Following Frank and Mark to the giant oak doors of the cathedral, Matthius was anxious. What lies behind these doors? What have I gotten myself into? Well too late now; here goes nothing. Before they reached the entrance of the cathedral, a piercing groan emitted from the door as it swung open slowly front the inside. 

They walked across the threshold into the cathedral past the man that had opened the doors. He was dressed just as sharply as Frank and his accomplice and looked either malnourished or fatigued from stress. Matthius wasn’t sure which was the case, but as he looked upon him, he felt pity for the man. Is this what I will end up like? He thought heading deeper into the main hall.

Inside the sanctuary, a gathering of men had formed around the altar. Each of them was equally as well dressed as the last, muttering prayers and falling to their knees with a desperation that was palpable. Matthius was perplexed. Was this the great order that he had heard so much about prior? He watched as a man, in a navy blue suit and a crimson tie, walked up to the altar raising his hands to silence the men before him.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen.” He said lowering his hands.

“Good afternoon, High Priest.” They all said in unison. 

“We are all weary; this much is clear to me. However, we mustn’t lose hope. I know God will provide the support we so desperately need. As the Lord stated himself in 1 Corinthians 10: 13, ‘No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.’” He paused. “We are being tempted, gentlemen: Tempted to give up, to throw in the towel, admit defeat,  and let man suffer even though this war is no fault of their own in many cases.”

He continued on as Matthius was urged by Frank and Mark silently to sit with them in a creaky pew. “We cannot lose sight of our purpose on this earth, men. Remember when Jesus was tempted by Lucifer, himself, in the desert? Did he allow himself to falter? No, my friends. He remembered the promise in Isaiah 41:10, Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ “ 

“Amen.” The group of men, now sitting (In similar pews to those Frank, Mark, and Matthius sat), said enthusiastically.

“Jesus had every opportunity to just say “fuck it” and abandon us, but he didn’t “ 

These words took Matthius by surprise. What kind of church is this? I’ve never once heard someone say that particular word in a sermon. This is a church, right? His interest peaked, he listened more intently than he had prior. 

“So I’m going to ask you, men.” The man continued on. “Are we going to abandon those that we have been charged with protecting? I get it; trust me. I have had my fair share of doubts, and God knows, I have been tempted to give up. I refuse though. Please tell me I’m not alone in this, men; otherwise, our great organization will fall. Remember that won’t affect just us at that point. So who will stand with me and follow in our God’s footsteps?” 

Matthius watched as one by one each man raised their hand even if they felt trepidation of what consequences would come from it. The man in the navy suit beamed a stunning smile, his teeth perfect and a brilliant white. Raising his hands high above his head, he spoke softly, “Then let us pray.”

Following their leaders example, the men lowered their heads and began muttering once more with an immense passion. The man at the altar gazed upon them with what appeared to Matthius to be genuine love and care for them.

“If you have had doubts, Now is the time to bring them before the Lord and ask him for strength to carry on.” He addressed the men. Then shifting into his prayer, “Lord, we are but your humble servants. We know that you won’t give us more than we can handle, but dear God, we are weary. The enemy grows stronger as we continue to weaken, but Lord, we know that our strength will never be sufficient. No, Lord, we need you. Please grant us the strength that we lack, and help us to fulfill that which you desire of us. In your Holy Name we pray. Amen.”

“Amen.” The congregation said before raising their heads. “Sustain us, Oh Lord.”

They rose from their pews, and Matthius stood up as well following suite with Frank and Mark. The clamour of their voices rose as each man began to discuss their situation and what was to come next. Frank made eye contact with Matthius and gestured for him to follow them to the altar. 

As they approached the altar, a hush fell over the group of men staring stunned by Matthius' presence. The man in the tailored blue suit turned away from his conversation with another man to gaze upon Matthis as he strode forward to the side of the wooden altar. 

“Dear God… You are here. I feared this day would never come.” He said, continuing to stare. “Ah shit! Where are my manners? My name is Zachariah. You must be Matthius Reemes; I’ve heard so much about you.”

He reached out his leathery hand to shake, and Matthius obliged shaking it slowly.  Perplexed by how the man knew so much about him, he let go of his hand and shuffled his feet unsure of what to say to him. When he finally spoke, he said, “What is it you want from me? Why am I here? What, pray tell, is going on? Why is this happening to me? Who the fuck are you people? What the fuck did I do…”

Zachariah raised his hand to slow down the rush of questions that were flowing out of Matthius like a tsunami. 

“Listen to me. All this will be answered in good time. “

“No!” Matthius bellowed. “I’ve waited long enough. I deserve some answers, and I want them right fucking now!”

“Matthius,” Zachariah addressed him calmly, “Follow me into my office and we will discuss this further, okay? I promise you; I will give you the answers you. Just please follow me.”

His anger subsiding partially, Matthius sighed, “Lead the way.”

Zachariah led them deeper into the cathedral walking down the sunlit hall. The wall of the hall was covered in painting similar to the one in Matthius apartment; however, there was one distinct difference: These demons were identical to the visage of Nerraz. Matthius examined them as they walked further down the hall toward and realized that something else was different. The figures that usually represented angels also looked different. Gone were the halos and white robes; these beings portrayed had golden skin standing all of eight foot tall with glorious white wings and swords that appeared to be made from the elements: Fire, water, earth, ect. Remembering that Lucifer was once an angel himself according to the Bible, Matthius understood now why he had gold peaking through his ashen skin. Now, he realized he was apart of this war that was pictured before him.

Further down the hall to the right was a closed mahogany door. Zachariah pulled a brass skeleton key from his jacket and unlocked the door. 

“After you, gentleman.” He gestured for them to enter. 

Closing the door behind them, he said, “Please, be seated. Get comfortable cause this will not be a short discussion.”

They sat down in Victorian style chairs and fixed their attention on Zachariah. His office was like a doorway into another time. He had a persian rug on the floor and in the corner by the ornate painting of Jesus was a rosewood bookcase. It was brimming with a multitude of scholarly text and on the middle shelf was a small walnut chest filled with scrolls. Matthius assumed that this must have been the sacred text of the order, and as if to affirm this, Zachariah perused over them and gently grasped a select few. Bringing them over to his mahogany desk that matched the entry door they had just walked through, he seated himself in his peach colored Eastlake chair scooting it forward closer to his desk. 

“Alright, Matthius.” He folded his hands onto the desk. “You asked for answers now the time has come for answers.”

Matthius nodded his head, anticipating growing. “I’m all ears.”

“As I said before, my name is Zachariah. I am what is known as the High Priest or leader of the group of men you saw earlier. The name of our order is the Vizacs. We were all born with gifts that awoke in us when we came of age. This is all information you already know though.” He said seeing Matthius’ frustration growing. “Our order started during the Black Plague. Why it started then; we don’t truly know; however, our first known record of our founder is from that era.”

Lightly tapping his finger on  one of the scrolls in front of him, Zachariah continued, “Our founder's name was Gabriel Freemont. He was nothing special until one day he had a vision from God, himself. In this text before me, it states that the Lord told Gabriel that the war between heaven and hell was no longer hidden from the sight of all men. He had chosen to task a select few to keep the darkness at bay. A unit of men that would be tasked with to walk between the world of the living and that of the otherworldly. These men were to be given gifts to aid in their task.”

He paused pouring himself a glass of water from the pewter pitcher on his desk and took a sip of the liquid. “I understand many people will ask why there are no women in our order. To that I have never been granted an answer. In some cases in our history, members have gone as far to say that since the fall of man happened because a woman listened to the serpent and partook of the forbidden fruit, God does not trust women with this calling; however, I do not believe this to be true. As for the gifts we are given, they vary. Many men have the ability to heal. Some have strength beyond that of normal me, and still some have the ability to harness the elements. Then there are the rarest of gifts: Telepathy, heightened intelligence, and my own ability, foresight. “

Matthius knew none of these gifts applied to him. Confused, he asked, “Then what is mine? I don't have any of those abilities.”

“I was getting to that. You, Matthius Reemes, are a dreamcatcher. You have the ability to enter dreams and change them in any way you see fit. In fact, can quite literally remove the nightmares and pain demons cause from the mind of any person you wish. There is a consequence from all these gifts, though. The pain and suffering you and healers take from others are placed upon you as a burden that you must carry forth. Others experience migraines, burning skin,  and a loss of sight to name a few. I myself suffer from the inability to share what I see in my visions. They are only for my eyes to see.”

He smiled weakly, “I realize this is alot to take in, but I believe you may be the only hope our order has left. We have fought for centuries and used our abilities to aid mankind, but after so many years of success, we began to fail. Demon’s power has grown, and unfortunately we have grown weaker. In a bid to end it all, we called upon a member of our order to help us gain the upper hand once more.” 

He sighed heavily as if in pain. “You weren’t alone in your ability, Matthius. There was one who came before you who could do as you could. You have barely scratched the surface of what you can do; however, your father was seasoned at it when we came to him requesting his assistance.”

“What the fuck are you saying?” Matthius suddenly felt cold.

“We needed a win. I recruited your father to enter the realm of Hell. His mission was quite simple. I tasked him with taking out the thorn in our side, Nerraz. He was the demon Lucifer relied on to keep his conquest on schedule. Where once I could see everything that was to come now everything was foggy. I believed that Nerraz had something to do with this.” 

Eyes welling with tears, Zachariah choked, “It’s my fault that all this is happening now. I believed that, even though my gift was useless at that time, I was still wise beyond my years and could outsmart a demon. I was gravely mistaken. Your father did as he was told and he located Nerraz home. Nerraz was waiting there for him though, and he imprisoned him. However, the demon believed your father was not a true threat to him, and after threatening him that if he ever returned he would make him pay dearly, he let him go.”

Zachariah, Frank, and Mark all looked at each other with mutual sadness. Matthius was having trouble taking it all in. My dad was part of this order? What the fuck. What abilities do I possess then if he was so powerful? I wish this all wasn’t happening. Why did I have to be chosen for this. Fuck. 

“Your father chose loyalty to us over this threat, and upon our request, he returned to Hell. This time it seemed as if God was on our  side because Nerraz was not there to disrupt our plans. Remaining undetected, your father found out information that once given to our order, crippled the demon’s assault and gave us the upper hand once more.”  Zachariah rubbed his temples.

He said the next part in a whisper, “Lucifer found out about Nerraz’s choice to release your father, and in fury, he murdered the demon’s wife. To be clear, demon’s live similar lives to us. Anyways, after that happened, Nerraz enacted his vengeance. You know what happened… He returned the favor by murdering your mother. This broke not only your father, but also our order. The Vizacs were shaken to our core; I knew that my failure and pride would be a devastating blow.”

“Your father left the order, and when that happened, it fell apart. Demon’s became more cunning and viscous; we began losing men daily.”

“So you think repeating the past by asking for my help will revive your dying organization?” Matthius asked incredulously. “What the fuck is your problem? I thought you could see the damn future? Can’t you see that the path is identical. Nerraz threatened not only me, but also my family and the woman I love. Why the fuck should I help you?” 

“Because we have no other choice, Matthius.” Zachariah said. “We have no other options, and I’m afraid neither do you. You’re now a part of this, and unfortunately, there is no escaping it.”