pizza. They always left me money for food when they went out. Mom always felt bad that they were going out to eat while they left me at home. I never told her that I was happy enough with the alone time. As long as we had a microwave pizza or two in the house, I was good. There was no way I was going to turn down Pizza Hut though.
About a half hour later, I heard a knock on the door. I put down my controller and ran to the front door.
Nine times out of ten, our neighbor Jimmy would be the one to deliver my order. He knew that my mom normally tipped well, so he would take the shot to get out of the kitchen for a half hour.
Instead of seeing Jimmy when I opened the door, there were a couple of cops. Officer Coleman and Detective Leonard. In my lifetime I have made it a goal to never know a cops name though after all these years I don’t think I’ll ever forget theirs.
Losing both parents in one night will do that to you.
After wiping off my face, I get out of the car right after Nal puts out cigarette four. I didn’t want to be a dick and get out of the car after he lit one up, but I’m not in the mood for small talk at the moment.
Sara rushes out of the door the moment I’m on the porch. If there is one thing I could really use right now is to have her in my arms. She will want to talk to me about what happened later, but she knows when I just need a hug.
“Welcome back, Mitch,” Uriel says, walking out the door. If there is one thing I don’t think I’ll ever get used to, it’s seeing Uriel parading around looking like a six year old girl. When the Rising hit, children were in the front of the line to be… evacuated, from this hell hole. So you can imagine how her appearance can still be a bit unsettling at times.
I can barely muster a smile before I have to fight off the tears. One of the unwritten rules in the ‘Man-book’ is that you are not allowed to cry where others can see you. It isn’t a problem for them to know you are, like earlier with Nal, but you just can’t do it in front of them.
Three seconds in and I’m just about ready to burn the ‘Man-book.’
“What’s wrong, honey?” Sara asks, stopping a tear from reaching my chin.
“It’s Zeke,” I say. “He didn’t make it.” I go over the whole story, from the trip downtown to being imprisoned in the hotel. While Uriel’s face is calm and collected during the whole story, Sara is having trouble hiding the horror in hers.
Uriel joins in on the hug. “Mitch, that was his fate. He knew his time was coming and knew his death would give you a chance to survive. You, standing here on my porch, is proof that he did what he must.”
I have a hard time buying into the fate bullshit. Fate is a way of telling us that we’re really not free. That the choices we make in this world are done under the illusion of freedom.
Before you give me the whole speech on the Rising, let me tell you that it was less fate and more God actually having to cash the check he wrote. You can’t have your disciples take down your word and make a promise as large as Armageddon if you aren’t prepared to do it. I doubt he really wanted to do it.
I believe the scriptures were more of a way to keep the people in line. If the threat of things ending at any moment is constantly looming over your head, you will have the tendency to do the right thing more often than not.
“I have more bad news,” I say. “They have another orb.”
“Like the shattered one you gave us?”
“The same. We saw them killing survivors on the streets downtown and using the orbs to draw the souls inside. They did the same thing to Zeke.”
“Then we need to figure out why they need the souls.”
I nod. When I saw Duncan with the first orb, I thought that it was just a way to keep demon souls from going to purgatory when they died. When the soul of whatever demon Duncan had inside of him ended up with the orb, I had no doubts.
But, when I start to think things over, they had a
About a half hour later, I heard a knock on the door. I put down my controller and ran to the front door.
Nine times out of ten, our neighbor Jimmy would be the one to deliver my order. He knew that my mom normally tipped well, so he would take the shot to get out of the kitchen for a half hour.
Instead of seeing Jimmy when I opened the door, there were a couple of cops. Officer Coleman and Detective Leonard. In my lifetime I have made it a goal to never know a cops name though after all these years I don’t think I’ll ever forget theirs.
Losing both parents in one night will do that to you.
After wiping off my face, I get out of the car right after Nal puts out cigarette four. I didn’t want to be a dick and get out of the car after he lit one up, but I’m not in the mood for small talk at the moment.
Sara rushes out of the door the moment I’m on the porch. If there is one thing I could really use right now is to have her in my arms. She will want to talk to me about what happened later, but she knows when I just need a hug.
“Welcome back, Mitch,” Uriel says, walking out the door. If there is one thing I don’t think I’ll ever get used to, it’s seeing Uriel parading around looking like a six year old girl. When the Rising hit, children were in the front of the line to be… evacuated, from this hell hole. So you can imagine how her appearance can still be a bit unsettling at times.
I can barely muster a smile before I have to fight off the tears. One of the unwritten rules in the ‘Man-book’ is that you are not allowed to cry where others can see you. It isn’t a problem for them to know you are, like earlier with Nal, but you just can’t do it in front of them.
Three seconds in and I’m just about ready to burn the ‘Man-book.’
“What’s wrong, honey?” Sara asks, stopping a tear from reaching my chin.
“It’s Zeke,” I say. “He didn’t make it.” I go over the whole story, from the trip downtown to being imprisoned in the hotel. While Uriel’s face is calm and collected during the whole story, Sara is having trouble hiding the horror in hers.
Uriel joins in on the hug. “Mitch, that was his fate. He knew his time was coming and knew his death would give you a chance to survive. You, standing here on my porch, is proof that he did what he must.”
I have a hard time buying into the fate bullshit. Fate is a way of telling us that we’re really not free. That the choices we make in this world are done under the illusion of freedom.
Before you give me the whole speech on the Rising, let me tell you that it was less fate and more God actually having to cash the check he wrote. You can’t have your disciples take down your word and make a promise as large as Armageddon if you aren’t prepared to do it. I doubt he really wanted to do it.
I believe the scriptures were more of a way to keep the people in line. If the threat of things ending at any moment is constantly looming over your head, you will have the tendency to do the right thing more often than not.
“I have more bad news,” I say. “They have another orb.”
“Like the shattered one you gave us?”
“The same. We saw them killing survivors on the streets downtown and using the orbs to draw the souls inside. They did the same thing to Zeke.”
“Then we need to figure out why they need the souls.”
I nod. When I saw Duncan with the first orb, I thought that it was just a way to keep demon souls from going to purgatory when they died. When the soul of whatever demon Duncan had inside of him ended up with the orb, I had no doubts.
But, when I start to think things over, they had a
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