Ashanti

Chapter 1

Sunday Service 2019

The sun slowly sets as the darkness consumes the sky, Esther is very strict when it comes to the church's light bill, so she orders the church lights to be shut down as soon as the last guest leaves.  Ashanti happily cleans the pews sitting at the front, she turns her favorite artist, Erykah Badu up to the highest volume while taking on her nightly chores. She hears the ground shake which makes her drop her phone and her earbuds, Ashanti turns around to see Esther judging her from the other side of the pew.
"I told you to quit listening to that unholy music." Esther scowls at Ashanti like she did something wrong, she always does that, sometimes Ashanti questions if Esther really loves her.
"Mama, I can't stop listening to Badu, her music really calms me-" Ashanti's face begins to plead for further relaxation when a familiar tingle hits the side of her cheek.
She knows this feeling, Esther slapping her across the face, Ashanti hits the ground, luckily, her phone and earbuds remain intact after Ashanti fell on them.
"What do I always tell you, girl?" Esther stands over Ashanti while stepping on her robe so she's unable to move, then she continues, "You address me as mother! Not mama. MOTHER. And I refuse to see you turning into an ungodly whore like your real mother was!" Esther shouted, she notices Ashanti trying to squirm away so she aggressively stomps on her knee, severely breaking it.
However, Ashanti doesn't scream, she remains still to avoid further and more noticeable damage. This doesn't stop Esther from beating Ashanti with a bible, until her nose was bleeding and adjusted to a different shape. That's when she gets interrupted by Father Cassidy's daughter, she's screaming like a murder has just taken place.
"Please! Help! I know this church is closed, but my father..He has to be possessed!" Esther flinches and quickly turns to her nicer persona.
"Lord bless you, Caroline! You must be so worried!" Esther runs to help Caroline carry Father Cassidy in. "Don't worry Father, you will be nursed back to your holy self-"
"I don't need to be nursed, bitch! Can't I have a little fun?" Father Cassidy growls at Esther while kicking Caroline so hard that she falls.
"He's been slurring his speech, cursing, all of the above! This isn't him...My father is a holy man, he is strictly against the use of alcohol!" Caroline tries to wrap her yellow cardigan around Father Cassidy, but he pushes Caroline off of him and continues yelling.
"You stupid bitch!  That's obviously not possible since I drink communion-" Father Cassidy growls some more before falling to the ground, Esther's eyes narrowing at his unconscious body.
"Please don't hurt him..." Caroline pleads while stroking her father's hair, she watches as his body slowly gets dragged away by Esther.
"Don't worry Caroline...This is how he reclaims the lord..."Esther chuckled while dragging Father Cassidy into complete darkness.
Coincidentally, Esther unknowingly drags him into the pew Ashanti was silently crying in, clutching her broken knee while rocking back and forth. Esther takes her necklace off, the pre-sharpened cross that suits her every need.. She runs her cross along Father Cassidy's calves, watching his blood infect her gorgeous carpets. The twisted maroon almost touched Ashanti, but the blood flow stopped when Father Cassidy's now crushed leg muscles blocked its path.
Once his calves were completely hollow, Esther carries him to the church basement, positioning him to look like he was standing up and walking by himself.
Esther clears her throat and speaks as Father Cassidy, "I'm sorry and I love the lord...I will change my ways with a prayer." This makes Caroline smile from afar, little did she know that her father's life was over.
Half an hour passes, Ashanti finally gains enough strength to slowly crawl into the basement to assist.
It's protocol.
Once Ashanti gets to the last step, she hears Esther whispering a latin prayer, she's hammering something to the dust-filled cross they kept in the basement. Ashanti slowly looks up to see Father Cassidy barely conscious, Esther tied a rope around his neck so he could be aligned with the cross. His arms are tied together and they twitch every now and then, Father Cassidy's  forehead slowly bleeds. His own blood seeps into his eyes from the cross Esther carved into his forehead.
Esther notices Ashanti's face, and stops her ritual so she can speak to Ashanti. "Ah, so you've come to your senses, get the candles from behind the stairs." Esther turns back around while Ashanti remains frozen. Eventually, Esther notices that Ashanti hasn't moved, so she turns around and continues to yell, "Candles, Ashanti! May the lord give you movement, dearest!" That was enough to get Ashanti to shuffle behind the stairs while lightly holding her injured knee. The candle box was in the corner of the basement, hidden in darkness by the dust-covered stairs. Ashanti slowly creeps closer and closer until she steps on something, she would normally assume that it was a dead leaf, or some kind of bug, but when she looks down she sees someone's severed finger.  She grabbed the candle box and ran to Esther, the candles were old, but powerful enough to help Esther help Father Cassidy.
"Now, Cassidy Simmons, I want you to recite the holy word. If you mess up more than eight times, you will be blessed with the lord's recitement. Understood?" Esther firmly grips her cross while Father Cassidy slowly nods before speaking.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters...-" Father Cassidy lowers his head as he slips into unconsciousness. Esther knew what that truly meant, without warning, she aggressively shoves her cross into Father Cassidy's stomach, he immediately wakes up and shouts in pain. His blood once again spills onto the floor.
"The devil will not take this holy man! Lucifer, I command you to free the man of your nasty ways!" Esther shouts. Father Cassidy doesn't speak, his blood continues to spew into his eyes and onto the floor, Esther jabs her cross into his right shoulder, causing him to shout in agony once more before continuing the word from the bible.
"And God said, 'Let there be light!' And there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness." Father Cassidy continues to shout God's word in pain, Esther remains unimpressed, so she jabs her cross into his other shoulder, the crack of his bones fills the basement as life leaves Father Cassidy's eyes.
Despite a possible murder being committed, Ashanti stands there, silently, a tear slowly rolls down her face as she gains enough strength to speak. "Time of death...8:32pm..." Esther drops her bloodied cross onto the blood stained carpet.
"May the lord rest his soul, and may the devil mess with him no more." Esther says as she removes her rings and her robe. "Tell Caroline that a funeral shall be planned, for his soul can't be salvaged."
10:30 pm
Esther discards Father Cassidy's remains after Ashanti went home for the night. While throwing a large trash bag into the dumpster, she hears a rustling noise coming from the other side of the dumpster. She takes one step closer and watches a small cockroach run through her legs and into the church basement. She sighs and walks back into the church. 
A man wearing a brown leather jacket emerges after Esther closes the door. He opens the trash bag thinking it was food, his heart drops when he sees human remains.