“Give me a break, God. I’m about to do a great service for you.”

It was quiet. I sat there on the toilet bowl, appreciating the rare silence. It seemed to me as though God was finally on my side. Then, the bell rang and all hell broke loose. Demons of all kind emerged into the corridors. Imps ran out towards the doors, shrieking an unknown evil language. Succubi were scattered along the hallways, waiting for their next victims. Leviathans stood in the middle of the corridors, eagerly anticipating anyone who crossed their paths.

I looked up at the brightly glowing light bulb on the ceiling and murmured, “Give me a break, God. I’m about to do a great service for you.”

As though acknowledging what I said, the light bulb flickered and I knew that God was trying to show me his gratitude. I gave an elaborate bow and continued to stare into space

Now, it was my free time. I could think whatever I wanted before I executed my mission. God had chosen me to do a favor for him. Not anyone could be chosen; only a select few were special enough to do favors for God. I was grateful that God had thought of me so highly. I will definitely not fail him. I wondered how God would reward me, how heaven was like. As I continued wondering, thousands of questions raced past in my mind. The chosen ones had their names on the newspapers all over the world. Would my name be there too? Would the other faithful followers of God worship me just as how I worshipped the rest of the chosen ones? Would there be a church named after me after my service?

I shook my head violently, attempting to shake these questions off my mind. Thinking of the rewards now would only distract me. I had to stay focused on the mission at hand. There was one thing I was sure though. I would definitely take down more demons than the chosen ones before me. When I had seen reports of these chosen ones on the newspapers, I was at first in awe but over time, I sneered at their feeble attempts to appease God. There was only one of them who I had the deepest respect for. This particular person was Ax Ishmael.

Ax Ishmael, also known as Seung-hui Cho, had taken down thirty-two demons and wounded twenty-five others in his duty for God. He was a brave soldier of God and I was sure God was pleased by his acts. I was particularly impressed that he managed to escape into the heavens before the demons got to him. I had studied his strategies and methods extensively in hopes that I would be able to achieve the high standards he had set and more.

Even though I had done thorough examinations and thought I was prepared, I could not help but to feel nervous. There were butterflies in my stomach and I could not seem to move; I was rooted to the toilet seat in nervousness. Doubtful questions crossed my mind and I gave myself a tight slap, scolding myself for thinking these silly thoughts. My hands felt shaky and I almost lost my grip on Sanctimonia, my demon-killing weapon. I was losing control of my body due to nervousness. This was not good. How could a soldier of God lose his touch due to some stupid human emotion? I looked around desperately but there was nothing I thought could be useful to regain control of my body. In an urgent attempt, I kicked my foot against the cubicle door, moaning as I felt the intense pain in my foot that began to grow with each second that passed after contact. I was relieved though. I could feel myself regaining control of my body.

I thought about the demons that were lurking in the corridors. These demons had tried to bring me to the dark side by pretending to befriend me. However, my faith in God allowed me to see their true colors and I was not tempted by their attempts at all. When they realized that their plan was not working out, they started showing their true colors, thinking that by bullying me, they would eventually convince me to join their side. However, they were wrong. I was not swayed from leaving God’s side. These disgusting naïve fools that tortured me endlessly and mercilessly for the past few years… Soon, I will have my revenge on them. I remembered a particular incident, just months back, when they put my head into the toilet bowl and tried to flush it off. In fact, the toilet bowl in which they used to torture me with was the exact one I was sitting on right now. The thought of that incident made me see red and I spat at the ground in anger. I took deep breaths and tried to keep myself calm.

I made my final preparations. I jumped on the spot to loosen my muscles, allowing me the much-required reflexes to combat these demons later in the battle. I took a look at Sanctimonia, making sure that it was in working conditions and that it was ready to drink the blood of the demons I would slay soon. I said a short prayer and took a deep breath, opened the cubicle door and slammed the toilet door open, bracing myself for the battle that would ensue very soon.

The slamming open of the toilet door alerted the horde of demons and they stared at my direction.

‘Shit!’ I exclaimed as I realized my mistake.

However, this was not the time to pause and reflect on my mistake. I gripped Sanctimonia hard and aimed it at the head of the nearest imp. With a pull of the trigger, blood splattered everywhere. The imp stood still with a hole in his head before he finally collapsed in defeat. Adrenaline rush flowed into my head and I began to gain momentum and rhythm.

With a swirl of my hand, I took down three other demons, their blood splattered all over me. I licked my lips and savored the taste of demonic blood. It was fresh and delicious.

“AHAHAHAHAHAH!” I exclaimed as I aimed Sanctimonia wildly around me.

The demonic blood seemed to have the ability to make me look intimidating as the demons started fleeing.

“DON’T RUN! WHERE ARE YOU GOING? I THOUGHT YOU GUYS WANTED TO BE MY FRIENDS?!” I shouted in their direction.

They refused to turn back and acknowledge my questions. This made me feel angry and I held Sanctimonia with a vice grip. I reloaded Sanctimonia and started hunting down the demons. Whenever there were any movements around me, I would turn and shoot at that particular direction, hoping to take down a demon or two. I was in a mad rage by now. I started to fire Sanctimonia wildly.

I heard a creak of a door behind me and I swirled around.

“COME OUT YOU FOUL DEMON!” I shouted madly at the door.

There was no response. I walked slowly into the room and saw a male imp hiding under a desk, shaking in utter fear. I laughed in a savage voice and approached him.

“Come out boy… don’t be afraid. I won’t harm you.” I whispered to him, smiling evilly.

A calm, familiar voice came from behind me unexpectedly, “Stop, Aries. Put that gun down.”

I spun and to my horror, it was my form teacher, Mr. Silva.

“…hello there… Mr. Silva” I whispered.

“Hello, Aries.”

“What are you doing here, Mr. Silva?”

“Stopping you. Now put down that gun.”

His words made me remember the job at hand and I aimed my gun at the imp.

“This is my mission, Mr. Silva. God gave me this mission! To eradicate the demons in this school!”

“Rubbish. Just put down that gun and we will talk about this, okay? Don’t harm the poor boy.”

I aimed a shot at the wall and fired, “Do you think I’m kidding, Mr. Silva? I said God gave me this mission!”

“Don’t be stupid, Aries.” he said softly and approached me.

“WHY ARE YOU HELPING THESE DEMONS, MR. SILVA?” I was furious by now. Why was Mr. Silva helping these foul beasts? He was the only man of God in this entire school. He should be helping me terminate these demons instead of standing on their side.

“Now, Aries, I know that your fellow students haven’t been the nicest bunch of people around. They have been bullying you for years but you should have known better. They are just immature. They don’t really mean any harm.”

“STILL…” I began in a feeble attempt.

“Just pass me the gun, Aries.” He approached me gently, nearly reaching me by now.

I knew that if he was to reach me, I would surrender and the demons would eventually get me. I would rather die than let the demons get hold of me. There was only one way out of this. I took the gun in my hand and aimed it at my throat, closing my eyes as I fired.