Chronicles of the Second Realm. Curtis Reid Edgett

appeared to be thinking about his answer. “Uh-huh.”

      “Who are you anyway—and what happened last night?” I asked indignantly.

      “Do you really want to know?” As he said this, the man reached into his pants pocket and pulled something out with a closed fist. He stretched out his hand with his palm facing upwards to reveal two pills, a red one and a blue one.

      My eyes grew wide. “Are we in ‘The Matrix’?”

      The man slapped me on the back of the head. “No, these are for your headache.”

      I stood in amazement as this seemingly angelic man had just Gibb-smacked me.

      “That probably didn’t help though,” he said, smirking all the while.

      “Not really, no.”

      “It’s time for business.” His smirk quickly turned into a seriously straight face. “We have to go.”

      “What?” I said. “I still don’t understand.”

      “Get in the car, kid.” He hastily pushed me into his jet-black 2016 Camaro.

      We drove off to ‘only God knows where.’ We then pulled up to a very swanky-looking office building. When the stranger and I walked in, it was clearly swanky on the inside, too. It had a modern interior with sitting areas spread throughout. The far back wall had a something hanging about twenty feet up. It was a giant medieval shield with a broadsword going down the center and angelic wings protruding from behind.

      We walked up to a receptionist’s desk. She looked not a day over twenty-five and was chewing gum while she was reading a newspaper. The stranger approached her desk. He said nothing and the receptionist quickly looked up over her newspaper. “Hi, Marth.” Her face was beet red by this point.

      Marth waved me over. The receptionist noticed me and the fact that I was with him. She stopped making googly eyes at Marth and looked at me. “Hi, Owen. We’ve been expecting you.”

      I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. I watched as it looked like Marth was signing us in at some kind of office.

      “Fourth floor.” The receptionist winked at him.

      Marth turned and thanked the receptionist, and we boarded the elevator. We arrived on the fourth floor; Marth and I turned a corner and entered what looked like a theater.

      “Class is about to start,” Marth said.

      “Class?”

      “This will give you all the answers that you want. I’ll come find you later. I’ll be in the gym.”

      “Where’s the gym?”

      “I’ll be back before the class ends,” Marth said as the door closed.

      I walked into the auditorium. It looked very grandiose and very expansive. There were ten other people inside scattered about.

      A man walked up onto the stage to the podium. He introduced himself. “Good afternoon, students. My name is Professor Hutcheson. How is everyone’s head doing, hmm?” He chuckled to himself. “Yes, yesterday really did happen. It was not a dream. And yes, you did see demons.”

      The other people in the room started looking around at each other with puzzled expressions on their faces.

      “Demons are everywhere and they are messing with everyone and trying to destroy us. Why? Because we are made in God’s image. The one who comes against us, Satan, hates God. So he and his demon pals hate us as well. But…we have dominion over them. God has gifted all of you with the ability to do battle against these demonic forces. He has empowered you to see these demons and destroy them.

      “Demons can only enter a person’s body by being allowed in. People don’t literally say, ‘Demons come in me.’ No, they slowly creep in by things you say and do. It’s all about guarding your heart. If you don’t allow negative things into your life, you won’t be prone to demonic activity. Each demon has a different job. Some are there to fuel your anger, some make you sick, and some just come to bring depression upon you. Demons have been doing this since the beginning of time; so they know all the different ways of deception and how to manipulate humans. They are very smart and they usually work in teams. One may be attacking while the other is distracting you.

      “We break each demon into classifications based on size and intelligence. Class-one demons are the small, annoying ones that don’t say anything. They just buzz around trying to distract you. Their size ranges from as small as a mouse to the size of a river otter. Class-two demons are slightly bigger; their average size is like a full-grown cow. They can’t talk, but they can roar, shriek, and make many high-pitch screams. The class-three demons are usually four-to-fourteen-feet tall. They vary in shape and features. These can communicate with people in any language. They know how to terrify and destroy people’s hopes and dreams; so be cautious when fighting them. The only class-four demon is Satan, but he doesn’t come off his underworld throne for anything. I guess he has to save all his energy for Armageddon.

      “Now, how do you exorcise a demon, you may ask? There are many different ways. As exorcists, we have many types of abilities that we can use. Most exorcists use weapons, like swords, staffs, daggers, battle-axes, war hammers, and things of that nature. Soon you will see you natural abilities start to increase: speed, strength, reflexes. You’ll be able to do things that normal human beings can only dream of. There are some skills that have not been documented that are still within our abilities. Let your imagination run wild and create your own style. Also, your weapons can’t be seen by ordinary people. So when you pull them out, you’ll just look crazy. Try to keep your battles out of the public view.”

      He took a slight pause.

      “When? When is very important. When can we exorcise a demon? When they try to manifest or take over a human host. Demons are around everyone all the time whispering in their ears to do this or do that. They’re trying to make bad things seem harmless or normal. They love using people of influence. Actors, actresses, models, bands, artists, and politicians—they help set the normal. So when they take over a human, that is our chance. Until then, there is nothing we can do.”

      “Why can’t we destroy them on sight?” some guy in the room shouted out.

      “Great question!” the professor said. “The answer is free will. Humans have free will to do whatever they want; but once they are taken over by a demon, they lose their free will and are now being controlled by the demon. This allows us to take action and destroy them. But not until they manifest. And finally, why? Why you, you may ask? Because, He loves to use the least likely or the last picked. He did not pick you at random. He chose you because you are special and you will make an impact in your area or more. And because he chose you, His light will shine the brightest when you achieve success. Now, I know this is a lot to take in. You can go back to you regular lives and give up this gift and you’ll never see anything like this again. But this war is going on whether or not you join the fight. It’s your choice. That’s all I have for you. You are dismissed.”

      The doors on both sides of the auditorium started to open and the professor made his way off the stage. People started to get up and make their way out. I exited the auditorium and saw Marth waiting for me outside the doors.

      “So Owen, would you like to learn how to be an exorcist?”

      I paused for a moment. “Sure, why not.” I shrugged my shoulders. “My mom always says I need to challenge myself. And what’s more challenging than taking on the forces of darkness led by Satan himself?”

      Marth and I both smiled.

      “When do we start?” I asked.

      “Now,” Marth replied.

      CHAPTER THREE

      Marth and I meandered down the hallways back towards the elevators. We hopped in and Marth pushed the button that should take us to the basement. The giant, metallic doors closed shut and the elevator