Page 25 of Forever Dark
“Is there no electricity?”she asked.
Connor glanced toward the sagging light fixtures overhead.“Not since the place closed.”
Selena swept the beam across the side wall where framed stations of the cross had once hung.Most were gone now, leaving pale rectangles behind.“How did it come to this?The church used to be so important to the community.”
Connor slipped his hands into his jacket pockets.“The usual reasons.People losing their faith.The congregation shrank.Money got tight.Then there were repairs they just couldn’t keep up with.”
His voice carried quietly through the empty space.
He looked toward the altar, then up at the ceiling where damp stains spread like bruises through the plaster.“There’s still hope they can get the place back up and running one day.At least that’s what people say.For now, most folks go to neighboring towns if they want church.”
The flashlight beam moved across the front pews and caught a scattering of broken glass glittering near the aisle.
Connor let out a slow breath.“It’s really sad.It’s such a beautiful place.”
That touched something raw in her.
Selena kept her eyes on the room as the words came out.“I know.I remember when you agreed to get married in here.”
Silence answered first.
Then Connor turned and looked at her.
Even in the dim light, his eyes still had that depth to them, the one that had once pulled her in so easily she stopped noticing the danger in it.Older now.More careful.Less fire on the surface, maybe, but not less heat.
“I know, I did say that, didn’t I?”he said.
“Yes, you did.”
The flashlight shifted in her hand.“Then two weeks later you had a run-in with Father Wells, changed your mind, and said we had to get married on the grass outside the community center because we couldn’t afford it.”
Connor’s jaw tightened.“I’ve always felt bad about that, but we really couldn’t afford it, Selena.”
She gave a short shake of her head.“We could have found a way.It was just that you didn’t want it badly enough.”
“That’s not fair.”
“I had to compromise,” she said.“Like I always did.”
The words were spiraling out of her more than she meant them to.
Connor’s face changed.Not dramatic anger.Something flatter and deeper.
“I thought you wanted to keep things professional.”
Selena nodded once, annoyed with herself for letting things get to her.For lettinghimget to her.“I do.”
Without waiting for his reply, she moved deeper into the church.
Her beam played over the wall behind the altar until it found the first inscription.Dark letters.Uneven but deliberate.Dried brown-black against the plaster.
Verbum Domini manet in aeternum.
Connor followed a few paces behind.“I was looking this up.It’s definitely Latin.”
Selena stared at the phrase.“It means the word of the Lord endures forever.”
Connor stopped beside her.“Yeah…” He looked surprised.“I had to use a search engine, came up with something similar… How the hell’d you know that?”
