Delilah Recovered **2017 Watty Winner**

chapter sixteen

Standing alone with her hands on her hips, Delilah studied the angel church. Her church. It all began right here on these steps under The Triple Moon. She had made her decision to hand over her life to Ascent. The building began to sway back and forth, becoming pixelated. She rubbed her eyes, and the front door turned into a bright white arch.

Faye shuffled outside blinking against the bright sun. "Yo, hurry up. Will ya?"

Delilah took a few tentative steps toward the entrance not sure if they'd disappear and suck her in like cosmic quicksand. Once she entered the arch disappeared and she was left standing in a hallway.

"What's happened to the church?"

Faye waved her hands. "It's called witchcraft."

Delilah was frustrated at every turn, she never knew what was happening.

Faye took pity on her. "There are witches in your coven who can use their minds to alter physical reality. They take matter and bend it to what they see in their mind."

"I'm in someone's imagination?"

Talking real slow, "Think of it like this...before you have a car, what do you really have?" Faye explained. "Pieces of metal, steel, plastic that all come together to form what we know as a car. What you are standing in are pieces of brick and mortar that have been changed to build your sanctuary. Instead of using equipment, they use their minds to bend their will to build it. Got me?"

"Is the church still here then?"

"And Schrödinger's cat is still alive in another quantum reality," she said sarcastically, leading her down a hallway lined in white ceramic subway tiles, a marble floor lit by gleaming ornate gold candelabras.

They entered a bathroom covered in small blue glass tiles that formed a wave pattern giving the impression that they were standing inside of a swell.

Faye handed her an ivory satin kimono with hand-painted white and black swans on it. "Take off your clothes and put this on."

Delilah sat on a little bench and put her head between her knees trying to calm herself down. This is a colossal mistake. I should've taken the one-way ticket to France.

Faye patted her on her back. "We don't really have time for a nervous breakdown, so suck it up and get naked because your Benefactor is waiting on you."

Signaling for Faye to turn around, "Some, privacy please."

"Good grief, we've both got the same parts," Faye sighed, turning away.

"What's Benefactor?"

"Like your sponsor, your teacher, your sensei, your Yoda."

Delilah removed her jeans and t-shirt, folded them into a tidy pile, and put on the robe. "Ready," she announced.

Faye pointed at a white door. "Get in the tub, take off your robe, and wait," she said, wheeling around and heading to the door.

"You're leaving me?"

"This is my stop." Faye ambled back over and swept Delilah into a bear hug. "You got this."

With trepidation, Delilah opened the door, and to her surprise, it was a dusty pink room with a gold leaf oval-shaped inground bathtub filled with rose petals in the center. Gentle inviting steam drifted up into the air, she dropped her kimono and lowered her body into the warm water. Every muscle in her body relaxed, her bones felt like jelly, as she inhaled the fragrant oils with an aroma of frankincense and oranges.

She was so tranquil. With her eyes closed, she didn't hear the door open or her Benefactor walk in.

"Hey, there Delilah," a friendly voice said.