Seven days

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Those leaves were intended for my children to jump on when they went outside to play. Now, all they were going to find, were ashes. This was not the first time my family and I had been harassed in such way by god knows who, and it was really getting to my nerves. The police had done nothing about it and that bothered me even more. I had figured out a pattern of these attacks and I told my wife that they would come again in seven days. Seven days.

“Buying a gun won’t solve anything, let the police take care of this,” my wife pleaded. She had always been against violence. Her brother had been shot to death when she was just nine years old right in front of her eyes. If there was something she hated in this world, it was guns.

“You know the police will do nothing, the last time they just said they would investigate but I swear I heard them laughing at me when they left. They didn’t even take it seriously. Finding those black symbol everywhere was no joke to me, but their first theory was that it probably had been some teenagers playing a prank”

“More the reason to not buy a weapon. What if it really was some teenagers? Are you going to shoot them?

“I just might,” I said with a smirk. I regretted it immediately when I saw the way my wife was looking at me.

The next morning I woke up earlier than usual since I was determined to buy it and hide it from my wife. I didn’t really like keeping secrets from her but this time, it was completely necessary.

“Exactly what kind of weapon are you looking for? asked the man behind the counter, with no facial expressions whatsoever to announce how he was feeling today.

“Something that can be hidden but at the same time that will cause fear instead of laughter when shown.”

“I recommend the trusty 38 revolver. There is of course a seven day waiting period. Seven days,” he whispered at the end.

“What?”

“A waiting period sir”

“Yes, of course,” I said kind of shaken. That guy was really giving me the creeps.

By the time I went back home, my wife was waiting for me sitting at the kitchen giving me a suspicious look. Sometimes I thought that woman could read minds. But I wasn’t about to let her read me this time, so I decided to avoid eye contact at all cost as I sat beside her.

“I went to buy a gun,” I blurted out, and I could swear the world stopped right there and then, until she finally smiled.

“Ok honey” she said condescendingly, and I was able to breathe again. “Remember we have to go to my nephew’s baptism. It’s going to be wonderful, everyone in the family is attending.”

“Oh, I had forgotten, when is it?”

“In seven days,” whispered a woman I had never seen before in my life.

I jumped right out of the chair and I threw it to the floor. I looked at the door which was about a thousand miles away from me and then back to my wife.

“What happened honey, are you ok?” she said with a worrying look on her face.

“Yes, yes, yes. I just remembered something urgent I had to do.” I picked up my keys from the table and headed out the door.

I really liked fall weather so I decided to walk around the block in order to clear my mind. I thought back at the symbols on the doors and windows of my home that appeared that morning. I grabbed my phone and started googling for symbols and logos. Swipe, swipe, swipe, and then I saw it. One that looked familiar but I just couldn’t pinpoint. I tried to remember but it seemed that the harder I tried, the less I could do it. And then it hit me like a rock on a windshield on a road trip. A church! I had seen this on a church! Of course it didn’t look exactly the same since the one in my house had been spray painted. The church was just a few block away so I decided to pay them a visit.

“Good morning father,” I said politely not even knowing what religion this was.

“Good morning, how can I help you?” he replied

“Could I ask you a few questions about your church?”

“Why yes, of course. Are you interested in coming to our service?” he asked excitedly and started talking to me about the schedules they had.

“Um, actually I had other type of questions father,” I interrupted.

“Well, I’m sure you do since you keep calling me father,” he said as I felt my face turning red. “We are a Christian church that has existed since the nineteenth century. We preach all around the world and we believe in our dear Lord Jesus Christ…”

And so he kept going on about how they served the Lord and how the baptism and on and on.

“…the Adventist church of the seventh day…?

“The what?” I paid attention again.

“Seven days asshole, seven days” I heard him say “…and we are a very strong community within our own organization…?

“Seven days what, father?” I asked him visibly annoyed

“The Adventist church of the seventh day, come this Sunday and we’ll have a wonderful service. I’ll introduce you to the members of our church and hopefully you can become one someday” he added nicely assuring me that he hadn’t heard that voice that seemed to come from inside him.

I had gone out to clear my head but now I felt more troubled than ever. I wondered if I was going crazy. Started brainstorming for any schizophrenia background in my family but it came out negative.

“Father, I need to make a confession,” I voiced unsteadily

“Well, we don’t do that in our church, but I’ll be glad to listen to you if something is bothering you.”

“Not that kind of confession father,” I said as I pulled out my phone from my pocket. “Can you look at this please?” and showed him the symbol.

“Where did you find that?” he asked now with a very serious expression on his face.

“Someone spray painted that on my front door and it looks a lot like the symbol of your church” I said to him as I zoomed into the picture

“Well it is and it isn’t the symbol of our church. This symbol is much older and it is forbidden too. And I’m sorry to tell you that this is not paint but rather the blood of a lamb stored and aged for seven days. This used to be a ritual to mark evil spirits and trap them in this world so that the Lord could gather them and destroy them seven days after their purification with fire.” he recited as he gave me back my phone as if it were filthy and impure.

I held back my laughter as hard as I could. I had stopped believing in God and all that had to do with religion a long time ago. Following logic and my instinct, I figured out that it had probably been one of those crazy church members trying to scare me into going to church to save my soul.

“Wow,” that was all I said to him and then I walked away after thanking him. He didn’t even make the slightest effort to keep talking to me. He seemed happy that I was out of there. I pictured him washing his hands with holly water as soon as he lost me out of sight.

I walked back home and cleared away any doubt I had about buying that gun. I also told my wife that everything was ok. I made up a story of why I reacted the way I did. Story which I really can’t remember now. Did I mention that this woman could read me like an open book? Of course she didn’t buy it but I stuck to my story. That’s what happens to bad liars. I couldn’t wait for the seventh day to come.

6 DAYS LATER.

“Good afternoon sir, I’m here for that gun. Do I have to sign any papers or anything? I really don’t know what the procedure is. This is the first time I buy a weapon.” I said shyly to the man behind the counter who just kept staring at me. “The trusty .38?”

“Yes, it’s right here, we’ve been waiting for you” he said as he picked up the gun.

I held out my hand to grab it but then I realized he was pointing at me with it. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see two shadows shutting the blinds leaving the place totally dark. My heart started racing and my head began to float. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I was being the victim of a crime. And from then, everything is just a haze.

I remember a deep voice, I remember the sudden intense heat but most of all I remember the smell. The rotting smell. Seven days he said, and then my arms and legs were gone.

I woke up on my bed all alone. I called for my wife and kids for as long as I could but no one seemed to be at home. If it hadn’t been for my neighbors, I would have died here all alone. Thank you

“Yes sir, no problem, were here to help, you’re safe now, we’ll just run back to the ambulance for the equipment necessary to pick you up and take you to the hospital.”

“Did you smell that? It was unbearable”

“Yeah man, I did, I don’t know, how I’m going back in there”

“Well, it’s our job to do so, although I just don’t know how we’re going to explain to him that he can’t be lifted. It’s just like if he were...trapped in that bed.”

SOMEWHERE IN ANOTHER PART OF TOWN.

“Honey, wake up, we’ve just been bandalized…”