I couldn't stand trying to figure out which of the Core Fore adopted me, so I demanded to know the answer. "Who adopted me? Michael?"

"No, he's rare, but has adopted humans from time to time," Nellie said.

"Gabriel?" I asked.

Nellie growled. "No. The last person I tried integrating with was adopted by Gabriel and she tried killing the both of us over a hundred years ago."

"So you are the demon that afflicted this campus a century ago?" Father Matthew gulped. "Luke, you must be careful with this woman."

"Silence heathen!" Nellie shouted at Father Matthew. "That woman was stubborn and killed herself thinking she could take me down with her. But luckily, I escaped her body just in time. For more than a hundred years I've been awaiting the return of another adopted by the Core Four, but never did I expect to come across someone like you."

"Stop messing with me and spit it out already!" Luke shouted in frustration. "Is it Raphael?"

She blew a raspberry. "Please, he adopts more than he can handle. And that leaves just one left..."

"Uriel? What's so special about him?"

"I think you already know."

Fire, Luke thought. That flame—it was a gift. And...I think I remember when Uriel gave it to me. The angel that stood over me in those memories with a fire in his hands—that was Uriel. He gifted me with fire. A fire that I didn't know existed for years.

"Now that you have a taste of the truth, it's time you let me in to find out more." Nellie licked her lips as she walked over towards Luke like a runway model.

Luke backed away. "No."

"Oh Luke, just open yourself up." She placed her hand around his shoulder caressing his neck and digging her nails in his shirt. Like swords they sliced his shirt at the shoulders. Then she ran her nails along the back of his shirt and ripped it off.

Shirtless, Luke cowered back. He didn't know what to think. He was strongly attracted to Nellie, but at the same time he didn't want whatever it was she was about to do to him. Then Luke froze. Nellie pressed her hand against his chest and pushed him towards the floor. Luke's knees bent and followed while his mind cried out. Resist! What are you doing? She's going to possess you.

"I'll make this as pleasant as possible," Nellie whispered into his ear. "Most demons aren't so nice. But I know the key to everyman's heart is through this," she cupped his hand around his genitals. Luke wanted to squirm away, but he was still frozen. At that moment, he empathized with what Darryl had gone through. He closed his eyes, wishing for it to go away. This is just a dream. None of this is real. You'll wake up in your bed a little wet but still yourself.

"Sacrilege!" The voice jolted his eyes open. The mutated cry pierced his ears and shook him out of his frozen trance. Water dripped onto him and it felt cold. Luke looked up at Nellie who was steaming. Her body hissed like a tea kettle. She lumbered back and turned on her aggressor.

Father Matthew held a bowl of holy water in his hand and stood defiant against the demon. He had unleashed his only weapon, and although it stunned the demon, it seemed to only infuriate her.

Father Matthew ordered, "Demon be gone. I'll not have you desecrate the house of God!"

Nellie hissed. "Oh you loyal servant of Gonjá, I'll make you pay for that." Nellie walked on over to Father Matthew, lifted his frail body up off the ground and tossed him over Luke's head and up against the broken wall. His body slumped down between Gio and Alex, but before his body touched the ground, Nellie was already standing over him. She glanced at the pickaxe stuck in the wall besides him and yanked it free, freeing up some plaster from behind the wall.

Meanwhile, Luke felt warm. His body started to sweat bullets as if the temperature in the Basilica skyrocketed and the humidity was about as high as a Brazilian jungle. The heat seemed to spread forth from his chest. He picked up his righthand and saw it turn red. He looked up from his hand towards Nellie.

Nellie stood above Father Matthew with the pickaxe slung over her shoulder. "Tell Gonjá we're coming for him next." She swung the pickaxe, aiming for Father Matthew's head. Luke was too slow to react. He wanted to shout "no," but Father Matthew was quick. He intercepted the point of the pickaxe with his arm. It dug a hole into his flesh, and as she yanked it out, blood burst forth from the wound. Father Matthew immediately clutched his wound as his voice cried out in pain.

Father Matthew uttered, "Lord give me strength."

"Your Lord has abandoned you," Nellie taunted. "You should've realized that from the beginning." She swung the pickaxe back over her shoulder, gearing up for a second swing. "This time, don't let your arm get in my way."

"Stop!" Luke shouted. "Save your strength to fight me."

Nellie's body doubled over. As she turned around Luke noticed it was from laughter. But, as she noticed Luke, her laughter faded. His right hand had kindled a flame. Luke's body was sweating, and he felt like he was going to pass out. He never felt this way when he first summoned the flame. What's happening to me?

"Yes, that's it." She stared at Luke's hand which cast a shadow of Luke's body across the Basilica's walls. "What I have been waiting for--proof. Fire. Let it consume you Luke. Let me see all the power I shall possess very soon."

"You won't," Luke panted, "have my body."

"Yes I will. And if you don't want me to come in the easy way..." Nellie's body started to smoke. Expelling from her mouth, nose, ears, and even eyes was a dark substance. The creature formed a faceless creature of floating gray dust. Where her face should have been was a shiny black obsidian slate that reflected Luke's own face back towards him. "Guess I'll seize your body then. I've tried avoiding it. My specialty is to take possession through seduction. But powerful individuals like yourself need extra attention."

Luke stared at his own face reflected back at him. The image of his face on that demon's smoky entails made him shudder. Nellie noticed and gargled through a wall of phlegm. "See yourself in me, it's inevitable!"

Nellie's body fell limp towards the ground and joined Gio and Alex unconscious. Lilith had shedded Nellie's body like a snake sheds its skin. Luke realized, This is the same demon that appeared before me over at Caldwell Hall. This was her, the third sister. This was Lilith, the true demon.

Lilith spoke. "I have known many men as far back as Adam, and yet none have been more resistant than you."

With Luke's flame growing brighter he was able to unveil more of Lilith's figure. She formed the gray dusty contour of a naked woman's body, but at the back near the tailbone, she grew the tail of a snake. She's looks like a mini repulsive Godzilla.

Luke felt nauseous. "You're hideous," he said aloud. Then he gagged. I can't believe I kissed that!

"You speak of yourself child, for the face you see in mine is your own," she said.

"Beauty lies beyond the face, it is within, and you lack any of it," Luke struggled. His arm started to feel heavy, as if the flame was growing heavier by the moment. If he wanted to make a move, he would have to do it quick. But how can I make a move when I barely know how to use this power?

"Seems the power is too great for a mortal to handle. Let me help." Nellie shot towards Luke like fast moving storm clouds. Luke's heart was roaring like the motor of a boat, spinning the ball of fire in his hand like the fusion reactor of the sun. Embers sparked from the ball, and on the inside chaos was striking, billowing up to an explosion that manifested in a change of color from an orange-red flame to one as white as untouched snow.

Lilith couldn't stop herself, she had already committed herself to Luke and was inches away from the white flame. She yelled once she realized the change in color of the flame. "The Undying Sear!"

Luke thrusted his hand forward and felt his hand tear through the demon like the veil of a spider web. Once Lilith had followed through the flame, a shriek filled the air.

"How is that possible?" Lilith cried as her dusty figure wailed on the floor in smoke. "Why would he gift you with such a strong and tortuous power?"

Luke hobbled over to Lilith and stood above her body. She had a gaping hole in her stomach where a human belly button would be. Luke saw the wound singeing like the last drops of oil in a frying pain.

Luke looked towards her tail as the white flame began to grow to the point that it had engulfed his entire hand in a glove of white fire. He brought down his hand like a guillotine onto Lilith's serpent tail.

It cut through the tail like melted butter.

And Luke swore to his very last day, that he lost part of his hearing at that moment. Lilith's tailbone sizzled like steak on a grill, and it did not stop—it will never stop—nor will the searing pain in the center of her stomach. Such were the effects of the infamous Undying Sear.

Luke stood above her with his right hand covered in flames and said, "Now leave this place and never return, or the next time we meet, my hand will come down on your neck."

Lilith cries faded as her body dissolved into smoke and dissipated in the air. When she was gone, the flame in Luke's hand changed back to fiery orange and Luke collapsed to his knees.

*________________________________________________*

Author's Note

"The Undying Sear," a flame that upon contact with the skin produces a burning sensation that will linger for all eternity. How overpowered is that? Imagine feeling the burning sensation from touching that hot stove as a child for the rest of your life and your afterlife. That's how brolic 💪🏼 this power is. What do you think of Luke using his flame to fight (finally!)? 

Having read most of the book, if you could categorize this book as a genre (action, fantasy, thriller, etc.) what would you categorize it as? Publishing companies have a whole catalogue of genres. It was difficult for me to classify the sub-genre of this book. I knew it would be New Adult (a rather new genre that involves a protagonist entering college or having to adjust to becoming an adult), but the sub-genre was tricky. I first thought it was fantasy, since it dealt with fantastical elements that doesn't involve scientific explanations (like demons). But the book, if you haven't noticed yet since it's so subtle, takes place in the future. Most "futuristic books," technically speaking, are classified as Science Fiction. Then it was suggested that I classify it on Wattpad as Spiritual since it deals with elements of Christianity. I finally opted for Paranormal Mystery since the focus of the story wasn't just around Luke's power, but the evil lurking behind the unfortunate events taking place around campus. Luke, like an amateur detective, investigates what's been causing these events. Did I make the right classification or do you disagree?

With about four more chapters to go, now the main task at hand will be to resolve the little odds and ends, but big reveals are still to come. 😄

See you soon.

- L. A. Rivera