[This is a work in progress! Please read content warnings at the end before starting] Agnes, at one point in her life, wanted to be thoroughly cleansed. Although the church had become a complicated thing for her, she was loyal and wore a lot of white to show a dedication to virtue and chastity. After a terrible incident involving her father after her eighteenth birthday, she prayed harder. Through her confusion, she remained loyal to the institution that created a spiral of forever seeking salvation. In the deeply religious South, however, nothing is as it seems. Years later, after an emotional crisis and mental breakdown, and after meeting a persuasive demon in a psychiatric hospital, Agnes has to make a decision she can't take back. Will she liberate herself and pursue the entrancing Mephistopheles, or will she remain bound to the tissue-thin pages of a book that has forever caused her grief? [You can find the playlist linked below the first chapter 🖤 Also here: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL48xlEjquNtuu290XWm78LmVwygv1i5IX&si=J3hrSAjnhzCRWxFH] Content warning; this story covers a few very heavy topics; religious trauma (including religious-based misogyny), mentions of a gray area of CSA by a father (only mentioned, off-page and symbolized in a dream), and graphic self-harm and mental instability. More will be added if necessary for future chapters.