The church was a small one, but in the quiet of the night, the silence still echoed. The air was thick with incense from the now-finished services, the evening light trickling through the windows in its last streams. There were no stained-glass panels in a church as poor as this one, but the light was beautiful none the less. The altar was a simple wooden thing.

By the altar, the priest knelt.

He was dressed in black robes as befitting one his stature, but they were worn and occasionally patched as subtly as possible. He was the one who lit the candles here, and scrubbed the pews, and burned the incense.

Now he was murmuring his night prayers, and as the last evening light trickled through alcoves of the windows, he finished and stood up.

Quietly, the priest lit his lantern from one of the candles on the altar. A simple brass thing, for personal use rather than holy, and once that was done he extinguished the candles.

The dark eves of the church seemed to whisper to him as he walked through them, and he couldn't help but feel a creeping dread. He knew what was coming, but that didn't make it any easier to bear.

Pain stabbed into his mind like a hot knife, and the priest doubled over with it, clutching his head. He was suddenly filled with a terror, and there was the sound of wings. The priest prayed for God to give him strength, and clutched at the cross at his neck. He saw a bright light, and suddenly it was over.

The priest stayed doubled over for a few more moments. His chest heaved, sweat ran down his brow. He hated that vision.

He never understood it yet, and simply tried to bear it as it came. As far as he could tell, it was likely either a foreboding vision, or the devil himself trying to break his mind. He did not know which, but either prospect filled him with fear.

With great exertion he hauled himself to his feet and crossed himself, praying to God for guidance.

He left the church in a daze, and so he hardly noticed the young woman perched on the fence outside. When she moved, he startled and shied like a horse. She gave him an odd look, and he did his best to regain his composure.

"Hello Catrina. It's a lovely night out, isn't it?"

The girl's blue eyes narrowed sullenly, arms crossed in front of her.

"Things are dangerous at night," she warned him ",you shouldn't be so flippant about it."

He smiled tolerantly and nodded, biting back protests. She hopped off her post at the fence, and wandered over to him with a cautious look. The priest made room for her on the path, and smiled again politely.

She followed him when he began to trudge home, but refused to look at him, staring at the path instead. The priest was disappointed to see that Beatrice still hadn't convinced the young woman to take a proper bath this week. Her straw-gold hair was grubby, and her face was smudged with dirt. At least she had been shoved into the tub last week. She would have smelled quite terrible otherwise.

"How are you these days Catrina?" he asked, trying to make pleasant conversation.

"Fine enough. Miss Beatrice treats me right good, even if she does scare me a bit."

"Still getting used to living in a house?"

"I sleep in the garden when she'll let me. Good earth is better than rotten boards and mattresses."

She gave him a guilty glance.

"Don't tell Miss Beatrice I said that. Her beds are real good, honest. I just can't stand 'em."

The priest smiled despite himself, and nodded conspiratorially. The young woman was likely a little older than him in reality, but she still gave off a charmingly child-like air.

"Will I see you this Sunday Miss Catrina?"

Catrina looked significantly uncomfortable.

"It's not that I don't like you mister priest. It's just your holy building scares me a bit it all. What if I burn up when I go in? I hear some actually do, if they aren't holy enough, and I ain't holy by any stretch."

"I'm sure you would be fine Catrina. You're a very lovely young woman, and god forgives all his children their trespasses."

Catrina fidgeted uncomfortably, and glanced at the priest furtively in a way that made him want to cover himself a little. He restrained the urge, and continued walking.

"Mister Priest? You ever think we're supposed to be somewhere else?"

The priest glanced over at her.

"Perhaps you could elaborate for me?"

"Like- like we're supposed to be doing something else, and just forgot about it for a bit. Like we're forgetting something real important and can't quite figure out what it is."

She tucked her head in towards her chest, flushing.

"I thought it when I saw you first mister priest. Like I was supposed to be doing something real important."

The priest debated if this was a pass at him, or a legitimate worry. He decided on the latter, and responded accordingly.

"Sometimes God calls us to do things in our lives, and gives us hints through such portents. Do you have any idea what this important thing might be?"

She shook her head, looking frustrated "I just know I get it when I see you, and when I see some other people too. It's like you're familiar, and I need to tell you something real bad, but I'm forgetting all the time."

The priest nodded sympathetically.

"Visions can be confusing. Give it time and god will bring forth the meaning." He smiled "I myself have been having troubles with visions as of late. Headaches, terror, the sound of wings and a light. I have no idea what it may mean."

Catrina had stopped, and the priest turned to see if she was following. She stood stock-still in the road, staring at him.

"I been having those too. I thought it was just me being mad but-"

She leapt forward suddenly, and the priest stumbled back to avoid her.

"Have you been having the familiarity too? Like you've seen people before? Like you know 'em and can't remember why?"

"Catrina I-"

"Like Lily, the herb-lady! She's familiar right? Or that fisherman down at the docks! Or the poacher! Or the man in the woods!"

The priest ground to a halt.

"The man in the woods?!"

Catrina realized what she had said, blanched, and scurried backwards.

"'S not important. Have you seen anyone who you recognize without recognizing?"

The priest stepped forward, his face furious.

"Catrina, the Man in the Woods is dangerous! He's half-feral! The crown has been trying to catch him for years now, and he's torn half of them to shreds!"

"'S not like he saw me or anything," Catrina said defensively "I'm good at being stealthy-like, and he didn't pay me no nevermind. Anyway, I'm not raised so different from him."

"Catrina you need to be careful! It's dangerous out there, and we would all be horrified if something were to happen to you. What would Miss Beatrice think if you didn't come home one night? What would I do if I found out you were hurt, or dead?"

Catrina flushed deeply, and fiddled with her thumbs. She pursed her lips though.

"You know what I'm talking about though, don't you? Miss Lily, the fisherman, the poacher. Them and the man in the woods. Have you met them?"

Lily was the only one familiar in the list, and the priest knew he had met her a hundred times for some malady or another. He had even blessed sick men and women within her hut, and been thanked for it many times. But surely that was all. There was no subtle tug as he saw her, or holy vision as he heard her sweet voice.

"What about me then?" Catrina asked "Did you get it when you first met me?"

The priest was about to answer in a negative, but found himself caught.

There had been a strange tug of familiarity when he first met the young woman. A niggling in the back of his mind, like he was forgetting something important. He had ignored it at the time, considered it unimportant, but if she was getting this feeling too…

The priest turned to speak to Catrina, but she was gone. He could hear the faint rustling of the trees as she ran away, but decided not to pursue. Chasing Catrina through the woods was line chasing a squirrel, or a house cat. He was better off not trying.

The priest sighed, and continued on his way home, wanting nothing more than a good night's sleep.