It was dark inside the church. Dark as the hell inside her. It was a few years since “the THING” had happened to her. Mostly now, it was way back in her mind. But the darkness still remained.

She had gone to light candles. To pierce the darkness. Hers and her friend’s. Her friend had been attacked by her own dog, and now she was being monitored for rabies. She had spent the last two days on the phone with her friend, listening, trying to calm her. But all that there was to do now was light candles.

Kathy entered the church – a place which had become her home since “the THING” had happened. Well, she said it was her home, but in reality nowhere felt safe any more. “Hold Thou Thy Cross before my closing eyes” he had sung as he did “the THING”to her. Who could ever…