The Sixth Seal: He Who Was Burned Shall Rise Again

The Sixth Seal

The church was rebuilt. The dead were laid burial. They acted as though the fire had never descended to the mountain;

Evermore, though, had changed.

The sky appeared blacker even during the day. No birds were nesting in the spire anymore. Children stayed away from the swings in back of the chapel. The bells only once sounded at night, every at 3:33 a.m., sometimes known as the Devil's hour.

Still, only one person clearly remembered everything.

Fourteen-year-old altar kid Eli Harper clearly remembered the hill encircled in wicked fire. The young man had heard unusual, old-fashioned words. He watched silently as Pastor Hayes worked to rid the world of darkness.

And he fell down. Since Eli saw something, others did not. Eli made it through.

Ashes in the Wind

Everything began again on Sunday morning.

Preparing for communion, Eli assisted Father Mark. The elderly clergyman sang familiar tunes as he shined the silver cups while Eli painstakingly lit the candles at the altar.

He caught it at that instant.

One line of black ash lay under the altar cloth. Even after he had cleaned it, it was still present later, but it was considerably more obvious—almost like a fingerprint rising from below.

Eli had dreams of Hollow Hill that night.

The sky split apart like cloth as the fires rekindled.

Open the sixth seal... a great earthquake will follow... whispered a voice from the burned earth. Eli found the Bible on his chest open at Revelation 6:12 when he woke up.

The ash was currently on his hands.

The Return

By Thursday, odd things started to reappear.

The village's clock tower stopped at 3:33 a.m. Born with wide open silver eyes, a child The cemetery gates were swaying even if there was no wind.

When he was in school, Eli noticed a new face in the corridor. Pale, peaceful, maybe nostalgic.

Elian, he breathed.

As the young man faced Eli and grinned, he could make out the smile in the fire. Elian was supposed to have left, though, since he was assumed to have died in the fire. Had he though? That evening Eli returned to Hollow Hill.

Though charred but otherwise unblemished, there were no signs of life anywhere on the ground. As he stood at the edge of the flames, the ground began to tremble, nevertheless. There was a low buzz in the air.

And then... under him he sensed a heartbeat.

The Sixth Seal Cracks

Eyes wide and gasping, Eli dashed toward Father Mark.

"He's back! I saw him! He's walking the hallways as though nothing has changed! Father Mark's expression shifted to one of anxiety. Whom are you referring to? Elian! The Antichrist! The priest got serious.

"You've read too much from Revelation," he replied quietly. "Eli, you are feeling the stress. A permanent impression on all was left by the events that happened at Hollow Hill a year ago. No! Eli remarked, flipping through the pages of the Bible while pounding it on the table.

When the sixth seal opened, I saw a great earthquake; and the sun grew as black as sackcloth... He's coming back, Eli murmured. And this time, it will not be only our city.

Father Mark did not react. The bells rang twice that evening.

The Children of the Ash

The young people in the town soon began acting oddly.

During a church service, a five-year-old girl shouted flawlessly in ancient Greek. Before waking up and speaking backward, a tiny child could hold his breath for an incredible 66 seconds. Another young person carved a spiral symbol on his home's floor, much like the charred pattern found on Hollow Hill.

Eli did not lose sight of the significance of these events.

Elian did not come by themselves.

Around him were children shaped by despair and stained with ash. They whispered his name low down in dark corners. "He steps again... He walks beneath..." The settlement had no knowledge.

Though, the shadows had turned something else.

Whispers Beneath the Earth

Immediately, Eli sought Claire Hayes, the widow of the minister. She resided by herself in her small house on the outskirts among religious symbols and locked gates.

"I see the truth of your vision," Eli said as she entered. I get that he still lives on.

Then I need your assistance stopping him, Eli said.

Claire responded by shaking her head no. What was never really alive cannot be destroyed. She gave him an old, rusted box strewn with rosary beads. Inside was a single obsidian knife with ancient writing. She whispered, where can I find him? It is the only tool able to sever a soul.

Eli kept on, and Claire's eyes became intense.

Your solution is already within you.

Beneath the School

Eli crept into Evermore High that night.

He followed the whispers and soft chanting's weak sounds. Long closed, he headed for the deserted bomb shelter buried under the institution.

He pushed the door open. Inside, he found six youngsters encircled around flickering candles their faces black with ashes.

Elian was in the center.

Although he appeared older—maybe 13—his silver eyes kept twinkling. Eli's thoughts echoed with his voice: Tonight, the sixth seal will break. Silence will drop in heaven as the seventh arrives. Urgency gripped Eli as he charged forward, dagger in hand.

Elian raised his hand and the youngsters began to float, spinning in the air with eyes rolled back, chanting in forgotten languages.

The Soul Splits

He yelled, Eli! With the black blade lifted above his head. You have run out of time!

Elian looked behind. We have run out of time.

Only the unendingness of eternity. With a quick motion, Eli forced the knife into the boy's chest. There was a flash of brilliant light. A scream—one of liberation rather than misery—filled the air as it resonated across the chamber. The kids dropped immobile to the ground.

Though hurt, Elian took a step back and whitened. For the first time, his once peaceful demeanor broke. He whispered, "You have… broken the seal."

He vanished in a flash, encased in a cloud of ash and smoke, and was hurled into the bowels of the world with a thunder that rattled the school's walls.

Aftermath

The school was closed for “renovations.”

The children remembered nothing.

Father Mark quietly left town.

But Eli knew.

The seventh seal was still unbroken.

And one day… silence would come.

🩸 AUTHOR'S NOTE

The Sixth Seal is the chilling sequel to The Fifth Trumpet, drawing deeper from the Book of Revelation. Evil isn’t always destroyed—it simply waits… beneath.