The Scarlet Plan

by Rick W. Warren

  “You guys really went to the barn outside of town?” Aaron asked smiling. “You’re braver than I was at your age. My friends and I were scared to death by what we used to hear about that place.”

  Jordan looked at Aaron. “There’s a reason to be scared of it.”

  The comment caught Aaron off guard. He looked at all of them and could tell that Jordan wasn’t joking. “What happened?”

  “At first we only went there to take our picture in front of it,” Jordan continued. “Just to prove we were there. However, Trent wanted to see inside it.”

  Aaron glanced quickly at Trent. This was something he definitely believed Trent would do. Trent, however, looked at the ground. Whatever had happened did not seem like it was one of Trent’s finer moments.

  “I decided to follow him inside because I had a bad feeling about it and I wanted to get back home. Well, while we were in there we saw something that I don’t think we were supposed to see.”

  “Like what?”

  “Most of the barn was full of hay bales, but there was one section in the back that had other things. There were probably about thirty or so robes hanging from pegs on the wall. We also saw a partially covered table that looked very ornate and had a weird language on the legs. Not only that, there were also brand new ropes and some daggers with the same markings on them as were on the table legs.”

  Aaron found all of this extremely weird and unsettling. What had they stumbled upon? “Did you guys do anything with it?”

  “No,” Trent chimed in. “It freaked us out so we turned around to get out of there.”

  “And that’s when we discovered that we weren’t alone,” Jordan said.

  A shot of fear ran through Aaron’s body. “What do you mean you weren’t alone? Was there a dog or a wild animal in there?”

  “No,” Jordan replied. “It was a man, but he wasn’t far off from a wild animal. He came down from upstairs and told us we were trespassing. But, instead of telling us to leave, he told us we were going to die.”

  “Was he messing with you or something?” Aaron asked.

  “No,” Mark said wide-eyed. “He actually tried to kill us.”

  “Trent and I managed to get out of the barn by making some hay bales fall on the guy,” Jordan said. “We ran to our bikes and took off down the path through the woods out of there. The guy decided to try to run through the woods to cut us off, but his leg fell into a hole and we were able to escape.”

  “What makes you guys think he was trying to kill you, though, as opposed to scaring you or even beating you up?” Aaron asked.

  “He was running at us enraged like a wild beast, he was telling us we were going to die, and in his hand he had a gigantic knife,” Jordan replied.

  Knife! Aaron thought. Could it possibly be connected to Jack?

  Aaron looked at all of them very seriously. “Guys, don’t take this the wrong way, but I really need to know something. Are you pranking me?”

  The guys looked back at Aaron just as serious as he was. “No, Pastor Aaron,” Josh said. “This really did happen. I even have the pictures we took from my phone. He’s in one of them.”

  “Can I see them?”

  Josh took out a couple of folded pieces of paper from his Bible.

  “Where’s your phone?” Aaron asked.

  “I lost it running away. I was able to get these pictures off of my computer through the Cloud.”

  Josh handed Aaron the picture of Mark in front of the barn. “Look at the window.”

  Aaron looked and saw that someone was in it.

  Josh handed him another picture. This one was zoomed in on the guy in the window. The look in the madman’s eyes made Aaron momentarily hold his breath. Aaron had never seen this man before, but he knew he would never forget his face now. Could there be a connection? “Do you have any idea how big the blade was?” Aaron asked.

  They guys thought it was a little bit of a weird question but Jordan replied, “Maybe ten to twelve inches. Why?”

  Aaron remembered how deep the wound was in Jack’s chest. It had been about ten inches. Could this really be a coincidence?

  “Pastor Aaron?”

  Aaron snapped out of his thoughts. “Sorry guys, I was just thinking about something.”

  “Why does the length of the knife matter?” Mark asked. “Have you seen this guy before?”

  “No, I’ve never seen him,” Aaron replied. “I’m concerned, however, because of what happened to Pastor Jack.”

  “You mean the guy that was found in the lake yesterday?” Mark asked. “Wasn’t he the guy that Convert told us about?”

  “Yes.”

  “It was just terrible to hear about,” Jordan said. “How is Convert doing?”

  “And what does this guy we met at the barn have to do with it?” Trent asked. “Do you think he did it?”

  “Slow down a bit, guys,” Aaron replied. “I really don’t know who did it, but I do know that he was stabbed and the wound was deep.”

  “Like from a large knife like this guy had?” Josh asked.

  “I don’t know, guys,” Aaron said. “I need time to think about it. I’m glad you guys are ok. My advice is don’t go back there and if you ever see him again call the police.”

  “That’s not all we had to tell you,” Jordan said.

  “There’s more?” Aaron asked.

  “We actually did see this guy before we saw him at the barn, but we didn’t realize it.”

  “What do you mean? When did you guys see him?”

  “We saw him in a dream.”

  Aaron paused for a moment. “You saw him in a dream?”

  “Not just me,” Jordan replied. “All of us.”

  Aaron looked at all of them. Their faces didn’t flinch. As a matter of fact, they were as serious as he has ever seen them. “How did all of you see him in a dream?”

  “I don’t know, but we all stayed at Josh’s house and that night we shared the same dream. We didn’t realize it until later, however, when we started talking about Drago and realized we had all seen him in a dream the night before.”

  “Drago? Did you learn his name from the dream?”

  “No,” Trent said. “That’s just the name we gave him because he looks like the bad guy from Rocky 4.”

  Aaron looked at the picture again and grinned. They were right about the similarity. “So what was this dream?”

  “We saw him kill Earnest Weller,” Josh replied.

  “What?” Aaron asked. “You mean the local millionaire, Earnest Weller, who died a couple years ago from a heart attack? He was found in his living room. He died while he was in his recliner. He wasn’t murdered. I’m surprised you guys know who he is.”

  “We didn’t know who he was,” Jordan replied. “We looked it up on the internet later. He did die of a heart attack, but it was from an injection that was given to him by Drago.”

  Aaron looked at all of them seriously. “Guys, this is a serious thing you are saying. Everyone on the scene when they found him judged that his death was from natural causes. You honestly can’t just spread around that he was murdered.”

  “Maybe those who found him helped to cover it up too,” Trent said.

  “Hold on. You’re not getting what I’m saying. This is all conspiracy theory and you can’t spread things around like this.”

  “We’re not making it up!” Mark interjected. “We saw it! We’re not lying to you.”

  Aaron paused again. Something was real about this although he had a hard time believing they all shared the same dream. Then again, he had been receiving random thoughts that were giving him instructions too. Maybe there was a connection to all of this.

  “Sorry, Pastor Aaron, I didn’t mean to yell,” Mark said sheepishly. “We just really want you to know that we’re not making this up and we
don’t understand what is happening.”

  Aaron smiled at all of them. They were good kids and he certainly did not want to break their trust in him. “Guys, I don’t understand everything either, but we will work together to find out what’s going on. Just do me this favor, though. Please don’t mention the dream to anyone else. Not because I don’t believe you, but because this information is very sensitive and we don’t want to cause any trouble without knowing why this is all happening.”

  “Ok. That makes sense to me too,” Jordan said. “Thanks for listening to us. I just can’t help but think that something big is happening in this town. It just seems like everything is getting crazier especially with football as big as it is and Halloween just around the corner. I don’t know what to really think, but I’m kind of afraid and I’m not sure why.”

  Aaron didn’t want to say it, but Jordan was describing how he felt as well. “Well I’ll see you guys at youth group on Wednesday night so if anything else happens we’ll talk about it then.”

  “Pastor Aaron?” Mark asked. “Do you believe us?”

  Aaron looked at all of them. “Actually, I think I do, but I don’t understand why it happened.”

  “Maybe it was God,” Mark replied. “Maybe He allowed us to see the dream to tell us something.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” Aaron said. “I’m sure we will find out soon enough.”

  22

  It was around 2:30 in the afternoon when Convert found himself alone on the deck out back once again. About a year ago, he had built a roof over it so that they would have shade in the summer and shelter from the rain. He loved to sit out there during the rain and talk to Jack and Marie about whatever had been going on. On this Sunday afternoon, though, it was cool and sunny. As a matter of fact it was a picture perfect autumn day.

  Marie decided to go upstairs for a nap after lunch. There was so much food from friends and church members that they didn’t have to prepare anything. The church service had still been very exhausting and Marie knew that her body was telling her to slow down. Thus, Convert cleaned up the mess from lunch, went outside, and sat there lost in thought. The memories continued to flood into his mind as did the varying emotions he was feeling. He too was physically exhausted, but sleep was hard to come by. His mind was just too active.

  Convert was jarred out of a thought when he saw that his phone was ringing. He didn’t feel like talking to anybody. He just wanted to sit and stare. When he saw on the caller ID that it was Aaron calling him, though, he felt that he should answer it. A call from Aaron would be good for him.

  “Hello?” Convert said.

  “Hi, Convert. It’s Aaron. Is it an ok time to talk?”

  “Sure. Marie is upstairs asleep and I’m just here on the back porch.”

  “How are you doing?”

  “I’m not sure. It changes about every minute. Sometimes I’m good and sometimes I’m bad. How are you holding up?”

  “I’m ok. I feel like this has been the craziest weekend of my life.”

  “You and me both. And coming from me, that’s sayin’ somethin’.”

  “Would you be able to get together sometime?”

  “Sure. When do you want to?”

  “What’s good for you?”

  “Anytime really. I can meet with you this afternoon if you want to.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t want Marie to be without your help.”

  “In all reality, I think Marie is doing better than I am. She’s a tough lady. She always has been.”

  “You’re right about that.”

  “Why don’t you let me come get you in my truck? I need to get out of here anyway.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be by to get you.”

  “Ok, Convert. See you then. Thanks”

  “No problem. See you win a bit,” Convert said as he pressed end on the phone.

  Convert walked into the house and grabbed his keys. He decided to leave Marie a quick note just in case she needed anything, but figured that she would be just fine. He was glad that Aaron had called.

  About ten minutes later, Convert pulled up to the curb of Aaron’s house. It was a nice little two-bedroom ranch. It was the perfect house for a single guy like Aaron. Almost immediately, Aaron came outside and waved as he started walking out to the truck. When Aaron was about fifteen feet away he froze and quickly looked to his right towards the intersection a few houses down. Convert looked over to where Aaron was looking. He didn’t see anything, but a minivan stopped at the four-way stop. Confused, Convert looked back at Aaron to see him still staring at the minivan except now he was walking toward it instead of the truck.

  Convert got out and said to Aaron, “Hey man, what’s up? Are you ok?”

  Aaron looked back with fear in his eyes and he began to run. “That van is going to be in a wreck. We have to stop it!”

  Convert looked over to see the van begin to cross the intersection. Aaron started to wave his arms in order to get the driver’s attention, but she didn’t see him and kept driving.

  “What in the world is happening?” Convert said to himself as he made his way toward Aaron. It was in that instant, though, that everything began to happen in slow motion.

  A full size pick-up truck coming from the other direction, that had to have been traveling at least fifty miles per hour, ignored the stop sign and came barreling through the intersection. Instead of going straight, however, it swerved towards the front of the minivan and smacked into it almost head on. The force of the impact made the front of the van swerve towards the curb and the momentum begin to tip it causing it to flip upside down on its top.

  Convert and Aaron ran full speed to the wreck. Aaron, of course, was ahead because he had already started towards it. How did he know? Convert thought.

  Feelings of dread went through his mind as he approached the scene. He had seen a woman driving, but he was wondering if there were kids in the back. Aaron had approached the driver’s side window to see the air bags deployed and a young woman hanging upside down from her seatbelt unconscious. He also heard a distinct noise. There were children crying.

  “Convert!” Aaron shouted. “There’s kids in the back, but the doors are too crushed to open!”

  Instinctively, Convert took off his belt and wrapped it around his hand. “We’ll have to break out the windows then!”

  Convert approached the van and smelled something that brought fear to his heart. The van was leaking gas. “Aaron! We have to be fast! This could catch fire at any second!”

  Aaron started kicking the driver’s side window to get the driver, but he couldn’t get it to crack. “I can’t get in!” He said with fear in his eyes. “And it’s going to catch fire in 7 seconds!”

  Convert came to Aaron’s side and punched through the glass like it was merely a thin layer of ice. It shattered instantly and collected on the roof of the car below the woman. They could see that she was definitely hurt. Convert looked in behind her and saw two car seats hanging upside down as well. The infant was secure, but screaming. The other child was probably around two or three and was also crying. It broke Convert’s heart to see them in this situation, but at least they were both conscious.

  “Get her down,” Convert said. “I’ll get the kids.”

  As soon as Convert got out his greatest fear happened. With a loud whoosh and a sudden burst of heat he saw the front end of the van catch on fire and travel up to the bottom of the vehicle, which was currently facing up. They were out of time.

  Aaron pulled and pulled on the seat belt, but it would not give. Convert went to the side door where the kids were. Without thinking, he punched both hands through the sides of the window, shattering the glass, and grabbed both sides of the door. Like it was a piece of cardboard, he ripped it off its hinges and threw it behind him. The toddler was on the side he ripped o
ff and he reached up, grabbed the seat belt, and ripped it right off of the child. With the child in his arms he turned around and saw that some others had stopped to help. He handed over the toddler to another woman and with out thinking he entered the van that was becoming engulfed in flames. Again, with no effort, he grabbed the baby seat and pulled it away from what it was attached to. Another person stood at the hole in the vehicle and took the baby from him.

  “Get out of there, Convert!” Aaron shouted. “It’s going to blow!”

  “Not without the mom!” Convert replied.

  The woman still hung from her seat unconscious as others, including Aaron, were still trying to pull her out. Convert turned towards the back of her seat, grabbed it, and started to pull. There was a slight give, but then the seat tore out as if it had been mounted in tin foil. Convert pulled the woman out of the van, seat and all, and carried it to a safe distance from the vehicle. People stood in awe as they watched him carry her. It wasn’t usual to see someone carrying someone with the seat still attached.

  The van had become engulfed in flames when the emergency vehicles finally arrived. Aaron knew they were too late for what was about to happen and shouted: “Everyone get back! It’s going to blow!”

  People ran and hid behind their cars just as the van exploded in a heap of twisted metal and flame. Some of the debris punctured the sides of cars and flattened tires, but no one got injured. Everyone was safe.

  The E.M.T.’s took care of the mom and her two children. She had finally regained consciousness, immediately asked for her children, and was relieved to see they were safe. Her head injury turned up looking worse than what it actually was. With tears, she thanked and hugged Convert for saving their lives even though she had no idea how she ended up outside of the van while still in her seat. People clapped and shook Convert’s hand for his heroics especially those who witnessed exactly what he had done. Convert was confused because he didn’t really understand what everyone was marveling over until a teenager, who had recorded it, showed him the footage. Convert was in shock as he watched himself rip the door off of the van like it was nothing. “I did that?” He said. “It must have been the adrenaline or something.”