Chapter 3:Alive

That day was scorching hot. Everyone gathered inside the church building.

A young girl sat in her wheelchair, her face filled with sorrow as she gazed towards the coffin where her older brother lay.

Next to the coffin stood a statue of The One, a naked man with large wings adorned with a crown.

For followers of The One, he was the Creator and the god of everything. They did not acknowledge concepts like All Father, Death God, High Servant, or Mother of Monsters, which belonged to ancient beliefs now supplanted by The One.

All were assembled, seated on the provided benches.

Suddenly, someone emerged from the coffin.

Rendy Redswan rose once more, taking a seat inside the coffin.

The pastor, the congregation, even his younger sister in the wheelchair, were all astonished.

Rendy rubbed his eyes, trying to comprehend what was happening.

A young pastor with black hair, dressed in white, approached Rendy.

He inquired, "Are you truly back?"

Rendy didn't respond; instead, he glanced towards his sister in the wheelchair.

Unaware that tears were streaming down his face, Rendy looked at his sister.

The pastor gently tapped Rendy's shoulder, bringing him back.

Rendy wiped his tears with his sleeve.

Then, he faced the pastor.

"Yes, I am alive again."

The pastor smiled, turning towards the congregation.

"This is a miracle by The One. Our departed brother has been called back by The One; surely, this is destiny."

"We shall praise The One," he added.

The entire church began to sing hymns.

Their voices were resounding, as if they wanted their god to hear their praises.

Amidst the singing, Rendy suddenly spotted a small green creature trying to pilfer something from a congregant's pocket.

The creature was green with long ears, carrying a sack.

It appeared to be stealing money from the congregants.

Rendy attempted to alert the pastor, but his voice was drowned out by the singing.

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When the creature approached his sister, Rendy rushed towards it.

The creature noticed and hastily fled the church.

This caused the entire congregation to fall silent.

Rendy then embraced his sister.

"What's wrong, brother?" she asked.

"Didn't you see that thing?" Rendy asked his sister.

"No," she replied.

Rendy then looked at all the congregants.

"Don't you all see it?"

The congregants shook their heads in confusion. They were unaware of the green figure among them earlier.

Then, one of them shouted, "My money's gone!"

Panic swept through the congregants.

After some time, the police arrived amidst the commotion about the missing money.

Rendy knelt down and hugged his younger sister who was sitting in a wheelchair.

“I thought you were going to leave me,” said his younger sister.

Randy shook his head.

“No Reina... I won’t leave you so soon,” said Rendy.

“Besides, I’m not married yet and haven’t experienced that yet hehe,” added Rendy.

Suddenly, one of the police officers approached them.

“Good afternoon, you are Mr. Rendy Redswan, right?”

Rendy and Reina turned to the police.

The police officer's uniform was as black as night. He also wore the same black police hat with the police symbol in the middle. This man’s muscular and tall stature made him intimidating to anyone who saw him.

Randy then replied.

“Yes, sorry about the chaos,” said Rendy.

The policeman responded, “It doesn’t matter.”

Reina, who was in the wheelchair, felt intimidated by the police officer. Her eyes wandered elsewhere.

Seeing this, the police officer gently patted Reina’s head. This made Reina, who initially felt intimidated, become shy.

After that, the police officer then questioned Rendy about how he came back to life and what he saw right after waking up.

Rendy explained everything except for being in the realm of death. He didn’t want to mention the slave of death who helped him live or the Death God, because the majority of people in this city were followers of The One. Rendy had witnessed bad things happen to followers of other religions, as The One's followers contained fanatics.

After hearing Rendy’s account, the policeman nodded and then the priest who had been leading the congregation approached them. The priest smiled at Rendy.

Rendy, seeing the priest’s smile, smiled back even though he felt somewhat compelled to express himself.

“You have been gifted with talent by The One.” This made Rendy tilt his head. The policeman, too.

The police officer immediately commented, “Talent?” asked the policeman.

The priest turned to the policeman. “Yes, this child has been blessed...” said the priest.

“He has been given the same blessing as previous prophets...” added the priest.

The priest looked at Rendy again. “Death Chapter 3 verse 5... A dead cat will come back to life as a lion,” said the priest.

“All prophets have something in common... they died and came back to life and gained their power,” said the priest.

The priest approached Rendy and grabbed his shoulder.

“Maybe you are a prophet.”

Rendy shook his head, rejecting the idea.

The police officer laughed. Reina, who had been silent in her wheelchair, refrained from commenting.

The police officer then remarked, “A prophet will arise if there is danger in that place, as explained in the book of The One.”

The police officer moved closer to Rendy and then applied a rear naked choke hold on Rendy's neck from behind. This made it difficult for Rendy to breathe. Rendy attempted to release the hold with both hands. However, his neck was constricted by the officer's large arm muscles.

“This kid is just lucky.”

The pastor nodded, his face turning red with embarrassment.

“You’re right, forgive me... I am only human.”

Rendy managed to break free from the police officer’s rear naked choke hold. Indeed, if not released, the officer could have caused Rendy to pass out right there.

Rendy held his neck, gasping for breath as he struggled to regain his composure.

Rendy then turned to look at the pastor.

“But what about that creature?”

The pastor replied, “No one else saw it except you... perhaps it was just your hallucination.”

One of the officer’s companions approached him. They conversed briefly before the officer who applied the choke returned.

“It seems we should head back now... this is a tough case, no traces of the perpetrator.”

The pastor nodded, then glanced over at the congregation being interrogated by the police.

Rendy then asked the pastor, “Can I go home?”

The pastor looked back at Rendy.

“Meet me here tomorrow at 3 PM.”

Rendy nodded and pushed his sister’s wheelchair out of the church.