The church

Joseph Taylor's point of view

I was talking to Elai and Annie until I got a notification on my cell phone

It was a message from the church group, I couldn't ignore

“You two stay there, I'll be right back” I went back home to show my parents the message

Arriving back in the basement the vision I had was of my serious parents waiting for me to come back

Dorothea: Have you finished talking to the hooligans?

Joseph: I know you don't like them mom but you don't have to make that face

Joseph: Anyway, I came back because I got a message from Father John's church group and I thought the 3 of us should see it together.

The 3 of us got together to see the message, it was a video that seemed to have been recorded a short time ago.

"Good morning battle brothers" he seemed quite optimistic about the event

“Many of you must be scared but I ask you to remain steadfast and in prayer.”

"The situation is serious, I received many reports of demonic beasts attacking our brothers and sisters"

"That's why I would like everyone who is seeing this message to gather in the church so that we can stay united and survive"

"Peace be upon you"

Dorothea: This is how a man of God should act, not like your "friends" do

“I'm sure Elai and Annie don't care what you think” I thought to myself

Joseph: What should we do?

Carlos: Our car is still undergoing maintenance, we have no way to get to the church

Joseph: We actually have...

Carlos and Dorothea: No!

Joseph: Why not? They are my friends

Dorothea: They're not your friends, they're bums who are taking advantage of your good will to take advantage of you

Joseph: Mom... Ok I understand you talk about Annie like that but Elai

Carlos: That kid, he's a liar! I only let you answer him because I didn't want him spreading slander on me

Joseph: I tell him to apologize later but we'll have to count on his help if we want to get to the church.

Me and my parents looked at each other for a while without saying anything

Carlos: Bring him, I want to talk to him

Joseph: Right father

I didn't know what they were thinking but if my dad asked me to call Elai it means this might be one of the rare times I could convince him

Elai Rivers point of view

Joseph: Elai, my parents want to talk to you

Annie: Are you really going to leave me and Carmen alone again?

Elai: Stop doing drama, I know you don't like his parents either

Joseph: Guys, I'm still here

And then me and Joseph went into the house and went to the basement, when he got there his parents were staring at me

Elai: Hmmm good morning?

Dorothea: I'll be straight to the point, I don't like you, I think you and the girl are terrible influences for my son, in my opinion it would be better for him not to have any friends than to have you and...

Elai: If they called me here for that I'll go back outside

Carlos: Don't interrupt her!

Elai: You guys who are making trouble with me!

Carlos and I faced each other aggressively until Joseph intervened

Joseph: Take it easy Elai

Joseph: Dad, Mom, he's a guest remember?

Elai: My bad

Carlos: We called you because we are without a car and we need help to get to Father John's church

Elai: Aaah so that was it... You could have said from the beginning

Carlos and Dorothea: So will you help us?

Elai: Yes but because Joseph and I are friends

Elai: What's your plan?

Joseph then opens his cell phone's gps and it shows our location

Joseph: We are here, normally we use the car to go to church this way.

So he marks the route on the map

Joseph: We spend 10 minutes when traffic is good

Elai: Right, is there any way we can cut the way?

Joseph: There are alleys where you can cut the path

Carlos: These places are dangerous, especially at night

Elai: Do you think Annie and Carmen would make it through?

Joseph: I don't know, I've never been there

Dorothea: Who is Carmen? Is it another one of your friends Joseph?

Joseph: It's almost like that 

Joseph: Elai you haven't said anything to Annie yet, how are you sure she will agree to help us?

Elai: Leave it to me I know her

A few minutes later at the door of the house

Annie: But no fuck I'm going to be the backguard of this loser's parents

Annie: I already have to put up with Joseph, now his parents I won't

Elai: I was expecting this answer from you to tell the truth

Annie: So why did you ask me?

Elai: Remember that series about the devil who decided to take a “vacation” in our world?

Annie: Yeah I'm still mad about her cancellation

Elai: So, look at us now, we're in what might be a small invasion or maybe a forced mix between worlds

Elai: That devil got a lot of things by charging favors

Elai: We all have to start somewhere

Annie: Hmmm I can't stand them but I can't miss the opportunity the 3 owe me

Elai: This! That's how you say it

Annie: You already planned all this, didn't you?

Elai: I've known you for a long time Annie, you wouldn't miss an opportunity like that to be on top

Annie: Ehehe you're right

Elai: Well, I'm going back inside, I'm going to use Joseph's father's tools to cut the handle of that sickle, you can't walk around with something like that

Carmen then grunts

Annie: Carmen told me to lend you my stone and glue it to a piece of wood left over from the scythe

Elai: Hmmm... Ok

"Oh my God!" that's what Dorothea said when she saw me coming in with a scythe as big as me

Dorothea: Don't let it get close to my son

Elai: Your son is already 19 years old, how about starting to treat him like a man?

Elai: Carlos, help me take the cable out of her

Even hesitantly Carlos helped me to separate the scythe and then I took the saw to cut a piece of the wooden handle

The handle looked old and frayed but it was incredibly strong, the saw didn't seem to work until I got the idea to use the blade.

The blade worked on wood as it would if both were normal, I was starting to understand how it worked

As soon as we cut the cable, we used super glue to glue Annie's stone so that it turned into a kind of snitch, at this point I think Carmen wanted Annie to turn into a witch.

When the glue dried, I asked Joseph to give the wand to Annie while I glued 2 pieces of wood from the handle to the blade making it turn into a curved machete

I was quite satisfied with the result, now I wouldn't need to use both hands to hit with the scythe, before I could test an explosion sound came out the front door

Me, Carlos and Dorothea quickly left the house and the first thing we saw was a large trash can on fire

Elai: What the fuck happened here?

Joseph and Annie were looking at me like kids who just did something wrong and got out of hand

Annie: I...I'm a fucking witch!!!

I didn't have time to react too much because Joseph's parents were “dueling” against Carmen

The two had their rosaries in hand while Carmen looked like a stray dog

Joseph and I got in the middle of the confrontation to separate the 3

Joseph: Calm down, we're on the same side

Carlos: How can such a thing be on our side?

Annie: She's not a thing, her name is Carmen

Dorothea: Is that Carmen?

Annie: She's a girl and she's beautiful! You heard ? I will burn you !

Elai: Calm down Annie, remember what we talked about favors

Annie and Dorothea were staring at each other like two angry children but at least they didn't attack each other... at least not verbally

Elai: Well, now that you're intimate, how about we prepare for the trip ?

Joseph was dragging his parents into the house and a few minutes later they come out in different clothes than before

Elai: Annie, what's the plan?

Annie: Why does it have to be me?

Elai: You and Carmen are like 1, that makes you the most powerful among us

Apparently everyone agreed

Annie: Well I think Joseph and his parents go ahead because they know the way, you and I go after them

Elai: Yeah, I think it's okay like that, does anyone disagree?

The 3 looked uncomfortable with the decision but didn't say anything, so I took it and gave the demon parts I killed that could be used for self-defense.

Dorothea looked the most disgusted of the 3, hesitating to take a piece

Elai: This here usually works better than a knife, but if you don't want it, no problem

She reluctantly accepted and then the 6 of us went to church

We walked through the dark streets being careful with our steps except for Annie and Carmen who didn't seem to care if they were being noticed.

Annie: Hmmm guys, why are you walking so slowly? Me and Carmen are getting bored

Elai: We don't want to be noticed by the demons scattered around the city

Annie: Has the Taylor disease hit you too? I expected you to be more confident

Elai: Well not everyone here can throw a fireball whenever they want or have a demon available

Annie: Stop crying, if it's any consolation me and Carmen are more powerful than lesser demons, so you can walk like people

Dorothea: You could have told us that sooner girl! If I were your mother I would punish you

Annie: But you're not! So be quiet before Carmen gets hungry

Dorothea: You wouldn't dare!

Carlos: Don't be flippant Dorothea! we can't abuse the children's goodwill

Then Dorothea fell silent and ducked her head as Annie looked over at her as if she said “yes! That's right! Be submissive to your husband!"

Joseph took the opportunity to come up to me and ask me quietly, "Will we make it to the church without them killing each other?"

We followed the path without any major problems until we reached a part of narrow alleys

Elai: Annie do you think Carmen can get through here?

Annie: It would even be possible but she said she doesn't like tight spaces

Elai: Joseph, is the narrow part of the path too long?

Joseph: Walking around we should be able to get to the other side in 30 minutes, if we go that way we'll get there in 10

Elai: So we start the vows, whoever wants to go down the narrow path, raise your hand

Joseph and his parents raised their hands

Elai: Well it looks like I don't need to do the other part

Elai: We will be more helpless without Annie, do you agree with that?

Carlos: We just want to get to church as soon as possible.

Elai: Hmmm ok. Joseph send the map to Annie's phone

Elai: Annie you turn around and meet us on the other side

Annie: Oh whatever

Elai: Don't make that face, you'll be able to do whatever you want on the way without worrying about us

So Annie and Carmen went their way and I could see Carlos and Dorothea hiding their smile

Elai: Okay. Do any of you 3 have guns experience?

None raised their hand, so I took my gun and handed it to Joseph

Elai: Joseph will you keep my gun

Joseph: But I don't know how to shoot

Carlos: This thing is dangerous, give it to me

Elai: No! I decide who it stays with, Joseph keep your finger off the trigger and just point the barrel of the gun at the one you want to kill, understand?

Joseph was nervous, his hands started to shake and then he sucked in a breath and said "okay"

Elai: You will follow behind the group while I go ahead and you 2 will be ready for anything

The situation was risky, I didn't like the idea of ​​leaving my gun with Joseph but it was better than spending all the way distracted by the possibility of his parents hitting me in the back

So we entered the alley and it was much darker than the streets, they were lit only by the empty corners of the buildings, it was dirty and windy, with our clothes we had even forgotten a little bit of the cold it was making

We walked for about 6 minutes in complete silence until we finally heard someone saying "you guys are in my area you shit"

We kept walking like it wasn't with us so some more people surrounded us

They were 7, 4 of them were in front of me, some with pieces of wood and others with pocket knives, I looked back and Joseph was in a similar situation

“We don't want trouble” I said as I walked up to Joseph's parents' backs.

"But we want" one of them with an ax said as he approached me

"Calm down, let us through and no one gets hurt" I said reaching out to signal them to calm down

"Hurt us ? Now we're going to hurt you a lot, your garbage” he advanced even further with the ax in hand, so I mounted my guard with the scythe

“Look at this spoiled sickle! Haha, are you a farmer or something? This is the big city, we'll welcome you” and then he was going to attack until Joseph started screaming loudly and unloading the gun on the bandits who were on his side

“What have you done to my friends you little shit! I'll chop you up!” the ax man said as he advanced towards the group

“Ah!Damn it” the negotiation had failed and I needed to defend myself

the man with the ax tried to attack me a few times but to no avail, so i attacked him in the setback but there was a however, i had forgotten that what i wielded was no ordinary scythe

I slashed diagonally down from the right and the scythe went through him like it was those bamboo mats for testing with a katana.

The other 3 were shocked by the ease with which the scythe passed through their companion but that wasn't enough to stop them

The first one came attacking me with a piece of wood, I defended it by cutting the wood with one blow and soon after I gave another one that went through it

"When did I get so good at fighting?" I wondered but I didn't have much time for that, the other 2 remaining were surrounding me

"Now I got you you shit!" I heard from the side where Joseph was, I couldn't contain the urge to look to the side and I saw one of the thugs kicking Joseph while his parents didn't do anything

"Help him!" I yelled to the 2 who were still

Meanwhile one of them managed to grab me from behind while the other came with his knife to attack me

I took advantage of the fact that I was being held and used the support bandit to jump and kick the other's chest with 2 feet

He staggered backwards, meanwhile I was throwing myself towards the nearest wall with the intention of slamming him into it, but it didn't work, so I had the idea to let go of my scythe and squint his eyes using my thumbs

He released me and instinctively put his hand to his face while the other one came again to try to stab me, so I dodged to the side where I had left the scythe while defending myself with one arm

My clothes were thick but still the knife managed to cut them and I felt a slight pain in my arm

I grabbed the scythe quickly giving myself time to cut off the bandit's leg while the other one came and kicked me in the stomach, I tried to roll to gain space but to my bad luck I only found the wall

I took 3 more kicks until I managed to grab his leg and punch his balls desperately

As he struggled I was able to look to the side where Joseph and his parents were and the thug who looked like the leader was dealing with the 3

At this point I was already having difficulty breathing and exerting strength, so I gathered what little energy I had to get up and go after the leader

He could see me approaching and dodged my blow by jumping back

“You have balls man! How about joining me?"

"I'll pass this time, I have to take care of these 3"

"Too bad, I'm going to kill you 4"

I was already hurt inside because of the kicks, I couldn't count on anyone, it was weird how twice in the same day I had my life at stake

“Want to try your luck? I've already killed a demon without even needing the scythe! If you think you're good enough come get me"

He then looked around and saw that his group was wounded, Joseph even unloading the gun couldn't kill anyone

"Oh shit! You won! Let's get out of here this time, but if we see each other again I won't be so nice" he said as he raised his hands and walked towards the henchman who lost his leg

"Let's go" I looked at Joseph, Carlos and Dorothea who were on the ground paralyzed

"Let's fucking go!" I screamed with all my breath making them snap out of their trance and get up off the floor

We walked for about 4 minutes while I tried to hide the pain until we saw the path opening in front of us and there was Annie and Carmen waiting for us

Annie: Wow! Looks like a truck passed you, what happened?

Joseph and his parents were together in silence as they walked

Elai: We found bandits in the alley but we managed

Annie: "We" ? Doesn't it just mean you?

Elai: No, I lent my gun to Joseph so he fired some shots

Annie: What? Joseph shooting? Oh I really wanted to see this, how many did he kill?

Elai: There were 7, Joseph injured 3, I killed 2 and crippled 1

Annie: What a surprise! Would you imagine something like that since you survived in your building but Joseph? Haha looks like someone is finally honoring the balls they have!

Dorothea then leaves her husband and son and aggressively goes towards Annie

Annie: Oh! Looks like someone got up the courage

Dorothea: Your behavior has already crossed the line!

Annie: Oh yeah? What will you do ? I guarantee my hand reaches your face before you can say "Ave Maria"

Elai: You two! Enough! You can settle your differences later in a knife fight if you want but for now we're going to church!

The scream I gave was enough to calm the two but it attracted the attention of some lesser demons

Elai: Aah! It was just what we needed, more problems... Annie you solve this time

Annie: Oh okay, I'll just agree because I'm already hot-blooded to kill someone

Annie: Let's go Carmen!

The two then headed towards the demons while the rest of the group continued on their way.

Some time later, it was possible to see the church on the horizon.

"Oh we finally arrived" I was relieved that we were making it to the church, finally after all this I might maybe have a chance to rest for real

We arrived a few meters from the church and then Annie got off Carmen

Annie: Let's stay here, the deal was to bring you to the church and not enter it

Elai: I'll stay here too

Joseph: You too Elai? But why ?

Elai: You know the kind of churches I like hehe...

The 3 then walked through the church door while Annie and I stayed outside

I took advantage of the peace to sit down and get some cookies I had brought

Elai: Annie, do you want?

Annie: No thanks

While eating I took the opportunity to quickly examine myself, the bandages on my arm and chest seemed to be fine but I still felt pain in my ribs and the cold didn't help me

I needed some rest so I found a corner and used my backpack as a pillow while Annie was sitting using her cell phone using Carmen as a backrest

Elai: If they come back or if I need anything wake me up

Annie: I promise nothing

Joseph Taylor's point of view

My parents and I entered the church through the front gates.

As soon as we entered we saw a small group of people praying silently until then a figure we knew came.

It was Father John, he was without his cassock and with the rosary in his right hand

John: Welcome brothers! It's a joy to know that we have more battle mates among us

John: These gifts are the faithful who were already in the church before the darkness came, that makes you the first ones to come, feel - if, I'd like to know how things are outside

Dorothea: They are horrible, we look at the sky and we can only see the stars, the streets are lit only by the streetlamps and there are horrible creatures

John: This is really horrible. I didn't have the opportunity to go out there because I was focused on the scared faithful

Dorothea: I haven't told you the worst yet, there are people making friends and even training these creatures

John: How curious, I didn't have a chance to interact directly with these beings, some tried to enter but this is God's house, they turned to dust as soon as they jumped inside

Dorothea: Father John, you have to do something, there are two of them at the church door right now

John: What?

Joseph: Mom! No!

Dorothea: Yes, a cheeky girl with a sheep with alligator legs and a boy with a scythe

Joseph: Mom! You went crazy! They helped us get here and you treat them like thugs?

Carlos: Don't raise your voice to your mother boy!

John: Let's calm down, remember we are in God's house, we must act in harmony

John: Mr Carlos and Miss Dorothea I invite you to join the faithful at the altar, I will join you soon

The 2 followed in silence and knelt in front of the altar and began their prayers

John: Joseph accompany me to my room

The 2 of us went to the priest's personal room where there were some chairs and we sat facing each other.

John: Would you mind telling me what happened?

Joseph: Hmmm where should I start?

John: From the beginning, of course

I told the priest about our group's journey to the church, he seemed surprised by the news

John: Although our situation is serious I see that you and your friends are managing to cope surprisingly positively but I see that you are still very agitated about what happened, let me say a quick prayer for you

He then placed his right hand on my head and recited a prayer in a language I couldn't identify.

As soon as he finished, in a strange way I felt lighter, it was as if the fatigue from the journey and the combat had disappeared

Joseph: What happened?

John: This is the power of faith, more precisely since this chaos began the power of our God has been increasingly present in us

Joseph: That's great news! Can you do it again?

John: Yes but I think you are already cured

Joseph: It's not for me, it's for my friend outside, he got beaten up a lot to protect us

We then went back to the center of the church and went outside

As soon as we left we saw Annie leaning against Carmen while Elai took a nap

When Carmen saw us she stared at the priest and began to growl

Joseph: Annie ask her to calm down, this time the priest didn't come attacking you

John: He's right, although I have no sympathy for the occultists I admit that you 2 have kindness in your heart

Elai then wakes up and sits

Elai: What's going on guys?

John: Nice to meet you, my name is John Clark I am the priest responsible for the church

Elai: Elai Rivers

John: Mr. Elai, Joseph brought me because you helped your family across town, please let me - express some of the gratitude they have for that.

And then Father John reached over Elai's head just like he did to me and recited the same prayer, I didn't realize when it happened to me but looking at Elai I saw a glow quickly come out of it.

Elai: Wow! I feel completely better! What did you do ?

John: That is the power of faith in our Lord God

Annie turned to the side making a face as if she had been insulted

Elai: With all due respect but since when can clerics do this?

John: I think this is a little difficult question to answer accurately but in my case I just realized earlier today when the darkness started

Elai: Hmmm I see, I think with that I owe you one

John: Your recent adventure has taken some doubts out of me, however I would like to test some things if you allow me.

Elai: What kind of things?

John: I would like to try out new ways to deal with demons and share new discoveries and I think the 3 of you can be great candidates to help me.

Joseph: Of course sir! what you need

Elai: As long as I also gain something from it, I don't see a problem

Annie: I pass

John: Well, it's 2 votes to 1, I must confess that I expected this reaction from the girl, but for now I will have to return to church, many faithful need me

John: Ah, before I forget, occult girl I wish you wouldn't treat us like enemies

And then the priest turns around and goes back to the church

A few moments pass and Annie seems to find something interesting on the internet

Annie: Guys, you need to see this video

She then opens a shared video from the space agency

It shows images of the sun captured by satellite, it was normal until a spot grew until it completely covered the sun.

Elai: Now it makes sense all this cold, they did something with the sun, this is not like a fantasy story eclipse, whoever did it is powerful enough to subdue the sun

Annie: And to think that such a power exists...

I knew Annie for a while, that look of hers meant that if it was possible she'll take it for herself

Elai on the other hand was always the most neutral of us, it made sense for him to see the logical side of the situation, as long as he or whoever he cares doesn't get hurt he doesn't care how things turn out

As for me... Well I'm the one with the softest heart... I always want to help everyone even if I get hurt, knowing that the sun went out like that made me worried about people, I wanted to help but how I could do that ?

That's when it came to my mind, if Annie, Elai and Father John have achieved something special I have to do it too...

Annie Walker's point of view

I was impressed with such a demonstration of power, I wondered, if that was possible then how many more things were possible, this event opened unimaginable doors for me, I had a new world being born there and I wanted to be an empress

I spent some time excited about the endless possibilities until I got a message

10:40 AM Shadowmaster76: Countess

He was a little asshole who thought he was the lord of darkness, he was insufferable but very easy to manipulate

10:41 AM Me: Yeah?

10:41 AM Shadowmaster76: Are you okay?

10:41 AM Me: Of course I'm fine! >:(

10:41 AM Me: Who do you think I am?

10:42 AM Shadowmaster76: I'm sorry milady

10:42 AM Me: Why did you call me?

10:43 AM Shadowmaster76: The city's high priest is calling on all members to gather at the headquarters at 3:00 PM and everyone's presence is a must.