Chapter 2 – Man’s Sin, Devil’s Grin
Seeing as how the melting man knew about the weird effects of the rain, Marcel and Louise go back to the diner to talk to the other townsfolk about it. When they arrive, everyone cheers and gathers around them to tell them how thankful they are that they’re alive.
Marcel quiets everyone by saying, “Okay, okay. Stop! What’s going on around here? I don’t remember the home that I grew up in having strange rain and demons.”
Fitz steps forward, and says, “This happened when this spring started. We’re just figuring it out like you are.”
“Why do some people melt, and others just feel cold?”
“We think it has to do with the state of your soul. Have you gone to confession recently?”
Marcel and Louise both say yes.
“The guy that we saw melt did cry out for God’s forgiveness,” Marcel adds.
“Yeah. That’s what usually happens to people when they’re in a state of mortal sin from what we can tell.”
“What about the road outside the town? It’s gone!”
“It’s back if you look again. It disappears when the rain comes.”
“Do you know what caused this rain in the first place?”
Everyone in the diner starts to sit down now and go back to their usual business.
“No one in town has any idea. It just sort of happened one day without warning or explanation.”
“Why didn’t you tell us about this when we left?”
“Talking about it to people who don’t know about it seem to attract demons to our location. They usually don’t bother people who are inside, but they do if we talk about the rain to newcomers. It’s one of the ways they trap their prey. Please understand that we were just looking out for the people in here.”
“At the cost of our lives?”
“I know you’re both good people. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that you would survive.”
Louise says, “Maybe something or someone has a grudge against the town?”
“I don’t see why they would. Our town usually welcomes newcomers.”
“When Marcel and I were holding hands, we felt warmer and the demons didn’t touch us. Is there a reason for that?”
“They seem to want to separate people who truly love each other. That’s how they usually get to people.”
“I’m going to go home. I need to process this.”
“Why don’t we go back to my place like how we were going to?” Marcel asks.
“Sure.”
“One more thing you should know is that the rain always comes for only one hour every day. We call it Death’s Hour.”
“How appropriate.”
“You can come here any time it rains. It’s usually safe. Anyway, it was good seeing you two again.”
Marcel and Louise give Fitz an uneasy smile before leaving. Marcel checks his car one more time since the rain has stopped and it works. He drives Louise to his house. When they get inside, they rest in the living room.
Louise says, “I wonder how my escort is doing. They’re supposed to be at the motel.”
“How long are you going to stay in town?”
“I was going to stay for a few days, but I might just leave now.”
“Leave? How could you leave your home when it’s in this situation?”
“What do you want me to do? I’m not an exorcist or an angel who can fight demons.”
“We have to do something. The demons don’t seem to like love, so what if we play music together.”
“Play music together? Why would that do anything?”
“Because two people who love each other playing music together is one of the greatest signs of love and harmony.”
“Wait. What makes you think I still love you?”
“The warmth from your hands and the look in your eyes when you were doing so told me as much even though you didn’t say anything.”
“Tch.”
“I know you want to do something to help the town. The rain is already strange as it is. Why can’t music solve this?”
“It sounds like a fantasy story, but sure, I guess there’s no harm in trying.”
“Good. Now, let’s practice together.”
“I’m not sure about this. We tried this so many times and failed.”
“Then let’s start with sounds we know. That’ll be easy or easier than coming up with our own songs.”
“Okay.”
Marcel and Louise sing and make music together for hours for the rest of the day. During which, they attract a crowd around Marcel’s house.
“What do you think, Louise? Should we give them a free performance?”
“I’m not cheap, so let’s do it.”
The duo performs for the cheering crowd for a short while. Both Marcel and Louise do their own solo performances as well to show off their individual skills. After which, some of the people try giving them tips for their performance, but they decline. They sit and relax inside Marcel’s house while eating dinner.
“That was fun, wasn’t it?” Marcel asks.
“It was.”
“We were natural working together. It’s like we knew each other’s rhythm despite all the time that’s past.”
“I should probably get back to my motel. My escorts are probably worried sick about me.”
“They probably already heard that you are here. You know how fast news travels in town. How about you stay here for today?”
“Are you honestly trying to get me to sleep with you?”
“No, no, no. I would never sleep with a woman who wasn’t my wife. You can sleep in my bed while I sleep on the couch.”
“Why do you want me to stay?”
“Because we don’t know when it’s going to rain tomorrow. Fitz says it rains for a single hour during the day, but he never said exactly what time, so we don’t know if it’ll rain in the morning, afternoon, or night. Trust me. It’ll be safer if you stay here.”
“You have a point. Okay, I’ll stay, but no funny business.”
“You’ve been over my house enough times to know me better by now.”
“I thought I knew you before we went separate ways.”
“Really? Because from the way you’ve been acting makes it seem like you still know me.”
“Hmph. I’m going to bed.”
“Goodnight.”
“Sweet dreams.”
Marcel and Louise go to sleep for the night before waking up peacefully the next morning. Marcel already has breakfast made for Louise before she gets up.
She sits down with an impressed look on her face before saying, “How did you know that I wanted pancakes for breakfast?”
“You’ve always wanted pancakes for breakfast even when we had pancakes the day before. It was a habit that you were never able to break.”
“I broke it when I was out on tour.”
“But I’m sure you’ve wanted it ever since. I can tell because of how fast you’re eating.”
“I told you-mhm-I broke it.”
“Sure. You look cute with your mouth full.”
“I always look cute, so shut it. What are we going to do today?”
“I thought about going back to the diner. That’s where everyone seems to gather, so I thought we can help them in our way.”
“Sounds good. You haven’t touched your food yet. Aren’t you going to eat?”
“Nothing has changed in you.”
“Huh? Oh. Psh!”
After breakfast, Marcel and Louise head over to the diner, but as they head over, clouds begin to form in the sky. As they hurry along, they see a woman who isn’t reacting to the rain as she tries to fix her car.
Thinking that this person is a newcomer, Marcel says, “Hurry! Get inside!”
“Why? It’s just going to rain.”
A demon climbs over a house and spits a green liquid at the woman. She melts into a puddle without really knowing what is happening to her.
“Did something wet me? What’s happening? Am I melting…” the woman says as she melts into a puddle of water.
The demon laughs then crawls away.
“Damn thing really does come out to prey on unsuspecting people,” Marcel says as he picks up a rock and throws it over the house.
“We better run even faster to the diner then.”
“Right.”
Marcel ad Louise arrive at the diner to see the same amount of people there as they did yesterday.
Fitz approaches them, and says, “It’s good to see you again and you’re just in time too. I see you have your guitar with you, Marcel. Are you going to perform for us?”
“Yeah, free of charge. I want to see if music will protect the diner better.”
“I’ve heard of church music keeping away demons, but not this. Let’s see what will happen.”
Marcel and Louise play their music much to the joy of the customers and workers in the diner. Demons start appearing and scream at the building as they circle it. They cut off the power then begin scratching and spitting their acidic liquids at the windows and walls, which scares the people in the diner.
Seeing this, Marcel says, “Come on everyone! Dance and sing with us!”
Some of the people do as Marcel says while others hide. The areas that people hide in are the ones that are broken into resulting in their melting and the demons entering in. They walk around the dancing and singing people while screaming out at them while whispering temptations and their possible deaths, but they don’t touch them. Marcel and Louise continue to sing and play their music against the demons until the sun eventually shines and melts the demons away. As a result of the two, people have died, and the once prestigious diner is now wrecked. There is no applause after their performance. Instead, there is this uneasy atmosphere despite the shinning afternoon sun.
“Fitz, it works,” Marcel says.
“But at what cost?”
“We didn’t let the demons in. The faithless people who weren’t with us did, so we know what attracts them.”
“But we still don’t know why they’re here or how we could get rid of them. Don’t come back here to play your music.”
“Fitz, I…”
“I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to see you right now. Please.”
Marcel and Louise quietly leave the diner as everyone else begins to clean up.
“I don’t think we’re welcome here anymore,” Louise says, “What were you thinking?!”
“I was trying to find a solution to this situation, and now I know what to look for.”
“And what’s that?”
“We need to find out what makes this town so faithless that the demons decided to attack it.”
“This town isn’t faithless. There are four churches here that are constantly attended by good people.”
“You shouldn’t judge people as good as much as you judge them as evil. In fact, it's probably worse. Come on. Let’s get to the library.”
“Fine. I really hope you know what you’re doing.”
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