It was a beautiful day to attend church and give praise to my Lord for all of his blessings. I remembered that I was to meet Raphael in church, but I didn't have any means to communicate with him. I was starting to figure out the functionality of a mobile phone in order to make communication much easier. I was hoping that I could get Mister Wall's number for educational purposes and not to just ask him about his day or if he had already eaten breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I wasn't that attached to Mister Wall.

"Are you sure you're not coming, Kennedy?" He was lying down on his bed, reading manga. Samantha and Derek decided not to come for today's service but Derek offered to take me there.

"Nope, it's boring and the priest's constant screaming will blow my eardrums off. What's the point of coming to church if I'd end up murdering the priest?" he drawled.

Kennedy had a point. Even I couldn't understand why the priest preaches the way he does.

"I'll see you later then," I said, hearing him hum in response. He didn't hate God or anything religious related. He believed in a God but he chose not to care. How could he not care about how kind my Lord was? He should show gratitude and serve Him as a receiver of great blessings. May God open his eyes to the truth.

I jogged downstairs, finding Derek in the living room waiting for me. "Ready to go?"

"Yes!"

It had been awhile since I last went to church. I was a bundle of nerves. What would their reactions be once I return? Derek told me to give him five more minutes so he could finish his coffee. The doorbell rang; I took the initiative to answer it.

I was starstruck, dumbstruck, and lovestruck.

Mister Wall stood by our doorstep, oozing with his manly glory of being a sophisticated gentleman despite just wearing a simple red polo shirt and jeans. I had to swallow the pooling saliva in my mouth.

He was truly God's most magnificent creation. My Lord must have put His whole effort in crafting every inch of him. Perhaps he was an angel in his previous life.

"Hello Keetan, how are you today?" He greeted me, smiling warmly.

"I'm good sir, what brings you here?" I asked him. I had to resist the urge to embrace him when he ruffled my hair.

"I was hoping that you'll accompany me on a short mountain hike. I heard there is this abandoned house that stores old biblical figurines. No one tried going in since they are afraid that the house is cursed," he stated, catching my interest. I was practically waving my imaginary dog tail from the information. I had never heard of such a thing before.

"Oh, is that the house of the old man on top of the small mountain near here?" Derek butted in.

Mister Wall nodded. "Yes and seeing that Keetan is fascinated by anything religious related, I thought of inviting him."

Derek looked worried. "Are you sure about going there though? The old man that lived there before was crazy and he usually came down from there to scare people here. He spouted that he had a vision of Satan coming soon and that this town was doomed but that was fifteen years ago," Derek said.

I wanna go!

But...

I have church service...

Why must Mister Wall torture me with this?

"He's a crazy old man so there's no use getting scared by him," Mister Wall assured. There was a small twitch at the corner of his lips as if he was holding in a full-blown smile. "So what do you say, Keetan?"

Yes!

I mean no...

But I really want to go!

Argh! I need to stay loyal to my Father but I was so intrigued by this! I must put my Lord in my top priority even if...it was Mister Wall himself inviting.

I sighed. "I'm sorry sir but I need to go to church today."

The look of disappointment in Mister Wall's face made me want to bang my head at the door. "Is that so? That's a shame. I guess I'm stuck with Samael's company."

I didn't notice Samael standing beside Mister Wall since the huge man in front of me occupied the whole space of the door. Samael punched Mister Wall's arm which appeared awfully painful. If I were the receiver of that punch I could have agonized over the pain for a day, but Mister Wall didn't even flinch. His muscles must be made of steel.

Samael snorted. "If you hate my presence so much then why don't you go to church with him? I dare you."

Mister Wall grunted. "I'm not much of a church person so I guess your presence can suffice."

"Have a safe trip, boss," Derek said while he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"We'll give Keetan a ride," Mister Wall offered.

Yay!

"Oh? Well if that's okay with Kee-"

"Yes, it's fine, thank you sir!" I cut Derek off because of my excitement. I would apologize later for my disrespectfulness. Derek didn't seem offended as he chuckled and patted my head.

I followed Mister Wall and Samael to the limo, getting in before Mister Wall. I scooted closer to his body, blushing when he acknowledged me by dangling his arm over my shoulders. Samael didn't care about how close we were. He was busy playing games on his phone. I rested my head against Mister Wall's hard chest. He smelled really nice.

The drive to church had gone too fast. I nearly whined because that meant I'd be separated from him; however, I must perform my duty as a good Christian.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Keetan," Mister Wall bid. "Here," he added, bringing out a small pack of chocolates.

"Thank you sir. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Samael."

He yawned. "Yeah, go and worship and shit."

The driver opened the door. Mister Wall gave my head one last pat. As soon as they drove off, I signed dreamily.

Well, back to reality, Keetan.

"Keetan."

Raphael walked to me with a frown. Now what had gotten into him? Smile good sir! You are near our Father's house!

"Let's go in," he urged. I handed out the chocolate to him since I thought we should have a snack before entering, but he gave it a stink eye, taking the pack from me and shooting it like a professional basketball player in the near trash bin.

"Why?!" I protested.

"This chocolate is bad for your health. I've seen its side effects."

No!

My chocolate!

"As I said, it is bad for your health and spiritual well-being, behave child," he scolded calmly.

His presence still gave me chills but what he did pissed me off. That was a generous gift from the man I adored the most and he threw it away like it was made from the devil's love! I huffed at him, following him. As we were about to get in, the pastor, Sofia's father, saw us. He was getting ready for the mass.

"Keetan, why are you here?" He looked side-to-side as if I was some kind of a dangerous and forbidden being inside the church.

"I will attend the mass, father. Is there something wrong?"

The man frowned. He first looked at me and then at Raphael before his judging eyes focused onto me once again. "The number of people attending is becoming fewer."

My expression twisted into worry. Were they angry that I wasn't doing my duty as a faith healer for many weeks? "I'm sorry father, I promise I'll come back to heal–"

The pastor waved his hand furiously in disapproval. "No it's not that they got tired of waiting for you. It's just that they got scared of meeting you because of what happened to your parents. They think that you're some kind of bastard; they are having ideas that you are a pawn of Satan. What happened to your parents is evil and they are afraid that the curse will go unto them if you heal them."

I stepped backwards. My chest stung. I was a scourge to them.

"That is a stupid logic. Let us in." Raphael commanded. The pastor jumped back in fear. Chills ran down my spine from Raphael's authoritative voice.

"I–I can't! My Lord might draw His punishment if I let this plague in!" he fought on, looking at me disgustingly.

I bowed my head in shame; my throat swelled. I wasn't an enemy of my Father. I could never have the guts to go against Him! I loved my Lord with all my heart. Why did they think I was an enemy of Him?

"One cannot be punished for the sins of others. Keetan is not at fault for his parents' misfortune. If you continue this, you will be punished by my Father!"

The pastor paled. He shakily pointed at Raphael. I shivered when it suddenly got chilly. It was already cold, but the air felt like December. The pastor seemed lost for words. He scrambled away from us, staring at Raphael who was coldly following the pastor's body with his eyes.

"Raphael...I don't think I am welcomed here."

"Keetan..." The little hairs on my arms and neck stood. "Have you ever seen how our Lord punishes?

I swallowed my saliva, shaking my head. I have never seen my Lord execute retribution, but whenever He did, it would always be a heavy one.

My mouth slightly gaped. My skin tingled. My feet were rooted to the floor

"I assume you know who Miriam is? Miriam is the elder sister of Moises who spoke ill against him and because of that, the Lord got angry at her and punished her. She was cursed to have leprosy."

The priest fell back on his butt, staring blankly as if he had just seen something disconcerting.

Raphael pulled my hoodie over my head, dragging me inside. We sat in the last row. There were barely thirty people here. The shaken priest started his lecture about Jesus' second coming. He kept shooting glances at us.

"I cannot feel any holiness from this church...The one teaching is a false prophet..." Raphael whispered from beside me. He was seething. I scooted a bit farther from him. The priest continued to talk even when the hard rain poured. I didn't hear from the weather news that it was going to rain.

Strong lightning got me jumping from my seat. Raphael sat me back down. He crossed his legs as he didn't bother listening. Was it because Sofia's father was a 'false prophet'? The pastor stopped talking; he inhaled sharply. He was staring at the entrance, pointing a trembling finger.

The people started screaming. They attempted to flee but the bees swarmed them, stabbing them with their stingers. I had my hands covering the top of my head, preparing to be attacked.

Raphael appeared calm, staring straight ahead like there was no one dying around him. The strong rain and lightning camouflaged the screams of the people. The bees had transfixed to their skin like ants cocooning food on the ground.

"Oh my God! Help me! Help me! My God, why did you abandon me?!" the priest screamed.

"No, get it off! It hurts! It hurts!" an old man shouted.

I stared at everyone in shock. Why was this happening in my Lord's temple?!

"Raphael, we need to get someone!" I panicked. The rain was pouring so hard; I doubt someone would hear the chaos going on here.

Raphael grabbed my wrist, pushing me down the seat. He stared at me straight in the eyes, sucking the fright I had. His eyes drew me in.

What was happening again?

I don't know...I don't think I care anymore.

"No...Let Father do His work. These people deserve this. This is heaven's punishment."

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