It was a beautiful night for a walk in the small town of Albion. A married couple walked down Main Street, hand in hand. They were so focused on each other they barely noticed the group of strangers standing at the end of the sidewalk. He smelled them before she saw them. A gasp escaped the wife as they stopped abruptly in front of the strangers. They did not move, they only stood there and stared at the couple with lifeless eyes.
“Excuse us.” The husband said.
“To escape the Darkness, we must Spread The Light.” Answered the stranger in the middle. He was holding something, it looked like a lighter.
Suddenly, there was a scream from the next street over and a burst of light could be seen through the houses. It was then the husband realized what he had smelled.
“To escape the Darkness, we must Spread The Light.” All the strangers chanted in unison. The spark from the lighter set them all ablaze and the couple screamed as the burning group ran towards them.
The Preacher watched the town burn, from high up on a hill, with a twisted smile. The screaming was only slightly muted by the crackling of the growing inferno. The smell of gasoline watered his eyes and burned his nostrils. He could taste the ash in the air and he felt the glorious heat even from this distance. All of his senses were ablaze and he could barely contain his excitement. Soon he would be the only one left. Then, he would move on to the next town, where he would share his doctrine. And Spread The Light.