Hope and Undead Elvis - By Ian Thomas Healy Page 0,43

but an entire way of life. She'd try to be more circumspect in her word choices. "Nevertheless, you could have wrecked it anywhere, where nobody would be there to pull you to safety. And yet, here you are. Alone. Pregnant."

Subtlety must not have been part of Agatha's toolbox, for her eyes gleamed in the flickering light as she spoke the word pregnant. Hope's hands drifted to the unfamiliar curve of her belly as if to protect the baby within. "Yeah, I guess I am."

"We found nobody with you in the wreckage. And yet you seemed worried that you'd lost someone. Was it the father of your baby?"

"N-no. It was… I was…" Hope's eyes drifted back to the candle flame. She couldn't help but look at it. The way it danced was almost hypnotic. She blinked, realizing her eyes were starting to water. "I was alone," she said at last.

"We are never truly alone, child. God walks beside us, and carries us in the times we cannot carry ourselves. And for that, we praise Him." Agatha crossed herself.

In the silence that followed, Hope felt pangs of guilt. Was she supposed to say something more? Pray? She didn't know what to do, and stared into the candle.

"Tell me about the father of your baby," said Agatha. She licked her lips like a greedy child expecting candy.

"I… I don't know," said Hope. "I don't even know how, I mean, you know…"

"There is no father, is there? You've never been with a man, have you?"

"No." Admitting it aloud at last somehow made it seem less real.

A look of triumph crossed Agatha's face. "I thought so. When Sister Catherine told me that you were still… intact, I had to see for myself."

"You looked?" Hope felt ashamed. She'd spent years flaunting her body on the stage, and now that this one old nun had seen her most secret places, she felt like the lowest creature on earth. The candle danced as Agatha's breath disturbed the air around it.

"You're still a virgin, child. A pregnant virgin. That has only happened once before. Do you know what that means?"

"It's a… a miracle?"

"Yes, child. A miraculous birth. God has given you His child to carry in this troubled time. You are the mother of Our Savior. His reincarnation will bring God's love upon us all, and those of us who follow His word shall evermore dwell in the light eternal."

"That sounds nice," said Hope. Her eyes kept rolling, like she was trying to keep herself awake.

"You shall be remembered for all eternity as the Second Holy Mother." Agatha's mouth tightened. "As shall I, as your teacher. It's a fitting place for someone who's spent her entire life in the service of God."

Hope felt like she'd lost control of her own mouth. What she'd intended to say was "Amen" or something holy like that. Instead, she said, "Stripper Mary. That's me."

Agatha's eyes narrowed. "What?"

The spell of the candle flame had been broken. Hope looked away from it and kept her eyes on Agatha instead. The flickering light reflected from Agatha's dark eyes, but filtered through the old woman's corneas, it lost any power it might have had to begin with. "Look, it's really nice that you want to take care of me and the baby and all, but you need to understand that I'm not who you think I am. I'm not holy, or a saint, or anything like that. I'm a stripper. And maybe I haven't ever had sex, but that doesn't mean I haven't ever serviced a man. I'm not pure by any stretch of imagination, Sister, so maybe you shouldn't hang all your hopes on me."

"What?" Crawling horror crossed Agatha's face as Hope explained herself. "You're a whore? A common whore?"

Hope stood. Behind her, the chair tumbled to the floor. The wood back broke with a loud crack. "Screw you, Sister."

Agatha leaped to her feet, spry for such an elderly woman, but held her hands out in supplication instead of threat. "Forgive me, child. I spoke out of turn. I hadn't expected such a revelation, but I suppose the Lord works in mysterious ways, and it is not for me to understand them."

"Don't call me a whore," said Hope.

"You'll have to forgive me. I've spent my entire life devote to God and doing His work here on earth. It's a shock to find out He chose someone like you to be the vessel of his child."

"What's shocking is that I haven't left yet. In fact, I think