Chapter 69.5

Whatever this new sense was, its purpose lay with other people. Confident that she could mingle in crowds without exposing herself, Vee set her sights on the neighborhood surrounding the graveyard, hoping to find a place of congregation. She found restaurants, auto shops, drug stores, and countless other small businesses that likely served people with relatively neutral mindsets. If her experiences in the graveyard were of any indication, she needed to find a place that might elicit charged emotions.

Then she found it. A metal cross suspended high atop a thin pillar marking the location of a local church. She caught hints of sunlight descending on a stained-glass mural, the surrounding building built from pristine, dull red bricks beneath curved, stylish windows. Content there would be no better alternative, Vee set off.

Much like her initial trip to the graveyard, it took her longer than she expected to arrive at the church. Her own acute senses still confused her, but her strange new ability gave her hope. She’d formed the connection, but how strong could it be? With any luck, could she strengthen this mysterious new sense to siphon even more excess energy away from her body? If so, that might make her day-to-day life slightly more bearable. The thought of having full control over her body sounded incredible, and she threw caution to the wind.

With another silent prayer, she redoubled her focus on her new perception. While she still had no name or understanding for it, she felt it hum with excitement as she fed it.

Suddenly, she found hints of aura on nearly everyone around her. She saw a pair of young teenagers leaving a nearby movie theater before awkwardly lacing their fingers together. They blushed, giggled slightly as they looked at each other, then a rush of brilliant light overtook their auras.

Moving past the happy young couple, Vee found an older gentleman nervously pacing back and forth in front of a storefront. His wrinkled clothes and cross face hinted at an unknown distress, and his aura matched his mood. The otherworldly light that surrounded him was drab, dark, and heavy. Curious what might be causing such a mood, she turned her attention to the garish sign hanging above the nearby entrance, “Avalon Financial Services.”

Huh, we have those in Ekstápoli. I didn’t know they were in Chicago, too.

Further down the street, Vee happened to overhear a middle-aged woman on her phone. When she first turned her attention to the woman, her aura was frustrated and tightly-wound, like the static of an ancient TV set. She listened carefully as the conversation started, the woman’s aura spinning more and more chaotically, before she finally exclaimed, “We got the grant?!” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, clasping her hands together as she smiled.

The tension of this woman’s aura vanished. The light surrounding her bloomed with the warmth of hundreds of fresh wildflowers, and Vee smiled for simply having witnessed a brief moment of happiness.

So I’m seeing… What, stress? Hope? Joy? That doesn’t exactly track with the man in the graveyard, though. Perhaps I’m just seeing their emotions? That doesn’t feel right either. The auras of the young couple and the woman were quite similar, and I highly doubt teenage love is the same thing as… whatever that woman was celebrating, and definitely not how the guy at the graveyard was feeling. What do they all have in common?

It only took another minute for Vee to reach her destination. The church in front of her was gorgeous, every inch of the building was in immaculate condition. In addition to the small cross suspended high above the roof, another, much larger cross stood in the front yard. A wide sidewalk led to the front door, stone benches lining either side of the concrete. Behind the benches, scattered across the front lawn, large planters sat in eager anticipation of spring flowers. The stained glass Vee had seen from the graveyard was even more gorgeous up close, and depicted several Saints watching Christ carry a large wooden cross. Beneath the multicolored mural, etched into the stonework of the awning suspended over the entrance, Vee found the name of this place: the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection.

Vee smiled, her thoughts briefly drifting back to the last time she’d visited a church. She paused, thinking back to her pleasant conversation with Father Davis, and once again chastised herself for not visiting him since returning from The Wilds. After allowing herself a brief moment to recall his kind words, she shook her head and entered the church.

The entry foyer was marked with bright marble tiles, but technically existed in the same space as the main chapel. Bright, colorful light illuminated the entire space, revealing the presence of additional stained-glass windows surrounding the building just beneath the roof. Just past the marble foyer, dozens of rows of elegant wooden pews filled the space, all leading to a large circular pedestal in the back of the building. Along with a pedestal for sermons, Vee also saw a small table filled with flowers of all shapes and sizes.

It was not the hour for service, yet a small handful of people mingled throughout the building. It looked as if some kind of community event had just wrapped up, as she caught several people packing small boxes of organizational supplies. Outside of those specific volunteers, however, Vee noticed something very strange about the people present.

Nearly every person in this church hosted an aura that was darkened, heavy, and dour. Very few of them talked to each other, and when they did, they spoke with unusually tense whispers. Given her own experiences with church and religion, she would have expected the opposite. Weren’t holy places meant to be bastions of safety and community? A place for people to find hope and comfort in something bigger than them?

Vee approached the pews, wandering down the aisle as she tried to look for clues as to why the community here seemed so despondent. Her first thought was that she’d perhaps walked in immediately after a funeral service, but there were no signs of that being the case. No one spoke of condolences, they weren’t dressed in black, and their conversations were uniformly mundane.

She’d nearly reached the back of the church when a small door opened, and an excitable young woman rushed out. She appeared to be roughly Vee’s age, perhaps a bit younger, and she clung tightly to the straps of a large messenger bag hanging by her waist. Her hair was incredibly curly, very short, and had recently been dyed bright red. Fresh piercings decorated her nose and left eyebrow, and her clothing was somewhat eclectic. She wore a white long sleeve shirt underneath a baggy tee shirt, and green cargo pants hung loosely from her thin waist. As she left the room, she briefly turned around to say, “Goodbye Miss Callows, thanks again!”

Another person appeared in the doorway, this one an older woman with a quiet, serene expression on her face. She wore clean, dark robes that trailed to the ground and a light shirt that collected into a tight collar. Her long dark hair cascaded across her shoulders, and she clasped her hands in front of her as she watched the red-haired girl leave.

“It’s Mother Callows, my child,” the older woman said, her serene smile briefly faltering.

“Right, yes, sorry. Thanks Mother Callows!”

The red-haired girl, now walking backwards as she spoke to the stern Mother Callows, failed to see that Vee was directly in her path. Vee tried to sidestep the girl but ran into a nearby pew, and the two girls collided. The girl fell to the ground, her messenger bag spilling open and scattering its contents all over the floor.

“Oh, shoot! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!!” the red-haired girl muttered. She scrambled onto her hands and knees, her face turning as red as her hair as she started grabbing her things.

“No, I’m sorry. I tried to step out of the way and only made things worse,” Vee said, smiling as she kneeled down. She began helping the girl gather her items, handing them over one at a time before watching them be hurriedly shoved into the bag. The girl’s possessions were just as random as her clothing; among them, Vee saw several cassette tapes, a calligraphy pen, a bottle of prescription medication, and a hand-held gaming console.

Vee watched this girl’s aura carefully as she helped pull everything together. It had already been tense and scrambled when she’d left the back room, but after colliding with Vee, the dim light surrounding her had grown even darker and more frantic.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Oh, I’m such a klutz, I should be watching where I’m going…”

The last item Vee grabbed was a small pin that depicted the lesbian pride flag. The orange and purple colors reflected pleasantly in the sunlight that trickled through the stained glass above, and Vee smiled as she handed it over. As she did, the dark aura surrounding the girl reached its peak. She grabbed the pin in a panic, her eyes nervously darting over to an older couple talking near the entrance.

“Um, thanks,” she muttered timidly. “I’m Mimi. Could you, um… maybe keep quiet about my stuff?”

“I didn’t see anything,” Vee said softly. “And don’t worry about running into me. My girlfriend is a nervous wreck too; she’s lost her phone more times than I can count. I’m Vee, it’s good to meet you.”

They smiled at each other, and for a brief moment, Mimi’s aura brightened. It didn’t last long, as the older couple she’d nervously glanced at earlier called out, “Mireya! Stop pestering strangers and help finish packing!”

“Sorry!” Mimi said. She jumped to her feet and quickly waved goodbye to Vee, then ran off.

That was strange.

Vee stood up quickly and brushed herself off. She wished she’d had more time to speak with Mimi, perhaps to figure out the source of her darkened aura. This whole church was strange, honestly. The beautiful atmosphere seemed so at odds with the moods of everyone inside. Could she call them moods? Mimi hadn’t seemed upset when she grabbed the pride pin, just frazzled and nervous.

“That was very kind of you,” a soft voice said.

Startled back to her senses, Vee turned to see the older woman with the serene smile. “Oh, thanks, but it was nothing, truly,” she said.

“What is your name, child? I don’t believe I’ve seen you here before.” The woman’s smile grew wider, though the gesture didn’t entirely reach her eyes.

“My name is Vee. I believe Mimi called you Miss Callows?” Vee asked, extending her hand.

“It’s Mother Callows,” she replied. When she took Vee’s hand, her grasp was surprisingly strong. As they exchanged pleasantries, Vee took care to study Mother Callows’ aura in detail. It was, comparatively, the brightest aura in the room, yet it was also the most conflicted. Pockets of brightness swirled in and around swathes of dark, tangled static.

Great, even more confusing information. What on Earth does this mean?

“My apologies. Mother Callows,” Vee clarified, releasing her grip. “You’re right, I’ve never been here before. My partner is visiting family, and I had some extra time on my hands, so I decided to explore the neighborhood. I saw this church and was quite taken with its beauty, and simply couldn’t resist peeking inside. I hope I’m not disrupting anything!”

“Other than poor Mireya’s path? No, nothing at all,” Mother Callows said softly. “Feel free to look around, we’re just cleaning up a touch. Let me know if you need anything, won’t you? I’d love a chance to learn more about you.”

Mother Callows’ aura darkened as she finished her final sentence, and Vee’s gut told her she would be better served leaving the church as soon as possible.

“Perhaps another time? I was mostly here to appreciate the stained glass, I’m afraid I don’t have quite that much time left on my hands.”

“Of course, child. Do take care, won’t you?”

With one last smile, the two women parted ways. Vee set her sights on the exit and left as quickly as was respectable, hoping to remove herself from the many clouds of negativity that pervaded the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection.

Once outside, Vee breathed a sigh of relief. She pushed away all thoughts of her strange interaction with Mother Callows and refocused on simple, tactile sources of joy around her. The sun was shining brightly, its warmth felt amazing as it mingled with the light of her soul. The happy couple she’d seen earlier was laughing in the distance as they enjoyed a bit of ice cream, and Vee smelled something delicious wafting from the ventilation of a restaurant across the street.

Checking her phone one last time, and still lacking any word from Amara, Vee decided to treat herself to a nice lunch and a bit of ice cream. She spent the rest of her day enjoying many small treats, content to people-watch for hours on end as she tried to find meaning in the strange auras she now saw clinging to everyone around her.