The Awakening

James began to run towards the source of the sound.

"Hurry! We may not have much time!" said James. His team followed closely behind.

"James, we are going into the forest! Are you sure?" asked the concerned man.

"The voice is coming from here!" said James.

"Jeez, hey, do you still have your protective charm?" asked the man.

"Yea, why?" asked another man.

"Just in case. It's not pretty wise to venture into the woods in the dark. You heard the stories. I hope the spirits are kind to us."

James and his team were pushing away brushes and leaves and they went deeper and deeper into the woods. James stopped his footstep abruptly. The whisper stopped.

"Is it here? Did the voice guide you here?" asked the man.

"Yes, but it is gone," said James.

The man shines his lantern around the place to see if there is anything.

"Hey, I think it is beginning to rain," said one of the man.

"Rain?" he looked up and something dropped onto his face. In the dark, he couldn't see what was it but it was wet.

"Hey, I felt it too!" said another one.

The man squinted his eyes as he looked up the trees. Another drop fell onto his face. A dreadful thought flow all over his body. He felt his hand turned ice cold. Slowly, he brought his lantern up to shine on top of the trees. He didn't have any reaction from what he saw but the others vomited as soon as the light from the lantern reached the top of trees.

With a solemn and ashen face, the man asked all of them to return to the town to report this immediately. James who saw the same thing as well felt his feet had sunk deep into the ground. He was paralyzed by what he saw.

James and his team returned to report their findings. Immediately, the town dispatched a group of men to the scene. They went to the scene and as they returned they pass a torn fabric to James. James' eye widened as he recognized the clothing. He rushed to the Orphanage as quickly as possible. The mayor ordered a few men to follow James.

James opened the door only to find it was locked. James kicked down the door and rushed to the children's room. It was empty. All the blankets were neatly folded.

James rushed to Sister Maria's room. Empty. Next, he rushed to the Father's room. Empty.

James searched every nook and cranny of the orphanage to find them. He couldn't find one soul.

As he walked to the dinner table, he finally saw Father seating at the end of the long table.

His face wrinkled up to a smile. "Ah, that was fun!"

"Father! Where are the others?"

"The others?" Ho, you didn't know? We are playing a game of hide and seek? Since you are here, you are the seeker, James. I wonder if you can find where are they hiding? Oh wait, I think you already did. So how was it?" he chuckled. "So how does it feel, little James? Ah, the children were delicious. And oh my, Sister Maria was a delicacy. It was such a delicious meal and how could I not thank the Lord for blessing me with such a meal." He closed his eyes, put his hand together. "Amen. Amen indeed!"

"Be despair, James. That's the reason I decided to even bother to reveal myself in front of you. There's nothing you can do to stop me. And I enjoy looking at the face of despair of my victims. Hahah, oh I forgot to mention, you should see the face of Sister Maria when she saw what I did. Priceless. You can imagine right!"

"Farewell, James. Let me feast on you as you wear that despair face of yours!"

Father lunged himself forward. His nails elongated into long black claws. His jaws ripped open and reveal a series of crooked arranged sharp teeth. His eyes turned blood red. His face was riddled with veins that were about to pop out.

With the mouth wide opened approaching towards James, James was numbed from all emotions.

In his mind, the sound of the children's laughter filled his mind. He could hear Sister Maria's nagging and lectures towards the kid. He could picture a great future of all the children in this orphanage. He remembered Stephanie told him that she wants to be a baker while John told him that he wants to everyone's hero. But all the images were shattered into pieces as James realized that their precious lives were taken by this foul beast. This beast who disguised himself as a man that was trusted by Sister Maria and the kids. He wondered what did the kids felt when they saw the man they trusted began to took their lives and robbed away their trust and future. He wondered what Sister Maria thoughts were when the man she looked up to and devoted her life to end up to be a savage beast who only knows how to satisfy his own belly.

James did not what to feel. Fear? Grief? He really did not know. But what he did know was that a swell of emotions was building within him. He felt his body was going to burst open if he did not find a way to express it. Then, he began to ask God.

"Oh Lord, could you tell me what to do right now? I felt so lost."

There was no answer.

"It's okay then, Lord. For now, I pray to you. Give me the strength to end this foul beast life. And I will swear upon my life that I will tear it apart like how it did with those precious lives you bestowed upon them. If you are the Creator of Life, let me be the one who is the destroyer of it. I pray to you to please grant me the right to take away this beast's soul for it has no appreciation of Your Great Creations and used it for its own amusement. I will not forgive this. I will not forgive this man and I will never forgive any of Your Creation that trampled over Your Gift to us. Let them fear me for I will be their greatest enemy! Let them fear me for I will be the one that served as your messenger! Let them fear me for I will be the person chosen by You to deliver punishment! They deserve no redemption! These Creations of Yours deserve no reincarnation! The only thing they deserve is to be sent to Oblivion and never have the privilege to step foot into this beautiful world of yours ever again! Let it be that I will be the one who will send them to Oblivion! For that is where it belongs!"

James reached out his hand and grabbed the Father's face with his bare hand. Afterwards, he slammed Father entire head into the ground. Father's eye widened with the sudden turn of event. Father was struggling to break free from the grip but James only made it tighter. The Father was struggling. His body was wiggling like a snake being gripped too tight. He tried to speak but could not. James grabbed onto a wooden stick that flew out from the floor and pointed it directly on top of Father's head.

"BEGONE BEAST!"

James drove the wooden stick into Father's chest and Father screamed out loud. James pulled out the wooden stick and drove it back in into another part of his body.

"Impossible! You should not be able to hurt me! A mere mortal like you should not be able to hurt me! Not even the Exorcist can hurt me with a normal weapon," said Father while splurting out blood from his mouth.

"I prefer you to use those voice of yours to scream instead."

James pulled and drove the wooden stick back into his body. Father was screaming with agony.

"What a terrible noise," commented James. "You thought it would be a gift that you have such a resilient body, but look at you now."

James drove the wooden stick back into his body. Father screamed again but it was getting softer.

James pulled up the wooden stick and was about to drive it back in.

"James!" a voice called out to him. James stopped as he recognized the voice.

"He is already dead," said the voice. "...Thank you."

The body James was on top of started to crumble away into dust. James let go of the wooden stick. James knelt down on the floor with his back hunched forward. He felt hollow within him. He felt sad. But, tears did not flow out of his eyes.