Sineater

Seven

Turning to face the Orphans, Jin reached into his coat's inside chest pocket and pulled out another rosary, wrapping it around his hand until only the crucifix dangled between his thumb and forefinger.

As he was wrapping the rosary, Jin spoke. "In the name of God, I command you to return from whence you came." He slashed the crucifix in the air, making a cross shape.

The children walked closer to where he was stood, slowly, mild looks of disinterest on their faces. They would prove to be harder to get rid of than other demons and hell spawn have before.

The boy suddenly smirked knowingly and stared at Jin, face shifting from innocent child to that of a demon. His mouth became black and white, like that of a skeleton, and his eyes elongated into the shaped of an almond, pupils growing larger, and darker, and the whites turning dark, blood red. Then as quick as it came, his power died down, once again showing the curly, brown haired boy with the impish grin, brown eyes and innocently angular features.

He only shifted briefly, but he held enough power to throw Jin backwards through the air several feet, making him land hard on the ground. Jin sat up with the crucifix in his hand, brandished in the air as if it were his lifeline, which, in fact, it was at that moment.

The girl also briefly shifted, the skeletal look that belonged to demons overlaying the dark haired, dark eyed, morose features that the child she possessed wore.

In that brief shift of reality, Jin was pushed backward on the leaf-littered cemetery ground, smacking into a large willow tree. He tried to stand, only to have the wind that suddenly began blowing with a gale force push him backwards again, sending him rolling on the ground through headstones and grave markers. The demon children continued advancing toward him.

Finally finding purchase against a headstone, Jin rose to his feet once more, holding the rosary's crucifix outward forcefully. As strong as the wind was blowing, Jin had to yell to be heard. "In the name of God, in the name of Jesus, God and the Holy Virgin, I order you back to Hell!" He flourished the rosary toward the still advancing children, their fingers interlocked in front of them as they placed one foot slowly in front of the other.

The children opened their mouths, the air around them appearing to vibrate, and emitted the darkest, most eerie Hell screech, the language of demons, before dozens of small bluejays were flying from their unnaturally wide open mouths and in a dozen different directions from the place which the children previously stood.

"Well, off to Hell yourself," a man's voice called out from the left of Jin, who was breathing heavily, and a little shakily. "What kind of a greeting is that?"

Exhaling loudly, Jin glanced at Father Thomas before turning to look back where he'd just banished two demonic children. "You're late." He growled the words.

"Never too late, Jin," Thomas told him, walking up to greet him in person. "Witness the repentant thief, crucified alongside our Lord Savior." Jin softly chuckled. "Quick thinker, eh?" Thomas's voice was thick with a heavy British accent as he came to stand in front of Jin, smiling.

Nodding, Jin reached out and pulled Thomas into a warm, firm hug. "How you doing?"

"Ah, I'm grand," Thomas replied, hugging Jin and patting him on the back. Pulling away, he sighed. "So, did you bury him?" Thomas was looking off in the distance, to the large oak tree where, at the base, was a fresh pile of dirt, in the middle of deep, green grass.

Inhaling deeply and trying to get his breathing back under control, Jin nodded and looked at his feet, inhaling sharply. "Yeah." He followed the path Thomas's almost tangible gaze made.