Holy Water And Hellfire (CS)

The smoke had a lovely scent to it. It wasn’t just regular wood smoke, it had a sweetness to it, hiding the danger it represented. It reminded Elizabeth vaguely of going to her paternal grandparent’s house. They lived on a farm out in Iowa, and they always had some type of special wood burning in their fireplace. It was a surprising memory, adding to the feeling of being at home. Another tear rolled down her cheek. Even as spittle flew from the preacher’s mouth, Liz just couldn’t help how unafraid she felt. She decided that she was going to start going there more often.

And then a child screamed.

Instantly losing her concentration on the minister, like every other person in the room, Beth jerked her head toward the sound. A small boy, maybe only four years old, was clinging to his mother, head on her shoulder and staring at the back of the room, facing the front of the church. The boy shrieked and screamed bloody murder as tears fell and soaked his mother’s fancy dress. Even the preacher stopped, leveling the boy with a heated stare. Elizabeth turned even more to see what the boy was screaming at.

There, beyond the beautiful stained-glass doors at the rear, brilliant lights shone through. They danced around, illuminating the greens and blues of the doors. Then Liz put two and two together. “Fire!” someone behind her yelled, obviously thinking the same thing the little empath was. Fear streaked through the people in attendance. Little children began crying as they heard the news. Men jumped up out of their seats to see what was going on. Women tried in vain to gather up their children. The man who’d been preaching began yelling, trying to get everyone’s attention.

Everyone could smell the smoke by then. A grey haze began developing in the room as smoke sauntered in through every available opening. The entire foyer to the church must’ve been ablaze, as the fiery lights shone through all the doors leading to the front of the church. A middle-aged man in a crisp black suit recoiled from a door leading out into a side hallway with a shout of pain. He was clutching his hand, making Liz think he burnt it. That must’ve meant that the flames had spread all along the halls surrounding the congregation. From the looks of it at the moment, they were trapped.

Fear wormed its evil little way into the animal empath, embedding itself within her mind. They were stuck in a burning building. Quickly remembering the things she had learned in kindergarten, Liz dropped to her knees and rolled under the pew in front of her. That’s always what you were supposed to do in a fire, right? Chaos flooded the sanctuary as people began shrieking and frantically searching for a way out. Many futilely tried all the doors they could find, only to find angry tongues lash out at them with heated wrath. Scorching heat began driving most of the people to the middle of the sanctuary.

Huddling under her pew, Liz watched in wide-eyed fear at all that was going on. She reached into her pocket for her cell phone, to call the fire department, and then realized that she still hadn’t bought a new one. With a fresh demoralizing thing like that, her terror built up, thinking they were all going to die. Surely by then, the entire building as on fire!

However, the fire had merely surrounded the enormous room, lashing out at all the other rooms bordering the exterior of the church. Thousands of dollars in electronics, decorations, and other things began going up in smoke and ash. Within minutes, the frightened congregation had a room-thick solid fortress of fire isolating them from the outside world.

“Everyone! Please stay calm!” the preacher shouted over the congregation. This time, the holy man had some affect over the flock. People began quieting down a little, realizing that they really had no chance of escape. Crushing hopes like that tended to make people docile. By then, everyone had congregated in the middle of the sanctuary, as far away from the heat and fire as they could get. From Elizabeth’s position under a pew, she could see several other people, mostly children, under many other pews as well.

As a strange calm began settling over the people as the minister stood, the pastor began leading them in prayer. “Dear heavenly Father,” he began, going on in requesting help from above. Many of the attendees soon took up the prayer, adding their voices and cries to their god, despite the circumstances. A few small children were crying and screaming, but other than that, the room was silent save for the snapping and crackling of the fire and the solemn and urgent voices of the people.

Liz couldn’t believe her ears! At a time like this, when the whole building seemed ready to fall upon their heads like a rain of fire, the people were praying! They weren’t even trying to create a shelter out of the pews or something. They were totally giving up! It was like they didn’t care if they burnt up! Of course, Liz didn’t really know much about faith and the strange things it made people do. She just thought she’d made a mistake in going there. Her sense of peace and security was shattered now as the fiery death devoured the church.

Her fear and panic soon began flowing freely over her mental dams. But fortunately/unfortunately for her, there were no animals in her range to feel her fear. Of course, animals weren’t easily tolerated in a church, and all animals were smart enough to flee fire and smoke. It was good, because now Liz didn’t have to worry about causing imaginable terror to any poor little creatures. It was bad because Liz was utterly and completely powerless.

Soon the useless mutant could hear coughing. It started out slow in the beginning, consisting of a few people coughing a little bit. Then, as most of the people kept praying on, about five more people started coughing. A couple more minutes passed and more people started coughing. Hacks and wheezes began erupting. “Everyone! Get on your knees!” the minister said, confusing Liz as to whether he was helping them avoid the rising smoke or if he wanted them to pray more.

Even though smoke had a useful tendency to rise, there was enough smoke in the massive room to attack Beth’s eyes. She wiped the stinging water away, coughing a bit as she did so. Where was these people’s God now?

Somehow, over the hissing and crackling of the fire, and the wailing and coughing of the praying congregation, Elizabeth heard the sound of wood breaking. They were doomed. A feeling of hopelessness pierced the blonde’s heart as she realized what breaking wood meant. The fire’s burning the entire church down. That must’ve been the ceiling or a support or something. The whole church was going to crash and burn around their heads. And the stupid people were just kneeling, praying!

A little trickle of anger wormed its sneaky way around the fear in her heart. Why were the people wasting their time when they could be doing something to save all their lives? Or at least prolong them. Why couldn’t they…build a barricade around them from the pews, in effort to stave off the fire for a few more seconds? Or try fanning away the smoke? Something. Liz wiped her burning eyes with her sleeve and then pulled her shirt up to cover her nose. Many of the praying people were coughing and wheezing. Hopefully, none of them had asthma or any respiratory disease. The smoke alone could kill them. Just like the rest of us.

Children were screaming. They were about the only people who weren’t praying. But they couldn’t do anything to help. It pained Liz to watch little toddlers bawling their eyes out in the face of their dooms. Tears welled up in Elizabeth’s eyes, as a result of both the smoke and her sadness. All the other small children were huddled under pews like she was, although none of them were close to her. She wiped sweat from her face as she stared with wide, fearful eyes at many of the children, hating how their faces reflected hers. The mutant closed her eyes and wept to herself, from all the varying emotions she’d felt.

Then a voice called out through the thick gray smoke. It was merely the word “Yo!” but it was enough to grab everyone’s attention. Suddenly, a dozen or so people began shouting “Hallelujah” and started rejoicing. At least, they shouted and rejoiced in between gags and chokes. Liz was starting to understand why. She had been so wrong. There God really had stepped in to save them!

Opening her eyes, Liz smiled as fresh hope coursed through her, taking the edge off the fear she felt. Something was going to happen. She could just feel it. They were going to make it out. She could also feel how the heat seemed to have intensified. She was drowning in sweat by then, giving up on the idea of wiping it away. It had to have been over 100F, at least. But she didn’t know that an ice mutant had opened some of the doors to the sanctuary, enabling the fire to finally assault the metal-and-plaster-and-stone encased holy stronghold. Not many others were aware of it either. Although just about everyone heard the voice, nobody noticed the figure standing near the back and likewise didn’t notice how the fire attempted to pour into the room.

But Liz did notice something. She noticed tiny bits of stuff falling through the air. Bits of white and black matter fell, some having orange glows that vanished quickly. It reminded her of something. It reminded her of the ash and soot that always appeared around her grandparent’s fireplace. When they were burning logs.

Burning logs. On a hunch, Liz peaked her head out from under a pew, gazing up at the ceiling. Sure enough, there were burning logs. Brilliant oranges and yellows swirled about in the fire dancing on the rafters. If the situation hadn’t been so dangerous and out of hand, it would’ve looked very pretty. The empathy guessed that the logs extended through the walls and had caught fire outside the room. But she didn’t know for sure. The flames soaked into the wood like water, spreading themselves all over the beams. Liz watched as they started burning and charring. And she watched them falling.

As bits of burning wood started falling throughout the room, Liz screamed and jerked her head back under the pew. Other people noticed the falling debris and soon scrambled for protection, most going under the pews as well. As panic and fear flooded her again, Elizabeth desperately tried praying.

Elizabeth coughed some more. Obviously, she wasn’t praying right or something because nothing was happening! As she mumbled and muttered for a miracle or for any type of help whatsoever, she listened in to what other people were praying for, hoping to get an idea on how to do it herself. She heard some people yelling and speaking unintelligibly, helping her not one bit. Others were talking and wishing for deliverance from the fiery furnace. Still others were just complimenting God and thanking him for helping already. In short, Liz was just as confused and terrified as ever.

But in her straining for voices, she heard a couple others. These voices weren’t praying, not by a long shot. And they weren’t constantly stopping to cough or choke or whatever, due to the smoke. And it was also a bit hard to hear them over the roar and crackle of the fiery tendrils and shoots. As the oppressive heat and smoke filled the room to its fullest, Liz managed to hear another person say something that she’d never heard inside a church before. The slight shock of that word almost made her forget her fear and the danger she was in for a moment. Almost.

A strained cough racked her lungs as she swallowed in more smoke. Another bit of burning rafters caught her eye as it fell. It made Liz wonder how on Earth something so beautiful as the sight of the scarlet and amber tongues dancing around the wood could be so deadly. As she watched with fear-widened eyes, the debris fell. And suddenly froze and were thrown off course. With eyes bulging, Liz retreated under the pew again, clawing at her eyes in order to see better. “Hallelujah!” she breathed to herself, thinking she’d just seen a miracle. The debris would’ve fallen on a pew, directly over the spot where two small children huddled.

And then more minor miracles began occurring. As if God had unleashed an Arctic assault on the fire, ice began flying through the air. Flaming, falling planks and logs began flash freezing and falling in different directions besides down. From her disadvantage point, Liz could only see some of it, but it was enough to know what was happening. As the fire unleashed a new assault by creating more fire along the pews, burning through the congregation’s defenses, it was attacked by waves of frost and water. She heard a cry go out to break the windows and the danger-prone empath realized that she could hear shattering glass. And she realized what that meant. Freedom!

But there were still many falling bits of fiery wood and Elizabeth’s luck would not have allowed her to escape unharmed, she was certain of it. But a curious thing happened. Even as smoke clouded her eyes, she saw something trickling towards her. She carefully touched it, uncertain of what it was. It was liquid. It was cold. It was clear. It was water. Stunned and amazed, Liz’s fear faltered a bit. It was water. Water destroyed fire. But why was there water? A quick glance told her why. The ice. As it melted, it made water. Duh.

And then she heard a loud CREEEEACKKK! Before Liz had time to do more than cover her face with her hands, a loud thud sounded as something heavy banged into the pew directly over her. A small shower of flaming wooden splinters fell on both sides of her, just missing her face. The debris fell into the water that was now all around her, creating several hisses and sizzles as the fire extinguished. A small scream escaped Liz as another loud CRACK! could be heard, as if the pew was ready to break and collapse. The heat and smoke around her seemed to intensify in seconds, as if the pew was on fire.

Panicking even more, Elizabeth’s life flashed before her eyes. This was it. This was the time she was going to die. I was right. As if a small consideration lent to her, Liz had the grim satisfaction that her dreams, feelings, and nightmares had always been correct. She was going to die in a fire. A strained cough racked her body as Liz prepared to die.

Then the same word that was best left unsaid inside a church was repeated, much louder than it had been said before. No, it wasn’t louder. It was closer. Timidly peeking through two fingers, Liz stared at…ice. What looked to be two feet and ankles made of ice stood almost right in front of her covered face, doing some kind of work since the empath could hear sounds like a struggle from a couple yards up. Looking down, Liz could see another pair of icy legs. Very confused and thinking that the smoke was messing with her, it was all Liz could do to cower and stare at…whatever was going on.

A very audible crash sounded from another corner of the room. And then there was suddenly a voice (the one that had said the unspeakable word in the very sanctuary itself) asking if she was okay. Staring and blinking at the icy appendages on the floor (also being puzzled by the water the other set had just…melted), Liz could manage a small nod and nothing else. Conflicting emotions swirled around her, fear taking dominance but others vying for power.

If fear hadn’t already established its rule over her, it would’ve seized power instantly as more words filtered through the smoke, words from another person. The ceiling was going to collapse.

Blinking away the stinging smoke and still wondering if she wasn’t seeing a hallucination, Elizabeth began squirming out from under the damaged pew. She accepted the hand offered to her and she gasped when her skin came into contact with the shockingly cold ice. It was such a temperature difference that it felt unbelievably cold and like it was freezing her skin off. Sweat on her hand instantly cooled and froze within seconds. It blew her mind how cold the thing was when they were all inside a building that was quickly acquiescing physical matter to infernal flames.

Liz let go as soon as she had managed to stand up, grimacing as blood began reaching her lower legs and feet again, sticking pins and thick needles into every single vein. The smoke was slightly thicker there, even though now Liz could see that it was escaping the building through several broken windows. Too bad the fire had plenty of materials with which to keep the smoke at the same density. The blonde nearly doubled over as a cough forced its way out of her, scratching her throat with all the choking smoke.

And then, before the animal manipulator could even look at her rescuer’s face, she heard a shout about the ceiling falling in. A look of horror and almost total disbelief flashed over Elizabeth’s face before instinctively hiding. The girl crouched, ignoring the painful tingling, closed her eyes, and raised her arms above her head, even as her frosty-savior instructed. A few bits of wood and dust hit her as she cowered only a foot or so away from the living snowman. In the back of her mind, Liz was able to enjoy the coldness radiating from the ice, engaging the dreadful heat in a steamy battle.

With a sound like a buffalo dying from a horrible gutting mixed with a piece of sheet metal being fed through a blender, Beth could guess that the ceiling had suddenly gave out. Preparing for the worst and honestly expecting to see the preacher’s former words in person, Liz made a vow to God. If I survive this, I swear I’ll attend services every week and I’ll become the nicest person you’ve ever seen!

And then the terrified mutant heard loud crash and a series of smaller crashes and tumbles. Confused and scared that she was about to be brained by a flaming log, Elizabeth cautiously peeked out from between two fingers, staring at the floor. The floor that seemed to be a lot dryer than before. Where had the water gone? And there was no fire covering the floor, explaining that the water had evaporated. Really confused, Liz looked up.

And let her mouth hit the floor in total surprise. The burning ceiling from high up above had been replace with a second ceiling over her savior’s head. One that seemed to be seamless and completely made out of ice. Any exclamation or remark at all died in her throat. Really, she ought to have expected something like that. But, an ice dome in the middle of a burning church? Since when is that ever the natural thing to think of?

And then Liz noticed something else as the iceman cursed. Something was wrong with his legs. It looked like they were melting. Melting up. Elizabeth watched, completely confuddled and confused at what was happening. But then she noticed the ice vanish, leaving behind an actual pair of feet and legs. And a human body. And a human face. So it wasn’t some miracle-incarnate. Her rescuer was just a miracle. One that seemed to have some difficulties standing up. What little water that was left on the floor splashed as the man came tumbling down to land on his butt, letting out a seemingly-casual remark.

Really, Liz just managed a nod. What on Earth or any other plane of existence have I gotten myself into? First she’s at church. Then it burns. Then a ice-guy arrives. Then the ceiling falls. Then she makes a pact with God. Then God fulfills his end of the deal. Then the iceman protects them both with an ice bubble. And the guy has an eye-patch? What was he, a pirate-wannabe? Confusion still etched its way along her features with a raised brow and uncertain expression. She didn’t even know if she was scared or not. If it hadn’t been for her divine promise, Liz would’ve sworn off churches and the resulting drama right then and there.

“You alright?”

The blonde darted her questing gaze from the curious ice shield around them to the man’s face. Eye-patch and all. Speaking up, Liz answered. “Ye…” she said so faintly that a dog wouldn’t have heard it. But even the tiny bit of effort it took to make that much sound scraped her throat and caused her to cough. Seconds later, when her lungs had stopped revolting against her and the smoke, she cleared her throat to try again. “Y…” was all she could manage. She cleared her throat another time but she still failed. After another cough came upon her, Elizabeth looked at the man and just nodded again, unable to talk with all the smoke scraping and filling her throat.

And then the now-frostless man started talking. Frowning a little in confusion, because it didn’t sound like his words were directed at her, Liz stared back at the man’s face. Or more accurately, his patch. As much as she didn’t want to, Liz couldn’t help stare at the patch, wondering what the eye would’ve looked at. She just barely noticed how the guy’s hand was to his ear before Liz dragged her eyes away to look at something else, like the impromptu igloo they were in.

She half-tuned her rescuer out, mostly listening to a scattered rain of miscellaneous debris plunking against the roof of their bubble. It wasn’t much. Most of the roof had probably fallen when the majority of it had fallen earlier. Now it was probably just flaming splinters falling upon the dome. The mention of a “girl” caught the mentioned girl’s attention and she tuned in to what the man was saying. She looked banged up? Liz brought a hand to her face and then winced as her searching fingers gently grazed what had to have been a small cut on her cheek. How had that happened? Liz didn’t know how she’d been cut. When her hand pulled away, she saw a tiny bit of crimson blood standing out against her gray-and-white ash-covered finger.

Preoccupied with her physical condition, Liz didn’t hear the rest of the talk the man was having with whoever else he was talking to. Probably has a Bluetooth device or something. When he informed her that they would be staying there for awhile, Liz just stared blankly back at him, as if to say, “And the significance of that is…?” She drew her legs up in front of her, her filthy and wet skirt clinging to her legs as she wrapped her arms around them. Surprisingly, Liz wasn’t as scared now, really. Amazing how one’s fear of dying in a fiery and collapsing church can be alleviated by a simple protective shield made from ice. And plus, her vow had been answered. So it all left Liz feeling very strange, both emotionally and physically.

“Got any cards?” she managed to choke out in a tired and hoarse voice. She coughed again as her smoke-scoured throat protested against her unlawful use of it.