Killers: A Watchers Novella

Summer

"Isn't Father Gary a dream?"

Edna snorts and leans toward her sister to say, "Not mine."

They are sitting in the pews of a small chapel, nestled inside a starkly gothic building that was once a convent. Therese has been coming here for a couple of weeks now and Edna finally decided to see where her little sister is spending so much of her time.

The building is in disrepair and the congregation is small. Father Gary is a little heavy-handed with the proselytizing, but Edna suspects that's not Therese's motive. She's spent the last forty-five minutes making goo-goo eyes at a man of the cloth.

Therese always was a silly one.

It just goes to show how much she needs Edna, even now that she's technically an adult. The world is a scary enough place without falling into the web of the wrong kind of spider, and Edna has made it her mission to keep her sister safe and happy.

"There are many who will seek to destroy us," Father Gary is saying from the pulpit, his voice booming across the small room. "As individuals, we are weak and ineffective. Together, we stand strong and deliver the will of God."

Edna has a strong urge to roll her eyes. She's never been one for God and religion, but Therese is the type that needs something to latch onto. Better it be God than someone who could hurt her, or abandon her. They'd both had enough of that in their lives.

"You're going to stay after so I can introduce you, right?" she whispers, and a couple of old biddies in the pew behind them shush her.

Edna turns around to scowl at them and they avert their eyes back to the pulpit. Then she tells Therese, "Yes. I'd like to meet him."

Father Gary has been like a case of head lice in their house over the last few weeks. At first it's just an itchy feeling, then you spot a few bugs, and before you know it, they're colonizing your head. Therese heard about the Haven of Salvation on the radio, a new church for those in need of hope, and it didn't take long for her to become utterly and completely infatuated.

Edna needs to know if it's the man or the idea that has her sister so wound up.

Father Gary holds his arms out to his flock at the end of the sermon, his black clerical robes flowing down to the floor like the wings of a great bird. He closes with, "Remember, my children, there may be many eyes watching you, but only God has the right to judge. Go in peace."

"Amen," the congregation says in unison, and Edna twitches at the unexpected harmonization.

Then everyone is getting up and filing out, and Therese takes her hand, leading her up the aisle to Father Gary in the pulpit.

"Therese, my child," he greets her with a broad, toothy grin.

It's almost too big, and definitely unnatural, but Edna attributes this to her general unease of being here. She'll check Father Gary and his church out for Therese, but she's certainly not planning to come along for the ride.

Therese makes a fool of herself, literally throwing herself into Father Gary's arms. Edna thinks about telling her that priests are celibate - Therese is only eighteen so maybe she doesn't know. But then Father Gary graciously extracts himself from her arms and turns his attention to Edna.

"And this must be your sister," he says, holding out his hand. He has to look up to meet her gaze - Edna is a good three or four inches taller than Father Gary and she likes the way he looks mildly intimidated when she takes his hand. "Therese has told me much about you."

"Has she?" Edna asks, casting a hard look at her sister.

"My, what a strong grip you have," Father Gary says, and Edna squeezes his hand a little bit tighter before letting go. Don't you dare do anything to hurt my baby sister, buck-o, she thinks, but unless Father Gary has the gift of telepathy as well as the message of God, he probably doesn't get the message.

"Edna's a sticker," Therese says, and there's a weird pride in her voice that Edna doesn't like. Normally, she goes out of her way to keep Edna's profession from people.

"A...?"

Father Gary looks lost, so Edna takes pity on him.

"A sticker," she says. "I work in a slaughterhouse."

That's usually all she needs to say, then people connect the dots in their heads and stop making eye contact with her. Father Gary's different, though. His eyes bore into her until she's the first to break away.

"I actually need to be going," she says. "I picked up an afternoon shift today."

"Well," Father Gary says, his toothy grin resurfacing, "it was very nice to meet you, Edna. I hope to see you in the congregation again next week."

"We'll see," Edna says.

Therese looks pretty unhappy about Father Gary's attention being directed away from her, and when Edna excuses herself, Therese waves her away and says, "Yeah, I'll see you at home. Bye."

Then she begins fawning over Father Gary again and Edna rolls her eyes to her sister's back. She might be a floozy, but it's not like she's going to get herself into any trouble with a priest. After their first meeting, Father Gary isn't Edna's favorite person, but he seems okay.

* * *

Every Sunday after that, Therese flounces her way downtown to listen to Father Gary's sermons. She lingers at the church until late in the afternoon some Sundays and comes home brimming with excitement about all the things Father Gary says and everything he's planning at the Haven.

"That building is so big, he wants to put it to good use," she says one day while Edna is reheating the lunch she prepared which has long gone cold. "He's going to set up a homeless shelter and create jobs to get people back on their feet. He's such a selfless, God-like man."

"Don't you mean godly?" Edna asks. "There's a difference."

"You know what I meant," Therese snaps, then smiles and corrects her tone. "He's doing so much for everyone in his congregation already and he's got big plans to do even more."

"That's good," Edna says. "It sounds like he's a good influence."

Therese scowls at her. She knows Edna thinks she's immature, but they both know that ever since their parents died, Edna has been unwilling to push Therese out of the nest. She'll continue working as many hours at the slaughterhouse as she can get to pay for their tiny but sufficient apartment just outside of the really bad neighborhoods.

If Therese wants to devote her life to serving the poor alongside Father Gary, Edna can't exactly fault her for that.

"Sit down and eat your lunch," she instructs, laying Therese's reheated plate on the table.

Therese obediently takes a seat, then says with a roll of her eyes, "Oh, I almost forgot. Father Gary sends his blessings and invites you to next week's service."

It's clear that she doesn't want to deliver the message just as much as Edna doesn't want to receive it. Edna knows that she's a big woman with a slight hunch to her back (the word hulking has been uttered on more than one occasion), and that her job makes her a pariah among polite company.

Therese loves her, but now that she's an adult, a little distance between them will probably serve her well. Edna doesn't resent this fact - not since the car accident that made her responsible for her little sister.

She sits down across from Therese and says, "I won't be able to make it, but send Father Gary my thanks."

Therese's shoulders visibly relax as she digs into her meal.

To be continued...