Chapter 21: Dust to Dust

As we go through the main room of the church, we could hear Lisbeth praying. Inside, Daniel was on his knees levitating candles with her. "O' Lord, let your power speak through this young vessel! I am your humble servant and will obey your every command!" Lisbeth said as we watch this in shock.


"Sean. (Y/n). What the hell is this..." Karen asked, shocked, as Lisbeth goes on with the prayer. "Speak to me!" She cries.
"It's Daniel..." I replied to her. "Speak..." Lisbeth shouts. "I told you, he's... kinda special." Sean said to Karen then he steps forward. "Hey..." he shouts, making Daniel and Lisbeth look over at us.


"Sean! (Y/n)! You guys came back!" Daniel exclaims in excitment as he uses his power to put the candles back ok the table. "enano... little cub... Come with us, Daniel. We're leaving." Sean said. "I'm sorry, Sean... I can't..." Daniel said. "She's full of shit, munchkin! And she's using you!" I said as Lisbeth goes over to Daniel and places her hands on his shoulder.


"Daniel has made his choice, (y/n). But I'm offering you and Seam to join us again. Put your faith in me, and you two will be family." She said. "Never." Sean and I said, in unison. "So that's your final decision. May the Lord have mercy on your lost souls... It's time for you two to leave our sanctuary. Right now." Lisbeth commanded. "Not without my brother." Sean said, firmly. "I'm not going anywhere! This is my home... She's my family now." Daniel exclaims.


"Daniel, listen! She's not your family." Karen shouts as she takes a few steps forward. "Guys, who is she?" Daniel asked as he gestures towards Karen. "Our mother... She came here for you..." Sean said and Daniel's eyes widen and his jaw drops as he stares at Karen.


"O' praise the Lord, another miracle at our church! Wonderful! it's all right, Daniel... go see her. I mean, she's right there... Don't be afraid..." Lisbeth said as she looks down at Daniel, who keeps looking between her and Karen. "I... I don't know her." He said, unsure. "Of course... I know this is hard for you, my son." Lisbeth said. "Stop calling him that! You're just manipulating him, you sicko." Karen yells at her, angrily.


"That's in the eye of the beholder... But since you are his mother, let me ask you... How could you let your child wander alone in the wilderness? Where were you when Daniel was lost? Where?" Lisbeth asked as she looks down at Karen.


"Listen, Daniel. I came here as soon as I found out you were here, on your own." Karen said, ignoring Lisbeth. "I'm not on my own!" Daniel exclaims. "Children are a gift from the Lord, they are a reward from Him. You were blessed with a divine gift...and you cast him out into the world!" Lisbeth said and Karen glares at her.


"Who the hell are you?" She asked Lisbeth, angrily. "You might have been his mother once... but when you abandoned him... you also gave up your rights." Lisbeth said, ignoring her question. "Isn't your God all about forgiveness?" Karen asked her. "You have no idea what the Bible says. How can you pretend to care about these children? You left your sons... and your husband... to seek out your base desires...and the girl you barely know her..." Lisbeth said then Karen ignores her as she looks over at Daniel.


"Daniel, honey, she's trying to trick you... Please... Think by yourself... You're smarter than this." She said. "Daniel, she's responsible for what happened to your father." Lisbeth said to Daniel. "You don't know anything! It was an accident. That's what this world is about: accidents, injustice, pain. I'm just so sorry, Daniel. I know... I know how much I hurt you and your brother by leaving. I know that's not enough, but... I hope we can talk about this... together." She said then she looks over at Sean. "That's what I've been trying to tell your brother... And I'm so glad he listened... You gotta trust us... She's using you for her selfish desires." Karen said to them.


"Daniel, this time the choice is yours. Are you going to believe her? Or me?" Lisbeth asked and Daniel looks between her and us. "I... uh... I..." Daniel stammers, unsure, before Lisbeth speaks over him. "That's right. You can't tempt Daniel from this garden. He'll stay with us... his true family. And we'll never leave him." She said.


"Go to Hell. Come on, Daniel!" Sean said as he starts to walk towards Daniel. "No! Stop!" Daniel yells and he used his powers to force Sean away, knocking everything nearby over. "Holy shit." Karen said as I go over to Sean. "You okay?" I asked him just as that guy enters the building.


"Reverend! Are you okay?" He asked Lisbeth. "Nicholas! They're heretics! Sent to desecrate ou-our church!" Lisbeth said as I look over at Sean. "Okay, what now?" I asked him. "Don't you understand this is over, kids?" Lisbeth said as Karen comes up to us.


"Both of you have to talk to him. You two can convince him!" Karen said and Sean gets up to his feet. "I won't leave you, Daniel. Not here." Sean said as I stand next to him. "Neither will I!" I said. "Don't be so stubborn, kids. Your brother chose his path, Sean." Lisbeth gloats.


"Your friend, Sarah Lee, she's very sick, and Lisbeth won't take her to a doctor." Sean tells him and his eyes widen. "What? She wouldn't do that!" Daniel exclaims, defensively  "This is pointless, Daniel knows who to trust." Lisbeth sneers.


"She's not a real Christian! Think about Claire and Stephen; they have faith, but they would never endanger a little girl's life like that." I shouted at him. "But... she's always right! Why would she lie?" Daniel asked, confused. "Have faith in me, Daniel, I know what I'm doing. God is speaking to me, and to you." Lisbeth said as she places her hands back on Daniel's shoulder.


"This... this is a toxic community... She's cutting everyone from the world, keeping things secret, and she wants to keep you to herself!" Sean shouts. "At least I can show my power out here, show how strong I am, and no one is afraid!" Daniel yells. "You found your home here, Daniel. Don't let them trick you." Lisbeth said and I glare at her.


"I found a letter from Karen, your mother, inside her house! She hid it from you, so you'd never know she's looking for you!" I shouted. "What?" Daniel said, shocked, then he looks over at Lisbeth. "You told me she didn't wanna see me!" He said but then the table runner, behind Daniel and Lisbeth, started to catch on fire, and the flames quickly spread.


"See what you have done!" Lisbeth shouted at us as she gestures towards the fire. "Hey, enano..." Sean said as he walks ahead and Nicholas shoves Sean back. "Back off!" He growls at him. "No one is gonna keep me away from you..." Sean said to Daniel as he keeps walking forward. "I said STOP!" Nicholas said as he pushes Sean down to the ground, Karen and I run to help him up but Sean stops us. "Don't." Sean said and he gets up on his own. "I came all this way for you, with (y/n)'s help... and nobody will stop me. I'll even cross Hell or... whatever if I need--" he said as he walks forward and Nicholas punches Sean square in the face, and he falls to the ground again.


"Sean!" Daniel exclaims as I run at Nicholas, but he punches me in the stomach and shoves me to the ground. "He must learn..." Lisbeth said as I look up and see Sean getting up.


"Listen, I did my best job to be a good brother... And I know I probably failed. I took you for granted... I put you in danger... and I'm sorry." He said. "Sean..." Daniel said, softly, as Lisbeth glares at Sean then looks down at Daniel. "Don't listen to him! He and (y/n) left you just like that harlot did!" Lisbeth said to him then she turns to Nicholas.


"Shut him up!" She orders. "He can hit me as much as he wants, I won't give up on you." He told Daniel as Nicholas attacks Sean again.


"Don't hit him!" Daniel shouts as I slowly get back up, still recovering from the gut punch. "Don't let them do that, Daniel..."  Karen said as Sean gets back up.


"If I could go back in time I would... We'd be in our living room in Seattle... Dad would get us pizza and snacks... then pick the movie because we would always fight about it... and he always picked your movie... But I can't do that. All I can do now is fight for you--" Sean said. "Quiet!" Lisbeth shouts then she looks over at Nicholas. "What are you waiting for?!" She asked him. "We're the best team, enano." Sean said as Nicholas pulls out his gun.


"No!" I screamed as Karen shouts. "Stop it!"
"So we have to keep going forward..." Sean said then Nicholas uses the butt of his gun to beat Sean to the ground.


"No!" Karen screams.


"What are you doing?!" Daniel asked, fearfully, as I run over to Nicholas and grabbed his arm, that was holding the gun. "You're gonna kill him!" I screamed at him as we struggle for a bit before he shoves me off of him then pistol whips me and I fall down again. "Stop!" I hear Karen scream as the room starts to spin around me.


"Please... he's my brother...and she's my friend!" Daniel pleads, tearfully. "You can burn down our church, but not our faith!" Lisbeth yells as Karen goes over to Sean. "Daniel knows you're telling the truth! Don't give up!" She said and Sean struggles up once more, the flames now significantly larger than before.


"Nothing... nothing is gonna stop me, Daniel... we're brothers..." Sean said to Daniel before he goes and coughs up some blood. "I know..." Daniel said. "Dad always said... our blood link was the most important thing... You know..." said Sean as Nicholas goes at Sean yet again.


"Please, stop..." Daniel pleads. "Leave him alone!" I yelled as I get up. "Daniel, listen to him!" Karen said as Sean gets up. "I won't stop... no matter what she does... I'll come right back... again... and again... I love you, Daniel..." Sean cried to Daniel. "I do, too!" Daniel said.


"Shut him up! Now!" Lisbeth ordered and Nicholas points the gun directly at Sean's forehead. "Don't move... just stop!" Nicholas ordered as I look at this in shock and fear. "NO! PLEASE!" I screamed. "If you wanna kill me...Then do it. I'm not afraid." Sean dared.


"DO IT! SHOOT!" Lisbeth screams at Nicholas, who looks at me in slight shock. "Don't!" Daniel screams. "Go ahead. Shoot me in the face. And live with it." Sean dared again. "NOW!" Lisbeth screams.


"Stop!" Daniel yells and uses his power to throw Nicholas aside. I gasped as Nicholas flies away and hits the ground as Daniel yanks his arm out of Lizbeth's grasp and runs to Sean, who falls to his knees.


"Daniel!" She cries as Daniel goes to Sean and hugs him. "Sean... I'm sorry... Sorry... I was so confused... I thought she was someone else... I'm sorry..." Daniel cries as he and Sean hug. I run over to them and hug both of them, tears falling down my face. "It's okay, Daniel. You didn't know." I whispered to him as he pulls away from Sean then hugs me. I smiled then kissed the top of his head as I hug him back.


"Guys, we need to get out of here. Now." Karen said to us. Daniel and I break our hug and I go and help Sean up to his feet. "Sean..." I said, worriedly, as I got a better look at his face, his nose was bleeding and he had bleeding cuts around his face mainly close to his right eye. He nods at me, signaling that he was okay, and we start to walk to the front door.


"Oh, no." Lisbeth said as she locks the door and turns to face us. "No. You started this fire... You will all burn in this Hell!" She growls at us. "Move." I ordered her as Sean removes his arm off of me and walks ahead of us. "Let us go. Move it!" He yells at her. "You won't leave this place, not with me alive." She sneered then Sean looks over at Daniel.


"Open the door, enano." He said. Daniel nods then walls forward. "Daniel... after all I did for you... You can still repent." She said and Daniel glares at her. "I don't believe you anymore!" He screams then he uses his power to shove Lisbeth to one side, then force the doors open. Sean places his arm around my shoulders again and we start to walk out of the burning building.


As we got outside, Lisbeth and Nicholas flee the burning building as well while Lisbeth cried out in terror, sadness and defeat. Sometime later, Sean, Daniel, Karen, Jake, Sarah Lee and I all meet back at the meeting point and we say our goodbyes before returning to our respective cars.


As Karen drives us away, Daniel gives Sean a hug from the back seat and Sean takes hold of Daniel's hand. I, who was also sitting in the backseat next to Daniel, place my right arm around Daniel and kissed the side of his head then reached out and placed my left hand over Sean's left hand. I slide my fingers through his and he curls his fingers over mine. I go and leave a long lingering kiss on his temple while he brought up my left hand to his lips and lightly kissed it.


I'm just glad we got Daniel back and now our little family is whole again. And now, finally, we can make it to Mexico and leave all of this behind us. I just hope nothing else happens to me or to Daniel or to Sean, cause I will fight until the very end to get us to Mexico. To get Sean and Daniel to Puerto Lobos.


Even if it kills me...

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