CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
He sat in the shadows, watching the pattern that the candles cast on the floor.
It was a shame that the Pastor had been taken away. It really was. He’d watched it all from back here, where no one ever seemed to notice him. Not even the Pastor himself. He had a kind of talent for blending in with the shadows, not being seen. People would walk by him sometimes like he wasn’t even there, even when he wasn’t hiding on purpose.
The Pastor had always been very nice to him. That was one of the reasons he kept coming back here – for the Pastor’s kind words. He liked to stand at the candles until the Pastor came out and then pretend that he’d only just arrived, just to hear something nice. And sometimes he would hide and listen to the Pastor saying nice things to other people.
You could learn a lot about other people that way.
But, still, he knew it was necessary. The Pastor hadn’t done anything wrong, and someone would figure that out sooner or later. The church was safe in the meantime, because he was here, and he was sure that the Pastor would be able to handle it. And while the police were talking to the Pastor, it meant they weren’t looking for him.
Not that they had done a very good job of looking so far – but he preferred it when they weren’t looking at all. It meant that he only had to hide from the people that he didn’t want to see him. Not from the police as well.
He looked up as she entered at last, just like she did every night. Cherry. She was always here on her way home from work. That was why he’d left the center of town and come out here early, so she wouldn’t see him go in ahead of her. He’d been waiting a while – he guessed she got off late tonight, but it was a good job anyway, because he wouldn’t have been able to do anything while the cop lady was here. He would have had to wait and let Cherry come and leave without him, and that would have been a terrible shame. They only had so long to connect on a deeper level, before the police got too suspicious, and he had to hide away from everyone.
It wouldn’t matter too much, now that he had his new friends to keep him company. His loves. It was so nice to have people around him all the time now, people who were connected to him so deeply it could never be broken. And Cherry was going to be one of them. He’d known she had to be one of them for such a long time. It had come naturally to choose her as the next, before the risk of losing her became too great.
She went up to the candles like she always did, moving slow. She looked tired. He felt bad for her. It was alright. She was going to get enough rest, soon enough. She was going to rest forever, and all of this grief and sadness would go away. She wouldn’t have to keep coming here to light candles for the one she had lost.
At least he knew she would understand. She did the candles too, so she must have known what they meant. What they did. How they could work for her and the one she had lost. How they would work for him, now. He liked to think that she would get it, if he told her what he was going to do.
Only, he wasn’t going to tell her.
He reached into his pocket and silently drew out the rag he had stashed there. Behind it was the bottle, and he pulled that out as well, working fast but quiet. He was good at this. Had practiced it enough times. He set the bottle to the rag just as she was picking out a match to light her candle with, and he quickly stashed it away again as he stood.
He had to move fast, now. People didn’t often notice him, but this was the most dangerous part of it all. If she turned around and saw him, she might scream, or else run away, and he wouldn’t be able to catch up with her and she’d know. Everyone would know. That was why he couldn’t make any mistakes.
He stole forward on light and silent feet until he was close enough. She’d lit her candle now, and she was staring into it, lost in memories. She had no idea that he was behind her.
Not until he was close enough to reach his hand in front of her and clamp the rag over her mouth, and by then, it was too late for her to do anything but struggle weakly for a single moment and then fall limp.