The Hand of God (15 page)

Emily continued looking around, even tried to fix her hair which was slightly matted in the back.  The Bishop held her hand and whispered something into her ear.  Some men came on stage with a wheelchair and helped her into it. 

‘”Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Miss Emily Carter!”  He paused as the crowd cheered.  “Now not only is Miss Carter alive again, but there is not one spot of cancer in her body.”  This time the crowd erupted in a standing ovation.  That went on for several minutes while Emily looked like she was in total shock.  Finally some men came and wheeled her off the stage.  The whole spectacle was enough for me.  I figured I’d leave early and try to beat the traffic. 

When I got outside it was already getting dark.  I dug out my keys and clicked the unlock button.  Just before I reached my Tahoe, I heard someone behind me.  I started to spin around, but something hit me on the side of the head.  I managed to side step most of the blow, even though it stunned me.  It took me a second to see straight, and then I saw the man who had hit me was holding a blackjack. Three more men, all wearing suits, came out from behind vehicles.  One of the men grabbed my arm, but I pushed off him.  They all rushed me and I felt them punching and grabbing at me.  I began to swing and flail but there were too many, and they were all stronger than me. The irony of being involved in a fight in a church parking lot wasn’t lost on me, but I filed that away, to laugh about later. 

They were going to take me down, and I knew it.  I reached up and placed my hand on one of their faces and started to push him away.  Instead, something else happened.  My fingers began to burn through his skin and into his skull.  He let out a scream as my fingers seared clear into his brain.  In an instant, his knowledge and memories poured into me, downloading into my mind.  Once the memories stopped, he fell to the ground, lifeless.  I kept my hand on him for a few seconds until he jumped up screaming.  The holes in his face were still there, which was rather creepy.  His screams were loud and shrill, like his hair was on fire.  He rolled around on the ground as if he were having a seizure, but seemed to be purposely hitting his head on the ground trying to make whatever was happening go away.  Blood covered his face as he beat his head on the pavement, over and over, screaming:

“Make it stop!  Make it stop!  Get out of my head!”

The other men stopped in their tracks and began backing away from me.  Their eyes were glued to the screaming man on the ground.  While their attention was diverted, I grabbed two of them by their heads and did the same thing.  Within seconds, they too were on the ground screaming alongside their friend.  The three men had all just died at my hands, and then had been reanimated into the screaming, tortured souls at my feet.  If I wasn’t a sociopath the whole thing probably would have been horrifying to watch.

I looked at the last man, who was standing motionless watching me.  He backed away slowly as if I was a cobra ready to strike.  I stepped toward him, but he continued moving away from me. 

“I’m not going to do this to you,” I said.  “Go tell the Bishop, the Hand of God is coming for him.”  He just stood there looking at me.  “Go!  Now!” I yelled, as he turned and ran.

I quickly climbed into my Tahoe and drove away before the entire AT&T Center heard the screaming.  I could have just killed them all, but that would have been too messy and no good way to hide the bodies.  Dead bodies draw too much attention.  Screaming men would draw psychiatrists.  Maybe the Bishop will think they were demon-possessed and try to exorcise them.  I wasn’t even sure exactly what I had done to them.  It was as if they came back from the dead totally crazy, or just as screaming zombies.  Whatever it was, they appeared to be self- aware, and in great pain, a pain worse than death. 

As I drove, I thought about the Bishop, and I thought about myself. He had just raised someone from the dead, and she seemed to be in perfect health. I could raise people from the dead too, but only after I killed them in the first place, a side effect of stealing all their memories. It was ironic, really. My way was a twisted perversion of what the Bishop could do. I wondered if he got all their memories, too.

My apartment came into sight, and I pulled into the parking lot, feeling hopeful.  I had just fought off four of the Bishop’s goons, who’d had me outnumbered and outmatched.  I was learning what my abilities were and how to use them. Whatever the Bishop was, I was not going to be powerless before him. My gifts seemed much nastier than the Bishop’s parlor tricks. I smiled.  It was going to be a good week after all.

Chapter 26

As I pulled into my parking lot, David Davidson/Ezrael appeared next to me in the Tahoe.  He scared the hell out of me that time, but I guess he thought it was urgent. 

“You can’t do that Charlie,” he said without looking at me.

“What are you referring to?”

“You know exactly what I’m referring to.  Killing people out in the open like that and then leaving behind shrieking zombies?  You know the whole ‘thou shall not kill’ thing?”  Davidson/Ezrael seemed quite angry.

“Well, gosh, Dave.  Your boss kinda wiped lots of people out back in the day didn’t He?  Besides, those goons aren’t technically dead.”

“He’s God, He can do that.  And they’re not dead, but they sure aren’t alive.”

“Well, I’m the Hand of God, and I was doing His work.  I thought it was kind of fun, actually.”

He shook his head as I pulle
d the keys out of the ignition.
“You are certifiably insane, do you know that?” he said.

“So says the man who claims to be an angel, and who told me my ancestor was the Angel of Death.”

“What if you got caught?  What would your congregation think?   How about your testimony?  Think of all the good things you’ve done.”  He ignored my previous statement.

“Then I guess you and God better make sure I don’t get caught, huh?” I was doing my best to push his buttons, and he knew it.  I’d grown sick of his games and micromanaging, so I wanted to see if an angel could lose his temper.

“I mean it Charlie!  This has got to stop!”  At that, the Tahoe jerked to a halt in the middle of the road.  I felt the seatbelt burning against my neck as my body lurched forward. I was sure I’d look like I had a hickey from the friction. Great-just what I needed to fuel church lady gossip.   We looked at each other as I tried to restart the Tahoe.  The engine had died, completely stalling out.

“Sorry,” Dave said.  “I lost my temper.”

“I didn’t know angels could do that.”

“We can do a lot of things.”

“I see that.”

“And I saw you learned a few things too.”

“I have.  You told me to figure it out for myself, and I have.” I couldn’t believe he was second guessing me now, after he was pretty much no help to me in figuring all this out.

“I guess you have.  Do you have any idea what you are doing to people when you do that?”

I nodded as we sat there in the Tahoe. .

“I’ve got a pretty good idea.”

“You sentence them to their own personal hell.  Their mind is gone, but it’s not.  They are still aware of the horrible pain.”

“What better way to punish the wicked?” I asked.

“You’re really taking this Hand of God thing rather far aren’t you? You’re so full of yourself.” He looked away in disgust.

“No, Dave!  I’m full of the Holy Spirit!  But that’s something you angels would know nothing about, not having souls and all.”

He grabbed my arm and glared at me so hard that for a moment I thought daggers would actually come shooting out.  Even fire shooting out would have been cool.  Instead Dave just stared, his irises growing darker and darker until they were black.  The whites of his eyes filled in too, turning his entire eyeball black. He no longer looked human. 

“Don’t push God’s grace, Charlie.  He needs you right now but He will have no qualms with snuffing you out once you have fulfilled your purpose.”

“So much for “God is love,” huh?”

He put his hand on my throat and squeezed tight.  Intense heat coursed from his hand into my neck.  I tried to talk, but couldn’t.  I could barely take a breath.  Placing my hands on his wrist, I tried to pull his arm away, but he was too strong.  I reached up and placed my hand on his head, but nothing happened.  I wasn’t surprised, really. He wasn’t a man like the Bishop’s goons.  Out of desperation, I thrust my hand against his chest.  To my surprise, my fingers burned their way through his flesh, sliding into his chest cavity.  Dave’s eyes grew large as their normal color returned.  He jumped back, letting go of my throat.

My hand came free of his chest and the wound closed quickly.  He looked down, rubbing his hand along his chest, and then looked back up at me. 

“Look,” he said.  “We don’t have time for this.  The Bishop is getting stronger.  His following is getting bigger and he’s gaining more money and power.  Very soon he will make his big move.  God wants him stopped, now.”

“Well, it’s not that easy.  The guy has an army surrounding him 24/7.”

“You’re a resourceful guy Charlie.  Figure something out.”

“He could give me some help, you know.”

“He has.” Dave said.  “You got me.”

“My, how generous of Him,” I smirked.  “And what kind of move is the Bishop planning?”

“I’m not sure.  I know he has a national TV appearance sometime this week.  I think the Today show.”

“Really?  Is he performing with Taylor Swift or Lady Gaga?”

“Stop that.  This is big.  Once he appears, his following will go national.  Maybe even global.”

“But so will his enemies.”

“Whatever. Just stop him.”

“He can raise the dead, you know,” I said.

“And so can you.”  I looked away for a second and Davidson was gone.  I didn’t quite get the point of the whole conversation.  He didn’t like me using my power to zombify people, yet he basically told me to do just that.  Unless he only wants me using it on the Bishop and not regular people.  Either way, he was right about the Bishop.  He may look like he’s helping people on the surface, but I saw him kill.  Plus he’s got that goon squad following him around.  What preacher does that?  Of course, who was I to talk?  I needed to get closer to the Bishop and find out exactly what he was.  I had a feeling I wouldn’t like it.

Chapter 27

When I reached my apartment, there was an unmarked police car sitting where I usually park.  I made the car easily since it was a dark blue Crown Victoria with a big spot light sticking out of the driver’s side.  A man in plain clothes was standing in front of my door.  He was wearing an oxford shirt and dress pants.  There was a badge clipped to his belt and a gun in a holster on the other side.  I had no idea what this was about, but I wasn’t in the mood for whatever it was.

“Pastor Charlie Sims?”  The man said.

“Yes?”

“I’m Detective Jim Stanton, with SAPD.  I have some questions for you regarding Roger Quinn.”

So that’s it.  Roger.  I knew there was a danger in killing someone I knew, even if I was careful.

“Yes, Roger.  It’s got us all worried.  He was at church a few Sundays ago.  No one has seen him since.”

“Well, that’s just it.  Someone has seen him,” Stanton said, studying me.

“Really?  Who?” I really wanted to know.

“A witness saw you with him the night he disappeared.”

Oh, no.

“They what?”

“Can you come with me, please?”