke to her.

“W-what do we need to talk about?”

I took a deep breath. I needed to play my cards right if I wanted to get the information I needed. I thought for a few seconds about what to say.

“We need to talk about your immortal soul.”