Page 95 of False Idols

“A sane one that doesn’t fucking kill people,” Beau snaps and rounds the desk to stand beside me. He takes my hand the second he’s near me. “You okay?” he asks me but his eyes don’t leave Pastor Mike.

“I’m fine,” I tell him and swallow hard. “The other one was Minnie,” I say quietly.

“Fuck,” Beau breathes, but Pastor Mike’s eyes go to the other room.

“What did you do to my disciple?” he growls. He’s finally realized it’s too quiet. That Minnie isn’t coming to save him.

“I fucking killed her. You’re on your own now.”

Rage fills Pastor Mike’s eyes and he stops holding his knife like a Bible. Instead, he points it at us and takes a step forward. “You are vermin! She was a pure soul and you defiled her!”

“No she wasn’t! She was supposed to be my friend and you killed my mother,” I scream back. “She was your most devout parishioner. Why did you kill her?” My mother would have given the Church anything. She might not have loved me, but she loved Pastor Mike. She loved Crown of Thorns. Nothing about her death makes sense.

“I killed your mother because she was a whore!” Pastor Mike explodes and he starts to pace the length of the office as he rants. “Your mother hid behind lies and deceit, but her deeds came to light soon enough. When they did, I purified her. Her adultery made her in need of redemption. For the Lord is vengeful and strong in wrath. The Lord is vengeful against his foes; he rages against his enemies.”

Beau winces and sags against the wall. “Fuck his Bible quoting ass. I’m going to kill him,” he says but I see how Beau is hurt. I have to keep The Reaper talking. I have to find a way to end this.

“Adultery?” I ask. “Who? Who did she sin with?”

Pastor Mike laughs and wipes at his face with the hand holding his knife. The casual juxtaposition of the bloody blade near the face I know so well makes me sick. He was never Pastor Mike. He’s always been The Reaper.

“With none other than John Du Pont.”

Beau makes a strangled sound at hearing his father’s name and I understand. Outside of cleaning their house, I never once saw my mother speak to Mr. Du Pont. When did she find the time to be with him? How did I never know?

“I’ll be paying your wicked father a visit when I’m done here. He has a debt to pay if he wants to save his soul like your mother did,” he says and gestures around the room. “This house of sin made a perfect resting place for your mother.”

My eyes water. I never felt close or loved by my mom, but what happened to her was more than horrific. More than anyone ever deserved to have done to them. The terror she must have felt at it being Pastor Mike, the man she trusted more than anyone, that tortured and killed her.

“You’re sick. She trusted you.”

“And she defiled her body with another woman’s husband. She lost her right to salvation when she sinned, Nevaeh.”

“When did you kill her?” I ask, ignoring his words. I don’t care about the reason he had for killing her. “When?”

“The day I brought your things, of course,” he tells me and I feel sick. “Made a rather neat go of it to deal with that slut’s soul and collect your things,” he pauses and looks at me with a sigh. “That was, of course, before you dirtied your soul.”

“What are you talking about? You were always going to kill me because I lied,” I say. Minnie wanted to punish me for my lie about Beau, but she also hated me. She was never my friend, but Pastor Mike? I trusted him like anyone else in town.

“No, you didn’t mean that,” he said and gave me a pitying look, like he was still the one that was right. The one meant to offer counsel. “You tried to tell them, but no one listened. I know this, you told me.” It’s true. I did tell him about Beau and my doubts because no one else would listen. Pastor Mike was safe. He promised to keep my secret. He promised Minnie the same. My hands shake. How close was I to being where Minnie is? Would I have fallen under Pastor Mike’s hand if he’d pushed me to?

How close to the edge was Minnie that he was able to turn her into a killer? If it happened to her, it could easily have been me. Or anyone for that matter. Good, bad, evil. It’s all relative at the end of the day.

“Then why? Why are you after me?! I trusted you!”

“Because you laid with him,” The Reaper says and points his knife at Beau. I glance at Beau and see he looks pale. He’s lost too much blood. He has one hand against the wall and glares at The Reaper.

“She fucked my brains out. No laying involved,” Beau says. I know he’s going to do something stupid. The Reaper’s eyes go to him and when he takes a step towards him, my heart turns to ice.

I watch The Reaper sneer at Beau. “You were always so prideful. Always. That’s the Du Pont family’s greatest sin,” he snarls.

“You couldn’t stand me getting credit for your kill so you gift wrapped the murder weapon to the cops,” Beau shoots back and even though he looks weak he laughs. “What’s the matter? Your ego couldn’t take people thinking I was The Reaper? You could have kept killing if you’d left Nevaeh and I out of this.”

“There was never any leaving either of you out of this!” The Reaper explodes. “You survived me. Survived God’s hand! No one is allowed to look upon the Lord! ‘He said, you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live. '”

His knife flashes in the light when he slashes it at us along with his words. “You had to be judged. Retribution paid. The both of you forced my hand with your sinful behavior.” He looks at me. “That was when your soul was done. You were going down the same path as your mother. I could not let evil like that grow in the world. You needed to be dealt with. Do you think I didn’t see what you did at that party?” The Reaper asks, but he’s walking towards Beau.

“The both of you, sinful, depraved souls. You watched him touch her, Nevaeh. You loved it. Minnie destroyed that temptation from ever happening again, but that still leaves you.”

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