Page 33 of The Cute Psycho

Who could it be? If it's not someone Guerra sent, then who else?

Send me the Holy water with a Vatican certification and I may click the link.

Pushing my chin up, I feel a little proud of myself for not giving in. Instead, I power off the phone and I place it back in its hiding place.

If they don't plan on killing me, that's all the assurance I need.

Well, imagine my surprise when I open the door to leave for work the following morning.

Holy water. Two gallons of it.

Hanging from the neck of the bottle is a ribbon and a small note.

With love from Vatican City.

Incredulously, I look back and forth between the note and the water. Is it someone from the inside? It has to be; otherwise, no one would have been able to place the water here. The security at Sacre Coeur is tighter than a prison, so no outsider could have done this.

I do the only thing I can think of. I grab the phone, turn it on, and send another message.

Who are you?

Despite my initial reservations, the unknown number and I establish a routine of texting back and forth. I'm a little embarrassed to admit, even to myself, that I started craving the interactions simply because I'm lonely. It's funny how when Lina and Claudia had been around, I'd considered myself such a strong person and I'd confidently declared that I didn't need anyone. Yet the moment they disappeared from my life, I started leaning on a stranger...

Not my best moment.

Our interactions are not constant and consist mostly of him trying novel ways of getting me to click that damned link, and me not clicking it. But somehow they've become the highlight of my day.

I mean, when all I do is work and sleep, a little non-spiteful humaninteraction can do wonders. I'd even become a little reckless in that I'd started carrying my phone with me outside my room.

Congratulations! You've won a brand new cow. Follow the link to redeem your prize!

I shake my head at the message, quickly typing my reply and attaching a picture. When he'd seen that the regular prizes did not work, he'd started coming up with the craziest ideas, like the one at hand.

No thank you. I already have a cow.

I send a picture I'd snapped of Lizzy, my favorite cow, when I was milking her. The reply, though, doesn't surprise me in the least.

Congratulations! You've won a brand new ox to mate with your cow. Follow the link to redeem your prize!

A slight giggle escapes me, but I quickly compose myself when I see some nuns heading my way. Afraid of getting caught with the phone on me, I quickly dash toward the cemetery, since no one should be there today.

But just as I cross by the church, I hear a blood-curdling scream. I still, frowning. Before I know it, I'm dashing inside, opening the door and stepping toward the altar.

One of the younger sisters is on the floor, staring in front of her with shock. Her entire body is trembling as she tries to find her voice to scream again. When I turn my eyes to the source of her terror, my eyes widen.

"Lord," I whisper, almost dropping my phone.

Behind the altar, Sister Elizabeth's body is nailed to the wall, her habit wide open to reveal an empty chest cavity.

I take a step forward and note that her organs and everything thatshouldhave been inside of her are laid on the altar table.

I move closer, and the most striking feature jumps out at me.

The letter C is branded on her forehead.

"Lina..." My thoughts immediately lead me to Lina. Because this looks entirely too similar to how Father Guerra's body had been treated, the organs on display, the body ravaged by some type of wild beast.

I don't even think as I dial her number, afraid that this could have been intended for her.

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