Leo gets to the steps of the church after Kaylee has left, but he is unaware. He leans against one of the doors of the church, his shoulder pressed against it. He tries to listen for sound past it but is aware of every sound he makes. Not just of his heart thumping in his ears, but the rustling of his sleeve against his chest as he breathes in and out deeply. He swears that on streets far away he hears the sounds of trucks driving past. Nothing past the door.

Gods often ask for sacrifices. Leo gave up his life for salvation once. It seems whatever power infects the church determined his offering was enough. It takes and takes. And now, it takes every sound in the church.

He presses up against the door.

"It's your fault, you know."

Leo bursts into the church. The door swings on its hinges. He isn't sure why he expected to see Miko on the other side. He had gotten used to hearing her voice, to seeing her where she wasn't supposed to be. Leo hasn't taken his pills since the day before he died. He hadn't expected to need them again.

That isn't what it feels like though.

Leo stumbles into the church, staring up at the pulpit. He wonders if he sees a shadow.

Then, he stumbles downstairs. He bursts through the door. In the kitchenette, Este is washing dishes. They glance back at him, the first soft smile of what might be many more.

"Isn't it cruel to make Nico carry all the groceries?" Este asks.

"Are they gone?" Leo's voice is horse.

Este laughs, "who? If you're asking if it's just me, yes."

Leo peers down at the beds, perhaps expecting to find someone there. Maybe Miko. Instead, Leo looks back at Este. They start to hum, the song Fallon played earlier. Leo doesn't know the song, doesn't recognize it, and all he starts to worry it's a hymn. Then, he runs back up the stairs, beginning to check all the rooms of the church.

In the graveyard, everything is as settled as it could be. Ajay doesn't cover the grave very well. He has pushed his body to its limits too many times now. He kicked in the piles of dirt, using his shovel to the best of his ability to push it in. At one point, Eva got in and lied on the ground, and Ajay didn't care. He just kept going. She popped back up to help him, and he didn't care. Then, once the grass one shoved on top haphazardly, he ran back to the church.

Eva left too, and now she still follows in his footsteps.. She is caked in the dirt. It peppers her hair, makes her skin itch, and she is sure looks like she is what crawled out of the grave. She skips through the streets after Ajay, even though she lost him half an hour ago. Eva doesn't mind being alone. Her edgy friends in high school always said they were born alone and they'd die alone. Neither of those things are true of Eva. Being alone in the street is nice enough. She tips her body back, head pointed up, and she howls into the sky.

Somewhere far away, Ambrose hears the sound. His head twists behind him to follow it.

"Are you done?" Audrey asks.

Ambrose glares at her. Eva's body is in the bag in front of him. A body. Not a God. Partially bones at least, but the little flesh that remains is putrid. Audrey has been plugging her nose as she struts through the streets and Ambrose has been subjected to it. Although, that is not why he stopped. The bag is heavy. It carries the weight of a life, after all.

He tries to pick it up, but his arms can't carry it anymore. Audrey rolls her eyes.

"You can't pretend you find it gross now," she crosses her arms. "What did you expect to find in there?"

Ambrose looks at the bag. Decomposing bodies, like biblical angels, aren't easy on human eyes. He imagines finding an angel would be better. Of course, Audrey is either of those things.

"We just need to bring it back," Audrey rolls her eyes. "The others can get over the smell. I will only have it for a few days."

A day is all she needs. She'll look at the bones, measure them, do all that she can to see if this thing is her. She hopes it is, because then there is a possible explanation. Bones make more sense than people. Audrey knows she won't be alone either. As angry as Ajay seems right now, she has seen how his mouth moves when they used to talk about what they might be. He was supposed to be a doctor, even if he hasn't told her that. She can tell. A man like him will get over his pride quickly.

"It's only another kilometre."

It is not so far for Clare, who trails behind Kaia. She never got out of sight for long. Clare suspects Kaia didn't walk far after crossing corners, because even through some of the twisting streets, Clare found her again ever so often.

Clare runs a hand through their hair. It gets stuck in one of the knots in it. They tilt their head down at the ground, but only for a second, to look up at Kaia, who stands on a street corner nearby.

Down the street, Kaia sees people on the steps. Fallon and Nico, huddled together with bags of groceries on the ground. Lydia lounges across some of them, drapped dramatically down them. Barry stands nearby, hands in his pockets, chewing on his cheek.

"This is getting ridiculous," Barry mutters to himself.

Fallon has no thoughts left in her head. She leans it against Nico's shoulder, who takes in a deep breath, "Leo told us-"

"Who decided Leo knows what's best?" Barry cups his hands over his mouth after he speaks, blowing on them. He's not in a coat. Actually, he's surprised he is alive at all after close to an hour waiting in the cold.

"He's RCMP, Barry," Lydia rolls her eyes, a playfully smile on her face. "The night is atmospheric."

She nudges him with her foot, and he shrugs his shoulders. She must be freezing too. They are lucky they wear shoes in the upper floors of the church at all. Barry does not like to imagine anyone, even Lydia, rubbing his feet to return their colour if they start to turn white. Everything is already red from the nip of the wind on his skin.

"It does feels as cold as it would in space," Fallon smiles. Her cheeks turn pink. "You know, like where the atmosphere is. It's supposed to be super cold in space. Like, actually terrible you know. When I was a kid-"

"Astute observation," Barry rolls his eyes.

Fallon blinks, "sorry. I just feel like my throat is sore from the cold, and somehow talking helps. Maybe it's the placebo affect? I mean-"

"It's fine, Fallon," Nico takes her hand and holds it. "The cold is bad, but at least the groceries will be okay."

She smiles at them.

At the corner, Clare finally catches up with Kaia. When Kaia looks at Clare, Clare realizes that Kaia waited for them. The cold already has their face red, but the warmth of the blush feels nice.

"Something is weird," Kaia points toward them. "Isn't that weird?"

Clare looks at the collection of people, most of them inappropriately dressed for the outdoors. Barry she might understand, but Fallon and Lydia are local. Bags of groceries on the steps, but Leo was supposed to get groceries and he's not there.

"I can go check," Clare says.

"What do you think is going on?" Kaia asks.

Clare shrugs, "I'll go find out."

They head off. Kaia thinks about staying put. As an ex-cop, Clare is probably better equipped with what to do. Besides, Kaia isn't up to feeling happy and positive just yet. She still is aflame. She watches as Clare hangs back.

On the steps, Fallon explains to Clare what Leo told her. Clare nods, listening.

"I'll go check it out," they tell them. "The rest of you stay put. If I'm not back in five minutes... call," the name of the police hangs on her tongue, "well, wait for Eva to come back from wherever she's gone and book a room at a motel."

Clare enters the building.

The church is quiet inside. Clare puts their hand on their side, expecting to feel a firearm. There isn't a firearm. Besides, her bulletproof vest didn't save her last time. For all reasons, it should have.

Clare has thought about that a lot. How they bled up from a shot to the stomach, delivered by a boy who says she didn't do it, while wearing a bullet proof vest. Clare's curiosities have only gotten worse these past few weeks since the phone call.

Clare walks to the basement. They see Este, and no sign of the intruder. They don't ask Este any questions. Not without another officer present. Not if there isn't anyone to corroborate what is said. Clare decides to search the church bottom to top. So, they start in the bell tower.

Este sees Clare come and go, but they only partially register Clare's presence. Bring drunk isn't classy, and so Este refuses to acknowledge the state they are in. The words they shared with Kaylee, that they shouldn't have confessed, not even if the Church were Catholic and Kaylee was the father.

Maybe that's what Este needs. Her family believed that you could go to Heaven if you repented, and Este refuses to repent. All Este is now is sin. Without the wrath, without the pride and the greed and the envy, there is nothing to her.

Of course, after that conversation with Kaylee, there isn't a lot of envy left in her. All there is is sadness, spread out between the pair of them, shared in the grief and the horror at the man they both chose to marry. Jayce didn't need death to become nothing but sin.

Far above Este, Clare is climbing to the top of the church. They haven't been up the stairs to the bell tower. Something shifts up there, on the floor above them. Clare presses their back against the wall, not moving. Their breaths echo in their chest, and the sound vibrates through them the same way the massive bells would if they were rung. Clare takes another step, and another.

Leo hears the sound and looks over, just catching Clare's eyes.

He exhales, and then breathes in.

"I..." Leo shakes his head. "Everyone's waiting outside, aren't they?"

Clare nods. They don't look at Leo, and Leo darts their head down. He thinks it's the scars, but it's not. Clare is looking through the room. There isn't much up here. There is a tarp, and there is a lock box in Leo's hands, and the lid is clearly broken.

"Was that up here?" Clare points to the think in his hands.

Leo nods, "I didn't know what to do. I thought it was a weird thing to hide up here. I just had a feeling."

They need a warrant. Clare thinks that first.

"What's in it?" Clare asks.

Leo opens the contents, and inside are the big beaded earrings, with blood on the hooks.

~~~~~

I'm already done part of the next chapter, so it will be updated soon. My plan is to have this done within the next two months! So like, expect updates to hurry up (I just finished a different book that I'm still updating, so I'm excited to focus all of my energy on this).

Also, the fan and the shit are going to have a lovely get-together I think soon. What information are you most excited for the class to share>