From what I saw and heard, I knew there was no time to lose. But I needed to do one more thing.

The neurology ward was very quiet in the mornings as well. Even though I hadn't seen her family or any nurses looking suspiciously at me, I still felt watched while sitting next to Izzie's bed. Her hair seemed to have grown slightly, now reaching further down the pillow, but other than that she was just as asleep as I remembered her.

"I'm much stronger now... in fact, almost done... with what I need to do, Izzie," I said, clutching her hand. The warmth made me smile. "Thank you. I wouldn't have made it so far without you."

"It's going to be alright," I reassured her after a short pause and took a deep breath.

A shuffling noise from the side alerted me to a sight of Ra'zizi idle-mindedly running her fingernails under the straps of someone's oxygen mask. I got up, before she messed anything up. It was time to leave, anyway—the nurses would be making their rounds soon. After waving at Izzie from the door, I turned around and to the left, and almost immediately found myself in front of Magdalena.

"Oh... hi," I said.

"Listen," she said with a hushed voice and leaned in. "I know you two were close, but her family has requested that you can't visit her. And there was a policewoman here, telling us to report whenever we see you immediately."

I stared mindlessly ahead, processing what she said for a bit. She continued,

"I don't know what this is about, and I don't wanna know. I'm sorry, whatever happened," she paused and shook her head. "I know you care about her, so I wanted you to get this one last time to see her, and I won't call the police... But now I'll have to ask you to leave..."

I looked down and saw Magdalena wringing her hands awkwardly. Looking up into her trusting eyes, I gave her a courtesy smile and a nod. "Understood."

I walked past her and headed for the exit.

"I'm sorry..." I heard her faint voice.

"Don't worry," I responded, without turning around. "It will be fine."

It had to be. I hadn't come all this way to lose. Making sure that Ra'zizi didn't set off any alarms or found a way to cause a fire, I exited out the side door, figuring a less conspicuous route might be more reasonable at this time. As I was passing by the neighboring blocks, just past a bakery, I felt a sudden jerk on my arm. I must be either getting robbed or—even worse—killed by the crazed detective, I thought in an instant of panic. Gasping for air, attempting to shove my assailant away, and about to scream, I was surprised to see the short, chubby police officer. She twisted my arm and pushed me against the wall, making me groan.

"Be quiet!" she demanded.

That was an improvement over being killed, but not by much. I felt weak in my legs and winced. My mind was racing again—I had to flee. No, I had to call Gordon! But why didn't she tell me my rights.

"Stop! Be quiet and listen," officer Parkland said and turned me, grabbing my shoulder and twisting me around so hard I felt the air escape from my lungs as my back hit the rough, concrete wall behind me. Raising my hands, I realized that she hadn't handcuffed me, nor did she even take her handcuffs out.

"Wait... what?" I asked.

Standing in front of me, she looked left and right, and, with a hushed tone, said, "we lost track of detective Rellin."

"You what?" my voice echoed in the small alleyway. "How?!"

"Shhh!" she shushed me. "Listen, I do not trust you, at all... But you need to know that she had been missing for some time, and we can't get in touch with her... and I think it's because of you."

"Oh, uh..." I tried to lower my hands. "That's not goo-"

"Keep your hands where I can see them!" she hissed, putting her hand on a retractable baton and I obliged.

"Look, I don't know what's going on, detective Rellin has never acted this way before, and I don't know what she's up to," she glared at me, pointing her finger at my chest. "I don't know what you did, but I figure you really ticked her off."

"How do you know it's because of me?"

"We've been working cases for years! I know my partner better than you," she scolded me and looked around once more. "And between you and me, in the past week, we've only seen her at the office once, looking through files," she paused and added with emphasis, "your files."

I gulped.

"So if I were you, I'd be careful." she concluded and stepped back.

It took me a moment to process while Megan seemed to be calming down, wiping the sweat off her brows.

"Uh, thank you... But what should I do now?" I said.

The policewoman shrugged.

"Don't wander around town. Try to stay at home. And call us if you see her."

"So... you're not trying to stop her?"

"As of now, she's simply a missing employee," Megan said, and after a moment added, "and as of now, the investigation is still ongoing." She breathed out, turned around and began to walk away. "Anyway, I said what I needed to say."

Needing more answers, I started walking behind her.

"But what do I do after I call you and, I don't know, she doesn't go awa-ugh!"

Officer Parkland turned around and shoved me away.

"Stay put. And stay away!"

She waited for a few moments more, hands at her sides, as if trying to find out if I'd attack her. Once I started backing off in the other direction, she slowly began turning and walking her own way. I journeyed back home with an extra spring in my step, looking sideways every minute. I couldn't let myself get comfortable. It wasn't nearly over, and I was not off the hook.

But I didn't quite go home. My path veered off after getting off the bus at the third stop, not because of a need to lose my tail, but because I still had things that needed doing. I hoped I'd have more time, but they just became more urgent.

I was once again standing in the main nave of the church, letting the light fall onto me while I looked around. Having already made it past the confession boxes near the entrance, I started carefully inspecting the pews. It wasn't until I was making my way back that I saw, huddled close to one of the columns, a familiar figure, kneeling down with bowed head.

"Any replies yet?" I asked, and Theodora jumped up and proceeded to stare at me.

Her eyes weren't like before—either full of pious warmth or religious fervor against my sinfulness. They were tearing up, eyebrows angled up, lips trembling. I sat down next to her, taking a good look at the long walk to the the altar, and the stained glass behind it.

"You... you..." she kept muttering while putting her hands together. "What did you do... to me?"

For the first time, I felt confident enough to answer that question. Like an energy was beating within me, filling my mind with knowledge otherwise unaccessible. Without looking back at her, with a hand lazily laid on the pew's backrest I replied, "I showed you what you wanted."

"What?!" her hushed exclamation carried around the stone interiors.

Breathing out, I turned to her and put my hand over hers. Before she managed to jerk them back, her eyes seemed to be glazing over and she bowed her head in shame.

"All those years of searching, questioning, denying..." I paused, watching her eyes flutter around, waiting for them to settle back on me. "All the shame about what you actually wanted."

"No..."

"The stronger your rejection was, the more you felt the longing. You deeply desire pleasure, bodily pleasure. But you can't get it, it's agony," I paused and leaned in. "You want s-"

"No!" she said, even louder than the previous hush. She began shaking her head, "No, that's not right! I'm flawed like everyone, I just need to get better!"

"What makes you think this won't make you get better?" I asked, running my fingers along her delicate hands.

"You did this...!" she said, eyes open wide. "These are your ideas!"

"I wish I was so imaginative."

"What... do you want?" she started tearing up. "Are you just here to corrupt me?"

I smiled, took my hand off and brushed it against her cheek. Sister Theodora flinched at first, but then kept still.

"That's up to you," I said and got up.

"Wh... What?!" she asked, eyes glued to me as I walked out of the row of pews and started going down the nave. She couldn't have yelled at me now, not without attracting attention. I casually kept on strolling down, without a doubt as to the result of our conversation. Deliberately, I took a turn to head to the side, and walked in the shadow of the massive walls. I haven't even made more than a few dozen steps, when a clacking noise aproached me rapidly, sounding as if whoever made it was still trying to be covert. I smiled and readied myself before feeling a strong tug, turning me around. Hallelujah.