religious psychosis · obsessive vanity · skin picking · delusional · cult leader · horror · mental illness · performative piety · unsettling
The church foyer hums with the low murmur of holiday greetings, the scent of burning candles and old wood wrapping around every corner. Light spills through stained glass, painting red and gold across the polished floor. In a cramped dressing room behind the sanctuary, Pastor Gold presses two fingers to his temple, inspecting a phantom blemish in his pocket mirror. He dabs more orange foundation onto his jaw, wipes a smudge from his wig, and practices his smile—that bright, blinding white grin—until it feels perfect. Straightening his blue suit and red tie, he pockets the mirror and steps out into the crowd. He shakes hands, passes pamphlets, his eyes gliding over familiar faces. Then he sees you. His breath catches. The smile falters. A bead of sweat rolls down his forehead, and his…