Christian Empire

Christian Empire: Jesus Freak1

Summary2

Who knew that the rest of the world would declare war on America, the richest country in the world? Ironically, everyone knew, even Antarctica knew and I don’t even think anyone lives down there.3

This is the story of God’s children and their will to survive even if they have to resort to a little bit of magic to do so. Their will is strong and the world will thrive…somehow, someday. Event by event, an epic adventure and the measure of the human will emerge to combine into a tale of love, tragedy and friendship.4

Prologue 5

Darkness was just beginning to settle upon the United States. The good citizens of Mid-America were just settling down and preparing to sleep or to watch the late evening news, though in another country they were preparing for the direct opposite of the detested Americans.6

Night shaded the officer’s view of the clouds and swift approaching lights beneath him. 7

“Control tower; infiltration success?” he questioned, emotionlessly.8

“Set, go and land. Pick up troops,” a cold male voice replied back.9

His hand only shook slightly as he prepared to land; only a quiver of underlying emotion. It seemed as soon as he touched ground, men were beginning to crowd into his plane. He wanted to be anywhere, but there at the moment.10

Mark, a British officer, prepared the plane for take off, his insides squirming uncomfortably. He pulled the airplane into position. And he begun ascent into the foreboding, gaping hole of the dark night sky.11

Soon after, his superior’s voice sounded over the voice box. “Copter 1, land now. Command airplane 3 to land.”12

“Roger,” Mark said into the mike.13

“Tell all troops to kill and recruit hostages. Americans will suffer.” The male’s voice rose in rage at the end of his sentence.14

All over America, night covered planes descended like Satan’s cruel impersonation of doves on an olive tree. A war of wills has begun.15

Chapter One16

Revelations 21:417

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”18

I pulled on my night gown with yellow duck angels printed in a random pattern against a light blue, cloud-speckled sky. At age sixteen, I was strongly built with fair skin and dark brunette hair, with blue eyes that tend to change to green depending on my mood. I was not really skinny or fat, mostly in between. A full figured body made me the lusts of boys and the most hated among the stick figured high school girls. Though the lustful boy eyes followed me, I would never give one of them the time of day. The only guy for me was Zachary.19

Folding back the covers on my bed, I took quick inventory of my small ordinary bedroom, with half-bath; the toilet doesn’t work unfortunately and the door towards the entrance of my room (that leads to the bath that I share with my two brothers and grandparents.) Then my eyes strayed to my closet and the good supply of my unfashionable clothing, but stuff I’ll wear none the less.20

I noticed that the night didn’t sound right. There were none of the usual noises, just an eerie pitch black quiet. It just didn’t fit in well with an average summer night. No insects made their nighttime symphonies, no nighttime sounds period. I shoved it to the back of my mind; maybe we are expecting some stormy weather tonight and all of the animals and such are all hunkered down away from the water.21

I went to my bathroom and brushed my teeth then looked into the blue-green eyes that dance with happiness. A year ago there would have been no emotion in those eyes that were pewter grey. Those were my suicidal days.22

Tomorrow I get to see my beloved Zachary. A normal Saturday night, I have a hard time falling asleep, but of course I always have, being that I am rather excited about seeing Michael in the morning at church.23

I go over to my desk in the dark after turning out the light in the center of my bedroom ceiling and fish around the contents of my desk: scattered papers and books for my nightly addiction. One strawberry cough drop found, I dropped to my bed and pop in my Story of the Year C.D…… my head lowers in a dazed sort of unfocused fatigue, my eyes grow heavy and I try to fight the heaviness, but they soon close against my will and then I’m gone.24

I’m in a room on a big stage. There are tons of people all seem to be enraptured in what I am saying. Though I am on the stage it seems as if I am having an outer- body-experience, standing there in a corner of the stage watching myself standing at a microphone talking animatedly. In the distance I hear a familiar song playing. I then decide to concentrate to see if I can make out what song it is; then I manage to recognize it as a song called “Anthem of Our Dying Day” by Story of the Year, the C.D. that I had put in before falling asleep:25

The stars will cry the blackest tears tonight.26

And this is the moment that I live for.27

Finally catching a tiny snatch of whatever I’m saying. I concentrate harder and hear:28

“Hope is what we pray for in a struggle against the odds. We will be victorious.”29

I can smell the ocean air.30

Here I am pouring my heart out onto these roof tops.31

“We are his chosen, made to spread his word and take into our hearts his salvation.”32

Just a ghost to the world.33

That’s exactly, exactly what I need.34

From up here the city lights burn like a thousand miles of fire.35

“We are to burn with Holy fire and set this world ablaze with his love.”36

And I’m here to sing this anthem of our dying day.37

For a second I wished the tide would swallow every inch of this city.38

“Break the bonds of war and overcome Satan.”39

As you gasp for air tonight.40

Zachary sat in his computer chair petting his cat, Bomber a 15 pound black tom cat. He wondered what his girlfriend Abrianna was doing; probably sleeping by now. It’s eleven something. Though their sleeping habits differed, everything else fit perfectly or near so anyway.41

He idly checked his e-mail, reading an e-mail Abrianna had sent during her computer class Friday, he should have checked it last night, but he was too tired after working last night at Kroger’s. He had fended off his playful kitty and tried to fall asleep for nearly and hour before finally falling asleep.42

He heard a sound downstairs, but ignored it. Probably his parents rousing themselves from falling asleep on the couch watching a movie. They did that practically every night. Then he heard a sound that threw everything into overdrive.43

A gun shot followed by another echoed through the house, foot steps sounded on the stairs leading to his and Jaden’s rooms. Whoever it was would get to Jaden’s room first. He quickly gained his feet and went over to his door and threw open the door as another gun shot rang out in Jaden’s room. He went numb.44

Zachary wondered why Spot, their dog hadn’t made any kind of racket. A man in tan cam-gear came out into the hallway. Every sound seemed magnified a hundred fold, especially the sounds of his beating heart and heavy panicked breathing.45

This is where it all ended. He called out wordlessly with everything in his five foot one inch being to God for a seemingly impossible miracle.46

“Please sir, I have a girlfriend. I can’t leave her like this. You can relate I’m sure,” he pleaded desperately with the soldier.47

Though there was no hesitation as Ahmed pulled the trigger. He knew he was ending innocent lives. Ahmed had a family; a loving wife at home. He didn’t want to do this, but ironically this was his job. He quickly detonated the lives of three people and a dog.48

He moved out into the second story hall, to be confronted peacefully by a short young man with blondish-brown hair and crystal blue eyes. Before Ahmed could end the young man’s life, the young man spoke in a helpless, but a beseeching tone.49

“Please sir, I have a girlfriend. I can’t leave her like this. You can relate I’m sure,” he pleaded.50

Something broke inside Ahmed.51

It was then that I felt the searing pain in the right side of my chest, just below my breast and reached out reflexively. I grabbed a hold of something and yanked it, hoping to find my slayer, by this motion I caused a blood curdling scream to fill the empty air around me. I opened my eyes to look into the angered ones of a burly Russian soldier. Everything seemed to slow down, a daytime drama, but ironically at night. The soldier swore at me in Russian and then thundered at me in broken English. “Devil Witch!” 52

He hit a nerve. No one accuses me of fraternizing with Satan. I swing out angrily and catch his jaw, snapping his head back. I made a faster than life movement, quickly catching his thick wrist in my small hand, he gasped as I wrenched the dagger out of his hand and plunged it into his heart. I had killed a man. Was I human?53

A battle raged inside of Ahmed’s head. To kill or not to kill? He knew if he didn’t do it. More than likely his own lively hood would suffer. Would he rather live and kill or die and know that this young man will live and love his girlfriend as much as Ahmed loves his own wife.54

He pulled out his necklace with his wife’s diamond ring hanging on the chain. He saw the young man’s eyes following his movements. He took a breath.55

“I have to ask you this. Do you love your girlfriend?” Ahmed asked, his brown eyes searching the young man’s blue ones.56

“As much as my heart will let me without blocking out God and this dismal world.” The young man said his blue eyes a slight green filled to the brim with unshed emotion.57

Ahmed’s heart went out to the young man. He voiced his next question. “Will you marry her and be a loyal and loving husband?”58

“Yes.” The young man answered.59

The young man’s hand went down into his pocket and pulled out a black wallet. He stepped closer to let me see better and he showed me a picture of a smiling dark haired girl with dark blue eyes.60

“This is Abrianna,” he said holding it out to me. 61

“And this is yours.” Ahmed said holding out the diamond ring. “For your beautiful girlfriend.”62

“I can’t take this,” said the young man turning the ring nervously between his fingers.63

“Please take it. I don’t need it.” Ahmed said.64

Ahmed could see the question in the young man’s blue eyes.65

I moved with the last throes of strength that I had and scrawled out for the whole world or however walked into this tragic home to see across my celestial sheets the simple message “Tell Zachary that I love him” and drew a rough cross on the bed. Would I go to heaven?66

Everything seemed to have a halo of light wreathing it. Were the angels coming to get me, or am I just dying like I could have when I was born? Maybe I should have died then; I’ve made no difference in this mediocre world. I leave nothing behind, but a boyfriend who loves me and a family that was all in all, rather okay. I have no children, though I wish I could have easily remedied that, the world is nothing with out the laughter of children. I really have no life. Maybe it’s a good thing that Russian Son of a Gun killed me. My mind danced back to the last Sunday before with Zachary. His first passionate kiss leaving me breathless and wanting more, then the last kiss making me want to cry, because of his loving tenderness. I moved on to Wednesday at the church across the street when I wrote “I love you” on my paper and then he wrote “I love you too” on his paper. A tear slid down my cheek, now I’ll never know how it would have been, how it could have been. With every ounce of strength I could muster, I screamed the agony of everything that had been weighing my shoulders filling my lungs from the bottom up exploding out into the quietness of a house that would never again be filled with my grandpa’s anger, my grandma’s swearing, the laughter of my youngest brother and the annoying singing of oldies hits by my other brother. Good bye cruel and meaningless world.67

Zachary knew he couldn’t take the man’s ring from him. Why wouldn’t he need the ring anymore?68

Zachary’s question was quickly answered when the soldier took his own gun and put the barrel up to the side of his head.69

“No!” Zachary said taking a step forward.70

The soldier only shook his head and pulled the trigger. Suicidal sacrifice. The man barely made a noise as he fell onto the second floor landing with a silent but prominent thud to Zachary.71

Zachary blindly made his way to the bathroom and was sick. He pocketed the ring, before he passed out in the middle of the bathroom floor.72

A huge hulking figure crept into the completely dark room, there was a figure sitting on the edge of the bed, it was unclear on who it was except for the fact that whoever it was is female, the intruder a burly male. He stepped in front of the girl, almost as if he wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted to do to his victim, but when I seen the flash of a dagger as he slid it out of the belt on his waist. It became clear, I didn’t really want to watch anymore, but it was as if I couldn’t tear my eyes away otherwise something really bad would happen, though something bad was going to happen anyways. He stepped forward and plunged the dagger into the girl, who Jade came to realize quickly that it was her friend Abrianna. Abrianna awoke and struck out instinctively and grabbed something, causing the man to curse. Amazingly enough she managed to wrench the dagger out of the man’s grasp and plunged it into his heart. She turned around to her bed ripped the comforter off and put her fingers to her bleeding chest and wrote something that Aidan couldn’t see on the sheets of her bed. Abrianna fell to the floor when she tried to stand, all of the energy gone out of her, she just lay there lifeless, her eyes for a while; huge and staring, unseeingly at the ceiling of her bedroom.   73

Aidan awoke from a strange dream. She didn’t know why exactly, the dream was etched into her mind like a flag, like she needed to remember the pictures and meanings. She sifted through the contents of her dream, what struck her most and chilled her to her very being was the vision of Abrianna lying motionless in her bed room floor, blood slowly pooling around her lifeless body, but who could she warn that wouldn’t freak her friend out.74

Jarlath. The name floated up willingly from a random list of names from the depths of her mind.75

“Jarlath,” she used the witchy mind speak to reach him.76

“What.”77

“I think Abrianna’s in trouble.”78

“What do you want me to do, go check up on her?” There was a note of sarcasm in his voice.79

“Well yeah,” Aidan threw the sarcasm back.80

Jarlath can be so dumb at times, especially when I actually want him to do something, I wonder how he even ever became a witch. Aidan had a feeling that Jarlath would bring Master Drogan with him. They are always in each others presence. Jarlath had probably been holding council with him when she had contacted him.81

Aidan got up and began to pace her room; she didn’t seem to notice the chaos unraveling in the nearby country side. 82

Zachary awoke, lying on the bathroom floor. The room swam before his eyes. He knew what he needed to do. He didn’t know if he could go on living if she wasn’t alive. He went into the hall and closed his eyes so he didn’t have to see the body of his Good Samaritan and blindly made it to the stairs and without looking back. 83

He went downstairs and went into the living room. He wasn’t prepared for what he saw there, blood smears on the back to the love seat. It could only possibly mean one thing, the man had managed to kill everyone in the house except him, though deep inside he knew why the man hadn’t killed him he couldn’t help but wonder if the man could have at least tried to spare everyone else in the house. He felt bile rise in the back of his throat.84

Zachary quickly left the living room and went into the kitchen and found the telephone, they had a telephone in practically every room. He dialed Abrianna’s number, the one that over the last couple of months of seeing it on his caller i.d. and dialing up just to say hello became rather familiar so he didn’t have to look it up. He dialed once, twice, several dozen times but no one picked up, he didn’t even get a dial tone. The line was dead. His breath catches in his throat, but he refuses to let his tears fall, he just sinks down to the kitchen floor on his knee as if in last prayer. He felt like he died, but it was only on the inside.85