The Called: Chosen (The Called Series Book 2) (18 page)

“I need the remaining four to wait in the bushes on each side of us on the other side of the road. Be quiet and don’t draw attention to yourself. Move in if things get violent.”

The eight of them dispersed and went to their stations. After a minute, John and Rollands took off walking across the road and down the old gravel driveway.

“Remain calm and try not to act nervous”, said Rollands. “We want them all arrested if possible.”

John nodded his head as they came into view of those on the porch. The men were all out there. Jim, Chaim, DeShawn, and Commander Murray stood up at the same time.

Jim asked, “May I help you gentlemen?”

“Yes sir”, said Rollands. “I am looking for a James Cook.”

“Well, you’re looking at him”, said Jim. “We don’t get a whole lot in these parts. Who are you with?”

They stepped closer and came into the light that was shining from the house and stood there empty handed with their guns on their backs. As soon as they could see their faces, Commander Murray recognized John.

“John?” he asked.

Rollands cut him off and said, “you must have him confused with someone else sir. This is Kyle.”

Murray wasn’t buying it and he gave Chaim and DeShawn the signal to be ready to pull their weapons.

“We just arrived here at the Smoky Mountains a few days ago”, said Chaim. “We don’t want any trouble.”

Rollands drew his gun quickly and John was only a second behind him. Within just milliseconds, the four men on the porch had their guns drawn as well.

Chad, Jim, and DeShawn all had their guns pointed directly at the two men on the ground. They seemed to have an advantage until Jim could feel the cold steel of a barrel on his temple.

He glanced over and saw Chaim standing there, not even blinking.

The other men were so focused on the person in front of them that they didn’t even notice.

“Guys”, said Jim. “We have a mole.”

Chad and DeShawn glanced his way really quick and had to do a double take to believe their eyes.

“Chaim?” asked DeShawn in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?”

“It wasn’t an easy job”, said Chaim. “I had to live among you religious nuts for a lot longer than I wanted to, but it looks like we finally got you all and then some. It’s paid off quite nicely.”

“You mean it was all an act?” asked Chad. “You’ve been playing us all this time? You were among the most knowledgeable people we had. You knew the bible and all the right words to say. How can this be?”

“I dedicated myself to knowing as much as I could. I gave away a couple people at a time as they would go out for food or supplies, but nothing big enough to cause suspicion. It wasn’t until the day by the ocean that I really got to contribute. The attack was planned. I mean, why do you think that I made it out completely unscathed? I was the only one.”

“You are responsible for Bo’s death”, said DeShawn. “I almost got killed myself and John…well we see what happened to him.”

“What are they talking about Rollands?” asked John.

“Nothing. They are trying to plant things in our heads like they did to you before they tortured you. Don’t listen to a word they say. It’s all a trick, a diversion to break your focus.”

“Well, who’s gonna blink first?” asked Jim. “How does this end?”

“The best way for this to end for you is to go with us peacefully. The only other way it ends is in a body bag”, said Rollands.

About that time, Maggie came through the front door. She was shocked to see all the guns pointed at each other, but then she saw Chaim with his gun against Jim’s head. Her jaw almost dropped to the floor.

“What in the world?” she asked. As soon as those words left her mouth, she looked down and saw John. She knew what was going on. One of her worst nightmares had come true exactly how Chad had told her it would.

“John! It’s me, Maggie!”

“Oh I remember you!” he snapped. “You sold me out and watched as I was tortured for days on end. How does it feel to be betrayed by someone you trusted?”

“It’s not true”, said Maggie. “They’ve done something to you.”

“Yes, they rescued me from your death trap in New York and nursed me back to health. Also…It’s Kyle, not John.”

Maggie started crying as she sat down against the front door.

“It looks like we have a standoff boys”, said Rollands. He signaled behind his back and there was a sudden ‘crack’ as the snipers fired.

It was a hot day in Syria as the sun was shining down on the city of Damascus. Inside an opulent palace stood a king who had been adored by much of the world, but could not get over those who didn’t adore him. His anger had been turned toward the United States and Britain after their defiance.

He had his military generals pulled up on screens in his office as they waited to get the order from him to attack. Every missile would be synchronized in the U.S. and Britain to hit within seconds of each other. His plan was to completely overwhelm their naval forces and open up their borders to a full scale invasion.

“Fire”, said Assad calmly.

The generals gave the go ahead and the long range missiles were fired from various locations outside of the U.S. and Britain. It would take an hour for them all to reach their targets, but when it was done; thousands would be dead and they would be laid bare for the World Council forces to invade.

President Liam Cain was sound asleep in his bed when he was awakened by secret service.

“Mr. President, there is a pressing matter that needs your attention. Please come with us.”

He was helped out of bed and into his wheelchair. As he was being wheeled down the hallway, the Secretary of Defense was on the phone with him talking to him about the situation.

“We are under attack? Okay…Yes…I understand. We need to get our defenses ready immediately. I am on my way to the situation room. Alright, I will conference you in. Bye.”

Liam was wheeled into the underground bunker where several higher grade military personnel were looking at radars that showed hundreds of long range missiles headed toward the east coast, west coast, and Gulf of Mexico.

“What do we know?” asked Cain.

The head of the Department of Homeland Security stood up and let him know the situation at hand.

“Mr. President, it looks as though World Council forces have launched an air attack from every side. These are all long range missiles, which should give us an advantage when it comes to meeting them with our missile defense systems. However, the sheer number of them and their synchronization will make it very difficult for us to shoot them all down.”

“How many do you think we will be able to take down?” asked the President.

“There are over one thousand of them on the radar coming from probably fifty locations. We may be able to get one-fourth to one-third of them before they strike.”

“That leaves six hundred and sixty six to seven hundred and fifty unaccounted for. We’ve got to do better than that”, said Liam.

“We have the Pentagon on it right now sir.”

“Keep me updated”, said Liam.

The Secretary of Defense came on the screen as the President settled in to review the options.

“Mr. President, as you probably already know, things look bleak for defense options. We do have several of our own personnel in the Middle East right now. Would you like to go ahead and launch the counterattack?”

Liam sat back in his chair and thought that over for a minute before making that kind of decision.

“Yes. I want all available personnel to launch an immediate attack on Syria.”

“Yes sir. Right away”, said the Secretary of Defense.

Within only minutes, the United States had launched missiles to try to intercept the incoming onslaught as well as launch their own counterattack. War had once again come to the world.

―――――

It was only minutes before Abbie was to go on stage and she was just as nervous as she was the first time, if not more. She had secretly been thinking about just coming out to the world as a follower of Jesus. With each show, she wondered if it would be the night that she drops the bomb on her audience.

The urge to tell others had become stronger and stronger as days went by. She knew that according to the bible, witnessing was an important part of being a believer. It was the main function of the church to tell others about Jesus whether that meant she was in danger for it or not.

Charles, Raelynn, and Caitlin all walked up to her backstage. “Thank you so much for the backstage passes”, said Caitlin. “This is so cool.”

“Your welcome”, said Abbie. “It’s my pleasure.”

“It’s about time for me to go on”, said Abbie. “I hope you enjoy the show!”

She walked toward the edge of the stage and stood on the steps waiting for her name to be announced and the roar of the crowd. Abbie thought about what an exciting ride it had been. Her fame had risen very steadily with the release of her debut album and she had so much momentum going.

‘I can’t mess this up’, she thought. ‘If I say anything to anyone about my faith then my career will be over and that’s best case scenario. I could lose a lot more than that.’

As she stood there on the steps leading up to the stage, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see a hideous face staring right at her. When it realized it had frightened her, it grinned with delight.

“What are you?” asked Abbie.

It answered in a low, gravelly voice, “I am fear.”

‘Fitting name’, she thought.

“What do you want?” asked Abbie.

“I have come for you to make you realize what you will bring on yourself and those you love”, said Fear.

“What are you talking about? I would never do anything to harm myself or anyone else”, she said.

“Yes you would.” It waived its hand in front of her face and she saw herself being pulled from her mother and being thrown into prison. She saw her mother, Charles, and her half-sisters staring at her with fear and anguish on their faces. She saw a blade drop and their heads roll to the floor.

Abbie screamed, “No!” and sank down to sit on the step.

“Yes”, it said. “If you share your faith then this will be your future and theirs.”

She was shaking with fear and wondering if she could escape these creatures that had been haunting her when she remembered the words that God spoke to her on the plane after she had first seen the evil creatures.

“Do not fear them. I have given all authority to you over the enemy. You have been sealed with the blood of the Lamb and they cannot touch you. I have called you to destroy their works.”

That still small voice inside of her was all that she needed to stare at the creatures black, hollow eyes and put her finger right in its face. “I am sealed with the blood of the Lamb and there is nothing that you can do to hurt me. I take authority over you in the Name of Jesus Christ and I bind you and send you to the pit!”

At the name of Jesus, the creature reeled back and shrieked. “No! You are afraid of what they will do to you if you say His name. You don’t have authority”, it screamed.

“I have authority because my Father gave me authority through the finished work of Jesus Christ. You are no longer able to operate here. Leave in Jesus Name!”

With those words, the creature flew backwards and seemed to be completely swallowed up by the invisible space around it. Fear was gone and in its place, Abbie found a boldness that she had never experienced before.

The stage announcer said, “Let me introduce to you Ms. Abbie Clark!”

She seemed taken off guard after the encounter, but she quickly recovered and took a deep breath. “Thank you Jesus”, she said as she went up the steps and onto the stage.

The crowd went wild and she waved at them with a big smile on her face.

“Hey Knoxville, Tennessee! Are you all ready for some fun?”

The people in attendance were loud and ready for the night to begin. The chants of “Abbie! Abbie! Abbie!” went up into the rafters as the band started up and she began her song.

It was a wonderful night for her. She had never been so free, so on her game as she was this night. The crowd gave her energy and it was a wonderful thing.

She soon came to the part of the show where she could slow it down a little bit. Abbie knew it was time. If she was going to share who she really was, now was the best time to do it. The crowd seemed to be very into her and what she was doing as an artist and the adrenaline was still coursing through her veins.

“Stop the music”, she said. “Listen, I don’t usually do things this way, but there is something that I am wanting to say.”

She looked at the crowd and continued on, “When I signed with Moonshine Records, I told Jenson Moon that I wanted to make music that was inspirational to people. I didn’t want to just do the normal thing and talk about sex, partying, and heartbreak. I wanted to say something with my music and now it’s come the time to say something with my heart…”

The crowd got really quiet in anticipation of what she was about to say and Jenson Moon stood down on the left side of the stage, fidgeting nervously. Charles Billingsley and his two girls stood in front row center. Charles knew what she was going to say and all he wanted to do was stop her, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t move or even speak.

“I am a follower of Jesus Christ. He died for all of us so that we can have eternal life. We are in the end times right now and He wants as many who would come to Him to simply come as you are. All you need is faith that He is who He says He is. I found that the old book that our ancestors read, the bible, is completely true. The World government has tried to pull the blinds over our eyes so that we cannot see or hear the truth. The very fact that a sincerely held belief is punishable by imprisonment and even death in certain parts of the world is a proof in itself of the truth of it. If it wasn’t true, it wouldn’t be a threat to the establishment. I love you all and Jesus loves you all. If God is speaking to your heart now, just receive Him where you are and He will show himself to you as He did to me. It’s the only way…”

Jenson stood by the stage with his mouth open for a few moments before he got ahold of himself. He called security to escort Abbie off the stage as the crowd looked around confused about what had taken place. It was too late though. The Spirit of God came into the place and moved on hundreds of people. Many of them received Jesus right on the spot and others would have a seed firmly planted in them to research it further.

The band started up again to try to break the silence and move on with the show, but many people left. Some left offended and some left with a glad heart but one thing was certain; Abbie had been a part of the largest conversion to Christianity in years.

She was rushed backstage and Jenson met her in front of her dressing room and opened the door to let her in. “What the heck was that?” asked Jenson.

“I had to do it”, said Abbie. “I felt like I was living a lie. It’s who I am, not just what I believe.”

“Well, you just publicly broke the law Abbie”, said Jenson. You had better be happy that we are in Tennessee right now. Their state laws are the only thing that will save you from a federal prison.”

Charles and the girls came backstage and went into Abbie’s dressing room to find Jenson pacing around frantically, trying to figure out what to do. “Abbie, you have tied my hands”, he said. “There is nothing I can do to fix this.”

“I don’t expect you to fix anything”, said Abbie. “My God will protect me and keep me until He is done with me on this earth.”

“Well, I admire your faith there Abbie, but this is real life. Do you really want to be staring at bars for the rest of your life?”

“Wherever I end up, I will do it being obedient to God”, said Abbie.

Jenson shook his head and walked out of the dressing room, slamming the door behind him.

Charles walked over and hugged Abbie. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m okay. I am sorry but I had to do it. It was inevitable and we are in a fairly safe state right now for this to happen in. Hopefully the penalty won’t be too stiff.”

“I will do whatever I can for you”, said Charles, “but I can’t promise anything.”

Abbie nodded her head and hugged her father and sisters.

There was a loud knock at the door. “Who is it?” asked Abbie.

“This is the Knoxville Police”, said the voice on the other side. “Open the door immediately.”

Charles could have been sick right that very moment. He said, “Before they take you, I want you to know something Abbie. The girls and I accepted the invitation back there. We believe that Jesus is Lord and He is coming back soon. You aren’t alone in this.”

Abbie started crying. “It was all worth it then”, she said. They embraced one last time and she went to open the door. Two officers came in and she was handcuffed and her rights were read to her as they ushered her out the door.