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LOSING MY RELIGION
THE NIGHT OF FEBRUARY 9th It was happening again. The apocalypse. The end of the world. The fat lady belting out one last bop before the universe blinked away. And for the umpteenth time it was up to Claire and Andy and their family to stop it. Claire and Andy stayed up late talking it through. They just stopped a plague of vengeful ghosts, or the something-something of the Witnesses as Grace the angel lady called it, and every part of Andy hurt. Exhaustion chewed her and swallowed her and sh*t her out, but there wasn’t any time to regroup from that. Because of course an evening of evil ghosts beating the sh*t out of you can’t just be an evening of evil ghosts beating the sh*t out of you, it had to be an omen for the coming apocalypse. She tried to convince herself that it was no big deal, that they could handle it just like they handled the last one--if anything, this would be easier, the last time around the whole multiverse was at stake, this time it was only their localized universe--but it didn’t make Andy feel better no matter how hard she pretended it did. The worst of it was that Andy felt so useless this time around. Not that she had a lot to do with the stopping of the last apocalypse--their daughters really did all the heavy lifting there--but she had a role to play. The Loa, the Voodoo gods serving as the deities for Andy’s religion, were intimately involved in defeating the dark under gods that threatened the multiverse. This time it was just one God, the one who liked to pretend he was the only one--capital G and all--picking a fight with a fallen angel, and Andy couldn’t feel less involved. She was raised a Christian, she knew the lore up to her gills, but she couldn’t stop a part of her from feeling like it wasn’t her fight, and that scared the sh*t out of her. Some heavy things were coming and what if she didn’t have it in her to help her family the way they needed? Her mind ran wild with those fears. Andy lay on the ground with Claire, talking it through with her wife while staring at the ceiling, though for a while she felt like she was the one doing most of the talking. Her wife always listened, though, was always there for her, and sometimes she would just let her go. Andy loved that about Claire, one of a million things she loved about her; and although she tried to limit her whining monologues, the apocalypse was looming and she allowed herself a little extra whining time without feeling guilty about it. “I just don’t understand,” Andy said. “I mean, I know the question ‘why us?’ never really has a good answer, but seriously this time: Why the f*** us? Why do we have to be the constant play-things for the cosmic a**holes. The last time, I understood. I wasn’t happy about it, but I got it. The Loa helped us have the twins and… yeah, you make a deal with a god, ‘dem da breaks. You don’t have to explain that one to me, but this time around I don’t get it. I don’t even worship this god, you haven’t been to church in like… a really long time. I feel like the universe just has it out for us, you know? “And I’m always trying to be such a good trooper about it. F*** that. I’ll put on a brave face with the kids but I’m done pretending like it’s okay for the universe to just jerk us around like this. I’m so sick of being the main character in some cosmic smut fiction where everyone I care about keeps dying or getting hurt or gets possessed. It’s bullsh*t. You hear that ‘Universe’? I’m done caring. And I don’t care what you think about it.” 
Light snoring answered her. Andy looked up and over to Claire, who passed out on the floor, mouth open and drooling a little. She huffed, but then smiled, not blaming her wife for passing out, it was super late and they had a helluva thirty-six hours. Sitting up, Andy went to grab a blanket and a pillow from the closet. She wasn’t like Claire, she didn’t have werewolf strength to be able to carry her to bed, but she could make her wife comfortable. She carefully lifted Claire’s head to slide the pillow under her, and she draped the blanket over her. She’d be down there herself soon enough, choosing to sleep on the floor with her rather than sleep in bed alone, but she went to do a last minute check on the kids instead. Andy slipped into the hallway and headed toward the nursery to check on the babies first. Once she saw that they were okay, the not-so-little-littles were next. She went deeper down the dark hall, but when she rounded the corner she jumped a little at the sight of someone standing at the other end of the corridor. She resisted the urge to scream. The figure, a woman with her back to Andy, had shoulder length red hair and Andy assumed it was Mia or Andrea, out of bed or maybe even sleepwalking. She took a step forward and opened her mouth to offer her some calming motherly advice, but when the figure turned around it wasn’t the face of a daughter staring back at her. The face was an empty swirl of darkness and light, cosmic energy flickering and twisting--the universe itself reflected back at Andy, and it rooted Andy’s legs against the hardwood floor of the hallway. 
“Who are you?” Andy said in a meek whisper. “What are you doing in my house?” The figure only stared back at her. It didn’t speak. It didn’t move. It just stared. “Answer me, damnit,” she had more vigor in her voice this time around. “Answer me or I swear I’ll scream and wake my wife up and you’re gonna wish you chose to talk with me instead of her.” “Get. Them. Away.” A voice spoke in Andy’s mind, the figure’s voice, a booming but feminine tone. Andy couldn't say exactly how she knew it was the figure but she knew. “What?” Andy teared up. “I don’t… I don’t understand.” “Get. Them. Away. The Vessels. Danger. His. Angels. Dangerous.” “Angels?” Andy asked. “The Archangels, the ones Grace was talking about? Who are the vessels?” “Twins. Get. Them. Away.” Andy froze, paralyzed by fear. “The twins… my girls… they’re…” “No. Help. From. Gods. No. Help. But. Yourself. No. Help. Jesus.” “I don’t understand, I don’t get it. You need to be clearer.” Andy openly cried now. “Please, this is my family. I need to know what you’re trying to say. I need to understand. I lied before, I care. I do care, I can’t stop caring, please, just tell me, just--” 
Andy shot up in bed, gasping, waking from a nightmare. Beside her, Claire sat on her side, asleep and snoring, one of the cats cuddled up against her. Andy caught her breath and panted. She didn’t really understand her dream, where it came from, or what it meant, but something inside her told her it was more than just a nightmare. Things were changing, the end of things… it was one step closer. And now Andy had more to worry about.
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