Midnight Fire - Rise of the Dark Angel - Book One (6 page)

             
“Aren’t you guys going to strip down and join me?” Jessica asked, as she finally couldn’t st
and the cold anymore
and stepped into the steaming water. “Ooh, the water is really hot tonight,” she said
,
then
let out
her annoying giggle.

             
Phoenix watched as she sank down deeper, grateful her oversized breasts were finally covered up.
The rest of them quickly s
hed their outer clothes and didn’
t waste any time getting
in
to the water. It was hot
and felt incredible
. Phoenix actually sighed out
loud, which
caused a laugh from Brian
and another glare from Jessica, who quickly scooted
closer
to
him
. Phoenix was
so
relax
ed, she didn’t
care.

             
One
of the other kids, Derek, who’
d come with them, started talking about something that
happened earlier in the day
and the mood lightene
d. They laughed together
and before they knew it
,
an hour passed.

             
“This is heavenly
and I hate to be
a
party crasher
but
we really should get back before
we’re
busted,” John told the group. They all sighed
but
listened to what he said. It was so hard to get out
of the water. The air was cold
and
they
were
all
shivering as they slipped their
clothes
back on.

             
“Last one ba
ck is a rotten egg,” Brian said
,
then took off running toward
the cave. Bef
ore she knew what was happening
Phoenix found herself
alone
and immediately started running after them.
There was no way she wanted to be left alone in the woods. It was creepy by
yourself
at night
.

             
She caught up with the group in mom
ents
as
they kept jogging to
keep warm.
They slipped inside
,
then
headed towards their different living
areas. Phoenix entered her room
and quickly got out of her wet clothes, hanging them up. They all wore their
clothing
ite
ms several times before washing
,
since it was such a pain.

             
She looke
d at her tiny room, she’
d so lovingly decorated. Her parents had snuck items of hers out of their house for over a year without
her notice
so she still had her favorite
belongings
. All the rooms were just big enough for
a
twin size bed,
nightstand,
dresser, tiny closet and a little walking area. She could almost touch her hands from one wall to the other.

             
When s
he thought back to her old room
it made her a bit sad. Her old closet was about the size of her current room.
Oh well, it served its purpose
and at l
east she wasn’
t on the ground outside somewhere. She
laid
down
on
her bed, cove
ring up with her
special
quilt
,
then took her
notebook
back out. She wanted to
write
a bit more before
going to sleep.

             
I was
fourteen
when my father
rushed
into the house and flipped on the television. What I saw on the screen would forever change
me
. It took the shutters from my eyes and woke me to the evil of the world. My father said nothing, as the newsman talked in front of
the
camera
.
His face was
washed
of color
and real terror
shone
in his eyes.

             
“I can’t even explain what I’m seeing
. They’
ve breached our defenses and are tak
ing over. Get out while you can.
Take your children and run.
D
o whatever it takes to protect
yourselves
because they’
ve hit our strongholds and
it won’t be long before they have complete
control
,” the man yelled into the camera. He wasn’t even trying to hide the tears streaking down his cheeks, or the sweat rolling off his forehead. He looked and sounded terrified and his fear left me paralyzed to the spot. 

             
He continued speaking but it
barely registered
as I watched the camera span out behind him. The screen flashed between multiple
cities
around the United States. There was one in Washington DC, New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Las Vegas and a few other places. The destruction shown couldn’t possibly be real.

             
The camera spanned in many directions and there were bloody bodies lying in the streets and buildings on fire.
E
ntire business districts
were
up
in flames
as well as entire towns burned to the ground
. It had to be a movie
because there was no way the images could be real.
S
o much blood
was
everywhere, far more than I’d ever seen in any horror film
.
T
he fire looked as if it was consuming the whole world. There was so much
smoke
I was fearful if we opened our door
it
would come pouring
inside
. Why would anyone want to create so much destruction?

             
“The President is de
ad, along with the rest of the White House. The P
entagon is gone, military men are being shot
down in cold blood. Gone, they’
re all gone.
We had no warning.
W
e had nothing…” the man continued to cry out
.
T
hen right befor
e our eyes, in the middle of him
talking, his head exploded.

             
A bullet shot through his eye, leaving a mess before the camera. We all w
atched him die, this man, who’
d been breathing and talking, was
falling
to the ground. The camera stayed in place, watching the man fall and then there was another shot and the camera fell next to the reporter.
Our heads turned sideways following the view of the camera. We were
too horrified to
look
away as the camera lay on its side.

             
I remember thinking I was surprised the
lens
hadn’t broken. Then
,
the camera rose again and there was a masked man standing in front of the picture.
The
man
, who was only showing his eyes, was
the scariest
sight
I’d ever
witnessed
.

             
They were dark and cold and it felt like he could reach through the camera and grab
a hold
of us. I stepped back from the large television screen
without even realizing what I was doing
. I looked at my dad
,
who was staring at the sc
reen in horror.
My dad,
who I’
d always thought was stronger than superman, seemed like he was rooted to the spot
.
H
is fear scared me even more than the images I was seeing on the television. 

             
“If you don’t surrender
,
you will die.
We aren’t giving second chances. W
e aren’t merciful. Y
ou will surrender to us. There’
s
no mercy for women or children
as they are lesser beings. We’r
e taking over your country,
your world. We’
re doing god’s work and there’s nothing that can stop us. We choose who lives and dies. Your only chance of survival is to go to one of your pagan churches and fly a white flag of surrender outs
ide your doors. If you run
,
we’
ll catch you and you’
ll be punished,” the man spoke into the camera.

             
My entire body started shaking in fear. At that moment something beeped and my father seemed to snap out of his trance. He walked over to a cupboard and pulled
out
a
two-way radio
I hadn’t known was there.

             
“It’s begun.
P
ut the plan in motion. Everyone needs to be on the road within a half hour,” he spoke.
He listened to the other person before responding. “No, there’s no time, it’s ready. I’ll speak to my contacts,
see you th
ere. Remember the story if you’
re stopped,” my father said and then he turned towards us.

             
My brother and I stared at him in horror. What had he
been talking about? How could h
e possibly get us out of this horror story our lives had become.

             
“I know
you’
re both scared right now and I don’t have time to explain everything,” he began. He reached into the same area he’d pulled the
radio
from and handed us each two bags.

             
“You have fifteen minutes to gather your most precious
possessions
. Don’t worry about cl
othing. It’s been taken care of. D
on’t worry about food. Gather items yo
u don’t want to see destroyed. F
ill these bags and get back down here. We’re heading out in twenty minutes,” he told us.

             
John and I looked at one another and then at our father. We had so many questions but we knew there
wasn’t
time. We’d seen what was on the television and were willing to do anything
he
asked us.

             
I ran up the stairs
,
to my room
on trembling legs
and looked
aro
und. I somehow knew I’
d never walk into this home again and I was terrified. How could I leave any of my things behind? I loved it all and it seemed a betrayal to choose what
came
with me and what
stayed
.

             
As I started packing up some of my
belongings
, I realized there
were
a lot of missing items. My albums were gone and my chest full of craft
items
. I had hundreds of books and they were
missing too. Had my father already packed those items? I didn’t have time to ask him but it seemed to be the only explanation.

             
He’d said not to worry about clothing but I couldn’t leave behind my favorite items
,
so I layered on several changes of clothes, which made me feel as if I weighed a ton. I t
hen filled one bag with clothes
and had to sit on it to get the zipper to close. The other bag was filled with some of my other favorite things and before long my mother stepped into the room and told me my time was up.

             
I grabbed my b
ags and the blanket from my bed. N
o way would I leave the quilt my mother made me behind
. I then
followed her down the stairs.
M
y brother had the same idea
because he was carrying his quilt
and his bags seemed
fuller
than mine.

             
He put a reassuring hand on my shoulder and it helped calm me down. My brother was five years older than me and he was my hero. If he said things were going to be okay, then I knew I was safe. My brother and I weren’t like most siblings who fought all the time. I idolized him and would do anything he asked me. If he told me to go one way and my parents told me to go th
e other, it would be John I’
d follow. 

             
We made it to the living room and mom sent us out to the garage, where we loaded
the bags into the back of our S
uburban. The back
end was packed an
d when ours went in, there wasn’
t an inch
of space
to spare. We walked back into the house
,
heading toward the kitchen where we heard familiar voices.

             
Standing in our kitchen
were
my parents, Larry and Janet
,
and also Cathy and Greg Sanders and their son Brian
.
M
y best friend
,
Sadie, along with her parents Jeff and Megan
were also there
. I ran to Sadie and threw my arms around her. I was never so happy to see her in my life. I couldn’t
imagine
leaving without her.

             
“We know you kids h
ave a lot of questions and we’ll answer them once we’
ve reached our destination. Right now
,
it’s bett
er for you not to know anything
in case of the unlikely event we get captured. You can’t be held accountable for what you don’t know,” my father said.

             
We looked at each other with equally
frightened
expressions. My mother had a bag on the table, overflowing with food and drinks. She looked around her kitchen with sad eyes
,
then
rushed us out to the garage. It was midnight as we pulled onto the street
.

             
There was chaos everywhere, with people running down the streets, crying and yelling. There were never-ending lines of traffic and most people looked to be in a panic, not knowing what to do or where to go. We passed by the one huge church in our small town and out in front of it
was
a white flag
attached to the
pole. The American flag was nowhere to be seen.

             
There were people pouring in through the double doors, some still in their pajama’s. My dad looked over at the doors as we passed and shook his head. I watched in shock as a tear fell from my mother’s eye
. She
wi
ped it away but it was too late,
I’d already seen her moment of weakness.
Both my parents were fighting to stay in control but unable to hide their fear from us.

             
My mother was so strong. I’d never before seen her cry and the tear and hopeless look o
n her face
registered in my mind more than the dire situation we were in
. I sat in the back seat of the car,
sandwiched
between Sadie and Brian.

             
Brian put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed, offering me comfort. He and his parents spent a lot of their time at our house
, so I knew him well
.
I was thankful he was next to me.

             
“Are we going to be okay?” I asked him with tear filled eyes.

             
“Of course we will
,
kiddo,” he teasingly replied. The tension in his body betrayed his words but I chose to ignore that. He was strong and confident and I leaned on him. I fell asleep, too
exhausted and scared to stay awake
.
When I woke again
we were deep in the woods and I was being shaken by Brian. “We’re here,” was all he said. I looked out at nothing and felt my stomach lurch.