Secrets

"Good afternoon Pastor, " Lily greeted with a smile.

After eating and relaxing a while, she'd left her apartment for the Church.

"Welcome Lily, how's the family. And your sister, how is she?" Pastor Agnes greeted her.

Lily's mood seemed to spiral down a notch. Her family was always a subject she didn't like to touch...at all.

"They're fine sir, " she replied quietly

"They must miss you dearly seeing how you're the only one here in New York, "

Her eyes lowered slightly.

She doubted it.

The Pastor noticed her silence.

"Forgiveness, my child, goes a long way in setting ones mind free from shackles, " he started quietly.

"I'm trying, " she said tearfully.

"But they hurt me, " she added.

"The key is not to hurt them back, " he replied.

"Do not repay evil with evil, but overcome evil with good."

"Why not give them a call?" Pastor Agnes urged.

Lily sighed softly and looked at the aged Pastor who had been more like a father than her dad ever was.

"I'll try, " she said with a small smile forming on her lips.

"How's that young man that came by a few months ago?" he asked out of the blue and Lily almost choked on her own spit.

"The gentle young man with the glasses, " he added more specifically.

"Dan, " Lily answered.

"What about him Pastor?" she asked.

He sighed, heavily.

There was silence for a moment.

"He's not the one for you Lily, " he started.

Lily's eyes widened significantly.

Her heart raced so fast she felt dizzy.

"W-What do you mean Pastor Agnes?"

The aged Pastor sighed.

"That day, when I shook hands with him, I'd sensed something inside of him, something very dark, " The pastor said lowly, eyes serious.

Lily's eyes widened.

"I know you care a great deal about him but you have to get away from the young man, as fast as you can..." he said in a low tone.

He paused and looked her straight in the eye.

"Or he will ruin you, " he finished quietly.

Lily's eyes filled.

"A darkness resides within him child, a grave darkness slumbers within him, " he said quietly.

Lily looked into the man's eyes who had been like a father to her.

She knew Pastor's Agnes' gift of the word of knowledge was exceptional.

He had never been wrong.

It was hard for Lily, very hard for her to come to terms with what she'd just heard.

"What is this darkness you speak of?" she asked unsure, hesitantly.

The Pastor had a grave look on his face.

"It's beyond you, my child, "

She was so confused.

"Do not be unequally yoked with him, or you'll get hurt, " he added quietly.

"You don't want me to be with him, "

The pastor sighed gravely.

'I made a promise,' she thought to herself.

"I can't leave him." Tears brimmed in her eyes.

"I-I,"

The Pastor sighed heavily and stared at her with pity in his eyes.

He could tell she cared deeply about him. But she still didn't know the magnitude of what was at stake, of what was happening in the spiritual realm as they spoke.

When he'd shaken the young man's hand, for that brief moment, he'd seen a flash of fire, fire burning everywhere, he'd seen a multitude of demons, without number but one creature stood out, it had been the biggest demon of all and the most terrifying.

The young woman didn't know, she'd grown feelings for an abomination.

He looked into her eyes.

"Even if it cost your life?"

Lily gasped softly, looking into his grey eyes.

√√√

Agonising screams ran through the sulphur-filled air.

It was the sound of pain, of torture...of perdition.

The endless expanse of barren land was engulfed in flames.

Demons roamed free by the millions.

The air smelt of death and decay.

Tortured souls littered around in cages, their cries of hopelessness cut through the orange air-but one scream rang the loudest.

It was at the very front where there was a raised throne.

There were names written on the throne.

A demon sat on the throne and it gazed down at the helpless human that was being tortured in front of it.

Another damning scream rang out as seven double-edged swords were rammed into his body from every side by smaller grotesque-looking demons.

Some had their wings bent on odd angles.

They made the human kneel, the swords tearing through its body like a piece of old rag.

"How many more souls does he need to devour?" the demon that sat on the throne enquired.

A demon appeared beside the throne out of thin air-it had no eyes and it wore a dark cloak, a small staff in its hand.

"Just one, " the eyeless demon answered quietly.

"Make sure he completes his transformation, he has an army to lead."

The human naked from head to toe stared up at the demon that sat on the throne.

Its hazel eyes reflected the demon's fiery-red ones.

He coughed out blood, he could feel the swords slicing through his organs each time he breathe.

It was maddening.

The large demon seated on the throne stood stretching its long wings-they were old and hole-ridden.

It walked down towards the human.

It stopped when he was right in front of him.

"You are mine, " it whispered in his ear.

It leaned back.

"You will do my bidding on earth, eat your last soul, so you can come back home...son, "

He looked into the red demonic eyes. Eyes that held promises of death, sadness and despair.

"You can have your memories back, " it said and then held his head.

Images he'd thought were long forgotten started flooding his head.

'Come back here, Dan,'

Giggling...

'Please Dan, can you help me with my homework. Please, mom said you should,'

Static...

'Breaking news: A mysterious plague has ravished the U.S.A and is quickly spreading to the whole world,'

'They call it...The Decay...,'

Static...

'He's not fit for school, your son is a maniac,'

'Dan, you need help,'

'You're not one of us, you're not my son, you're a monster!'

Tears fell down Dan's eyes.

The demon removed its hand and walked back to its throne.

It faced Dan.

"Finish the work, eat your last soul, become reborn and join me here, where you rightly belong and lead us, "

"Lead us into a new era, "

"The wall won't hold on much longer, when it falls, we have to be ready, "

Dan looked at the demon seated on the enormous throne that had all sorts of blasphemy written all around it.

√√√

Dan woke up with an agonising scream, his room was burning and he himself was engulfed in flames.

He screamed in his bed and fire came out of his mouth.

The scream turned deeper-into a growl.

Dan felt like his insides were burning.

There were no words to describe the agony he was in.

"Make it stop!" he clenched the blanket tightly—it melted in ashes in his hands.

He got out of bed and went into the bathroom-the fire was everywhere.

He tried putting on the shower, the water rained down—but it did nothing to quench the fire.

He looked into the mirror and what stared back at him was enough to split his mind into fragments.

He saw horns, his eyes were no longer hazel-they were fiery-red.

He also saw large dark wings, he no longer looked like DAN.

He was a demon.

His breath came out in quick succession.

He went back to his room, he saw Tom on the floor—he was a pile of ash.

"No, " he cried.

Suddenly, images of Lily flashed in his head and hunger he'd never felt in his life erupted deep within him.

'She is the sacrifice you have chosen,'

Somehow, he could smell her.

The hunger was maddening.

Moved purely by instinct, he broke through the window and flew out through the balcony.

His wide wings carried him.

He followed the scent and stopped at the balcony of an apartment building.

'She was there.'

The smell got stronger, the hunger driving him to insanity.

He found himself in her room, just like that, without so much as opening the window.

He stood by her side.

He looked down at her frail body.

His head was almost touching the ceiling, his wings were tucked.

He felt his teeth elongate in his mouth.

He didn't want to hurt her, but it's like he was in a car but he'd been thrown to the back seat and someone-something-else was driving the car.

He could only watch.

Just as his mouth was about ready to tear her apart, Lily turned and faced him.

He paused.

His red eyes went to her necklace-the wooden cross.

He felt a strong repulsion from it, the sight itself made his entire body crawl.

Dan withdrew from her and with one last sad look her way, he flew out the window.

He barely made it back to his own apartment.

The room still burnt but yet, no alarm had been made, no firefighter truck could be seen anywhere.

He fell on the floor, the empty void inside of him widening even more.

"Lily, " he whispered before his eyes succumbed to fatigue.

His dream gave no respite.

It was filled with the flames of hell and the wails of the damned—and he was one of them.

√√√

The bell at Elaine's bookshop jingled.

Philip looked up and his eyes widened.

"Lily, " he breathed.

There was a troubled look in her eyes.

'She must be looking for Dan...'

"What can I do you for, Lily?" Philip said with a smile.

She went up to him by the counter.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Dan, he's not picking his cell, "

Her eyes trained on Philip's.

"It's been days now, " she added quietly.

"We were supposed to meet Wednesday, but he never showed."

Lily looked into Philip's eyes.

"He never misses a date, " she said worriedly.

"I feel like he's avoiding me, " she said unsure.

Philip let out a sigh.

"He hasn't been to the shop for a while. He does this sometimes when he needs an escape, so, I always fill in for him."

Lily's eyes widened.

"Have you called him?"

Philip let out another sigh.

"Usually, during these periods, he doesn't pick my calls, "

Lily panicked a little.

"I'll go see him, where does he live?" she asked hesitantly.

Philip's eyes widened.

"You don't know where your boyfriend lives?!"

Lily's shoulders fell a little.

"I-I."

Philip ran a hand through his face, sighing.

"I guess today is a day as good as any, "

"Come on, let's go, "

He grabbed the keys and locked up the bookshop.

Several minutes later, they were both at his door.

But Lily felt uneasy for some reason, she was so worried.

The door looked a little singed, like it been burnt?

Philip made to open the door but he quickly drew it back with a yelp of pain.

Lily gasped softly.

"Are you okay?" she said softly, taking a look at his hand.

"Yeah, " Lily made him open his palm and a gasp escaped her lips when she saw the burn mark.

She quickly rummaged through her purse and brought out a handkerchief.

He winced as she wrapped it around his palm.

"You don't have to do this, " he said looking away.

He stared at her as she carefully tied the handkerchief.

For some reason, his heart spiked a little.

'Now, he knew why Dan loved her...'

"There, all done, " she tied it looking up at him with a smile.

They both faced the door.

Lily sighed and brought another kerchief and covered the metal handle with it.

She grabbed it tightly and slowly, she opened it...

But nothing could have prepared them for what they saw.

The apartment was empty but what shocked them was the state of the room.

It'd been completely burnt—everything.

Only ashy remains of the furniture were visible.

'What happened?'

Lily remembered what Pastor Agnes had told her and an internal battle ensued within her.

She turned to Philip, his brows were furrowed in thought and Lily saw worry.

"What happened?" Lily said quietly to herself, not really expecting an answer.

She was so worried.

What could have happened? Why was his apartment in such a deteriorated state?

Where was he?

Tears brimmed in her eyes.

Where was he?

'Dan, where are you?'

√√√

Weeks later, they still hadn't found him. They'd filed a missing person's report and Lily and Philip together joined in the search.

They'd turned the old park upside down in search of him.

Dan's past had been a little shady, so it was hard to track a relative.

No one knew much about his past or where he came from—not even Philip.

After several weeks of the search, one of the detectives placed on the case—Detective Robins—had found a file about Dan.

Lily's eyes widened as she read through the files.

"These were from his teenage years and some in his adult years, "

"I was able to get my hands on his health records, although I had to dig quite deep,"

'Dissociative Identity Disorder?'

'Aggressive outbursts?'

'Amnesia?'

Lily gasped.

'Psychopathic tendencies...'

Her hands shook and her feet almost gave out on her.

"Psychopathic tendencies?" Lily whispered.

"Yes, he killed his entire family but apparently has no memories of doing so."

"After that, he stopped school altogether and was locked in a mental institution for a few years before he was released back into society."

Lily's hands trembled.

Her breathing was ragged.

"Lily,"

Philip came and wrapped his arm around her.

She turned to him and buried her face in his chest.

"I'm sorry, Lily, " Philip whispered, his brows furrowed in pain.

"I want to see him, " she sobbed as her hand tightened on his shirt.

"It's been four months, " she all but whispered, tired.

"I miss him so much, "

Philip tightened his arm around her.

"I'm sure he knows, " he tried to comfort her.

She raised her head and looked into his deep blue eyes.

"If he does, then why—" her voice hitched.

"Why did he leave, why would he leave you, leave me?" she said the last part in a whisper.

Philip sighed, he doubted Dan had been able to tell her how he really felt.

He knew she was very worried, he was too for his best friend.

He sighed again.

He detached himself from her and held her by her shoulders looking into her eyes.

"We'll just have to keep looking Lily, we have to. We can't give up now, " Philip said gently holding her gaze.

Lily nodded.

"We have to be strong, Lily, we'll find him, " she nodded letting out a soft sob.

"Thank you, Philip, " Philip wrapped a hand around her.

"For everything."

...