The Atonement

II

"An imp is a rather unattractive beast; a slave of Satan. They tend to hold the power to light things on fire, fly, and shapeshift. They aren't the worst of beasts but still aren't a creature that one would want to mess with." The young priest read a small book that a young child had pointed to him. This young child had allegedly seen one of these hideous creatures and was afraid for his life. Even his parents claimed to be tricked by the little pest.

The reports of this little being hadn't just been from this family in particular. Many members of the church had reported their houses having random malfunctions like flickering lights, locked doors, and even one fire started in the kitchen while everyone in the family was in the living room. It was odd, certainly, but the Youth Pastor hadn't thought much about it until this young child pointed his eyes to the creature. It was petite and nasty appearing, definitely from hell. From the fear, in the child's eyes, Craig was forced to acknowledge him. Even worse, the child swore to Jesus that he wasn't making it up and that he wouldn't have to beg for forgiveness because he was so certain.

If this was true then that meant that heaven was growing weaker, and all the things that he had seen in movies such as in the movie "The Exorcist" would have to be performed. It was a little daunting to Craig, but nonetheless, he remained calm and collected. In a time of need, God always provided. At least, that was what the bible had taught him in these years. When he was stuck with his parents and thought that he should just end it all he found himself rescued by the words of him. The visions were as clear as day.

The imps were, no doubt about it, among them. Craig would have to find a way to fight back among these creatures, but until then he would just have to pray for safety. It wasn't certain that there would be noticeable differences so early on, but if he believed then it would happen. Craig had this faith in God that not even fellow priests that he knew felt. It was a little-known fact but Craig had such high faith in them because of the things that heaven had done for him as a child. When he was young he had actually deemed himself as being a homosexual, but thanks to the guidance by God he found that it was really just the lack of affection from his childhood that made him feel that way.

The pastor looked at the young boy, shaking all of those thoughts out of his mind. He needed not to focus on that at the moment (his past). The imps were loose, and there was no doubt about it. All that he could do until he got a solution from God was to pray and recommend the fellow members of the Church to do the same. From all the things that he had been told, praying was the solution to everything. As long as you looked up to heaven then everything would be alright. This comment had been proven time and time again.

"Young Youth Joseph, there is nothing to fear. As long as you look up to God then everything will fix itself. There is no need to worry when you have him on your side. Now go and pray if you ever feel scared or nervous, and tell your parents the same. The devil's weakness is our strong belief in his enemy, God." The pastor smiled at the young boy, patting his back slowly.

It was amazing what a few years of college to become a Pastor could do for someone. When Craig was in high school he was rather troubled and committed a few sins, and he never talked. Most importantly, he was the antichrist and hated children. Now, he was just a little shy when it came to talking with men his age. To this day, Craig never really could explain why this would set him off. Perhaps it was because of the awkward stages that he had in high school. Or maybe it was that he was just embarrassed that he was married to a building- no, that was an honor. Why would he be embarrassed by something like that?

The Pastor dismissed the child from his side and instead started to venture around the church to converse with some of the people who still lingered in the building after the Sunday prayers. Most of the time that people stayed was if they were having some sort of issues that they wanted to discuss with him. What was most unusual about this day was not even the imp thing, but rather how many members of the church stayed after. He didn't know what was on their minds, but what was certain was that there was a hell that was taking over the town. As much as Craig did not want to admit it, he was nearly scared. The pastor was confident that Hell was rebelling and coming up from its burning home to take over the living's comfortable home.