Of course, I wasn’t in good shape myself. When Vince got home from school on Friday, he decided that taking me to his church might help. I didn’t really feel like it, but he was insistent. My family is Protestant, and my parents are not emphatic about church attendance. Vince’s family is Catholic, and I’m surprised Vince isn’t in his own version of private school. However, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper are adamant about the public school thing in the same way Mom is adamant about Wolcroft.
Prayer couldn’t hurt at this stage of things.
The Catholic priesthood tends to draw men interested in monster hunting. That’s because demons seem to be drawn to priests, so I understand turn about is fair play. Besides, I’ve never seen an exorcism film with a Protestant minister starring in it, unless the Protestant minister is a scary zealot. Maybe demons are attracted to Catholicism because they have cooler buildings and neater outfits. Since Catholic priests fight demons, they know a lot of tricks, and they have a lot of useful equipment in the fight against evil. Vince, however, was thinking that I might be interested in the more traditional aspects of a priest’s job, namely getting comfort.
Like so many Catholic churches, this one made an attempt to stretch up to God. We went before the five-thirty service, and we were alone in the church, except for a janitor who was vacuuming up and down the aisles.
“Do you want to talk to Father Victor?” Vince’s voice was gentle, like he didn’t want to talk too loud or I would break.
Which I did. I sobbed. I sank down into one of the pews and cried like I wouldn’t let myself cry in front of my father and Vince held me for I don’t know how long. My throat grew raw and my nose ran. Vince gave me a Kleenex from the box the janitor bought. When I was done, exhausted, I noticed the janitor was dusting the front pews.
I appreciated Vince not telling me everything was going to be all right, because I didn’t think it was going to be all right. It was pretty awful. I pulled myself together as much as I could, and I walked up to the janitor.
“Thank you,” I said, giving him the box of Kleenex back.
The janitor nodded.
“Chuck,” said Vince, “is Father Victor here?”
“Vince,” I said. “I don’t need to talk to anyone.”
“No,” said the janitor. “Father Stewart is here.”
“We’ll see him,” said Vince.
I didn’t have the strength to chew Vince out. An older priest came out of the back, balding on top, but with white hair which came to points on the sides of his head. He had gold wire-rimmed glasses.
“How are you, Father?” Vince asked.
“Vincente. What can I do for you?” said Father Stewart.
“My friend Abby, her mom’s in the hospital. I wondered if you might talk to her.”
I really didn’t want to do this. I noted Vince had a word with the janitor, and the two of them disappeared into the back behind the altar. Father Stewart sat down on the pew at the front of the church. I sank onto the cushion by him.
“I am sorry about your mother,” said Father Stewart. “Do you want to talk about what happened? Would you like to say a prayer for her?”
So we did, and I felt better. Maybe saying the words and asking for help, that was important. Maybe I should go back to the hospital and hold Dad’s hands and say things like Father Stewart was saying to me. There wasn’t anything that I could do to change what had happened. What could I do to make Dad feel supported as his world fell apart?
Vince came back and waited respectfully until I was done. We went outside, the sun low in the sky. Vince carried a paper sack with handles.
“Thanks,” I said. Talking to Father Stewart had done more to comfort me than I would have guessed.
“It’s what I do,” said Vince. “I’m your best friend. All about support. Marty called. She wants to see you. I said I’d get you to the rink tomorrow.”
“I should call her, let her know I’m okay.” I hadn’t talked to her in three days. “What’s in the bag?”
“Holy wafers. Holy water. Chuck helped me box up this stuff.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He does it for some of the priests. I explained to him about the vampires, and we raided a supply cabinet. In case you’re interested, I downed some holy water. No one can influence me now.”
We continued the walk home. The sun was sinking under the edge of the horizon. “Are you planning to do something?”
“Yes. As soon as Ned gets back, I’m going after them.”
I stopped in my tracks. “Don’t be stupid, Vince. If Mom and Mr. Christopher couldn’t handle Larissa, what makes you think you and Ned can?”
“I don’t know. Surprise, maybe.”
“I would really, really appreciate it if you didn’t get yourself maimed. Or killed.”
“Abby, we’ve got to stop them.”
“Didn’t you hear what Ned said in the diner?” Three weeks ago, but it was really a decade in terms of what had happened in my life. “Your dad and Ned thought they could take the vampire out, and look what happened to Ned.”
The air whooshed and I shivered, goose bumps on my forearms. Coral was sitting in a tree. No sign of Ned, who I hoped would be trailing her. Maybe he was so skilled I couldn’t see him.
She drifted down. Vince held the bag out in front of us. She fidgeted, keeping her distance. “What’s in there?”
Vince sized
