Anemoia // Sally Face

37: The Church

What was that...?

It was an overcast day, and I was just driving home from the store when in the distance, a large explosion erupted. But where did it come from? Without thinking, I began to drive in the direction of the explosion, curiosity eating away at me. The closer I got, the sicker my stomach felt... it couldn't have been...

My suspicion was correct, it was the Phelps ministry church that had just blown up.

I wouldn't have cared about the church in any other circumstance, but I was worried if anyone was still inside that could have gotten hurt, and even with all the things the others have told me in the past about a cult living in their basement, I was worried, did the cult succeed?

I pulled into the parking lot of the church and debris was everywhere, littering the once perfect lawn. Hardly anything was left but a small wooden frame. I got out of the car and ran towards the remains, probably a stupid idea, but my legs moved on their own.

I didn't even notice them at first... the hunched over figure in the middle of the church, a man laying on the floor and someone in a brown hood... they looked so familiar. That's when I noticed, it was Ash on her knees above the man, the man being Todd.

"What are you guys doing here!" I yelled. I ran to them, and when Ash heard me, she stood up and looked shocked.

"Katie?!"

"Ash what the fuck happened? Don't tell me YOU blew this place up!" I frantically asked.

"I- yes I did. But I had to! You missed so much, and I can't even begin to explain, there's just so much to say-"

I didn't let her finish. I looked at the person covered by a brown gown. It was a man with a large black beard, and even though his face was covered by a hood, I could see his eyes. They were pale white and stared right back at you. Eyes that looks familiar, but from a place I couldn't reach. Eyes that once looked at me with the same care.

"Larry..." I whispered, moving away from Ash, and towards him. I didn't know whether it was truly him or not, but those eyes... they looked so much like his, just older, and ghostly, like how Megan's were.

"Yeah, it's me," the man said.

I couldn't help but smile, even though I was on the verge of tears, and completely confused by everything. I grabbed him into a hug and let out a sad laugh.

"I thought I'd never get to see you again!"

"I'm so sorry..." he whispered in my ear, making sure Ash couldn't hear what he had to say, almost like he only wanted me to hear his words. "That day you came to the treehouse, I was a ghost, and you couldn't see me, but I heard everything."

"So, you know how I feel right?"

"Yes. And let me say this Katie, I've had to wander in this form for years, even though I wasn't in this dimension or whatever, time continued for me, and I'm afraid... I have no time left. I'm going to disappear and even my ghost won't be around. I'll truly be dead,"

No....

"This- is the last time we'll ever get to talk?" I stutter out.

"I'm sorry,"

There are so many things I've wanted to say to Larry, since the day he died. Things I wished he could hear while alive. I finally have that chance to recite everything, but now... everything has left my mind. I'm just so scared to lose him forever. Afraid of a world where even his ghost won't be present. A world that even when I die, I won't get to see him. He'll forever be a faint memory in my mind.