Sins of the Father

by Brett

Let me just provide a little background before I actually begin my story. When I was twelve, my father disappeared without a trace after murdering thirteen people, seven children and five adults. Nobody knew why. All we knew was that the witnesses said that he seemed afraid of something during the murders, and that something seemed to compel him to do these ghastly acts. The doctors dismissed it as schizophrenia. Despite this, I have always wondered. . .

Now back to the present day. Or, to be precise, one year ago. I was lying in my bed this one night, perfectly comfortable and relaxed. It was an ordinary night, nothing special about it. I was nineteen then. Suddenly, I heard this horrific wind rushing through my garden outside. Every nerve in my body stood on end, and my heart was beating faster than I had ever thought possible. My skin went clammy, and I went into a cold sweat. I knew something was wrong, I just never knew what. There was a loud crash outside, so, despite the fear I felt, I got out of bed to investigate.

The noise that I had heard was only a fallen branch. I laughed despite myself. Right then, the air around me became dreadfully cold and I started shivering. This was strange as it was the middle of summer then. I could literally feel the ice forming on my skin. Suddenly, my vision went dark, then light again. Above me, I saw the most dreadful creatures you can imagine. Not only did they look ugly, but an aura of pure evil surrounded them. They reeked of entire lifetimes of evil. They seemed to be everything wrong in this world made into a living creature. A single thought ran through my mind: DEMONS!!!

Right then, my neighbour walked into my garden holding a knife. He looked really scared. When he saw me he laughed and told me how he thought I was a prowler. I was too afraid of the dark figures above us to even respond. The figures urged me to kill. Kill, they screamed, and I wanted to listen. I was compelled to do as they asked. I took the knife out of my neighbour's hand, and held it tightly. But I stopped myself. "Why?" I asked. My neighbour looked at me quizzically, but the demons responded...

"Sins." They said to me. "The sins of your father are passed on to you. There is no escape. The sins of the father must bind to the son. It is the eternal darkness of sins. As your father suffered, so must you, and your sons." I realised with dread that this entity was speaking the truth. There was no escaping this. I raised the knife with a clammy fist and skin as pale as death. I was scared. Scared of the future, and scared of what I was about to do.

Somehow, I still managed to hesitate. The demons hissed at me, reminding me of how this was inevitable. In spite of everything, I started praying. I asked for help, for protection. The demons started howling and screaming. From out of the night sky, an angelic being appeared, and placed itself between the demons and I. The demons screamed at the injustice of this.

Finally one of the demons looked me in the eye and said, "This is not over, son of men. The sins of the father WILL be paid in full by the son. Goodbye, son of men. We SHALL meet again."