He leaned back against the pew, his head tilting up as he brought the silver laden rim of the flask up to his lips. The burning liquid streamed down his throat, charring his flesh with its fire. His lips pursed, his features contorting in an instant of disgust as the liquor settled in his stomach, soothing his aching bones with its numbing hands.

“The devil’s drink? In a house of God? How unlike you, Sehun.”

The voice sounded like the silken harmony of a choir to his ears, his very soul perking up at the familiar pitch. Her name fell from his lips in a whimper of a prayer, his chest constricting with each syllable as if the Holy Spirit itself had wrenched the word from his lungs. There was nothing so tortuously freeing, he thought, as speaking her name out loud.

“Sehun,” she tilted her head, looking down at him from the altar, her abysmal, raven eyes cloaked in a veil of what might have been pity, “Why did you call me here, love?”

His gaze traveled up and down her figure, marveling at the being before him as he sighed, breathing itself becoming a labor for him, “You don’t really need to ask, do you?”

“I might be hoping my assumption is wrong.”

He smiled bitterly, his gaze falling to the rack upon the back of the seat before him. The black leather binding of the sole book within it stuck out, frayed and dusty from lack of use. He removed the small book from its place, turning it over in his softly trembling hands. There was no title on the cover, nor anywhere else. There didn’t need to be.

“You’re not wrong.”

The woman sighed, taking a step down from the altar.

“I didn’t know your kind could step into churches.” He pondered, the faint smile still playing on his lips as he opened the book, the old, yellowed paper crinkling as if opened for the first time.

“We’re permitted wherever anyone might summon us,” she answered, her tone light, as if she might laugh. The sound never made it to her lips, her voice dying down as she added, “My kind aren’t very popular in such places as these, as you can imagine.”

He slammed the book shut, the layer of dust upon the spine jumping into the air. His lips turned down in a frown, dropping it back into the bookrack. “I can’t imagine why.”

She didn’t respond, but took another step forward, her fingers laced together before her waist.

“How long do you have?” the words rung like bells within the empty room. For a moment, he almost thought he’d truly heard them.

Sehun flipped open the cap of his flask, taking another swig before replying, “Can’t be much longer now. An hour, maybe.”

“How can you know?” she furrowed her brow.

He avoided her gaze, staring down at the silver encasement clasped in his hand, “You can feel it happen, you know. Days, weeks, even months before.”

His lips trembled, his eyes growing glassy as he swallowed. “I felt it two months ago. I woke up at around four, in the middle of the night, and I felt it. Something just… changed.”

“What changed?” she asked, her voice hardly above a whisper.

His broad shoulders fell in a shrug as he reached up to ruffle the nest of hair falling upon his eyelashes. “My body just… gave up, I guess. It’s ready to stop now. It’s just waiting for me. For my soul.”  

“Sehun-“

“What’s going to happen to me?” he looked up desperately, his eyes, usually stoic and dark, seemed to tremble with life, with fear. He clenched his jaw, asking again, “What’s going to happen when it all stops?”

She bit her lip, reluctance painting her features. “I can’t tell you, Sehun.”

“Why?”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Just tell me,” he urged, “Where is He?”

She in a breath, averting her gaze from his. “Who?”

He didn’t respond for a moment, the word hanging in the air when it finally left his lips. “Him.”

She didn’t need to look up to see what he’d directed her attention towards. The statue stood tall behind the altar, reaching the very ceiling of the structure, his arms held out in rivers of blood.

“How could I know that?”

“You have to.” He stood up, “You have to know. Someone has to know. Right?”

“But me?” she almost laughed, something irritating stinging at her eyes. Vessels always seemed to bring out the worst in her kind.

“I thought he loved the sinner.” Sehun spoke quietly, an almost childlike naivety coloring his features.

Her lip trembled. She bit down upon it fiercely, nearly drawing blood as she turned away from him, facing the altar, her gaze falling to the all too familiar brushstrokes upon the floor, the telltale sign of her kind, the mark of sin they couldn’t help but burn behind in their presence.

“Is that all you called me here for, Sehun?” she asked, her voice low, controlled, “I can’t tell you anything about Him. I have nothing to tell.”

“It’s not all.” He replied, equally as quiet, his voice husky and tired. Indeed, he was right. He’d hardly an hour before it would be his time.

“I want to make the deal with you.”
She turned back to glare at him, a sudden rage boiling through her veins. “No.”

“I want this.” He furrowed his brow, “Now, before it’s too late.”

“I won’t do it, Sehun.”

“Why?!” he very nearly screamed, the flask thrown at the altar, a fire burning within his eyes she hadn’t seen in years, “Isn’t that what you started following me for in the first place? All those years ago? Isn’t it what you wanted? Take it! You can have it all- I want you to!”

“No, you don’t.”

“What good is it going to do me, huh?” he cried out, his fingers tangling in his hair, “I’m going to hell anyways.”

She flinched at his outburst, the anger dying down to the same dull pity as before. “What could you have possibly done to deserve hell?”

He laughed, fumbling through the pockets of his jacket for a pack of cigarettes, lighting one up and taking a hit before closing his eyes. The smoke twirled out from between his ruddy lips, clouding the air in gray. “Just touching you was enough.”  

The words stung more than she thought they might have, her hands clenching into fists. Her voice didn’t tremble as she replied, “Absolution will forgive even the deepest sins.”

“I don’t want forgiveness for it.” He spoke up, his eyes locking with hers, sending a short shiver down her spine. She vaguely wondered if it were possible for her kind to feel such sensations.

“They teach us to love our neighbors and pray for our enemies.” He continued, turning around to walk down the aisle, taking another deep breath of the smoke. “They tell us not to raise a finger against the sinners unless we never sinned ourselves. And look at them.”

He pushed open the large wooden door, the misty scent of rain welcoming his senses as he stared out at the vast plain of forest. He finished the last bits of the stick, flicking it into the grass as he blew out the smoke softly. His head was dizzy, his lungs aching as he leaned against the frame, hands in his jacket pockets. “If they can’t love someone like you how can I believe anything they said?”

“You don’t want to do this, Sehun.”

“If He really has a problem with it, He can says so now.” He turned back to glance at her over his shoulder. “Do you think he’ll say anything?”

She didn’t respond and he laughed, taking a tired step out of the church. “I didn’t think so either.”

She followed behind as he continued out into the field, the rain falling gently about his figure, bouncing off his body like a shield. He tilted his head, his neck craning to take in the vast expanse of clouds looming overhead.

“That’s a shame.” He mumbled, “I would’ve liked to see the Sun.”

“How much longer, Sehun?” she asked, approaching his side.

“Five minutes.” He breathed, closing his eyes as the pellets of rain collided with his skin, “Just give me five minutes.”

“You know I won’t do it.”

“Why?”

“Don’t ask me that.”

“I’m going to hell anyways.”

“Then I’ll see you there.”

“You know it’s yours anyways.” His voice seemed almost to break, along with something inside her.

She turned to find him staring at her, her dark, dying pupils holding her gaze with desperation. His cold hands reached out for hers, turning her to face him. His eyes shifted over her features, drinking them in, a hand coming up to brush against her cheek.

“All those years,” he sighed, his gaze falling to her lips, “Was anything you said sincere?”

She shook her head lightly, a firm “No” forming on . Before the word could take form, he leaned in, capturing her lips with his own, the very touch of her flesh twisting his soul from the inside out, the pain almost unbearable were it not for the sweet honeyed taste of her kiss. His hands found their way to her neck, his thumbs brushing against her cheeks as he felt her lashes flutter against his skin. He kissed with a kind of desperation, urgent and passionate, yet fading with each passing second. His limbs grew weak, his lungs withering to nothing. With much reluctance, he pulled away, breathing against her cheek.

“Take it now.”

Her eyes flickered between his own, a sigh shaking her shoulders before she spoke, “Do you know, Sehun, He says to love the sinner and hate the sin.”

His skin grew paler by the second, the red pigment draining from his lips as the rain fell ever harder.

“Because the sin is what’s truly evil, the sinner merely a vessel through which it moves.”

A soft please carried from his lips into the wind. She dug her nails into her palms, shaking her head.

“But I’m not the sinner, love.” She breathed, the tone of pity, of empathy lilting in her voice. She brought a hand to his cheek, feeling the life drain from his body as he fell to his knees. “He could never love me- could never forgive me- because I am the sin.”

He reached out for her hand as she pulled away, clutching onto her fingers as he panted for a moment more to live. She met his gaze, her features contorting for an instant, just long enough for him to see the pain.

“I still do.” he mumbled, leaning against her side, his hand trailing down her leg as he closed his eyes, “I do.”

Her lip curled in as she reached out to run her fingers through his hair, hearing the last instant of vitality fall from his lips. She breathed in deep, craning her neck to watch as the clouds rumbled with nights of rain to come. Her voice broke, overwhelmed by the thunder as she whispered to herself,

“I’ll see you in hell then after all, Sehun.”