Scorched by Chris Pike

Author:Chris Pike [Pike, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-20T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

The night carried on dark and lonely, sometimes fast, other times slow. The full moon cast a faded glow over the land, and the stars shined dimly. The stately trees stood guard over the land, their tops jagged and reaching against the darkened sky.

Several miles away from where Dave and Ria had taken shelter, the sniper lay awake under the stars. He’d had a restless night plagued by unnerving dreams.

He wasn’t a religious man and didn’t believe in a higher power or ghosts of the dead. He didn’t believe in Heaven or Hell, and when people spoke about Heaven or angels, he tuned them out.

He lived by his own code, one of selfless attention to detail, precision, and the belief in his righteous profession.

Though he had psychopathic tendencies, he hid them well. He had learned to blend into society. He kept up appearances by attending church with his wife and kids. He drove a used four door sedan, mowed the lawn every Thursday, swept the driveway, and attended the local Donuts for Dads breakfast at his kids’ school. He easily made small talk, and the ladies found him quite charming. He worked a variety of jobs, using them as cover. When a prosperous hit came his way, he’d quit the job.

When his wife asked about how they could afford the house and two cars, he explained it away because of the inheritance he got from his grandparents, years before he met her. He told her he’d invested wisely and watched the stock account grow. The statement was half true. He did invest his money, it just wasn’t from his grandparents, who died broke. The investment money came from his hits.

His wife would only agree to marry him if he converted to Catholicism, due to her being raised in the Catholic church.

He found the months long, four stage conversion process into the Catholic faith an arduous ordeal. Requirements included living a Christian life, participating in the sacraments, obeying the moral law, praying daily, and accepting the teachings of Christ and his Church.

The conversion to Catholicism came easy due to his ability to lie and be believable.

He rather enjoyed the social aspect of church, so it wasn’t all bad.

Here, on this very night where he lay awake in the sanctuary of the centuries old church, he felt a chill when visions of robed priests came to him. They were holding torches and talking in tongues, moving about the structure with ease. In the confines of the church he heard whispers and movement, creaking and moaning. The shadows of the trees loomed tall and foreboding, calling to him, and he felt the presence of spirits. His entire body twitched when he felt something brushing his arm. The hairs on his arm stood up.

Unnerved and shaking for the first time in his life, he stood and stamped his feet, swinging his arms to warm himself up. He gathered his things and hurried out of the sanctuary. Several times he glanced over his shoulder, searching, waiting for something, anything, to appear.

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