Is God dead?

Ella threw a tennis ball at the sitting room wall, it bounced back towards her and then she caught it. It's been two weeks since Max fainted and he has not been able to get up since then. She might not be his mom but she was worried for him - infact she was worried for them both.

Jake was at the table in the same room using his system to search for anything that might be of help.

"I have an idea!" Jake spoke breaking the silence.

"What's that?" She asked.

"There's this preacher I know of that performs miracles." He said. "Why not take Max there?"

"So you are suggesting we take Max to go see Jesus?"

"It might work."

"Are you a believer?"

"Yes I am."

"And you doubt if God can help us. Surely, you don't expect me to trust him either." She replied. She got up and stretched her body. " There is no such thing as miracles. Neither is there any God or whatsoever." She walked away leaving Jake alone in the sitting room.

Max opened his eyes for the first time since two weeks. He was weak and looking pale. By his looks, anyone could tell that he was dying.

Elaa walked in and met him. "How are you feeling?" She asked him.

"Like I'm gonna die today" Max replied. "I feel weak and helpless, Ella."

Ella tried to console him. "Don't say that. We will find a way to save you."

Jake walked in and met them. "I already proffered a solution but Ella rejected it."

Max looked at Ella. "What solution?"

"He suggested we take you to go see one miracle worker."

"As in Jesus preacher?"

"Yeah."

Max laughed till it became too much and he started coughing.

Ella held him. "Are you alright?"

"I am." He responded. Then he faced Jake. "What makes you still believe in God?"

"Because he cares and loves me. It's in the bible."

" So you believe the words of a random guy who goes about performing miracles and claiming to be God?"

Max added. " The believe of you christians make me laugh. As in, how can you believe that a god sent himself to offer himself as a sacrifice to himself in order to save us from himself? That's irrational and I am rational."

Jake sighed. " Just try this and if it doesn't work."

" Yes?"

" I will drop my faith and everything that has to do with God."

Max grinned. " Seems like we are going to see Jesus after all."

The church of Silverwater had a very large auditorium with people occupying every corner and space. The head of the church was pastor Ken Murray by name. He had a reputation of being a miracle worker who can heal all sorts of infirmity.

Jake, Max and Ella were dircted to the front row by an usher. They sat down comfortably.

Pasta Ken was busy healing the broken leg of a fourteen years old boy. He touched the leg and suddenly the boy could walk and jump around. The mother was so grateful that tears flowed through her eyes.

Pastor Ken went up the pulpit and then he closed his eyes.

" Maximilian Cruz." He said.

Max heard his name clearly. What was happening? How did the man know his name?

Jake patted Max's back. "Go, he's calling you."

Max stood up and walked out towards the pulpit.

Pastor Ken stepped down from the pulpit.

"I know who you are, son. God revealed it to me."

Max was short of words.

"He loves you and wants to help you." He rested his right palm on Max's head.

Max felt a heat in him. He started sweating and then fell to the ground shaking.

Ella and Jake rushed to go help him but before they got there, he stopped shaking and stood up. He removed his sweater and his shirt only to discover that the wound was gone. He was shocked and so was Ella.

" Do you believe now?" Jake asked them.

"It's unexplainable!" Max exclaimed jumping up from his chair in the motel room they had rented. "So He exists!"

"Let's not conclude yet!" Ella countered. "Untill I'm sure there is no side effects."

"You are still doubting, Ella?" Jake asked her. "You saw what happened to Max and you still doubt."

"You don't just expect me to believe just because of one miracle, do you?" Ella asked.

"I do." Max said.

Ella sighed as she took her coat and left.

"Give her time, she will come through." Max said to Jake.

Ella tucked her hand in her coat for the night was cold. She sat on a bench on the sidewalk.

An old man joined her.

"What's happening?"The old man who seemed to have read Ella's countenance asked.

Ella sighed. "You won't understand."

"Try me." The man replied.

"What would you do if your friends believe in something they feel is unexplainable but you don't."

" I'd feel left out." The man replied. " But I won't rest untill I prove my guts are right."

Ella took a quick glance at him. The old man was black skinned, chubby cheeks and wore a hat that reigned in the 90s.

" Who are you?" She asked him.

The man smiled and got up. " Not everything is explainable but not all are unexplainable." He walked away. Ella felt the urge to go after him but she resisted and restrained herself.

On her way back to the motel, Ella saw a bunch of cops gathered in front of the mall across the road.

" Agent Barker." She told the cop as she showed a cop in the crime scene her fake FBI badge.

The man lifted up the tape for her to pass.

"What happened here?" She asked him.

"Couple of dead bodies were uncovered here. Locals say they say saw a black minivan pull over, dropped these bodies and then drove off." The cop explained.

" Did anyone of the locals seem to have seen their face?"

" None admits."

" Can I see the bodies?"

" Sure." The cop led Ella to where the body bags lay and unzipped them each following another. When he got to the last bag, it was a girl and Ella recognized her.

"I've seen this girl." She said.

"Locals say she was a devoted christian who attended the Silverwater Church."

" That's where I saw her."

The cop looked up at Ella. " Gat me reasoning why the Feds would be in Silverwater. So you come for Pastor Ken?"

" Sort of."

" Me never trust that Pastor, infact me don't trust any Jesus preacher."

Ella met both Jake and Max sleeping soundly. She weaarily climbed her bed and slept off.

Ella was woken up by the scent of coffee. It was already Daybreak.

Jake whom was preparing breakfast noticed Ella had woken up. " You are awake."

" Unfortunately, yeah." She replied. Then she noticed Max's absence. " Where's Max?"

" In the bathroom." Jake replied. " Preparing to go to church."

" Church? We have a case, so no going out for him."

Max looked at himself in the toilet mirror. He was lost in thoughts for he didn't know what was going on with him. He looked at the hunter sword on the cabinet. He couldn't explain what was going on. Maybe God was punishing him for ignoring his existence all those years. Max felt he needed to be devoted more than others.

Ella sat down for coffee. "I can't believe I'm taking coffee this early."

Jake who sat opposite her. "Well, it's what I like." Then Max came out of the bathroom all dressed. "Where are you going to?" Ella asked him.

"Church." He responded.

"Church? You got healed yesterday and today you are Saint Paul? Well, we have a case."

Max sighed. " I'm sorry, I can't go with you. Let Jake assist you."

" We do this together. We are Hunters, remember?"

" I know, I just can't go with you."

She faced Jake. " Jacob, what's your friend saying?"

"Leave him, I will go with you."

"Yeah, he will go with you. I will assist you the way I can when I get back." Then he walked out.

"Is it me or do you notice Max's hiding something?" She asked Jake.

Pastor Ken rounded off that day's service and people were on him. They were trying to at least touch or get a piece of his cloth so they could take home.

He saw Max approaching.

"Pastor." Max greeted.

"Max, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why are you here? Is there a problem."

"There is." Max replied.

"So you are saying all the victim's are members of Silverwater Church?" Jake asked Ella.

"Yes,"

Suddenly, Max entered the room.

"Here comes Saint Paul!" Ella teased.

Max jumped on Ellaand held her neck intending to choke her. She started coughing but luckily for her, Jake picked up one of the legs of the wooden chair which Max had broken when he jumped on Ella and used it to knock Max out. Ella gasped for air as max let go off her.

"I didn't know max takes jokes seriously."

Max head ached him as he woke up only to discover that he was tied to a chair. Ella and Jake were staring at him.

"What's this?" He asked them.

"To keep you in check." Jake replied. "You almost choked the life out of Ella."

"Why would I ever do such a thing?" Max asked.

"You don't remember?" Ella asked him.

"I don't."

" What last do you remember?"

" I remember telling pastor Ken." Then he stopped.

" Telling pastor Ken what?" Ella asked as she started walking closer.

" Everything."

" So he sent you to kill us because he knew we are dangerous to him."

" So what happened to me?"

" Mind control. A rare and arcade type of magic that is very powerful. Warrior shamans in the early days used this to keep their closest men in check. "

" So you are saying pastor Ken uses this art? "Jake asked her.

" That would explain the large crowd. " Ella replied.

" We need to stop him." Max said.

" Yeah." Ella handed how Max his sword but he rejected it. " Pastor Ken is human so I don't need this."

The trio broke into the church at midnight. With their torches and guns, they scampered their way through looking for evidence. They entered Pastor Ken's office. They found a secret door under the chair in the office.

The door led down to a cave which they followed till they reached the ending where an altar filled with blood was.

" I see you have found my priceless possession." Pastor Ken emerged from the shadows.

" You are a Satanist." Jake said.

" No, I'm someone doing what God can't do; make the world a better place."

" By sacrificing innocent people?" Jake asked feeling disappointed.

" They are nothing more than casualties." Pastor Ken replied. Then he waved his hand and the trio fell into a deep slumber.

" Sleep, sleep and sleep." He said to them.

Max opened his eyes slowly. He tried to move his hand but he was tied on the altar.

"What is this?" He asked pastor Ken.

"You see, I need a sacrifice in order for me to place my request before the great Samael."

Max looked and saw Ella who was tied to a chair slowly regaining consciousness.

"Let us go!" Ella yelled at pastor Ken.

"Sorry but I won't." He replied. "Kinda need you guys."

"The people trusted you." Ella said . "You preach in the name of God."

"Who doesn't care what goes on! I know how many times I prayed for my mother to be healed of her cancer. I even want as far as joining a commitment but still he let her die. Then I turned to the devil and he answered me without time wasting. God is dead for all I care."He took a knife, raised it up and then he put it through Max's chest. Ella shouted but Max just layed there lifeless. Then something amazing happened. The shadow of two huge wings appeared on the wall.

"What is that?" Pastor Ken marveled.

Suddenly pastor Ken caught fire and Max jacked back to life. Then the shadow disappeared.

Jake sat on his bed in his room back at the hunters home with a Bible in his hands when Ella walked in.

"Are you okay?" She asked him.

"All my life, I had believed in a God that didn't exist. So all this while, I had been believing a lie?" He said with tears in his eyes.

Ella joined him on the bed. "But don't stop believing." She told him. "Just because you met the bad doesn't mean there aren't genuine ones out there."

"But we could have all died because of my faith."

"And that faith also saved Max from his deadly injury."

" What happened when I passed out?"

" Nothing much, I loosened myself and burnt that sucker." She smiled when she saw Jake smile. " Look, keep your faith." Then she got up to go.

" Why are you asking me to keep my faith? That's unlike you."

" I just think that it might be of use someday and we need a believer in our midst." She smiled. " We can't all be unbelievers. There would be no fun in it." Then she left.

Max was in the sitting room using his desktop when Ella joined him.

" Did you succeed?" He asked Ella.

" Yes, he doesn't have a clue what happened in that room." She replied.

" Could it be possible? That God is real?"

" We don't know for sure," Ella replied. " God may or may not be dead."

" I don't know. But when I died I felt something touch my head, I could feel joy, love and peace in me." He paused. " When pastor Ken healed me, I lost the ability to wield the sword. I became a stranger to it. When I felt that touch last last night, something in me changed." He raised his palm up and the sword flew into it. It marveled Ella.

" How did you do it?"

" My connection with the sword has become stronger." Then he turned the desktop towards Ella so she could see what he was doing.

" See." He told her.

" What's this? A Roman spear?" She asked cause what was displayed on the monitor was a spear sketched on a piece of paper.

"When I died, I saw that same spear deep under the Earth."

"Like a vision?"

"Yeah and I checked the internet and guess what I found out."

"What?"

"That weapon is the only thing that wounded God. "

"Wounded God? I thought he was all powerful."

"He is but not when he's in human form."

Ella understood. "Ohhh, so what does it do?"

"Legend says demons can only be killed by a weapon formed by man but carries the blood of God."

"This weapon can kill Gog!"

"Exactly!" Max replied.

"Where can we find it?"

Max pointed downwards.

"Please don't tell me hell."

"Not hell, worse."

"Where could be worse than hell?"

"Tartarus."

"That exists?"

"Yes, according to legends, it's a place where primordial creatures were sealed and kept at the beginning of time." Max sighed. "This is all too much for me to take in."

Ella rubbed his back. "I know but we will get through this cause we are strong."

"I'm somebody who believes everything can be explained but after what happened to me last night." He sighed. " I can't say that anymore cause what happened to me last night is not something I can explain." He said with tears welling up in his eyes.