CHAPTER 20

Two days later

St John the Evangelist Church on Ball Haye Road, Leek, stood as a derelict monument to the passage of time, anti-vandal fibreglass panels obscured the stained-glass windows, but the stone block walls echoed with the weight of history. After dark, in its shadowy corners, the homeless often sought refuge from the harsh winds that ripped through Leek, seeking shelter amidst the long gone place of worship.

On this particularly chilly night, the sanctuary under the striking window featuring Saint Anthony, a Franciscan friar of Padua known as the patron saint of lost things, was a haven for a solitary woman. Dishevelled and destitute, she had found a place to rest her weary bones. She had entered through a missing window at the rear of the church. Little did she know that her drug induced sleep would be disrupted by the arrival of a vengeful figure.

Shrouded by the darkness of a hood, the figure moved with a purposeful grace, clutching a well-worn Bible, its pages whispering ancient words of retribution as the figure approached the homeless woman, footsteps unheard against the echoing emptiness.

With a chilling calmness, the figure whispered the passage from Luke 19:27, the voice dripping with righteous condemnation, ‘But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them: bring them here and kill them in front of me.’

The homeless woman stirred, her eyes widening in fear as she awoke to the ominous figure looming over her. Her heart thumped and her trembling breaths filled the air as the cold, steel of the blade pressed against her throat.

‘In the eyes of the Lord,’ the figure continued, in an unforgiving tone, ‘you are condemned.’

Filled with confusion and terror the homeless woman didn’t try to make sense of the sinister proclamation. She grabbed the blade and strained to force it from her throat, but predictably, the razor-sharp edge carved her fingers, it was too late. Blood gushed from her sliced neck as her body shook violently. She was a pawn in a twisted game, a game where vengeance wore the cloak of religious fervour.