The Sounds of War (The Genesis Series Book 2)

by Sue Watkins

  Turning in his seat, Elijah looked through the back glass in an effort to determine the new excitement, “What now?”

  Emeleigh, barely moving answered, “Th…there’s a being outside the car!”

  Crouching further into his seat, Elijah coolly replied. “Are you nuts? I don’t see anything.”

  Fighting the need for a hissy screaming fit, Emeleigh looked at her younger brother and incredulously stuttered, “I…I…you don’t see that…that thing? It’s…void…no light!”

  Returning her gaze Elijah raised both eyebrows, “Well, I see a guy standing over there, but there’s nothing weird about him.” Elijah debated for a moment, should he believe her, or his own eyesight? “What exactly do you see?”

  “Elijah! This is too weird!” In absolute amazement, her eyes widened. “There’s a dark figure standing over to my left. He’s about twenty feet from the car, and he’s about seven feet tall.” A sudden epiphany struck her, “Elijah, what does he look like to you?”

  “Well, he’s tall, has long blonde hair…” Laughter began to gurgle in his throat, “Maybe he’s Thor!” Snorting, he added, “Yeah…he dropped his hammer, that’s the thunder you heard. See, solved your problem.” No longer able to hold back the laughter, he roared, “No thanks needed.”

  Emeleigh wasn’t amused, and she wasn’t about to believe her younger brother. Turning to have another look, she once again raised the level of her voice with her assessment, “Oh Jesus I’m right!”

  “What,” Elijah, pretending shock, moved his head back and forth mocking her. “What are you right about?”

  “He’s Nephilim!” She spit out the words and closed her eyes at the same time. Dropping her head to her chest, she clasped both hands over her mouth and fought to regain composure. Finally, mumbling through her hands she said, “Elijah, they’re back and they’re after us. Don’t you see? You’re seeing him as he exists in the physical. I’m seeing him in the spirit.”

  As if someone had dropped a ton of bricks on his head, it hit him, this was real and she wasn’t joking. “No way,” Elijah bit his bottom lip looking at the young man outside the car, “no way! He’s normal!”

  “Hush!” Emeleigh demanded as she lifted her head and rubbed her temples. “Aren’t you picking up anything?”

  “No!” Elijah returned his focus to his sister. Her face had lost its color. Holding his breath for a moment he exhaled an astonished, “Wow! You can hear his thoughts!”

  Nodding she acknowledged, “And we need to leave.” Reaching for the ignition and then after starting the car, she let the motor idle for a moment before placing a hand on the gearshift as she repeatedly prayed, “Father, help! Help us! Please!” Looking over her shoulder, she said, “Elijah, there’s an angel standing between him and us. Don’t you at least see the angel?”

  “You really hear his thoughts!” He could only stare at her and then at the stranger. After a moment, he stated the obvious, “He’s running…he’s planning on following us, isn’t he?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “Eme-leigh!” He grabbed her arm and shook it, “What’s he thinking?”

  “Yes! He’s going to follow us!” Arching an eyebrow to show she was doing her best to keep control of the situation, she added, “Let me get away from here.”

  “But he doesn’t look like Nephilim, and besides, I have the gifting of a seer! How can you…?”

  “Elijah, do I look like I know?”

  “I…I don’t understand.” Bowing his head Elijah prayed inwardly. Father, why can’t I hear and see what Emeleigh’s hearing and seeing? Have I done something wrong? Frustrated, he closed his eyes and went deeper as Emeleigh maneuvered the car out of the parking lot.

  Suddenly, he had an understanding as ‘knowing’ thoughts filled his head. They know you and your spiritual gifting. They didn’t think to block Emeleigh, just you. I allowed this to keep you humble and meek before me, and I allowed this so they will think I’m not protecting you. You have a mission, and you must accomplish it. Instructions will come. Be patient my son, you are a seer in my kingdom, and Emeleigh is a teacher. Both are gifts of my Spirit, but for now, I have reversed the gifts. Remember, it is my choice because it is my kingdom. The thunder Emeleigh heard was my way of empowering her. I spoke to her spirit through my thunder. This is why she heard it and you did not. My angel will stop the enemy for now. It’s not the appointed time for you to have a confrontation with this being. But prepare yourself, for that encounter is forthcoming.

  4

  After all this I looked and saw a door in Heaven standing open, and the voice that I had previously heard, which resembled the blast of a trumpet, again spoke to me and said, “Come up here, and I will show you things which are to happen in the future.” Revelation 4:1, Weymouth

  Even the weather seemed to be matching her mood. Kirsten stared at the sky and weighed the possibilities. Should she, or shouldn’t she put the top up on her convertible. Unable to decide, she leaned back in her seat, laid her head against the headrest and pondered why she felt such despair.

  This funk, as her younger sister would call it, had started last night after Justin’s phone call. Mentally counting the months she had known Justin she thought, five and during that time, perhaps that many real dates. She asked herself, am I dating him or is this something else? That’s my problem. I don’t know how to describe my relationship with him.

  Justin Freed, a reporter from Washington, D.C., had entered her life unexpectedly and whether she liked it or not, he had catapulted her into an arena, for which she felt ill equipped. Up to that point in her life, Kirsten had never had a serious relationship. She was always too busy. Life had never been hard, or even difficult, she had every advantage loving parents and family afforded. Well educated, she lived with her four siblings, who also happened to be her best friends, in a well-equipped state-of-the-art home. She loved her work and those with whom she worked. Absolutely nothing was missing, until Justin entered her comfort zone.

  She had been ‘Mother Superior’ to her four siblings all their lives. Two brothers, one a year older, and the other a year younger, had always been the appointed protectors for her and the their two youngest siblings, so it was natural that they all live together as they struggled through their college educations and began their life careers. When the idea had first come up with the idea to buy the vacant three-storied building in Navasota, Texas, everyone deemed it brilliant. The building, built in the late eighteen hundreds, had at one time been a high school. It took a considerable amount of work, but the Gruen family converted it into both a home and place where they could each work at their respective professions.

  The first floor had become a clinic for one of the town’s most popular doctors, and where Kirsten, as a nurse, worked. The second floor by design became offices, libraries and laboratories, giving each of the five siblings the ability to work from home, and the third floor their living quarters.

  This had been an ideal arrangement for the past several years, but last fall the dynamics of family changed. Caleb, brother number one, an archeologist, was never home anymore. Joshua, brother number two, had returned to the university as he prepared for his PhD in physics, and now spent all his time in his lab. Emeleigh, recently appointed as a member of the adjutant faculty of the Computer Science Department at Texas A & M University, spent more time there than at home. And that left Elijah, the youngest, finishing his Bachelor of Science degree, however, he had recently doubled up on his classes and when not in class was in his room studying.

  Everyone was going in different directions. Their absences left her with the major responsibility of maintaining the home, but it was more than this that bothered her. She was the one who did the shopping, the laundry, paid the bills and the other loads of daily necessary chores of living. But for some reason lately, it was becoming very apparent to her, everyone forgot she too had needs, and that she too had a full-time job. Bottom line, Kirsten thought, I spend my entire life taking
care of others. When will I get the chance to have a home and a family of my own? I’m twenty-six, when do I get a life, to have a husband and children? Realizing the case for self-pity, which she had been trying to avoid for days, was exacerbating, she reached for her purse and thought, this relationship with Justin is going nowhere.

  Maybe it was because he lived Washington, and that was just too far away, or maybe it was because what time they did spend together was always cut short either by his job as a newspaper reporter or the book he was writing. But whatever, there was never enough of him left over for her. Justin, are you really the right one, and if you are, wouldn’t these things have worked out?

  Removing the key from the ignition, she looked at the sky again. Deciding to leave the top down, she exited the Volkswagen, made her way around to the back of the house, and entered her parents’ home through the kitchen door using her house key. Her parents still lived in the same house they always had, but no one seemed to be at home at the moment.

  Standing in the kitchen, she looked around and wondered at the possibility of living here again. There was plenty of room for her parents to live with her siblings and herself in Navasota, but when asked, her mother had responded, “We need a second honeymoon after raising the five of you. We need to reacquaint ourselves with each other.” Kirsten felt a twinge of hurt, not that she minded her parents grabbing a chance for a second honeymoon, but she did feel a twinge of rejection every time she thought over that comment. She really missed her parents’ daily input into her life. Desiring to move past her depression, she called out, “Mom, are you home, where are you?”

  “Up here,” Leighann answered. Kirsten knew immediately her mom was in her art studio. Kirsten’s dad had built an artist’s studio for her mom that encompassed the majority of what had been the attic of the two-story house. The only access to the studio was via the narrow staircase located just off the kitchen. As Kirsten approached the stairs, she looked up. Her mother, at the top of the stairs stood palette in hand, grinning as she waited for Kirsten to ascend.

  Watching her oldest daughter mounting the steps one by one, Leighann observed the turned down corners of her child’s mouth and knew her daughter was carrying an emotional load. Also knowing her child, Leighann knew Kirsten must voluntarily disclose the problem. Leighann said as cheerfully as possible, “Hi, darling.” And as Kirsten reached the top tread, Leighann opened her arms and asked in an offhanded way, “Hey, what brings you home?”

  “Just needed to see you...” Kirsten, taller than her mom, bent and kissed the offered cheek, and after hugging her mother tightly, inquired, “Where’s Dad?”

  “He met up with your grandfather for lunch. And then he’s supposed to stop at the home improvement store. So who knows when he’ll be back,” Leighann laughed. “He’s decided we should have a garden, and I’m going to can all our vegetables from here on out. You know that’s going to happen. Anyway, he’s now into growing our own vegetables. He bought a tiller last week and did the prep work. You’ll have to go out and have a look-see before you leave.”

  “Really,” Kirsten chuckled at the mental picture of her dad farming and her mom canning, “this I got to see!”

  “Actually, it’s quite a big area. You can’t see it from the front yard. You have to walk behind the garage to see all of it. He’s planning on tomatoes, green beans, and oh, I don’t know what else. Now, tell me what’s up with you?” Turning back to the only canning jar she owned, a glass Mason jar she used to store her paintbrushes, Leighann picked a clean brush, dipped it in a small bowl that contained mineral spirits for several seconds, then slowly removing the brush, wiped its bristles on the rag, which hung over her shoulder. Then taking her paint palette with her left hand, Leighann rotated the tip of the brush with her right hand into paint, and then held the brush next to the unfinished canvas. As she did, she closed one eye and deliberated if the brush held the color she wanted.

  Snickering at the pleasure of seeing her mother lose herself in her creativity, Kirsten waited for her mom to remember that she was there.

  Leighann hadn’t forgotten, she was giving Kirsten time to think. Holding the brush in mid-air Leighann glanced at her daughter and gently said, “Okay, what’s wrong?”

  Caught in a sudden self-awareness Kirsten looked away and answered with a question, “What makes you think there’s anything wrong?”

  “I’m your mother!” Leighann pushed her glasses down her nose, “I can read you. You came here to tell me something, what?”

  “You know that Justin’s coming in tomorrow,” Kirsten moved about the room, looking for and locating an extra stool under her mother’s worktable. Pulling the stool away from the table, she stood beside it for a moment, and using a forefinger drew figure eights on the seat, then finding the courage blurted, “He’s not asked me to marry him!” Kirsten plopped onto the stool and dramatically released a heavy sigh. A relief swept over her, she was glad the words were out in the open. She had finally given voice to her real pain.

  Attempting to smother a laugh, Leighann bit the inside of her bottom lip. She couldn’t afford to show a display of amusement, nor could she lecture. Leighann ensued with logic, “Well, you haven’t really known him that long. Is marriage on your mind?”

  “I know everyone assumes we’re headed in that direction, but he’s not, and he’s not given any indication he wants to.”

  “Is that what you want?” Still struggling with the need to giggle, Leighann didn’t risk even a glance in Kirsten’s direction. She turned her attention to her palette and began to mix paints to form a new color. Methodically loading her brush with the necessary amount of paint, she began applying paint to canvas. As she stroked the canvas Leighann tackled the question again, “Do you want to marry Justin?”

  Kirsten kicked off her sandals, hung her maroon-painted toes over one of the rungs and sat silent for a few seconds. Then clearing her throat answered almost bashfully, “I’ve searched my heart…” Pausing she rubbed her forehead, “I know I believe he’s right for me. But what if it’s just me, and he doesn’t feel the way I do…and Mom,” again pausing Kirsten searched for the right words to make her point, “Mom, I want it so much, I feel I’m going to implode. Yet, Justin’s just not moving in that direction and I don’t think I can take it if he goes back this time without saying something to me…Mom I love him.” Realizing she was exposing too much emotion Kirsten grew still, her eyes searching her mother’s face for help.

  When Kirsten grew silent, Leighann, glancing over her shoulder inquired, “What does God say about this?”

  “Nothing,” Kirsten huffed and still struggling continued slowly, “I...I’m confused I guess, and probably hurt. I want this, but yet, I’m not sure…and Justin’s not even hinting that he does, so I’m very unsure of his feelings toward me. And, I’m not sure what God wants, I mean, if God wants Justin to be my husband, why doesn’t Justin say something. I’m tired of praying because I hear nothing.”

  “No,” Leighann shook her head, “you are wrong. God is saying something. You haven’t put yourself in a position to hear. I think maybe you’re too emotionally invested to hear, your soul is in the way of your spirit.” Leighann, walking to her worktable put the palette down, and then looking directly into Kirsten’s troubled eyes she reasoned, “Sweetheart, maybe, just maybe, Justin hasn’t said anything because he’s been so busy between his job and the book. Maybe he wants to finish the book before he makes a commitment to anything else.”

  “Mom, I don’t buy that. I know he’s busy, and I understand that. Most of the time I do think he has feelings for me. I mean logically if I reason this out. Why would he call me nearly every evening if he doesn’t want me in his life? But those phone conversations are usually short, and besides he just makes small talk. It’s been five months since we met, and in all of our many conversations, not once has he spoken of a future with me. I’d think if it were anywhere on his mind, he would’ve at least alluded to it by now.” Kirsten sto
od and returned the stool to fit under the worktable.

  “Are you sure?” Leighann pointed her brush at Kirsten before dropping it into the mineral spirits.

  “That he has not said anything?” Kirsten waited while her mother nodded before she answered. “Yes, of course I’m sure. I’ve thought about this. I’ve prayed about this. I think that maybe I’m going to go crazy. I’m getting mixed signals, if he doesn’t say something this time I don’t want to see him again.”

  “Don’t you think that is a bit drastic?” Leighann asked as she twirled the brush in the solution.

  “I know the family loves Justin, but…” Shrugging her shoulders, Kirsten walked toward the stairs.

  “Kirsten, you know God has a plan for you. Are you trusting him?” Leighann removed the brush and wiped it clean before dropping it into the Mason jar. “If Justin’s the husband God has designed for you Justin will make the move when the time comes.” Removing the rag from her shoulder Leighann wiped her hands and looking her daughter in the eyes she added, “You weren’t raised in a void Kirsten, you’ve been exposed to the male gender. You know men view things differently than women do. So what’s really at the heart of this? Maybe you should talk with your father. Get his perspective on this situation. I think you’re experiencing unnecessary pain where Justin is concerned.”

  “What’s at the heart of this? Mom, I’m lonely. I never knew just how lonely until Justin entered my life, does that make sense?”

  “That you’re lonely? Yeah, I realized that months ago. It’s all over your face, you’ve reached an age where you are starting to focus on your biological clock and you don’t see it happening and darling, that is normal.” Leighann stepped into her daughter’s space and squeezed Kirsten’s hand, “Especially for a young woman in her mid-twenties who loves to take care of others the way you do. You want your own family, and not just your brothers and sister, even as much as you love them they are no substitute for a husband and children, right?”