The air was cold, so cold that goosebumps had sprung across her skin, changing her usually soft, silky skin to a bumpy, rough texture. Her poor choice to wear only the skimpiest of jackets in early March was certainly coming back to bite her in the ass. Still she kept her head down, trying to avoid the buffering wind and the occasional flicker of a curtain in her peripheral vision. She had left the house with no aim, but could now see where her feet were directing her. Strange perhaps that, considering the sort of girl she was, irreligious to say the least, that she was walking directly to the church. She could see overbearing façade of the building just a couple of streets away. She wasn’t aware that she’d consciously felt a need to purge her sins, but apparently her subconscious had decided it was time. She hadn’t gone to church in years. And yet....
Maybe it wasn’t surprising that she’d ended up at the church. Family commitments had taken her out of town during the festival, but she didn’t live under a rock, and the news that a wild, crazed lunatic was making the round, trying to off as many residents as he or she could, was hardly a thing she could miss. So yes, perhaps it wasn’t so surprising that she was going to church. She wouldn’t have been surprised if the church had seen a mass uptake in its followers. It was natural to feel fear, especially of the unknown. But for Lara, who had escaped death far too many times than she was proud of...perhaps going to church could be seen as an insurance policy. If she got down on her knees and said enough hail mary’s, perhaps she wouldn’t find her throat slit open and hanging like a grotesque puppet.
Perhaps.
Still, when she reached the foot of the steps up to the church, she halted, unable to quite walk up to the door. Something was stopping her. Eyes on her back. Slowly she turned, eyeing the person across the street who was watching her internal struggle to walk into the home of god. “Do you want something?” she asked sourly, wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm












