Miles away, Tanner Higgins couldn't fall asleep. He was tossing and turning, and then he fell still, his eyes on the dark wall.

Only, it wasn't all that dark. The moonlight was reflecting on that wall, and Tanner felt his breath catch as the moonlight danced on the wall, sinister and frightening.

Tanner didn't believe in ghosts. He never had, but there was something ghostly about the shapes on his walls. The shadows.

He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He told himself he was being stupid, that ghosts didn't exist and they certainly didn't exist in his bedroom. He'd lived in the same house for years now, since he'd been a child, and he had never run into ghosts before.

He opened his eyes again. The shadows continued to dance, carefree and childlike. It occurred to Tanner that perhaps this was a dream, and while that was a soothing thought, it didn't make the shadows stop. He debated pulling down the blinds on his window, but then felt the lack of moonlight would make his room all the more creepy.

Tanner couldn't sleep. He sat up in bed and crept out of his room. He lived alone, but it didn't stop him from imagining the sounds of footsteps and voices. He had a crazy imagination, one that had given him a lot of grief the past few years.

It was late, but not too late. The clock in the hallway struck nine, and the jingle sounded throughout the house, loud and obnoxious.

The clock was a gift from his parents, and one that he couldn't give away without being disrespectful, so he kept it. Obnoxious jingle and all.

He moved to the kitchen, ready to brew a pot of coffee when there was a knock at the door. For a moment, Tanner didn't move, and his heart thudded in his chest painfully.

He was painfully aware that he lived alone, and he wasn't all that dangerous unarmed. So, he grabbed a knife and moved to the front door. He cursed himself for not buying a door with a peephole, and then he yanked it open.

The knife clattered on the floor. His heart stopped.

For a moment, tears hit his eyes and his chest felt tight. He wanted to cry. And then, the anger came, fast and blinding.

"What are you doing here, Priscilla? First you killed your mother, and now you're after me, huh?"

The woman on the other side of the door took a staggering step back. "Killed your mother? Tanner, what on earth?"

Tanner felt like a small boy all over again. He felt like he was sitting at the kitchen counter while his mother cooked breakfast and Priscilla danced around in her pajamas, listening to Shania Twain.

He felt like he couldn't breathe.

"My father told me everything. You killed her. You killed my mother-"

Priscilla cut him off, gathering him into a hug. "Your father is a bastard for lying to you, Tanner. And he's a bastard for turning my little boy against me."

Tanner yanked out of her embrace. "No, don't you dare call my father that! Mother died because of you, because you turned her gay, and then she went to Hell. You're the reason my mother is rotting in Hell!"

Tanner's yells were loud enough to wake the neighbors, and his expression was terrifying enough to make most people run, but Priscilla was solid. And she wasn't going anywhere.

Instead, she reached up and grabbed Tanner's ear, like she'd done when he was younger, and she dragged him to his own kitchen. Too shocked to put up a fight, he let her push him into a chair. Then, she turned to his coffee maker.

"I'm going to make you a cup of coffee, then you will explain to me what the hell you're doing, Tanner Higgins. You will tell me exactly why the fuck you have a camp for gay children. And you will tell me why your bastard father has brainwashed you."

Tanner didn't respond. He felt, again, like a young boy being yelled at by his mother. Because that was what Priscilla was - a mother. He'd lived with her for years as a boy, and loved her as much as he loved his mother. That had all been before.

Now, he watched her in his kitchen, and he wondered when things became so twisted and messed up. When had his demons taken over?

Priscilla set the cup of coffee in front of Tanner. "Now, take a sip, and talk."

So he did. He told Priscilla about what his father said. What the church said. She didn't interrupt, either. She let him continue, and somewhere, deep inside, she saw the young boy that was ripped away from her. She saw the young boy whose mother died, and was forced to live with his cruel father.

She knew this would happen. She knew that Tanner would become this way when he moved in with his father. It was a sad fact that had ruined her for years. She couldn't visit him, but she knew he was being morphed into a man that his father would be proud of.

That wouldn't have been a bad thing, if Tanner's father was a decent man.

"You're a fool for believing such a thing." Priscilla snorted. "As if I turned your mother gay. Tanner, did it ever occur to you that she was born gay? Did it ever occur to you that she never loved your father, or any man, for that matter?"

Tanner just stared at her. She looked just like Tanner remembered, with her hair thrown into a messy bun and her thin body hidden under sweaters. Seeing her reminded Tanner of home, or his mother, and of his childhood.

"No, it didn't," he confessed.

"And you're a fool because of it. Your mother was born the way she was. And she's probably rollin' in her grave because of you and what you're doing."

Tanner didn't want to let go of his beliefs. "Are you saying the church is wrong?"

"I'm saying that as a priest, as someone who is spreading knowledge of the Lord, you should be spreading correct information." Priscilla tisked at him and shook her head, disappointed. "I never thought I'd see you doing this."

Tanner clenched his hands into fists. "I'm doing the world good! I want to save people from Hell. If I can fix the gays, then they'll go to Heaven. That's all I want to do."

Priscilla could see the noble mission Tanner was on, but he was doing it all wrong. She placed her hand on his and let out a loud sigh. He was just a boy who knew nothing.

"Tanner, do you really think torturing people will fix them? And if God loves all of his children, why wouldn't he love those who prefer the love and comfort of someone from the same sex?"

Tanner didn't have an answer. Not a real one, anyway. He fell back to his overused excuse. "It says so in the Bible."

Priscilla snorted. "An old book that says a lot of other stuff that is completely ridiculous. Tanner, I think you need to look deep in yourself. I think that going to church and being a priest is a noble thing to do. But I also think you need to stop being so narrow minded about it all. You're educating others about our God, and you're not listening to what He might be saying."

Tanner didn't know what she meant by that. "What do you mean I'm not listening? What is there to listen to?"

Priscilla gripped his hand tight. "Your heart. Do you think it's right to hurt others? Would it be alright to strap me down to a table and torture me? What about your mother?"

Tanner closed his eyes tight and let out a sob. "But what if she's in Hell? Suffering? I don't want her to suffer. I never wanted her to suffer, or to die."

Priscilla gathered him into a tight hug, resting her face in the crook of his neck. "If you truly believe in God, then you know the answer, Tanner. You know that He would never do something like that to someone who doesn't deserve it. Your mother doesn't deserve to burn in Hell for finding happiness in the arms of another woman. I think you know exactly where your mother is."

Tanner cried harder, his arms tightening around Priscilla. He hadn't cried in a long time. It felt like it had been years since he cried, and it felt liberating. He felt free.

In the back of his mind, his father was yelling at him. In the back of his mind, the church was calling to him, pulling him in closer and closer, telling him to not listen. His mind was twisted and wired for hurt and distress. He wanted, no craved, to help people. Only, Tanner didn't know how.

He held onto Priscilla for dear life. He held on until she sagged in his arms. Her eyes looked up at him, dead and frozen, and her mouth was open in a scream. Confused, Tanner stumbled back, his eyes blinking furiously and his mouth open in a gasp.

Priscilla fell to the ground in a heap. Her body was still, and when Tanner picked her up, she was cold. Her skin suddenly seemed to melt into her body, and right there, in his arms, was the skeleton of his mother's girlfriend.

Tanner dropped the body and screamed, staggering towards the door. His heart was pounding, the sound of blood rushing in his ears. He stared at the dead body on his floor, and for a moment, he imagined that he had done it. That he had touched the body and killed her, just like he destroyed everything else he touched.

Tanner rubbed his eyes and pinched himself to wake up, but he couldn't. He wasn't dreaming, or, if he was, he was trapped in the hellish nightmare.

The window to his left exploded, glass flying everywhere, and Tanner fell as he tried to block his face from glass. It was everywhere, and he coughed up blood and glass. It was in his mouth, slicing open his tongue and cheeks, and he couldn't seem to spit all of it out.

Blood was dripping from his mouth as he looked towards the window. A person was crouched on the floor by the broken window, and he didn't know what it was. It looked human, but Tanner knew that human limbs didn't move the way this creature moved. It made a hissing sound, then crept into the light.

Tanner was choking on his own blood. His hand gripped his throat and he tried to suck in air as he stared at the creature, his head swirling and his body aching. He felt the slimy liquid of his blood slip down his throat, and he coughed it up.

The creature in front of him opened its mouth, showing off rows of razor like teeth. The tongue that slithered out was long and not human, and it stretched towards him.

Tanner couldn't breathe. He tried to cough up the blood in his throat, but he couldn't.

Before the creature could touch him with its tongue, a figure stepped through the window, and Tanner immediately recognized the person emerging. And Tanner then immediately knew he was dreaming.

The woman peered down at him, snapping her fingers to call off the creature. She cocked her head, then smiled.

"My dear Tanner, what have you done?"

Tanner scrambled to the wall, trying to get away. "Mother? Mother, what is going on?"

Tanner's mother cackled, and it was so unlike her that it gave Tanner goosebumps. She turned from her son and looked at Priscilla, shaking her head. "You've killed her, Tanner. Just like you kill everything good in this world."

Tanner felt chills running down his spine. He recognized the woman in front of him, but she was not his mother.

"Mom, are you really in Hell? Because of Priscilla?"

His mother looked at him with distaste. "No, my dear son. I'm in Hell because of you."

Then, she swept Priscilla into her arms and looked at Tanner one last time. "Here's a gift for you," she smiled, but it was unkind. Then, the creature by her feet bounded over to him and crawled into his lap. All human limbs, but decidedly not human, the creature was straight out of a horror film. Its tongue swept over Tanner's face, and he trembled underneath it.

Then, his mother stepped back through the window, and jumped into the night, leaving a broken Tanner on his kitchen floor with a nightmarish creature in his lap. Blood dripped from his mouth, and as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, he realized that something needed to change. 

* * *

Hello my dear Skeleton children,

if this chapter offends you in any way, before you comment, think to yourself

This is the view of religion from FICTIONAL CHARACTERS. And everyone can view religion the way they wish. Religion is something that people can feel differently about and have different opinions about. So, if you think that this chapter is offensive, religion-wise, please take a deep breath and realize people. have. different. views.

Love you all, 

XOXO

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