The Church

by Wisdom King

  “Now, I want you to go to the lab now and check if – “ His sentence was abruptly cut short by the sound of the boxes falling in front of Kane. Surprised, he drops the small brown envelope he was holding and grabs the gun from the holster on Dave’s belt. He shot a bullet towards the direction of the sound, narrowly missing Kane who jumped away just as he fired the gun.

  Kane crawled towards the next shelf and hid by the side of it. He couldn’t see where the three men were now from where he hid. He felt something trickle down the side of his left arm. He looked down and saw a small rip on his jacket. Curious, he stuck a finger inside the hole and winced in pain. Apparently, the bullet didn’t enter his system but it did graze his skin deep enough for it to hurt.

  “I know you’re here...” He heard James say out loud, “come out, come out, you sneaky little bastard.”

  Kane looked back at the direction where the three men stood before. They weren’t there anymore. He looked around and saw the silhouette of a man sneaking between one of the shelves. He listened closely and heard heavy steps from behind him. It was clear at that point that they have him surrounded. It’s just a matter of time before they find Kane, and eventually, kill him.

  Desperate, Kane looked around and turned to his side. He was hiding behind one of the shelves near the wall opposite where James stood only a few moments ago. He looked up the wall and smiled. On top of the wall, just a few paces away from where he crouched, was a fuse box.

  “Come out, come out wherever you are...” James sang. His voice was getting closer now. From Kane’s estimate, he’s probably only a few feet away from him now. In a frenzy, Kane got up and ran towards the wall.

  He heard a gunshot from behind him as a bullet flew right past his head and planted itself into the wall next to the fuse box. With his bloodstained hand, he yanked open the fuse box and flipped every single switch. The whole place went dark.

  Then, in the darkness, he heard another gunshot, followed by a distinct moan of pain as a heavy body pressed itself against him from behind.

  Chapter 23

  “H-help...me...” He heard him moan. Kane could feel something warm trickle down the nape of his neck just before he pushed the body away from him. The body landed on the cement floor with a loud thud. The sound was directly followed by another gunshot.

  Kane got down on all fours and crawled away behind the nearest shelf just before another shot was fired, narrowly missing his feet. Behind him, he could still hear the man choking on his own blood.

  It took him a couple of seconds before his eyes finally adjusted to the dark. He poked his head in between the shelves and vaguely saw James, slowly walking towards him. His left hand was feeling the shelf beside him and he had the gun raised in front him with his finger still on the trigger. Kane looked around for the silhouette of the other man, but so far, he’s been incognito, which makes him all the more dangerous. By Kane’s estimate, he was at least a couple of feet away from the door. From what he could see, there are five tall warehouse shelves standing in between him and his escape.

  Suddenly, he made a run for it. He sprinted all the way across the room with bullets following him. He could hear James yelling at him and the sound of boxes tumbling over, but he was too preoccupied to even glance back or give a damn. Then, just as he was about to turn a corner, he bumped into something hard.

  “What the – “before Valdez could even finish his sentence, Kane curled his hand into a fist and punched him right in the face, rendering him unconscious. He ran towards the door that was just a few steps away from him now. He turned the handle and shut the door behind him.

  He found himself in what seems to be a garage. The place was filled with cars. He even saw his own car on the far end of the room, sloppily covered by a duvet. Beside him was a small desk area cluttered with a bunch of folders and envelopes. He took the chair in front of it and used it to block the door handle. He knew it wouldn’t make much of a difference if James just decides to knock the door over but it will buy him some time to get out of there.

  He took a quick look around, all the while covering his face with his jacket. All the windows have been boarded up. The room was illuminated only the desk lamp beside him and a small warehouse light hanging in the center of the room. There was another door to his left but it’s blocked by a white van, crammed into the corner of the room. There wasn’t much place to hide in aside from the 6 cars that were neatly parked in the garage.

  He glanced again at the table and scrolled through one of the folders. He flipped through a handful of documents and contracts all related to something called “The Cleansing.” He vaguely remembers Clarke uttering those words but he never got down to explaining what it meant. As he scanned through the files, he was only left with more questions than answers.

  “What the fuck are you up to?” He thought as he flipped through each of the folders laid out. Suddenly, he heard someone trying to open the door knob. In a panic, he shut all of the folders and scanned the table for a weapon. A small leather wallet caught his eye as he fumbled through the table. He flipped it open and took out the key card inside.

  “James, you sloppy son of a bitch.” He thought as he took out the deck from his pocket and replaced the card with a card. Then, he heard James yelling and banging on the door. The chair was about to give in and let him inside.

  Kane ran towards the garage door and pressed the ‘up’ button. The knocking was getting louder and angrier now. His kicking became more frantic. Kane could feel the tension building up beneath his skin as he waited for the garage door to open.

  Suddenly, the chair flew away as the door opened with a bang. James stood there in the dark, gun in hand and ready to shoot Kane. The door was only a quarter of the way open when Kane pressed the ‘down’ button and rolled outside just before the door closed behind him.

  “Kane?” He heard someone say. He looked up from where he laid and saw Clarke standing in front of him with a curious expression on his face. “What are you doing?”

  “No time to explain.” He said as he struggled to get up. Pain shot through his left arm as Clarke helped him to his feet. “Run,” he said as he ran away. The whole place was quiet and not a soul could hear them running through the pavement and the grass to get to the other side of the estate.

  “Please tell me what’s going on!” Clarke said, struggling to keep up with Kane.

  “You know that man from the bathroom earlier?” Kane said as he struggled to catch his breath.

  “You mean James? That’s Dennis’s brother!”

  “Yeah, well, he’s trying to kill me.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  Finally, the pair reached the building but instead of entering it, the two went to the back and hid behind one of the bigger trees. It was the building that stood directly behind the living quarters. It’s the second largest building in the whole place and it became the perfect hiding spot for Kane. They knelt behind one of the overgrown bushes that lined the walls of the estate. A tall, bulky tree hid them from sight as Kane pulled Clarke to the ground.

  “What do you know about The Cleansing?” He whispered, trying his best to keep his voice down. He peeked through the leaves and saw nothing but the dark walls of the building in front of them. Just like the warehouse, the windows were also boarded up and the place looked completely abandoned from the outside.

  “I was just about to tell you earlier...”

  “Then tell me now!”

  “It’s an event – something the Church has been planning for months now,” Clarke said as he adjusted his position. He saw the look in Kane’s face as he peeked through the twigs and leaves and shuddered. He was even more frightening when he’s pumped. “You notice how the priests here are all so obsessed with spreading the word of God?”

  “Every priest I know is like that, but go on.”

  “No. They’re different, Kane. Trust me. They don’t just want to spread it,” Clarke paused as Kane shifted his gaz
e to him. “They want people – everyone – to believe it. No matter what it takes.”

  “So what’s the damn ‘Cleansing’?”

  “It’s their way of spreading the religion. It’s a death threat to the government. Dennis said that if the President keeps ignoring the Church’s orders, people will get hurt.” Clarke whispered, “a lot of people.”

  “What? How?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be that serious. He – “

  “In the warehouse, I saw documents, waivers, contracts, all of it pertaining to The Cleansing. I’m pretty sure a psycho like Dennis and his brother wouldn’t joke about such a thing.” Kane said as he sat on his bum and looked at Clarke. “Now I know why that ‘James’ was running out of the shed that night. He was probably trying to hide that.”

  Clarke stayed silent. Suddenly, it sank into Kane.

  “You knew about this...and you never even told me?” Kane whispered in disbelief. “You’ve read the diary. You’ve seen what they’ve done. You know they’re serious about this, but you never told anyone? Not even the fucking cops?”

  “I didn’t know how I could – “

  “People will die.”

  “How do you know?” Clarke whispered, trying to wrap his mind around what Kane just said. For months, he’s dreaded the onset of the Cleansing but he never thought that it would go that far. Then again, he thought of all the horrid things they’ve done both in and out of the church. It wouldn’t surprise him if the pair ends up killing for the sake of chaos.

  “Because not too long ago, James tried to kill a man he didn’t know just for the sake of those documents,” Kane whispered. “If he really had nothing to hide, he had no reason to shoot. He didn’t just shoot to warn me, mind you. He tried to kill me.”

  For a couple of moments, the two sat there in silence. As far as Kane could tell, James has no intentions of pursuing Kane any further. All he wanted was for him to leave, if not, die.

  “What else do you know?”

  “That’s it,” Clarke said with a shrug. “But I do know that on that day, I’ll have front row seats to the action. Dennis will take me with him.”

  “When will it happen?”

  “Three weeks from now. I overheard them saying that everything was ready...all they needed was the right timing.”

  “Three weeks from now...that’s.....”

  “The Fourth of July.”

  Chapter 24

  Clarke was still shaky when he got back inside.

  Upstairs, he could hear people chattering nonchalantly. He wondered how they could smile knowing that they’re fully committing themselves to sin. It could be possible that they know just as much as Clarke but if they did know more, that would make their indifference very questionable.

  He sat on the foot of the grand staircase and rested his head against the banister. A couple of men were lounging by the door and all of them threw curious glances at Clarke. Clarke glared back at them, wondering if that was the first time they’ve seen someone take a break.

  Suddenly, the men by the main door stood upright. All of them paid no attention to Clarke as the Big Guy himself entered the building. He looked angrier than he did before he left the party. His face was in a tight expression and his eyes were full of rage. Clark abruptly stood up from the staircase and greeted him as he approached.

  “Good evening, Bishop.” He muttered, his eyes firmly fixed on the floor.

  “Good evening, Clarke,” He said in a low, husky voice. “Why are you down here?”

  “Just trying to get some air, Sir. It’s too crowded up there.”

  “That’s a funny coincidence...”

  “Sir?”

  “Earlier this evening, someone also tried to ‘get some air’ in the warehouse.” He said, making small quotation marks in the air with his fingers. “Where were you then?”

  “Sir?” Clarke was completely baffled. Did he think it was me? ”I was upstairs. I just came down a few minutes ago.”

  James just looked at him with an incredulous look on his face. His lips curled into a scorn as he stared down at Clarke who was shaking underneath his clothes. James turned around abruptly and looked at the two men standing by the door.

  “You two!” He yelled, “How long has he been down here?”

  “Just now...” one of them muttered, “sir.”

  James looked back at Clarke. Clarke just stood there, looking at him. He had no idea what to say or how to act. He was telling him the truth. Just a few minutes ago, he went out the back just to catch a breath of fresh air. What he didn’t tell him was he saw Kane crawling out of the warehouse garage door while he was out taking a walk.

  “You listen to me, Tristen,” James said as he wrapped his fingers around Clarke’s neck. “If I find you sticking your nose into places you shouldn’t be in, I will not hesitate to finish the job.” He whispered as he pushed Clarke, causing him to fall back on the stairs with a soft thud.

  “What have I done?” He thought as he listened to James’s footsteps climb up the staircase.

  For the past ten minutes, Kane has been sitting with his back against the tree, thinking of a plan. He sent Clarke back to the party a few minutes ago so he wouldn’t seem too suspicious and he knows that he should come back too. James already saw him with Clarke earlier that day. No doubt that he’d be expecting him back there.

  “Nothing suspicious about a guy with a bleeding arm.” He thought as he cupped his wound with his hand. The cut wasn’t too deep but it certainly bled out a lot. It didn’t help that the jacket he’s wearing had likely already been seen by the three men in the warehouse. He’s too recognizable with the jacket on so he decided to take it off. With the sleeves, he wiped off the blood from his arm and his nape.

  Once again, he peeked through the leaves and double-checked if there were any cameras in that area. Luckily, there were none. He took out the contents of the pockets and threw the jacket up the tree. After numerous failed attempts, the jacket finally got caught in a couple of branches far up a tree. Kane looked back down and studied the contents of his pockets. He picked up James’s key card.

  He thought of all the locked doors and what could have been hidden behind them. His mind wandered through all the mysteries he could unveil with the key. He thought of how Valdez’s key could open the door to the security room of the living quarters but his own key couldn’t.

  “Which door should I open first?” He thought as he turned around. His eye immediately landed on the back door of the building in front of him. For so long, he wondered what could be hiding behind those walls. After a few minutes, he finally stood up and walked towards the door, card in hand. He was ready to open it when he realized that he had nothing to hide his face with. He’d be screwed if someone caught him snooping around.

  In dismay, he shoved the key card down his front pocket and backed away from the door.

  “What are you doing here?” He jumped at the sound of a deep voice from his right. “Shouldn’t you be upstairs?”

  “Yeah, I was but I went out for a walk then I heard something fishy down there,” Kane told Valdez as he nodded towards the direction of the warehouse. “Saw someone crawl out of the garage door. The guy jumped out the gate on the East Wing.”

  “You didn’t stop him?” Valdez said as he held a hand over his nose. Blood was dripping down his chin as he spoke.

  “I couldn’t. The kid was fast.” Kane said. Valdez was standing a few feet away on his right side. He tried his best to inconspicuously cover his wound as he spoke to him. “I’m pretty sure it’s the same kid from weeks ago back at church – the one that tried to mug Father Dennis.”

  “Well, the kid could pack a punch,” Valdez said, wiping his face with a stained washcloth. “What are you doing back here anyway?”

  “I could ask you the same thing. What’s with the nose?”

  “Well, I was taking a nap back in the warehouse when suddenly I saw some kid snooping around. When
I tried to catch him, the kid just straight up punched me right in the face, see?” He said, pointing at his broken nose. “Luckily, I managed to plant in a few swings myself.”

  Kane tried his best not to smile at Valdez’s lie. The only thing Valdez planted on him was a terrible first impression during a blind fight. Little did he know he was talking to the same guy who punched him not too long ago and got away with it.

  “Well, you really should get back then,” Valdez said, gesturing for Kane to leave. “Off you go now.”

  “Hey, Chris?” Kane said, trying his best not to be annoyed at Valdez’s brusque attitude. “What’s in here?”

  “Nothing much. Just an empty building in the compound. Why’d you ask?”

  “Well, I saw the kid run towards this place but then he saw me. It’s like he really wanted to go there from the way he ran to this building. I’m just wondering what could be worth getting caught for in this place, you know?” Kane lied. He could tell that Valdez was absolutely oblivious to the situation. It was so comical that Kane had to stifle a smile as Valdez curiously studied the building.

  “It’s where miracles happen, Kane.” A deep voice said from behind him. Suddenly, the air felt colder. He didn’t need to turn around to know that it was Dennis standing right behind him. “Chris, go to Sister Franny and get that nose fixed. She’s right upstairs.”

  “Aye, aye, captain,” Valdez muttered as he turned around and walked away. Kane started to follow him but then he felt a strong hand grasp his left shoulder.

  “Just a second, Bamidele. I have a few questions.” Dennis said. Kane turned around and faced him. His eyes were full of suspicion as he looked at Kane’s left arm. The bleeding had mostly stopped but there’s still a visible wound near his elbow. “What happened to that?”