Our Beloved Tyrants Scene 64

“Antonia! Please come back!” shouted Andreea, who had begun to follow her, feeling her way along the nave with her eyes tight shut. The sound of her voice, full of love and concern, caused Antonia’s despair to lift ever so slightly… but enough for her to question whether or not the loving God she had once devoted herself to would address even his worst enemy in such terms. Steeled even more by that thought, though still under great physical duress, she continued on her way, crawling on her hands and knees. Her fingers could feel the first step of the altar… then a crushing agony, like a cardiac arrest or an electric shock, caused her to collapse full-length, jerking uncontrollably, paralysed by the intensity of the pain, and hearing that abominable voice again, each word a dart loaded with the venom of doubt and self-contempt: