can anyone help me?
Beckett crossed himself from an almost-forgotten childhood habit, then worked his way past
broken floorboards and lumps of rotted carpet. He made his way between tumbled pews, and with
each step the illusion of perfection crumbled more. Color fell out of the light. Pale skin dulled to gray,
and marks of violence rose as if by magic. Bruising. Ligature marks. Torn fingertips. Beckett took the
last, few steps, and, at the altar, looked down. The victim was young, with dark hair and eyes shot
through with blood. She was stretched on the altar as Julia Strange had been, her arms crossed on the
linen, her neck blackened and crushed. He studied the choke marks, the eyes, the lips that were nearly
bitten through.
crossed himself mean?
Pale skin dulled to gray, and marks of violence rose as if by magic mean?
The victim was young, with dark hair and eyes shot through with blood mean?
She was stretched on the altar as Julia Strange had been, her arms crossed on the linen mean?

Question

can anyone help me?
Beckett crossed himself from an almost-forgotten childhood habit, then worked his way past
broken floorboards and lumps of rotted carpet. He made his way between tumbled pews, and with
each step the illusion of perfection crumbled more. Color fell out of the light. Pale skin dulled to gray,
and marks of violence rose as if by magic. Bruising. Ligature marks. Torn fingertips. Beckett took the
last, few steps, and, at the altar, looked down. The victim was young, with dark hair and eyes shot
through with blood. She was stretched on the altar as Julia Strange had been, her arms crossed on the
linen, her neck blackened and crushed. He studied the choke marks, the eyes, the lips that were nearly
bitten through. 
crossed himself mean?
Pale skin dulled to gray, and marks of violence rose as if by magic mean?
 The victim was young, with dark hair and eyes shot through with blood mean?
 She was stretched on the altar as Julia Strange had been, her arms crossed on the linen mean?

Answer

1. Crossed himself: In Christian tradition, he touched his fingers to his forehead and then to each shoulder, and then to his lips, making "the sign of the cross" that Christ was crucified on. This is commonly done on entering a church and at the end of a time of prayer.
2. After death, a body will turn more grey, but deep bruises may come to the surface and become more obvious.
3. Eyes shot through with blood: probably bloodshot -- the little red veins that you can see in someone's eyes who has been drinking, crying, or having an allergy attack, for example.
4. Julia Strange: is she a character from the book? The fact that she is on the altar may show that was sacrificed for others or killed for her own sins.