Power

by Theresa Jones

However, we could not have the members of the Rising believe that we were inevitably going to lose, so the fact remained a secret. I didn’t even know how much I believed it, truth be told. I was Damien. I was the best at everything. It’s more than unlikely that she should have any power over me. And I had already begun fulfilling my dream. I had already opened the first two Seals and the third would be opened soon enough. After that was all done, no one could stop me.

  “You see, Lilly, we have been given information leading us to believe that the legend might have some truth behind it and that the female involved may be alive today.” I paused to let my words sink in, allowing the doubt to begin. She would hide it. She would never let me see her fear. But it would be there.

  I continued before she could ask any questions. “My task for you is to infiltrate the Order.” It was a task which had been tried several times in the past and had never been successful. I opened my right drawer, picked up the manila envelope I had put together earlier, and handed it over to her. “Inside you will find a picture of the female who we believe might be the one.” I could not bring myself to call her the Descendant. “You will also find some information on your subject, his picture, where he goes, and where you can find him. He should be close to her and thus be able to give us valuable information about her, the Order, and what their plans are.”

  She looked at me quizzically, perhaps trying to decide how I felt about all of this. Could I honestly believe a woman, a deplorable worm of a human being, could not only bring me down, but the Rising as well? Did she think I feared this woman? Leaning forward she asked, “So, my task is just to gather information on her?”

  Normally I would not only have her gather information, or manipulate someone’s mind for our benefit, but she often had to kill the subject of her task. This time I had not mentioned anything about her killing anyone. I wouldn’t mind if she killed a few of the Order, the more we could rid the world of, the more we could spread and grow unmolested. However, I would not have her cover blown just to kill a few meaningless humans – whether they had power or not. And I would not allow her to kill the bitch haunting me. I would kill her. She was mine to do with as I wanted. She was my challenge. I did not fear her but I did want to hear her scream under my power once again. I wanted to taste the fear rolling from her. From the first time I went to her in her dreams, I couldn’t get enough of the fear I instilled in her. It was so strong, so delicious. No, I would not allow Lilith to kill this slut, she would be mine to torture.

  “Now, Lilith, I wouldn’t want your need for blood to interfere with your duties.” I had long ago realized that the best tactic with the snake before me was to always insult her, challenge her, and belittle her. Of course her killings would never get in the way of her task. But I couldn’t very well let her know how much this woman that they thought was the one, this nothing of a girl, had gotten under my skin.

  I could tell the insult stung. She had only once failed a task, and it hadn’t been her fault. Despite that, she would not let me see how much it hurt. Her loyalty to me was almost blasphemous. She should be loyal to Him alone, the true leader of evil, the Mighty Lucifer. Just thinking His name, I felt the urge to bow my head. However, I liked the way she revered me above all others, almost more than Lucifer Himself. In my opinion, all who walked this earth should cower before me, or at least bow to me.

  She stood, held the envelope to her chest, and readied herself for her departure, saying, “I understand. I will not kill anyone from the Compound until I have direct orders from you to do so. Let me know when I should leave, and I will be on my way.”

  “In order to complete this task efficiently, you may be out for a while. You will have to earn his trust while also shielding your power from him. He is powerful himself. It may be a challenge to deceive him. It will take time. That being said, I want you gone today. You will have to find him and make yourself known to him without raising his suspicions.”

  She nodded, and turned to leave, stopping only briefly to say, “I will not disappoint you, my Leader.”

  ***Allison***

  “So, those are the individual abilities we have,” David said. “Now, just because a person has descended from more than one Primitus, doesn’t mean that they will automatically have the abilities from each one. For example, if you descend from Peony and Esperance, you could be able to both create a shield and heal people, but you may only be able to do one or the other. There are abilities we all share, however those too are in varying amounts. We are all faster than the powerless. We heal faster, we age slower, and we are stronger than the powerless. These are all abilities that the Rising members have as well. The original source of the power is the same after all, even if its intentions have been twisted. The power that flows through us all is so in tune with our bodies that allows us these general abilities.” He paused to let me take that in, and then continued, “Now I want to talk to you about the Rising, and about Damien.”

  He was looking at me as he spoke, and I’m almost positive he saw me flinch as he said his name. It’s not fair I should be afraid of him. But I was scared of him before I even knew he actually existed. I had feared sleeping for so long, merely because I knew what awaited me, that knowing he was real only made things worse. “How is it that I was dreaming about him before I even knew anything about this?”

  “The Rising members have different abilities, just as we do. We don’t know everything they are able to do, but we do know some. We know that some are able to read minds, just as some of us are. We know that they use some form of mind control – or rather, they can be so manipulative and deceitful that they can make you believe almost anything, and thus influence you to do their bidding. We know they can be telekinetic and can create shields. They are faster and stronger than non-powerful beings, just as we are. And they can kill you just by infusing you with their power.” He stopped there as he realized that I had seen that first hand. His features changed from a neutral, informative expression, to one of sadness and compassion. It was odd, knowing that Damien had killed Alex. Knowing that I was right there and if I had known what I could do and how to do it, I could have saved him.

  My eyes started to tear up as thoughts of Alex surfaced. I had flashes of all the years we laughed and played – the years I truly had loved him – and all the times we danced and were happy just being together.

  I thought of when Sam was born, and how he had looked at her. I thought of the times she ran up to him and he gathered her in his arms. Then I thought of the future; the future that had been stolen from us. Not necessarily from me, I’m not sure Alex and I would have actually ended up together. I mean, we had been engaged for 2 years and still had no plans for the actual wedding. But instead, the years that Damien had stolen from Sam. She would never have the chance to really know her father. Never have him defend her against boys’ advances. Never have the chance to dance with him, or have him walk her down the aisle at her wedding.

  No one would say that Alex was a perfect man. He was slightly controlling and usually angry but he had a great heart and eventually would have been the father Sam needed. He could have been there for her. He should have been given that chance.

  And then I was not sad… I was angry. I was angry at this demon of a man, Damien. He had stalked me in my dreams for weeks before we came here, but that I could deal with. He stole a man from me that I had loved, and even that I could deal with. But he stole my daughter’s father from her, and that was inexcusable. He threatened my mother and child, and I would see him dead for it. I supposed, being a part of the Order, I should be forgiving, and kind, and loving, but I wanted him to pay for what he did. I wanted him to never have the chance to hurt another person ever again. And I would never allow him another opportunity to endanger my loved ones.

  This evil man would have to go. I would stay and train here as long as it takes for me to be able to leave and take him down. My distress had changed into a strong conviction, and I suppose that was reflected in my face
as well. David had been reaching for me, offering comfort in my time of loss but I no longer needed comfort. I needed knowledge and practice. He seemed to notice my change in mood and pulled his hands back, looking at me questioningly.

  “I’m ok, David. Please, continue.” I told him, and I meant it. I was ok. And I would be even better once I could understand and control my power.

  “Ok,” he said. “So, they have many abilities we know about, and even more that we haven’t figured out yet. Damien’s ability to impose himself into your dreams is one of those. We had heard of them tormenting people that way but never had conclusive evidence. Our best guess was that they were making them fear one thing or another by interfering with their subconscious while they were asleep. I’m not sure how they found out about you or why they…” he stopped, and looked down.

  I thought he was just gathering his thoughts, but then he looked up and stared right into my eyes. I couldn’t figure out why he would look at me like he was trying to figure out my secrets, but then, as I looked back into his eyes, I didn’t care. All I could think about was how he made me feel. I was warm and tingly all over, and the butterflies came back to reside once again in my belly. I felt like the temperature in the room had increased ten degrees in a matter of seconds, and my head was spinning. I had the urge to lean forward; he was sitting just inches in front of me. I could lean in and touch his face with my hand so easily; I could place my finger to his lips and trace the outline. No, it was not my finger that wants to touch his lips…

  He closed his eyes and cleared his throat. I couldn’t tell what was going through his mind as he continued, “Damien is their leader. That being said, he would have to be the most powerful. For a while now we have been changing our tactic to include trying to figure out where the leader originates, if there is some common factor. What we know about him is that he was born in London to a mother that had been raped and beaten and left to die alongside her husband and child. But she survived. She did not thrive though; she stayed the majority of her pregnancy in the hospital. As soon as she delivered him, she died. It seems like Damien and his power kept her alive long enough for him to be born. Once he was through with her, she didn’t have the will to survive on her own. He was placed in an orphanage there under his biological and legal name, Andrew James Foster. However, he was never adopted. He was never even taken in as a foster child. I’m sure, even as a child, he was terrifying. For the Rising members, their power appears at birth and grows. Unlike us, where it appears at your 6 birthday in full force.”

  “Why is that?” I interrupted him, not wanting to wait for that bit of information.

  “We can’t be sure. Unfortunately, we don’t get to make the rules as to why things happen,” he answered, the best he could. “Anyway, on paper he was the perfect child. He was the smartest, the fastest, and the one that always did more. Though he only did more for himself. Even at such a young age, he manipulated his way to the top of the food chain.

  “We know he came to the states when he was 18 years old, when he was travelling the world. We aren’t sure how he came into money, as he had none growing up, but by that time he had enough money to have no care in the world. We know he visited almost all the continents on that trip, but we don’t know why.

  “He went back to London for a short time when he turned 20, only to ultimately come back to the states. We don’t know whether Rising members find their headquarters on their own, or whether they send people out to bring in the new guys, but eventually they all find their way to the Northeast side of the US. We assume their headquarters is there somewhere.”

  He stopped and took a swallow of water from the bottle that sat at his side. “We know that he then rose through the ranks of the Rising. We obviously don’t know of all the people in their organization, but we do know the prominent ones – the ones that have killed some of the Order and the ones that kill publicly. We noticed his ascent when he started killing off others higher up than he. The leader before him was called Malachai, and when Damien killed him, he changed his name. It seems to be a practice of theirs, when they become the leader they take on a new name.

  “That was 7 years ago. And in recent history, that is the longest a Rising leader has maintained his title and stayed alive. Ironic enough, they always tend to help our cause. We have never been able to kill a Rising leader, but they kill each other to gain more power. As they kill, they also steal the power from their dead. It’s disgusting really, but the more they kill amongst themselves, the fewer of them we have to worry about. It’s a good thing too, because their numbers have always been more than ours. They just procreate more than we do.” He chuckled a little.

  “That’s really all we know. Damien never had friends; he doesn’t seem to have any one that he actually cares about. He is pretty cruel in his killings, sometimes making it linger for days before he finally kills. We know that because he has been the leader for longer than any other, more has come out about him. They fear him more than they have any of the others. The few that have tried to go against him have had very vicious deaths, and he made the others watch. Also, they seem to be pretty much ok with him as their leader. He has gathered them together and given them a very specific agenda. You see, his goal is not just to be the leader. He wants to end the world.”

  “What do you mean, ‘end the world’?”

  “Have you ever heard of the apocalypse?”

  I only nodded. I wasn’t going to repeat myself and tell him again that I was raised to read the bible. I was, but I was also never really good at it. It always sounded unreal and weird. It was like trying to understand Shakespeare.

  He continued, “Right. The last chapter in the bible, sometimes referred to as Revelations, says that when God is ready to come back to earth, he will open the Seven Seals to get the world ready for His return. The Seven Seals would basically end the world as we know it and bring about the Apocalypse.”

  I nodded again so he would continue. But, honestly, he was starting to freak me out.

  “Damien believes that if he opens the Seals before the right time, then the scales will be tipped in his favor and they will win.”

  David took a deep breath and smoothed his hands down his pants. It almost looked like a nervous gesture. I took a deep breath too; it was unsettling to see him so flustered. But it was even more freaky to hear what he was saying.

  “We all hear about those people who believe the ‘end is near’. But who really believes that stuff? I mean, we all survived Y2K, when they said everything would end at the turn of the millennium. We all survived 2012 despite what the Mayans supposedly said. But now there is one man, if you can consider him a man, that believes he can actually start the end of the world? That seems unlikely, doesn’t it?” I said.

  “No matter how unlikely it sounds, it’s true. And it has already started.”

  “What do you mean?” I was having trouble grasping just how Damien thought he could do this.

  “Do you think World War III would happen just on its own? Even though every person fears a nuclear war, and has for decades, it is about to happen. Why? Because Damien has orchestrated it. There are Seven Seals; the first four are often referred to as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. There is the White Horse of Deception, the Red Horse of War, and Black Horse of Famine, the Green Horse of Death.The first two have been released, and the third, Famine, will be released shortly. There isn’t much we can even do about it. We don’t know where he is or how he is opening the Seals. It goes against everything that is and should be. Only God should be able to open the Seals, but somehow Damien has found them and has begun opening them. And we have to stop him. The Seventh Seal is called ‘The Wrath of God,’ it is the harshest of all the Seals. Once the Seventh Seal is opened, there is no going back. Yes, we have had World Wars before, and there have been catastrophic events that have ravaged the world. Why? Because there have been other Rising members that have attempted to end the world before. The difference is that they have ne
ver been successful in keeping the Seals open. This time is different. We don’t know how or why, but it is. The Seals are staying open and he is opening more than ever before. We fear he may truly bring about the apocalypse.”

  He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “The Seventh Seal releases seven angels to the Earth. These angels are called the wrath of God, they are destroyers, meant to punish. And once they come, they will not be stopped. They will release their wrath, and then the world will end.

  “You see, we fear Damien may be right. Since he is the person to open them, we fear it may be the fallen angels who come when the Seventh Seal is opened. The case will remain the same, they will come to destroy and there will be nothing that any human could do to stop them, but they will revel and grow stronger in the destruction too.”

  He paused again; his eyes grilling into mine stole my breath as he spoke, “If we do not stop him from opening the Seventh Seal, the world will end, and we won’t be able to stop it. Hell will be released on the world.”

  He spoke with such urgency and passion; this was so much more important than just me and my family. “David, you’re freaking me out.”

  “Well, you need to know the truth. You need to be aware of who this monster is and what he wants.”

  “It’s so…” I paused, trying to figure out what to say. “I was gonna say scary, but scary doesn’t even cover it. This is unreal.” I had already feared Damien more than any other human being and all this knowledge about him just made it worse.

  “Yes, it is scary but not unreal. This is very real. I will train you though, you will be able to protect yourself and we will get this fixed. We will stop him. We must.” He said it with such conviction. While I believed him, I didn’t know if I believed enough in me. I didn’t know if I could save the world.

  I leaned back again to stretch, making sure to yawn as loudly as I could. I wanted to get my point across; I needed either to stand again and walk around or he needed to touch me again and make me feel better. Everything he was telling me was more than freaking me out, and I didn’t know how he could expect me to just accept this.