Verse 2: "Lips to Lie"

It was obvious that I was hallucinating, dreaming, or under the effects of some strange kind of drug. I looked at my hands and flexed my fingers to make sure that what I thought corresponded to what I did. Everything seemed functional.
          As I looked around the cathedral again, I took note of small details. The pews looked like they hadn't been used for a long time, and the pulpit I was leaning on was covered in a layer of dust. The only windows in the church were made of stained glass, and were still intact despite the church's long period of disuse.
          I looked at the back of the hall, where there was a simple wooden door. It used to lead to a dining area, but I didn’t know where it went after the main hall had changed, and I wasn't excited to find out. I thought about any other place I could go.
          If I tried to leave the 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 lead nowhere, leaving me stuck on a road in the dark. Wandering into the forest around the church was completely out of the question. I ran my hands through my hair slowly.
          I snickered as I thought about what John would do. He would have prayed for something to happen, despite prayer being a waste of time.  I slowly glanced around the cathedral to make sure that no one was watching. Once I was sure I was alone, I put my hands together and prayed hurriedly. 
          “Please, either send me back home or send me someone who can help me. Someone I can understand.” I said the words quickly and awkwardly, and immediately put my hands down once I had finished.
          The sound of glass breaking terrified me. I stood up from my position and looked around. Whatever it was hadn't broken any of the windows in the main hall, meaning that the only place it could have broken something and remained out of my sight would have to have been the area beyond the small wooden door. I thought about what I could do.
          The pews were too heavy to move in front of the back door. My eyes darted to the table holding the various holy tools that I didn’t understand. 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 cared to admit, the table was propped up against it. For good measure, I sat down, leaning on the table, 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, 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. After a few more attempts, the woman on the other side gave up. I stayed next to the door for a little while longer, in case she or someone else who was with her tried to get a running start.
          When she didn’t make another attempt, I stood up and dusted myself off. I wished that someone else were there to see me, because I had proven dichotomy between praying and actually doing anything. The giant wooden doors of the cathedral opened.
          Fight or flight kicked in, and 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.  “I thought this place was abandoned.” She mused.
          She was a little taller than average. She was wearing a hood that covered her face in shadow, 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, dropping the candelabra.
          “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. I was so close to her that I could see the color of her blue eyes despite the shadow of her hood.
          “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 said hastily. “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.
          I almost broke out of character when she said that; I had managed to trick her!
          “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.
          “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 that I can’t relax, even if the place is supposedly abandoned.” She 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. I was wrong about her hair being cut short, because it was long, brown, and wavy. Her face had slightly angular features, and 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.”

Edited on 09/12/25