Shadow of Death

by BlindClown

Jacob is a youth director at a church and was able to pull Aimee from a satanic cult. He falls in love with Aimee, but then her old cult comes back to take their revenge. Jacob is resurrected by The Crow to seek revenge of his own.

1. Chapter One

Once Upon a Midnight Dreary

            I sat at a big wooden desk in the back offices of the Church.  I shared this office with the other Youth Director.  It was another beautiful Sunday evening.  As I twiddled a yellow number two pencil between my fingers, I looked out the window at the stars.  It seemed to me that each star had it's own divine purpose, if nothing more than to light up the universe itself.  As I looked at all those beautiful stars, I wondered what my purpose on this Earth was…

            There came a knock on the door that disturbed me from my dream state of wonder.  I said, "Yes, come in."  The door opened and Jessica, the other Youth Director, came in.  She walked over to me and said, "Just thought I would check up on you before I left.  You seemed kind of down this morning during service."  I said, "I'm alright.  I've just been having these weird dreams here lately.  I haven't been sleeping…"

            "Did you talk to your doctor about them?" she asked.  I replied, "No, it's been over a year since I've needed to see him.  I've been thinking about going back, but I'm sure it's nothing.  Nothing I can't handle on my own."  Half her mouth grinned as if she wasn't sure to believe me or not, but she wanted to smile and agree anyhow.  She said, "Angela was asking about you again."

            Angela was one of the students in Jessica's Sunday school class.  Angela was a troubled young girl who I found crying on the raining streets one night.  I took her under my wing and began teaching her about the Word of God, and she's been attending the Church for two months now.  But it's been made very apparent to me through Jessica that Angela has romantic interest in me.  Even though she knows I'm engaged.

            I shook my head and said, "I don't know what to do with her.  She's a bright girl, I just don't think she has her heart in the right place."  Jessica began to talk about the questions Angela was asking about me and my fiancée, but as she talked, my mind began to drift.  I noticed exactly how vibrantly red Jessica's hair was.  It seemed like a fire straight from the dragon's mouth.  "Jacob, are you listening to me?" she asked.  My mind snapped back and I said, "Yeah, sorry.  I was just daydreaming.  Look, just talk to Angela again for me.  Make her see the reality that is."  She said, "I'll try.  But I think you're just going to have to sit down with her and talk to her yourself." 

            Just before Jessica left she handed me some paper work and then she left to go home.  My attention again turned back to the window and to the sky.  Dark clouds were starting to roll in.  A storm was coming.  It was just the thing to fit my mood.  I pulled my traveling mind from the window and looked over the paper work.

            I had been sitting there for about fifteen minutes when I started to hear whispering coming from just outside the office.  A little confused, I got up from my seat and walked outside of the office.  There was no one to be seen.  I was supposed to be the only one in the church at this hour.  Then I started to hear the whispering coming back from within the office.  I quickly turned around walked back in.  Nothing.  No one was to be seen. 

            Then out of the corner of my eye I saw something gleaming red.  Slowly I turned my head, not really wanting to see what it was.  My heart was pounding so hard I thought it was going to pop out of my chest.  I looked at the window as blood ran down it.  The blood sparkled and gleamed from the moonlight shinning through.  I jumped back against the wall and just stared.  I was paralyzed with fear.

            I closed my eyes and shook my head to try and shake the vision away.  When I opened my eyes things had only grown worse.  Now not only was the window bleeding profusely, but there were bloody handprints all over the wall.  I wanted to scream my soul out but nothing would come up.  Deep down I knew it was only a mad vision, but I couldn't shake it off.  I screamed, "No!  Leave me alone!  Go away!" 

            There suddenly came a loud laughing from the very walls of the office.  It was a deep and terrible voice of pure evil.  The voice spoke out after laughing, "Jacob Black, we're coming for you!  We're going to get you!"  I screamed and ran out of the office and down the long hallway.  I opened another door and burst out into the main chapel.  I turned my head to look over my shoulder to see if anything was following.  But then I suddenly ran into someone and we fell onto the floor.

            It was Aimee, the love of my life.  She laid on her back on the floor and asked, "What's wrong?  Why were you screaming?"  I got back up to my feet and helped her up.  I looked back at the direction from which I came to make sure the coast was clear.   There were no demons following after me, as my mind would have me to believe.  I looked back at Aimee and gave her a big tight hug.  I never wanted to let go of her.

            She wrapped her frail arms around me and asked, "What's wrong, baby?  Were you having another nightmare?"  I nodded my heard and said, "The window and walls of the office were bleeding.  And I heard a voice speaking to me from the walls."  She gave me another tight hug and said, "It's okay.  It's over now.  I'm here." 

            I walked over and sat down on one of the pews.  Aimee of course sat down right next to me and took a good grip of my hand.  She ran her hand over my closely shaved head and then she caressed the side of my face.  Her touch sparked a sense of tranquility and calm in me.  Slowly my heart began to slow and regain its normal pace.

            "Why don't you want to go back and see your doctor?" she asked.  I answered, "They'll just either lock me up again or put me back on meds.  I don't want to have to go through that again.  I refuse to have my body altered from its natural balance."  Aimee sighed.  I knew how much she wanted me to see my doctor.  It had been almost a month since I had been seeing these nightmares while I'm awake.  I knew she cared deeply for me and only wanted the best for me, but I just couldn't go back to that hospital.  I had too much going on here with the church and the wedding plans.

            Aimee stood up while still holding my hand and she said, "Come on, let's go check out this bleeding office of yours."  I stood up and followed her back to my office.  Everything was normal.  There was no blood.  There were no whispers and no deep evil voices laughing.  Everything was just as it should be.  Aimee sat me down at my chair by my desk and she kneeled down before me.  She held both my hands and said, "Don't worry, I'm never going to let anything bad happen to you.  You're my angel."

            All I could do was sit back in my chair and stare at the beauty before me.  She was a dark dream made beautiful.  She was a thin almost frail woman.  She had long black hair with two dark purple streaks in the front.  The length of her hair came down to the center of her chest.  She had her right eyebrow pierced twice, a piercing in the center of her nose, two on each side of her bottom lip, and her tongue was pierced.  She had very white and pale skin.  She hated going out in the sun.  She claims it hurts her eyes too much.  She wore a black t-shirt over her medium sized breasts; the shirt read, "I See Dumb People" in red letters.  She had big black leather straps with spikes around her wrists.  They covered up the scars nicely.  She wore her usual black baggy pants with the silver wallet chain that hung down to her knee was she stood up straight.  And of course she had the big black combat boots.

            In public we were the odd couple to everybody.  I dressed in regular t-shirts and jeans and she was the freak of freaks.  We always got all the dirty looks in public.  Sometimes she thinks it bothers me to be looked at like that, but in reality, it never once bothered me.  She is the love of my life, the one I cherish with all my heart.  What do I care if some people stare at us?

            She continued to assure me that the mad vision was over.  She leaned over me and kissed me on my lips.  Her black lipstick smeared a little bit on my lips, but she wiped it off with the sleeve of her shirt.  She helped me back up to my feet were she escorted me out.  Before leaving I turned off all the lights and locked the church doors.  I could already tell I was going to be up late.  I was beginning to turn into a real live breathing insomniac.  But fortunately for me, Aimee was a night crawler.

Cold Scars

            My dreams at night were filled with the usual darkness and screams.  I saw a large war going on, people being shot in the head and having limbs chopped off.  It looked to be pure Armageddon.  But then I saw my family members, my friends, and my students all in the group being slaughtered by some evil force.  And there high up on a cross in the distance was Aimee nailed to a cross.  She was stripped nude and had dozens of bleeding cuts on her body.  She looked lifeless, but somehow I knew she was still alive.  She was suffering and there was nothing I could do about it.

            As I stood behind the veil of dreams, unable to save anyone from their horrors, I noticed something new in my dreams I had never seen before.  In the blood red sky I saw a dark bird flying through the sky.  As it got closer I noticed that it was a Crow.  It was a very large and gruesome looking bird.  It landed on the arm of Aimee's cross.  It pecked at the wood as if it was trying to show me something. 

            I looked deep into the Crow's large golden eyes.  I was lost in those eyes, much like the way I get lost in Aimee's eyes.  While I looked into the Crow's eyes, I saw more visions of death and destruction.  In the Crow's eyes, I saw my own sorrow filled face.  But on my face were seven scars.  What they meant, I had no idea.  But I'm sure it was nothing pleasant.

            Then the Crow hopped from the arm of Aimee's cross and started to fly straight for me.  Faster and faster it flew towards me.  I could feel my heart beating very rapidly in my sleep.  I was getting more and more afraid as the Crow got closer to me.  It opened its beak as if to swallow me whole, and as soon as it reached me, I woke up drenched in sweat and screaming.

            Aimee was asleep by my side, but she woke up startled when she heard me scream.  She held my hand in that special way that she does, and began to comfort me.  I was always amazed by how strong yet soft her touch was.  I got up from the bed and her comfort and went into the bathroom to dry off.  Aimee followed me and stood at the doorway of the bathroom.

            "Another bad dream?" she asked.  I replied, "Yeah.  Like the others, except this one had a Crow."  She asked, "A Crow?"  "Yeah, a big black bird with golden eyes.  It was very strange.  At the end of the dream it acted like it wanted to swallow me whole," I said.  I finished drying off and we went back over to the bed.  Aimee said what I expected her to say, "Maybe you should go back to the doctor and just except what happens to you?  It's all in God's hands, Jacob.  Whatever happens is what is in God's will."  I thought about what she said, and it made perfect sense, but I was still too afraid to see the doctor again.

            After sweet kisses we lay back down and dozed off again.  I prayed to God right before I slept that I would finish my night's sleep without any more bad dreams.  I fell asleep there in the warm comfort of knowing that God would take care of me and that Aimee slept right next to me.  I prayed that soon all the nightmares would be over, and I could return to my normal life.

Hollow Words

            For the next several days, the visions continued.  I would often see blood running down walls, or I would have full conversations about sin with my own reflection in the mirror.  I was slowly losing my grasp on reality, and everything I knew to be real was fading into darkness.  But even with the fear of losing my sanity, I was still too afraid to see a doctor about my problems.  I could also tell that Aimee was getting more and more concerned over my well being.

            I did the only thing I knew to do.  Late one night after grading some papers from Sunday school, I went to the Priest of the Church, Father Cure, and I would talk with him about my problems.  I wasn't too sure how he was going to react to his Youth Director having disturbing visions and dreams.  But all I could do was pray for the best.

            I knocked on his door and he let me in.  He was sitting down behind his large dark wood desk, reading a book about Faith.  He asked, "What can I do for you, Jacob?"  I sat down in one of the two chairs that sat before his desk.  Nervously, I said, "Father, I need your help.  I've been having some very strange and disturbing dreams."

            "When did these dreams start?" he asked.  I replied, "Many years ago when I was a teenager, around the age of sixteen, I had problems with these type of dreams.   I started having them right after my mom had committed suicide.  I guess her death had a greater impact on my mind than what I had originally thought.  My uncle who took care of me after my mother's death noticed a dramatic change in my behavior and sent me to a doctor.  After several therapy sessions they finally put me on medications and the visions and dreams stopped."

            "Are you still taking these medications?" he asked.  I answered, "No.  I took them for many years, but I stopped taking them about a year ago when I had stopped seeing my doctor.  And then the visions started again a few weeks ago."  He leaned back in his chair and petted his thick white beard.  I was still unsure how he was going to react to all this.  But his guidance was what I really needed right now.  I needed to find some sort of salvation in all of this madness.

            His next question was, "And what do you see in your dreams?"  I said, "At night in my sleep I see visions of death and chaos.  I see people being slaughtered by demons and evil men.  And I see myself crucified in the background with a big black Crow sitting on the arm of the cross.  During the day when I'm awake, I see blood dripping down the walls.  My reflection in the mirror speaks to me as if I'm talking to another person.  And sometimes there is a deep brooding voice who tells me that 'they' are coming for me."

            Just speaking about my mad dreams was making feel less sane.  I buried my face in my hands.  I didn't want him to see the weakness in me.  He leaned across his desk and said, "Jacob, have you thought about going back to your doctor?"  I lifted my head from my hands and said, "I'm too afraid.  The medications make me feel so fake, so chemically used.  I'm too afraid to go back to the doctor for fear that they might lock me up."  He said, "Sometimes we just have to swallow our fears and face our inner demons.  I'm sure nothing bad will happen to you if you go back to your doctor." 

            "I can't face that reality.  I've been locked up before.  A mental hospital is so void of life, it's so hollow with its closed walls and their therapy words just go in one ear and go right out the other.  I thought if I turned to God for help, then He would make the visions stop," I cried.  A few tears were starting to roll down my face.  How much of a grip on reality had I truly lost?

            He stood up from his seat and walked around his desk over to me.  He placed his hand on my shoulder, which gave me a small comfort.  He said, "God will see you through this no matter what your decision is.  You just have to believe in yourself that you will make the right decision.  God loves you, my son, and he will give you the answers you seek."

            I looked up at him.  There was a hole in his forehead and blood was running down his face.  I looked down at the floor and closed my eyes.  In my head I was screaming for the demons to go away.  Please God; just give me this one moment of peace.  I opened my eyes and looked back up, but the mad vision had not gone away.  Blood was still running down his face and down his clothes."  I stood up and said, "I'm sorry Father, but I have to go.  I have a lot to think about."  He said, "God be with you."  I gave a half smile and left his office.  I rushed down the halls and out of the Church into the cold winter night.

            I stood against the wall of the Church.  I tried to calm my breathing and get a better grip on things.  But then I heard a loud CAW come from above.  Sitting on a telephone pole across the street was a Crow.  It looked exactly like the Crow I had seen in my dreams.  I shook my head, mistaking this for another vision.  But when I looked again and saw the Crow, somehow I got the feeling that this wasn't another vision.  Somehow deep in my gut I knew that this was real.  But what did all this mean?

            I watched as the Crow flew from the telephone pole and landed on top of my car in the parking lot.  It stared at me with its golden eyes.  I got this eerie feeling that came over me.  It was as if Death itself was watching over me.  I whispered, "Go away."  The Crow just continued to stand on my car and stare at me.  I started to walk towards my car, slowly at first, but then I quickened the pace.  "Didn't you hear me?  Go away!" I screamed.  The Crow cawed and then flew up into the air.  My eyes followed it as it landed on top of the Church steeple.  I rushed inside my car and cranked the engine up.  When I looked out my window for the Crow, it had disappeared.

False Dreams

            I wanted to help clear my mind from all these bad thoughts.  After speaking to Father Cure at the Church, I decided to go to the local library and read some books that I thought would calm my mind.  There were books on demonic possession I was interested in, plus the usual Christian books of faith and prayer.  I needed God's guidance right now.  Fortunately, I didn't have any visions on the drive over there.

            I was sitting in a large comfortable chair in the corner of the library.  Reading books was helping by getting my mind off the evil that seemed to consume me.  But as I was buried deep in a book, I heard someone call my name.  I looked up from my book and saw Angela walking towards me.  She took a chair from one of the tables near by and pulled it over to in front of me.  She sat down in the chair and said, "Fancy meeting you here.  How are you doing?"

            "I'm alright," I replied, "I'm just trying to catch up on some reading.  You know, try and get my mind off things."  She asked, "What is it that you're running from?"  I said, "Nothing you should be worried about.  How's rehab going?"  She looked down at the floor for a brief moment as if she was embarrassed to look at me because I had mentioned rehab.  She looked back up and said, "It's going good.  I'm actually here to do a research paper for my class."

            Angela was a stunning seventeen-year-old girl.  She had shoulder length blonde hair and a figure that a lot of men drooled over.  She was wearing a gray Tommy t-shirt and some really tight designer jeans.  She also wore some plastic pink bracelets around both her wrists and she wore a silver cross necklace.

            She asked, "So how are you and what's her name?  Is it Aimee?"  I nodded my head a little bit and said, "Yes, her name is Aimee.  We're doing great.  We've already started to plan the wedding."  I wanted to make it clear to Angela that I was in love with Aimee and not her.  I knew Angela had feelings for me, but I didn't want to hurt her by telling her to get lost.

            "You know, a lot of people in the Church talk about you and her.  They don't seem to understand why a man such as yourself would date such…well, such a freak."  Hearing my fiancée being called a freak was nothing out of the ordinary, but I didn't quite like where this conversation was heading.  I said, "I know people talk.  But that's all it is, its just talk.  I know what Aimee and I share is true love, and that's all that matters."

            "Yeah, but they probably wouldn't talk so bad about you if you dated someone a little more normal.  I mean she used to be a Satanist for Pete's sake.  How does it look for the Youth Director of a well established Church to date a Satanist?" she said.  I replied, "Aimee used to be a Satanist.  With the help of God and the power of the Word I turned her around and she's Christian now."  "Then how come I never see her at Church?" she said with a slight hint of anger in her voice.

            "She knows that the people there wouldn't understand her for the way she looks.  So she doesn't bother with all the evil stares and all the finger pointing.  We both agreed that it was much better for her to just study the Word of God at home.  I can teach her things that she would have never heard before," I said with a spark of anger in my eyes.

            Angela placed her hands on my knees and said, "Come on, Jacob.  We both know it would be better for you and your career if you went out with me.  I can improve your image with the other members of the Church.  Think of how it would be to go out in public, to a nice restaurant, and not get evil stares!  I could please you like no other woman could, certainly more than this Aimee girl."

            I took her hands and moved them off of my knees.  I looked deep her into her eyes and said, "Angela, I found you weeping your heart out on the raining streets because you had no more money to buy cocaine.  You were sitting on the doorstep of your Dealer's apartment after he had slapped you in the face and gave you a black eye and a bloody lip.  I believe God led me to you that night so you could be saved.  I took you under my wing not because I have a romantic interest in you, but because I wanted to help you climb your way out of the Hell you had created for yourself.  Now listen, I am happy with Aimee and no one is going to change that.  So I suggest for your sake that you erase these feelings you have for me and move on."

            Angela stood up from her seat and got right in my face.  She rubbed the back of her hand against the left side of my face and said, "One day, Jacob, one day you will realize that I'm the one for you and that we were destined to be together.  I know you'll wake up to that fact eventually."  Before I could give any reply, she turned her back to me and walked off.  All I could do was shake my.  When I looked back at her, the word BITCH was written in blood on the back of her shirt.

The Mask

            My run in with Angela only left me distraught and a little angry.  It wasn't long after that encounter that I decided to go ahead and come home.  My mind was actually quiet on the drive home, which was a welcomed pleasure.  Night had fallen and with the darkness it brought, evil would be running wild on the streets.  And with the coming darkness, my visions would only get worse.  They were like all that is evil; drawn to the darkness of night.  It was the time of the day when the light of God shines no more but only in the hearts of men and women.

            Aimee's car was in the driveway, so I knew she was home.  I walked into our home and found that all the lights were off.  I couldn't imagine her asleep this early in the night.  I went into the kitchen and fixed myself something to drink and then I went upstairs to the bedroom.  An eerie feeling suddenly came over me that made me stop for a moment before proceeding.

            I opened the bedroom door and found that the only light was coming from dozens of candles laid out all over the room.  All the candles were black except for three white ones sitting side by side on the dresser.  Aimee was laying down on her back on the bed.  Her eyes were closed, and I mistook her to be asleep.  But she whispered, "Why does God take away the ones we love?"

            I said, "It's the nature of things.  It is the cycle of life.  The Lord gives and he takes away.  It's just the way things are, honey."  In my distress over my visions, I had failed to help the one I loved.  For today was the anniversary of the deaths of Aimee's parents and younger brother.  A drunk driver killed them four years ago.  While I was out trying to find answers to my sanity, Aimee had been here at home moping and being in a world of darkness.  In my head I was cursing myself for letting this slip by.

            "I'm sorry I wasn't here, baby," I said.  She sat up on the bed and looked into my eyes.  It was then that I saw she had painted her face white and black.  The majority of her face was white except she had black around her eyes, with single small vertical black lines above and below each eye.  Her lips were also painted black, with single horizontal black lines coming out each corner of her mouth.  On the anniversary of their deaths, she always paints her face, and all I could do was stare into her big beautiful green eyes.

            "It's okay that you weren't here," she said, "I needed to be alone anyhow."  I remembered then that the three white candles represented her family.  She had used those exact candles each year since their deaths.  The candles were only a little more than halfway burnt away.  A very strong sense of sorrow over came me.  It made me sad to see her this way.

            I sat down on the bed next to her, sat my drink down on the floor, and gave her a hug.  She welcomed it and gave me a very tight hug in return.  Even though she would never let me know it, she really did want me to be here with her today.  She gives off this cold-hearted personality sometimes, but I know that deep down she hurts and she feels and she craves the warmth.  But at the moment, I think she was too far in the darkness to realize that.

            "I just wish they would come back.  Why won't God give them back to me?  I miss them SO much!" she cried.  A tear or two started to roll down her face.  The tears only smeared her make up a little bit.  I said, "I'm sorry Aimee.  I lost my mom too, and I wish I could talk to her again.  I wish I could hug her again and tell her how much I love her again.  But these things happen for a reason.  We just have to trust in God and that He has made the right decision.  Trust me, they are in a better place now."

            The tears really started to roll down her face now.  I pulled her closer and she laid her head down on my shoulder.  The tears were starting to build up in me as well.  Seeing her in this condition made me want to cry too.  But I had to be strong for her.  I had to be the stand that kept her on her feet.  I had to be the rock that held her into place.  I rubbed my hands against her back to try and help comfort her.

            She pulled up away from me and looked at me.  She cried, "Every year on this day I paint my face with this silly mask to try and hide my feelings from the world.  My mom always taught me to be strong no matter what.  This mask is supposed to keep me smiling.  It's supposed to keep the demons away so I can be at peace.  But every year I collapse and cry and the mask just washes away with tears."

            I said, "It's not silly.  I think it's very creative.  But don't worry; I'm here for you.  Everything will be alright, okay?"  She smiled a little bit and kissed me.  The black paint smeared onto my lips and face, but I didn't care.  She said, "Oh Jacob, I don't know what I would do without you.  If it wasn't for you, I don't know where I would be today…"

            "I thank God everyday that I found you.  You uplifted my life and gave me a reason for being.  I don't know what I would ever do without you," I said.  She gave me another tight hug and asked, "Will you be mine forever?"  I smiled and said, "I will be yours until the end of time itself.  And even then they're going to have a hell of a time pulling me away from you."  She laughed a little bit, which was a very good thing to hear.

            "Now lets get you cleaned up and ready for bed.  I think it's time you got some rest," I said.  She nodded her head and then I walked her into the bathroom where I helped her wash the make up from her face.  I went back into the bedroom and blew out all of the black candles, and when she came back into the bedroom, she paused for a moment and then blew out the three white candles.

            I didn't know what kind of dreams I was going to have in my sleep that night, but I knew I would be going to bed with the love of my life.  And that in itself gave me the courage I needed to face any demon that was inside of me.  Let whatever mad vision Hell wanted to throw at me, because I knew that in the end Love survives over all.

All Good Things…

            My visions had stopped for several days.  I was beginning to think that they were gone forever, but somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that was too good to be true.  I was starting to believe that God had finally answered my prayers.  I was starting to believe that I was finally free from my curse.  But all good things come to an end.

            I was dreaming again.  In my dream I saw Aimee, bruised and bloody, lying on the Church floor.  She was naked with cuts and blood all over her soft flesh.  I couldn't see myself in the dream.  It was like I was being forced to watch some kind of sick and twisted home video.  I saw seven snakes slithering on the Church floor.  Carved in the skin of each snake was one of the seven deadly sins: Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, and Pride. 

             The seven snakes slithered over to Aimee's body and sank their venomous fangs into her.  Her body shook and trembled with the overflowing effect of the deadly venom.  All I could do was watch in horror.  All the seven snakes wrapped their bodies around Aimee's body.  It was like they were claiming her as their prize.

            My dreaming vision lifted up from the floor to the front of the Church where I saw myself crucified to the large Cross that was built into the Church wall.  Sitting on my head was a large black Crow.  I watched with fear as it plucked my eyeballs from their sockets and ate them.  Blood coursed out of my empty sockets and flowed down my body, down the cross, down the wall, and formed into a puddle on the floor.  The blood flowed and moved like a rapid river, until finally it spelled out the word SINNERS.

            Then came the voice that haunted me.  That deep brooding voice that I believed to belong to the Devil himself.  The voice spoke out, "We're coming for you, Jacob.  We're going to make you suffer.  We're going to make you feel pain."  In the dream I watched as my mouth opened and a Crow's foot came out.  Its sharp talons gleamed with sadistic pride.  My dreaming vision moved back to the Crow sitting on my head.  Its powerful beak opened and a human voice screamed out, "You're next!"

            With those frightful words I awoke from my mad dream.  I felt as if the last bit of my sanity had finally been destroyed.  I couldn't contain the fear and the depression any longer.  I wiped the sweat from my forehead and looked down at the beautiful sleeping Aimee.  I wanted to wake her up and tell her my dream, but I was afraid she might be frightened by it.  I got out of bed and changed into my regular clothes.  I was now convinced that I had to spend all my time and effort into fasting and praying until these demons were exorcised from my system.

            As I was walking out the doorway, I heard Aimee speak, "Jacob, what's wrong?  Where are you going this late?"  I responded, "I'm sorry baby, but I need to go to the Church.  There's some unfinished business I just remembered that I have to take care of before morning."  She replied, "This late?"  I said, "Yeah, it's very important.  I'll explain more later, okay?  Just go back to sleep."  All she could say after that was, "Hurry back."

            I rushed out of my house, making sure to lock the door behind me.  Before I could take two steps to my car I heard the ear piercing noise of a Crow cawing.  I looked up at the direction of the sound and saw the same bird from my dream sitting on the roof of my house.  I screamed at it, "Why won't you leave me alone?  Go away!"  When I looked into its eyes I was mysteriously reminded of my dream when the seven snakes stuck their fangs into Aimee.  I shook the thought out of my mind and I got in my car and headed for the Church.

            How much time had passed, I didn't know.  I kneeled before the altar and prayed my heart's desire out.  I prayed for God to take the evil from my mind and banish the demons that consumed my soul.  I prayed for my hearts salvation.  I prayed that God would take care of me and guide me through the rest of my life.  I prayed for him to forgive me for my sins and to give me strength against the evil.  But even as I prayed for all of these things, evil struck…

            The doors leading into the main chapel of the Church where I was slammed open and a terrible scream echoed throughout God's house and the deepest corners of my bleeding heart.  It was Aimee who screamed as she rushed towards me.  My heart sank into the very depths of Hell as I looked upon her.

            She was cut and bloody and bruised.  Her clothes were ripped as if she had been in a terrible fight.  Immediately I rose from my knees and rushed to her.  I took her into my arms and cried to know what had happened to her.  She screamed out, "Come on, Jacob.  We have to get out of here.  We have to get very far away from me.  We have to get away from them!"  I cried, "Baby, who is 'them'?  Who did this to you?"

            Before Aimee could answer me, my answer was delivered to me in person.  Seven individuals walked through the large double doors and into the chapel.  There were three women and four men, all of them dressed in black with spikes and chains and gothic style make up.  Some of them even wore satanic upside down crosses or pentagrams around their necks or on their clothing.

            Aimee didn't have to explain to me who they were.  I already knew of them, but yet I didn't know their names.  They were the satanic group of freaks that Aimee had once belonged to.  It was them that I had pulled her away from.  It was their evil devil-worshipping cult that I saved her from.  What they were doing to Aimee and what they were doing inside the Church, I didn't know.  But I could tell that their intentions were not of holy ones.

            Aimee tugged at my shirt and screamed, "Come on, Jacob, lets go!"  I pulled Aimee behind me to protect her. I looked at the person who stood at the front of the group and so I assumed he was the leader.  He was the tallest of the group, for he had to be at least six-foot-four.  He wore a black business style suit with a dark blood colored tie.  He also had black sunglasses over his eyes.

            "You are trespassing on private property.  I'm going to call the cops," I said.  A chubby guy in the background laughed, "Oh, we're so fucking scared of pigs.  They can't help you now, sucker."  "Leave now!" I said forcefully.  One of the women who had extremely long black hair spoke up and said, "Oh, he's cute.  Can I play with him after we're done?"  Again I forced the point that I was going to call the cops, but again, they really didn't seem to care.

            Slowly Aimee and I backed away from them as they approached.  The leader said, "Now Mr. Jacob, you may not know it, but we have some unfinished business.  You took away one of my children, my most precious gem.  And now I want her back."  I said, "You're going to burn in Hell."  They all paused for a moment, and then suddenly they all started laughing.  The leader stopped laughing long enough to say, "You really have no idea."

            "I don't know what you want, but you better leave.  You are in the House of God and we don't welcome this type of behavior," I said.  The leader said, "I'm very aware of where I am, Jacob.  And frankly, this place has an awful stench to it that just makes me want to puke my burning guts up.  This place, like all the other churches, is just a big waste of brick and stone.  You people come here to worship your so-called God, but where is your God now to protect you?  You're going to die in the very place where you thought you would be protected most of all.  Now don't you find that strangely ironic?"

            "No one is going to die tonight.  I have enough faith in God to protect me from you people," I said.  The leader grinned an evil grin that could have stopped an angel in its tracks.  One of the other women, this one with her face painted white except for black lips and black upside down crosses painted under her eyes, said, "Shall we burn them or hang them?  It's been so long since I smelled burning flesh."  The leader whispered, "In due time."

            The leader then turned his attention to Aimee and said, "Didn't you miss us, darling?  You didn't really think that we would just let you go after all of the things you saw, did you?  Come on poor, poor, Aimee, didn't I tell you that your soul was mine forever?"  I screamed, "Shut up and leave her alone!  Get out of here!"  Aimee tugged on my shirt and again and said, "Let's just leave, Jacob.  I want to go home and be in your arms."

            A skinny male who had a large set of three-inch long spikes around his neck said, "Aw, isn't that just so damn sweet.  When we're done with him, he won't even have arms!"  Again, the group chuckled and laughed.  At first I thought they were playing some sick mind game with us, but suddenly the fear of realization sunk in that they had great intentions of doing Aimee and I harm.

            I grabbed Aimee by her hand and we ran for the door that led into the back offices.  If we could just make it to my office, I could lock ourselves in and call the police.  We reached the door without any harm and I went to yank the door open, but it was stuck solid.  That surprised me because the door had no lock on it.  It was like someone was on the other side holding it shut.

            "You're attempts at escaping will be quite pointless.  Like I said before, you really have no idea," the leader said.  Another tall man in the group reached under his long black trench coat and pulled out two demonic looking short swords.  He said, "Let me cut them up.  I'll make them realize the full pleasure of pain."  The leader held up his hand to summon them to stay behind him.  The leader said, "The fun will begin soon enough."

            I said, "Just let us go, we've done nothing to you."  Once again the leader grinned a smile that only the Devil could love.  He said, "You've done plenty.  Just being a little God-lover is crime enough for me to bleed you dry.  The fact that you're a Youth Director only adds icing to the cake.  You're about to learn that there is only one god in this universe; that there is only one constant force to reckon with.  And that, Jacob my dear boy, is Death."

            The third woman, who also wore a long black trench coat and had her hair spiked into a mohawk, said to me, "My god is Death.  And my god can kick your God's ass."  The leader said, "I grow tired of this mindless word games.  It's time for you to bleed."  A sudden dark joy and excitement came over the faces of the group.  I could feel a dark cloud forming over my soul.  And I was terrified.

            The man in the trench coat with the two swords quickly put one of his swords back under his coat and he reached into his boot and pulled out a long silver knife.  He threw the knife and it spun directly into my right thigh.  I screamed and dropped to my knees.  Blood was already gushing out of the wound.  Aimee screamed and tried to help me back up, but I could tell it was already too late.  Another one of those silver knives stabbed into my left shoulder, and again I screamed with pain.

            Aimee managed to get me back up to my feet before the group of seven made it over to us.  But the three women rushed over to Aimee and pulled her away from me.  I screamed for them to get their satanic hands off of her, but the woman with the extremely long black hair kicked me in the groin with her pointed steel-toed boots.  I fell to the floor in complete agony.  The woman in the trench coat said to Aimee, "Come on honey, time to go home to daddy."  Aimee fought to get back to me and she reached out for me, but all was lost.

            The chubby guy and the skinny guy with the long spikes walked over to me and picked me up to my knees.  As they held me still with my arms out the leader walked over to me and slapped me hard against my face.  Fresh hot blood squirted out of my nose.  The leader held my chin so I could look at him.  He said, "Where is your all-loving-piss-on-evil God now?  Huh?  Where is your faith now that you are about to die?"

            "You may be able to spill my blood and even take my life, but you could never take the faith from my heart.  No devil or demon is strong enough to do that," I said.  The leader growled a deep growl; it was the type of growl you would expect to hear from a wild beast.  He grabbed me by my neck, digging his sharp nails into the meat of my neck, and then he spit in my face.  The chubby guy said, "Uh oh, now you've made him mad.  You're really going to get it now!"

            The man in the trench coat with the short swords walked over to me and looked to his leader.  He said, "Can I?  Oh please can I?"  The leader grinned and said, "Be my guest."  The leader took a few steps out of the way and the man in the trench coat licked the blades of his two short swords that he now held in his hands.  He stabbed the blades into my sides.  I screamed so loud with the pain that my throat bled.  Aimee screamed, "Stop it!  Leave him alone!  I'm the one you want!  Take me!  Just leave him alone!"  The woman with the painted face slapped Aimee across the face, and at that moment I wanted to rip that painted face freak's head off.  The man in the trench coat slowly pulled the blades out from my sides to make the pain even more agonizing.

            Hot blood was starting to flow out of my mouth.  I knew there had to be all kinds of internal bleeding.  And I realized that I wasn't going to make it out of this Church alive.  But all I wished for was the safety of Aimee.  I wanted to die knowing that she was going to make it out of here safe and alive.  If God had given me the strength and the power, I would have killed all of them right then and there.

            I watched as the other two women held Aimee still while the woman with the painted face pulled out a cigarette lighter and used it to burn a spot on the side of Aimee's face.  Aimee's scream was more than what my soul could bare.  But at the same time, it fueled my hatred and rage for those seven people.  I wanted to see them all suffer and burn in Hell.

            The leader walked over to Aimee while the two women held her still.  The leader rubbed his hand against the side of her burnt face and said, "She's such a pretty one.  You know Jacob, I've fucked Aimee every which way possible.  I just wanted you to know that before I kill you.  Bring me my nails."

            The woman in the black trench coat let go of Aimee and the woman with the painted face took her place.  The woman in the black trench coat reached under her coat and pulled out a clear plastic bag full of large rusty nails.  The leader looked at the two holding me and said, "Put him on his feet!"  The two men hassled me up to my feet and then let go of me.  What little bit of strength I had left I used to stand on my feet.  The leader asked, "So Jacob, do you have any last words?  Is there anything you would like Aimee and God to hear from your dying lips?"

            I mumbled through the blood and tears, "Yea, though I walk through the valley…"  The leader screamed, "Shut up!  Shut the fuck up!  Do you know how many times I've heard that damn thing!  It makes me so fucking sick every time I hear it!  Let's end this now!"  The leader waved his had in my direction and I went flying backwards up into the air.  My body slammed hard against the large Cross that was built into the Church wall.  I stayed there with my arms out; ready to accept whatever hand they dealt me.

            The leader took off his black sunglasses to reveal that his eyes were like that of a large lizard.  They were green and yellow and pure with evil.  The woman grabbed and threw a handful of rusty nails up into the air in front of the leader, and with the power of the leader's hand, the rusty nails flew straight into me like a dozen killer needles.  Several nails went through my wrists and physically pinned me to the Cross. 

            The woman continued to throw handfuls and handfuls of the rusty nails up into the air, and by whatever dark power the leader had, the nails flew through the air and stabbed and pierced my flesh.  Only a minute or so had passed, and already there were well over a hundred of the rusty nails stabbed all over my body.  I had become some kind of crucified pincushion. 

            The darkness started to surround my flesh.  I could feel Death pulling on my soul, bringing me closer and closer into the pit of eternal night every second that passed.  But with my final breathes of life, I noticed some odd things.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw standing outside one of the Church windows was the Crow.  It's eyes pierced through my soul and heart and somehow gave me a dark deepening comfort.  I saw the Crow's head turn and look at something inside the Church.  My eyes followed the Crow's direction of sight and I saw Angela peeking around from behind one of the large double doors that led into the chapel.  Tears flowed down her face and a complete and utter look of unholy shock was on her face.  For her sake, I hope she had enough good sense to run.

            Everything started to go black as night.  I could feel my heart pounding slower and slower until finally I had no pulse.  My body stopped shaking, the tears stopped flowing, and before I closed my eyes for the final time, I saw them beating and stabbing Aimee.  But no matter what they did to her, her eyes never left me.  Even with all the evil that surrounded us, I couldn't deny the beauty I saw in her eyes.  And with that final vision of hope, the last bit of life left my body and I took my place among the dead.

Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? Or hast thou seen the doors of the SHADOW OF DEATH?

~Job 38:17

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the SHADOW OF DEATH, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

~Psalm 23:4

Resurrection

And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

~John 5:29

            The wind of the night howled with a grim imperfection and a haunting cry that even the angels could hear.  The earth moved, worms squirmed, flies flew, rats gnawed, and the Crow flew high in the sky.  The Crow flew closer and closer to its destination.  It knew what had to be done.  Even now, the breathless and horrific images of what happened at that church 33 days ago flooded the Crow's mind with insanity.  Its golden eyes pierced the darkness before it, and once it found the cemetery, it swooped down closer to the muddy ground below.

            The cemetery was large and old.  It flourished with the molding graves of a century before, and it flourished with the new graves of babies and fallen victims.  There was a large iron gate that surrounded the whole cemetery.  It was built there to keep the bad people out.  It was there to give the dead their peace.

            But there was one among them who was not at peace.  There was one tortured soul who could not get the mad visions from his head.  Visions of death and the faces of those who murdered him still plagued his rotting brain.  There was one who still remembered his cries to God and his losing pleads to stay alive long enough to save his beloved.  Yet those prayers went unanswered, and the restless one wanted to know why.  And that restless one was I, Jacob.

            The world was so cold and damning.  I had found myself in a world of complete and utter darkness.  I knew I was dead, but yet I saw no Heaven and no Hell.  There was only the blackness that consumed me.  I had believed myself to be stuck in Purgatory, but even that in itself was Hell enough.  It was Hell because she wasn't there.  Lost in the darkness, I still screamed for Aimee.  I wanted to know that she was all right.  I wanted to just touch her face again.  I wanted to kiss her and hold her and know that everything was going to be just fine.  But those were just dead dreams for the damned.

            Then came the vision of two golden eyes piercing through the darkness before me.  The sight was faint at first, but then the two eyes became larger and larger.  I heard a voice enter my head.  The voice was soft and polite.  It told me that everything was going to be all right.  That justice was coming.  But I was too distraught to think that things were going to be all right.  Then the voice got louder and angrier, screaming for me to get up.  It screamed for me to just wake the hell up and take back my life.

            The world around me began to shake and tremble as if I was in some horrible earthquake.  My voice came back to me and I was able to scream.  I screamed with all of my soul and hatred.  That voice kept screaming from inside my mind, saying, "Get up you fool!  Get up!"  I opened my eyes and saw nothing but the moist darkness.  I couldn't breathe; I couldn't feel any air around me.  I banged my arms and I kicked my feet in every direction possible.  I heard something cracking; I was breaking through something.

            The trembling earthquake got worse and that old feeling of fear entered my body once more.  I screamed again, but my voice was lost in the box I found myself trapped in.  That voice in my head roared out, "You've got to take back what's yours.  You've got to get the hell up!  Claw and dig your way out!"

            I banged my fists against the hard box until finally I broke through it.  A rush of muddy dirt came rushing into the box with me.  I feared I was about to get buried again.  I kicked and I forced my way up through the box and into the moist earth.  The earth was cold, but I realized that my flesh was even colder.  I screamed only to have dirt flood into my mouth.  I used my legs to push myself up and finally I broke out through the ground.

            That howling wind filled my ears with cries of sorrow.  I grabbed onto the muddy ground and pushed myself up until finally I was completely out of the hole I had been buried in.  I rolled over the ground trying to get away from that hole as fast as I could.  It took a few moments for my eyes to readjust and I was finally able to look around me.

            The clouds were dark and there was a cool mist in the air.  Either a storm was on its way or one had just passed, I couldn't tell.  I rolled from my back and up onto my knees.  I spit out the dirt I had swallowed while I was underground.  My body shook with every breeze that the cold air rushed by me.  I looked at my hands.  I looked at how dirty they were.  Yet I noticed how powerful they felt.  Where was I?  What had happened to me?

            A haunting feeling came over me as I realized that I was not alone.  I quickly rushed up to my feet and looked around.  Before me was a large hole in the ground, and before it, was a large gray tombstone.  I heard a loud caw come from above me and I looked to see a Crow fly down from a tree and land on top of the tombstone.  It pecked its beak on the stone.  I walked over closer to the hole and looked at the tombstone.

            Written in deep carved letters was my name.  My eyes slowly wondered down from my name to the date of my birthday…and then to the date of my death.  Written below the date, the words, "Asleep with Jesus" was carved.  "No, how can this be…what happened to me?" I screamed.  The Crow cawed and looked at me with its deep eyes.  They were the same eyes I had seen in the darkness just moments before my resurrection.

            "This isn't real…none of this can be real.  If I'm dead, how can I be standing here?" I mumbled out.  The Crow just cawed and that voice in my head spoke again, "The Church."  Suddenly a large amount of pain and sorrow swept through me.  I asked, "What Church?"  That voice spoke, "Follow."  The Crow flew into the air towards the exit of the cemetery.  I looked down at my body once more.  The black suit I had been buried in was muddy and torn.  I pulled the sleeves back and saw a large hole through each of my wrists.  I ripped off the top half of my shirt and looked down at my cold dead flesh.  There were dozens of small holes pierced into my flesh.  "What is this?" I mumbled out.

            In the distance I heard the Crow caw again.  I knew it was beckoning me to quickly follow.  My bare feet pounded in the moist earth as I ran towards the exit of the cemetery.  I finally reached the large iron gate, only to find that it was locked and closed.  The Crow landed on top of the gate and cawed again.  The voice from within my head said, "Break the lock."  I walked up to the gate and looked carefully at the heavy chain and large lock that held the iron gate shut.  I placed my cold wet hand on the lock and yanked as hard as I could.  The lock easily broke free.  I pulled the heavy chain from the gate and tossed it and the broken lock to the side.  I opened the iron gate and proceeded to follow the Crow out of the cemetery.

            Through the dreary streets I followed the large black bird.  We took the back roads and then through the allies to avoid attention.  When we came over a small hill, I noticed in the short distance a large Church.  My mind was bombarded with a vision of myself standing in front of a large group and talking.  I wrote words, words that appeared to be Bible verses, onto a chalkboard.  The vision stopped and I continued.

            I ran with a speed that I had never known before.  But the Crow always managed to stay ahead of me as it flew through the night sky.  We reached the large Church from behind and I saw a back door that led inside.  I placed my hand on the doorknob only to find it locked, but with a simple twist, the lock inside the door broke free.  As soon as I opened the door the Crow flew inside.

            It was extremely dark inside.  The only light came from the small amount of moonlight that shined through the Church's many windows.  The Crow landed on my shoulder and cawed.  I wasn't sure of which direction it wanted me to go, so I just started to open doors and traverse down hallways.  Finally I opened a door and that deep brooding feeling of complete dread came over me.  The Crow cawed and looked to my right.  I looked at where it was looking and I found several switches on the wall.  I pushed all of them into the "on" position, and suddenly the Church's Chapel was lit up.

            I screamed as an incredible amount of pain surged through my mind and body.  The Crow flew off of my shoulder and landed on one of the pews.  I proceeded forward into this familiar place.  I looked at the large wooden altar that the Preacher would stand behind.  A vision came to me; I saw myself kneeling before the altar praying.  A Priest walked over to my side and placed his hand on my shoulder.  The Priest said, "Jacob, your mother is in a better place now."  I looked up at the Priest and in my vision I saw streaks of tears running down my face.

            I closed my eyes and shook the vision away.  I walked over to the altar and ran my hand across the fine wood.  The Crow cawed and I looked over my shoulder at it.  I asked, "What am I doing here?  What is going on?"  The Crow cocked its head forward and looked at something on the wall in front of me.  I moved my head and looked up at the large Cross that was on the wall in the front of the Church.

            Pain.  Unimaginable pain flooded my nerves and brain cells.  I closed my eyes and saw myself thrown through the air and hit the Cross.  Unseen to me, I was somehow being pinned to the large Cross as my body took on the form of the crucifix position.  I saw myself cut and bloody.  And then came dozens of rusty nails piercing through my wrists and then into the rest of my body.

            I screamed again and opened my eyes.  I looked down at myself and at all the holes pierced into my flesh.  I looked at my wrists and how I could see right through them.  I collapsed to my knees before the altar and black tears began to flow down my face.  "What happened here…what happened to me?"

            I then heard a woman's voice call my name from behind.  I quickly rushed up to my feet and turned around.  There was no one there but another vision.  I saw a beautiful young woman who was cut and bloody.  I saw as she rushed into my arms and I demanded to know what was wrong with her.  I demanded to know what had happened to her.  I snapped out of the vision and fell straight to the floor. I banged my fist into the floor and screamed, "Who is she?  Tell me who she is!" 

            Like some kind of movie in fast-forward, all these images and visions of myself with that young beautiful girl flooded my mind.  I saw us holding hands and kissing.  I saw us planning our wedding.  I saw us holding each other in our sleep.  I heard her joyful laughter and saw her delightful smile.  I saw her with a smeared painted face as she asked, "Will you be mine forever?"  Black tears rushed down my face as I saw myself smile and say, "I will be yours until the end of time itself.  And even then they're going to have a hell of a time pulling me away from you."

            I got back up onto my knees and screamed with all my heart and soul, "AIMEE!  OH GOD AIMEE WHERE ARE YOU?"  I wiped the black moisture from my face and looked back over at the Crow who was still sitting on the pew.  Its eyes beamed into my tortured smile.  It cawed again, but this time it was even more haunting than before.  Its caw stirred a great amount of hate inside me, and it was then I saw their faces.

            All seven of their faces were burned into my mind forever.  I remembered all of them, for they were vicious scars that would damage my being forever.  I looked away from the Crow and back towards the center of the Chapel.  And it was then that the whole vision of my demise played behind my cold dead eyes like some cheap horror film.  I saw all of them and what they did to Aimee and me.  And all I could do was scream through my tears.

            Back on my feet, I faced the large Cross that had been the holding place for my death.  I screamed to the Heavens, "Why did you abandon me when I needed You most?  Why did you let all of this happen in Your house?"  Of course there was no reply from God, but I expected an answer all the same.

            That voice in my head spoke up and said, "They that have done evil, unto them the resurrection of death."  It was apart of a Bible verse I had memorized when I was alive.  I remembered teaching it to my youth group.  And even though my heart was dead and didn't beat, I could still feel the warmth Aimee had given my heart.  I looked down at my hands again and realized their full power.  As the hands of God would cast sinners down into Hell, my hands were going to deliver those evil seven unto the judgment of God.  If the Crow had the ability to smile, I believed it would have had a grin a mile long at that point.

            I followed the Crow through the Church until we reached the office of Father Cure.  As I stepped into his office I said aloud, "Forgive me Father."  I went over to his closet and went through his things.  The Father and I were about the same size, so I borrowed one of his black short sleeve preacher shirts with the white collar around the neck.  I put the shirt on and then changed out of my dirty and torn black pants into one of his fresh and clean black pants.  His black sneakers were a little big for me, but they would have to do.

            The Crow then led me through the Church and to the door that led down to the basement.  I wasn't sure what the Crow needed me to find, but I had to search anyhow.  I walked down the stairs and turned on the light.  In the basement was where most of the Church's play items were kept.  There was a chest full of paint and masks, another chest with wardrobes, and then all kinds of cardboard settings and cloth backdrops.

            The large black bird landed on one of the cardboard backdrops and just watched me.  I walked over to the chest with the paint and masks and broke it open.  I took some black and white paint and went over to a large mirror that stood upon a wooden dresser.  I looked at my face, at the smeared black tears.  I looked in the dresser and found an old shirt to wipe my face clean.

            The vision of Aimee painting her face appeared in my mind.  It was her mask to hide her true feelings from the world during her day of sorrow.  Well, this was my time for sorrow.  But my feelings of hatred need not be hidden, but merely showcased for my victims to remember me more vibrantly.  I used the black and white paint to put on my mask; white all around my face and black over my eyes and lips.  Under my eyes, I painted long black lines that stopped right above my mouth.  On the center of my forehead I painted a black Cross.  And out of the corners of my mouth I painted long black lines that stopped in the centers of my cheeks. 

            I looked at the Crow and asked, "How about this?  Does this make you happy?"  The Crow flew over to one of the costume chests and landed on it.  It pecked its beak on the chest and then flew to another spot in the basement.  I walked over to the chest and opened it up.  I went through the costumes, throwing one out after another, until finally I found a large black cape and hood.  I remembered that when we did a play that featured the Devil in it, our actor wore this cape and hood.  I would be the seven's Devil.  I placed the cape over my shoulders and tied it, and then I placed the hood over my head.

            Back outside the Church, a few drops of rain were falling.  The Crow led me around the side of the Church to the large garden shed.  It stood on the corner of the shed and just looked down at me.  I walked up to the shed and broke another lock with my hand.  I entered the shed and began to look around.  I wasn't sure what to look for at first, but then it hit me full force.  I walked over to the corner and picked an axe with a long wooden handle.  I brushed my thumb over the blade to see how sharp it was, and it cut my flesh.  I looked at the small wound, but it didn't bleed.  Instead I watched with amazement as the wound healed itself.

            I stepped back outside of the garden shed and looked up at the dark sky.  My flesh was dead yet I felt a great power surging inside of me.  I could feel the hate boiling my blood.  My mouth watered with the thought of revenge.  My hand tightened its grip on the wooden handle of my newfound weapon.  I looked back up at the Crow and said, "I'm ready."  The Crow cawed and took its flight into the air, which began my journey on the road to justice.

Pride

Let not the foot of PRIDE come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.

~Psalm 36:11

            In the outskirts of the city there stood a house.  It was a large building with many cold damp rooms.  The house had once belonged to a well-established businessman who took care of his lovely wife and nine children.  But a sickening came over the wife and she died in the heart of winter.  With her death, the businessman's heart became as cold as the harshest winter.  Driven by a dark maddening sorrow, the businessman hung himself and left his fortune to his nine children.  The nine children all moved away except for one.  That one was the youngest girl whose name was Adrian.  She turned the old disturbed house into an orphanage for abused and homeless children.  Adrian was Aimee's mother, and after Adrian's death, the orphanage closed and the building belonged to Aimee.  It was going to be our home after we got married.

            At first I was unsure as to why the Crow had led me to this place.  But I stood on the rooftop of a near by building, looking at the house as it was engulfed with flames.  I could hear people hooting and hollering as if in some kind of celebration.  As the flames burned the house, so did the sorrow burn in my heart.  I stood on the rooftop, my cape wrapped around my cold body, my hood covering my sad painted face, and I just stared at the future that could have been.

            I moved to another corner of the rooftop and looked down at the dark streets.  There was a group of five: two girls and three guys.  But my eyes quickly fixated on one of the girls.  Her face had haunted me in my grave and seeing her now made me sick to my stomach.  It was the girl with the painted face; it was the girl who burned the side of Aimee's face.  I could already feel the anger rising to every pore in my skin.  I was practically oozing with hatred. 

The Crow, who was sitting at the other corner of the building, cawed and flew down behind the burning building.  I ran to the edge of the rooftop and jumped off.  My cape opened up like large black wings as I glided down to the ground below.  I landed on my feet without any harm at all.  I was now standing behind the home that would have been ours, and I watched as the Crow flew in circles just above me.  It cawed loudly again and then flew right into the flames of the house.  I smiled to myself, for I was enjoying every mad second of this nightmare.  I wrapped the cape around my body and walked into the burning flames.

            All five of them were dressed in black and gothic attire.  One of the guys held a canister of gasoline and the other girl held a burning torch.  One of the guys said, "Come on, let's get out of here before the cops show up.  Why the hell did we even burn this old place anyhow?"  The woman of my misery, who still had her faced painted white and black with the upside down crosses under her eyes, said, "This placed belonged to some bitch I screwed a month ago.  This was just the final touch."

            The girl holding the burning torch laughed out, "Oh Selena, you're a fucking dyke!  You fire-whore!"  Selena, my misery assailant, looked at the other girl and stuck her tongue out and motioned it in a perverted way.  Selena then said, "You'll be the next bitch on my list if you don't shut the fuck up."  They all kind of laughed a little, but then their laughter came to a halt when they heard the loud caws of the Crow.

            They all looked towards the burning building, as they saw a piece of the roof collapse into the rest of the building, the large black bird came soaring out of the flames right towards them.  The Crow was unharmed by the flames, but a trail of smoke followed behind it.  The Crow flew straight for Selena and she had to duck to keep from being stabbed by its vicious beak.  "Son-of-a-bitch!" she screamed out.  One of the guys said, "Ha!  You're gonna get bird shit on you!"  Selena shot the guy a bird and then turned her attention back to the highflying Crow who was now circling above them.

            My voice rang out from the burning building, "Shall I hang you or burn you, Selena?"  They all quickly looked to the origin of my voice coming from the flames.  Their eyes widen with fear and a little bit of amazement as they saw my dark figure walking through the flames towards them.  But before completely leaving the burning building, I reached under my cape and pulled out my axe.  Without warning I threw the axe and watched as it spun through the air towards Selena.

            The sight of her eyes widening with complete fear was quite the enjoyment for me.  I could actually hear her heart beat racing with paranoia.  The axe spun its way and stabbed into the cement street right between Selena's feet.  She jumped back and landed on her ass.  The woman with the torch yelled, "Holy shit!"

            Their eyes turned away from the axe in the ground and back to me.  I walked out of the flames, unharmed and unburned, and proceeded towards them.  My body and lowered face was covered by my cape and hood.  "Who the hell are you?" one of the guys asked.  I replied, "Just another homeless face in the night."  Selena got back up to her feet and yelled, "Why the hell did you just throw an axe me you bastard?" 

            A deep grow omitted from my throat.  The anger was swelling up inside me like a bad allergic reaction.  I asked, "What did you do to her?  What did you do with Aimee after I died?"  Even more fright crossed over Selena's face.  She mumbled out, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, freak."  I lifted my head up slightly so they could see my painted grin.  As I grinned insanely, I said, "Oh, but I believe you do.  Thirty-three days ago.  In a Church.  There were seven of you in all.  You and your little fuck buddies stole everything I loved.  You took away my life.  You stole her away from me."

            "You're fucking nuts," she said. I could tell in her voice that she knew what I was talking about, but she was so afraid that all she could do was deny it.  I looked up to face her, but when I looked at her face, the word PRIDE was burned into her forehead.  For a second my eyes were the ones to widen.  Had the mad visions followed me even unto my death?  What manner of Hell was this…

            "I like the face, but those crosses should be upside down," Selena said.  I ignored my vision and continued with my hunt.  I asked, "Are you blind?  Can you not see what is before you?"  She squinted her eyes at me for a moment, but she was still unaware.  I growled again as I put my hood down so she could get a better look.  She asked, "What am I suppose to see?  Santa Clause?"  The group laughed.  I grinned and said, "No, you see Death."

            Then it hit her like a ton of bricks.  Her eyes widen to the size of exploding planets.  She mumbled out, "No, it can't be.  We wasted your ass!"  I screamed, "Now the truth comes out, Selena!  It's time to die, little girl."  The three guys stood before Selena while the girl with the torch took hold of Selena's arm and tried to rush her away.  The girl with the torch said, "Come on, let's get back to the car and get the hell out of here."  I said, "Leaving so soon?  The fun has just begun!"  Selena still only stared at me.  She couldn't believe her eyes.  Even as the girl with the torch tugged on her, Selena stumbled to stay standing up.

            One of the guys reached down and yanked my axe from the ground.  He held it in his hands, ready to fully protect his friend.  That guy said, "The fun is over now, crack head.  You're not going to touch Selena."  I looked at them and said, "I have no fight with you.  I only want Selena.  Do what's right and step away from this."  The guy said, "Not a chance!"  He plunged towards me and thrust the axe into my chest.

            I stumbled back a few footsteps and just looked down at the massive wound.  He had let go of the axe but it was still stuck in the bones and flesh that were once alive.  Black blood started to flow out of the wound and drip down on the ground.  There was no pain.  I looked back up at them and started to laugh.  All three guys just looked at one another and then back at me.  I grabbed the axe and pulled it from my chest.  We all watched as the wound healed itself before our very eyes.  One of the guys said, "Bloody hell."  I grinned and said, "Exactly." 

            The blood started to spill as my rampage engaged.  Into their stomachs, chests, and limbs I chopped my axe into the three guys.  Only after a few seconds they had all fallen to the ground in a pool of crimson red blood and severed limbs.  I stood over the carnage with drops of blood splattered on my clothes.

            "Come on, Selena, let's go!" the girl with the torch screamed.  Selena finally snapped out of her daze and turned to follow her friend.  But quickly the blade of my axe stabbed into the girl with the torch's leg and she fell to the ground screaming.  I ran with incredible speed and jumped on top of Selena and forced her to the ground.  Her head hit the cement very hard and she was knocked out cold.

            Shortly there after, I stood back on that rooftop watching my future home burn.  Selena was lying on the rooftop with her ankles and wrists tied with barbwire.  I had torn the barbwire from a nearby warehouse security fence.  My mind was completely lost in the flames.  In the back of my mind I could picture Aimee and I living there and maybe even raising a family there.  But all those dreams were dead and gone now.  All that would be left of them were singed ashes.

            But my thoughts were snapped back to reality when I heard Selena moaning.  I turned and walked over to her, kneeling down by her.  "Come on, come back to me.  You're not dead…yet," I said.  She opened her eyes and looked at me.  She asked, "What do you want from me?"  I grinned, "I want your blood to burn."

            She shook her head and said, "But you're dead.  We crucified you."  I said, "Who said I was alive?  I'm just reanimated."  The word PRIDE was still burning in her forehead.  I reached out and touched that word with my fingertips, and my mind was tormented even more.

            I saw Selena as she burned the side of Aimee's face in the Church.  I could actually feel the glee and excitement she felt as she burned my lover's flesh.  Then the vision changed and I saw Selena and the rest of the seven standing over a large hole in the ground.  Selena lit a cigarette, took a big drag off of it, and then tossed it into the large hole.  She said, "Hope you burn in Hell, bitch."

            The vision stopped and I let out a loud thunderous scream.  I grabbed Selena and slung her over to the edge of the rooftop.  She screamed with fear but I enjoyed seeing her afraid.  I screamed, "Who are they?  I want to know their names!  Tell me!"  Selena mumbled out, "There was Jonan, Simon, Vanessa, Daniel, Morgan, and Seth."  With each name she spoke out the image of that person's face appeared in my mind.  At least now I knew who they were.

            "What did you do to Aimee after I died?  Where is she?" I demanded to know.  Selena said, "You'll just have to kill me.  I'd rather die than tell you that."  Her words angered me and I couldn't control the rage anymore.  I reached under my cape and pulled out a roll of barbwire that I had tied to a loop in my pants.  I rushed over to Selena and wrapped the barbwire around her neck and then kicked her over the edge of the roof as I held onto the other end of the barbwire.

            The barbwire cut and dug into the flesh of her neck.  She gurgled up blood as she tried to scream.  I tied my end of the barbwire to a pipe running out of the roof of the building and then I stood on the edge of the roof.  I looked down at the suffering and tormented Selena.  I smiled with the delight of her suffering.  Above, I heard the Crow caw and I looked up in time to see it drop from its feet the burning torch the girl had once held.  I caught the burning torch and then looked down at Selena.

            "Are you sorry for what you did?" I asked.  All she could do was continue to gurgle up blood.  I asked, "Do you think God will forgive you now?"  Again, all she could do was gurgle up more and more blood and she choked to death.  I smiled and said, "I didn't think so, either."  I dropped the torch down onto her and it caught her clothes and body on fire.  The more she screamed in pain the more blood she coughed up.

            For the next few minutes I just sat on the edge of the roof and watched as Selena's life slowly slipped away from her.  The smell of her burning flesh was orgasmic to me.  The Crow landed on my shoulder and looked down at the burning Selena.  I looked at the Crow and said, "Well my friend, that's one down.  Only six more to go."  I then looked back down at my dead victim and whispered, "And let not the hand of the wicked remove me".

Lust

The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my LUST shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.

~Exodus 15:9

            Deeper into the streets the Crow led me.  I ran and jumped from rooftop to rooftop in pursuit of the justice my cold heart desired.  As I ran, images of Aimee flashed through my mind.  I remembered the night when she cooked me a candlelit dinner.  I remembered the way she used to hold my hand and give it a little squeeze just to let me know she was there.  The more I remembered about her, the more sorrow that crept into my heart like an evil snake.  The snake of sorrow coiled around my pitiful emotions and sank its fangs into the pain I now called joy.

            The moon above shinned down on the city with its pure white light, yet there was nothing pure about this city.  Everywhere one looked all you could see was sin and evil.  There were drug addicts on the streets with the lustful prostitutes.  Children with guns ran around in circles tormenting their teachers from school.  Murders and rapists had been given the titles of government officials.  But as I looked out upon this dark dreadful place, I realized there was no better place for me.  The decay of this city matched the decay I was feeling in my heart.

            Finally, we came to our destination.  I stood on the rooftop looking down below at a club named, "The Devil's Wing".  The name of the club was made into a big bright purple neon sign that hung on the side of the building.  The Crow landed on my shoulder and let out a soft caw.  I looked at the Crow for just a moment and then looked back down at the club.  I watched as a few guys made their way past the two large bouncers and walked inside.   A yellow glowing sign on the front door said, "XXX Live Nude Girls".

            The Crow flew off of my shoulder and swooped down towards the sex club.  I ran to the back of the rooftop and jumped down into the dark allies.  I wrapped my cape around me and let the shadows of my hood cover my painted face.  I walked out of the allies and around to the sex club.  I could already see that the two bouncers were a little paranoid of me coming their way.  From the corner of my eye I watched as the Crow flew down and landed on top of the large purple neon sign on the side of the building.

            One of the bouncers looked up at the Crow and said, "I hope that damn thing doesn't shit on the sign."  The other bouncer just laughed a little and then he said, "It'll be your ass getting on the ladder to clean it off.  You know how picky Miss Morgan is."  The name of Morgan echoed in my skull.  I saw her face slightly hidden behind her long black hair.  The anger started to broil up through my system, but I kept it under control for now.

            I walked up to the two bouncers and I said, "I have a date with Morgan."  One of the bouncers asked what name was, and I simply replied, "Death."  The bouncer checked a clipboard with names on it and then said, "Sorry, there's no freak by the name of Death supposed to be seeing the boss tonight."  I said, "I don't need an invitation."  The bouncer without the clipboard stepped up and put his hand on my chest.  He said, "Sorry freak, invitation only.  No crack heads with their face painted allowed unless specified by Miss Morgan."

            I grinned, "Then so be it."  I quickly grabbed the bouncer's arm and broke it from his elbow.  He screamed and tried to use his other arm to push me away, but I kicked him hard in his stomach and he slammed against the brick wall of the club.  The other bouncer reacted by punching me hard in my chest.  The force of the punch however didn't even make me budge.  I grabbed the bouncer's face, digging the tips of my fingers into his flesh, and slammed the back of his head against the brick wall behind him.  He slumped to the ground leaving a trail of blood down the brick wall.

            I opened the door of the club and proceeded forward inside.  The Crow flew in behind me and disappeared into the rafters above.  The club was filled with all kinds of the gothic and freak type.  Loud techno music blasted the loud speakers.  People dressed in barely there clothes were dancing provocatively and pressing and sliding their bodies against others.  No one even bothered to look up at me as I entered inside.  They were all too lost in the moment of the lust that controlled the raging hormones in their bodies.

            I shifted through the crowd.  At one point a woman dressed in a tight rubber type dress started to press her body against mine.  My dead eyes beamed out from the shadows of my hood and stared into her eyes.  For a brief moment, we just stood there and stared at one another.  But then she saw something she didn't want to have to deal with, and she moved away to some other woman in the crowd.

            There were several cages hanging from the ceiling.  In each cage there was a nude woman dancing.  At the front of the club was a large stage where two women kissed and rubbed some kind of oil over each other's body.  In the corner of the room was a couch where a woman was riding in the lap of some gentleman in a business suit.  In another part of the room there was another table and chairs, and I watched as two guys and a girl snorted expensive cocaine up their bleeding nostrils.  Everywhere I looked, there was something more for me to feel disgusted about.

            But in the back of the room I saw a door that had the word PRIVATE written on it.  A man dressed in black who had a gun holstered by his side was guarding the door.  I moved through the crowd and made my way over to the guard.  He placed his hand up as if to say, "stop", and he said, "Sorry, associates only."

            A small growl emitted from the depths of my throat and I jabbed two of my fingers into the guard's eyes.  He screamed but no one could hear him over the loud music.  I pushed him over to the side and he collapsed to the floor bleeding and moaning in pain.  I opened the door and as I walked through the Crow flew over my shoulder and proceeded ahead.

            Before me was a set of stairs that led down to a basement area below the Club.  I carefully walked down the stairs, halfway expecting some kind of trap to spring out from under me.  But the anger inside of me was swelling my organs.  Under my cape, I had a firm grip on the handle of my axe.  As I walked, I could only think of what I was going to do to Morgan to repay what she had done to Aimee and I.

            At the end of the stairs was another door.  A biohazard sticker was stuck to the door with the words NO WAY OUT spray-painted just below the sticker.  The Crow landed on my shoulder and cawed.  I opened the door and looked right into the eyes of revenge. 

            The entire room was black and the only furniture was a large bed with red sheets against the far wall.  Morgan lay nude on the bed as three other nude women licked and sucked all over Morgan's body.  I stepped into the room of lust and the Crow cawed to get their attention.  All of the women stopped what they were doing and looked at me.  Morgan spoke up and said, "Private party only.  Get lost before I get one of my men to take you around back and beat the shit out of you."

            I said, "Morgan, you don't have time for an old victim?  How rude of you.  But then again, I don't think politeness is in your vocabulary."  Morgan sat up as the other three women turned their attention back to her and began to lick her body once more.  Morgan asked, "Who the hell are you?"  I let down my hood so she could get a better look at my grinning face.  I said, "I am the apple in Eve's mouth."

            My face struck a nerve in the back of Morgan's mind.  She said to her three bitches, "Get the hell out of here now!"  The three women crawled off the bed and disappeared into a door to the right of the bed.  Morgan got up from the bed and reached down to the floor and picked up her purple see through gown.  She placed the gown over her body and then reached into one of the gown pockets and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

            Her hand was slightly shaking, but she was trying her best to hide it.  She opened the pack and pulled out a cigarette and lit it.  I said, "Smoking is bad for you.  But so am I."  She said, "You can't be who I think you are.  And what's the deal with the big fucking bird?"  I took a few steps towards her, but she backed up a little bit.  I could tell she was afraid.  I said, "I am in your debt and I've come to repay you, Morgan.  The Crow is just the stepping stone."

            She took a deep drag off of her cigarette and blew the smoke out slowly.  She said, "You know, I've heard of people coming back from the dead before.  Just never really believed in it myself."  I asked, "What is reality to you?  Is it the sex?  All that lust you feel every time you have someone lick your body?  Is it that release you get after you've just fucked somebody?"  She grinned, "Pleasure is pain.  I deal with pain and make it my pleasure.  I have a small empire here.  I have people who will do anything for me or to me.  All just for money or drugs or just more explosive sex."

            "Empires tend to collapse under pressure," I said.  The Crow flew off of my shoulder and landed on the corner of the bed.  Morgan just looked at the Crow for a moment and then she took another hit off of her cigarette.  She looked back at me and said, "So you've come to take my life, have you?"  I responded, "I've come to take my life back."

             Without warning she reached under one of the pillows and pulled out a small pistol.  She nervously aimed it at me and fired three shots into my chest.  I looked down at the smoke coming out of the three bullet holes, and then I looked back up at her.  She only mumbled out, "No.  We killed you once, I can kill you again!"  She fired another shot, but this time the bullet pierced straight through my right eye and into my skull.

            From the mere shock of it I feel to my knees and held my bleeding face.  My black oil like blood oozed out through my fingers and dripped down onto the black floor.  I felt no pain, just anger.  I wanted her to die.  I wanted her to die slowly.  I stood back up and let out a growl loud enough for her to hear.  The three bullet slugs popped out of my chest and fell to the floor.  The three wounds healed themselves within a matter of seconds.  I removed my hand from my wounded face and the bullet slug popped out of my right eye socket and it fell to the floor.  The flesh of my face and the substance of my eye healed before her very eyes.  The paint on my face that had smeared from the wound even appeared back along with my healed flesh.

            "What the hell are you?" She screamed.  She fired another shot, but this one I was quick enough to catch it with my hand.  I looked at the slug in my hand and then back at Morgan.  The word LUST appeared burned into her forehead.  But these mad visions were the least of my worries right now.  I threw the slug with all my might at Morgan and it shot right through her stomach.  She fell to her knees in pain.

            In all of the excitement, she had dropped her burning cigarette on the floor.  I walked over to her and kneeled before her.  I picked up the still burning cigarette and put it up to her face.  I said, "Do you still burn with desire even now?"  A small amount of blood was flowing out of the left corner of her mouth.  She said, "Fuck you.  You and that stupid bitch both deserved to die at that damn church."  I thrust the burning cigarette into her right eye, burning it.  She screamed with horrible affliction and I grinned, "Eye for an eye."

            I grabbed her and lifted her up off her feet.  I then threw her onto the bed and proceeded to pull out my axe.  She looked at me with her one good eye and said, "Go on, do it!  But if you kill me you'll only be just as worse as the rest of us!  You'll be a murderer just like us!"  As the rage soared through my limbs, and without another thought, I sliced my axe down into her mouth, which split her head in two.  The image of all that blood splattering on the walls and flowing into her long black hair was greatly satisfying. 

            I picked up the top half of her head and looked into her mutilated face.  I said, "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.  James Three-Nine."  I watched as the word LUST written on her forehead turned to blood and ran down her face.  I dropped the severed head to the floor and looked at the Crow.  It was still sitting on the corner of the bed.  I looked down at the blood on the blade of my axe and I said aloud, "Is she right?  Am I just as worse as the ones who did this to me?"

            The Crow only cawed softly, which gave me little support.  But then there was that echoing voice in the back of my head saying, "The road to justice is a bloody one.  You're mission is a just one."  Before I could continue with my thoughts I heard a loud shrieking scream pierce my ears.  I looked to the door to the right of the bed and saw one of Morgan's whores peering out through the door, and when she saw the carnage, she screamed with horror.

            Quickly I pulled up my hood and wrapped my cape around me.  I took a bow before the screaming woman and said, "Until we meet again on the other side."  The Crow and I disappeared back through the door and up the stairs.  The club was still raging and people were practically having sex on the dance floor.  I ran through the crowd like a breezing shadow and exited out the building.

            I kept running until I was well out of sight of the club.  It began to rain gently down upon the earth.  The water from God tried its best to wash the world of its sin.  But I knew too well that it would take another flood to completely wash all the sin from the world.  The Crow flew somewhere high above in the sky as I just walked down the streets.  It was then that I realized that the world is a cold harsh place, but I was beginning to feel a lot colder and harsher.

Sloth

The way of the SLOTHFUL man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain.

~Proverbs 15:19

            The night seemed to call out my name.  It called and screamed for me to elope in the eternal darkness.  A little bit of a cold rain drizzled its pitiful way down to the earth.  But the rain was more than welcomed, for it matched the dreariness inside of my soul.  I was beginning to get tired of playing the Crow's game of justice.  I was beginning to get tired of the murder and the supernatural power.  But mainly, I was getting tired of not being in my grave and not being in some form of Heaven with Aimee.

            I noticed that it would soon be morning and I would have to take refuge from the light.  The light of the sun that had once been a great inspiration for me now seemed as if it would be my enemy.  I was no vampire, yet I yearned for blood.  I wanted their blood on my vengeful hands.  I wanted to taste it on my mourning tongue.  I wanted them to know what I had become because of them.

            I walked through the dark allies.  I walked past the homeless who clung to boxes for shelter and drew near barrels of fire for warmth.  I walked by two women inhaling a large amount of crack.  I stopped in my tracks and looked into their glazed eyes.  I could see their souls being drained of energy.  Soon, they would die and the world will forget them.  Who loved them anyhow?  Maybe that's why they had to seek out drugs for comfort, because the ones they loved had forgotten them.

            As I stood there looking down at the two dying women, I heard the sound of loud thumping music coming from the entrance of the alley.  A large amount of light appeared from the front of a vehicle.  I sunk into the cold comfort of the dark shadows and disappeared from sight.  One vehicle came cruising down into the depths of the alley, and then right behind it another followed.

            Many of the homeless people had a sixth sense for danger, and so they also sunk into the shadows and disappeared into other allies.  The first car stopped at the end of the alley and the music thumping from inside stopped.  The second vehicle stopped right behind the first one, and only the headlights from the second vehicle remained on.

            Out of the first vehicle stepped out Jonan, who still wore large spikes around his neck and wrists.  Also stepping out of that vehicle were three other men with guns holstered by their sides.  Five dark skinned men stepped out of the second vehicle and they all met between the cars.  Jonan spoke up and said, "Gentlemen, I have only the finest guns in the city.  And they can be yours, for a price."  The largest of the dark skinned men from the second car stepped up to Jonan and said, "I want to see them."

            Jonan motioned for one of his buddies to unlock the trunk of their car.  The trunk door opened and Jonan motioned for the dark skinned men to take a look.  They reached into the trunk and pulled out large rifles and pistols.  The leader of the dark skinned men asked, "How much?"  Jonan answered, "My boss has instructed me to inform you that the price is half a mil.  Nothing less."  The leader squinted his eyes with an angry look at Jonan.  Jonan just said, "Hey guys, what the boss says goes.  Either pay up or we leave.  Your choice, guys." 

            The leader of the dark skinned men motioned for one of his associates to get the money.  The associate quickly reached into the back seat of the car and brought back a large black suitcase.  The leader then opened the suitcase for Jonan to see and the leader said, "It's all there.  You can count it if you want, but personally, I don't have the fucking time to wait.  I have street wars to win."  Jonan grinned and said, "I trust you.  Go on boys, give them what they've paid for."

            Jonan's buddies quickly pulled out their guns and opened fire on the dark skinned men.  An all out gunfight erupted in the allies as the dark skinned men realized they had fallen into a trap.  I watched as Jonan hid to the front of his car and ducked from fire.  My eyes transfixed on him; I wanted him to suffer immensely.  After only two minutes, all of the dark skinned men lay on the ground dead.  Jonan got up from ducking and walked over to the corpse of the leader.  Jonan reached under his shirt and pulled out a gun and shot the leader in the head.  He then said, "That's what you get motherfucker!  That's what you get for turning your back on the Boss."

            My voice loudly echoed off the alley walls, "She said she wanted to be in my arms."  Jonan jerked with shock and started to look all around.  "Who said that?" he asked into the shadows.  My voiced echoed again, "And then you said 'When we're done, he won't even have arms!'"  Jonan and his buddies continued to turn in all directions trying to find the source of the voice.  Jonan screamed, "Who said that?  Show yourself!" 

            I stood there, hiding in the shadows like some kind of creature of the night.  As I looked upon Jonan, I saw the word SLOTH burned into the top of his hands.  The Crow flew down from the rooftops and landed on the hood of Jonan's car.  The men were so frightened that they immediately opened fire at the Crow before they even got a chance to fully see what it was.  Before any bullets could harm it, the Crow flew back into the air and disappeared.  One of Jonan's buddies asked, "What the hell was that?" 

            A loud thump of something hard hitting the ground now echoed on the alley walls.  Jonan and his buddies looked to see that one of their own had fallen to the ground without his head.  "Shit!  Holy shit, man!  What the fuck is going on?" one of them screamed.  Jonan said, "Shut up!  Let's just get in the fucking car and go.  Find the keys on one of the corpses and we'll take their car."

            Jonan then heard the sound of gurgling, and turned around to see one of his buddies holding his bleeding throat.  The bleeding buddy then collapsed to the ground and died in a puddle of his own blood.  Jonan fired three shots into the air and screamed, "Show yourself, motherfucker!  Stop playing these damn games!  Face me!"

            My voice echoed, "Can you face your own sins, Jonan?  Can you come to terms with the actions of your past?  Can you look into the eyes of the Crow and see absolution?  Can you face your own Shadow of Death?"  The only remaining buddy frantically searched the corpses of the dead dark skinned men in hopes of finding their car keys.  Jonan had realized that the other car blocked his car, and they couldn't escape.  I had realized this too, which is why I secretly swiped the keys from the driver of the second car.

            "Who are you?" Jonan screamed into the shadows.  "Tell me who you are!" he screamed again.  The head of his remaining buddy rolled between his legs.  "Oh shit," Jonan mumbled out. Jonan then proceeded to shoot his gun in every direction possible.  "I'll kill you, man!  I'll fucking kill you!" he screamed.  But then he ran out of bullets, and so did his luck.

            I hopped onto the roof of the second car with a loud thud and said to him, "You've already killed me once.  How do you imagine you will do it again?"  Jonan faced me and his eyes widen with fear.  He tried to shoot his gun at me, but all the bullets were gone.  He threw his gun at me, only to have it bounce off my chest.  I hopped down from the roof and onto the ground before him.  I held up my bloody axe for him to see.  I whispered, "Guess whose next on my list?"  Jonan slowly backed away from me as he asked, "What do you want from me?  I didn't do anything to you!"

            "You've done plenty.  You helped take away my life and my love.  You destroyed innocence!  You helped take the beauty from her face, and for that, I'm going to kill you," I said.  He screamed, "I don't know what you're talking about!"  I rushed up to him and dug my fingers into his face.  In that one instant, I saw a glimpse into his mind.

            My mind became plagued with the vision of Jonan standing over a large hole in the ground.  He held in his hand a single black rose.  The rest of the seven also stood around the hole, some of them with dirt and blood on their clothes.  Jonan pricked his finger on one of the rose's thorns and let his blood drip onto the rose pedals.  He then kissed the rose and threw it into the deep hole.  He said, "Sorry it had to end this way, love.  But you should have known better, anyhow."  The vision ended and I forced myself away from him.

            Jonan took the open opportunity to reach down and grab one of his dead buddy's gun.  Jonan grinned as he aimed the gun at me, "Okay, bitch, time for you to die!"  He fired several shots in me as I continued to stumble backwards.  I almost lost my balance, but I quickly regained it and ran full force towards him.  Even as he continued to unload the clip into my dead body, I ran up to him and forced him backwards until his body slammed into the alley wall.  He dropped the gun and for the first time he got a good look at my painted face.

            He could only mumble out, "You…it's you."  I growled, "Yes, it's me.  I am your demise.  I am the boat that's going to carry you across the river Styx."  For the next several minutes, all that could be heard was his awful screams.  Eventually his screams were drowned out from my laughter and then the sound of his own blood gurgling in his throat.  But then the screaming and the laughter stopped, and silence was once again restored to the allies.

            The two women who were doing crack just moments before the chaos erupted, appeared out from behind a large green dumpster and walked back into the alley.  They found all the dead bodies of the men who were trying to make a weapons deal.  And at the end of the alley, all their glazed eyes could fixate on was the corpse of Jonan.

            One of the windshields of the cars had been shattered; the shards of broken glass were stabbed into Jonan's skull like a dozen thorns.  His arms were cut off and lying in the shape of a cross on the ground in front of him.  Written in his own blood on the alley wall behind him, "SHE JUST WANTED TO BE IN MY ARMS".  All of this was the handiwork of my rage and appetite for destruction.

            The Crow landed on the hood of Jonan's car and cawed at the two women.  As they looked back, they could only daze at the large black bird with a certain acidity in their eyes.  The Crow cawed again and flew back high up into the dark sky.  I could only imagine what was going through their doped up minds.  Did they believe anything they saw?  Or was it all just another drug-induced fantasy?  The blood must have seemed so real and thick and red.  But was it all a dream?  They would soon ignore everything they had seen and would find another home in the damp dark allies.  And in that place, they would continue on with their sins as if God Himself had forgotten them.

Intermission:

Silent Screams

My bones beg for a demise

Cracking and snapping under pressure

But then the pain becomes pleasure

And I beg for a Devil's demise

She promised me she wouldn't cry

But I felt the tears on her begging lips

I know now she begged for another trip

And her begging arms held me before I would die

When I close my eyes I dream

I see her in her heavenly wedding dress

I want to hold her hand and nothing less

Bleeding forgiveness in a silent scream

The angels above can shed their tears

The walls of my mind crumble to the inferno

The last pieces of sanity fall like snow

Down to the ground of unholy fears

I would die again to see her

Just to know she misses me

Would ignite the flame in me

I would kill to be there

Listening to her cries

Dead but cannot sleep

Memories lurking that creep

Into a mind that slowly dies

Dancing on my grave

My pain the never-ending maze

In death I finally know

The pain she suffered through