The Scarlet Plan

by Rick W. Warren

  Wherever there is light, however, there is also darkness and shadow. Even though everyone was happy and excited as they awaited the beginning of the game, no one had any idea that one the most evil people this world has ever known was also walking among them. The Cleaner was here. The mere sight of him was impressive from a physical standpoint. He was 6'3” in height and made of pure muscle. He liked to keep his blond hair cut short and his eyes were as cold as ice. Despite his size, however, he walked with a certain amount of agility. The only thing about him that told of his age was his face. He was getting close to 50 already and the wear on his face told a story of a hard and evil life. To look at him was to look at a statue. In this case, however, this statue was alive and very dangerous.

  The voices were talking to him again. Whispering ideas. Whispering plans. Whispering destruction. The voices made him who he was today and gave him a power that people could only dream of. The Cleaner was beholden to no man. He did what he wanted, when he wanted, but that didn’t mean he was stupid. One of the greatest mistakes a person can make is to equate evil with stupidity. He was here because he was told to come here, but he ultimately came because he was eager to be here. Therefore, he would take some orders as long as it allowed him to work the way he wanted to. The Scarlet had proven to be very profitable and, while they weren’t as chaotic as he liked to be, they did provide the cover and protection that allowed him to do the things he liked to do and to not get caught doing it.

  It annoyed him to see people having a good time. The laughing, the excitement, and the anticipation was a nuisance that he had to deal with for the time being. The only good thing about it was the satisfaction he got from turning laughter into tears, excitement into terror, and anticipation into dread. He was the nightmare that you didn’t want to think existed. He was the very man that parents feared could be around their children. Galesburg didn’t realize who was in their midst.

  As he walked through the parking lot filled with makeshift food stands and merchandise booths, he saw those he had come here for. The game didn’t mean anything to him. He had other business. In front of him were two teenagers dressed in black hooded sweatshirts and black pants. They were the same ones who visited Convert earlier. At that time one was grinning while the other stared blankly, this time they both shared the same look: fear.

  The Cleaner walked slowly, but steadily toward them. His eyes were as piercing as daggers. They wanted to run, but knew better than that. They knew they were here to talk to him, but they didn’t imagine who they would be staring at. Grinning kid, whose name was Eric, felt as if he would never smile again. All he wanted to do was run and never look back. He knew that was an impossibility, however. He could never hide. The Cleaner would find him.

  The Cleaner saw the fear in their eyes as he approached them. He wasn’t sure if they had even breathed yet since they saw him. He loved it. He fed off of it. “Do you know who I am?” He said as he towered over them, never breaking his gaze.

  To the surprise of Eric, blank-stare kid, whose name was Lance, responded, “Yes sir. Tell us what to do.”

  The Cleaner was pleased with the response Lance gave. It seems like there might actually be use for them yet. “How many shadows are there?”

  “Five,” Eric said nervously.

  “How many were you told to have?” The Cleaner responded with a slight tone of anger.

  “Twelve,” Lance answered. “But we were told that we had to have them by Halloween and that is still two weeks away.”

  The Cleaner looked at both of them with pure spite. He stepped closer to them and it was all they could do to stay standing. It was like they were looking at the devil. “Halloween is already here,” he said in a growl. “You’re staring at him.”

  Eric, the grinning kid, couldn’t help it as tears involuntarily ran down his cheeks. At this moment, even in his young age, he understood what it felt like to stare in the face of madness and to be plunged into despair. The rest of the world had gone black and now it must be the end. Lance stood next to him stiffly, but didn’t flinch. It was almost as if he had accepted his fate already.

  The Cleaner saw the tears on Eric’s face and the acceptance on Lance’s. He knew they would work out well for him. He saw in their eyes that he owned them. “You will find the others you need by the end of next week. Twelve is the number needed and twelve is what you will have. No more, no less. You will tell them of the reward that awaits their loyalty and you will warn them of the price of failure. The storm is here. They can either be part of it or be wiped out by it. Never forget my face and do not forget the power of whom you are associated with. We will give you true freedom, but you will always give us your loyalty and respect. If all goes well on what you have been told to do, then you will not see me again. If you fail, you will see me one more time and I won’t be as nice as I have been tonight. In one week, at this time, in this place, you will meet with Mr. Rule and with all shadows present. Don’t forget. You may not see me, but you know that I am here and I am watching.”

  With that, the Cleaner turned around and walked away. He was done here and he knew they would listen to him. He could see it in their souls. The voices were laughing. The Cleaner himself even cracked a grin. There was more to do tonight and he looked forward to doing it. The thunder began to rumble louder in the distance. The storm was almost here.

  8

  “So what occasion we are celebrating tonight?” Convert said in amazement as he looked at the steak and lobster tail before him. “Marie, this looks amazing!”

  Marie gave him her trademark grin as she sat down next to her husband. “I felt like doing something special for dinner tonight,” she said. “To show both of you how much I appreciate you.”

  Jack looked at her with a love that only fifty-five years of marriage can give. “We don’t need a meal to know how much you care about us,” he replied. “I hope you know how much I appreciate you.”

  “I know, honey, I know,” she said with the slightest quiver to her voice. Convert thought she might be on the verge of tears, but as he looked up to see her she seemed to be fine. “Would you care to pray for our meal?” She said sweetly to her husband.

  “Of course,” Jack replied. “Lord, as we sit here tonight around this wonderful food, I cannot help but reflect on everything you have provided. We have experienced difficult times in life, but we have never gone without and we have never been alone. I thank you for every meal Marie has ever made, including this one. Everything she does is simply wonderful and I couldn’t have been more blessed. I thank you for James being here at our table. Everyday with him is a joy and a testament to your goodness. Lord, as we eat this meal together, we eat in peace and in joy knowing that the greatest gift of all is you and that you are always there. In your wonderful name, Amen.”

  Convert opened his eyes to see Jack and Marie holding hands. They always did so when they prayed, but it seemed as if this time they held them a little longer.

  “So you are speaking at Aaron’s youth event tonight?” Jack asked Convert while passing him some butter. “Are you nervous?”

  “Yeah, a little,” Convert replied. “I mean, I know what I’m going to say and I how I will say it, but it still gets hard holding back the emotion of it all.”

  “I understand completely,” Jack said. “However, don’t think that emotion is bad. It will just show the kids how much what you’re saying really means to you.”

  “I know,” Convert said as he cut through his perfectly cooked medium-rare ribeye. “I just still can’t believe the darkness of where I was and how you brought me out of it.”

  “I think we know who really brought you out of it,” Jack said smiling.

  “Of course I know it was God who did it, but He chose to use you to do it through. I will forever be thankful that you listened to Him.”

  “So will I,” Jack replied. “So will I. It brought as much healing to
Marie and I as it did to you. I will be praying that what you say tonight will truly have an impact on those who hear. Aaron’s a good man and he was gracious to ask you to speak. I’m very proud of you.”

  Convert felt a slight choking up in his throat. It wasn’t his steak. It was the raw emotion he always felt whenever he heard Jack or Marie say they were proud of him. Growing up it was something he never heard and even now it was something he always felt unworthy of.

  They continued to eat and enjoy each other’s company. Marie’s meal was excellent as always, but throughout everything Convert couldn’t help but to notice a hidden sadness among them. Everything just seemed slightly peculiar as if something was happening, but he couldn’t quite place it. Maybe he was nervous about tonight or maybe it had something to do with those two kids who had approached him earlier. Something definitely wasn’t right there, but there seemed to be something else as well. Either way, he wasn’t going to think about it anymore as he sat with the two people he loved most in the world. No matter what, everything was ok while he sat at the table with them.

  9

  Emma pulled up to the school around 7:00 and saw that she was going to have to walk if she wanted to go to the game. Not only were the parking lots full, but so was the street the school was on as well as the side streets.

  “I’m sorry I made us late,” her friend Lisa said as they looked around for a place to park.

  “No problem,” Emma replied with a smirk. “You kept me from seeing the game alone and I called you last minute anyways.”

  Lisa pushed the glasses up the bridge of her nose and smiled at Emma. “Thanks for thinking of me. I haven’t been to a game this year and the hype is unbelievable. This should be pretty exciting. Do you have to report on this or something?”

  “Nope. I’m off the clock and that’s fine with me. I think we have enough reporters on the football scene anyway. I just get to be a fan tonight. That is if we can get into the game.”

  “Nothing wrong with a little walking. I just hope it doesn’t rain on us.”

  “Well, I got us these,” Emma said as she pulled two hats out of a bag in her back seat. They were Galesburg Fire sports caps. “We can wear these if it starts.”

  Emma reached over and placed the hat on Lisa’s head.

  “There you go. Beautiful! You’ve even got the red hair to match. It’s like you’re on fire all ready.”

  Lisa laughed and it felt good for Emma to make her laugh. Lisa had always been very shy and it was good to get her out of her shell. Emma was the opposite of shy. She had always been a very outgoing person. It was certainly helpful for her as a reporter. She was able to get people to open up because they could see a genuine sincerity in her. People enjoyed being around her and she loved getting to know people.

  Emma placed her own hat on her head and they parked the car two blocks away from the school. “Ready to roll?” She said. “We’ve got a trek ahead of us, but I think I know the way.”

  “Lead the way!” Lisa replied as they made their way to the high school.

  10

  The game was getting ready to start and Aaron had just handed out his last flyer for tonight’s youth event. “It’s all in your hands now, Lord,” he prayed as he looked at the sky. The clouds had definitely come in and he could hear the rumblings of thunder in the distance. Football could be played in the rain, but if lightning came they would have to stop the game until it passed on.

  Aaron found himself a little worried over the prospect of a delayed game because that would effectively cancel the youth event, but he also knew that if God was going to work through this event tonight then He would make sure it happened.

  Tom and Jason showed up to their seats empty handed. “How’d it go, guys?” Aaron asked.

  “Really good,” Tom replied. “I think we will have a good turn out tonight. Especially if the storm holds out.”

  “Awesome. Let’s pray it does just that”

  “Look at this place,” Jason said almost awestruck. “It feels like we’re at an NFL game. I’ve never seen so much energy. Who’d have thought this would have happened here in Galesburg.”

  “I hear ya,” Tom replied. “It certainly wasn’t like this when we were in high school.”

  Aaron took it all in. The music blasted through the speakers as the huge video screens played highlights of Clayton’s previous games. The crowd would cheer as they watched repeats of his plays like the time he through the ball sixty-five yards to an open receiver or the time he literally leaped over the entire pile of players to land in the end zone for a touchdown. It truly was football fever, but amongst everything else something, or rather someone, caught Aaron’s eye.

  Straight ahead of him, coming up the stairs of the bleachers, were a couple ladies that he hadn’t seen in a long time, but the one leading the way up made his heart skip a beat. She was wearing what seemed to him the standard women’s autumn wardrobe for a football game (ball cap, hooded sweatshirt, leggings, and tennis shoes) but he also saw her sandy blond hair, dark brown eyes, and unmistakable smile. He finally recognized who she was. It was a face he hadn’t seen for at least six years. He was looking at Emma Ironside and she looked absolutely beautiful.

  Emma and Lisa were looking for a seat, but the stands were packed. Emma couldn’t believe the amount of people here, but she realized she should have known better. The hype was real. She turned back to Lisa and said, “Well I guess we’re going to have to go back down and look somewhere else.”

  Suddenly out of nowhere she heard, “Emma!”

  She looked to where the sound was coming from and saw a few rows up someone waving at her. It was a guy and he was smiling at her like he knew her. Emma walked up a few steps and realized who was calling her. It was Aaron Clark! He was back in Galesburg? She thought. He’s sitting with Tom and Jason? No girlfriends? Is he really waving at me? Emma could feel her cheeks burn as they began to blush. She was not expecting to see the guy that she had a crush on all through school (and apparently beyond) to be waving at her tonight.

  “Do you need a place to sit?” Aaron asked. “We have room if you want to sit with us.”

  Jason looked at Aaron as if to protest because there was hardly any room at all, but once his eyes saw who Aaron saw, he understood and pushed Tom over as well.

  Emma looked back at Lisa smiling. “Hey look! It’s Aaron Clark and he’s invited us to sit with him and his friends.”

  Lisa couldn’t help but blush. That was second nature to her. However, it was funny to see Emma’s reaction. “Turns out today is your lucky day,” Lisa said smiling.

  “I wouldn’t call it lucky, I’d call it blessed,” she replied with a wink as they made their way to their newly opened seats.

  As Emma approached, Aaron gave her a hug and said, “Isn’t this a nice surprise? It’s good to see you! How have you been?” She smelled wonderful to him and once again his heart gave another leap.

  Emma was glad to hug him too. She had no idea that he was back here or would ever be for that matter. They knew each other from both school and church growing up and had been friends, but she was a sophomore when he had been a senior. After he graduated from high school, his family had to move away from Galesburg in order to find other work. Therefore, he went with them to the Chicago suburbs and went to college there. That was a heartbreaking day for Emma because she had truly fallen for him, but had to accept that God had other plans. She never expressed to him her real feelings about him because she didn’t know if he felt the same or if it would have changed anything anyway. What she didn’t know was that it was equally as hard for Aaron to leave because he felt the same way about her. But since he didn’t know how she felt either he had preferred to leave without further heartache. Six years later, however, their paths crossed again and it felt to Emma like they were picking up where they had just left off.

  Emma turned to Lisa and
said to Aaron, “This is my friend, Lisa, I’m not sure if you knew her or not from school.”

  “Of course, I do,” Aaron said smiling while extending his hand to her. “You always used to win first place in the spring art shows that they would display in the center court of the mall. Do you still paint now? I bet they’re amazing.”

  Lisa couldn’t help but to smile as she shook his hand. She was impressed by his memory of her art. Emma was impressed too. “Actually, yes I do, and this is my first year as a junior high art teacher here in Galesburg,” Lisa replied.

  “That’s great! I’m sure the kids are learning a lot from you. Have either of you met my friends Tom and Jason?”

  Emma reached out her hand this time as both of the guys stood up. “Sure I do,” Emma replied. “It’s good to see both of you again.”

  “Likewise,” Tom replied.

  They all sat down as they waited for the game to start.

  “So are you back here living in Galesburg again?” Emma asked Aaron.

  “Yes. I took the job of Youth Pastor at Truth Community church about three months ago,” Aaron replied. “How about you? Do you still live here or were you visiting to see the football madness?”

  “I’ve been back here for about a year and a half now. I went to college and got my degree in journalism and managed to get a job reporting at the Galesburg Ledger. I always wanted to come back home so I was thrilled to get the job”

  “That’s wonderful! It was always in your blood, especially in high school when you wrote for the student newspaper. I can’t believe I wasn’t aware of this. If I had known, I would have reached out to you sooner”

  You would have? Emma thought with a thrill. “Well, I’m glad you reached out now. It’s good to see you again.”

  “It’s good to see you too.”

  They could have kept on talking in their own little world, but everyone’s attention shifted. Clayton Stoneking and the Galesburg Fire were approaching the field.