Children of the Sanctuary

by David Pollitt

  Chapter 15

  Hot Trip

  Alex thought he had Dar-Raven satisfied for the time being. After all, they had the head of the Mission in jail, although they didn’t get the kids.

  Alex heard about Nash not cooperating. He chuckled, "The little preacher man getting the best of the raven man. What a hoot."

  At 2:30 p.m., there was a call from the weighing station on I-24 towards Chattanooga. "Governor, do you know anything about a caravan of Greyhound buses heading up I-24. They have different destination signs on their visual windows. Four of the seven are going the wrong way."

  "You’re kidding?" He thought a minute and asked, "Did you see anyone on them?"

  "Yes, in a couple of buses, I saw some kids walking towards the bathroom in the back of the bus. They looked to be about 13 to 16 years old. Is that important?"

  "Very!" Alex started putting it all together. He connected the Mission to the Greyhound Bus Station, then he called the station.

  "This is the governor. Yes, terrible. Yes, he’s in custody now. Please, answer one question. Did anything unusual happen at your place this afternoon between twelve and one o’clock? I see. How many? Seven? Big guys, huh, wearing sunglasses? I see, thanks for your help."

  Alex figured that the kids had enough head start that they were out of danger by now, not knowing the capabilities of Dar-Raven and his group. Still, he felt confident that his delays had helped enough to make a difference. He was still not a bad person after all.

  When Dar-Raven came in, Alex saw he was still upset about Nash. "Alex, I’m very frustrated with your lack of ability in helping me find those kids. We might have to end …"

  Alex said it so quietly, it thundered, "I-24 going towards…" He stopped. It was time to make a deal. "I know which way on I-24 the children are heading. They’ve just been spotted. I’ll tell you where they were spotted, but I want another deal."

  Dar-Raven turned a brilliant red, and his face looked painfully misshapen. How he hated humans. "Have you forgotten that I can kill you anytime I want? Have you forgotten the first time we met?"

  "Dar-Raven, I remember everything. I’m sure you’re not reminding me so you can buy me flowers. I’m sure there can be an arrangement. I want your big boss to sign off on it, personally. Do you understand? I don’t want some peon like you hanging over me the rest of my life, no matter how short you imply it will be. I don’t take kindly to someone holding an axe over my head. I want a deal, and I want it now! No deal, no directions." Alex stood only inches from Dar-Raven with his hands on his hips without an ounce of fear.

  Alex’s confidence was threatening him more than any angel sword. He didn’t know how to deal with such defiance. He felt a certain respect for Alex, but respect founded on stupidity. Who would be stupid enough to challenge him, especially a human? He was making moves to kill Alex when something restrained him.

  Alex saw Dar-Raven’s intent change in an instant. Something was holding him back. Dar-Raven was listening to his Dark Father. He grimaced and looking directly at Alex said, "You’ve got an audience and 15 minutes to make this deal. Where you’re going may drive you out of your mind, but you asked for it."

  "I’d rather take my chances with insanity than be driven crazy by you. Some things just aren’t worth it—you overgrown pigeon."

  Alex was pushing the veil, but he’d been wanting to say something like that for awhile. He chuckled to himself and watched the steamed look on Dar-Raven’s face while knowing the Dark Father was holding him back.

  Seconds later, Alex was on fire. He smelled his hair burning and saw the flesh on his arms curling up into ashes, but he was still breathing. He felt the scorching pain of being pushed through a tunnel of walled fire and smoke. He was hurled through time and space into the very core of the earth, the inner earth. He heard and felt the screams of millions of burning souls, some almost touching him. He saw their tortured faces and their hands reaching out to him. They all were being burned alive—on fire—never dying. His trip stopped as suddenly as it started, and he was now suspended in black space. Far below, he saw the liquid fire, so far away that it could have been another planet.

  He thought, "That’s what I came through," then said out-loud, "where am I?"

  "In my inner sanctum," a beautiful, harmonic voice spoke from behind him.

  Alex turned and fell back from the dazzling splendor of what he saw. In front of him was the most beautiful being he’d ever seen. It was an angel made of so many brilliant colors and prisms of light that the effect was nothing less than extraterrestrial. He couldn’t believe his eyes and put his arm up shielding himself from the brilliance.

  The being spoke to him in beautiful sounds of pulsating energy, pushing thoughts and words into him as if this being were the sculptor and he a clump of clay. The being spoke gently, "You’re quite a wheeler-dealer, aren’t you, Alex? By the way, I've called Dar-Raven worse than a pigeon before. But it's different with you. You almost got killed for it. So you're either a brave wheeler-dealer or a stupid one."

  Alex spoke nervously, "Yes, making deals is my art, my talent, actually my creative side."

  "Now, you want to make a deal with me? I want you to know something, Alex. This is part of hell. This is where you’re going to spend the rest of eternity." He pointed to the fire hole.

  "I can make this easy or hard. I can guarantee that you will live a long life, keeping you away from the flames, the scorch, for a long, long time, or I can put you there right now. Well, except for a small problem. Some kids have been praying for you. They have put some tough walls around you. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to turn you towards the light, but it’s making it difficult for me to have free reign. In order for you to make a deal with me, you have to surrender your will to me. You have to worship me like the Christians worship their God. Then and only then will I finalize our deal. If you do this, I promise to keep you alive for at least 120 years

  in good physical and mental health, never lacking for anything, but you must yield to me your admiration, your praise, and your whole self before I consent. If you don’t do this, I can’t help you. I’m even willing to protect you from Dar-Raven."

  Alex couldn’t imagine why such a beautiful being like this needed his worship. For the first time in his life, he was putting it all together, and it wasn’t coming out the way this being wanted it. Because he was here, looking at this creature and considering the

  existence of Dar-Raven; it meant God was real. This meant that Jesus was probably real too. There was the issue of the Dark Father being upset about some kids praying for him. He knew who they were, the kids from his Lebanon Road lot. He saw them reading their Bibles together and heard them talking about the Lord. There were ten like that. It had to be them. This creature was afraid of their prayers. Kids' prayers were blocking him from having complete control over Alex, and here he was in hell itself. It was obvious to Alex that you go with the strongest team. It was like math to him. His math wasn’t adding up the way this creature wanted it. This experience was doing more to prove there was a God than any minister or preacher ever could.

  Alex said simply, "I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want a deal that bad. I’ll put up with your black peacock."

  He turned his back on the Prince of Darkness, and he might as well have spit in Apollyon’s face. If he had seen the colors of Apollyon change to a cold, dark black, he would have started running, if he could.

  Then a thought of pure white entered his mind, "Promise to think about it." He immediately turned around speaking as he did, "I’ll tell you what I’ll do. If you keep Dar-Raven off my back for awhile, I’ll think about it."

  The colors of Apollyon returned to their previous brilliance, but not before Alex caught a glimpse of the dark-obsidian evil, which flickered away when he spoke. It gave him goose bumps the size of Manhattan. He still didn’t realize how close he came to eternal death. Only the kids’ prayers held Apollyon back this time. Without them, he’d been hur
led headlong into the "fire hole," as Apollyon called it.

  "You will tell Dar-Raven what you know, won’t you? I’ll keep him off your back, let’s say for a month while you think about it?"

  Alex heard another thought enter his mind, "Tell them the direction of the children. It’s okay. I’ll protect the children. Thanks for the delays." It was so loud that it burst into his consciousness and cascaded into his brain cells, then pushed at the innermost parts of his soul and heart. He was flooded with the message, not just given it.

  "Okay, I’ll tell Dar-Raven which way they’re going. The rest is up to him."

  Something was changing inside Alex. He couldn’t explain it. He was in hell hearing God speak to him. What a long way to go to hear God. The faith seed was taking root and growing for the first time in his life.

  "Not everything is up to him. You're still the governor per my help. You must cooperate while you think about things, not passively, but with total involvement."

  Apollyon turned his attention to the space around him, seemingly distracted for a second, then turned back to Alex. Alex looked at a place, which seemed hundreds of miles away inside the inner sanctum. Alex saw them clearly in spite of the distance. He saw millions of dark angels streaking across the pitch black. They were unusually attractive as well as being gross with long hair past their shoulders. Their teeth were razor-sharp like a lion’s, serrated like a Great White’s. They looked savage; and as they darted back and forth across the abyss, the sounds of their flying were like thousands of helicopter blades. Their tails flowed out behind them with sharp, jagged darts all up and down the length of them, which curled upward making them look like scorpion tails. They all acted stir crazy as if they were waiting for something.

  The voices from their portion of hell called out to the Dark Prince, "Abaddon, Abaddon! Our King, Abaddon! Apollyon! Our Master, Apollyon! Set us free! Set us free! Unlock us! Set us free!"

  Alex was intrigued. Apollyon gave him a good hint, "There will be a time when I will rape the earth with pain. Unfortunately, when I do, Jehovah won’t allow me to inflict the righteous, except on those who don’t bear the seal of God. They are a beautiful creation, are they not? I created them millions of years ago for such times as these. They inflict terrible pain, but those they attack won’t die, only suffer greatly. They can pray to die, but they won’t. Great will be the suffering of that time. I desire and long for such a time. I won’t lose as they think I will. With this army loose, not even God will stop me. I will do what I want. I will surprise even Him. I still have one third of heaven’s best working for me among men and preparing for that day. No one should give the 'son of morning' such a second chance. As you humans say, 'Bad move.'"

  Alex felt the hatred boiling inside of Apollyon and felt the rage flowing from his heart. It was scaring him as the colors of Apollyon started changing to a deep, bright red. Gone was the brilliant beauty, and his face twisted and shaped itself into ugly images of Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Manson. Each was pulling at his features, and all of them were a part of the very fabric of his existence.

  Alex was relieved to hear God’s voice again. He said, "Agree with him." Alex only wanted this meeting to end. His was having difficulty comprehending and absorbing all this darkness, too much evil, too overpowering.

  "I agree with one month," said Alex.

  Instantly, Alex was standing in front of Dar-Raven while having bypassed the fire hole this time. What a relief. Dar-Raven didn’t like what he was hearing, thought Alex. Apollyon must be giving him the ground rules.

  Alex finally spoke, "It seems that I’ve made tentative deal with your Dark Father. The children are going up I-24 towards Chattanooga," then Alex shut up.

  It hit Dar-Raven like a bombshell. "They’re going to Monteagle, to Sewanee. It’s holy ground. It’s Sanctuary. Don’t the locals call that place God’s Mountain?"

  "Yes, but it’s only because the Episcopalians own the mountain, and their theology school is there," advised Alex.

  "That’s why they call it that, but I’ll bet to God it really is His Mountain." Dar-Raven was so excited that he started levitating off the floor.

  "What does it mean?" Alex asked totally in the dark.

  "Remember when I told you about God’s safety zones? Those are places that keep us dark angels out? The only creatures who can get on the mountain are His angels, people, good or bad, but not us." Dar-Raven clinched his fists. "Do you have some helicopters?"

  "Sure, there’s Arnold’s AFB in Tullahoma. I can have some go wherever you want."

  "Get three if you can. Have two go along the interstate to the bottom of the mountain on I-24. If nothing is spotted, leave one there to block I-24 and send the other over to I-64 at the bottom of the mountain near Cowan. I don’t care about the Chattanooga side. I can stop them! I know I can! I can do it! How much time before they reach the mountain?"

  Alex looked dumbfounded at Dar-Raven’s stupidity, "Well Dar, it depends on how fast they’re going and when they left. How would I know? I’m not psychic, and from what I hear, neither are you."

  "Okay, okay, dumb question. My bad! Get those helicopters up to the mountain as soon as possible."

  "What happens to the third helicopter?" asked Alex.

  "That one’s for me to fly me up. Don’t reckon I ought to try arriving on my own before the others get there. Don’t want too many questions asked. I’ll go the old fashioned way. Can you call for ground back up from Arnold AFB? I need a show of force on the ground near Cowan to pick up stragglers and those trying to escape back into the populace. Tell them that they need to keep the children contained. Tell them that those guys with the white wings are the bad guys, and they can shoot at will."

  Dar-Raven figured Aaron to have at least part of a legion with him, but he didn’t know how far away Aaron’s reinforcements were or how many he had. He hoped with the strong middle heaven battle that Aaron may not have enough to adequately defend the kids.

  "I have to stop them before they reach the top," was the last thing Dar-Raven said before leaving.

  Minutes later they both moved out to the street where police had stopped traffic. The Channel Five News helicopter was landing (the third copter). It was the easiest and quickest transportation for the moment. They cleared a space in the middle of the street between the Life Way Book Store and the main post office. Dar-Raven got on by himself with only the pilot.

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