Page 224 of The Monster and the Masochist

My vision bled red as I stalked silently down the hall with my gun clutched firmly at my side.

The path forward was clear, and my subconscious cataloged the markers I’d made note of while watching the security footage the vampire had shown us.

Nothing about this place felt holy or sacred.

It felt plastic and cheap.

Manufactured.

A stage.

Or maybe it was just a cage.

I knew what it was to be caged.

Commercial carpet kept my steps silent, and the white walls were nearly bare.

It felt dishonest.

How could a place so vile be so clean?

I wanted the walls of this place to reflect the horrors they boxed in.

I wanted to paint them red.

The door to the reverend’s office stood like a beacon at the end of the hall, but there were three doors between us that needed to be opened first.

We were already at the first one.

I blinked, then I was there.

I stared at the handle, and my mouth watered with anticipation.

Kill them.

Kill them all.

It only took a gentle push, and the door swung inward.

There was no time to comfort the young girl on her knees.

Not when there was a man standing before her like a nightmare.

I didn’t need to think.

Cassandra had trained this body for years, and I relied heavily on the memory of her muscles to aim the gun.

The man had barely glanced up by the time I was pulling the trigger.

His shout of alarm died on his tongue almost as quickly as my bullet passed through his skull.

The nameless man crumbled to the ground, like a marionette with cut strings.

The young girl opened her mouth to scream, but suddenly, the vampire was there.

He crouched before her and clapped a firm hand over her mouth. Holding up a finger to his lips, he gently shook his head. Though still panic-stricken and pale, the girl seemed to understand, and once he was sure she was calm, the vampire released her.

“He said if I prayed, I would be saved,” the girl whispered, and a growl built in my throat as I watched a tear spill down her cheek. “I prayed and prayed, but none of the angels listened.”