“I’ve been bought out already.” Jim shrugged and pushed thebarrel away from them. He glanced back at Beverly. The door rasped open again and Linda stepped out, dressed for bed,but sauntering up in her usual fashion. She took a look at Jim andBram, knowing exactly what was going on, but choosing to play dumb.“What’s going on?” She was asking Bram.“Just haggling, dear,” he said, “nothing much.” Bram took alook at her and grinned, gestured to Jim. “How about it?” “What?” This time Jim responded. “I know you got a thing for my wife, Jim. It’s hard to miss,well, it was, I was told you gave her a funny look when she gotafter, um, her.” He pointed to Beverly. “How about that? Enoughof a down payment for you?” Jim looked at Linda, an arrow of shame at what he had thought beforeshooting through him, and realized that she had no hold over him anymore. He was free from that sin of lust that had tempted him for thatshort period of time. “No. I was paid for by a lot more.” “What?” Linda said, coming up by her husband. “In fact, it was a price of infinite value. More than I could everpay. It was paid long ago, about two thousand years to be honest.”Jim looked down at the gun and didn’t feel the slightest sliver offear anymore. Beverly gripped his arm behind him. Her hold was suddenly a lighttighter, unsure of where he was going with it. “Paid for by the highest Royalty ever. Perhaps you’ve heard ofHim, name was Jesus.” At that Bram’s eyes flamed, and he pointed the gun back at Jim.“Don’t…” “Don’t what? Rebuke you? I wish I could, but I think that Healready did, a long, long time ago.” Jim pushed the gun aside, andit fell down on the concrete below them both. Linda glanced down atit, and when she looked back up, her appearance had changed a lot.Two protuberances stood out on her forehead, and her entire face hadgrown tighter and wrinkled, all of the uncannily youthful beautydeparted. The charade was over, no more put-on faces. He knew that hewas seeing them for what they truly were.</ol>
“You’re kidding.” She said. “You know that He’s dead.There’s nothing for you that He can do.” “On the contrary, in dying, He did everything for me.” Jim lookedat Bram and saw that his appearance had changed a lot as well, into awrinkled, heavy-looking old face, one that was slowly decaying at theedges, rimmed by a thin line of long, white hair; pus oozed out of anopen sore. His true face. “And I don’t have to answer to you. Idon’t even have to fight you.” Bram grinned a toothless, rotten grin. “Then this will be easy.”He drew back and arm and threw Jim to the ground, backing him intoBeverly who was dashed in the other direction. Blood was oozing on Jim’s face. He realized Bram had long nailsthat had slashed him. The thick teardrops of blood slid slowly downhis cheek. Beverly stood, and Bram took one look at her, and slammed a foldedfist into her skull. She took another hard landing on the concrete,this time she did not stir as before. Jim only half-processed that before Bram was on him again, kickinghim with old, curling boots, completely different than the ones hehad on before. The ratty clothes that the man wore were a far cryfrom the usual attire that he had on, they looked years old and nevercleaned. Jim rolled into the next kick and tried to grab Bram’s foot, butthe touch of it burned, scorching his palms and he had to quickly letgo. The thick odor of sulfur was in the air, as if someone had justopened a sulfur spring right in front of him. “Everyone has a price, Jimbo. I named mine a long time ago. I’mgonna live longer than you can even dream! Perpetually young!” Jim looked up at him. “At what price? Your soul?” “Everyone’s going somewhere. Mine is just guaranteed in advance,no interest. No payment down.” </ol>
“What happens when it’s time to pay up?” Jim asked, rising to acrouch. Bram grinned, that same rotten, empty grin. “Guess we’ll find outwhen the time comes. It’ll be some time though; I don’t have topay up for a lot longer. Well, a lot longer than you.” It was then that Jim noticed the hammer in Bram’s bony hand. Thehandle was still firm, the head bright, even in the dim light. “Cheesy as it is,” Bram said, “someone’s gotta say it: timefor you to meet your Maker, Jimmy. Tell Him I said ‘hi’.” Heraised the hammer up over his head, and readied it to come down onJim’s head. The ugly, thin arm that raised it was surprisinglystrong seeming, and from just a glance, Jim knew that he would notsurvive if that arm came down a few times. Dear God, please, I’m ready to meet you, but I’d rather do it atthe hands of something other than this monster. Beverly was still laying on the concrete just a few steps over,huddled together, reflexively protective. Linda came up behind Bram, bearing her own grin, with two shiningcanines and nothing more. Her horns were fully visible, even in thepoor lighting. Her true face easily seen. “Say goodbye.” Jim smiled, grinning at his own dumb joke, “Goodbye.” The hammer came down. A bright light broke from nowhere. The center of it was undetermined,but beams shot out in every direction, the fibrous movement of therays was smooth and organic, as if it were living sun. Jim covered his eyes immediately. He heard an unholy wailing and knewthat it was Bram and Linda; the light was too bright for them, whichmeant that it didn’t come from them. </ol>
Jim felt a warm embrace around him, as if something were protectinghim, out of his fingers that covered his eyes, he saw a great sword,a robe swirled, moving, as if alive, then a wing moved past his fieldof vision before he could no longer stand it and had to look away. Deep down he knew that Beverly was safe. Something told him that, hewasn’t sure what, but he knew it. That was just before he lost consciousness, and the world faded awayto white. <H2 ALIGN=LEFT >WAKE UP!” He was being shook. The feeling of hands on his shoulder,the fingers digging just a little deep, like someone was clawing intohis shoulder. Jim pulled himself back into reality. The feeling of weightlessnessquickly left him, like someone pulling a rug out from under him,leaving him on a hard floor that he quickly realized was a driveway. “Wake up!” Beverly, she was waking him up. What did she want?His eyes opened, and he was instantly blinded by light. It wasn’t gone! It wasn’t over; whatever it was that he had seenwas still there, right by him, the blinding light…“Wake up, Jim!” He realized it was the sun. A blue sky with the slightest grin ofclouds gazed down on him, like a Cyclops with a blinding eye. “Jim!” Beverly, covered in dirt, but as beautiful as anything hehad ever seen. He managed to slur out something that sounded like adeath rattle instead of a reply. </ol>
“What?” “Are they gone?” He asked. He managed to glance around, and sawthat the shed was there, the latch busted open still, hangingloosely. The padlock shone in the grass, right by his bolt cutters.He saw his Ruger lying on the ground, empty and discarded. He wishedit hadn’t been left like that. “Yes,” she answered. “They’re gone. I don’t know where, butthey’re gone. Everything’s gone.” Everything? What was she talking about? He looked around and saw that there were no tables in the back yard.There were no bins either. No tent. No piles of junk. The table thatwas in the carport was missing as well, and so were Bram and Linda.He leaned back on the grass, and smiled up at her, unable to help it.He felt the pull at the edges of his mouth and wanted to stop it,wishing that he could be serious, but under the circumstances couldnot be serious. “What are you smiling at?” “The craziness of it. The police didn’t come, probably becausethey didn’t want them too, and the neighbors were eating out oftheir hand. They had control of the whole neighborhood, and stillthey’re the ones that left. They had all that, but we won.” Beverly looked down at him, confused. He didn’t feel like it needed to be explained. In the end they hadthe neighborhood, but that didn’t mean anything. When it came downto good versus evil, good won, despite the odds. He grinned at Beverly again. She looked back down at him, desperate,but relieved at the same time—more confused than he was. She hadnot seen the light, nor had she seen the wings, or the swords. Hewasn’t sure she understood, or was ready to understand. He didn’teven know if she ever would be able to understand all of what hadjust happened. All he knew was that they were together, and they hadsurvived. Both of them had made it out, free from evil. Good had wonover evil. </ol>
He looked at the ground and saw a round burn mark; right where he hadseen the ball of light and reckoned it was centered. Impossible, butundeniable—it had all actually happened. Even though everything wasgone—he was sure that it indeed was all gone, and not a singlething had been left behind, they were still there. They remained, heand Beverly. They made it. Good over evil.<I>No</I>, he thought to himself. <I>It was God won over evil. Notjust good. God.</I> <H2 ALIGN=LEFT >FAR AWAY, in a tiny town in Montana, a woman named Tracy Jackson waswalking her Great Dane, Arnold, and saw a man up ahead. He was stronglooking, youngish; he was nicely dressed, fresh shirt, clean jeans.In his hand was a post and he had it lined up, carefully, he poundeddown onto the wooden post. As he looked up, taking a quick break fromhis work, he caught her eye and smiled. He had a nice smile, a realwinning smile, she thought. They hadn’t welcomed this couple to theneighborhood yet, she realized. Perhaps she would do that. It mightbe a good idea. The man went back to work on his post and finished after a few morehammer blows. The hammer hung limply in his hand as she approached,trying to keep Arnold from running too far ahead of her. He walked tothe sidewalk to meet her, the hammer swinging lightly in his hand. “Howdy there,” he said. He seemed to have a bit of a Texas accentto her. Something very pleasant, she thought. “Hello there,” she replied. “New to the neighborhood?” He nodded. “That we are, me and my wife, Helen.” He extended hisfree hand. “I’m Jonathan Cain, ma’am.” She shook it and introduced herself. “This is my dog, Arnold.” </ol>