Embaixador

by Marcus John Beltran

  “Ready now?” said Jr., and look down.

  I looked down and my fists! They had a glow of blue fire around them.

  “I’m ready,” I replied.

  Jr. nodded, and said, “That’s my brother.” His countenance changed to an intense, fierce look. He slowly turned toward Dain and pointed right at him. He leapt into the air and dashed on top of Dain, pummeling him to the ground. Dain charged right back and tackled Max Jr. as they viciously battled each other. Whoosh! I heard, as Maximino and Dain leapt up, fighting each other in the air.

  “Tiana and Taylor!” I yelled. I saw Tiana alone, high above, on top of the half-built building, still bound in chains. I looked to my left and could see Taylor still on top of the big loader truck. I ran as fast as I could to my daughter. I couldn’t believe how fast I ran. A burst of wind boosted me. I was immediately tackled by those two demon dogs, Vex and Rue.

  They induced overwhelming fear on me. My nose gushed blood. All I saw were their long fangs. I yelled in horrific pain as they clamped down on my arms with their jaws and began dragging me away. While being dragged, I looked into their eyes and they whimpered. Suddenly, I remembered them well.

  And they remembered me. They had fucked up.

  My body ignited a blue glow and my fists were on fire. I felt stronger. With a burning rage within me, I grabbed Vex & Rue by their throats and smashed them together. I lifted my leg to stomp their heads.

  “Pare!” Dain yelled, which means, “Stop!”

  I looked up and Dain pointed at me as he continued to fight Jr. in the air. Beams of light illuminated their hands, feet and eyes. In a fit of rage, Dain grabbed Jr. and launched him to the ground. “No!” I yelled as Max Jr. fell, landing on top of a sharp piece of metal, and was wedged under it.

  “Leve-os para fora!” yelled Jr. to take them out.

  I looked and saw Joxel and Zitaya were running toward Taylor. I panicked. I ran toward Taylor. I feel weaker. I’m slower. They’re too far away! I thought.

  The mighty warrior Jaden shot into the air and dashed toward them like a bullet. Wham! Pow! Jaden swung and hit Joxel and Zitaya with his double-sided flaming war hammer. Jaden hit them so hard, he sent them flying a mile away.

  Jaden swooped down and grabbed me. We soared through the air to Taylor, who was standing on top of the big dump truck and guarded us. Little Taylor ran into my arms, hugging me tight with teary eyes and looked up at me with a big smile. Kyra flew over to free Tiana.

  I felt relieved and ok. I looked around and I realized they had won!

  Dain looked right at me with an evil smirk and in that instant, a flash of intense light filled the sky. Dain leapt high into the sky, along with his dark brethren, disappearing into the clouds.

  Max Jr. yelled something in an unknown tongue I did not understand.

  I looked over at Tiana, distraught and crying, as Camden comforted her. We all flew over to Jr. who lay wounded on the ground. I held Tiana and Taylor. Jr. was carefully freed by his brothers and he stood.

  Woomph! A powerful gust of wind hit us as Max Jr. displayed his mighty transparent wings. I was again in awe of this mighty Mestre de Batalha, the battle master standing before me, along with all the other angelic warriors. Suddenly my head became clouded and felt dizzy.

  Max Jr. then expanded his wings and wrapped them around Tiana, Taylor, and me. We were shrouded in darkness as Max Jr.’s wings engulfed us. My vision blurred and my legs became weak. I looked back up, and to my surprise everything looked normal again. Tiana and Taylor weren’t a blur anymore. I looked over at Max Jr., and he too was back to his normal, smaller self. All of them were back to normal.

  “Caleb! Are you okay?” Tiana asked.

  “Yes. I’m fine. Both my arms hurt. But I’m okay. I’m not bleeding, am I? Are you and Taylor okay?” I asked. Tiana said I only had a nose bleed again and they were okay.

  I picked up my little girl and she squeezed my neck tight. “It’s okay, honey, everything’s okay now, Daddy is here”

  “Thank you so much again for saving us. Thank you,” Tiana said to Max Jr.

  “How, though?” Tiana asked.

  “How what?” I replied.

  “How did Max fight so many at once all alone? Max, you’re so fast, the way you fight. I’ve never seen anything like it. Thank you again, so much!”

  He fought alone, she said? I fought too. And she did not see his family there either? What the hell? I thought.

  I looked around and all of Max’s family were gone. It was just the three of us and Max. I looked at Max, baffled, and he gave a subtle grin.

  “You’re most welcome Ma’am. It’s no problem. I took karate classes back where I come from. I’m glad you and Taylor are ok,” said Jr. with an accent.

  I pulled Jr. aside and thanked him. I said “When we fought, I had powers. Like you said. I felt it. But, why did it just go away? Why could I not fly and do all the other things I saw you and the others do?”

  “This is what I’ve been trying to tell you. You can do all those things and more. You’re a true bad ass. Now that you have destroyed what was stopping you, your deceptor, there is nothing left holding you back. You’re almost there. It’s time to talk to my father. You’re ready,” replied Jr.

  Unable to fathom this, I had to find out what was happening to me. I had to know what it all means. I needed to talk to Maximino Sr. I comforted Tiana, who was still shaken up, telling her I would explain everything and we headed to Jr.’s.

  29

  Let’s talk

  When we got to Jr.’s, it was like they knew we were coming, as they greeted us with hugs and warm welcomes. “Rapaz Bonito! He’s back everyone,” Max Jr. said. I remembered, of course, that means “pretty boy” in Portuguese.

  After Maximino Jr. introduced Tiana to everyone he showed us to our room.

  “I’ll let you guys catch up. My father will be here soon,” Jr. said.

  I told Tiana I know I’m being shown all of this for a reason. That kid in that dream and the post office lady and now Max and Dain. I opened up and told her everything.

  I told her Max said we know each other from another place and that I have powers and he was my new protector and replaced my original one.

  “Powers? Protect from who?” Tiana said.

  “From Dain.”

  I told Tiana that Dain was a psychopath killer and the leader of a notorious gang. He’s a hit man after me. “Why did he save Taylor and I then? Why did he help you? I don’t understand,” said Tiana.

  “He’s a master manipulator from a cult. He’s evil, Tiana, and I saw him and his freak family sacrifice a little girl.”

  Tiana was distraught and said, “Call the damn cops on him already, Caleb! I’m sick of this shit!”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s going to take more than cops to stop him. Back at the construction site, I saw a lot more. There were others. Max’s brothers were there fighting, too. I was also fighting. You didn’t see that?”

  Tiana replied, “I did see were trying to fight. What do you mean? What else did you see?”

  “I was trying to fight? Tiana, listen, I know this sounds crazy. Today, I prayed to God when I almost lost you and Taylor again. When I did, everything and everyone changed! They looked a lot bigger, in angelic-like enchanted armor from another realm. All of them displayed supernatural powers and abilities from out of this world!”

  Caleb added, “Max told me I was going to see these things and I did. That’s when you and Taylor were saved by Max and his family! He said to unlock my powers I had to remove something called a deceptor and I was going to see even more. You’re saying I’m hallucinating? You saw none of this?”

  Tiana said, “Caleb, you’re scaring me. Why is all of this happening? Why you?”

  “It’s because I have asked for it. I asked for my purpose.”

  Tiana hugged me. It was as if she already knew the answer.

  “Caleb, I know it’s God trying to show you something. Look and listen to
what he’s telling you, don’t fight it, don’t think or doubt it anymore.”

  I smiled and kissed her.

  I hugged and kissed little Taylor and Tiana and told them I loved them.

  We headed over to the living room with the others.

  30

  Unmasked

  We all gathered around the large living room. I noticed a beautiful white bird in cage. I asked Jr. about the bird. “My father loves that bird,” he said.

  “It’s okay, we will make you happy here,” Jr.’s little sister Avary told me.

  Jr.’s little brother Brenden said, “I’ve always believed in you, and I knew you could do it. I’m so happy you’re here. My brother.” He hugged me and I wept. I could not hold in whatever it was inside another moment.

  “Thank you again for everything. Even though all of this is hard to grasp. I now know it means something. Whatever it is, I want to know,” I said.

  Max Jr. smiled.

  “You say your father knows the answer. Is he home now?”

  I heard a door open behind me.

  “Hello again, Caleb,” a calm voice said behind us.

  I turned, and to my surprise there was Maximino, Sr., smiling, wearing his signature fedora hat. He walked over and hugged us both. He held out his hand to Taylor, and she held it and smiled. I couldn’t explain the instant feeling of comfort Max Sr. gave me, as if I had always known him. From there I didn’t hold back.

  After telling Max Sr. everything I shook my head and said, “I can’t fight it anymore. I know you’re a great man of God, and I think it’s God himself trying to show me something. Is it my cry to him? Whatever it is, I want to know.”

  A single tear ran down my cheek from all of the built-up feelings, hurt, and emotions from when I was a child to now, as Tiana hugged and comforted me.

  Max Sr. smiled, placed his hand on my shoulder, and said, “Caleb, I have heard your heart, and have felt your faith without a single word.” He looked at Max Jr. and said, “Son, show him.”

  We walked to their large backyard full of broken-down vehicles and equipment with an oil rig in the middle. Max Jr. pointed high up to the oil rig and said, “Well, Rapaz Bonito, this is it. The answer to what you’re looking for is up there. Climb to the top.”

  I looked and replied, “Up there? You’ve got to be joking.”

  I could tell he wasn’t kidding. “Shit! I guess it’s a bad time to mention I hate heights, huh?”

  I looked at Tiana, who gave me a nod of encouragement. I began climbing to the top.

  I reached the top, and it was an awesome sight. I could see for miles. “Babe, are you okay?” Tiana yelled.

  I looked down and my heart sank when I realized how high I was. I must have been a hundred feet high or more.

  “Don’t look here, look there!” said Jr. and pointed to the sky. “Don’t look down! Look up !” Max Jr. yelled. My heart started beating fast, and my breathing intensified. It was like I wanted to jump out of my skin, as a warm feeling hit me. Instantly, I had no worry, no doubt or any care whatsoever, as I simply shut it all out. It was as if I’d put my single finger to my lips and shushed everything. I had stopped the entire world that surrounded me, and looked up to the clouds and sky.

  “Close your eyes!” Max Jr. yelled. And so I did. When I did, however, it was like a slow blink as a gentle breeze hit my face. I felt a peace like I’d never felt, and I began to cry.

  I opened my eyes again and I was dumbfounded. I looked around and I could see everything, the entire city was so close to me, as if it all was in 3D! Not just this city, either—I could see many cities, for miles and miles around me, and all the people in them!

  I saw everything happening from all around as the people went about their everyday lives. Some people were walking and others were driving cars. There were some people riding bikes and others on buses and trains. I could even see the people’s faces in the windows of planes above, as well as the ones inside the buildings and houses below. There were so many people, and all of them I could see in great detail, as if I were standing right next to them!

  “Yeah! Wahoo! Go! Go!”

  What’s that? I thought, startled, hearing people so close. I turned, and it was the celebration from a football game going on in a stadium a few cities away.

  How, though? I heard the cheering right next to me, I thought, confused. Over there were more cheers, from a concert. To my left was more loud applause at a fashion show, and behind me the jeers of a bodybuilding championship. I could see a video game tournament happening in Los Angeles and other loud celebrations at a huge church building in front of me.

  I could see it all, from Las Vegas to Chicago to the ring of the bell at the stock exchange in New York. Woomph! I dashed high up into the sky and found myself levitating in midair among the clouds. Louder and louder, the cheers intensified, from all of the events.

  Wait! I realized I could see the entire world! From a political rally in Beijing, China, to an amusement park in Belgium, Germany, I could see and hear it all happening at once, as if I were standing right next to everything!

  How can this be? I thought.

  That’s when I noticed something else. Everyone was completely immersed in their cellphones and electronics as they walked, drove, and flew. All of them were affixed to their devices, as if on autopilot. Somehow, the mere sight of this was disturbing. Why am I being shown this? What does it all mean? I wondered. I was quickly reminded again, asking myself, Is this what life’s all about? Is this really all we’re living for? There has got to be more to living, just to die.

  I blinked a second time and when I looked again I was baffled, as everything changed even more. Everything is now a greyish color, just as in my dreams, with that young boy.

  What’s this? I wondered. Now I could see other large, dark figures in black, transparent robes. They were all over, along with those other larger ones in white garments, amongst the people, just as in my dreams. The ones in dark appear to be seeking out all the people.

  I looked closer and noticed some of the dark seekers were walking along the sides of some people, having conversations with them, as if they knew them. There were other seekers standing next to some of the people, while other seekers randomly dashed toward others, as if stalking them. It was as if all the people were being pursued by these mysterious figures.

  That was when I noticed something else. Those figures in white were also pursuing the people to help them. The ones in white were trying to prevent the dark figures from engaging the people.

  What are the white and dark figures doing? I wondered. There were many of these seekers outnumbering the ones in white, at least ten to one. I saw dark figures hanging onto the sides of buildings, and others were on rooftops and on houses, peeking in the windows as if looking for something. Other dark figures were on the tops of moving cars, buses, and trains, while many others were hanging on the outside of planes in the sky. I could see all of this happening all over the world.

  Wait! The people! They don’t even realize or see all the dark and white figures all around them. It’s like they’re invisible. Everyone was oblivious to these figures, or anything that happened around them, yet I could see them all. “What are they doing to them?” I cringed to see some of the dark figures were latched onto some of the people. They were actually clinging to the backs and fronts of the them!

  Oh my God! I thought in shock, realizing the top halves of these dark figures were literally sticking out of some of the people. They were half-infused inside of them with only their arms and heads sticking out. They were like leeches, conversing and pointing directions with the people, guiding them as they went about their lives. What are these among the people, angels? I wondered. I became distraught, to see the impact these dark figures had. The seekers lurked and preyed over the people, hovering over their heads as they roamed aimlessly.

  Some people can see them? I wondered. Yes! I can see some of the them are able to see some of the figures. These
dark robed fuckers are guiding and controlling the people! Turning them into self-gratifying, animalistic devourers of life. I saw some dark seekers talking to political and military leaders, influencing them to make war for their own twisted agendas.

  Other dark seekers were convincing and guiding corrupt church leaders and high politicians to mislead the people. I saw other dark seekers persuading corporations, stealing money and creating bogus schemes. Other seekers made deals with business executives, convincing them to defraud innocent people and manipulate the make-believe stock market. They robbed them all for their own financial gain. Everyone from the White House, to the people in their homes, to all the people around the world, are plagued by these evil figures in black.

  They stalked the clueless, roaming people, giving each person their own personal downfall, targeting their weaknesses. The seekers were doing everything from lighting others’ cigarettes with addicted smokers, to giving drugs to addicts of all ages. Other seekers were toasting alcohol with alcoholics, and pushing food onto the gluttonous and obese, while other seekers took food away from the disordered and the poor. Clothes, jewelry, and material things of all kinds were pushed and made a focus to all, only to have the people want more.

  These seekers promised power, fame, fortune, and magical wonders to the people. I could hear the dark seekers negotiating masterfully, convincing the people. I could hear it as if I were standing right next to them. It was like I could see the sad and sickening end result to everyone. All of it was designed to deceive and feed an unquenchable thirst for greed, power, and a lust for life—a life that would end in destruction. A feeling of disgust and rage consumed me. I felt my fists got hot. I have to do something!

  Out of the masses I focused on a young girl walking on top of a bridge. She walked over to the edge and looked over. I noticed a seeker next to her, who leaned over and whispered something in her ear.