THE CHORISTERS IN THE CHURCH SANG TO THEIR HEARTS' CONTENT, THE MEMBERS MOVED TO THE RHYTHM OF THE SONG, AND THE JOY AND LOVE FOR THE CHURCH WERE PRESENT IN THEIR EYES. THE SONG CAME TO AN END AND THE MEMBERS TOOK THEIR SEATS, THE PASTOR TOOK TO THE PODIUM WITH A LOUD ‘’AMEN’’, AND THE CONGREGATION RESPONDED ‘’AMEN’’.

‘’ YOU ALL KNOW GOD LOVES YOU’’, HE SAID WITH A FIRM TONE,

THE CONGREGATION RESPONDED ‘’ YES’’ IN UNISON.

HE BEGAN TO PREACH SHOWING HIS FIRM STAND WITH GOD TO THE CONGREGATION.

‘’ GOD, THE CREATOR OF THE EARTH LOVES HIS CREATION MORE THAN ANYTHING, AND THIS IS WHY WE MUST ABSTAIN FROM SIN ‘’.

THE CONGREGATION SHOUTED A BIG ‘’YES’’.

‘’ WE MUST STAY AWAY FROM ALL MANNER OF SIN, THIS INCLUDES THE SINS OF GREED, LUST, ANGER, ENVY, AND GLUTTON. ALL THESE SINS WE MUST STAY AWAY FROM’’.

THE PASTOR EXPECTED A RESPONSE, BUT THERE WAS NONE. HE RAISED HIS HEAD HIGH FROM THE PODIUM AND FOUND NOTHING, EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO HAD JUST BEEN SEATED THERE A MOMENT AGO HAD DISAPPEARED. HE WAS IN A STATE OF SHOCK, HE BEGAN FRANTICALLY LOOKING AROUND, HE GOT OFF HIS PODIUM AND KEPT GLANCING AT THE FULL ROOM AS HE MADE HIS WAY TO THE END OF THE DOOR. THE INSTANT HE TOUCHED THE DOORS, HE WAS BLOWN ACROSS THE CHURCH WITH ENOUGH FORCE TO KILL HIM. HE WOKE UP LYING ON THE BROKEN PIECE OF THE PODIUM, AND THE SENSATION OF INTENSE PAIN QUICKLY RUSHED ACROSS HIS BODY, HE WAS UTTERLY IMMOBILIZED BY THE PAIN. HIS BRAIN COULDN’T COME UP WITH A RATIONAL OR LOGICAL REASON TO WHY THIS WAS HAPPENING TO HIM.

‘’ YOU KNOW IT IS VERY SAD, TO SEE ALL THOSE INNOCENT PEOPLE BELIEVE YOU ARE THE PINNACLE OF RIGHTNESS AND THEIR SALVATION TO ME’’

HE SWIFTLY TURNED HIS HEAD ALL OVER THE PLACE TO FIND OUT WHERE THE VOICE WAS COMING FROM BUT THERE WAS NOBODY THERE WITH HIM.

‘’ YOU WOULD THINK WHEN A PASTOR HEARS A VOICE FROM OUT OF NOWHERE HE WOULD SAY, ‘’SPEAK FOR THY SERVANT HEARETH’’. THAT SHOWS THAT YOU, MISTER JOSEPH DANZII ARE A FRAUD’’.

 JOSEPH BEGAN TO LAUGH, HE GOT UP FROM THE GROUND WITH HIS VERY HUGE BODY, HIS DEEP BROWN EYES SCANNING THE ROOM.

‘’ THIS IS IMPRESSIVE, YOU GUYS GOT A LOT OF TIME TO PULL SUCH AN ELABORATE PRANK, NOW CAN YOU GUYS KINDLY STOP, YOU ARE DISRESPECTING THE HOUSE OF GOD’’

THERE WAS NO ANSWER FOR A MINUTE, THE SILENCE EATING UP JOSEPH FROM THE INSIDE, HE TRIED TO SPEAK AGAIN BUT THE SOUND OF A WHIP STRIKING A BODY COULD BE HEARD FROM A MILE AWAY. BEFORE JOSEPH COULD EVEN PROCESS WHAT HAPPENED, HIS BACK BEGAN TO BLEED, THE INTENSE PAIN SHOOTING THROUGH HIS BODY IN A SECOND, HE BEGAN TO SCREAM SO LOUDLY IT COULD BURST AN EAR DRUM. THE MORE HE TRIED TO IGNORE THE PAIN THE MORE IT REVERBERATED THROUGH HIS BODY QUICKLY AND INTENSIFIED. THE PAIN WAS TOO MUCH FOR HIM TO HANDLE IT CAUSED HIM TO BREAK DOWN IN TEARS.

‘’ REFRAIN FROM SPEAKING, EVERY WORD OUT OF YOUR MOUTH DISGUSTS ME’’,

THE GROUND SLIGHTLY SHAKING AS HE SPOKE, WHETHER IT WAS THE PAIN OR JUST A FOOLISH AMOUNT OF STUPIDITY, JOSEPH STILL THOUGHT IT WAS A PRANK.

‘’ ALRIGHT WHOEVER IS DOING THIS BETTER STOP, IT NOT FUNNY’’, JOSEPH SAID WITH RAGE IN HIS VOICE, HIS EYES STILL RED FROM CRYING. THERE WERE ANOTHER FEW SECONDS OF SILENCE BEFORE JOSEPH NOTICED A SHADOW GROWING OVER THE CHURCH, IN THE QUEST TO FIND HIS ANSWERS, HE QUICKLY LOOKED ABOVE, AND IMMEDIATELY HE DID, A LARGE VOLUME OF BLOOD BEGAN TO POUR OUT OF HIS MOUTH, EAR, EYES, AND NOSE. WHAT HE SAW WAS A HUGE EYE WITH A DISGUSTING GREEN COLOUR ABOVE HIM, THE EYE SLOWLY BEGAN FADING AWAY. JOSEPH WAS STILL POURING OUT GALONS OF GALONS OF BLOOD, ENOUGH TO FILL A BATHTUB.

‘’ I TOLD YOU, TO SHUT UP!’’, THE GROUND BEGAN TO SHAKE VIOLENTLY, JOSEPH NODDED IN AGREEMENT, HE WAS NOW SCARED OUT OF HIS MIND. THE BLOOD OOZING OUT OF JOSEPH ABRUPTLY STOPPED, HIS HEART HAD NEVER POUNDED SO LOUDLY LIKE THIS EVER IN HIS LIFE, FOR THE FIRST TIME HE KNEW WHAT TRUE FEAR WAS.

‘’ JOSEPH DANZII, AGE 28, THE LAZIEST MAN TO EVER EXIST ON MY PLANET. YOUR LIFE IS SO BORING, NOTHING INTERESTING EVER HAPPENED TO YOU, RAISED IN AN AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD, WENT TO AN AVERAGE SCHOOL, AND HAD AVERAGE PROBLEMS. WHERE YOU BECAME INTERESTING IS WHEN YOUR LAZINESS GOT YOU ON A PART OF PREACHING, YOU WERE ALWAYS GOOD WITH YOUR MOUTH. YOU KEPT PREACHING UNTIL YOU GOT SOMETHING OUT OF IT’’.

 JOSEPH HAD HIS HEAD SLOPPED DOWN, FEELING A WEIGHT OF GUILT COME OVER HIM.

‘’ THE PART OF YOUR STORY THAT DISGUSTS ME THE MOST, IS THE INNOCENT BELIEVERS WHO THINK YOUR WORDS COME FROM ME AND WOULD DO ANYTHING TO HEAR IT AGAIN, WHO THINK YOU WALK THE WAY OF GOD WHILE YOU LAY THERE WITH TWO WOMEN IN BED, WHO THINKS YOU CARE ABOUT THEM WHILE YOU USE THEY HAD EARNED MONEY FOR YOUR HOUSE PARTIES, GAMBLING, AND MORE SEX. ALL THIS I CAN FORGIVE IF ONLY YOU WOULD HAVE KEPT MY NAME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH, EVERY TIME MY NAME COMES OUT OF YOUR MOUTH IT FEELS LIKE AM BATHING IN GABBAGE’’.

HEARING ALL THIS OUT LOUD JOSEPH LAID HIS BODY FLAT ON THE FLOOR, AND WITH A TREMBLING VOICE HE BEGAN TO BEG FOR FORGIVENESS.

‘’ PLEASE GOD, FORGIVE ME, I AM SORRY FOR WHAT I DID, I AM SORRY FOR MY SINS, I WAS A VERY STUPID AND FOOLISH MAN, I AM ASHAMED OF WHAT I HAVE BECOME’’,

‘’ YOU DO NOT EVEN DESERVE TO KNOW MY NAME, YOU SHAMELESS WORTHLESS MAN, YOU ONLY BEG BECAUSE I AM HERE WHEN YOU COMMITTED YOUR ACT OF SIN AGAINST ME AND YOUR CONGREGATION, YOU PUSHED THE IDEA OF GOD DEEP DOWN INTO THE ABYSS OF YOUR SOUL. YOU HAD THE FUN OF YOUR LIFE, ENJOYING IT LIKE A PIG BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT THERE WOULD BE  NO CONSEQUENCES’’,

‘’ PLEASE I ASK FOR MERCY, FORGIVE THIS SINFUL MAN’’,

‘’USUALLY, I WOULD HAVE ASKED YOU TO GRANT MY WISH BUT NOW I CALL IT A DIVINE PUNISHMENT FOR YOU’’.

THE WORD ‘’DIVINE PUNISHMENT’’ MADE JOSEPH TREMBLE WITH FEAR, HE BEGAN BREATHING MORE HEAVILY, AND THE SWEAT DRIPING FROM HIS FACE WAS LIKE A FOUNTAIN. HE THOUGHT OF THE INTENSE PAIN HE FELT FROM JUST ONE WHIP, HE DIDN’T WANT TO IMAGINE WHAT ‘’DIVINE PUNISHMENT’’ ENTAILED, HE BEGAN TO FEEL PURE TERROR JUST FROM THE THOUGHT.

‘’I CAN'T WAIT TO WATCH YOU SCREAM’’

THE WORDS WERE SPOKEN DIRECTLY INTO HIS EAR IN THE MOST OMINOUS AND HORRIFYING MANNER, THIS WAS THE STRAW THAT BROKE THE CAMEL'S BACK, JOSEPH FEAR BAR WAS BROKEN, WITH TERROR AND FRIGHT OVERTAKING ALL THE LOGIC IN HIS BRAIN, AN EXTREME PANIC SET IN. JOSEPH STARTED RAPIDLY LOSING ALL SENSE OF REASON, HIS GAZE WAS FIXATED ON THE DOOR, AND IN LESS THAN A SECOND HE WAS SPRINTING FOR THE DOOR, SCREAMING AND CRYING HIS EYES OUT AS HE DID, HE LOOKED PATHETIC AS HE WENT FOR THE DOOR. HE DIDN’T EVEN MAKE TO AN INCH OF THE DOOR WHEN A THICK BLACK CHAIN RAPIDLY AROUND HIM AND VIOLENTLY DRAGGED HIM TO WHERE THE PODIUM USED TO STAND. A LARGE BLOCK MATERIALIZED BEFORE HIM, THE BLOCK WAS VERY WIDE BUT THE LENGTH WAS JUST ABOVE THE KNEES. THE BLACK CHAIN DISAPPEARED, AND IMMEDIATELY AFTER, JOSEPH'S HANDS GOT PULLED INTO THE BLOCK LIKE IT WAS WATER BUT HE COULDN’T PULL IT OUT NO MATTER HOW HARD HE STRUGGLED, HE WAS MADE TO KNEEL, AND HIS BACK WAS EXPOSED FOR ALL TO SEE. JOSEPH GAVE UP THE STRUGGLE, HE ACCEPTED HIS LOSS WITH TEARS.

‘’NOW LET'S SEE, 120 PEOPLE ATTENDED CHURCH TODAY, MEANING YOU PREACHED AS A HYPOCRITE TOWARDS THEM, THAT WILL MAKE THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF WHIPS 240’’.

THE CRIES OF JOSEPH WERE NOW MORE SORROWFUL AND UNBEARABLE TO LISTEN TO. BESIDE HIM A DARK SHADOW WITH THE LOOK OF A VERY TALL LANKY MAN APPEARED HOLDING A LONG WHIP, WHEN JOSEPH SAW THIS HE BEGAN TO SHAKE UNCONTROLLABLY, AND HE PRAYED FOR THE SWEET RELIEF OF LOSING CONSCIOUSNESS. BUT THE ONLY THING HE GOT IN RETURN FOR THAT PRAYER WAS THE LOUD LAUGH OF A PLEASED NORMALIS.

‘’ THE ONLY THING YOU WILL BE LOSING IS EVERY FLESH ON YOUR BACK’’

THERE WERE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE THE TERRA AND HORROR JOSEPH FELT AT THAT MOMENT BUT IT INSTANTLY TRIPLED WHEN HE SAW THE SHADOWY FIGURE RAISE THE WHIP. THE FIRST STRIKE FELT LIKE ELECTRICITY PASSING THROUGH HIM EVERY SECOND, AND WITH EACH SECOND THAT PASSED BY THE PAIN GREW WORSE, NO SURPRISE WHEN HE KEPT SCREAMING UNTIL HE VOMITED.

‘’ HAHA, THIS IS YOUR REACTION TO THE FIRST WHIP, WE HAVE 239 TO GO’’.

THE NEXT STRIKE RIPPED OPEN HIS BACK, THE NEXT ONE AFTER WAS JUST THE WORSE VERSION OF THE COMBINATION OF THE TWO PREVIOUS ONES. EVERY STRIKE BY THE WHIP DREW BLOOD AND WAS MORE PAINFUL THAN THE PREVIOUS. AT THE 20TH WHIP LASHING, JOSEPH LOST HIS MIND, HE STARTED INSANELY LAUGHING ANY TIME HE GOT WHIPPED. ON THE 40TH STRIKE HE HAD A MANIC EPISODE, SHOUTING ALL THE GOOD THINGS ABOUT GOD BUT THAT JUST CAUSED THE WHIP STRIKE TO INTENSIFY. AT THE 100TH STRIKE THERE WAS NO SKIN ON HIS BACK, AT THE 150TH STRIKE HIS EYES BECAME WHITE FROM ALL THE TEARS. AFTER THE 200TH STRIKE HE HAD NO TEETH LEFT BECAUSE OF HIS CONSTANT CLENCHING OF THEM WHEN HE FELT THE PAIN. IT WAS FINALLY THE FINAL WHIP STRIKE, JOSEPH WAS NOW AN UNDEAD, HE WAS STILL ALIVE BUT EVERYTHING WAS UNRESPONSIVE. THE BLOCK RELEASED JOSEPH HAND FROM ITS IMPRISONMENT, HE FELL TO THE FLOOR LIKE A DOLL. THE SHADOW FIGURE BEGAN GLOWING AND EMITTING A SOFT WHITE LIGHT BEFORE IT TRANSFORMED INTO A FACELESS HUMANOID BEING WITH TWO HUGE BLACK WINGS, IT PROCEEDED TO WALK TOWARD JOSEPH, AND GENTLY TOUCHED HIM, A GREEN LIGHT APPEARED OVER JOSEPH’S BODY THEN THE HUMANOID FIGURE DEMATERIALIZED INTO TIN AIR. JOSEPH'S MUTILATED AND DISFIGURED BODY WAS FULLY HEALED IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, HIS EYES WERE FULL OF THEIR ONCE-USUAL GLOW. HE GOT UP FEELING REBORN, ALL THE FEAR AND PAIN HE FELT WERE COMPLETELY GONE.

‘’ I AM NORMALIS YOUR GOD, USUALLY, I WOULD GRANT YOU A WISH. BUT YOU WILL RECEIVE THE TONGUE OF TRUTH AS YOUR WISH, GO AND PREACH THE NEWS OF NORMALIS YOUR GOD TO THE WORLD’’.

AFTER NORMALIS SAID THAT THE DOORS OF THE CHURCH OPENED AND THE BRIGHT RAYS OF THE SUN CAME FLOODING IN, JOSEPH WALKED TOWARDS THE LIGHT.

NOW WE FIND OURSELVES IN A BUSTLING CITY, WHERE PEOPLE MOVE ACCORDING TO TIME AND MONEY, WE FIND AN ODDITY IN THE MIX, AN OLD MAN AND A YOUNG GIRL SITTING ON THE GROUND AMONGST THE BUSY CROWD, THE OLD MAN HAD THE PERFECT GOLDEN HAIR WHICH WAS TOO LONG FOR HIS AGE AND THE BRIGHT BLUE EYES THAT SHINE WITH YOUTHFUL ENERGY, HE TURNED TO GREET THE GIRL BESIDE HIM

‘’ HOW ARE YOU DOING TODAY, LITTLE JASMINE’’