The Called: Chosen (The Called Series Book 2) (4 page)

They walked through the cavernous area until they reached another door. “You will need to wait here for a few minutes Noah. Is that cool.”

“Sure, whatever you need me to do”, said Noah.

Javier walked up to the door and opened a small compartment to reveal what looked like a tiny camera. It was a retinal scanner. After verifying his identity, the door opened and he walked into the control room where the leaders of the west coast rebels resided most hours of the day.

He walked straight over to a man in a slick gray uniform who was talking to an officer. The commander was one of the highest ranking officials among the believers in Los Angeles. He was in his mid-fifties with short gray hair. He was just a smidge under six feet tall, but he stood straight with his shoulders square and his chest out. He had been a career military man for the U.S. Army for years until he became a follower of Christ.

Commander Joshua Ramsey had been one of the dozens to flee the government, establishing believer camps throughout the west coast with his connections and resources. Years of experience served him well in surviving and adapting to the new reality; teaching others to do so as well.

“Commander Ramsey. I am sorry to interrupt you, but I have a very pressing matter that you need to be aware of. We don’t have much time.”

Abbie looked out of the first class window of a 747 making its descent into JFK International Airport in New York. It would be her first show as a signed artist with Moonshine Records, opening for megastar Savannah Lynn as part of her latest tour. Jenson Moon had done exactly what he had promised and put her on the fast track to success. She would finish recording her debut album during a short break in a few weeks and it would be released within a few months. Right now…she was just going to enjoy being on the road and getting her music out there so that her album would be a success upon release.

She stared at the bright lights of New York City in the distance, reflecting on the past few weeks. It had been a whirlwind to say the least. She could have never imagined even half of what had transpired, and yet here she was. A Christian who was going on tour with the biggest country star in the world. Losing her best friend had changed her in many ways, but finding Christ had changed her in many more ways. All Abbie could do was wonder what God had in store for her in this new level in the entertainment industry.

They would be opening the tour in New York with a two nights at the newly renovated Madison Square Garden. She was hoping that this would give her enough time to meet up with her dad. She had tried to call his office a couple of times, but he had been on a business trip to Syria. She could only imagine what it could be for and who he was talking to.

Abbie knew that Samyaza al Assad was not the type of individual that she wanted to be running the world, and certainly not trying to sway her father. She had a burden for him; to see him come to know Christ. Everything about Assad, including his new insistence on being the savior of the world, seemed to be very anti-Jesus. His desire to be an object of adoration and worship flew in the face of everything that Jesus had been about.

She was quickly jolted out of her daydreaming by the plane shaking violently. The pilot came over the speaker system to let everyone know that it was only some routine turbulence. Abbie’s racing heart began to calm down and she laid her head back on the seat and looked out the window again.

As she was gazing out into the night, she thought she saw what looked like a very large bird of some kind just above the wing. There were wings flapping, but it was hard for her to make out the full form. Her curiosity continued to grow as the creature moved in closer to her window. For a moment, she wondered if she was dreaming or maybe her eyes were deceiving her. After all, she had been going on very little sleep.

Abbie rubbed her eyes and looked back out the window to see the form of a man with wings flying straight ahead with the plane, but moving to the left toward her window. Her curiosity soon became horror as it turned its head to reveal hollow eyes as black as coal and pale white skin. She couldn’t tell if they were eyes or just empty sockets.

Just as she was about to close the window shade when the creature flashed a sinister grin and broke off from the plane. As he went down below, he joined five others like him and they spread out and went into the city. Abbie was very disturbed with this event and she wondered what they were and why they were going into the city. Even though she didn’t know what they were, she could sense that they were evil. Just seeing its face put a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

The plane touched down on the runway and came to a full stop within seconds. A few minutes later, the passengers started exiting the plane. Abbie just sat in her seat, clutching the arm rests and wondering if that thing was coming for her. Fear rose up in her as she battled with her own thoughts and feelings. She wondered if she had become a target now for demons.

She sat there, trying to silence the thoughts that were racing through her mind. “I have given you all authority over the enemy.” She looked around, wondering who was talking to her. After it became apparent that there wasn’t anyone around her anymore, she realized that it was that same voice that had spoken to her before, telling her to sign the contract with Moonshine Records.

“What was that?” she whispered.

“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.”

“Yes, Father”, she said.

As soon as those words left her lips, she felt grateful that she could call someone father. She had never had that growing up and had longed for it as an adult. There was something safe about it. Her hope now was that she could salvage a relationship with her earthly father. She was a living testament that people can change. Hopefully, Charles Billingsley could accept the daughter that he had tried to ignore for years.

Abbie got up and grabbed her carry-on bag out of the overhead compartment. The only ones left on the plane were the flight attendants and pilot. She hustled down the aisle and the attendant and pilot put on a smile and said, “Thank you for flying with us Ms. Clark.”

She smiled and said, “It was a pleasure”. As she walked through the gate where the rest of her entourage was waiting, she couldn’t help but feel excited and humbled that people knew her name. Even though she had just been signed and gotten some publicity as a new artist, people knew that she was with Savannah Lynn and that she was on her way to fame and fortune very quickly.

Two limousines were waiting outside of the airport. The driver already had her luggage in hand, placing it neatly and carefully into the trunk. “Ms. Clark, it is a pleasure to meet you. If there is anything that you need, please let me know.”

“Thank you”, she said. “What’s your name?”

“It’s Daniel.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you Daniel.”

He smiled and opened the door for her. She slid into the spacious backseat of the car to see a couple of familiar faces.

“Jenson?” She looked over to the other side. “Mom?”

She was so shocked, but so happy to see them there. “How? When?”

Jenson flashed a perfect grin and said, “I decided to fly your mom and me out here earlier today on my private jet. I didn’t want to miss your first show and I sure didn’t want your mom missing it.”

Abbie got teary eyed and said, “Thank you so much Jenson. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

She leaned forward and hugged both of them. Her mother asked, “So, what’s your two days look like?”

“Well, I have a lot of rehearsing to do along with a couple of radio interviews. If I had time, I was even going to track down my father…Charles.”

A stern look came over her mother’s face as Abbie braced for her response. “I still have a hard time understanding your interest. God knows that he was never around for you when it mattered.”

Abbie shot back…”Yea, God knows. In fact, that’s part of the reason I have to go see him…” She stopped herself right there when she realized who she was in front of. “Good or bad, there just needs to be closure.”

There was an awkward silence for a moment until Jenson asked, “So who wants some wine or champagne?”

They both passed on the offer and started talking about other things after a few minutes. They eventually pulled up to Madison Square Garden. “This is your first stop”, said Jenson. “You will have your first run through tonight and then you are scheduled for a radio show at 8:00 tomorrow morning. Immediately following that, you will have full dress rehearsal and then lunch. You will then be free for the next few hours until you need to be back here. I am going to the hotel along with your mom. The car will be back here at 11:00 to pick you up.”

“Alright! See you guys tonight or tomorrow then.”

Her head was spinning with the long hours and all the places that she needed to be in a short time. ‘This is the price for fame though’, she thought. She walked through the backstage area and emerged onto the stage that had already been set up for both her and Savannah Lynn.

As she sang her songs to the sound crew and the empty arena, she felt like she was finally home. Somehow, she was going to break new ground in a unique way. She was going to use her platform unlike any other entertainer before her in a time unlike any other time in history.

―――――

President Cain sat nervously in his familiar office, waiting on the Speaker of the House and all of those who had been let go from Congress; most of which had previously been his opponents. He wondered how he would answer the questions, how he would present his newfound revelation to them without incriminating himself.

It was his final decision to give up the sovereignty of the United States to Assad and the World Council. It was that decision that led to the dissolving of the United States Constitution and every protection that the document afforded them. ‘I may have a hard time convincing them that I am on their side now’, he thought. ‘Let alone actually convince them to stage a revolt against Assad.’

Suddenly a loud knock at the door brought him to his feet. “Come in”, he said. Speaker William Bernhart walked in followed by twelve other men. All of them had solemn looks on their faces. There were chairs prepared for them to sit in. Liam motioned with his hand, “Please…sit down.”

They all quietly took their seats. Bernhart started off the meeting by saying, “Mr. President, I have gone to all of my constituents that were against the decision to concede our sovereignty and identity to the World Council. These twelve agreed to meet with you regarding the matters that we previously discussed, including your change of heart.

President Cain nodded sheepishly. “Thank you Mr. Speaker. Yes…it is true. I have had a change of heart regarding our position with Assad and the World Council. I humbly apologize for the decision that I made. I know it had affected you and your livelihoods as well as the course of this entire nation...even the entire world. I take full responsibility for those actions and I appeal to you all now to join me in turning this around. I know it won’t be easy. Our own government is in disarray and there are too many supporters that have already taken their place as part of the new world government.”

A Congresswoman from Georgia spoke up. “How do you expect us to deal with this situation now? Our military is also in control of World Council sympathizers. We can’t gain back our independence with just diplomacy.”

“That is a fair question”, said Cain. “We will need to move quickly, but we will also need to practice caution and take it one step at a time. My concern now is that we will break out into a civil war.”

“Yes”, said Speaker Bernhart. “…and not only a civil war, but another revolutionary war…possibly even another World War if other nations decide to join us.”

Cain looked down and nodded solemnly while tapping his pen on his desk. “I completely understand what could occur. It’s something that will have to happen though. Our way of life…the way of democracy and freedom that we and much of the civilized world benefited from is in jeopardy. If Assad has his way, it will be a one man show. We’ve seen throughout history what the likes of him is capable of. He can sway millions of people to basically worship him while consenting to the killing of those who are different or who don’t agree with his agenda. The United States had always been there to stand up to this kind of tyranny, and even though our own unity is compromised, we have to put forth every resource we can to change what is happening now in our world.”

Speaker Bernhart stood up and walked over next to the President and looked at everyone seated in the oval office. “If you are interested in discussing what we can do to take back our country, then you are free to stay as we begin the planning process. If this is beyond your willingness, then feel free to go.”

He waited for a moment. Everyone in the room glanced at each other, waiting on someone to stand up and leave. After a minute, it became apparent that everyone was in for the long haul. “Listen everyone, I know that this is a tall order to fulfill. We will have to make sacrifices here and it could be a long shot. I do want us all to understand something though. Even if we had not conceded sovereignty, there would have been a war. The World Council would have invaded and the nation would have still been split apart. All is not lost…not yet. We still have some fight in us. We still have people…we still have resources and we still have allies.”

“What’s the first step Mr. President?” asked Bernhart.

“Are these twelve all that seemed interested? You did have several more of your party in both the House and the Senate that voted against this measure right?”

“Yes sir. We have over one-hundred between the two. Nearly all of them are interested in hearing this out, but we chose twelve who would represent and bring the information back to them for review.”

“Let’s make that our first step then”, said Cain. “We need everyone on board with us. I will also be meeting with a couple of top ranking Generals in all four branches of our military tomorrow to see if we can keep our firepower aimed at Syria and the World Council and not at ourselves.”

“Keep us updated, sir”, said Speaker Bernhart.

“I will”, said President Cain. “I like this structure. Let’s keep it this way for now to help keep this under wraps until we come out ready with our allies to strike. I will give you updates Mr. Speaker and you share them with your designated representatives here who will in turn share it with their colleagues. I do want to urge you all to be careful and don’t say anymore that what you are told and only to those members of Congress who are your most trusted colleagues. We don’t need this leaking yet. You are all dismissed.”