Trial & Tribulations

by Rachel Dylan

  He looked over at her. “I hoped you enjoyed the service, Olivia.”

  “I did. Thank you.” She paused. Hopefully, he wouldn’t think she was completely crazy. “I know this is bad timing, but is there any way you can meet with me now? I have some things I really need some guidance on and they’re very important.”

  “Right now actually works great.” He broke eye contact. “My wife and I used to do lunch with some of the congregation after service, but she actually passed away a few months ago so I’m still not quite sure what to do with myself.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Her heart broke for this man.

  “It’s all right. She’s with the Lord now. Would you like to talk over lunch?”

  “Honestly, I think it might be better if we talk here so we can have privacy.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Are you in some type of trouble?”

  She shifted her weight from foot to foot. “Maybe, but not the kind you think.”

  He nodded. “Let’s go into my office, and you can explain it all to me.”

  She was led into his spacious office that was attached to the general church office. A beige couch was positioned on one side and a big dark wood desk with multiple chairs on the other. He motioned for her to take a seat in the large maroon chair, and he sat down at his desk across from her.

  “So what is troubling you?”

  She took a deep breath and prayed she was doing the right thing by coming here and laying this on Pastor Dan. “I’m a lawyer. I work for a large law firm in Washington, DC. But one of our clients got sued. My client’s office and the office of the company that is suing them is here in Windy Ridge. So that’s why I’m here now.”

  “All right. I’m with you so far.”

  “I’m a senior associate at my firm, so I’ve had a lot of experience in complex high stakes litigation. I was given this case by the managing partner at the law firm. I have a lot of school debt, and I want to succeed in anything I’ve been given. So I did as I was instructed, and got on a plane here to start the defense of the case. I’ve been working out of the client’s office and preparing for this first phase of the litigation.”

  He gently nodded encouraging her to go on.

  She looked down and then back up at him. “The problem is that my client is a company named Astral Tech, and they are being sued by another company called Optimism.”

  Recognition flashed through his eyes. “I am very aware of those businesses.”

  “Then you can probably imagine where I’m going with this.”

  “You’re struggling with how you can represent a company who engages in practices which are against your beliefs while still retaining your career and your ability to pay the bills.”

  “Well, there’s definitely that, but if that was all it was, I probably wouldn’t be keeping you from eating your lunch.”

  “What happened?”

  “Please hear me out before you jump to any conclusions.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “And I’m sorry to put this on you. I just found out this morning that my pastor back in DC had a heart attack. So I can’t take this to him right now.”

  “I’m sorry. Is he doing all right now?”

  “The prognosis looks good, but he’ll be out for a while.”

  “I’m here to help however I can.”

  “When I returned to my hotel room two nights ago, someone had drawn a pentagram on my door.”

  He leaned forward. She had his full attention now.

  “The police said it was likely random vandalism, but I don’t believe that for a second.” She paused steadying herself. “I think someone associated with Optimism did that to me, and I fear it’s just beginning.”

  “I’m so sorry, Olivia. I’m afraid that what I will tell you will only add to your concerns.”

  “I’d like to hear whatever you know.”

  “The church community here strongly believes that both businesses are tied up with the occult and demonic practices. Since the inception of Astral Tech and Optimism, the occult activity in our neighborhood has greatly increased. It comes in waves and often in a variety of different forms. We have a couple of members who are formerly associated with both organizations. And from what I can gather from my own research and discussions with those people is that these groups are very intensely involved in witchcraft and other types of dark arts. Optimism has been around for a long time in different forms. I’m more familiar with them and how dangerous they can be, but I know that Astral Tech is also an emerging threat.”

  “And I take it from your grim expression, that you believe in all of this. That there is this extreme evil out in the world that has the power to hurt us all.”

  “Absolutely. I know not all Christians believe the exact same thing when it comes to the spiritual realm, but I believe the devil is strong and uses these people to further his mission.”

  “A couple of times, I’ve almost packed up and gone back home—ready to face the consequences from management at the law firm. But I can’t explain to you how much I feel something pulling me back. Wanting me to stay. And right now even though I feel like I’m in a constant state of prayer, I don’t know what is best for me.”

  “Your faith is solid?”

  “Yes. That I am certain of.”

  “Then the Lord may have put you here as part of His plan, Olivia.”

  “Every time I go into that Astral Tech office I feel the life being sucked out of me.”

  “The power of evil has a strong hold on that place. You’re going to be up against a lot there.”

  “I told Nina Marie, basically the woman running the show at Astral Tech, about what happened to me. I think she’s going to go after the guy Layton Alito at Optimism. There could be a dispute raging between the two groups that goes beyond this litigation.”

  “You can use that to your advantage. They’ll be focused more on each other than on you.” He ran a hand through his hair. “And I have to say this too. It’s possible that you’re here because you need to help someone else. Someone who otherwise might get sucked into the ways of darkness, or to save someone who already is. You need to keep your eyes and ears open at all times.”

  She nodded. “Will you pray for me now?”

  “Of course.” He walked over and they stood together. “Dear Father, please arm Olivia in this spiritual battle that she has stepped into. Lord, You brought her here. She’s a strong believer, but she’ll be tested and needs You now more than ever. And give her guidance to know how best to handle the situations that she will encounter. And give me strength, Lord, to provide her with any assistance that I can. In Your name, Amen.”

  “Thank you. And I’m sorry to dump this on you.”

  “Like I said before, this was already our problem as a community.”

  “Before I go, there’s one more thing. Who was the man sitting beside me during your sermon today? He had long blond hair, dark eyes, and facial hair.”

  He looked at her with narrowed eyes. “What?”

  “Yeah, I just really felt drawn to him and was hoping I’d be able to talk to him a bit but by the time the final prayer was over, he’d just up and gone.”

  “Wow,” he said. “Olivia, I looked over at you multiple times during the sermon. There was never a man sitting beside you.”

  “Are you certain?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Her heartbeat sped up, “Dear Lord.”

  “Thank you, Lord, is more like it. The angels are around you, Olivia. They’re readying for battle too.”

  Her eyes filled with tears overwhelmed by it all. “I don’t even know what to say.”

  He grabbed her hand. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”

  **

  Nina Marie watched as Clive organized everyone in the large basement of his house. Before they got down to work, he needed to debrief the group on what had happened.

  Clive stood to address everyone. Tonight represented a
full compilation of believers in the Astral Tech way. Those that practiced witchcraft, those who just sought some type of holistic spiritual way, and then the powerful but smaller group who focused more on worshipping the evil one.

  The entire Astral Tech staff was present. But there were plenty of people who were a part of the group who weren’t on staff. Teachers, doctors, judges, customer service workers. It was a diverse group, many of whom, because of their professions operated under a cloak of secrecy. Others in the community didn’t know of their affiliation with Astral Tech.

  “Let’s get started,” Clive said. “I wanted to gather everyone here today to explain certain facts that have come to our attention that are very disconcerting.”

  To the outside observer who had preconceived notions about the occult, it may have seemed like a strange scene. There were no black cloaks or sacrifices. No burning of incense or fanciful candles tonight.

  No, the Astral Tech way was different. More advanced and technological, but no less powerful. If anything, the type of army that Astral Tech was assembling would be unbeatable. Even against Optimism. This gathering looked like a group of professionals chatting after a dinner party.

  “What’s going on?” Matt Tinley asked. His brown eyes were filled with suspicion.

  Nina Marie had thought it better for Clive to tell all the employees at once so she hadn’t filled Matt in. He would most likely be upset for being left out since he was a member of the executive leadership team. Matt knew he was clearly number three in the pecking order and it bothered him.

  “We believe that we are under a direct attack from Optimism.” Clive’s loud voice boomed through the basement.

  “We all know that. They’ve filed a lawsuit,” Matt said. A few other mumbles filled the room.

  Clive shook his head. “No, Matt. It’s much more than that. For the benefit of everyone in the room, I’ll give a little background. We’ve hired the law firm of Brown, Carter, and Reed out of Washington, DC to defend us in the lawsuit filed by Optimism. The firm has sent out a senior attorney named Olivia Murray to work out of our offices and lead our defense in this stage of the litigation.”

  “Is she one of us?” Marta Lynch, one of the elder Astral Tech members asked.

  “No, she’s not. But she’s a great attorney. Although now the game appears to have changed.” He took a few steps closer to the group. “Olivia returned to her hotel room the other night to find a pentagram drawn on her door.”

  A few surprised sounds echoed throughout the room as people started talking amongst themselves. “Quiet, everyone. We need to focus here.”

  “You think Optimism is going after our lawyer?” Matt asked.

  “To put it simply, yes. An attack on two fronts, legal and spiritual. And what better way to weaken us than to spook our attorney. The vandalism itself was a bit cliché but clearly contemplated with the purpose of trying to send a signal. If she quits the case, that puts us at a strategic disadvantage. Then another lawyer would have to get up to speed which would cost us precious time and energy in the vigorous defense our of case.”

  “More than that, though,” Marta said. “They’re trying to send us a strong message that they’re out for blood. They won’t rest until we’re annihilated, or they’ve taken away members of Astral Tech and converted them into their group. They’ve always hated our approach. They see us as too progressive and inclusive. This lawsuit is just another mechanism for them to attack us.”

  “That’s true,” Clive said. “Nina Marie and I have started strategizing, and we believe that the best approach is a highly aggressive one using all tools at our disposal.” He motioned throughout the room. “Tonight is the first night of a long battle. But one we have to win.”

  “Clive’s right.” Nina Marie stood from her spot in the corner of the room and addressed the crowd. Clive had laid out the initial thoughts, but now the operational details were up to her. “Everyone will be responsible for playing a role in this. We also need to keep our numbers strong. If there was ever a time you thought you could successfully bring another member in, now is the time to do it. The evil one is with us, but he’s a fickle master. We must keep pleasing him to keep his favor. The dark forces are surrounding us, but we have to be more aggressive in calling on them to help us. Our primary target is Layton Alito. He is Optimism. If he falls, then their house crumbles.”

  “Right,” Clive added. “And even though he’ll have a strong cloak of protection, with a concerted effort we can break through it.”

  “What are we going to do about this lawyer girl?” Marta asked. “I’m getting a very uneasy feeling about her just based on your description. How do we know we can trust an outsider who doesn’t believe like we do?”

  “She cares too much about her job and her professional reputation to cause any problems,” Nina Marie said. “I’ve got her under control so everyone else can concentrate on their tasks. She isn’t the one who is a threat to us right now. Believe me, I’d know if she were. For our strategic purposes, she’s a member of our team.”

  “We can’t afford to take our eyes off Layton,” Matt said. “This really is a battle of old versus new. That’s why he could never make the app as successful as we have been able to. We have technical capabilities that they don’t. They rely purely on past methods of warfare. That’s where we have the strategic advantage.”

  “For those who want to join, let’s have a group prayer,” Clive said. “Then we can break off into our respective teams and plan our strategy.”

  Nina Marie listened as Clive reached out to the evil one. It was true that not every member of Astral Tech actively participated in this type of worship. Some chose to see themselves as gods. But the end result was the same. A group of powerful people who were drawn to forces of darkness. She allowed herself to let go and be submersed by the evil that surrounded her. By the end of this thing, Optimism would be defeated…and she would be in charge of Astral Tech.

  **

  Pastor Dan sat in the church conference room surrounded by his leadership team. He felt like he needed to tell them what he had learned from Olivia. He was still grieving from the death of his beloved wife, but right now he had to turn his attention to this newly cemented threat.

  “Thanks for staying after Sunday night service. There’s something I wanted to make everyone aware of related to our long standing problems with the occult in our community.”

  After he filled them in on what he knew, he got ready for questions. He knew there would be some after what he had just laid out for the group.

  “What’s your read on the attorney?” Chris Tanner, the associate pastor, asked.

  “I think she’s afraid, but very steadfast in her faith. I also think she has a very strong spiritual connection. Especially after she saw the angel this morning in church.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Sofia Garcia said. She pulled her dark hair up into a makeshift bun. “All we know is that she thought she saw someone sitting beside her, and that you didn’t see the person. But you were focused on preaching. We can’t just assume she saw an angel. For all we know, this woman made it up. This was her first time walking into our church. I don’t think we should automatically think everything she says is truthful.”

  “I know you’re skeptical about this,” Chris said, “and that is completely understandable, but we can’t dismiss her, Sofia. There’s a reason why she’s here even if we’re not fully sure of her intentions or her story.” The former Army Ranger was always on guard.

  “Chris is right,” Beverly Jenkins added. “I know I’m just an accountant by trade and not a theologian, but I’ve been going to this church since I was born. I believe we have a strong spiritual body here. The Lord wants to take care of us, but we have a responsibility to this community.”

  “Where does that leave us then?” Sofia asked.

  “I want everyone to start praying for Olivia because I think she’s going to need it. And if there is some evil battle b
rewing between Astral Tech and Optimism we need to be ready for an uptick in demonic activity within our community. I haven’t decided whether we should bring this to the entire church body yet or wait until we see how it starts playing out. We can vote on that now or later if you prefer.”

  “I think we wait to tell the church body anything,” Sofia said. “But I guess my view is obvious.” She paused. “Also, if these two groups are set on annihilating each other, why wouldn’t we just step back and let them do it? Less trouble for us. Wouldn’t it be better to have only one group left instead of two?”

  Dan shook his head. “Because they’ve already started targeting true believers, and they’re not going to stop. They gain their strength from spreading their evil. I see this as a consolidation of power, but not anything less dangerous.”

  “Dan is absolutely right,” Chris said. “They’re a cancer in our community, and they take every opportunity to bring us down by spreading their beliefs. And now that they have that app for phones and computers they can reach every person in Windy Ridge and beyond. Especially the younger demographic that are always on their phones and computers.”

  “That’s a good point,” Dan said. “We need to make sure our youth groups are protected. Sofia, since you’re in charge of the youth ministry, I’ll leave that up to you as how best to proceed.”

  Sofia nodded. “We actually haven’t talked to them about the Astral Tech app since it first came out. So I need to make sure that they’re aware of all of the dangers of it.”

  “And to do that, we as a church need to ensure that we understand it as well. I think our core leadership group is comfortable enough with technology to figure it out, but everyone needs to take a look at the features on it and be prepared to take action against what they might use it for.”

  “Why should we buy it though?” Beverly asked. “Isn’t that just adding money to their coffers?”

  Dan nodded. “Good point, Bev. I’ll purchase a copy and do a deep dive on it then report back to the group on everything.”

  “Are you sure you should be spending your time doing that?” Sofia asked.