“I’ve wanted to come by the hospital but I figured you and John would be there a lot and I did not want to intrude.”
“That is what I wanted to talk to you about. Could you go see Mark tonight?”
“I’d love to.” Tim waited, sensing that there was more to come. Kathy looked blankly to the street then back at Tim.
“Last week I saw a preacher on TV. He talked about God, Jesus, sin, salvation, and damnation. I’ve heard it all before and it never really meant anything to me until that night. I don’t know why, but it just did.”
She stopped talking for a moment.
“I just came from the hospital. Mark was telling me something—something strange.” She thought about informing him about Mark’s visit to hell, but decided not to.
“I really didn’t believe him at first, but the way he was talking was so convincing. And then he said something that the preacher on TV also said. It was bizarre, and for some reason that I can’t explain, Mark said almost the exact same thing the preacher said. I mean, the same thing! When he said it, it really struck me. I don’t know what is going on, but I had to come here and talk to you about it.” She stopped, realizing how much she had just said.
Tim didn’t mind. He shifted to face her more directly. “What did Mark say that the preacher also said?”
“I don’t remember exactly, but it was about there being a hell, and that people who are under the judgment of God will go there for eternity.” She paused and looked away from him and out into the parking lot.
“It sounds like God is calling you,” said Tim calmly.
She looked to the street at passing cars.
“Is that all the preacher said? Did he mention Jesus?”
She looked at him. “Yes, he said that Jesus was the only way to be delivered from the judgment. He said that all of us have sinned against God.”
Tim said a quick and silent prayer before he spoke. “What do you think about what he said? Do you believe it’s true?”
“I don’t know. It’s all so new and I’ve never been concerned about it before. But with Mark being shot, his dying and coming back to life, that horrible thing I saw, the preacher...” Her voice trailed off. Tim waited.
“I don’t know. I feel something. It’s almost like I hear a voice calling me. I don’t know what it is. It’s weird. I mean, I feel like I have to answer it soon.” She exhaled forcefully. “Does that make any sense?”
“Yes, it does. It makes a great deal of sense,” said Tim with a smile. “The Lord is speaking into your heart and you are becoming aware of the truth.”
Wearily, she buried her face in her hands and let her fingers comb through her hair. Pastor Tim prayed silently for a full minute until she spoke again.
“I have to think about this.” She got up and so did Tim. “Thank you for talking to me. I feel better.”
“But I hardly said anything.”
“It wasn’t so much what you said as what I needed to say. Besides, you listening means more to me than you realize.”
“Kathy,” he said carefully. “If there’s anything at all I can do, please don’t hesitate to contact me, even if it means calling me in the middle of the night. Seriously, if you feel the need to talk, I’m here.” He reached into a pocket and pulled out a card as he reached to his shirt pocket and retrieved a pen. With a click he wrote on the back.
“Here is my home number.”
He smiled gently and pressed the card into her hand.
“Thank you,” she said. “I appreciate that.” She exhaled noisily as if she had dropped a heavy load. “But for now I think I’ll go to my dad’s place. So much has happened, and so fast, that I don’t know what to do. I need to think. Maybe I’ll call you later.” She began to walk down the steps. He followed her for a few. She turned. “Thanks, Pastor Tim.”
“Sure, Kathy. I’m glad you stopped by.”
He watched her until she was safely in her car and on her way, then he turned back into the church and headed into his office. He closed the door, went to the couch, and knelt by it to pray.
As Kathy drove off, demons kept hovering and twisting in the air as they catapulted themselves back and forth, down towards her, arcing broad strokes in the sky. They were getting closer. Then one demon began to descend towards the car but it unexpectedly stopped and fled.
Nabal descended from above out of the rip in space. It saw Kathy in the car and slowly glided down towards her.
***
Mark opened his eyes and shook the narcotic-induced mist from his mind. He glanced out the window and thought of Sotare. “Where are you, my friend?” He posed his question aloud.
To his right, Sotare stood guard, invisible. He solemnly and dutifully looked back and forth, scanning the spiritual horizon. Mark was still under his charge. Nomos was likewise watching.
“Where are you, Sotare?”
The angels looked at each other. “When do you speak to him again?” asked Nomos.
“My instructions are to wait.” he said.
Nomos nodded.
***
Kathy was driving down the freeway, heading back to her dad’s house. Above her, Nabal kept pace with the car. It was looking around, trying to find an opportunity to attack. The slave demon followed, but kept its distance.
Kathy was in the fast lane. Nabal followed. The other demons trailed far behind.
The freeway, with its speeding, unobservant drivers, was always a good place to kill. Nabal swooped down upon the top of the car, landing hard and digging its claws into the metal. The slave demon flew nearby. Nabal thrust its massive head down through the roof and let strings of viscous saliva drip from its mouth.
It raised its head and looked at the following swarm of demons. It opened both arms wide and clapped its bony hands together at once. Instantly, the demons began to draw closer. The evil creature turned its attention to the slave and pointed to a pickup two lanes over. “One of our servants. She has been brought here for this purpose. Take five demons with you and make the driver crash into this woman! Do not fail me. Do it now!”
The slave catapulted into the sky into the midst of the demon horde. It pointed to five of them. “The Master Nabal has commanded you.” It looked at the pickup and pointed. “The driver is one of ours. Come! Now!”
The six of them tucked their wings and fell through the air at high speed, closing in on the pickup. Just before impact, they opened their wings like parachutes before landing on the frame of the truck, one on the hood, one on the roof, another on the trunk, one on each side. The slave entered the car. Inside, another demon sat next to her, with its hand in her mind. It said, “Command me.”
“Release her!” It immediately withdrew its hand. The slave opened its mouth and extended its tongue into the brain of the woman driver. The sensation was slightly different from what she was used to, but it was familiar enough to still be pleasant. Earlier demons had convinced her that such moments were manifestations of the inner divine consciousness and that she was a goddess in embryo. She smiled.
“Let me in,” whispered the slave demon. “Let me in. Let me in.”
The woman opened herself and the slave demon slipped its talons deep into her mind.
Nabal opened its wings and lifted itself above Kathy’s car so it could see everything better. It quickly pointed to the horde of demons above and then at the pickup truck. They began their descent.
The slave was trying to familiarize itself with the woman’s mind and body so that it might take her over quickly and force the speeding truck into Kathy’s car. It knew this would be difficult because, even under possession, the woman’s self-preservation instinct would still be strong.
“Release,” whispered the slave demon into her mind. “Release control to me,” it said again and again. She was on the freeway and this required her to pay attention, something she was not easily giving up. “Release,” said the demon again. It did not want to force her hands to let go of the wheel too soon lest she op
enly resist and the opportunity be lost.
The demons on the outside of the vehicle were joined by others from above. There wasn’t enough room for all of them so they swarmed like insects, looking for any opportunity to join in the kill.
The woman’s will was evaporating. She was giving in, and the slave had almost taken over her mind completely. As soon as the car began to swerve, the demons outside would guard their charge and prevent any angels from interfering. But for now, they could only wait.
Kathy’s vehicle was slightly behind. When the pickup swerved and reduced its forward momentum, it would bring their cars into a high-speed collision.
“Release!” The woman was slowing complying. “Release your mind.”
Then, above them, a single ray of light pierced the sky and shot down to the ground and was followed by brightness everywhere. A group of angels descended and headed for the demons.
***
Mark was awake again. The nap had done him a world of good. He tried to lift one leg a fraction of an inch but his stomach muscles easily convinced him that that was a bad idea. He grimaced in pain. “That hurt.”
It was still light outside and he knew that Kathy would be coming back shortly after dark. So, he reached for the TV remote, but before he got to it, the door slowly opened. Pastor Tim’s head slid in.
“Hi, Mark. It’s me, Pastor Tim. Mind if I come in?”
Mark was surprised that he remembered him—and that he remembered so much of what had happened in the church.
“Not at all. I could use the company.”
Tim walked over to the bed and shook his hand. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling as good as can be expected…for a man who came back from the dead. The doctor said that the surgery went very well. He said I’m lucky to be alive.”
“Yes, you are.” responded Tim. He found a chair, pulled it towards the bed, and sat down. “I hope you don’t mind me being here. Is now a good time?”
“Absolutely! I’m tired of being alone.”
“I figured you would be out of it for a few days. Besides, family comes first and I didn’t want to be in the way.”
“Your timing is perfect. Today is the first good day I’ve had. The anesthesia is finally out of me enough for me to feel alert.”
Tim stared straight into Mark’s eyes with the kind of a look a man gives to another man when he is about to say something serious and heart-felt. “I want to thank you for saving my life.”
Mark returned a half smile. “Please don’t take this wrong, Pastor. But, I wasn’t there to save you. I was there to save Kathy.”
Tim relaxed his gaze, and was obviously bewildered.
Mark realized he had spilled the beans. “Looks like I have some explaining to do.”
“I guess so. We were all wondering why you appeared out of nowhere.”
Mark looked out the window as he took a deep cleansing breath, then back to the pastor. “Do you believe in hell?”
“Yes.”
Mark was still sizing him up. Should he tell him what he had seen? Should he tell him that he had been talking to an angel and that he went to hell? Mark looked at Tim, who was patiently waiting for whatever he had to say. He had never met him before but there was a bond between them because of what had happened.
“Since we’re doing the ‘thank you’ thing, I want to thank you for risking your life to protect my wife.” Mark looked deeply into the pastor’s eyes without blinking.
Tim nodded, humbly.
“I really mean it.” Mark’s tone was deeply sincere.
Tim smiled and said, “You’re welcome.”
Enough said. They both knew that they didn’t need to get all huggy on each other.
Mark couldn’t help but realize how the pieces fit together, bringing him to this place with the pastor being right there. So, he decided to risk telling him everything.
“May I call you Tim?”
“Of course. I prefer it that way. Do you mind if I call you Mark?” Mark chuckled slightly, winced, and then said, “Well, now that we are on a first-name basis, I’d like to tell you something.”
“I’m all ears.”
Mark looked at him, waited a few seconds, took a preparatory breath and decided to blurt it out. “While I was dead, I saw hell.”
Tim had heard many things in his years in the ministry. He was experienced enough to not overreact or under-react when people made heavy statements. So his response was easy. “All right, tell me about it.”
Mark looked at Tim and felt comfortable enough to trust him. There was something about him, something kind and good. So, it made things easier.
“I’d like to tell you everything,” said Mark carefully.
Tim shifted in his chair and set his Bible on a small stand nearby. “Okay, I’m listening.”
***
Kathy drove down the freeway, completely unaware of the battle being fought above her. A horde of demonic forces was clashing with angels, colliding in the air, intermingled in a fierce, thrashing dissonance of attack and counterattack. The evil creatures clawed at the bodies and wings of their enemies. They spat, cursed, and tore at their adversaries. It was a fierce clash of good and evil. One demon and an angel were locked in battle, wings ineffective, plummeting downward, crashing upon the ground. Their skirmish was fought in the middle of the freeway, interlocked, wrestling, punching, each trying to gain position over the other. Cars whisked through them over and over again. They wrestled violently.
An angel fell to the earth, his wing broken. He would heal within hours, but in the meantime he was out of commission.
Another angel fell, and another. A demon with a broken wing plunged downward, disappearing into the ground. Two more demons attacked a single angel, one from the front and one from behind. They all collided with immense force. The angel fell limply towards the ground, but an instant before he hit, he recovered and opened his wings to return and fight again.
Screams pierced the air from two demons whose wings had been damaged, sending them back to The Cavern. Then an angel fell to the ground, followed by two more demons disappearing into the earth. Another angel plummeted to the ground, then another demon and another.
Screams, curses, grunts, and growls emanated from the throng of tangled beings. The mass seemed to be a single entity, moving, writhing within itself, teeming with turmoil and struggle. Occasionally, a fragment of the turbulent mass would drop downward as two beings twisted and wrestled in battle, fell to the ground intertwined, still battling.
***
Pastor Tim sat back in his chair. “That’s quite a story. I’ve never spoken to anyone who’s conversed with an angel before and gone to hell. It’s amazing.”
“Yes, it is.” He looked carefully at the man sitting next to his bed. “Do you believe me?”
Pastor Tim chuckled ever so slightly, “Yes, I do,” he said firmly. “Without a doubt I believe you.”
“You do?”
“Yes. Mark, let’s just say that the Lord has been talking to me, too. Ever since I met your father-in-law here in the hospital last week, I’ve had a profound urge to pray. I’ve known that something significant, something special, was going to happen and that you were a part of it. I don’t know how I knew or why. I just did, and I believe it was from God. Besides, it is no coincidence that all these events have led us to where we are now. So, I have no choice but to believe you.”
Mark should have been surprised. But he wasn’t. It all made sense. If he could see an angel, go to hell, and come back from the dead, then most certainly God could work on Tim as well.
“I’m glad,” he said. “It feels good to get this off my chest. I haven’t told my wife about it. I mean the part about Sotare. I told her a little bit about my experience in hell…and that is someplace I never want to go to again.” Mark clenched his jaw tightly and let a breath escape through his nostrils. “I don’t ever want to go there. I don’t want anyone to go there. Everyone has to know about t
his and be warned.”
Pastor Tim nodded. “Do you want to escape the judgment of hell?”
“You have no idea how much. I’ll do anything and I mean anything to not go there.”
Tim nodded. “Well, I have the answer for you.” He drew his chair closer. “Mark, the truth is, there is a God. He’s pure and perfect. He can do no wrong. Although I admit that there are lots of questions about why God permits bad things to happen, the fact is, he makes no mistakes. But we do. God said do not lie, do not steal, do not bear false witness. Let me ask you, Mark. Have you ever lied, or stolen, or borne false witness?”
Mark looked at Tim and was instantly reminded of being in the presence of Jesus and how his own impurity was so clearly manifested. With absolute certainty he said, “Yes, I have, and many more things much worse than those.”
Pastor Tim shifted and snickered sheepishly, “Me, too.” He continued.
“When God tells us not to lie or steal, we call that the Law. The Law is a reflection of God’s pure character because it comes from him. God cannot lie. He cannot steal. Now, these laws are not arbitrary. They are there because of who God is, because of how pure he is. They come from him. Anyway, when we break the Laws of God, it’s called sin. The consequence of breaking God’s Law is his judgment. Now, the fact is, there is no law without a punishment. The punishment—that consequence, of damnation—is what you experienced.” The pastor looked at Mark, who was obviously listening intently.
“I have to admit that I’ve never spoken to anyone before who has had a near-death experience and gone to hell. I’ve read about it many times, but I’ve never actually met anyone who’s done it. So, I guess you know how fortunate you are that you were allowed to live.”
“You got that right,” Mark said the words with strong, clear syllables.
“Well,” continued the pastor. “If God did not punish the one who sins against him, then he would be approving of sin by not dealing with it. God cannot do that.” The pastor retrieved his Bible and opened it. “I’d like to show you some verses in the book of Romans in the New Testament. It’s quick and easy.”
The Influence (Supernatural Thriller) Page 33