"Standing over Aarons body I felt no remorse for my actions."
"Yeah, except for killing my uncle."
"Spirit of the dark I command you to come out of this man and return his sould."
"What happened next?"
"Swift's spirit didn't come out. Instead he just laughed."
"You think you can get rid of me. You have no power here. Only the Holy Spirit can call out other spirits. I should smite you off the face of the earth for blasphemy."
"Holy Spirit….Sword of the Spirit."
Those words kept repeating in my head and I knew they had to be connected but I wasn't thinking straight and had no idea.
"Worth a try," I said to myself, then stood firm on Aarons body.
My hands grabbed onto the sword and I started to pull.
"I banish you back to the pit of darkness in which you came."
The sword slid out like a knife cutting butter; and Swift's spirit rose.
"Hopper, you may have fought me with spiritual weapons but next time we meet you won't be so lucky. Come time when the sword is put in stone and everyone is replenished; you and I are going to have ourselves a rematch. Mark my words."
And with that he vanished. All the spiritual weapons dissapeared and having done my deed I collapsed on top of Aaron.
"Is he dead? Croak, wake up. The rain has stopped but dead frogs still liter the floor. What's going on? Croak! Croak!"
Something cold kept touching my face and wouldn't leave. Voices cut through the silence and I woke up with a startle.
"H..How'd you guys find us? Hey, I'll take that back if you don't mind."
"Find you! As I recall it was you and Aaron who left us behind when we first entered the woods. What were you thinking?"
"We scouted ahead to make sure the path was fit for travel and no dangers lay in your quak."
"That's very nice of you but in the Bible nowhere does it say Moses and Aaron scouted ahead a ways and left the Israelites stranded on their own. It does say however that he sent two people in front to cout the path and report back."
"You're right but I don't think that phrase is in the Bible. He very well could've done that but nowhere does it say he did. Oh how I would kill to have Hopper back."
"Sire, you're bleeding. Someone pierced you…..and stabbed Aaron in the chest."
"Wait, what? We encountered another monster but I thought they stabbed him in the heart. Maybe they stabbed the wrong side? That means…..He'll live. I'm so happy."
"Croak, someone's heart doesn't rest in their chest area. There is a chord that travels from your belly button all the way up to your pipe organ shaped heart."
"Huh? Then why in classes do teachers say put your hand on your heart and the kids put their hands on that chest side area when singing the anthem? Don't they know where the heart is?"
"Croak, the blade may have missed his 'heart', but if we stand around talking about where the heart should lie then Aarons heart won't be anywhere. He has already lost everything and I've heard about people who died from trauma because they couldn't deal with the stress and loss of their loved ones. Let's not let Aaron be another one of traumas victims."
"Croak look. There is a small lake up ahead. We should head there."
"Perfect idea. Come on! We need to get there before the lice start coming and people start scratching like crazy. Help me pick Aaron up."
"Lice? First frogs…..now lice! What's going on?"
"I will tell you on the way. When Swift snatched the Bible from Hopper's dad he opened the Bible and released the ten plagues. The first was water turned to blood. The second was the frogs. The third will be the lice coming soon and the fourth is a swarm of gnats. Fifth is diseased livestock while sixth is boils all over the body. Seventh is hail and eight is another swarm but of locust this time. Ninth is darkness for three days and finally the tenth is the death of firstborn sons. And I can say that these killings won't be as quick and painless as when Nebuchanezzar killed first born sons by drowning them in a small stream just outside the gates."
"So you're saying that instead of our pond drying up...it….it…...It's okay," I said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"It'll get dark soon so let's keep an eye out for shelter."
"Croak, wait. If our pond has turned to blood then what's not to say all the waterways have turned to blood as well? Can you guarantee this water will not be turned?"
"I can guarantee not. We walk by faith and not sight. But we have to seek shelter somewhere so we should keep an eye out for other water as well. If Hopper were here he would want us to keep moving and not stop. Actions speak louder than words. Act first, think second. You do that and you will be able to capture more opportunities and moments then miss them all together. It's in his nature and has never let him down."
"Croak, what works well for one person might not work the same for another. That's what makes a town a town mr wanderer. Everyone has their own special skill that they contribute to help a bigger cause. When everybody contributes their own then the town can not only thrive but flourish. If everyone were the same then life would be dull, boring, and slow fast. Nothing would grow. I don't want to know what would Hopper do but what would Croak do?"
"Hop, is the whole town like this? When they speak; a lesson spews out?"
"Yeah! You get used to it afer a while I promise."
"Rii…...ght! Anyways we stopped for a few minutes to gather our thoughts and see if any of us knew a safe waterway where we could go. After a while the silence was broken and someone had something."
"Croak, I remember something. Hopper mentioned a lake that ran around the valley and that was pure."
"Kid, tha sounds like peaches and cream but I rather go to blood lake then back there."
"No, no. We don't have to go back anywhere. All big water canals are connected and link up together. We just need to find the stream and follow it up river."
"How will we know what it looks like?"
"That's easy. There will be a clear view all the way to the bottom."
"And if that doesn't help; you can always be on the lookout for a giant creature lurking."