Redemption

All was silent. The light footfalls of the somberly dressed man and the soft crunch of an occasional dry leaf that had fallen onto the sidewalk were the only noise. His surroundings were muted as well, darkened to obscurity by the blackness of the night- neither moon nor stars shone to guide his path. The only light was the yellowed beam from a lone streetlamp that he avoided with more room than was needed. He was acutely aware that others would not approve of his work, but God had sent him to this place.

He came to the end of his walk and paused, stood erect and vigilant, searching for any change in the area.

None.

Good. He would move on.

Creeping along, the man worked his way through bushes and over children's toys to the window nearest the house's door. A shudder overcame him as he pressed his fingers to the glass, feeling the energy emanating within. Fingerprints were not an issue for him. He had learned well in the beginning that fingerprints meant the end of success. He had burned his own off using acid etching fluid.

This was all he lived for. All he was born to do.

Thus, he did his job well.

He removed a flat screwdriver from his bag and slid it under the window pane, jimmying it upward and away from the base with ease. Reaching around blindly, he found the lock on the door and turned it, listening to it click with satisfaction. Once inside the home, he knelt to pray for strength and patience, determination and humility, faith and blessings. As always, he thanked God for another chance to help a poor soul who has been plagued with demons, in Jesus's name and in His sake he prays, amen.

Finished with his talk with God, he slipped quickly and softly through the small home, the rooms barely distinguishable in the dark, even with adjusted eyes. He carefully climbed the wooden stairs that led to where she waited, the trapped angel in a body possessed. He would free her before the morning as was dictated by God himself, in a message he had decoded from a note found in his nightly dreams. He knew it was from God, he just knew it- it had to be. It had felt too wonderful and enlightening to be anything but an order from God himself, and so that's what it was.

Taking out a flashlight from his bag, he could see the hallway flooring was wooden as well. He took great care to avoid creaking his steps this close to her as it would be an alert of his presence. The demons would know what he intended to do and ruin the mission. He supposed if he was really meant to exorcise them, God would intervene but the man was also aware of Luke chapter 4 verse 12: "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." The precautions he took were always with that verse in mind. The Lord would help him as long as he took as much care as he could in his own hands. He had the strongest of faith in this.

He crept along. Another quick prayer sent upwards, and he was inside the belly of the beast. Seemingly innocuous and somewhat messy, a casual observer would see nothing amiss for a twenty-three year old. She lay on a twin sized bed, naked and asleep. A blue-colored sheet thrown haphazardly across her lower body. Though sinfully beautiful, she herself had not sinned. She was as clean as the Virgin. Satan owned her, selling her body to men for innumerable trades. Satan had corrupted the body of the woman and the man was led by God to restore her soul on the road to Paradise.

He longed to stay and gaze upon her beauty but he had to remain as pure himself as he could as a mortal being. Placing the flashlight on the nightstand beside her bed facing the doorway gave enough light to work by but soft enough to not rouse her or her inhabitants. Removing a looped bundle of rope from his bag and trying to ignore the lewd thoughts, he gently moved and tied her hands together above her head. Opening her mouth would be trickier because it took great patience and steady hands. Gradually he worked it open enough; he removed two handkerchiefs dipped in holy water and stuffed them inside of her mouth. The exorcism was almost prepared. The bag was reached into a final time and a hammer was produced.

"Exorcizo te, omnis spiritus immunde, in nomine Dei," he boomed, swinging the hammer down. "Patris omnipotentis, et in noimine Jesu-" The screams of the unholy, muffled by the holy gag, joined his prayer as the hammer punctuated every word. "Christi Filii ejus, Domini et Judicis nostri, et in virtute Spiritus-" The color of hell itself flew from her broken skull onto the surroundings. "Sancti, ut descedas ab hoc plasmate Dei, quod Dominus noster ad templum sanctum suum vocare dignatus est, ut fiat templum Dei vivi, et Spiritus Sanctus habitet in eo. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum."

Breathing heavily, he took the flashlight in his hand and surveyed his work. The blessed rags were bunched inside her still-intact jaw, though the top half of her was gory chaos. His hammer had done God's work well tonight. The demons had been vanquished, the angel freed to join their Father. He took a vial of holy water and shook some out on the body, then in the doorway of the room so the demons couldn't recreate and repossess her soulless body.

The man slipped out of the home as quietly as he had arrived. He thanked God for the success as he returned to his own home and begged forgiveness for his lust. Laying in his own bed in the early morning hours, thinking of other souls he had saved, the man wept in gratitude for the honor of being God's chosen hand.

Sleep was welcomed by him happily, for in his dreams came messages from God.