I grit my teeth. There is nothing I can do. A voice inside insists that I should just end the misery of the people caught in the fire.
Ornias chimes in, "You should finish them off before they become crispy critters."
I am responsible for their deaths. What have I done? Their names are on the list. Did the angels or demons forsee this? Did those bastards let me get to this point to make me kill these people? I am sick of all of the manipulation. I have been a pawn for too long, but there isn't anything I can do. I swear that if I make it through this trial somehow, I will not be used as someone else's pawn. If I must go to hell then I will either be in charge or be destroyed.
I go to the couple who are frantically trying to find a way out, but there is none. The flames blaze high in an oval around them. After minutes the oxygen is consumed causing them both to pass out. They will probably suffocate before the flames reach them. The couple had made a clearing within the tall grass. It looked like it had been a nice secret meeting place for them until now.
The man, Frank Carson, is first succumb. His eyes flash open, and I stare into them to catch these last moments before consuming his soul. I see his life as I have many times before over these many years. Disappointment fills me, I was hoping to see more of the vision that has vexed me as of late.
Frank's childhood is normal enough. He does pick up a strange hobby of crafting custom weapons. Guns in particular. He builds a gatling gun designed to shoot fireworks from each barrel. The man finds his calling early and works on his craft. He begins crafting his masterpiece, and right away I can feel another hand guiding him. I can't see it, but it feels divine in nature. He works the metal over and over again. Frank is never satisfied with any defect, and melts down every part that doesn't meet his specifications.
I don't understand what it is that he is making until he is working on the outer portion of the barrel. He uses an engraving tool to put a rose with vines and thorns that seem to have a mind of their own. As you tilt it in the light the vines writhe and twist. It's the same gun from my visions. The one that I use to shoot the girl sometime in the future.
I try to recoil from the vision, but it continues. Frank offers the weapon to the church, and then... the man's life jumps forward. What happened? I see him meet Leslie who he marries and has a child with. They have a few years of happiness before he meets Caroline who he is drawn to like a moth to a flame. She is the one here with him now in the field. The vision ends, and I swallow Frank's soul.
I move to Caroline with her eyes moving back and forth under her eyelids, her body trying to fight for those last few moments of life. Her eyes flip open, and I see her life. She has lived a sheltered life, but it led to rebellion. She made many mistakes through high school which resulted in a pregnancy. She gave birth to a daughter. That first moment with her daughter sleeping in her arms led her to straighten out her life. She doesn't know who the father is, so she tells herself that God is the father. God is the father to us all. She dedicates herself to her local church, and considers becoming a nun. Then her life jumps forward similar to Frank's.
Now she is praying with a little girl around the age of three. The girl has pretty blonde hair that comes down to her shoulders. Caroline says, "God has made a path for us all. The only thing we need do is have faith. Amen." The little girl echos the end of the prayer. Caroline gives her a gift. It's rosary beads with a cross that is engraved with the words "HAVE FAITH". Then I see the little girl's face. It's HER! I weep silently inside at what I know will happen in the future somehow. Why would I ever shoot this girl?
Thoughts roll through my skull over and over along with pictures of my other more violent visions. I don't register anything happening around me while trying to reconcile these visions that I feel are of vital importance.
Ornias breaks my concentration. "Soooo... Are you going to collect that last soul, or should I have a bit of fun with it?"
I collect the last soul and stand in the middle of the vast brush fire. I almost believe it when I whisper, "It's almost over." Will this truly be an ending or merely a new beginning? I see visions of a future, but is that really me in that future? I trace the scar in my skull with one of my bony fingers.