Welcome to the Church

Countless people walked the streets in the early morning shadowy glow of the sun, many of them dressed for church. It was a relaxed, slow morning for most, with people slowly walking towards the cathedral. For Mary, it was an ocean of disorientation, a constant worry that she might get lost. Rosetta was leading them forward, and Mary stuck as close as she could to her so that she didn’t get lost amongst the crowd. She continued to put one foot in front of the other, focusing her attention on walking, hardly taking in the sights around her. She didn’t even register that they were headed to the massive, ornate building visible from anywhere in the city.

“Nice morning,” Abel said in a quiet tone, “I’d love to spend it outdoors.”

“You’re coming to the church with us,” Rosetta said bluntly, “and you will be respectful of Lena’s wishes.”

“It’s never that bad, Abel,” Hunter said, “ye just sit for a wee bit an’ then listen to a prayer or two, then ye head out and move on with yer day.”

“The sermons are too long,” Abel groaned, “hardly able to call it a ‘wee bit’.”

“Both of you, stop. Now.”

Rosetta’s tone was incredibly stern, like a knife blade whistling past Mary’s ear. She flinched a bit, moving to walk closer to Hunter as they continued. Abel rolled his eyes, but Hunter just chuckled and moved on.

“H-How long do services go for?” Mary asked.

“Usually just under an hour,” Rosetta replied, “Lena stays for longer.”

Mary paused, ready to ask why, but decided against it. She simply nodded, continuing to walk. She focused on following Hunter now, hoping that she wouldn’t stick out too much. The dress Rosetta had found was nice, but Mary was starting to wonder if she recognized it. She wasn’t sure it had actually been in her bag.

Mary was almost surprised when she looked up and saw they had made it to the cathedral. They were hardly a dozen paces away from the massive entrance. Had she really been that wrapped up in her own head? Looking up now to see what it was like, she could see the massive building absolutely dominating the space around them. The entire building was white and gold, save for the ornate stained glass windows that rose from just above head height to high enough that Mary had to crane her neck to see the tops. The building was massive and intricate, and it made no effort to hide it.

Stepping inside, it felt like the air itself changed. The sounds of a busy town were behind her, on the other side of the massive doors. In front of her was near-dead silence. It was like the people inside had been silenced, making her group’s footsteps uncomfortably loud on the marble flooring. Mary tried to quiet her footsteps, but the hard stone walls refused to allow any sounds to quiet themselves. The echo bounced around, ringing in Mary’s ears no matter what she tried. It was like the building itself wanted her presence to be known. She couldn’t hide.

“Ye doin’ alright, lass?”

Hunter’s voice snapped Mary back to attention. She looked and saw his face, still smiling but with a slight frown at the corners of his mouth. She took a moment to consider, then shook her head.

“I-It’s… Too quiet,” she said sheepishly, wishing her voice could be quieter.

“I know… Never been my style, really,” Hunter replied. “But it’s alright, I’m here for ye.”

Mary nodded, smiling slightly, then refocused herself. Soon, they were walking into a massive, open room with countless, long wooden seats. This room had many people already sitting around, and in the center was a raised platform that had various objects and even a painting set up. She didn’t get to look at it for long before she noticed that they were filing into one of the long wooden benches. Relieved to finally be able to sit somewhere and stop moving, Mary followed Hunter in.

Taking a seat, Mary started to relax just a bit. She finally felt like she could blend into the crowd. She took a look around. Despite the near-silence, many people were whispering to one another as they took seats. Some people were arriving as families, with children who were energetically looking around. Some seemed bored, others seemed stoic, and some even looked irritated. She noticed that Abel was refusing to show his face, keeping his eyes downcast as he left his hood on.

“Welcome, brothers and sisters,” boomed a man’s voice from the center of the room. “Please, join the congregation. All seats are available to any and all people.”

Mary looked up and saw the man attached to that voice. He was tall, well-built, and had short, brown hair. He wore a smile, but beneath that, his expression seemed hardened to stone. His eyes scanned the crowd, looking at the many churchgoers. His expression seemed to almost soften as he saw a family wrangling their children into seats, his eyes showing the smile just a bit.

The moment his eyes scanned over Mary, she felt frozen. His expression’s slight warmth evaporated, still keeping the appearance of a smile as his eyes glared directly at her. She couldn’t shrink from it, she couldn’t try to ease the tension by smiling back or waving. She could only freeze there, hoping that she was mistaken, that he wasn’t looking at her.

“You feel it, too?” Abel asked.

Mary nodded. She desperately hoped that this would only be a ‘wee bit’.