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Large black cracks on the walls of the ash building look like standing canyons at a distance. Finn circles the building, securing the perimeter. Once he’s sure it’s safe, he strolls right in the front door.

It’s dark inside. Bats would have trouble knowing where to go. Finn draws a black pistol with gold glowing Holy Scripture scribbled all over. A transmutation circle on the handle. The glow lights the halls up to ten feet clear in all directions. Old unorganized furniture sits against the walls, covered to protect it against dust.

“This place has been abandoned awhile,” Finn says, quietly pacing further in. The first level is a disguise. It’s remained untouched for appearances. If unconscious humans walk in, they won’t ask questions. But guardians who’ve eaten from both fruits and apostles like Finn who’ve only had the fruit of knowledge, they know this is a cover. The celestials are clever.

Finn’s gun is held tight on the way down to the second and then third levels. Both floors upon inspection were the same as the first. When he reaches the fourth, things finally change. He walks into a clear hall. No anything on either side. The stairwell doesn’t go more down than this. “This has to be where they’re hidden,” he tells himself, inching closer to what appears to be a lobby at the end of the hall.

Candles radiate their orange flame against the walls of the lobby. They twirl and spin, flickering when Finn walks by.

A nearly inaudible hum echoes through, never ending, but always faint. Finn slows his pace when he hears it. “They’re definitely here,” he says. At the end of the lobby a door leads to a final chamber. The closer he is the louder the hum. “It’s definitely coming through there.” Clearing up it reveals to be chanting. They’re opening a gate. “No! This needs to stop before more come through!” Finn yells, lunging to the chamber and down its spiral staircase.

Bottom level, a celestial is bridging a gap to his dimension. Finn walks in to hands held high, reaching for the ceiling. A tall toothpick in a suit. White feathery wings tucked in against his back. He’s facing a large blue floating orb. The wormhole to their world.

From the corner of his eye the celestial sees Finn walk into the room. His focus is taken away from the orb. The orb shrinks and vanishes.

 “I thought there’d be more of you down here,” Finn tells him.

“Apostle…” The celestial says through his teeth. “You’ll soon come to realize I am more than enough, foolish human.”

“Is that so?” Finn asks taking aim at the celestial’s head.

“I promise!” the celestial responds, walking towards Finn. He spreads his wings wide across the entire chamber.

Finn double taps the trigger. Both rounds land between the celestial’s eyes. They flatten on impact and fall to the floor. “That should have worked!” Finn says, holding the handle of the gun tighter, bracing for impact.

“I’m no ordinary angel,” the celestial says.

“Well, that’s because you’re not an angel,” Finn mocks his comment right before the celestial backhands him. The impact is so great he’s launched off his feet back into the stairwell.

“Watch your mouth, insect!” the celestial says. “I am Allister, a God!”

Finn struggles back to his feet. He brushes off. The celestial continues to casually walk over. “Mind if we take this outside?” he says taking off, up the staircase. “That kind of hurt!” he screams already on the fourth level racing across the lobby to the main stairwell.

The building rumbles and the floor in front of Finn explodes. When the debris clears Allister is there. “Do you not understand, Apostle?” he screams furiously. “Your movement is pathetic. I will dispose of you.”

“I doubt that,” Finn says, his eyes now serious.

“And why is that,” Allister asks. He stops cold in his tracks intrigued by the change in the atmosphere.

“Because like you am I no ordinary Apostle,” Finn says, rips his shirt off to reveal the same transmutation circle on the handle of his gun is also on his chest. And he flings the glowing gun at Allister.

A quick flick of his right wing and the gun deflects over Allister’s head. Each atom in Finn’s body detaches from the ones around them and scatter across the lobby. Finn seems to fade away like an after image.

Finn’s atoms come together again behind Allister, holding the gun aimed at the back of his head. “How about these rounds!” he says, the scripture and transmutation circle on both his chest and gun glow brighter and brighter until he’s nearly the sun. He pulls the trigger on the gun. The second he does, the room goes dark. The transmutation circles goes purple and black. The colors squirm and twist inside as if they were alive. The gun for a split second pulls Allister towards it, as well as everything else in the room. It inhales and explodes in a purple and black twist of holy energy so furious it tosses Finn back as if he were hit. Allister takes the shot to the head and is flung the opposite direction.

Finn hops to his feet and runs to Allister who’s scrambling to get up. Before he can, Finn’s already too close. He kicks Allister square in the face knocking him back to the floor and runs right by him to the stairwell. He races up and out of the old cracked building.

“Let’s dance,” Finn says when he stops to face the building.

Allister retracts his wings. They might as well not exist when this is done. He appears human. “I will enjoy peeling the skin off your bones, apostle,” he says.

“Will you?” Finn says, Allister nearly face to face with him. “Well, what about this?” He drops to his knees. “Holy Energy, Knowledge and Life, subtract this creature into FIRE!” he screams.

The building behind Allister vanishes. The surrounding buildings too. The sky goes an impossible dark, and a ring of fire surrounds both of them.

“Welcome to your prison,” Finn says.

“What? This?” Allister asks. “This is nothing. Like I said. I’m no average angel, foolish human.” Allister stops walking before Finn. He patiently takes his tie off and tosses it on the ground. Then his suit jacket. He unbuttons his shirt. When he takes it off he reveals his body is covered in Holy Scripture.

Finn stands. No words are spoken. His eyes are wide in amazement. In confusion. “How?” he asks. “This isn’t possible. This shouldn’t be possible.” He backs away.

“It’s very possible,” Allister says, starting to walk towards Finn again. Once Finn’s back is to the hell flames Allister grabs him by the neck. “Now allow me to show you true power!”

The fires of the prison impossibly die down. Allister’s wings reappear already flapping. His body begins to hover. Finn loses contact with the floor and is held up by Allister’s grip on his neck.

They’re floating over some neighborhood in the middle of who knows where.

“How are you doing this?!” Finn barely manages to squeeze from his throat.

“You ask too many questions, apostle. Enjoy the trip,” Allister says and releases Finn a mile in the sky.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! What’s going on! What the fuck was that?” He’s freaking out on the way down. His hands meet in the prayer pose. “Protection!” he yells and closes his eyes. He smashes right through a house’s roof and crashes straight to the basement. A giant hole left in the house.

An unconscious man and woman in frantic panic check the commotion inside their home. Shaky and scared the man in his blue PJs approaches holding a bat. “Get out of my home!” the man says. His wife hidden behind him in her pink night gown.

“You don’t understand! RUN!” he tells them, but they don’t heed his warning.

Allister radiates a gold aura which protects him entering the home. He lands before the man and woman. “Out of my way,” he says, spearing his hand right through the man’s chest into the woman’s. He pulls his arm out and they both drop to the floor.

“THEY WERE INNOCENT, YOU FUCKING MONSTER!” Finn furious puts his hand preparing for another prayer.

Allister wastes no time and grabs both of Finn’s hands while they’re together. “Pathetic apostle,” he says, and twists his wrist to break both of Finn’s hands.

Finn screams, his lungs nearly bursting. He’ll sooner run out of breath than stop screaming. And that he does.

“How will you cast a prayer now, apostle?” Allister grabs Finn again and tosses him up through the same hole to a different part of the house. He takes his time walking to Finn.

“Where’s my mommy and daddy?” a young child asks. He’s hidden behind the curtains in the living room Finn landed in.

“Oh, god!” Finn says, aware that if Allister finds the kid he will kill him. “Kid, kid!” Finn whispers. “Run away. Get out of the house!” he says.

“The kid looks over the side of the curtains and shakes his head. Mommy said never to leave home without her,” the kid says.

Allister’s footsteps are getting closer.

“Kid! Just listen to me and leave!” he tries to reason but the kid won’t listen.

“No!” the kid says.

“Ugh! No, no, no!” Finn’s in panic mode. “That’s it for this kid. He’s too young. He’s too young for it, but I’ve got no choice,” he says. Finn goes in his pocket fighting through the pain and pulls out a white square. He walks over to the kid. And barely capable of holding the square he jams it in the young kid’s mouth and forces him to swallow, all the while fighting the pain of his broken hands. Scared, the child struggles thinking Finn is trying to hurt him.

Once the kid swallows the piece Finn is satisfied. The kid loses consciousness and Finn hides him behind the curtain and pushes the couch in front of him. He starts walking back towards Allister to protect the child while he awakens. While the fruit of knowledge bestows the information of the universe. While this kid is uploaded with holy knowledge.

Allister comes through the door. “Goodbye, apostle!” he says as he punches his hand right into Finn’s chest and squeezes his heart from inside his body, killing him instantly.