Page 41 of Death Match

Fairport was full of churches, some as old as the dickens with peaked roofs and stained-glass windows and some built in the last few decades, like this one. A few of them had even been converted into other things, like shops, or, like the one Cole had taken me to, diners. This one seemed to still be used for a worship though. The doors were open, and bodies swayed inside as people clapped and sang along with the hymns.

Not being too comfortable around churches, I wavered on my feet. Knowing what I knew about Heaven, these people were worshipping something that wasn’t true. And yet, imagining their upturned faces, the looks of bliss on their faces, I couldn’t help but envy them. They were still ignorant. They could pretend that Heaven was this magical place one should aspire to get to. They didn’t have to be afraid of death because they were so confident in what Heaven had in store for them.

A small part of me wanted to ridicule their ignorance, to tell them what it was really like, what they should expect.

But despite my jealousy and bitterness, how was that fair to them? Why was it their fault? They were just looking for a glimmer of hope in this bleak world. Who was I to take it away from them?

I shook my head, bringing me back to my reasons for being here. Why had the Trial’s arch left me here? Wasn’t I supposed to face something,do something,in order to complete this Trial? Everything looked normal to me. Everything was the way I remembered it. Nothing seemed off or weird or whatever.

A high-pitched scream ripped through the air, snapping my gaze back to the church. The people inside stopped their happy dance, and the singing ceased. They looked around.

Another scream, this time a man’s.

Through the open doors, I could see the inside of the church clouding over with black smoke.

The smell of burning filled my nose, and orange and red flames began to escape from one of the open windows, quickly crawling up the wall and spreading.

Fire.

In the next second, a stampede of church goers rushed toward the front doors, pushing and shoving their way to escape. Some got through, half-tumbling down the steps and onto the sidewalk, but from the looks of it, the church had been full to capacity during the service, and many people were still trapped inside.

My entire body trembled with panic.

More flames consumed the back end of the building, and now the smoke was so dense, I could no longer see what was happening inside. The people who had managed to get out yelled in horror at the scene.

Hurrying to the alley along the side of the church, I knew what I had to do. I had to go in. I had to help.

Like most buildings in the city, the church had a large metal waste bin beside it for collecting trash. I used it to haul myself up, closer to one of the windows. This one wasn’t open though, and when I tried to wretch the thing up, it didn’t budge.

Fuck.

The thick smoke obscured most of what I could see of the inside, but it didn’t muffle the sound of screams. Children’s screams, too. Crying. That made my pulse gallop even more.

Not knowing what else to do, I called to my inner light power until it hovered over my right arm. Then, I threw my elbow through the glass with all my strength, shattering it. Pain exploded from the impact, and instantly, tears sprang up in my eyes, but I couldn’t let it slow me down. I used my other arm to clear away as much of the remaining glass as I could, before pulling myself through the jagged opening.

Shards of glass scraped against my sides and pinched into my palms. Tumbling into the room, heat blasted me from all angles. I winced from the intensity of it and squinted through the haze of ash and smoke.

In the frenzy, the church patrons were pushing their way toward the front doors, with so many of them shoving and crawling over each other to escape. They were trapping themselves in and they didn’t it even realize it. Not only that but, in the chaos, some people had been trampled and hurt in the mad rush to get out.

Above us, the ceiling was ablaze, and that meant it was only a matter of time before it came down on top of everyone, too, crushing them all.

We needed an alternate way out.

The windows were another option, but by the looks of it, there wasn’t much time to get everyone’s attention and direct them through, especially with the air quality so bad. We needed another way…

My power crackled inside me, building strength, as if it knew what had to be done.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. And if I was going to save them all, there was only one thing I could do.

I threw my arms out toward the wall, and to my surprise, my power flew from my hands like a nuclear blast. It was so strong, it propelled me backwards and drowned the church in light so bright, my eyes burned. Ash from the fire rained down on us like we were caught in some sort of storm.

Terrified screams filled my ears, but when the light diminished, I was staring at a gigantic hole in the wall and a clear view of the street outside.

Amazed and slightly scared, I looked at my hands.

Had I really donethat?

I’d have to revel in it later because now wasn’t the time.

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