Through Hell and Into Heaven

Chapter 19

Israel jumped onto his bike after school and pedalled furiously down the dusty road. He squinted as the wind buffeted his face. Taran and Tina had already gone to Tina's house; Israel was going to his apartment to slip in the note he had written. He made a sharp turn into his thin driveway and squeezed the breaks in his handlebars. Leaping off his bike, he jogged toward the door and crouched down in front of it so that no one could see him through the window. He quickly read over the note he had carefully made.

Dear Mom and Jim,

I am going to sleep over at Tina's house with her and Taran. Sorry if this is short notice, but we thought it would be fun. Text me if something comes up. Love you!

Israel

He stared at his note with renewed confidence. Tonight was the night he would be rid of that stupid demon; forever. He quickly slid the piece of paper underneath the front door and busted out in a run for his bike. Pumping his legs with all his might, he rushed down the road, the breeze pushing into his face and upsetting his curly hair. Ten minutes later, he was jumped off his bike right in front of Tina's little shack-hut and opened knocked on the door politely.

The portal was opened and he was greeted warmly by a smiling woman, Tina's mother. "Come! Come right in!" she said cheerily, beckoning him inside with her chocolate-brown hand. "Taran and Tina are up in the attic, waiting for you. They seem really excited!" Her eyes squinted and she looked down at Israel thoughtfully. "My daughter is so blessed to have such caring and kind friends has you. Bless your hearts! God has certainly sent you to save her from her loneliness."

Israel responded with a flustered smile. "Thank you, ma'am. Glad to be of help." Afterwards, he swiftly ran up the creaky stares and opened a door at the very end. The room was a little dark with one light bulb hanging from the thatched ceiling, flickering once in a while. The floor was made of wooden boards, and was noisy when disturbed. A bed sat next to a window, where Taran and Tina now sat, flipping through a small book with gold-rimmed pages They were muttering to each other and had not noticed Israel.

"-What's that book called?" Taran was saying, "Revolutions?" "It's Revelations!" Tina said exasperatedly. "Honestly, Taran, do you know anything about the Bible?" Taran turned a light shade of red. "I have only just started reading mine. I am not even a quarter of the way through." Israel muffled a laugh and walked into the blinking light of the single lightbulb. "Hey, guys; what are you doing?" Tina put her face in her hands. "I am trying to get Taran to memorize the books of the Bible, but I'm-he's-not getting anywhere." Taran looked insulted. "Hey! At least I'm trying!" Israel chuckled and swung his backpack off his shoulders. "I brought my sleeping bag." Tina's eyebrows went up. "Wait.... How did you get that without your parents being suspicious?" Israel blinked, slightly confused. "What do you mean? I never stepped foot in my apartment when I rode back." Tina looked even more befuddled. "B-but.... That would mean that you got it back at your apartment before you rode to school."

Israel nodded. "Yes." Tina looked suspicious. "But I didn't give you permission to sleep over at my house during that phase."

"That's true."

"So.... You made your plan and anticipated that I would give you permission?"

"Uh-huh."

"What if I had said no way?"

Israel grinned and began unpacking. "I knew you wouldn't." Tina smiled tiredly. "Israel Pirran. You played me." Israel held back a giggle and threw his sleeping bag. He glanced out the window. It was already dark. "Okay guys," Israel decided, crawling into his sleeping bag and setting an alarm on his iPhone, "let's get some sleep. We have a busy night ahead of us." Taran gave an audible gulp. "R-right."

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Israel grunted and slapped his phone, causing the alarm to stop. He shook his curly hair and peeked out Tina's window. Complete darkness. Perfect. Israel shoved off the sleeping bag and stood up. He walked over to Tina (who was sound asleep on her cot) and shook her by her shoulder lightly. "Tee!" Israel whispered quietly, "Time to get moving!" Tina mumbled something about getting her notebook as she sat up and rubbed the top of her head. Her blue eyes flickered open and she looked around.

Taran was still in a deep state of sleep, so Tina punched him in the arm. Moaning, he sat up and rubbed his arm angrily. "Let's go!" she hissed, grabbing her backpack from the corner of the room and shouldering it. Israel yanked up his backpack as well and checked his watch. "1:00 AM," Israel muttered, "we're gonna have to hurry this up." Being as quiet as possible, Israel descended the staircase, followed closely by Tina and Taran, Taran looking groggy. When Israel got to the front door and peeked out the window, he saw a glimmer of light.... Two glimmers, actually. Knowing something was wrong, Israel threw open the door. Nothing was there except the black sky and the cool night air. Israel shivered and decided that it had been his imagination and continued walking. Taran shut the door behind the trio and they jogged toward their bikes.

As soon as Israel reached his bike and placed his hand on the handlebar, something jolted inside his stomach and he gasped. Oh no. A dark mist started to envelope him and he covered his eyes with his hands. No, no, no! Not again! Not after so long! A scream-from his mouth or another's, he had no idea-made him fall to the ground in surprise. He retracted his hands and he saw two red eyes staring maliciously at him. Another unearthly scream rang through his head and he jumped back to his feet. He had had enough. "Stop it!" he yelled, swinging his hand at the crimson slits. Something grabbed his hand. No!

Something pushed Israel from behind and he was back on the dirt ground again. Struggling desperately, Israel wriggled and kicked, but to no avail. "Just kill me!" Israel screamed. Suddenly, the crazy feeling stopped. Israel blinked before opening his eyes. Tina was sitting on his stomach, pinning his hands down to the floor while Taran had grabbed hold of his legs which he had previously been kicking. Israel's wide eyes flickered. "It.... It happened again." Tina sighed wearily and nodded, releasing her grip on him and getting to her feet.

Taran let go of him and stood as well, a sad and slightly disturbed look on his expression. "I want this to end," Israel whispered miserably, "all of it." Tina nodded understandably. "Yes. Let's go, Izzy." After moving Taran's ATV a bit farther away from the village so as not to disturb the people with its engine, they rode off for the excavation sight.