Communion

Break bread with your community but don't ever break the faith

“Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, amen.” Siobhan crossed herself after she finished the prayer she had grown up with. She felt God was on her side as well as the Glock 17 holstered to her hip.

She watched the distant figure through the thick brush and slowly moved closer to her target. Siobhan was tracking the enigmatic melting man demon that lived in this isolated wilderness five miles from her home town of Ascension.

Every year shortly before Halloween a member of the town would disappear without a trace. There was never any explanation. For some reason Siobhan could never understand no one would ever talk about it. If you did, everyone in your family and in the town would shun you.

This autumn Siobhan’s mother had disappeared and she wasn’t going to pretend she never existed. She was a pariah because of her behaviour but she didn’t care.

Siobhan had learned about the melting man when she had looked up obscure rural legends on the net. It was a familiar story from horror movies. A town would sacrifice someone every year to appease the melting man and prevent him from killing everyone in the town. She imagined finding her mother’s butchered body when she followed this creature to its lair and then she would kill it.

The outline of a small cabin became visible as she followed the melting man. Siobhan was surprised how well maintained and clean the cabin was when she approached more closely. The large, bountiful vegetable gardens surrounding the cabin were also unexpected.

He started to climb the few steps leading to his front door and Siobhan stepped out of the woods and yelled, “Stop!” On the gun range she could draw her gun with smooth efficiency, but she was so nervous and afraid that she almost dropped the Glock before pointing it at the melting man.

He gave a little jump in surprise and turned around to look at her. She could only see his right eye properly. The left eye was barely visible behind a large growth that started at his forehead and drooped over his eye. The rest of his face was almost completely covered with growths and sores that were leaking blood and puss.

The melting man looked at Siobhan and her gun for a short while and then checked the rest of the clearing for any more intruders. “Let me guess, you think I’m the melting man. Which website did you read? Do you think I’m a demon or a regular psychopath?”

“Demon.”

“Great, where’s your holy water and crucifix then?”

“I didn’t think of that.”

“You need to plan ahead better.” He sat down on his front steps. “Stop pointing your fucking gun at me and stop looking at my face. I live out here so people can’t see my face.”

Siobhan lowered the gun to her side. She felt like an embarrassed child. “I’m sorry. What happened to your face?”

“I told you to stop looking at me!”

She gladly averted her eyes. The more detail she saw, the more she felt like throwing up. She realized his voice was slurred because of a series of growths on his misshapen lips.

“What happened to me face isn’t exotic. It’s not Proteus Syndrome or something like that. It’s plain old basil cell carcinoma that’s been growing out of control for ten years.”

“But isn’t that treatable?”

“Sure it is, if my health insurance hadn’t denied my claim and then cancelled my policy. If I had any money I would look like anyone else after some surgery. When you’re poor and you have no health insurance this is the face of America. So why are you here?”

Siobhan realized she was still holding her gun and holstered the Glock. “My mother has been missing for days and I’m desperate. I was being stupid.”

“You’re from Ascension.”

She nodded in agreement.

“I’m sorry that she’s missing but I hope you understand that has nothing to do with me.”

“I know that now. I’m sorry.”

“You’re the fourth person from Ascension that had basically the same idea as you. Sometimes they’ll take potshots at me and I have to hide for awhile. I imagine someday I’ll be shot because I’m ugly and an easy target.”

“I just miss my mother so much and everyone wants to act like nothing’s wrong. I feel like I’m going out of my mind.”

“If you want answers look to the church, look to your priest.”

“You mean I should pray for guidance?”

“I meant exactly what I said.” He stood up from the steps and put his hand on the front door. “Please go away and leave me alone.”

“Wait, what’s your name?”

Siobhan didn’t think he would reply because of the long silence.

“Quincy.”

“I’m sorry Quincy. God has given you a heavy burden and I’ve made it worse with my stupidity. I’m really sorry.”

“God? What’s he got to do with anything? Never mind, just leave me alone.”

She watched him enter his house and shut the door. Siobhan was a good person and she felt the need to help Quincy and atone for her actions.

Siobhan walked up to the front door and lay her gun on the steps. Next time someone tried to hunt him down at least he could defend himself.

Halloween fell on a Sunday this year and Siobhan remained sitting in her pew after her family had left. She wanted to attend confession but there was a long line up of parishioners this Sunday. Perhaps Halloween reminded people of the sins they needed to confess.

It was late afternoon by the time everyone in the line up was good with God and Siobhan was the last person to enter the confessional.

“Forgive me father for I have sinned. It has been one week since my last confession. I had murder in my heart for a poor man that is living like a hermit because of his deformed face.”

“Quincy.” Father Duncan breathed quietly. “Did you kill him my child? Is he still alive?”

“No, I was acting like an idiot. I let myself be influenced by stupid urban legends on the net. I thought he might have been the one who took my mother.”

“Maybe he was.”

“What?” Siobhan felt dissociated from reality. She had attended confession every week for most of her life. Father Duncan was wildly deviating from a ritual that was ingrained into her. “He’s a poor man with cancer barely surviving in an isolated cabin in the woods. How could you say that?”

“My child some people fall short of God’s grace. Quincy is one of them.”

Siobhan didn’t know what to say. The priest sounded like he was telling her it would have been all right for her to kill Quincy. It was more disorienting than being shunned by her friends and family after she started asking questions about her mother’s disappearance.

“Your behaviour has been very disappointing lately Siobhan. You have been upsetting your father and brother with insensitive questions about your mother.”

“This is insane. I’m not going to pretend like my mother never existed. I need to know what happened to her.”

“All you need to know is that every time you receive the sacrament of communion. Every time you receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ you are one with your mother.”

Siobhan froze and tried to make out the face of priest behind the opaque plastic screen. The tone of his voice had changed. She had the impression this was the voice of the man behind the priestly facade. “What does that mean exactly?”

“You must have faith in what I tell you. When you received communion this morning, you were one with your mother.”

“I need to get out of here.” Siobhan yanked the curtain aside and stepped out of the confessional.

The priest left his booth at the same time and grabbed her arm. “Wait! You must perform a penance or you will not receive absolution for your sins.”

Siobhan twisted out of his grip. “Keep your fucking hands off me!”

Father Duncan looked disappointed that she would swear in church and act in such an unpleasant manner. That must have been why he pressed a taser to her neck and kept pushing the button until she passed out.

“I know you’re awake. I can see you trying to free your hands.”

Siobhan opened her eyes to see father Duncan with a smug smile and shaking his head. The priest had dragged her out of the empty church and into the front office of the attached rectory. “Just like your mother, thinking you’re smarter than anyone else.”

“You killed my mother.”

“It wasn’t murder. I was performing a necessary part of the sacrament of transubstantiation. The same rite I perform every autumn as part of my duties.”

Siobhan gave up on trying to rip the layers of duct tape the priest had used to secure her to the chair. “What are you talking about? To convert communal wafers and wine into the body and blood of Christ all you need to do is consecrate them, just like I’ve seen you do every Sunday for years.”

“That is what other Catholic priests do but let me expand your religious education. Transubstantiation as prescribed by the Vatican does not work. Only in this church do the faithful truly consume the body and blood of Christ because we perform true transubstantiation. Everyone else is just eating bread and drinking wine.

“What do you consider true transubstantiation to be Duncan?”

The priest frowned. “That’s father Duncan.”

“What do you consider true transubstantiation to be you fucking asshole?”

Father Duncan hit her with the taser again and left her convulsing. “Battery needs recharging.” He noted and plugged in the recharger. “We’ll have to wait a bit for the battery to recharge. I prefer using the taser to kill those chosen for the sacrament. There’s no mess and I don’t like touching people. You must be in good shape. Most people’s hearts would have stopped by now.”

He left the taser recharging on top a filing cabinet and sat down behind his desk. “I will answer your questions since you will participate in the sacrament. Your congregation appreciates your sacrifice by the way. You will be in our prayers.”

“Fuck your prayers.”

“Goodness, what a potty mouth you have.” The priest shook his head sadly. “It reminds me of the horrible things your mother said to me when I was draining the blood out of her. She’s lucky I even gave her the last rites.”

Siobhan wanted to scream profane defiance at the priest as well, but instead she stealthily worked on the duct tape. One of her rings had started a small tear and she was making progress.

“We carefully ration the blood so it lasts a full year, just a few drops of blood in every chalice of wine. Sometimes there is more flesh than we need if we use an overweight parishioner, but your mother was quite petite so we need to be economical. You might have noticed the communion wafers didn’t taste quite as ‘meaty’ this morning.

Siobhan vomited the remains of her breakfast onto the desk Father Duncan was sitting behind.

“No, no, no! I hate a mess! Look at what you’ve done you foul child.” Father Duncan jumped out of his chair and ran into the kitchen to grab a roll of paper towels.

“Your father will be very disappointed to hear about your shameful behaviour young lady. Disgraceful!” The priest furiously mopped up the vomit and threw the soaking paper towels into a garbage can. “I need to remind your father that sparing the rod will spoil the child.”

Siobhan spit burning residue out of her mouth and was pleased to see how angry this made the priest. “You’re all a bunch of fucking cannibals!” She screamed at him.

Father Duncan opened his mouth in shock and slapped her across the face. “How dare you! How dare you shout blasphemy in my face! We are consuming the body and blood of Christ during the holy sacrament of communion.”

The priest noticed vomit had transferred to his hand when he slapped her and cleaned his hand with a paper towel.

“Let us make man in our own image, after our own likeness. Remember your bible studies Siobhan. The human body is the image of God. Performing the sacrament on human flesh and blood is the only way to obtain the body and blood of Christ. Using simple bread and wine is nonsense and the Vatican knows it.”

Siobhan tried to stand up with the heavy chair attached to her but failed. “You fed me my own mother! I’m going to kill you cocksucker!”

Father Duncan already had the roll of duct tape in his hand and wrapped a couple of lengths firmly around her mouth. “That’s quite enough out of you, young lady.” He noticed she had torn some of the duct tape on her hands and used the rest of the roll to secure her hands more thoroughly.

“Ascension has thrived as a community for three hundred years in this isolated wilderness because of our faith. We are an oasis of peace in a world full of strife and hate because for three hundred years we are the only ones that truly commune with our God.”

The priest checked the reading on the charger and tutted with disappointment. “We have a long wait ahead of us Siobhan. I think it would be a good idea for me to read some passages from the bible for you. You obviously were not paying attention during your bible studies.”

Father Duncan was opening his bible when he heard the sound of the door to his office being opened. He choked with revulsion when he saw the face of the man walking through the door.

“I don’t think I could stand listening to you read the bible again.” Quincy pointed a handgun at the priest. “Stay in your chair and don’t move.”

“You have the face of a demon from hell!”

“What? Didn’t you just say I was made in God’s image? You’re looking at the face of God.”

Quincy stuck the gun in his belt and removed a folding knife from his pocket to carefully remove the tape from Siobhan’s hands. “Good thing it’s Halloween. The one night I can walk through town without a bag on my head. I even had a couple of goth kids compliment me on my awesome makeup.”

“We had a deal, Quincy. You’re breaking your word.”

“Fuck you and fuck your deal.”

“It’s been over ten years. Why would you break faith with your community now?”

Quincy finished cutting through the duct tape and replaced the knife in his pocket. “She asked me my name and then called me by my name. Simple as that. For ten years I haven’t heard my name.”

He looked at Siobhan as she removed the tape from her mouth. “Why did you leave the gun?”

“You told me people had been shooting at you. I was hoping they would leave you alone if you could defend yourself. What deal did you make Quincy?”

“Ten years ago, I was chosen for communion until they found out I had cancer. They let me go as long as I never talked about what I know and never interfered.”

Father Duncan looked sideways at the taser charging on top of the filing cabinet. “You’re lucky we aren’t murderers or you wouldn’t be alive to threaten me with a gun.”

“Yeah, lucky me.”

Quincy removed the gun from his belt and handed it to Siobhan. “You need this more than me. This is your revenge. Don’t forget to kill the Lectors of the church as well. They’re all actively involved.”

Siobhan nodded in agreement. Her dad was a Lector but that didn’t change her mind. She flipped the safety off the gun.

The priest pushed his chair away from her until it hit the nearby wall. “Think of what you’re doing Siobhan! If you kill a man of God, you will be damned for eternity!”

“Don’t worry father. I would never kill a man of God.”

The gunshot echoed loudly in the small room.