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    Wayne Gray
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

A Silent Song - 6. The Devil

Bonus Chapter! Surprise!

 

It was Wednesday and the end of the workday for most folks, though pastor David Rogers was just getting started. He had a sermon to preach at the Baptist Church in town. Only the truly dedicated showed up on Wednesday night services, and he tailored his sermons accordingly.

He knew that Huck would be there. David had an obligation to help keep Huck on the path. He needed to ensure the man knew that homosexuality was a sin and that what they did now for his son, Rayne, was necessary.

The discussion with Huck last night had been hard. It was apparent to pastor Rogers that the young father struggled with their plan. It had almost sounded as if Huck had second thoughts about the inherent damnation wrapped up in the gay lifestyle.

"I don't understand," Huck had said at one point during their talk. "If God made my son, then why would he make him so flawed? If being gay is wrong, why? Why would God do such a cruel thing to my sweet boy?"

Pastor Rogers knew what he needed to do. He had to reinforce during the sermon that homosexuality was a sin. It was Rayne's trial and a character flaw that had to be overcome. He would repeat it until Huck had no doubts, then maybe he could help pastor Rogers bring Rayne back to the light.

The pastor walked out of his front door. This time of year, the darkness came earlier and earlier, and though it was only a little after six p.m., the clouds overhead meant he had to squint in the garage light to find the key to his car. He finally found the key on the ring and slipped it into the lock.

"Hello, pastor."

David jerked in surprise. Someone stood in shadow on the other side of his driveway. The man had his arms crossed, leaning back against the maple tree that grew at the corner of their property.

How long has he been there? I didn't even notice him. Pastor Rogers swallowed nervously. "Uh, yes? Do I know you?"

The man took a single step forward. Now the light from the garage illuminated most of his body, though his face was still in shadow. "No. You don't know me." The fellow's voice dropped almost to a growl. "But I know you. And I have a message for you."

The hair rose on the back of preacher Roger's neck. The body language and tone of this man set him on edge. He surreptitiously unlocked the door to his car. "Oh? And what's that?"

The fellow cocked his head. "If you get into that car before I'm done speaking, you will regret it. I'm trying to do this the easy way. But things will get hard quickly if you test me."

There was a calm, clinical, assured tone in the voice. That unnerved David more than anything else. There was something predatory, dangerous, and yet, for the moment, something restrained in the man. Pastor Rogers released the key that was in the car door and nodded. "Okay. Okay. There's no need for threats. What did you want to say, then?"

The man leaned forward, putting his closed fists on the hood of the car. The light now illuminated his mouth and the stubbled skin of his chin and jaw. "You will stop preaching the sins of homosexuality, and stop counseling the man, Huck, concerning his son."

Though frightened, the demand brought an indignance and fire back to the pastor's eyes. "I can't do such a thing." He straightened, squaring his shoulders. "It doesn't matter what you do to me, I won't compromise the word of God. And I will continue to deliver His word."

The man slowly smiled, his teeth glimmering in the white light from the mounted LED lamps attached to the garage. "How marvelously convenient for you—to pick and choose which 'sin' deserves attention." The fellow took out a sheet of folded paper from his pocket. Unfolding it, he slid it across the hood of the car. The man seemed to have an awareness of where the light ended, and he never exposed his whole face to pastor Rogers.

Rogers looked down at the paper. He gasped. It felt as if an icy spear had been driven into his heart. "Wh—" Swallowing noisily, he picked up the printed photograph with shaking fingers. It clearly showed a carbon copy of his checkbook—the one he kept completely separate from all other finances. Biting his lip, he tore his eyes away from the sheet. "How did you get this?"

"That doesn't matter. What matters is, I have proof of a twenty-two thousand dollar check you wrote to Atlantis Casino, two weeks ago, in Reno, Nevada." He smiled, pure venom and bile in the expression. "Tell me—how long have you spent church funds on your gambling habit?"

He knows. Oh, God. God, save me. Pastor Rogers held up a quaking hand. "Now," he rubbed a sheen of sweat off his face, "now, just listen—"

"No." That cold, evil voice grew even deeper. "You listen. You will never, ever preach on the evils of homosexuality again." The edge crept back into the tone. "Or I will destroy your entire life. I will take it all from you by revealing your sins one by one." The shadowed figure cocked his head. "Do you understand?"

Pastor Rogers only hesitated a moment then nodded. "I understand. Yes."

"Good." The man stepped back until he was almost entirely obscured by the deep shadow near the fenceline. "I'll be watching you, pastor."

The man began to move away, and Rogers called out, "Wait!" His tormentor, only barely visible, turned to look at him. "Who—who are you?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The only thing the pastor saw for certain was the white of the man's smile as it glimmered in the blackness surrounding him. Then he took another step and was gone, swallowed up by the night.

The final words whispered from the impenetrable shadows sent chills down Rogers' spine. "I'm the devil."

This one is very short, I know. The first time I posted this story on another site, Halloween was coming up. So I hurriedly got the scene ready, and posted it on Halloween for a nice, scary chapter.
Anyway ... I also felt people needed reminding - Harlan is a very capable, driven, and when he wants to be, frightening individual.
I mean, the cutest teddy bears are those with claws, right?
😈
If you have the time, let me know what you think of it. Thanks for reading, and thanks to Thorn for editing off schedule to make this the best scene it can be!
Copyright © 2020 Wayne Gray; All Rights Reserved.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Chapter Comments



I love the character of Harlan.  A very dangerous man when crossed but an honest and kind soul.  It is a joy to be reading this again. 

 

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6 hours ago, droughtquake said:

I think the world would be better if a Harlan made quick visits to those who are causing the problems. It’s likely that they have a pattern that needs to be broken. A few tweaks and many peoples’ problems are fixed all at once!
;–)

I think finding out that he had sent his son(s) to a conversion camp wouldn’t have been a clichéd as finding out that he was dealing with internal homophobia. It would have been something he could have told Huck to prove his sincerity.

I agree with your first point. 🙂

Now, the second. I also am not surprised, in the slightest, that you came up with a totally unique skeleton in the pastor's closet. Though, he wouldn't think of it that way. So it wouldn't have been something Harlan could have used against him.

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OMG! You'd get four or five hearts and a big gold star, if that was possible! ❤❤❤❤❤🌟 I was absolutely tickled pink with this chapter! Short? Yes a bit. But. The dialogue was perfect! Harlan has recaptured his old self! It is your writing at it's best! Now how will Harlan handle Huck? Or will he? Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. 🤩

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21 minutes ago, JeffreyL said:

OMG! You'd get four or five hearts and a big gold star, if that was possible! ❤❤❤❤❤🌟 I was absolutely tickled pink with this chapter! Short? Yes a bit. But. The dialogue was perfect! Harlan has recaptured his old self! It is your writing at it's best! Now how will Harlan handle Huck? Or will he? Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. 🤩

Hehe. Thanks!

Harlan is back to his tricks, isn’t he?

As for how he deals with Huck, well just keep on reading 🙂

Thanks for the comment!

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Harlan has made move one against the evil preacher, unfortunately those who don the armor of righteousness very seldom give up that easily. This is just the opening salvo between Harlan and Preacher, Let's see where the war goes from here.

Mr Will

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Oh goody, some dirt on the minister. I was kind of hoping that he was paying for rent boys, now that would have been a delicious twist. 

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On 5/13/2020 at 2:56 PM, Clancy59 said:

Huck was probably brought up to believe in the sanctity of the church and therefore it’s representatives, the pastors/priests.  Usually, these people present themselves as they are—flawed humans trying to understand a higher calling and sharing that with others.  On the other hand, unfortunately, there are those who think that just because they are part of the church’s hierarchy, they get to decide what is right and wrong for everyone.  If they don’t like something, it’s wrong and you are a sinner.  It’s their way of maintaining control.  Those are the dangerous ones.  The people who follow them blindly are also a danger because they could do whatever they are told ‘in the name of Jesus!’  As far as these churches are concerned, people like Huck are the dangerous ones because they think for themselves and could discover how wrong and dangerous that ‘church’ actually is.  Huck is beginning to realize this, although he doesn’t know it.  He and Rogers are coming to a crossroad where they will be parting ways and Rogers knows this.  He has to fight to keep him under his thumb.  Harlan has just made that 10 times harder.

They are all judgmental hypocrites, the sooner we are rid of the evils of the church the better place the world will become 

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But, you misunderstand me.  I’m not anti-religion.  Religion has its place in society, but too many people have turned it into an evil, greedy institution that sets itself above everyone and everything in the name of God.  Those are the ones that we have to be guarded against.

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1 minute ago, Clancy59 said:

But, you misunderstand me.  I’m not anti-religion.  Religion has its place in society, but too many people have turned it into an evil, greedy institution that sets itself above everyone and everything in the name of God.  Those are the ones that we have to be guarded against.

I feel similarly.

Belief isn't the problem. It is the institutions linked to belief that take advantage of others' dedication.

I'm not religious at all, but there's a simple rule to follow in my book if I judge a religious institution as wanting. And that is: Anytime religion is used as a weapon or an excuse to hurt someone, then it has ceased to be a good thing.

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fantastic bonus chapter ! 👍

« i’m the devil » this last answer sounds to me like from an Isaac Asimov short novel 😂😂

@Fae Briona that quote sounds to me like something from the « Winds trilogy » . something the vkandis priest said to his envoy in Valdemar ( i’m a huge fan of Valdemar 😬)

Edited by Danilo Syrtis
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7 hours ago, Story Reader said:

I want to HIGH FIVE Harlan for what he just said to the pastor! GO HARLAN!

He’s a fun character. 🙂

Thanks for reading!

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On 5/12/2020 at 4:00 PM, kbois said:

I was hoping it was his annual  subscription for pornhub prime 🤣

If it was that it would have cost the congregation less than 22 thousand dollars

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The one flaw I see in Harlan referring himself as the devil is that preacher can rationalize that the devil doesn't want him to preach against homosexuality so that proves to himself he's right.

The preacher is really closer to devil here his actions and the results from it would make the devil grin

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