day of judgment

O LORD, help me. please help me. he's found me. he's here.

i woke from an uneasy sleep, restless and filled with visions of hell to stare at the wall. the wall was staring back at me, unblinking, and the room was cast in a reddish-yellow glow from outside.

that was when i smelled the smoke.

alarmed, i looked to the window and found the entire forest ablaze. it was burning, everything was burning. the flames rose hellishly to lick the heavens, and then i saw him. i saw him gliding out of the burning woods on his great black wings, flapping noiselessly as he came. the angel, the angel of death. Azrael.

i backed away from the window in horror, realizing what he intended to do, and grabbed my bible for protection. LORD, please, save your wayward, sinning son, bring him back to the light of salvation and righteousness!

i ran out into the foyer, looking for something to extinguish the flames. i had to escape. i had to, even though there was none. i felt sick, sick with panic, sick with grim realization of what would happen to me if i didn't run...

Richard Pinne...

my mind swam with fear as bile rose in my throat. no. no, i'm too late... too late.

"oh God, no... Azrael, please no..."

my knees grew weak as i turned to him, falling upon the floor. i couldn't bear to move... my words ran fast and panicked, begging forgiveness. O LORD, please, mercy upon this sinner! Mercy upon my soul!

there was only God to cry to now, but the LORD did not answer. he did not answer his fallen son. Azrael laughed behind his pallid mask, cold, hard, cruel and scathing... that cackle sent chills into my soul as i knew i would not be saved. there was no salvation for me. this burning cabin, this hell... this is where i was going to die, at the hands of death itself, alone and pleading for mercy that would not come.

the LORD had abandoned me.

"A-Azrael... please, avenging angel... s-spare me... i repent, oh God, i repent! all the lives i've taken, all the horror i've wrought, i understand it now! i understand the anguish i have caused from my own greed -"

Thou Dost NOT Understand, Richard! his voice thundered, angry and yet pleased at my grovelling. If Thou Hadst Understanding Of The Nature Of Thy Sins, Thou Wouldst Not Be Here Now! Thy Crimes Against The LORD's Creation Art Too Numerous, Too Grave, To Ever Be Forgiven - Just As Were Those Of Oswald Lynch...

"O-Ozzie?" i whimpered, looking up at the avenger before me. "did... oh God... oh God, you... you...?"

Yea, he claimed, his wings bristling in what i could only assume was a sickening delight. Yea, Verily, I Didst Find Him As I Have Foundst Thou, And I Didst Flay Him With The LORD's Blessing 'Til He Bled And Begged Mercy. But Mercy Is Weakness, And His Sins Were As Grievous As Thine Own, And So He Was Killed. Yea, Killed By Mine Own Hands, And I Didst Cast Him Into The Flames, So He May Burn For All Time To Come. 'Tis A Fearful Thing To Fall Into The Hands Of The Living LORD, Richard, And Oswald Didst Knoweth This... As Shalt Thou.

my face grew pale; my hands trembled. Azrael... he did this. Ozzie died in agony, the same way i would... oh God, no.

"Please... please, God, no!"

my hands clung to his black robes, desperate for forgiveness, and his gaze was dispassionate and cold... unforgiving.

"Azrael, please, i don't want to die yet... not like this... not like this... what have i done that has so displeased the LORD, what have i done that he cannot forgive...?"

Ye Knowest What Thou Hast Done! he cried, voice raising to a roar once again. Ye Hath Lied! Lied To An Entire People, Ye False Prophet! Thy Actions Hath Doomed A People To War, Hath Killed Hundreds, Hath Destroyed The LORD's Children... And For What, Richard, For What Hast Thou And Thine Cohort Done Such A Thing? Greed... Greed Every Bit As Vile And Misbegotten As Oswald's... For This Thou Cannot Be Forgiven By The Heavenly Father. For This, Richard, Thou Must Die...

there was a great and dark silence as the horror of my situation dawned upon me, and Azrael's too thin, too bony hand grasped me by my collar and lifted me up to face him.

But... If Thou Still Contesteth Thy Innocence In Light Of These Grievous Truths... Thou Shalt Have No Fear Of The Holy Light. Thou Shalt Look Upon My True Face, And Know It Is The Light Of The LORD That Shines In It...

i watched as his other hand reached up to his pallid mask, the entire broad palm grasping it and pulling it away. Slowly, slowly, inch by inch until a bright light began to flood the room, a truly blinding, pure white light that...

oh...

oh my God, no...

his... his face... he had no face... it was smooth, porcelain and glowing, the corrosive light pouring from its brightness blinding and painful... i swear to heaven i saw the universe before me in that light, cold and dead and black as a thousand voids. the eyeless gaze watched me constantly, judging and scrutinizing every inch of my soul until i was laid bare before it. i had no protection from this, no salvation, only pure terror from that corrupted, blank and blinding light... and in an instant, i knew it was not another mask. this was no mask, nor was it a thing of the LORD's creation. no, this was the face of fear itself.

i vaguely remember screaming, screaming as loud as i ever had, feeling so violated and tormented at the evil light, and i recall Azrael speaking three words.

Thou Hast Failed.

he told me to write. he told me to write all this down. he wants the world to know. i'm to be an example, an example of what happens to those who fall from the LORD's grace. if i am to be dragged to hell... then surely, surely the rest of america is next. we are doomed. we are a nation of ants before a flood.

you will hear from this sinning hog of war no longer. as soon as i finish these words, he wi