Easter Sunday

Dee rolled over and onto her back, still in awe over what had happened.

She was outside now, staring up at the starry sky, her ears ringing after Philip Booth's shotgun was fired. One second she was standing in the center aisle of the church, completely horrified over what she was witnessing. She had stared up with wide eyes with the town's people as this massive creature entered. No, this wasn't an angel like Paul had announced, this was something else. Something that resembled a monster from the deepest and darkest abyss from wherever nightmares came from. There had been a commotion, and suddenly her adrenaline kicked in when she realized what was really happening.

They were crazy...they were all absolutely crazy.

She watched as several of them tried to convince the others to have faith, to drink, and become reborn. She didn't think it was possible, but just mere minutes ago had witnessed the impossible become possible. This wasn't any show, nor trick. It really had happened. Sturge had drank the poison, convulsed, died in Paul's arms, and moments later woke up. Now like JonesTown, the 'believers' were urging others to drink, asking anyone who was hesitating to trust in God, and have faith. Seeing several others much like herself, Max and Erin try to swat the cups out of people's hands, begging them not to drink it. She saw the mayor and his wife trying everything within reason to calm their poor daughter down and to drink as a family. She had locked eyes with Paul. It now clicked, this ranting and raving made sense. He wasn't insane, he had been telling the truth. All of these stories had carried a grain of truth in them. Somehow, she had been right.

She remembered weeks ago when he had told her a story about his past, She had remarked one night nursing Irish coffee with him while sitting on her back steps. It was after she had heard his story, having absolutely no idea what facts and truths he had rearranged to help his story. After listening, she had been heartbroken, staring at him, her eyes glistening with tears. Before he nervously smirked, giving a soft humorless laugh, before asking what was the matter?

Dee knew even though she wasn't religious, that her feelings for him were wrong. It went from a harmless crush, to something much more intense. She had a feeling, perhaps the same panic filled thoughts of self doubt, and plaguing him. Somehow she thought they were two outsiders new to this island, and hearing this devastating secret about Paul's life made her somehow see him differently. She stared into his dark eyes, her stomach in knots, and her heart hammering in her chest. She wished nothing more than for him to be a reverend, and for this guilty sense of dread to disappear. Staring at him, she continued looking deep into his eyes before saying...

"Your eyes. They have certainly seen a lot. You're what my father would call an old soul."

Paul gave a sad smile and continued staring at her.

"You have no idea..."

With that, both leaned forward, and as she closed her eyes kissing him, knowing very well what they were doing was wrong. Still, as both kissed, huddled together on her back steps, that chilly late February night, she had no idea that the story he had just told her hadn't happened a few years ago, but almost sixty years before. The story that Paul had a daughter, and that she had died when she was just a little girl. Now as she had been attacked and carried out of the church by that thing. One second she was standing, holding the .25 little pocket pistol her ex had given her. Something she usually carried in her purse as an afterthought. Once the poison came out, she remembered it, frantically digging in her purse for it, before she took it out and stared at Paul with heartbroken eyes.' He wasn't what she had thought he was. He wasn't the man she had fallen in love with, despite knowing how wrong it was. He wasn't a man of God, he had brought this thing to the island, and he was something else. He had just confessed who he really was, and standing in the aisle of the church watching people convulse, and vomit blood, made her know instantly that this needed to end. She took her gun out with tears in her eyes, locked them with Paul, and fired. He dropped, and. the monster cried out a loud hiss. In just a mere second it raced towards her, flying, and grabbed into her, as they flew out the door and into the night. She felt it's claws dug into her, as she felt the wind and then the loud sound of the shotgun.

Philip must have heard the noise from the church, and was hurrying over with his gun when he saw the creature mid-flight. It instantly dropped her onto the grass with a heavy thud as it shrieked and went to Philip, grabbed him, and dropped itself and him down the hill where he began to feed. Laying on the grass, her sides bleeding, she stared up at the star night sky and wondered if this was her punishment for falling in love with a priest? She slowly rolled over and saw Philip being fed on. She weakly rolled over, trying to sit up when suddenly she remembered. It was after the first night they had made love. She had laid in bed, telling him how she was just visiting the island to tie up things with her mother's old house they had been renting ever since she had met her father and moved off the island. She had told him her mother and father had died when she was only sixteen, and that's where she met her ex husband who she would marry in a few years. After years of partying, and making mistakes, she finally called it quits, and shortly after the divorce papers had been signed, she had plans to move down to New Mexico, where she got the news about the brain tumor. The doctor had given her a year, maybe less if she didn't seek treatment. So she came to the island where her parents had met, and wanted to sell off her mother's house that they had been renting out for the last twenty or so years, When she told Paul this in bed, something had changed in his eyes.

They looked desperate, and heartbroken. The same way he looked at photographs of her mother that she had brought. With that he took the wine bottle he had brought off the nightstand and held it out to her. "Drink." Dee usually hated wine, and had originally politely refused earlier, claiming it made her headaches worse. But then, Paul held the bottle out, his face stern and he held it out. "Take a sip. Please." Raising her eyebrows, she giggled before shrugging and taking the bottle and taking a swing. It had a bite to it, and she made a face before passing it back. Paul instantly relaxed, smiling at her, and now as she laid on. the grass watching Philip get eaten by that creature just a few yards away, she knew now what Paul had done. She had taken the blood, and was tainted. Getting to her knees, she clawed at the grass, before getting to her feet, swaying slightly. She saw her gun, thrown a few feet away, and hurried over grabbing it. Turning, she ran down towards the creature and philip and began to fire. The creature fed on Philip, and didn't even flinch. Staring in disbelief, she stood there, before turning and seeing the town's people empty out looking like wild animals.

Quickly she hurried away, shoving her gun into her pocket, before circling back to the church. As she ran, she instantly knew she was in Hell, and this was her punishment for falling in love with Paul.