People often said โ home is where the heart is โ, a place you rest your head at the end of a long day, the solace you find when the worlds seems too much, too fast; Mica hadnโt had home for a long time, the feeling or the place, instead the section of her heart dedicated to sentiment was now devoted to the church. A holy place from which sheโd never be absent. Not quite home, yet not somewhere sheโd ever hope to leave, either. She absentmindedly played with the silver chain hung loosely around her neck, spirit of the building dancing along her spine, death-touched eyes focused on nothing in particular.
Suddenly, through no autonomy of her own, Mica let out a harsh gasp ( something between a choking sound and a hiss ), fingers dropping from the chain as if it were burning hot. A terrible wave of something familiar washed over her, the feeling cramming itself up behind her eyelids, burying itself in the tiny, phantom bones of her fingertips, tongue feeling as if it were being pulled back down her throat โโโโ NAUSEA. Something she had not felt for a long timeโฆ And an undeniable indicator of her death sense.
In no time at all the seasoned Church Grim had teleported herself inside her church, making no more noise than a leaf on a breeze, her figure now acting almost as a shadow for the intricate statue of Christ that loomed over the pair. The pair. Her eyes, previously a soft shade of grey now looming closer to a menacing shade of charcoal, landed upon the lone male, a stranger to this land yet his presence, the aura that seemed to surround his frail body, indicated something archaic.
Something archaic and evil.
She dismissed her spectral form, previously intangible boots making a sudden clicking sound as she moved forward, positioning herself at the head of the pews.ย โ You arenโt HUMAN. โ She hissed, neutral tone full of seething distrust, a heavy lashing of rain suddenly falling against the stained glass.ย โ You shouldnโt be here. โ But there was a pause, not obvious enough for anyone unfamiliar with Micaโs speech patterns, but familiar enough for her to take a moment to think. This thingโฆ Thisโฆ Human, seemed soโฆ Unlike the monsters she often faced. He was not a ghoul, nor did he hold the presence of a hunter, nor did he wail incessantly like a restless spirit. He was almost disgustingly human, and it gave whatever human remnant of her that remained cause for concern.
ย ย ย ย ย Jasperโs head, previously bowed in an attempt to blend in with the churchโs background, snapped up at the sound of the womanโs voice. His heart suddenly thudding against his chest, blending into the sound of the rain abruptly beating against the windows. It shouldโve been obvious that something was wrong, that something about the woman couldnโt have been entirely human, that her arrival and the sudden rain were no coincidence. But Jasperโs brain tripped over itself trying to put the pieces together, trying to figure out the why and the how. And despite feeling an acute sense of vulnerability in his position, he made no move to stand, merely knotting his brows as he gazed up at the woman.
โ I โโ Excuse me, maโam ? โ he spoke, his soft Alabama accent inflected with a hint of fear. He grasped the corner of the bench, readying himself for something, though unsure as to what.
He could feel the fear, the discomfort, bubble up in his throat. Something dark and malevolent promising to quieten it all, promising to make it safe, promising to protect him. His grip on the bench tightened.
How she couldโve seen through him so easily was beyond him, how she couldโve seen it so easily.ย It was one of the things he had always feared, to be called out, to be exposed as the disgusting, repugnant thing he really was. Ripped open to reveal the dark & grotesque monster that had made a home inside him. And of course it would be here, of all places. Of course it would be in Godโs house that someone would see what truly lay inside him. He began to question why he had even come here in the first place, how foolish heโd been to go somewhere he didnโt deserve to be, somewhere he didnโt belong. But he also couldnโt help the thought that he deserved it, that whatever happened next, even if it meant some sort of harm coming to him, could only be a good thing.
