Margaret picked up her purse from where she left it and rummaged through it until she found her cellphone. Then she called Laura.
"Hello?" Laura asked on the other end.
"Laura, this is Margaret. I ... I found the thing you brought for David."
"You what? How did you find it? Margaret, that thing is dangerous."
"I know. Somehow, it changed David ... and Grace."
"What do you mean?" Laura asked.
"They're both in his office right now. And they're both ... both ..."
"What is it, Margaret? What's wrong?"
"They're having sex!" she yelled into the phone.
Laura gasped. "You ... you think this has something to do with the dildo?"
"Yeah, actually I do. I know that sounds nuts, but I think there's something especially evil about this thing."
"Pastor White said that he would try to get rid of it. But the last time I saw it, it was in his safe. He must have taken it out. But why?"
"When I found it, the box it was in was charred. Maybe he tried to burn it. Except, the dildo looked fine." Margaret paused for a moment, thinking. "You're being affected by it right?"
"I was," she answered. "Until it was safely put away." Unknown to Laura, that didn't make any difference. It could have been a hundred miles from her or inside the most secure safe and it would still affect her.
"Well, how come you're not ... well ... like my husband and Grace?"
"I started getting affected by it after I touched it. Pastor White touched it as well."
So did I, Margaret thought, shuddering at the realization that she would slowly change, just like Laura had been all day. And while she wasn't entirely sure, she had an idea that she would eventually become just like the person she was when she was touching the dildo: a ditzy slut. She cringed at that thought.
"Maybe Grace touched it too," Laura said.
"Or maybe they were so drastically changed because someone tried to burn it."
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe it's a defense mechanism. If someone tries to destroy it, it changes them in one big swoop ... so that they won't have any desire to get rid of it."
"But if that's true, then you can never get rid of it," Laura said.
"No, there has to be a way to do it. I'm not going to just stand here while my husband ..." She sniffled, remembering what David had become. "I just can't."
"Well, maybe it only reacts that way towards fire," Laura pointed out. "Maybe if you tried to destroy it some other way."
"And what if the same thing that happened to David also happened to me? What if I become like Grace, an insatiable slut?"
"If it means saving your husband, not to mention Grace and me, I'd say it's worth the risk. But you don't have to do it alone. Bring the dildo to my house. If we each take a turn, we can double our chances of destroying it."
"Okay," Margaret said, feeling a little more positive. "I'll be right there." They said their goodbyes, then Margaret dropped her phone back into her purse, grabbed the box containing the dildo, then ran out of the church to her car.
