The Calverton Street Methodist Church was completely engulfed in flames when we arrived. The brick church was at least one hundred years old, and seeing it aflame saddened my heart. An icon in the middle of a dying neighborhood, it had meant so much for my future. And God knows how many funerals I had attended here, standing underneath the giant oak trees as I watched the caskets of my high school friends carried down the church’s spiral steps into a hearse.
And now the place was in flames.
Flames leapt from the roof of the ceiling against the snowy sky and spewed from the windows of the church, melting the bars over the glass.
The stained glass triangle of a black Jesus that I remembered looking up to with wonder was busted.
Three fire engines were parked outside the church, dumping water on the blast.
Several other firefighters stood from afar, their hands glowing as they tried to cast spells on the flames.
But the water seemed to make the fire grow stronger.
The spells seemed to make the fire burn brighter.
It was magical fire.
I raced toward the fire with Darius and Destiny.
A firefighter screamed at us.
“Stop!” he cried, jumping in our path. “Stand back. Now!”
“You’re never going to beat that fire,” I said. “It’s going to keep burning until I stop it.”
The firefighter, a stocky man whose face was smudged with soot, stared at me.
“You’re behind this?” he asked.
“No,” I said, “but I can stop it.”
“I can’t let you past here, you understand that,” he said.
“Then I’ll break the law,” I said. “My name is Aisha Renee Robinson, and I live at 1504 Grimsby Avenue. I’m prepared to go to jail. Are you prepared to fight this fire all night?”
The firefighter stared at me.
“What do you propose?” he asked.
“The reason that fire is burning is because there’s a demon inside that church,” I said. “And he’s waiting for me.”
“You’re kidding,” the firefighter said. “Demon or not, you can’t pass. We’ll call a demon hunter.”
“And they’ll die,” I said. “Each and every one of those hunters that goes in there will die, and their blood will be on your hands, all because you didn’t listen to me.”
I stared the man down.
“I’m going to count to three,” I said. “I already gave you my name and address. If I survive this, you can lock me up. I’m at the point in my life where I just don’t give a fuck. So humor me. One, two…”
The firefighter stepped aside.
“Thank you,” I said.
I stopped several yards away from the church.
Cupping my hands to my mouth, I screamed L’Dante’s name.
Suddenly, the flames subsided and the church stopped burning, leaving a hollowed-out husk.
In the center, in the chapel, L’Dante stood with his back to me. His entire body was aflame.
I ran toward the church.
Crispin, Darius, and Destiny ran with me.
A gust of wind blew Crispin back and he landed in the grass.
He pulled himself up and charged forward, but another gust knocked him back.
L’Dante.
He didn’t want Crispin inside.
Darius, Destiny, and I ran up the soot-covered stairs and into the main double doors of the church.
As soon as we entered, the doors erupted into flame.
“No turning back,” I said.
“I never got a chance to tell L’Dante how I really felt,” Darius said. “Hope you don’t mind if I give him a little truth, cuz.”
“Me first,” Destiny said.
“Don’t mind at all,” I said as the church bloomed into flame around us.
Ahead, a long hallway led to the chapel. The doors busted open and I spotted L’Dante standing in front of the pipe organ.
“I love you guys,” I said. “You know that.”
“Naw, naw,” Destiny said. “You talkin’ like a woman that’s about to die. You better stop.”
I took Destiny by the shoulder.
“You underestimate me,” I said.
“Ain’t a question of under or over nothin’,” Destiny said. “We’re family. We get through everything together. You die, I die.”
“Will you two stop with the morbid shit, please?” Darius asked. “If y’all haven’t noticed, there’s a demon in that chapel asking for death.”
We held hands for a moment. Then we ran through the burning flames into the chapel.