There Is No God

“Amen… Amen…”

It was Sunday, Halloween day, and after the gospel singer was finished with her lyrics of praise, Pastor Newman spoke to his small group of church attendees in his lavaliere, which was attached to his shirt. He smiled warmly to the small gathering. It was a small room, but the main room of the Church was still under repair from the fire that happened 2 months ago, so everyone had to gather in this room for now.

Luckily, no one was hurt, much to the pastor’s relief. No one knew how the fire started, but the police that day said that it was likely due to the heat generator that was under the room, in the basement. Some of the church members claimed to have seen green flames instead of the normal orange and yellow tint flames have. The police then explained that the generator was extremely rusty, and that copper pieces from the base of it was the cause of the fire’s hue.

Nonetheless, Pastor Newman wanted everyone to stay calm and be joyful under the presence of God, as he worded it, and not let fear take away their love for him.

“God will never let anything happen to us as long as we stay faithful to him.” He always said in a hearty tone. And everyone seemed to be at ease with what he said. Everyone except for his stepdaughter, Reina.

Reina looked at Pastor Newman with a blank expression from the back of the room. She was a young girl, 16 years old, black wavy hair, pale skin, pink lips, and brown eyes, topped off with dark circles and eye bags.

Reina was once in an orphanage. She was described by the headmaster of that orphanage as a clever, pretty girl. But with a headspace for the spawn of the devil to run freely. This was 3 years ago, when Mr. and Mrs Newman decided to take her in as their own child. The headmaster looked at the Newman couple, her expression darkening.

“Sir… This girl is very troubled. I don’t think she’s the one you want.” She said that day. Pastor Newman looked at Reina, who stared at him with a distant, yet sad expression. What he saw in her is unknown, but it only took seconds, before Pastor Newman decided against The Headmaster’s warning. And that day was when Reina finally had a family. But sooner or later, Pastor Newman learned that that was a grave mistake.

There was another girl in the family that Mr and Mrs Newman had adopted years ago. Her name was Carla, and she was 3 years younger than Reina. Even though there was a slight age difference, the Newmans thought that they would get along. And they did for a while. Until a month after Reina’s 15th birthday. It was late in the night, and Mrs Newman was up reading in her room, when she heard a knock on her bedroom door. It was Carla, and there were tears streaming down her face.

“Hon… What’s wrong….?” Mrs Newman asked her, wiping the tears from her face. Carla looked terrified, and she was shaking really badly.

“I… it’s Reina… She… She’s cutting herself… And she won’t stop…” Carla stuttered, her eyes wide open.

Mrs Newman looked at Carla for a second, then she rushed to the girls’ room. When she reached the doorway, she looked inside, but Reina was still in her bed, asleep. Mrs Newman approached Reina, and slightly pulled her covers back to see if there was any blood or cuts. But Reina’s skin was crystal clear. Mrs Newman looked back at Carla, and she sighed. “Carla, there’s nothing here.” She said, “Are you sure you weren’t just having a nightmare?”

“N-no… No there was blood… She was cutting herself. I swear!” Carla said. Her expression was still in fear, and she seemed very sure of herself. But Mrs Newman wasn’t convinced, and sent her back to bed.

Mrs Newman then went back to her room. That’s when she heard a scream coming from the girls’ room, and Carla crying out, “Please stop, Rei. Please…”

Mrs Newman then ran out of the room, her heavy footsteps waking up Pastor Newman, and they both went back to the girls’ room. But the same thing happened when they got there; nothing.

Nothing except for a terrified, bleeding Carla, crying and shaking, like she’d seen a ghost, or something worse.

Pastor Newman looked at Carla, then at Reina’s sleeping form, and he couldn’t understand what was going on. Mrs Newman immediately scooped up Carla in her arms, cradling her gently.

“Brad, we have to take her to the hospital,” Mrs Newman said to him. Pastor Newman agreed with his wife. They woke up Reina, who was seemingly confused with what was going on and why Carla had cuts all over her, but went with the family to bring her to the hospital.

After they arrived in the emergency room, and a few hours had passed for the medical team to assess Carla, a doctor came up to them, and asked what happened to her. Mr. Newman looked up at the doctor, and he told him that they didn’t know what happened, and that she looked like that when she arrived. The doctor looked at them with a serious expression on his face.

“Sir, her cuts look days old, and they’re infected. How exactly did you just see this?” He asked. Mr and Mrs Newman stared at him in shock.

“… I’m sorry, doctor. But we brought her in as soon as we could. She just got those cuts tonight. How could they already be infected?” Asked Mrs. Newman.

“Well, I don’t know how to tell you this, but Carla’s wounds are severely infected. We also screened her blood, and just one vile had approximately 5 grams of copper sulfate.” The doctor stated.

“Wait… what does that mean?” Mr. Newman, a worried expression crossing her features.

“This means that she’s probably been fed an extremely toxic chemical… I’m just surprised that she’s even alive.” The doctor added.

Before the Newmans could speak, there was a beeping noise coming from one of the emergency rooms. The doctor started rushing to that room, along with several other staff. Mr Newman panicked. It was Carla’s room. He then got on his knees and prayed that they would be able to save her, tears starting to run down her face.

After a few moments, the same doctor came back to the family, and Mr Newman immediately stood up to hear the news.

“I’m sorry, sir. She’s gone. There’s nothing we can do.” The doctor said in a soft tone.

Mr Newman looked at the doctor, and he felt a pang of grief in his chest. Carla was dead. His little girl, the girl that he raised and took care of as his own child, was dead. Mrs Newman, standing behind her husband, fell to her knees, sobbing. Mr Newman stumbled back, and he collapsed in his chair. He then dug his fingers into his hair, tears forming in his eyes.

He then looked over at Reina, who was sitting next to him. She was looking forward, in the direction of Carla’s medical room. He stared at her for a few more seconds, and it almost looked like she was smiling. A wide, unnerving smile.

The tears then stopped falling down his face, and he then stood up and grabbed Reina by her shirt, pulling her up from her chair.

“You did this! You killed her!” He shouted. He then pulled his fist back, and aimed it at her. The same doctor then pulled him away from her. Reina looked at him with a sense of fear in her eyes. She stumbled back, and landed in her chair again.

This was all 6 months before the church fire. Reina never got questioned by anyone, and she never got in trouble because there was no evidence that she did anything. But that didn’t stop Pastor Newman from fully resenting her. He wanted to get rid of her, but even Mrs. Newman thought that Reina wasn’t involved in Carla’s death. She didn’t know why he thought that way about her, but that didn’t stop him from hating Reina.

During the first 10 minutes of his service, Reina stood up from her seat, and went to the bathroom. She was in there for a while. An uncomfortable amount of time. She was in there for the rest of the service. After Pastor Newman ended his service, he sent Mrs Newman to check on her. She nodded, and went inside the bathroom. After a few seconds, the lights went out, and there was a blood curdling scream coming from the back of the room. Mr Newman looked at the back of the room, and then he ran back there. When he exited the room, he turned and saw to his horror- his wife’s bloodied form trying to crawl from the bathroom. She groaned, and moved her hand towards him. But it immediately dropped because of how weak she was.

Then, a foot stepped over Mrs. Newman’s body, and then stood in front of her. She had blood on her hands, and legs. When she looked up from her to Pastor Newman, his heart almost stopped beating. Reina’s eyes were completely white, and as her menacing smirk widened, he could see sharp teeth that he’s never seen before. She then started walking towards him, slowly.

Pastor Newman backed up from her, and then turned to go back to the service room, but he stopped dead in his tracks. Everyone in the room, all of them, were dead, and the entire floor was covered in blood. Pastor Newman looked in utter shock and horror.

How did they all become like this? How when they were just fine a few seconds ago? He backed up from the entrance. Reina then reached him, and with one hand, she pinned him to the wall by his neck, holding him in the air. Pastor Newman choked, and stared at her, almost pleading for his life.

Reina stared at him, a look of bloodthirst on her face.

“… Do you really think God can help you now?” Reina said in a deep, otherworldly voice, like that of Satan himself.

Pastor Newman looked at her, with fear, but tried to look brave for his own sake. He then spoke in a choked voice,”… You’re the devil… God will strike you down-”

“Bullshit!” Reina interrupted, her voice booming loud enough for the walls to tremble. “Newsflash, you little fuck…” She growled, leaning in closer to him. She then squeezed his neck tighter, her fingers squeezing hard. She then closed her fists. Pastor Newman’s body then detached from his head, and fell limp to the floor.

Reina held his head in her hand, and then slammed it into the wall, crushing it.

“There’s no God.” She finished.

Reina looked all around her, looking at all the bloodshed she’s caused. From her stepmother, to all the people in the church, to the pastor himself. She then walked to the exit of the church, and exited it. She then turned around to look at the barren church building. After a few seconds of staring at it, the building erupted into flames. But not just any flames; green ones. The same ones from the first fire.

A few hours later, as it was getting dark outside, a couple of children were walking towards a house, orange buckets in hand. One was wearing a blue dress, and a silver plastic tiara on her neatly braided hair. The other was wearing boots, red tights and a black and white striped shirt, with an eye patch over her eye. They were the first trick or treaters. Soon, more came out, all going to different houses and putting up their baskets to get candy from their neighbors.

But what they didn’t know is that there was an evil, malicious spirit walking among them, plotting their death as she walked. She walked in the middle of the street, continuing on, looking at all the children grabbing candy and yelling out the same phrase, “Trick or Treat.” But Reina was going to have them all drop to their knees, their heartbeats quiet, their pulse dropped, and their blood cold.

Because to her, there is no God.