Chapter 1. A Usual Day

"Be careful when you pray; God is not the only one who hears," I remember the times when I did it, and somehow things got better. "I don't remember the last time He answered me."

"Please, please... I don't want to do it. My family is hungry and..." I saw the man I was talking to. He is tied up and has a lot of bruises from the people who brought him to me.

"I've been asking myself, what do people pray for on their normal days? I always pray for earning and the peace of others." I closed the distance to the man. "Maybe you should try it. It always makes me feel better when I do."

"Please, please..." The man was in a loop of begging. Am I making you scared, or are you scared of God?

It's hard for me to understand believers. Well, some types of believers. Some people pray before doing something bad, and others justify their actions by God.

"Andrew, Andrew." A woman ran screaming into the room. I took the gun from my waist. When she saw the man, she almost began to cry.

"So..." I questioned her. Her answer would decide his destiny.

"He is alive. Just stop, Andrew." Cloe and others arrived in the room.

"Cloe, I need to be sure." I made my way out of the room with Cloe. The others would apply the law of the country.

"Why did you have to do it?" She was walking by my side.

"They brought him to me. What was I supposed to do?" The people passing by saluted Cloe.

"I don't know." She put her finger to her mouth. "Maybe don't take the man," she shouted in the last sentence. She walked faster than me and left me behind.

I don't want to be the judge in this place, but things got out of control last year. It has been almost three years since the fake god appeared and spoke to all humanity at once. He passed 'judgment' on kids, and this made all underaged disappear.

This didn't have to be bad; in the end, most kids don't contribute to society. But the people who thought it was the end of the world made things hard. A country like mine, with many problems beforehand, almost fell in the first months.

In some way, this country was kept together because it was divided by zones of influence. A small civil war with the criminals ensued before the end, and people became criminals because they thought it was the end.

In a few words, blood, fear, and religion. The same people, the same reasons throughout all ages.

But the problem worsened when the fake god appeared two years later. Cloe and others appeared, and he gave us a summons. Normality was broken.

People were given human-like companions, like Cloe. My brother Angel has a cat, and the warlord of this country has a bear. If you think they cannot die and reappear in fifteen days, you have problems.

Humanity now questions itself. If I have power today, could I have more in the future? No one knows if the fake god will give something more powerful or more menacing to the people.

I need to keep an iron hand so no one will disrupt our society...

I really want to go home and not worry if someone will try to kill me. I need to do this because people believe in consequences before benefits.

I walk to my home where I will argue again with Cloe about this. More than one hour and less than two hours. Until her boyfriend comes to take her to eat.

I don't understand very well why someone would like to have a relationship with a summons. If you think that you are not the summoner, it is worse.

I could order her to have sex with me and make her 'forget' about it. It's stupid in many ways. That guy, believe me, I appreciate it, but it's silly.

I won't have a relationship with my summons... it's weird. I could have all the control over her. If I am obsessed with her, I will abuse my power.

I don't understand very well why the fake god gave us the power to control the summons over their thoughts and make them do whatever the summoner wants. Besides, in such a strange way. Why do we need a book to make them obey?

Of course, not everyone thinks this way.

"I don't understand why you don't keep her." This guy is Onelio, a pervert, an alcoholic, and a 'friend.' We are eating some mangoes from my yard.

"It's not my problem." I put salt on a piece of mango and ate it. "And my pride won't let me."

"Pride is for knights and the dead. You are not a knight." He put some lime and salt on a plate to his mango and ate it.

"I make sure to keep your summons away from you. Poor soul." I shook my head thinking about this.

"You are the worst. You almost let her die." He stood up with his words.

"She went out without me and didn't tell me. She has to know the consequences of her actions." I remembered that day, a group was beating her because she took away the kids. Her boyfriend is like a hero, appearing to try to save her. "If you had done something that time, her boyfriend could have been you."

"He didn't do anything; he was beaten with her. You have to save them." He increased the volume of his voice. It's annoying.

"Yes, but you were there without doing anything. He moved because of Cloe's face; at least we know that she will have him in her hands." If I know that he begins to control her...

"I know, I know... It's not right that you..." He took the last piece of mango and drank the rest of the lime with salt. "I will come back. It's late." He said later, making faces with the lime.

"Goodbye." I walked with him to the door and parted ways. I kept my eyes on his back.

I will kill him if he ever gets a summons. A danger for everyone.

Later, Cloe came back to the house. She didn't talk to me, and I didn't try. I was tired. In my mind, I had a lot of thoughts that didn't let me think clearly.

I checked that all doors and windows were closed. I saw my parents and Cloe, and they were at home. I put my gun, knife, and Cloe's book next to me. And then I slept.