They Walk Among Us

A Short Story

By Samuel C. Starrett

Ezekiel, or Zeke, as he was known to his friends, was not a religious man. In fact, he was known for his non-religiousness. He said God was for superstitious, ignorant folk who could not accept “Real Life”, whatever that is. The truth is, he was too afraid to change his ways, and that was the real reason why he was not religious.

You see, Zeke was a little rough around the edges. He wasn’t evil like a comic-book or TV villain, he had no ambitions of world domination, and he wasn’t a backstabber or a traitor or a murderer or anything like that. It was just that he mostly lived to have a good time. He was a little shallow, altogether not the kind of guy an upstanding religious person would benefit by being seen with.

Anyway, Zeke was a party animal. On a certain sunny June day, the sixteenth to be exact, Zeke had an experience that would change his life forever. He went into a convenience store to pick up a case of beer for a party on Friday. As he stepped through the door, he saw the convenience store. Nothing to write home about, really. There was a cute blonde behind the counter, and a few shelves with food and stuff. But what Zeke did not notice was the man standing behind the nearest shelf, the one with Lay’s potato chips and Cheez-its.

As he walked toward the refrigerators to get the beer, he was stopped by the man. “Hey, punk.” Zeke started to back away. The mysterious man pulled a knife. But something was not right here. Zeke did not notice it right away, but when he did notice, surprise replaced all his other emotions, fear, dread,confusion, all of them, Because this knife was un fire,

The knife was on fire. Zeke really got scared now. That is when he heard a voice saying, “Let the mortal alone, Malgor.” He looked up. it was the blonde cashier. The man with the knife turned toward her and his knife lengthened into a sword. Zeke thought he was going nuts. A deep, powerful, menacing voice came from him saying, “You will not stop me, sister. Stand down.” It was at that point when Zeke really began to think he had lost his mind.

The cashier leaped over the counter, and at the peak of her jump a large set of white wings unfurled from her back and two flaming swords appeared in her hands. “You would stoop so low as to kill the OnceBorn, Malgor?” “Why would I kill the Redeemed?”, the man responded, unfurling bat-like black wings from his own back. Zeke was cowering in the corner, hoping the whole thing was some crazy hallucination.”You have strayed so far, Malgor! Repent, and return to join the angels of light.” The man, Malgor, flew up in the air.

Malgor and the cashier fought, their fiery blades clashing in a repetitive down-left, parry, down-right, parry sequence for a little while. Then Malgor shot toward the ground, swinging for the cashier’s legs. She shot upwards.”Come to your senses, brother!” “AAAAH!”, screamed Malgor, forcing his way up. She twisted her sword at a funny angle, striking his hand hard enough to disarm him, then struck with her other one for a blow to the chest. “Wait!”, yelled Malgor. The cashier-angel hesitated for a moment. “Gotcha.” Malgor dropped to the floor, creating another firesword.

The cashier-angel flew down on him, beating away. The clash of flame on flame echoed through the convenience store. She battered him, attacking over and over again, Finally he dropped his sword and fell on his back. “This pains me, Malgor, it really does.” With that, she extinguished one sword, striking him with the other, He exploded in a bright flash of white light.

Zeke, shaking and sweating, hobbled out of the corner. “What just happened? I think I am losing my mind.” “Your mind is in perfect condition, Heir of Adam, and remains in your possession. However, if this angel had had hiˇs way, the same would not be said of your life right now.” “Angel? Huh?” “One of the Fallen, a group of angels dedicated to destroying humankind. Do not worry, he is banished to Limbo till Judgment Day.” “Angels? Judgment Day? Oh, I get it. Very funny, Bill. It was a good prank, but you can come out now.” “Who in the world are you talking to? This is not a practical joke or a hallucination. Angels are real, and so is God.” “No! This is not happening! I’m dreaming! NOOO!”

The angel, whose name was Kayla, could not believe this! How stubborn humans could be! How cleverly they defended themselves against all that might do them good!

In the end, it took her over an hour to convince Zeke that this was no joke, game, or hallucination. But it was worth it. Zeèke did not attend that party Friday night. He was at a seminar taught by a pastor. It was “Christianity 101”. Now Zeke is a Sunday-School teacher at a local church, and a volunteer in various ministries. He hopes he is atoning for his past sins.

He never told anyone about this except me. I am writing this now at his request. He wants the world to know. He wanted the world to know that he, a sinner was saved from death and born again, thanks to an angel named Kayla. You may be wondering now how I knew Kayla’s name or what she was thinking, I myself am not sure. I just felt inspired to write that. What I do know is that it was the gospel truth.