Power (10 page)

And then I was not sad… I was angry. I was angry at this demon of a man, Damien. He had stalked me in my dreams for weeks before we came here, but that I could deal with. He stole a man from me that I had loved, and even
that
I could deal with. But he stole my daughter’s father from her, and that was inexcusable. He threatened my mother and child, and I would see him dead for it. I supposed, being a part of the Order, I should be forgiving, and kind, and loving, but I wanted him to pay for what he did. I wanted him to never have the chance to hurt another person ever again. And I would never allow him another opportunity to endanger my loved ones.

This evil man would have to go. I would stay and train here as long as it takes for me to be able to leave and take him down. My distress had changed into a strong conviction, and I suppose that was reflected in my face as well. David had been reaching for me, offering comfort in my time of loss but I no longer needed comfort. I needed knowledge and practice. He seemed to notice my change in mood and pulled his hands back, looking at me questioningly.

“I’m ok, David. Please, continue.” I told him, and I meant it. I was ok. And I would be even better once I could understand and control my power.

“Ok,” he said. “So, they have many abilities we know about, and even more that we haven’t figured out yet. Damien’s ability to impose himself into your dreams is one of those. We had heard of them tormenting people that way but never had conclusive evidence. Our best guess was that they were making them fear one thing or another by interfering with their subconscious while they were asleep. I’m not sure how they found out about you or why they…” he stopped, and looked down.

I thought he was just gathering his thoughts, but then he looked up and stared right into my eyes. I couldn’t figure out why he would look at me like he was trying to figure out my secrets, but then, as I looked back into his eyes, I didn’t care. All I could think about was how he made me feel. I was warm and tingly all over, and the butterflies came back to reside once again in my belly. I felt like the temperature in the room had increased ten degrees in a matter of seconds, and my head was spinning. I had the urge to lean forward; he was sitting just inches in front of me. I could lean in and touch his face with my hand so easily; I could place my finger to his lips and trace the outline. No, it was not my finger that wants to touch his lips…

He closed his eyes and cleared his throat. I couldn’t tell what was going through his mind as he continued, “Damien is their leader. That being said, he would have to be the most powerful. For a while now we have been changing our tactic to include trying to figure out where the leader originates, if there is some common factor. What we know about him is that he was born in London to a mother that had been raped and beaten and left to die alongside her husband and child. But she survived. She did not thrive though; she stayed the majority of her pregnancy in the hospital. As soon as she delivered him, she died. It seems like Damien and his power kept her alive long enough for him to be born. Once he was through with her, she didn’t have the will to survive on her own. He was placed in an orphanage there under his biological and legal name, Andrew James Foster. However, he was never adopted. He was never even taken in as a foster child. I’m sure, even as a child, he was terrifying. For the Rising members, their power appears at birth and grows. Unlike us, where it appears at your 6
birthday in full force.”

“Why is that?” I interrupted him, not wanting to wait for that bit of information.

“We can’t be sure. Unfortunately, we don’t get to make the rules as to why things happen,” he answered, the best he could. “Anyway, on paper he was the perfect child. He was the smartest, the fastest, and the one that always did more. Though he only did more for himself. Even at such a young age, he manipulated his way to the top of the food chain.

“We know he came to the states when he was 18 years old, when he was travelling the world. We aren’t sure how he came into money, as he had none growing up, but by that time he had enough money to have no care in the world. We know he visited almost all the continents on that trip, but we don’t know why.

“He went back to London for a short time when he turned 20, only to ultimately come back to the states. We don’t know whether Rising members find their headquarters on their own, or whether they send people out to bring in the new guys, but eventually they all find their way to the Northeast side of the US. We assume their headquarters is there somewhere.”

He stopped and took a swallow of water from the bottle that sat at his side. “We know that he then rose through the ranks of the Rising. We obviously don’t know of all the people in their organization, but we do know the prominent ones – the ones that have killed some of the Order and the ones that kill publicly. We noticed his ascent when he started killing off others higher up than he. The leader before him was called Malachai, and when Damien killed him, he changed his name. It seems to be a practice of theirs, when they become the leader they take on a new name.

“That was 7 years ago. And in recent history, that is the longest a Rising leader has maintained his title and stayed alive. Ironic enough, they always tend to help our cause. We have never been able to kill a Rising leader, but they kill each other to gain more power. As they kill, they also steal the power from their dead. It’s disgusting really, but the more they kill amongst themselves, the fewer of them we have to worry about. It’s a good thing too, because their numbers have always been more than ours. They just procreate more than we do.” He chuckled a little.

“That’s really all we know. Damien never had friends; he doesn’t seem to have any one that he actually cares about. He is pretty cruel in his killings, sometimes making it linger for days before he finally kills. We know that because he has been the leader for longer than any other, more has come out about him. They fear him more than they have any of the others. The few that have tried to go against him have had very vicious deaths, and he made the others watch. Also, they seem to be pretty much ok with him as their leader. He has gathered them together and given them a very specific agenda. You see, his goal is not just to be the leader. He wants to end the world.”

“What do you mean, ‘end the world’?”

“Have you ever heard of the apocalypse?”

I only nodded. I wasn’t going to repeat myself and tell him again that I was raised to read the bible. I was, but I was also never really good at it. It always sounded unreal and weird. It was like trying to understand Shakespeare.

He continued, “Right. The last chapter in the bible, sometimes referred to as Revelations, says that when God is ready to come back to earth, he will open the Seven Seals to get the world ready for His return. The Seven Seals would basically end the world as we know it and bring about the Apocalypse.”

I nodded again so he would continue. But, honestly, he was starting to freak me out.

“Damien believes that if he opens the Seals before the right time, then the scales will be tipped in his favor and they will win.”

David took a deep breath and smoothed his hands down his pants. It almost looked like a nervous gesture. I took a deep breath too; it was unsettling to see him so flustered. But it was even more freaky to hear what he was saying.

“We all hear about those people who believe the ‘end is near’. But who really believes that stuff? I mean, we all survived Y2K, when they said everything would end at the turn of the millennium. We all survived 2012 despite what the Mayans supposedly said. But now there is one man, if you can consider him a man, that believes he can actually start the end of the world? That seems unlikely, doesn’t it?” I said.

“No matter how unlikely it sounds, it’s true. And it has already started.”

“What do you mean?” I was having trouble grasping just how Damien thought he could do this.

“Do you think World War III would happen just on its own? Even though every person fears a nuclear war, and has for decades, it is about to happen. Why? Because Damien has orchestrated it. There are Seven Seals; the first four are often referred to as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. There is the White Horse of Deception, the Red Horse of War, and Black Horse of Famine, the Green Horse of Death.The first two have been released, and the third, Famine, will be released shortly. There isn’t much we can even do about it. We don’t know where he is or how he is opening the Seals. It goes against everything that is and should be. Only God should be able to open the Seals, but somehow Damien has found them and has begun opening them. And we have to stop him. The Seventh Seal is called ‘The Wrath of God,’ it is the harshest of all the Seals. Once the Seventh Seal is opened, there is no going back. Yes, we have had World Wars before, and there have been catastrophic events that have ravaged the world. Why? Because there have been other Rising members that have attempted to end the world before. The difference is that they have never been successful in keeping the Seals open. This time is different. We don’t know how or why, but it is. The Seals are staying open and he is opening more than ever before. We fear he may truly bring about the apocalypse.”

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “The Seventh Seal releases seven angels to the Earth. These angels are called the wrath of God, they are destroyers, meant to punish. And once they come, they will not be stopped. They will release their wrath, and then the world will end.

“You see, we fear Damien may be right. Since he is the person to open them, we fear it may be the fallen angels who come when the Seventh Seal is opened. The case will remain the same, they will come to destroy and there will be nothing that any human could do to stop them, but they will revel and grow stronger in the destruction too.”

He paused again; his eyes grilling into mine stole my breath as he spoke, “If we do not stop him from opening the Seventh Seal, the world will end, and we won’t be able to stop it. Hell will be released on the world.”

He spoke with such urgency and passion; this was so much more important than just me and my family. “David, you’re freaking me out.”

“Well, you need to know the truth. You need to be aware of who this monster is and what he wants.”

“It’s so…” I paused, trying to figure out what to say. “I was gonna say scary, but scary doesn’t even cover it. This is unreal.” I had already feared Damien more than any other human being and all this knowledge about him just made it worse.

“Yes, it is scary but not unreal. This is very real. I will train you though, you will be able to protect yourself and we will get this fixed. We will stop him. We must.” He said it with such conviction. While I believed him, I didn’t know if I believed enough in me. I didn’t know if I could save the world.

I leaned back again to stretch, making sure to yawn as loudly as I could. I wanted to get my point across; I needed either to stand again and walk around or he needed to touch me again and make me feel better. Everything he was telling me was more than freaking me out, and I didn’t know how he could expect me to just accept this.

Catching on to my not quite so subtle hints, he asked, “Are you feeling a little stiff again?”

Before I could even answer, he was reaching for me. He hesitated, so I offered my hand to him. I think this was the first time we had ever touched skin to skin. The feeling was mesmerizing. The electrical current started flowing between us, stronger than ever before. I imagined sparks flying between us, literally. He felt so warm, almost hot; my hand could have started melting but I wouldn’t have noticed. It was soft, especially for a man’s hand, but firm, as if his hands were as toned as the rest of his body.

I paused, wanting not only the feeling of his power to linger, but the feeling of HIM to linger. I was looking down, unable to look him in the eye while I was enjoying his touch so much. Just like last time, the stiffness and discomfort left almost instantly as his power flooded through me.

The exhilarating rush of it all made me wonder if he felt the same way I did. Almost instantly guilt washed over me. I had just lost my fiancé, and here I was thinking about another man, enjoying his touch. The love I had for Alex had been gone for years now, but I still cared about him; still mourned his death. The expression on my face must have changed, as David took his hand away quickly and looked slightly ashamed. Despite the flurry of emotions, I made myself look up at him and mutter, “Thank you.”

His face was always so hard to read. Did he see the confusion I had within? Did he notice that I craved his touch? Did he notice my awkwardness in nearly every situation with him? I sighed, hoping to calm my mood, though it did little to help. It wasn’t until my eyes met his that I instantly felt calmer. He smiled, that make-your-knees-go-weak smile, and I could not help but smile back. “Did that help?” he asked.

Of course, it was just a courtesy, as he knew already that it alleviated the soreness. But I nodded, not sure I could trust my voice at the moment. His head slightly nodded in agreement. “Great, then let’s continue.” It was more of a suggestion than an order, almost as though he made it a question. And since I still could not read his face, I nodded again, just in case.

“The next lesson will be about the Prophesy. Everyone knows of it and learns it the first day of training. You are not forced or told to memorize it, though it will come up quite often so you naturally will.” He cleared his throat and began, almost as if he was reading, “There will come a day when all the world is filled with evil, when evil has risen up to believe it can defeat God and bring about the End. On that blessed day, she will be born. She will be the one who has descended from all of the Primitus and she will save the world from termination.” He paused, making sure it sunk in I suppose. But it wasn’t a riddle or anything. “It is written in Latin on the door to the Compound and is in several of the paintings as well.” I nodded, letting him know that I understood and he could continue.

“Every other time they have tried to make this happen, they have failed miserably, but this time it is working. The signs are all there. The prophesy refers to the End and saving the world from termination. If this is what we have been preparing for centuries for, the Descendant must come to save us… the problem is, we have to find her.”