“Thank you,” Logan said as he hopped off Kyle's motorbike.

“No problem,” Kyle replied before revving the engine and leaving a trail of smoke behind him.

As Logan fished for his keys, he felt a piece of paper in his pocket that wasn't there before. He left it there and called out, “I’m home,” to his grandmother.

“Dinner's almost ready,” his grandmother called back. Logan sighed internally; he wasn't hungry yet, but he always made an effort to eat with his grandmother, who went to bed early. "Let me change first, and then we can eat," he said before heading upstairs. As he undressed, he remembered the paper in his pocket and retrieved it. One side read “church” and “00:00 am,” while the other quoted Psalm 150:1-2. Confused, Logan furrowed his brow until he returned to the kitchen.

“Don’t worry, grandma, I'll clear the table,” Logan said to his tired grandmother.

“Good night, dear,” she replied, planting a kiss on his forehead.

“Good night,” Logan answered, watching her climb the stairs.

Left alone in the kitchen, Logan's mind wandered back to the note in his pocket. “That's weird,” he thought to himself as he loaded the dishwasher. He wondered who could have slipped it into his pocket. “A customer, maybe?” he pondered, but that didn't make sense. The only person close enough to do it was Kyle, so he called him.

“What?” Kyle answered, sounding annoyed.

“Sorry to bother you,” Logan said, feigning hurt.

“What do you want?” Kyle asked brusquely.

“It could be about work, and I'm your boss, so this is disrespectful,” Logan said sternly, hiding a smirk.

“Is it about work?” Kyle asked, unimpressed.

“No,” Logan said awkwardly.

“I'm going to hang up,” Kyle said, but Logan managed to stop him.

“No, don't! Did you put a note in my pocket?” Logan asked, this time serious.

"No, what are you talking about?" Kyle denied quickly, his answer unsatisfactory to Logan who sighed into the phone. "Why?" he asked, slightly curious after hearing Logan's sigh.

"I found a piece of paper in my pocket after I got off your motorbike," Logan explained as he turned off the kitchen light and climbed the stairs to his room. "Can you check if you have one too?" he pleaded with Kyle.

After a few minutes of silence, Kyle finally replied. "Fine," he said through gritted teeth. "What does the note look like?"

"It's a white envelope with 'church' and '00:00 am' written on one side and a Bible quotation on the other," Logan gently explained, trying not to annoy Kyle further.

After rustling noises, Kyle triumphantly said, "I found it." Logan could almost picture the cocky smile on his face.

"Open it," Logan demanded quickly. He heard the sound of paper moving on the other end.

"Why do you think Psalm 150:1-2 is quoted?" Kyle asked after inspecting the note.

"To make sure we go to church," Logan replied, mocking Kyle.

"You're not seriously considering going, are you?" Kyle asked in disbelief.

"We have to go. What if someone entrusted us with this and needs our help?" Logan started to ramble anxiously.

"What if it's dangerous?" Kyle interrupted bluntly, stopping Logan's train of thought.

"I didn't say anything before, but you look intimidating," Logan admitted. "If something happens, you can scare off the bad guys," he said, sounding almost childish.

"What?" Kyle asked, annoyed.

"You're big and everything. You look scary," Logan explained matter-of-factly. "So you have to come," he almost demanded.

"Fine," Kyle relented after a few moments before hanging up.

***

When Logan checked the time, he realized it was already 11:40pm. He got out of bed, threw on a jacket over his pajamas, and slipped on a pair of sneakers. Just as he was about to leave, he had a sudden urge to go upstairs to his studio. He dug through a few old boxes of his grandfather's belongings until he found what he was looking for - a rosary. Despite not being a devout believer, Logan had a nagging feeling that something important was about to happen.

As Logan made his way through the dark and frigid streets, he caught a glimpse of the church and was reminded of the recent events that had occurred. "It feels like a lifetime ago," he mused to himself as he approached the door. Checking his phone, he saw that it was 11:57pm - three minutes until midnight. He was the only one there.

As time ticked by and the cold grew more intense, Logan reluctantly decided to seek refuge inside the church. The darkness enveloped him as he stepped inside, with only the faint glow of the moon leaking through the stained glass windows illuminating the space.

As he walked down the aisle of the church, he noticed that the picture of his friend was still present, but the empty coffin was nowhere to be seen. "They must have already buried it," he thought as he paused in the exact spot where the coffin had been placed. As he thought about his friend, the bells in the bell tower began to chime, signaling the arrival of midnight. He was alone in the church. In hopes of encountering another person, Logan chose to sit in a front-row bench. After a few minutes, the creaking sound of the large wooden door startled him, but when he turned around, he realized that it was still closed, and the church remained empty. "I must have imagined it," he thought to ease his mind. A few seconds later, someone tapped his shoulder.

Logan spun around, clutching the rosary tightly in his right hand. It was only Kyle. "Why did you have to scare me like that?" Logan exclaimed, smacking Kyle's head after catching his breath.

"I didn't mean to," Kyle muttered, looking sheepish. "Is that a rosary?" he asked, gesturing towards Logan's hand, which was now pressed against his chest.

Logan opened his hand, revealing the rosary. "Yeah, I brought it just in case. Church at midnight, you know?"

"Taking precautions, huh?" Kyle chuckled as he took a seat in the same spot where Logan had been sitting earlier.

Logan joined him, sitting a bit too close for Kyle's comfort, but he didn't say anything. "I don't know, just felt like I needed it," Logan said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

As they chatted, the door creaked, causing them both to freeze. "Did you hear that?" Logan whispered, his voice shaking as he grabbed Kyle's arm tightly.

Kyle nodded, trying to sound braver than he felt. They looked at each other, their fear palpable. "What do we do?" Logan asked in a hushed tone, still gripping Kyle's arm tightly.

Without giving a response Kyle dragged Logan towards a nearby pillar and gestured for him to hide. "You care about me?" Logan whispered teasingly, despite their precarious situation. Kyle glared at him and placed a hand over his mouth to shush him. They both peered around the pillar and spotted a tall, shadowy figure walking down the church aisle. They exchanged a worried look. "What do we do?" Logan asked in a hushed tone as he pulled his mouth free from Kyle's hand.

"I don't know," Kyle replied, his voice trembling with fear. As they whispered to each other, they failed to notice the shadow creeping up behind them.

"Hello," the figure said, in a cold tone of voice, causing Kyle and Logan to scream and cling to each other for dear life.

Logan instinctively raised the rosary, making the sign of the cross and holding it up to the figure. "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit," he began, his voice shaking with fear. "Begone, demon!"

"Demon?" the shadow said with a chuckle. "I'm Ian," he said as he stepped back, allowing himself to be illuminated by the moonlight coming through the stained-glass windows.

"Black coffee guy?!" Logan exclaimed in confusion as he stepped away from Kyle.

"Don't call me that," Ian replied bluntly. "Did you two send me this note?" he asked, holding up the envelope they had also received.

"What? No," Kyle said, annoyed. "You're the one who sent it," he said, showing Ian his own envelope and forcefully grabbing Logan's from his jacket pocket.

"Ian?" a voice called from the door of the church.

"It's okay, Max. You can come in," Ian said, growing tired of the situation.

"Did you send this?" Kyle asked harshly as soon as Max was in front of them. At the sound of his raised voice, Max instinctively cowered behind Ian's bigger frame. "No, I didn't," he said quietly.

Logan spoke in a gentle tone to calm everyone down, especially Kyle, who looked annoyed. "So none of us sent the notes?" he asked.

"Exactly," Ian replied, reasoning with Logan. "Do you have any idea who could have sent them?"

"Not really," Logan said. "At first, I thought it was Kyle." He pointed at Kyle, earning a glare in return.

"Since none of us know anything, can we leave?" Kyle said, annoyed, and started walking towards the door. But before he could take more than five steps, smoke started to come from his envelope.

"Kyle, your envelope," Logan said, pointing at the smoking envelope.

When Kyle saw the envelope he quickly threw it to the floor, accidentally in the direction of Logan, Ian, and Max.

"What are you doing?!" Logan screamed as they stepped back. The envelope burned down in seconds.

After seeing that, Kyle also threw Logan's envelope that he had snatched earlier, and Ian and Max threw theirs too. The envelopes burned down in seconds, leaving only ashes and a nasty odor as proof that they ever existed.

"What just happened?" Ian was the first to question what they had just witnessed.

As they looked at each other in fear, the clouds darkened the moon and the church was engulfed in complete darkness. "Can someone turn on a light?" Kyle asked impatiently.

"My phone isn't working," Logan said, trying to remain calm but failing miserably. Suddenly, all the candles in the church lit up, illuminating the walls and floors with an eerie orange and red light. The guys stepped back until their backs touched each other.

"What's going on?" Max asked in a faint voice, completely scared.

"I don't know," Ian said in awe, unable to believe what he was seeing. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it.

"Do you feel that?" Logan asked as all the hairs on his body stood up.

"Feel what?" Kyle asked, growing increasingly worried.

"That something's going to happen," Logan said, leaving the other three completely scared.

As Logan finished saying that, shadows of all sizes and forms started entering the church from the windows, making a circle around the guys. When they were completely surrounded, the shadows started making weird noises, as if they wanted to talk with the four humans, and moved in circles, creating a strange wind inside the church.

"What is going on?" Ian asked, shielding his head in case objects from the church started flying.

"Logan, do something!" Kyle shouted as he shook Logan, who was in complete shock.

"Was Grandpa right?" Logan said, instead of thinking to himself, while he looked at his rosary.

"Logan!" Kyle shouted in his ear, making Logan come out of his thoughts.

"What?" Logan said into Kyle's ear; the wind was too strong, and it seemed like it could steal your words after you say them.

"Do something," Kyle shouted back into Logan's ear. Logan looked at him as if he was crazy. "You are the only one clever enough to bring a rosary, and you knew something was going to happen," Kyle reasoned with him. "So, I'm sure that you can do something," Kyle finished saying before giving him a slight push of encouragement on the shoulder.

As Logan looked at his grandfather's rosary, he remembered something his grandfather told him when he was a kid: "When in danger, always ask Saint Michael for protection." Logan remembered in his grandfather's voice.

After remembering that, Logan gave several steps forward until he was mere inches from the wall of shadows. "Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls," Logan said, holding the rosary up. The other three watched him say something but couldn't hear a thing. "Amen," Logan said before doing the sign of the cross.

Immediately after, the wall of shadows disappeared, and Logan fell to his knees in exhaustion.

"Logan!" Kyle said, walking towards him.

***

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Ephesians 6:12