I couldn’t bring myself to accept what had happened. I wanted to count today as a victory, but an angel had fallen, another lost warrior in the fight for our right to live in this realm—no matter how misbegotten his views had become.
I combed my fingers through Billy’s hair, and told him that everything was going to be okay. He looked up at me as if to tell me that he wasn’t having any of it. I knew that was the one thing no man was guaranteed, and he knew better than to believe a single word of it.
Something was approaching from the confessional but with Gabriel and the glowing cross destroyed, I didn’t know what to expect. “Stay back, boy,” I said; pushing Billy behind me, “I don’t know what’s coming through there… and I can’t protect you properly if you don’t get behind me.”
A man emerged; it was Billy’s father, covered in a thick layer of grime and barely able to stand.
“Don’t look,” I said, turning around and dropping to a knee to face the young boy. “I need you to keep your head down, and whatever you do, don’t look up no matter what you hear.”
Billy looked back at me, blinking rapidly as he no doubt tried to interpret the sights he’d seen today. I had traveled the world, seen sights no man should ever lay eyes on, and what I’d seen today was something not meant for human eyes. Something we’d never understand, and probably for the best.
I left Billy, hunkered down behind some of the debris and approached his father. I wasn’t worried about the boy, or my own wellbeing, but of what I’d do to the father.
“My boy,” Mr. Godwin croaked. “Is my b-boy safe?”
“He’s safe,” I said, “Billy’s quite the survivor, no thanks to his old man. A kid like that will do all right in the world, whether he’s with his pa or not. I told you before to give me one good reason to let you live… now I want your answer.”
“I don’t d-deserve his forgiveness,” he said. “He ran from me… both my children… they fled when they realized what was h-happening to the town. They said it was changing… for the worse…like the Sheriff. At first I didn’t want to believe them… thinking it to be n-nothing but silly superstition. I soon found out that I was wrong—.”
A coughing fit brought Mr. Godwin to a halt; he clasped his chest as he grimaced. After a minute or two, he steadied himself and tried to continue the conversation.
“They rounded us up,” he said. “He infected us. The first stage… that’s what the Sheriff called it. He said that it’d take our worries away. For those that failed to embrace this there was always the second stage—.”
The coughing started up and soon Mr. Godwin was heaving uncontrollably, black corrosive bile poured from his lips. It singed the floorboards, sending smoke swirling up into the air.
“I’ll be damned,” I muttered in disbelief as I watched the bile seep through the cracks of wood. He was rejecting the infection.
“When you brought the boy home I could barely recognize him through the haze,” Mr. Godwin said. “The Sheriff took my boy... my only son… how could I just let that happen?”
“You could’ve fought.”
“I’m weak… selfish… contemptible… a man who knows his limits lives longer… isn’t that right?”
His voice trailed off as Billy approached the virgin sacrifice that Gabriel had nailed to the now crumbled cross. He ran his fingers through her hair, sobbing quietly, still refusing to speak.
“I-I don’t believe it,” Mr. Godwin blubbered. “Selena… my daughter… is that you?”
The girl was lying on the floor still unconscious from her ordeal. Billy nodded his head in agreement as he wiped tears from his eyes.
“She fled in the night with Billy and a dozen others,” he said in somber reflection. “They tried to get me to come but I was just a scared man… no one ever returned… I thought I lost them both. My god, I’m so sorry. I’m so pitiful… please… just don’t kill me.”
I thought about his request, debated with pistol in hand; whether I should end it all now or let him wallow in his own misdeeds and shortcomings.
“My wife died in childbirth,” Mr. Godwin sobbed. “I resented the boy… I’d only loved one person... and he took her from me. It didn’t matter if it was his fault or not.”
“Shut up! No child’s better off without his father,” I said with thoughts of my own childhood. “When the boy’s ready, he’ll come to you, and when he does you’d better be willing to lay down your life for him.”
I holstered my weapon and looked back towards Billy, who was now standing overtops his sister and staring back at the two of us. I rose to my feet to comfort him, but realized it wasn’t me he needed by his side. He had his family back, no matter how fragile it may be.
“Get help” I said to the boy’s father, “You might not deserve them… but maybe one day you will.”