Page 7 of Saint, Sorrow, Sinner
Sophia De’voreaux:Is he going to exorcise me?
Tehlor Nilsen:doubt it.
Tehlor Nilsen:anymore nosebleeds?
Sophia tasted pennies. Back at the truck stop, crimson had poured out of her left nostril and dripped off her chin. A woman with two children had told her to tilt forward over the sink.Everyone says to lean backward, but then you’re just swallowin’ yourself. Best to let it happen, sweetheart. Get it all out.She’d set her palms on either side of the sink, watched herself hemorrhage in the mirror, and sniffled once it finally stopped.
Sophia De’voreaux:Yeah.
Tehlor Nilsen:just your nose?
She glanced at her fingernails. Thinner. Cuticles pink and peeling. She typed the truth—no, it’s spreading—backspaced, then typed a lie.
Sophia De’voreaux:Yeah.
Throughout the drive, Colin commented on Tehlor’s truck appearing behind them, and when he thought Sophia was asleep, he lowered his voice and asked Bishop if they were making the right call.We can’t trust them, Bishop.A sigh. Knuckles cracking.Obviously, but this was the deal. You’re the one who wanted to help her.Tehlor had been her qualifier, her compromise, and if the witch hadn’t tagged along,Sophia would’ve refused to go. She didn’t know their four-sided history, and she didn’t care to insert herself into whatever mess the group had made together, but she’d felt Tehlor’s soul sputter like an old engine, and she recognized the careful way the witch moved around her. How everyone moved around the witch too.
Fear kept people at bay. Sophia knew that viscerally.
And everyone was afraid of Tehlor.
Tehlor Nilsen:you doin okay?
Sophia read the message three times. She flicked the text bubble away and opened another, scrolling aimlessly through emojis, take-out orders, words of affirmation, and arguments. She stopped over a selfie Amy had sent before they left Texas. Faces smashed together, caught mid-laugh, eating vanilla soft serve on Halloween. They’d been talking about change, and growth, and God, and adventure. Amy had asked Sophia to bake her pumpkin bread.The good kind with chocolate chips,she’d said, and put her finger to her lips, signaling a secret.Don’t tell Rose. I’m supposed to do the keto thing with her. One little loaf won’t hurt, though, right?
Stability was a stolen thing for De’voreaux women and Sophia had never understood why Amy chose to make herself small instead of self-sufficient.
Sophia De’voreaux:Do you think I should just leanin?
Tehlor Nilsen:huh?
Sophia De’voreaux:Should I just let it have me?
Tehlor Nilsen:juicy question. probably not tbh.
Sophia De’voreaux:Didn’t you?
Three dots bounced. Disappeared. Bounced. Disappeared.
Tehlor Nilsen:i let my gods have me.
Tehlor Nilsen:judas isn’t your god. plus i doubt that’s actually him inside you.
A few seconds went by. Tehlor typed. Stopped. Started again.
Tehlor Nilsen:and you don’t wanna be like me, honey. i can promise you that.
What if I do?Sophia backspaced the question.
Sophia De’voreaux:What if we can’t get it out?
Tehlor Nilsen:he might be the personification of a bible camp pamphlet but colin knows his shit
Tehlor Nilsen:he literally exorsized lincoln. no joke.
Sophia read the text twice.
Sophia De’voreaux:But this is beyond him, isn’t it? That’s what he said
