Page 45 of Their Will be Done

Jasper must be in agony.

I glance aside at him and then hurriedly look straight ahead. He’s glaring so hard at Zachary I’m surprised my Psych teacher’s hair hasn’t caught on fire.

Although it seems Zachary isn’t paying him any mind, I know for a fact he’s aware of us.

Bothof us.

Thanks, Jasper. All I wanted this morning was to remain invisible.

I was exhausted when I got back to my room last night. My ass hurt, my head hurt...myhearthurt.

Yes, I’d been digging for answers, but I hadn’t expected to unearth a rotting corpse.

A few more kids rush in and hurriedly find seats. A reverential hush fills the chapel’s vaulted ceilings. Timing his entrance perfectly, Father Gabriel walks in a mere second after the first bored whisper reaches me from the students seated behind us.

My lungs turn to concrete.

Gabriel looks just like he always does, but now that familiar smile gracing his wide mouth seems fake as margarine. His eyes aren’t keen and inquisitive anymore—they’re cunning and shifty.

It’s like that optical illusion. Once you see the rabbit, you can’t see the duck anymore.

As soon as he catches sight of me, Gabriel’s gaze strips me bare.

It’s just your imagination.

There’s no reason for him to suspect anything is different about Trinity Malone, daughter of Keith and Monica—devoted parishioners of the Redford Missions of Love church.

I’m starting to sweat.

Gabriel’s eyes release me when he takes in the rest of the crowd, and I sag in my seat.

“Good morning, children.”

There’s still no proof to Brotherhood’s claims, but logic doesn’t reign in my mind anymore.

Is it because you want them to fuck you? Is that why you don’t need proof anymore, you blasphemous little slut?

My mouth turns sour.

Father Gabriel starts on a sermon that sounds like so many others I’ve heard over the years. I find myself studying the side of Zachary’s face until I catch Gabriel looking at me.

Adrenaline spikes through me, leaving me tingling and panicked as it recedes. For the rest of the sermon, I keep my eyes locked on Gabriel, but he never once looks in my direction again.

His sermon feels like it lasts for hours. Hours I spend debating my position in this invisible battle raging between the Brotherhood and Father Gabriel.

Finally, we end in the Father’s Prayer and begin communion. In Redford, only a handful of people would go up—those that wanted to partake.

I guess they do things differently here. Here, everyone partakes. And as more and more people file out of their pews, I get the feeling it’s compulsory.

Gabriel and Zachary make just the right amount of eye contact. Their exchange seems as normal as the one before and after. Gabriel glances up from his paten of bread and locks eyes with me.

He says nothing as he holds out the body of Christ. I lean forward, open my mouth, and let him place the bread on my tongue.

“It’s good to see you again, my child.”

I stay silent, too scared my voice will shake if I return the greeting.

It could be the play of light on his face, but I swear he frowns at me before smoothing his expression.

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