Heaven, Hell, and Earth

Chapter 1

What is it makes a man a man? Is it his origins or how things start? Something harder to describe? It's an age old question. One that has been given many answers but two were the most common that I heard. The first being that it's how a person was born or made. They say that the fallen angel Lucifer would claim that God made him the sinful creature that he was. That it was his fault that he truned out the way he did. But the second answer was that it's a person's chocies that defines who they are. That Lucifer chose to turn against God therefore he broguht his fate onto himself. I myself always belived the second answer but this isn't about what I believe makes a person who they are. This is about what my children believed defined who they were. But before I continue any further I should probably introduce myself to you all.

My name is Solomon Karras. I was born in the states but my family originated from Greece. I grew up in a very strict Vatican where I was trained to become an exorcist, training along with me was Dominik Pentious. We both lost our parents to the same accident and found each other being brought into the same church and trained in the same classes so naturally he was my best friend. However we were quite different in personality and talents. In our youth I behaved very childishly while he was the more mature one. When it came to our studies he was a wiz with science, mathematics, and machinery while I excelled in literature, history, and spirituality. He took his vow of celibacy very seriously while I had trouble resisting a pretty face. But I think the biggest difference between us was that I could admit when I was wrong but he always seemed to have too much pride. Still he was one of the two most important people in my youthful days.

The other important person would be Magdalene Devereaux. She was in the Vatican training to become a nun meaning like myself she was expected to never marry and remain chaste. I respected her obligation to do so but Magdalene was such a beautiful woman. Not only beautiful but bright and kind, she never once hesitated to show anyone compassion and she understood that no one was without sin so she never judged me or anyone else who made a mistake. How could I not fall in love with her? But alas my love was to remain secret and never be acted upon.

When we graduated from our studies the three of us traveled the world performing exorcisms and doing missionary work. Our goals were to spread the word of God while eliminating demons and other supernatural beings of Satan. Pentious and I slayed many atrocities swiftly and successfully. We were the best in the business, we saved many lives and expanded the lord's faith. Unfortunately when you choose to live a life that serves God the world will subject you to hardship and Pentiuos faced a terrible one. We were in Iraq when he was captured by Muslim terrorists and he was missing for a whole year. By the time we found him he had spent that entire year suffering endless torture at the hands of his captors. What they did to him caused him to not only lose his mind but his faith as well.

He spoke of how God was nothing more than an egotistical hypocrite who used us as pawns in a sick game. That he had ignored Pentious cries for help during his torment thus convincing him that the lord had no real love for us. Pentious then angrily declared there was no real goodness in the world. Not in heaven and not on earth and of course not in hell. He said the three kingdoms needed to be destroyed and re-created into a new Eden. The Vatican called him mad which spurred his already unstable mind further, I tried to reason with him but he wouldn't listen. He left the Vatican but vowed to create his Eden. Magdalene and I both searched for Pentious but it was like he had completely vanished. We were forced to believe that we would never see him again which crushed me very much.

We continued our work without him but as the years went on Magdalene found herself feeling sympathetic to the demons I destroyed. She understood that what I did was for the best but she just couldn't bear to see anyone suffer, good or evil. Then one day when I was doing a job in Russia a sudden earthquake took place and a building was about to collapse on her but she was saved by the whim of the demon I was pursuing. This convinced her that some demons had potential for goodness so when I captured the demon she begged me to spare his life. She proposed a less violent method and suggested that we try to redeem him. I thought her idea was total nonsense but for her sake I agreed to give the little heathen a chance.