Hidden Thrones (10 page)

Emily’s
mind was spinning.
Is he kidding?

“I
would love that,” she responded.

Jack
couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed her immediately upon meeting her the very
first time. She was truly beautiful from her head to her feet. He looked into
her sparkling, deep blue eyes and gently brushed her long jet-black hair away
from her face. They leaned into each other and kissed, sweetly. They both felt
it instantly. The chemistry, the connection, the spark – it was undeniable!

When
they pulled apart, Emily looked into Jack’s eyes and said, “I really like you,
Jack Bennett.”

Jack
kissed her again. “I really like you too, Emily
Richardson.
I will c
all you tomorrow after work.”

Jack
got out of his seat,
went around the car
,
and opened the
passenger
side
for her. They walked up to her
front
door
together
and stood there for a moment face-to-
face
. Jack couldn’t resist. He kissed her again. “Good
night.”

“Good
night
,
Jack Bennett
.
” She loved saying his name. She had waited for this night
since the first day she saw him walk into CJ’s.

Jack watched her open the door and
walk
inside. He turned and
walked slowly back to
his
car. He never saw this coming,
but he felt like a schoolboy
getting
his first kiss
. H
e
knew this wasn’t the best time to start a new rela
tionship. I
t would be
difficult
,
but he would have to stay focused and keep his priorities straig
ht if he
were
to stay on mission. S
till
his feelings for Emily
were
real and exhilarating.

D
ante sat in his office
,
glaring out his window
,
overlooking downtown L.A. He was still fuming from his
encounter with Uriel. He wanted so much to destroy Jack Bennett and his cohort.
Dante
was
so angry that it was
difficult
for him to keep his human form. The thought of two such weak
beings getting the best of him
was more than he
could stand.
He paced back and forth
,
back and forth
,
breathing deep and
exhaling slowly
,
trying to stay in control. The intercom on his desk rang
once
,
then
twice
. H
e
reluctantly walked over and picked it up.

“Mr.
Adal, there is a Mr. Therion here to see you.”

Dante’s
face grew pale as he answered,
“Oh, send him in.”

The
door open
ed
and a tall
, stern
faced
,
dark haired man walked in holding an ebony walking stick
with a handle of pure gold in the shape of
a
snake’s head. He walked
in and sat in the chair right across from Dante’s desk. 

Dante
’s countenance fell as he spoke.
“Well
,
what happen
ed
to sly and deceitful?”

“Master
…
I, I...”

“Sit
down,” h
e said forcefully. Therion just sat
t
here staring at him for
what seem
ed
like an eternity. Dante didn’t know what to do or what was going to happen
next.
If he were
capable, h
e would
have
be
en
sweating
.
Finally
,
he spoke again.

“That’s
not the way we do things. Confrontation with the light is for a later time. W
e do what we have done for ages. W
e undermine and appeal to their flesh and get them to turn on
each other
,
or have you forgotten how many congregations and ministers we have
co
mplete
ly destroyed with that approach?
We do not appear to these mortals in our true form. We
cannot gi
ve them proof of our existence. T
hey don’t believe in us and that is to our advantage. It took
years for us to develop and plant those thoughts in their minds.
”

Dant
e sat there petrified with fear. Shakily, he responded,
“Yes
, master.
I lost myself in my anger and outrage.”

“You
will lose more than that if I ever hear of
anything
like
that again. Pride
, my prince -
pride is the
secret weapon. Make them feel superior to everyone else
. P
ump them up and
fatten them for the fall. That is how we win. Divide and
conquer. It is a
foolproof
plan. We are making progress all over the world
. H
ate is on the rise.
Even my lesser spirits are gaining ground. Everyday
there are more and more random
attacks of violence on the city streets. How do you like those attacks by people
using hammers
?
I never used that one before. Look at the Middle East
! I
t is a virtual
playground for hatred and abomination
,
and all in the name of God. If they’re not killing in the
name of God
, they’re
blaming and cursing God for
everything
that happens to them. E
ither way
,
we win. Oh
,
and let’s not forget
the airline pilots diving their jets into the ground
. T
hat’s a new one as
well. No one saw any demons or dark angelic beings behind it, all because we
don’t really exist. I hope you fully understand.
”
Therion paused, then added,
“
Do you understand
Dante?
”

Dante
stood.
“I understand
,
master. It won’t happen again.”

“See
that it doesn’t. It has already cost me
. A
soul
has crossed over into t
he light. Don’t
give
them a reason to believe.
It is prosperity that
will divide them. The rich get richer and
the
poor get poorer. Get it?
A
bove all else
,
keep them from praying. It’s bad enough we will have to
fight to get the church back from that prayer group. No more setbacks. The
countdown to the end of days has begun
-
we must keep them in the dark. Evolution, aliens, big
bang, cosmic inflation - I don’t give a damn what they choose to believe.”

“Yes
,
my lord.”

Therion
rose f
rom his chair and
walked toward the door. Turning back to Dante,
he
said,
“
I must
say
,
I do
enjoy occasionally walking among them in this way. They are so
self-centered and full of themselves. It’s rather
encouraging.”

With
that
,
he
walked out the door.

Dante
sat back down and closed his eyes for a
brief
moment
. H
e understood that he just dodged a
very serious
bullet. He needed
to be smarter and a great deal more careful. He would take the advice of his
master and pit them against each other
. In
fact,
he had
just
the perfect person in mind - a
rrogant, prideful
and just right for f
oiling
the prayer group in High Point. He couldn’t let this small
fire spread to other regions of his domain. There were only a few
phrases
that could strike
fear into his heart. They were “r
evival
” and “spiritual a
wakening.
”
Dante
knew his job was to keep the C
hristians
happy and fat so
they would sleep right
through the day
until the rise of the
dark one.
T
hen
,
it would be too late. As he gazed out his window on the
world
, he became aware of
his own reflection in the glass. An evil smirk slowly grew
across
his face.

He
thought to himself,
T
hey will all soon
bow to me.
He caught himself
and
looked around the
room. His smil
e grew larger and more sinister as
he corrected himself,
I mean to the master
.
Dante
knew it was only a
matter of time.

* * *

Jack
was up, showered and working at his desk by
8:00
a.m
. There were so many thoughts running
through his head at once
,
it was hard for him to concentrate
on
any one
thing. What a week it had been!
Every
part of his world
seemed to be flying by at an accelerated rate. There were angels, demons, Frank
,
and then
,
there was Emily.

He
stopped typing for a minute and stared straight ahead. His mind kept going back
to Emily and their incredible first date. He really wanted to go down to CJ’s
but he felt weird about it
,
so he decided to wait and call her
after she got off from work. Never in a million years did
Jack think
he could feel this
way
about a woman again.
Somewhere
in the back of
his mind
,
he always thought that he would stay single and dedicate his
life to his calling and ministry
, but
now…
now things were different. He took a sip of
his
,
now
not so hot coffee
,
and decided to microwave
it
for a few seconds
,
when he heard his familiar text message alert. He looked at
it
,
not
sure if he wanted to talk to anybody right now
,
even if it was just a text
from
Conni
.
Reluctantly, h
e picked it up and read it.

“
Good morning
, Jack! T
his goes under
the
headline
,
Believe It or N
ot
. I got a phone call
from someone from the historical society last night telling me they are sending
an electrician to the church on Monday
,
and if there are no issues with the electric
,
they are going to let
us use the church once a week for prayer again. Unbelievable
,
right?  I’ll let you
know what happens. God is good. God bless.
”

“Wow!”
h
e said out loud. “Lord
,
you are amazing!”

He
grabbed his heated up cup of coffee and headed back to his desk. He sat down
and read the message again. He could hardly believe it himself. It ha
d only been two days since their
encounter with Dante and Uriel at the old church
, but he knew God always had H
is
ways of getting things done. He
couldn’t
help but marvel at how cool the situation was
.

The
day wore on
.
Jack finished his blog post for the day and jumped back i
nto working on his new book,
still
untitled,
while
quietly
counting
the minutes
until
Emily would get home from work.  He couldn’t help wondering how she
was feeling
about their date
the day after. Maybe she
was having second
thought
s
.
Maybe she had
decided he wa
s a little too old for her. The
though
ts
hurt
Jack
too much to hold on to
,
so he dismissed
them
quickly.

The
phone rang again
,
just in time before he could drive himself
totally insane. It was Frank. Jack answered, “
Hey
,
Frank
. H
ow are you buddy
?
How’re
you feeling today? Great
,
I hope.”

“Hey
, Jack. Y
eah
,
feeling pretty good I
must say. I still can’t believe that it really happened. I have so many
questions
.
I really need to sit
and
talk to you for a while before I walk into this church
tomorrow morning. Are you doing anything tonight
,
because I can come over and hang for a while if it’s
alright?”

Jack
’s
first thought was
,
N
o way
. He wanted to see Emily again tonight
if
he could.
However,
he knew this was
really import
ant
for Frank and he had
been
praying for a tim
e like
this for Frank for years. H
e knew what his answer
had to be.

“Sure
,
bud. W
e’ll order in and talk
about Jesus tonight.”

“Great
, man.
I'll be at your place
around six.”

“Okay,
brother. S
ee you then.”

Jack
hung up and thought,
Brother? T
hat just flowed out
, but
now he
really
is
my brother in the
Lord. God
- what Y
ou do is beyond words.