The Wrath of Jeremy

by Stephen Andrew Salamon

  “Jeremy, come forth!” yelled Luke. Jeremy and Sam walked up to him, keeping their distance from one another due to the uncomfortableness the new feeling had to it. “Now, the seventh sign started when you all completed the first sign. You see, when Gabriel, Michael, Christopher and Peter touched the cross, they allowed the bloodstains to appear on it. The bloodstains appeared on every cross in this world. When you all touched it, it allowed Grewsal to turn to dirt, but David and Jeremy never touched this cross. When David and Jeremy touch it, the seventh sign will be completed,” Luke explained, holding the cross out toward David.

  “But I already touched it before, and nothing happened,” Jeremy stated with confusion.

  “Because, Jeremy, that is the way the Unbounded Testament wants it to be. The reason why nothing happened is because David didn’t touch it yet, it has to go in order,” Luke explained with a giggle, somehow finding humor in it.

  “But David touched it plenty of times and then I touched it. Why didn’t the seventh sign start then?” Jeremy pleaded, yearning to make sense of this, while David just gaped at the cross Luke was holding before him.

  “Because, Jeremy, you didn’t know who you were yet. That’s the way the Unbounded Testament wanted it to be. You had to know who you really were before the cross would accept your blood upon it. They didn’t have to know who they were before they touched it, mainly because they aren’t fallen angels. You are,” replied Luke.

  David then reached out his right hand and touched the cross without a thought, cutting his middle finger before he jerked his hand away. David watched his bloodstain form on Jesus’s eyes, allowing them to open wide and full, while the cross fell to the ground.

  Sam walked up to the cross, yelling, “Oh my God!” She saw the cross of Jesus moving his eyes around as if he was a newborn baby seeing the world for the first time. Luke picked up the cross and held it out toward Jeremy, wanting to get this sign over with, hearing Sam’s yell getting lower, as she calmed down her fear.

  Jeremy hesitated; he didn’t know if he should touch it or not. He looked at the cross strongly, and asked, “What will happen when I touch it? I mean, beside it being the seventh sign, what reason does it serve?”

  “Well, Jeremy, why don’t you touch it and find out,” answered Luke, seeing hesitation in Jeremy’s face again. He then placed his left hand out slowly in the air while closing his eyes, being afraid of the outcome if his hand connected with the crucifix. The cross began to shine as Jeremy’s hand came closer to it, the winds blew harder, and the rain started abruptly. Jeremy finally touched it. Suddenly his fingers were all pricked at once, but he didn’t pull away; it was as if he liked feeling pain, having a bit of masochistic feelings to his physical attributes. They all watched in awe, seeing blood falling from Jeremy’s hand still holding the cross, leaking all over it as well as plummeting to the ground. In the mist of this shadowy dark experience, they saw a small grin form on Jeremy’s face. They wondered why he was smiling, with his own blood spurting out of him, bathing the cross in a drowning way.

  Two minutes passed, and the pain was too unbearable for him, causing his grin to vanish and his grip to pull away from the cross. They watched as the cross gave out a bright yellow light that shot toward the gloomy heavens. The wind blew even harder as the cross levitated in the air and slowly rose up. All of their eyes fastened on its beauty and their mouths opened in shock. Then it fell, plummeting to the ground where it lay face-up, causing them all to gather around it and discover the most incredible thing that their eyes would ever see.

  “Where is it?” asked David, all seeing the cross on the ground, with no Jesus within it; he vanished from it.

  “I don’t understand,” said Michael.

  Jeremy looked at his left hand and saw prick marks on every single one of his fingers. They all still stayed in one place, circling the cross in amazement. Luke answered, “In this world, almost everyone possesses a cross, entwining it in their lives, holding it close and securing it in their hearts. We have just witnessed Christ being released from the prison that this cross allowed him to take on. Every person in their home, every church and everything that holds a cross, they shall see that Christ is missing from it. Right now, the prayers of people shall no longer be heard. Jesus is no longer on the cross, and therefore he shall no longer hear the prayers of many and the pleas for forgiveness from the sinners. This is the reason for the seventh sign, to allow the prayers to be cut off; being saved is now inevitably too late. All that’s left is the eighth sign, which will be carried out by David, Gabriel, Jeremy and you, Michael, on the twenty-fifth of December. That is only fifteen days away.”

  Jeremy walked up to Luke, seeing truth in his wisdom-filled eyes, and said with stress, “No, it is sixteen days away, this is December tenth, Luke!”

  “No, Jeremy, today is December eleventh, you have been in the cave, seeing your past for a long while. Now, the next step for this moment in time is to—” Before Luke could finish his words, he was hit over the head by the butt of a gun, causing him to fall down to the ground in abrupt silence.

  “Luke, are you alright?” Jeremy cried out, trying to wake up Luke, but he couldn’t. Sam knelt down beside Jeremy and tried to help Luke as well, but nothing they could do would wake him.

  Jeremy slowly looked up at the figure who knocked Luke out cold, and screamed, “Victor, or should I say, Peter! You ass, you almost killed him!” Everyone saw the unusual sight of Victor laughing hysterically, obviously amused by his actions against Luke, not comprehending the reasons why he was laughing, or taking in the explanation of how he found them.

  Suddenly, through Victor’s laughter, all of the boys turned and looked behind him, causing their eyes to widen even more, allowing shock to take over their vocal cords for a moment. There, in the darkness, the boys saw their parents running toward them through the wind and rain.

  As they came up to them all, Curtis was mixed in with the crowd, and he ran up to Victor, saying, “Good job, you got him right in the head.” He then looked at the cross on the ground and noticed Jesus was missing from it. “Shit, the seventh sign. I was hoping we would get here before the sign started.”

  Jeremy was still holding onto Luke’s immobile body when he became aware of his mother walking up to him quickly. “Jeremy, my baby, are you alright?” Jeremy’s mother embraced him tightly and Jeremy’s eyes captured his father approaching him as well.

  “We’re going home now, son, and leaving this nightmare behind us,” said his father in a caring tone, clutching Jeremy firmly and hugging him.

  “No, I have a mission to do!” yelled Jeremy. Then, in the darkness of the land, Jeremy saw a reflection in the puddles of water that the rain gave. He saw twenty men in the distance, running toward them.

  Fear? Jeremy, don’t be afraid of these men. You know who they are! You’re Lucifer….

  These thoughts cycled around in Jeremy’s mind, holding the thoughts that surfaced to his eyes as he looked up at the rain while it fell to his face. Darkness. Blackness. That’s all he saw, all of it seemed like a dream he wanted so badly to wake from, perceiving the twenty men running toward them, with what seemed to be rage in their rhythm.

  “Well, I see that the backup is finally here,” noted Curtis, laughing as Jeremy’s father looked at the men in stupefaction.

  Jeremy’s father walked up to Curtis, feeling the rain falling on his big, wrinkly nose, being afraid for the first time in his long life. I’m Mr. Daven, I’m not afraid of anything…. He spoke those words in his mind while Curtis’s green, villainous eyes met his. “They didn’t come on the plane with us, who are they?” Jeremy’s father asked Curtis while turning away from his green eyes and looking at the men.

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you, Mr. Daven, I called for the FBI to come and help me and Victor with this little problem,” answered Curtis. Suddenly three men grabbed onto David and pulled him away from his parents, battling with their embrace, forcing David to let go instantly.

/>   “What are you doing?” David’s father questioned. Once his question was out, one of the men punched him, as well as David’s mother, in the stomach, causing them to hunch over in excruciating pain. Four other men ran over to Michael and Gabriel and started grabbing them while their mother began crying. Before she could even plea for help, or ask why they’re doing this, one of the men punched her in the face, causing her to fall to the cold wet ground, screaming out with rage and pain mixed together.

  Spinning this moment with anger, Jeremy stood in fear and grasped onto Sam, seeing that her parents were nowhere to be found. They both embraced each other, seeing Mary running up to them, and having them both embrace her as well. Before the rest of the men ran up to Jeremy, perceiving Mary and Sam hugging him, Luke began to wake up. Jeremy’s eyes caught the sight of Luke’s awakening, crying out, “Luke, what should I do now?”

  Luke looked at him and smiled, rubbed Jeremy’s brown hair, and said, “Go, and tell the people what your mission is. Go and explain to them everything that you know. The Lord shall take away your powers from all of you, you shall have to prove to the people through your words, not by miracles. The one power that you all possess, besides reading and understanding Hebrew, is to make God bring miracles to you, but he shall not bring any more,” Luke explained while Curtis and Victor walked up to the men who were running toward Jeremy, and began talking to them. “Thy Lord shall only grant you one miracle, one miracle that you shall use, but shall not be allowed to be seen by the people of this world. Just remember to be back at this very spot on December twenty-fourth: you know the rest.”

  Jeremy then turned around to face the men and noticed them walking away while his parents were listening to every word Luke spoke. Being in pain from the abrupt abuse they received, the other parents huddled around and listened to Luke’s words as well closely, squinting in confusion, not even knowing who this man was. “But I don’t know what to do. Will you be here waiting for us?” Jeremy asked, seeing Curtis and Victor walking very slowly toward them. As soon as they reached them, Curtis took out his gun and shot Luke in the chest; his blood sprayed all over Jeremy. “No, please no!” Jeremy yelled out, watching as Luke bled from the mouth. “But you can’t die! I thought this whole time that you were sort of like us. Your wound will heal, right? You’re immortal, right?”

  Luke still rubbed Jeremy’s brown hair, coughing out, “Jeremy, I am not like you or Michael, David, Gabriel, or even Christopher and Peter. I am a human, and born a human, who was sent here to deliver the message to you. All of you were angels who are human now.”

  Jeremy’s tears fell upon the blood that flowed from Luke’s mouth, trying to listen to his words without drowning his own ears with weeping sadness. “Take the Shroud and Kerchief, bring them to this spot on the twenty-fourth of this month. They have the words on the back of them that will allow the wrath to take place on the twenty-fifth. You don’t need me anymore!”

  “I need you to guide us,” said Jeremy, suddenly noticing that Curtis and Victor were chuckling loudly.

  “I will see you on December twenty-fifth,” Luke breathed, with Curtis and Victor’s laughter coming to a halt.

  Victor shouted to Luke, “Oh no you won’t, since the wrath isn’t going to take place. Your old ass will never see him!”

  Tears flushed from Luke’s eyes, crying, “You will see me!” He then shut his eyes and allowed death to beat him, being too old and fragile to withstand the gunshot wound any longer. Curtis kicked Luke’s dead body, and then grabbed Jeremy by his hair. He walked away from Luke’s body while dragging Jeremy with him by the strands of his hair in his grip, and Jeremy bellowed in pain.

  “What are you doing with our son? Get your hands off of him!” Jeremy’s father yelled out, pulling Jeremy away from Curtis’s grip; Curtis cleaved off twenty strands of Jeremy’s hair from the pull.

  “Your son is going to see some people now,” replied Curtis. He grabbed Jeremy again, this time by his shoulder, while Victor punched the father in the stomach. They began walking away, but Jeremy’s father and mother ran up to all the other parents who were lying on the ground, trying to help them up in order for them to help get their sons back. The men grabbed Michael, David, Gabriel, and Mary and Sam as well, and ran away quickly, while Jeremy’s mother and father were fighting to help the parents up from the ground. As soon as they all stood up, they watched their sons being carried off by the men, including Curtis and Victor, hearing them screaming out for help, yelling, crying and kicking, yearning to know why these men were taking their sons away. They walked toward them, not knowing how they were going to get them to release their sons, when all of a sudden, Jeremy’s mother noticed the Shroud lying on the wet ground. She walked over to it and picked it up, while her eyes came across the Kerchief. She picked that up also and ran back to the parents, seeing that they all stopped in their tracks, being too afraid or confused to go after their sons while the men still held them.

  “What do we do now?” Michael and Gabriel’s mother asked, crying on Jeremy’s mother’s shoulder.

  “I don’t know anymore, Dolores, I just don’t know.” They all walked into the night that was really day, knowing they had to find their sons again. They ignored the fear they felt, not realizing that more fear was to come in the nearby days, that their mortal eyes would see just what immortal’s mask beholds: Evil….

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  The days passed, as they should, witnessing every day being a rebirth to the vanity of rage that each boy retained inside their bones, their flesh, tapped with disarray that their weary eyes strived to cope with. The renaissance of every day that agreed on its passing with the hidden sun, being still sheltered by the Divine powers of God, and the clouds that shot out their antagonism with their black color, were still present. The sky showed its darkened life to all who feared it, shouting out its rage of ambiguity through the winds of despair. To the boys, before their eyes, time was like an eternity, ambushing their own secrets about the wrath, not wanting or needing to break it out and tell another, but coveting to make some reasonable sense out of it, other than it being the word of God. “God” was more to them now than just a hollow name, but a creature of greatness, a divine deity that held magic inside of its letters, opening up their minds in fear, knowing now that a Being so great did exist in their eyes, not just in their imaginations; the Being knows of them. As their hearts beat faster through this adventure, with twists of abyss-filled challenges, five long, dragging days passed, and the thoughts of the wrath went through all the boys’ minds: every second of every dark day that approved its ending and beginning, to every breath that came in and out, mostly with tears attached with nothing to stop them. For Jeremy, his endeavor was to put this conundrum, a puzzle crammed with broken pieces, together; the puzzle of why he was chosen, preferred by God as the one for this great duty.

  The Lord made a promise that he would never attempt to destroy the earth again… Jeremy thought. Those words continued to strike at his soul, since his bearing was obstructed by confusion and his attitude was covered by his terror. He repeated those words over and over again, his body sitting in a small room, mirrors at every end, watching him, taunting him. Seeing his own reflection everywhere, looking back at him like a hawk searching for its bloody prey, Jeremy became overwhelmed with self-doubt, with his own reflections gaping at him with malicious perceptions. They teased him as if they belonged to other people, judging his supposed insanity through his dark, sleepy brown eyes.

  “Then, when the Holocaust came, including wars, he determined he had to pass judgment on the souls of the earth and therefore take on the wrath,” Jeremy said to himself, turning away from the mirrors and forcing in on a small window that framed the state capital in the distance. Lightning lit up the capital, still murky due to the sinister clouds, yet Jeremy just stared at it, wanting to gape at anything that didn’t show his reflection. He fought his words, trying his hardest to make sense of all this, craving to repeat in his
own words what he had learned.

  “Okay, but since he made a promise, he had to have some other person or persons deliver it for him and allow him to break his promise. Luke said that I used to go to the gates of Heaven and pound on them every century, trying to ask for God’s forgiveness. When the time came for God to decide on how he would be able to get past his promise and deliver the wrath, the gates opened for me and I begged him for forgiveness. That’s when he told me his plan, and I accepted it. He said that I would be able to come to Heaven once again if I deliver this wrath. I’m the only one who can deliver it, because I have the closest powers to God. So now I have to decide whether I want to deliver it and be the cause of killing the whole world, or not deliver it, and be the cause of my loved ones, including me, to go and burn in damnation,” Jeremy said out loud. He was frustrated with so many thoughts that he felt nostalgic, feeling his lips twitching a bit by a miniature seizure coming on, due to his thoughts flowing so greatly.

  He got up from a wooden chair and walked toward the window, saying, “And Sam, this love I have, or had, but have again for her, is strong, and she’ll burn as well. I can’t tell her any of this; I have to keep that life a secret from her, yet I don’t feel that love for her completely, like Luke said I had for her. That’s because I don’t fully remember my life as Lucifer. I can’t let her burn, she’s too beautiful. I do love her—damn.”

  His frustration grew rapidly, intensely, and his voice rose more and more. “Let’s see, Curtis and Victor were sent here to make sure we don’t succeed in delivering the wrath; they were sent here by Jastian. God’s father, Jastian, doesn’t want his son to go through with the wrath,” Jeremy said in a medium fashion.

  He stared out the window toward the streets, seeing people of all races holding up picket signs that read, “The End Is Near”,. Jeremy looked closer at the people and discovered there were hundreds of thousands of them waiting outside of the building he was in, raising their voices in a high, raunchy harmony that was so loud it drowned out any capable understanding of what they were saying. He saw police against the doors with shields in their hands, trying to fight back against the people who were trying to break through the entrance, beating them over the heads with any weapons they could find, trying to keep order amongst the chaos that the darkness showed.