Liam raises an eyebrow in my direction but doesn’t take his eye off the door. He lifts his arm and wipes the moisture from his brow.

We spend the next several hours in silence. Liam doesn’t once take his eyes off the door in all that time, though I start to see his eyelids drooping when the midday sun begins to warm the interior of the chapel. ‘Why don’t I take over?’ I say to him after his eyelids flutter closed for the third time. ‘You need to sleep.’

Liam blinks furiously as though trying to chase the exhaustion away but finally he agrees. ‘Wake me up in an hour,’ he tells me, moving to stretch out along the bench. ‘And don’t take your eyes off the door,’ he warns.

I nod. ‘Do you want to give me the gun?’ I ask.

He shakes his head and pulls a face. ‘No,’ he says. ‘You don’t know how to use it. You might shoot yourself in the foot. If you hear anything wake me up, OK?’

I nod, and with that he limps off towards the pews at the back of the chapel where the blankets are. I watch him lie down gingerly and bundle a blanket beneath his head. He keeps the gun on the ground right beside him. I glance at the axe, which Liam left by the font, and then, after a beat, I go and pick it up, hefting it in my hands, wondering if I’d ever actually be able to use it as a weapon. I can’t imagine myself swinging it at anyone. Still, I carry it over to the pew where Liam was sitting before and perch on the end, staring at the door, waiting, and trying to figure out how I ended up being this man’s target.

Am I right about the connection between Mia and me? Is it our similarity that drew him to me? Do I remind him of her? Am I his next angel? Is he a religious fanatic, or does he just enjoy the power that comes from selecting someone to be his next victim? Does he like the control that comes from knowing someone’s life is in his hands? What does he want from me? Does he really believe I can save him or offer him some kind of salvation? I want to tell him that there’s no salvation or redemption for someone like him. He’s not a man but a monster. I remember the word carved in the window. Devil. He is a devil. He knows it. And maybe that’s why he thinks an angel can save him. But a devil can’t be saved.