The Wrath of Jeremy (32 page)

Picking up the torch, Luke placed it in an
already made hole in the ground and turned to Jeremy. He answered
calmly, “One question at a time, Jeremy. First, I want to tell you
who Jastian is, for it is probably one of the most important things
you should know.”

Luke walked over to Jeremy and sat on the
ground beside him, while the others still slept silently. “My
Jeremy, Jastian is, or became, God’s father, his imprisonment of a
creation not created by him, but by another God, having both good
and evil powers, that stands outside God himself. Soon I will tell
you how he was created, but not now.” Luke saw the way Jeremy’s
eyes were looking, with more shock and disbelief in their brown
depths.

“I know, once you’re taught a certain way for
a long time, you don’t want to accept new stories about religion.
So I’ll tell you in a simple way. You see, before the earth began,
God went up to Jastian, being that he was more superior than him,
and said that he was bored and tired; he said he wanted something
to be proud of, something that he could say ‘hey, I made that’. So
Jastian gave him permission to make the earth, to take away the
waste and void and fill it with life. He also gave him special
instructions in making it. What scientist nowadays ridiculously
call the theory of evolution was really God’s great powers at
work—so great that they’ll never know how he did it. So, after God
created it, guess what happened?”

“What?”

“He fell in love with it, like an artist
falls in love with his work. But, as the years went on, he noticed
the people he created were turning evil. That’s when he remembered
what you did to him. He remembered how you went against him with
the evil that evolved out of nowhere. He discovered that’s what the
people of the earth were turning into; they were turning into
Satan. So, he attempted to destroy it. His tears allowed the earth
to be engulfed with one big flood,” Luke explained, seeing Jeremy
drying his tears by wiping them away with his arm.

“Is this the great flood story?”

“Yes, it is. You see, the flood story is
true, but most people don’t believe it. As he created the great
flood, all the evil was washed away, but suddenly Jastian found out
what God was doing. Jastian went up to him and asked why he was
doing this. God is perfect, but when you have that much love inside
of you, it begins to make you vulnerable, afraid that it will hurt
you like you did to him. That’s when God decided to make a promise,
a promise that he would never attempt to flood the earth again or
destroy it. So he cast a rainbow across the sky as a signal for his
promise. As the years went on, God noticed that the evil was
appearing again. Every century, God would cry. He would cry because
he saw the evil growing more and more, manifesting itself, knowing
that, because it was in you, you were the cause of it. You have so
many powers that the evil in you can create a life of its own,
traveling to every person, just like God’s love.

“It wasn’t until the Holocaust that was
brought on by the ignorance of Hitler, and many wars before and
after that, that he decided to deliver the wrath. But, Jeremy, God
made a promise that he would never attempt to destroy the earth
again, and God never goes back on his promises. In a way he can’t,
even though he can,” Luke went on saying, as Jeremy’s stress was
growing rapidly.

“But I still don’t know why he chose us to
deliver it,” said Jeremy in a stressed-out tone.

“Alright, Jeremy, I’ll explain that to you,
but, like I said, one question at a time. Now, the reason why
Lucifer fell was the simple fact that he used the powers against
his father, the creator; God had no choice. Why do you think that’s
one of the Commandments? ‘Thou shall honor thy father and mother’?
Well, it’s because of you,” Luke said, holding up his hands toward
Jeremy’s face. His hands formed a bright light, with Jeremy seeing
images in it. “Now for your last question, look into my hands, and
you will see why; I will narrate,” he added.

Without a sound, Sam opened her eyes by the
distant sounds, looked to her left, and saw Luke and Jeremy, with
light pulsating from Luke’s hands and Jeremy looking into it like
he was in a trance. She got up and quietly approached them, sitting
down on the ground right next to them unnoticed. She focused on the
light as well and fixed her ears in a direction that was just right
for her to listen to at least some of the words.

Luke began with, “Ever since you were cast
down to Hell, you would go to the boundaries of Heaven and pound on
the golden gates of it. You would cry out for forgiveness, and God
would hear your cries and begin crying himself.” Jeremy saw God
crying in Luke’s glowing hands, depicting an old wise man with a
long, white beard. “But still, he would never open up the gates for
you. Sometimes Gabriel, David and Michael would laugh on the other
side of the gates and say mean things to you, but you kept on
pounding…. You would come back once every century, and do the same
ritual, pounding on and on, and still the gates wouldn’t open.
Until one day, when the gates opened before you could even begin
pounding,” Luke explained, as Jeremy saw the gates being opened in
Luke’s hands.

“You see, it was during the Holocaust that
the gates opened. You ran up to God as he stopped you from hugging
him. Leaving the evil outside the gates, you pleaded for
forgiveness, but God turned away and said he didn’t want your
apologies, but he wanted your help,” he stated before Jeremy looked
away from Luke’s hands.

“You still didn’t tell me why he wants us to
deliver the wrath!”

“Listen to me, Lucifer—Jeremy, I mean—you
made a promise to God that you would deliver the wrath for him. You
have to allow God to break his promise. God told you what he wanted
from you, and you agreed. He told you if you complete the mission,
then you could come back to Heaven. You sold your soul to him,
Jeremy. You all have to guide his army to complete the wrath.
You’ll understand what I mean when you call out the words that are
on the maps. You have to guide his army to the north, Gabriel has
to guide the army to the west, and Michael and David have to guide
the army to the south and east!” Luke paused when he noticed a
confused look in Jeremy’s eyes. “You will understand when you
deliver the wrath. All you have to do is allow God to step on the
earth: you have to allow him to break his promise. All of you will
open the gates on the twenty-fifth of December and all of you will
guide his army.”

“Wait a second, this is the 21st century! The
Holocaust happened a long time ago: why did it take God this long
to have us deliver his wrath, Luke? Why?”

“You ask good questions. Every year that
passes on earth means one single hour is passing in Heaven, or a
single minute. Time is somewhat irrelevant up there. It doesn’t
exist for a human who dies and goes there, but it exists for the
angels who were born there. It’s very confusing, but you will
understand it once you go there again. Jeremy, when God chose you,
Michael, Gabriel and David to deliver his wrath, he really chose
you for the task only. You alone could guide the army to the north,
South, East and West: you have the power of a thousand angels. But
since you are a fallen angel, your power isn’t so great, that’s why
Michael, Gabriel and David had to be a part of this,” Luke said,
still seeing bewilderment in Jeremy’s glossy eyes.

“Listen, I also want to know why Curtis and
Victor are chasing us. Do you know why?”

“Oh, you mean Christopher and Peter? They are
chasing all of you because they don’t want you delivering the
wrath. When an angel dies, his soul goes to Jastian. After you
killed them, their souls have been in Jastian’s Heaven ever since.
Jastian still doesn’t want God to destroy earth, and he knows God
is having you break the promise for him. That’s why he sent Curtis
and Victor to make sure the wrath doesn’t go into effect. Even
though God is right always, Jastian is somewhat stubborn, and likes
to get his way.”

Sam quickly ran and hid behind a boulder,
seeing that Jeremy was getting up in a fury.

Jeremy shouted at Luke, “No…no! I’m not going
to help deliver the wrath. I’m sorry, Luke, but Gabriel, David and
Michael could do it on their own. God is a loving God, and yes, he
is always right, and this Jastian you speak of had better get a
grip that God is the God of us. But I’ll be damned if I’m gonna do
this dirty work just because those two up there can’t make up their
minds!”

“You’re already damned, and God is right
always, that’s why he chose you to fix it, and make it right.
Listen, Jeremy, they can’t do it without you. You have the power of
a thousand angels; they have the power of only one. That’s why God
chose you. He chose you because of your great powers that you will
have once again when you become an angel, instead of a fallen
angel. Once the eighth sign is alive, you will regain your full
powers, and that will allow God to step his feet on the earth and
finish the job that you all started.

“He wants you back in his life, he wants you
as a son again, and he wants this earth gone. That emotion began
once you showed that you wanted to be back. He yearns to forgive
you, even though he can’t, but by you doing this for him, it will
prove your worth, your meaning, and your love for a God that your
spoiled ass defied and hurt. You little bastard, you have to do
this for him, prove your worth to him, show him that you will
sacrifice everything around you for him!” Luke yelled out.

The anger and rage were so great that Sam
began crying silently. She turned to see if the sound woke the
others, but saw them still asleep, knowing now that she was the
only witness to this argument between good and good having evil in
its twist. Sam stared at Jeremy for a moment, and started to tilt
her head and feel her heart at the same time. She noticed an ache
in her chest, remembering very vaguely a strong emotion that she
once felt for Jeremy’s eyes, allowing her to shake her head in
disbelief. Yet she kept on staring, trying to figure out this
enigma between these new emotions she felt, and the argument
between Luke and Jeremy.

“I don’t have to do anything. Since I’m
Lucifer, I say ‘no’,” said Jeremy in a sinister, condescending
tone.

Luke suddenly ran up to him and slapped him
across the face, shouting, “Jeremy, if you don’t do this for him,
he will cast you down to Hell again, and cast your mother and
father down as well. Everyone whom you have loved or cared for will
fall down to your world immediately. You sold your soul to him, and
that was a part of the deal. If you break it, then you and all of
your humanly loves will suffer in the world that you created; that
world is called ‘Damnation’! Remember, Jeremy, you’re the evil one,
not him! And also, on a new note, you wouldn’t want to lose your
beloved Sam, who you now realize was your true heavenly love!”

Tears started to fall out of Jeremy, and he
moaned like an injured lamb, hyperventilating like a newborn child.
He was confused about himself, the situation, the words and stories
that he heard tonight. He craved a release, hoping that he could
walk away from all of this without a problem. The anger he felt
forced his eyes to close, and when they opened, the pupils of his
eyes were red. He turned to Luke, calming down his voice and tears,
and spoke. “Luke, why are my nails long, and why do I know that my
eyes are red without me seeing them?”

Sam, still crying but calming down a bit,
watched as Luke calmed down himself, and answered, “Because the
more memories that return, the more you become what you
are—Lucifer. The more memories that return, the greater your powers
will be.”

Jeremy turned away, fatigued and sleepy, and
squeezed his eyes, feeling his long nails disappearing into his
own, short ones, and when his eyes opened they were back to
brown.

“So you know how to harness the small powers
you have. But that won’t last, Jeremy, you are what you are, and
the more you realize it, the more you will become it,” Luke noted
with a small smirk to follow. “But I am impressed for now.”

“I’m going to bed now. I’ll think about it
and give you my answer in the morning, Luke. Right now I just want
to get some sleep before I have a nervous breakdown, if I haven’t
done so already. And about me becoming what I am, Luke—I’m Jeremy,
and that’s what I’ll be.”

Before Jeremy could even go back to the
others and find a place to sleep, Luke held a cross up to him and
said, “Before you go, I want you to complete the seventh sign. The
sixth has already been completed because you now know who you are,
and you will become it, Jeremy. It’s now time to complete the
seventh.”

Jeremy stared at the cross and saw the
bloodstains on it, engraved in its steel. Luke then took a step
toward Jeremy, when abruptly his eyes noticed Sam’s face, peeking
out behind the boulder, seeing her tears reflecting in the torch’s
light. “Why, hello, Sam,” he smiled, passing her and walking up to
David’s sleeping body.

During his walk toward David, Jeremy looked
at Sam, knowing that she heard everything, and looked down in
disgrace, ashamed to know that she heard everything that Luke
brought out, embarrassed that her beauty witnessed the evil secret
that lay inside of him. Then their eyes turned from each other, as
if they realized the love they once had and feared it, and turned
their eyes to watching Luke tap David on the chest. As they watched
Luke attempt to wake David up, Sam’s eyes moved back to Jeremy’s
face, and kept on staring, watching his reactions toward Luke, and
watching even the way he was breathing, as if she was trying to
connect her true past emotions to the present, and fall in love all
over again.

Yet she was disrupted by a shout from Luke,
hearing him yelling, “David, wake up!”