Chapter 3

The next day early in the morning at about 6 a.m. Zick was already up packing his belongings getting ready to move into the dormitory. His room wasn't that hard to find, and the place wasn't anything like a maze as he had thought. He pulled out the key he had received from the dorm's master and pushed it into the keyhole trying to unlock the door, but it was already open, so he just opened it and stepped inside with his backpack and the box of clothes.

"You must be my roommate, hi I'm Joel, nice to meet you", a boy about the same age as Zick himself who had bright blue eyes, and a well-proportioned face to go with them, with well kept brown hair looking like an absolute lady killer, someone who could easily make it in modeling if it depended on looks alone.

'I wonder what he's circumstances are to attend a seminary, the dude looks like someone who could get ladies just by raising his pinky' a thought went through Zick's mind before responding, "I'm Ezekiel but feel free to call me Zick, it's nice to meet you too".

Both of them got along very well, and although they weren't best friends, they were pretty close and could be considered excellent friends.

…

9 years later..

In a matured mid toned voice a brown-haired man with blue eyes spoke "hey Zick, we've got to hurry, the bishop will be visiting today so eat faster" with excitement all over his face

"Bro, chill out, you're almost burning me with the overly bright beams of excitement brimming from your body. You look like a puppy that's about to receive chocolate," Zick responded in a nonchalant tone and manner.

Now both men were 26 years old and Joel was still a lady killer in looks while our guy Zick was… well he was ok, possessing a pair of dull looking eyes that looked almost lifeless which he himself blames the lack of adequate sleep for, coupled with a just below average looking face, and not in any way looking fit in body structure. He would easily collapse after doing a 100 meter dash twice, though not to suggest that he was fat or chubby but neither was he slim nor muscular, very much like the average Joe. His only outstanding quality is his brain, yet again muscles aren't needed for the kind of work he does, so it's all good.

…

"I assume a room has been prepared for the Bishop?" a question was asked to which an answer was given immediately by the person standing in front of the desk. "During his stay the Bishop will be carrying out the inauguration of the newly ordained priests," a man sited behind the desk wearing priestly robes spoke while focusing his attention on the paperwork in front of him on his desk. "Ahh, Joel Ban, a good student, although it's a little early, but he's among the ones to be ordained isn't he?" He said this with a happy face while looking at the document containing Joel's passport photograph on it, "That's good for the church".

He grumbled as he looked at the next document however "Ezekiel Capher, a relatively smart student who also shows good potential but refuses to become a priest instead prefers to lazy around in the background," the man said while looking like someone who just finished babysitting four annoying 6year olds.

*sigh*

"We can't force him though, but that's a loss. If only he would be as spirited as Joel," he grumbled through two tight lips that really didn't want to say those words.

The Bishop arrived eventually and Joel was ordained a priest amongst others while Zick congratulated them. The next year, they transferred Joel to another major branch of the church across the globe, where he would take charge as an assistant to the priest there while immersing experience.

Two years after Joel was transferred, they transferred Zick to a nearby village close to the city where he and his mother lived just on the outskirts. After some days had passed and he had settled into the parish (the church premises or general name for any Catholic Church premises), he decided to go visit his mother because it's been long since they saw each other.

On his way there, he was greeted by his mother, who was becoming old as time passed.

"Mum!" he called out as he opened his hands to receive his mother's hug, "wow mum you've… grown".

"Ungrateful child! I should be the one saying that not the other way around and before you maneuver your way around this issue of you rejecting to become a priest that you mentioned before, you must give me a good explanation".

…

"Get a doctor fast!" a woman shouted as she entered the emergency ward with a young boy in her hands. "Something is wrong with my son", she said to the man who was running towards her.

"Please calm down, Ma'am and explain slowly," the doctor said to the woman as he turned to look at the boy. A chill ran throughout his body. He immediately turned to look at the woman wearing a concerned look on his face.. "what the hell happened?".

…

"I see, so you just want to live a comfortable life. I'm not bothered about that as long as you are doing well". Zick had just explained to his mother why he chose not to become a full-fledged priest while they ate dinner, which, to his surprise, she had taken it better than he expected.

After they finished eating and the dishes were being washed, Zick and his mother continued the discussion in the living room until late at night before they decided to turn in.

Zick had much work to do at the branch church they posted him to, so he left early in the morning after eating breakfast with his mum.

…

"Hello good morning sir, is there any problem?, your voice sounds a little…" Before Zick could finish his sentence, the parish Priest (the person in charge of the branch he was posted to) cut him off.

"Ezekiel, listen to me. Leave whatever it is you are doing and return to the parish (the Church premises). I just received a call from a friend of mine who is a doctor about a demon possession case".

"But sir, how does he know it's a demon possession?" with a worried look on his face.

"This is not the first time it's happened. He has quite a little experience with such things, so he had the child and his mother transported to the church immediately after he and I spoke. Don't ask questions and just go".

The priest's voice sounded serious, with a hint of fear, as though an apocalypse was about to occur. This made Zick worry even more since the priest appeared to be a calm person and he had also been told so by the junior seminarian who helped him settle in.

On arrival, Zick was swept with a feeling of confusion as the whole parish was in disarray. He knew the situation was serious, but he didn't expect what he was seeing. He had done a few exorcisms on demon possession alongside other seminarians in the past, but never had he encountered one this powerful before.

The sky above the church was covered in thick dark clouds that blocked out the sun completely with winds blowing non stop from all directions, as the temperature in the vicinity suddenly pummeled down several degrees to the point of freezing. Dense black mist emerged from within the room in which the boy was in, while all the while the boy who was floating a few feet above the ground held his mother captive.

"Brother Ezekiel!" a man standing close to the room yelled Zick's name while he was moving about slowly, trying to comprehend what was going on. With his expressions letting out a little fear, he walked hurriedly towards the man.

"Brother, what shall we do?" Zick asked, while trying to hide his fear and control his thoughts.

"We are to wait for the parish priest, but he is too far away, and this demon is immensely strong, nothing like what I've seen before. I wonder what brought such a thing to the surface…" as he let down an audible ball of saliva down his throat, he turned to face the room, "could it be the devil himself?"

"The devil huh?" with a worried expression on his face Zick thought to himself, 'there's no way we can exorcise this thing. If there's one class I never took seriously, it was exorcism. At this rate, all we can do is wait for the parish Priest, and hope that the demon does nothing sporadic'.