Young Writers Society

The next morning, when Michelle woke up, she realized it was Sunday. At breakfast, she told Allan, “I’m going to church today.” Her voice sounded to her dull and unexcited, but she spoke with a certainty that surprised her.

“What? Why?” Allan had never heard her say this before.

Michelle was silent. She supposed the reason was that she wanted to see if the preacher would talk about Hell. The only other place she had heard of Hell besides from Jigoku Shoujo was from people talking about Christians. She was wondering if it really was possible to send someone to Hell and condemn herself in the process. Of course, she found it hard to deny now that it wasn’t possible. When it came down to it, she would probably believe Jigoku Shoujo before she would believe a preacher, because she had seen Jigoku Shoujo but hadn’t seen any evidence of Christianity.

“Honey, there are other ways to deal with our boys’ deaths than resorting to religion,” Allan was saying.

“I know,” Michelle said, interrupting him. She was thinking about the straw doll, which she had put in her purse. Yes, there were other ways to deal with their boys’ deaths. She would pull the string on that doll and send the bitch who killed them to Hell.

But first she wanted to see what the preacher would say.

“I’m going to church,” she repeated, “But not because I’m ‘resorting’ to religion.” She paused, not wanting to say her real reasons because they wouldn’t make sense to her husband. “Our boys always used to go to the youth group at that little church up the road, right?” she said, “I just want to see what it’s like. Maybe they had some friends there who haven’t heard about their deaths yet, anyway.”

“Well, if you really want to, go ahead,” Allan told her, “I’m not stopping you.”

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Michelle arrived at the church around 10:00. She didn’t have a Bible, but she had brought her bigger purse to look like she might be carrying one. The black straw doll was in the purse. She didn’t want to leave it anywhere and risk losing it.

The church wasn’t a church in the sense of being in a church building. It was just a group of Christians gathering in a rented building that was part of a strip mall. A makeshift plastic banner hung over the door which said, “Living Grace Church”, and the inside of the building was decorated with artsy Jesus posters and a life-size wooden cross with people’s names scribbled all over it in pen and marker.

Michelle tried to slip into the back row as subtly as she could, but it wasn’t easy. There were so few people in the room and so few rows of chairs that Michelle might as well have had a giant “Hi I’m a Visitor” sticker on her shirt. Several people came up and greeted her, looking like they could hardly be happier to see another member added to their congregation. They were probably desperate for more members here. Michelle answered them as shortly as possible without seeming rude, but whenever she thought she saw someone look at her purse, she bit her lip, feeling like the Christians around her were constantly judging her despite their friendly façade.

She was relieved when the service started. The congregation sang a few contemporary Christian songs accompanied by a man with a guitar. She didn’t know any of the words, and when the offering plate came around, she awkwardly handed it back to the usher since she was the only person in her row. When the young, enthusiastic-looking preacher went up front, he started his sermon by thanking Michelle for coming, drawing even more attention to her. She was starting to wonder why she had come in the first place.

The pastor prayed, then opened up his Bible to a bookmarked page and announced, “The passage I’m going to speak on today comes from Romans 12:19 through 21.” Bending his head over the Bible, he read, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Setting the Bible down on the pulpit, he said, “This is the word of God.”

A huge, yellow eye in the ceiling above Michelle closed and vanished. Standing on the roof of the building, the young man with black hair covering one eye, Ichimoku Ren, folded his arms and sighed, “What is that Person up to now?”

“This really is an unexpected turn of events,” the beautiful woman, Hone-Onna, remarked, “Who would have thought that she would go to church? You’re right, Ichimoku, it seems like that Person is intervening this time.”

Enma Ai was also standing with them. Ichimoku Ren looked at down at her. “What do you think, Young Miss?” he asked.

“If He intervenes, she will not be able to make the covenant,” Enma Ai said simply, and after that she was silent.

Back inside the church, the preacher finally mentioned the subject Michelle had come to hear about. “The vengeance of God,” he said, “is Hell. God—not you—has the first right to punish anyone who has wronged you, because their sin is first and foremost an offense against Him. That is why vengeance belongs to Him alone. Yet everyone—everyone—has sinned against this infinite God. Everyone has contended against His pure goodness! What should He do, then, to act in accordance with justice? Should He send us all to Hell? He could do that—and in perfect righteousness—because no one who still has the stain of sin in their lives can come into His holy presence. His pure glory would burn your fallen body to ash if you had even so much as a glimpse of His holiness!

“Yet—as you can see—He has not sent us to Hell,” the preacher went on, an intense light coming into his eyes, “He has not yet done so, though we all deserve it. Instead, He experienced the torments of Hell in our place, through His Son, Jesus Christ. Christ endured your punishment for you. With His perfect innocence, He bore your sin in His body and burned it in Hell on the Cross! What right have you, then, to take revenge on your neighbor when God has already poured out on Christ the vengeance He had in store for you? If you truly believe that God has forgiven your offense against His infinite goodness, then you are already given His grace, to forgive any wrong done to you, no matter how terrible.” As he spoke, his eyes happened to meet Michelle’s.

Michelle wanted to get up and leave, but she didn’t, because people would notice. It felt like the preacher was speaking directly to her. It was like he had found out about the black straw doll and was indirectly trying to dissuade her from pulling the string. But then, she didn’t believe in Jesus, and she didn’t believe in God.

Or did she?

Before last night, if anyone had asked her if she believed in a God, she would have replied, “Of course not.” But after encountering Jigoku Shoujo, she didn’t know what to believe anymore. Obviously, some sort of spiritual realm existed, and apparently, so did Hell. If Hell existed, then Heaven probably did too, and if Heaven existed, then probably, so did God. Whether God was like the preacher made Him out to be, Michelle really couldn’t say. She only knew that the preacher’s words made her want to cover her ears and run out the door.

She decided to store the sermon in the back of her mind. When she went to speak with Janet Coleman that afternoon, she would find out what that woman was really like, and then she would make her decision.