Chapter Twenty

The world was black. A void of nothing. Isha tried moving but he couldn't. He had no clue what was happening as he desperately tried to move his limbs. Then suddenly a flash of light appeared in the middle of the void, Isha snapping to it.

"Where… am I." He mumbled, able to move now. He walked around for a bit; the flash of light having vanished now. "There has to be something, right?"

He had no iea where he was as he walked on, frantically looking and searching for a sign of anything. He then found himself in his apartment. It was from earlier this morning, when he made Rose breakfast.

Isha smiled softly at the scene, watching Rose get excited over something simple to himself. He sat on the floor, watching the past him bring the plate to her.

"I see, so this is my mnd space then." He spoke aloud to himself, smiling.

"Yeah. This is our mindspace." Isha turned to the voice, seeing him with all black hair. "Nice to meet you. We kind of met before, however you rudely ran away." The different version of him was sipping tea, holding a book in his hand as he sat in a chair.

"Why… who are you?" Isha asked, tilting his head as the scene from this morning was replaced by the void again. The only thing remaining was the table and chair the other him was sitting in.

"It's quite obvious, I'm you. Well, the human you anyway." Isha furrowed his brow at the human him.

"But aren't I hu-"

"No." The other him cut Isha off. "No, you're not human. Not anymore. However, you're not exactly a demon, nor are you a possessed. You're too stubborn to accept it after all. Now me? I'm human. If you let me back in, the supernatural powers will be banished from your, our, body. However, I'll be in control, and you'll disappear."

"What..." Isha furrowed his brow. "What do you mean disappear? Or the rest of what you said, I don't understand." He looked on at the other Isha with a face of confusion.

"No. You wouldn't understand. You've chosen a route of blissful ignorance. Oh, you remember somethings, but yet you don't do anything over the things you can't remember, no matter how hard you try. Then again, you don't exactly try, you're just curious." The human Isha took another sip of tea.

"But, the past doesn't entirely matter it's just a-"

"Oh shove it. That's just an excuse you give yourself." He was cut off again, starting to feel a bit frustrated. "The truth is you don't know yourself, nor do you want to. You just go along with the flow, letting things happen instead of making them happen. That's why you let yourself et drug around afterall." He scoffed, sipping more of the seemingly endless cup.

"But, there's no point when people force you t-"

"You are never forced. Quick making excuses. You just go along with the slightest poke. Hell, even if a gun was held to you, that's still not forcing. You always have the option to go a different route, but you never take it under the premise of being forced. And that, Isha, is why I detest you." He scowled at Isha, setting the cup down.

"B-but you're me?" Isha stammered, spreading his arms out.

"Exactly. And it's because I'm you that I hate you. I can see and pick out every flaw you have. You hate yourself too after all, don't you?" Isha was about to open his mouth but was cut off. "That was rhetorical. You need to do nothing but accept what we are."

Isha stayed silent, not saying a word as he stared down into the void beneath his feet.

"Finally, your silent. Start accepting that not only I, but the other guy too, we're both apart of you. Then I may finally disappear." He sighed, picking up his tea again.

"Disappear?" Isha looked up at him, head tilted.

"That's right." He nodded. "The only reason I'm still here is because you keep foolishly believing you're still human. Your humanity died off long ago. Hell, you've been eating and killing. Then you constructed me, a mirror image, in attempt to fool yourself. It definitely wasn't hard; people only see what they want to after all." He laughed bitterly, staring back at Isha.

"I… I didn't kill anyone other than Hank…" Isha mumbled to himself.

"Heh. Hehe. Hahahaha!" The other him put a hand over his face, laughing to himself. "Of course! This is exactly as I said! You only saw, or in this case, heard what you wanted. Ignoring the rest, letting it fall into your void called ignorance. Oh, and Isha. You have killed. The other guy already let you see that."

As the other him said that, the black nothing took on shape. It was the dark room again, the bodies of children skewered about, with one child in the center, feasting as the priest was there again.

"Th-this place again." Isha held his nose as the stench of blood his it.

"Let's rewind it back a bit, shall we?" The other Isha had a sickening grin on his face as the scene changed.

It was the inside of a church. Bright lights, stained glass windows, and pews aligned. At the head of the church was the podium, and behind that a statue of Jesus on the cross.

"Wh-where ar-"

"Shh. Just watch Isha." The other him cut Isha off again, guiding him to a pew to sit in. Soon the doors opened, a priest followed by a line of children, ages five to fourteen. There were about twelve of them.

" I can't believe we all got adopted! Isn't it amazing!" A young girl, about the age of ten exclaimed, bouncing in the air a bit.

"I know! I hope some of us get to stay together!" A boy at about twelve responded, grinning. There was a young boy with black hair, about twelve, who had followed right behind the priest. He was the only one wearing a solemn expression.

"Brother Isha? What's wrong?" A blonde boy with green eyes who was about the age of Isha asked him, jumping onto his back and resting his head ontop of the small Isha's.

"Nothing Brother Gabriel. I'm just going to miss all of you." He looked up and smiled softly at Gabriel, who smiled back.

"Hehe, I'm going to miss you too! But we also have the chance of staying together! I hope we do, I don't know what I'd do without you." A tear ran down Isha's face as he heard this from Gabriel.

"Yeah. I wish we could stay together." He replied, looking down. Gabriel pursed his lips.

"C'mon Isha don't be like that, c'mon guys let's give this crybaby big brother Isha a hug!" He exclaimed, to which all the children responded with cheers, grouping around Isha as he tried to hold back his tears.

"C'mon now guys, you're going to make it worse…" Isha muttered, his eyes closed as they hugged him.

"Don't worry Big Brother! We'll always be together, even when we're separated!" A small six-year-old girl assured the child Isha, hugging him tight, trying not to cry herself.

"You guys are making this old man's heart tremble. Now come along, line up separated by gender, oldest to youngest." The pastor told them, to which the children responded. "You are all good sheep. The priest is delighted. Now, as I said in the main building, before you're adopted, we need to make preparations. Go and change into your ceremonial clothes for one last time."

"Okay!" The children cheered, the girls going into one room, the boys into another.

"C'mon brother Gabriel, there's no need to be shy, you can change with the rest of us!" a small boy about seven exclaimed at a closed closet door.

"Now now Jojo, you know Gabriel has always been shy." Isha gently scolded the young boy as he got dressed himself. The real Isha and his black-haired double watched, Isha remaining silent while the other one drank tea, a sullen expression on his face.

The young boy nodded and resumed changing himself. Gabriel left the closet, having dressed.

"Thanks, Isha, you always save me." He said softly, smiling. A grim expression formed on Isha's face as he nodded.

"Yeah…" Gabriel hugged Isha.

"Don't be like that. I know that even if we're adopted by different people, we'll be close by. And I know, no matter the situation, you'll save me." Isha solemnly nodded as Gabriel smiled at him. "Now let's go! I'm sure Father Arkoida is waiting for us." Isha nodded again and followed Gabriel.

As they met back in the middle of the church, the children gathered in their white robes, smiling, a few bouncing happily.

"Okay, come on children, let's go down to the basement." The priest instructed them, heading down a doorway behind the podium. The children followed, Isha trailing in the back as he slowly followed as well.

As the children went deeper into the basement, they chattered excitedly amongst one another.

"I hope my new mommy and daddy are rich!" One of the younger boys cheered.

"I hope mine are nice." Another one stated.

"I want bedtime stories and being tucked in! Just like what brother Isha does, except it'll be better because it's mommy and daddy doing it!" A little girl giggled, smiling back at Isha. Isha looked at her and softly smiled back, not meeting her eyes as she soon turned away, talking with the others.

Gabriel was at Isha's sighed, a worried expression on his face.

"Isha, are you okay? Do you feel unwell?" He asked concerned. Isha smiled back at Gabriel.

"I'm fine Gabriel, really. Anymore and I'd think you're a girl." He teased him, his joking tone of voice sounding strained,

"Yeah, well, pff. I'm not, so." Gabriel looked away, not sure how to reply. They soon came near the bottom of the basement. Isha suddenly stopped, putting his arm out to stop Gabriel.

"I want you to go up to the surface." Isha looked him in the eyes pleadingly. Gabriel furrowed his brow and shook his head.

"What? No, I can't do that. This isn't time for games." Gabriel pushed passed Isha, a bit upset at him as he made his way into the basement.

The children gathered at the basement floor, the dim lights setting a bit of an eerie setting. There was another cross and podium down there, as well as a few other things such as a shelf of books.

"Okay children, gather closely together, doesn't matter what order. Isha close the door." The priest smiled softly at the children as the did as told. "Isha?" The priest repeated his name. Isha was at the door, frozen in place.

"C'mon brother Isha! I wanna see mommy and daddy soon!" One of the children called to him, the others voicing their agreeance. Isha stared at his hands for a while, going a bit stiff when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Isha, it's going to be okay. Like Charlotte said, no matter what we'll be together." Gabriel told Isha in a soothing voice. Tears came from Isha's eyes as he nodded, closing the door and bolting the lock.

"Good. Good." The priest smiled a bit wickedly as Isha closed the door, Gabriel joining the rest of the children as Isha slowly met up with them. "Now children, before you are sent off, do you believe with all your heart that God is your light, your path, and your salvation?"

"Yes Father Arkoida." They replied in almost unison, Isha staying quiet, staring at the floor.

"Good. Now repeat after me." The Priest smiled at them, his hands spread out and raised to the ceiling. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him."

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him." The children repeated after the priest.

"Who have been called according to his purpose."

"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son."

"That he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters."

"That he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters!"

"And those he predestined, he also called; those he called he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified."

"And those he predestined, he also called; those he called he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." As they chanted, Isha silently wept, watching over them as the priest smiled, looking at Isha.

"What, then, shall we say in response to these things?"

"If God is for us, who dares to be against us?"

"If God is for us, who dares to be against us!"

"He who did not spare his own Son! But instead gave him up for us all!"

"How will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things! Who will bring any charge against those of whom God has chosen!"

"It is God alone who justifies!"

"Who then condemns? No one!"

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ!" The priest smiled.

"We're almost done now children. Are you prepared to give your life to God?" He asked them, spreading his arms again.

"Yes Father!" They all replied, cheering at him.

"Do you want to walk the path God our father has chosen for you to walk?" His grin turned wicked as the cheered.

"Yes Father!"

"I want to walk the path God has chosen for me!"

"I want to please the Lord!" Several of the children exclaimed things such as this, their voices bouncing off the walls as they beamed with excitement.

"Good! Now repeat the final piece with me." He nodded at Isha who forced himself to lookup, clenching his fist to the point his nails broke into his skin. He steeled his nerves, knowing what the priest wanted. It wasn't the first time, nor did Isha think it would be the last.

"For your sake we face death all day long." The priest started the closing.

"For your sake we face death all day long!" The children exclaimed. As they exclaimed this, Gabriel seemed a bit unnerved, a confused expression on his face.

"We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

"We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered!"

"Do you believe in this word from God children?" The priest asked them.

"Yes! Of course, Father!" They exclaimed. As the shouted such, the lights cut off. For a moment there was silence with some murmuring. Then it started. The screams and wailing of children. The rip and tearing of flesh, and the sound of small hands banging against walls before being pulled away from then. After about twenty minutes of this, the room fell silent, nothing but the noise of something feasting in the dark.

A light was lit on the podium. The pastor held a lamp in his hand, illuminating the room. As the room illuminated, everything was covered with red. Limbs and intestines scattered about. And at the center of it all, a feasting Isha. Tears ran down his face as he saw the one he was currently eating was the girl named Charlotte.

"Oho. My heart was trembling indeed. Trembling with awaited joy." The priest laughed to himself. "I think you out did yourself Isha. However, you got to close to these ones. The next time you try to delay, I will force you down again." The priest threatened Isha, patting his head.

"You said you wouldn't make me do it…" Isha looked up at the priest. "You said as long as I-"

"I said as long as you kept me pleased and did as I said. You did as I said, but you did not keep me pleased." The priest laughed cynically, his eye catching something. "Oh? What's this?"

Isha froze stiff as he watched Father Arkoida walk to a corner. There was an almost untouched body of a young boy.

"Oh Isha? Did you leave young Gabriel here on accident? Or maybe you attempted to hide him in a dark corner and hope he wasn't discovered? Oh well, I'll just see this as a gift to me." The priest grinned disgustingly cynical as he began to undress Gabriel. "And pre knocked unconscious? Are you sure you didn't leave him as a gif-"

The priest was cut off by Isha jumping onto him, biting into his collar.

"Leave him alone!" A small set of horns and a tail appeared on the child Isha as his eyes went black, his iris and pupils red. The priest howled in pain, slamming his fist into Isha and sending him flying off.

"Listen here you little shit! How dare you bite the hand who feeds you!" He punched Isha as he tried to get up. Then landing a kick into his gut to keep him down. "Now you get to watch me do to your precious Gabriel what I've done to you." The priest laughed again, going back over to Gabriel.

As Gabriel's clothes were pulled off, the priests smile turned into one of disgust as he threw the clothes back onto him.

"Nevermind then. Disgusting. To think me of all people were fooled." The priest sent a punch to Gabriel's face, going over to Isha. "I'll just have to make do with the usual again." The child Isha shivered. "Of course, I'll let you eat first before the souls escape. But don't you dare touch that filthy thing in the corner again. Leave it to die in here." The priest growled.

As the child Isha was forced to return to eating, the memory dissipated, leaving the actual Isha with the human Isha at the table with his tea.

"Wait wait! Why isn't there more?! What happens!" Isha was panicked, tears streaming down his face. The other him shrugged, seeming unfazed by what they witnessed.

"This is what the other us left you with before he was sealed by that damned old man." He replied, referring to Mr. Ilan.

"I need to see more." He demanded, slamming his fist on the table.

"Get stronger. And accept yourself." He replied, sipping his tea casually.

"Yeah. Because you did that. And much more. You've chosen your safety over those who trusted you multiple times. Well, I suppose it wasn't exactly you, but.. us." He sipped the red liquid again, closing his eyes. "If you don't accept it, who knows. It may just happen again." Isha opened his mouth to speak but was stopped. "Look, it's been fun talking to you and all. But it's time for you to go. I believe in you. I know you can save us. I have faith. But you need to choose yourself, otherwise this was useless."

And with that Isha was blinded by light as he slowly slipped back into consciousness.

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