The Lie (The Seekers Book 2)

by L R Clarke

  He turned to face Millie, “And those pathetic few who try to remain faithful, so many are ill and discouraged now. Such a shame. You humans are no match for us in your petty mortal frames.”

  “Then why do you want one?” asked Millie.

  His mocking turned to rage, “I do not seek your mortality human, we have already bred with your kind before the First Judgement. It was fun....” He came over to Millie running his hand down her cheek. She turned away in disgust. “I have no intention of waiting for nine of your mortal months; anyway the hybrid would only dilute the seed. No, I want the seed of divinity at its purest.”

  Millie shivered, “But...but...I don’t know what you mean.”

  Lucifer laughed, “Of course you don’t Millie; only a few do and mercifully they are dying out. Soon there will be none left and His ridiculous plan will have failed. The seed lies dormant until it is activated, but I shall extract it and use it for greater good. You humans have wasted it.”

  Millie was terrified but forced herself to ask anyway, “Where is it?”

  He looked down at her, “Oh, the seed remains in you in all its beauty and complexity and we shall explore each level until we disentangle it. You may have the genome but your puny scientists can’t translate it without angelic language. I shall indeed be taking your DNA Millie until it yields the true seed within and we shall start immediately.”

  O liver watched them settle the baby and go about their chores, they seemed happy to simply share his company. As soon as they realised he had no specific message for them they seemed to relax. Eve would frequently glance in his direction but she always looked away when he tried to return her gaze.

  Oliver was downhearted. He had finally seen Millie but it had frustrated and saddened him to leave her in that awful place. He also couldn’t help thinking about Alana. How was he going to rescue them both now?

  He watched the evening sunlight dancing on the trees and he doodled on the ground with a stick. How was he going to get out of here? He had learnt that the two of them never saw anyone, well how could they? But then it struck him, if they were hoping for a message, maybe they had some way to send one? He knew there was a spiritual interface – he simply had to access it! He waited for them to complete their tasks then he approached Adam.

  “Your home is very peaceful.”

  “Yes, we are indeed blessed to have it.”

  Oliver hesitated, this was harder than he imagined, Er ... you said I was the first visitor for a while, do you have a way to send a message to... er, to ... anyone else?”

  Adam frowned, “Well we cannot return to the Garden but of course we speak with Him daily.”

  “You do!” Oliver was excited, this meant he could get a message out and someone could come and get him. Adam smiled, “We will have our time of thanksgiving later if you would like to join us, but I assumed as you are in His presence daily anyway you would be eager to return. But we would like you to teach us how to get closer. We are still learning, and this new way of communicating is so ... hard. ”

  Oliver’s mind did a somersault – they wanted him to pray with them – yeah right, like that was going to happen.

  Eve called them over, “The meal is ready.”

  Adam held out his hand, “Please, this way.”

  Oliver looked at the delicious array of food, it was all home-grown of course and looked very appetising, and his mum would love it. At the thought of her a sharp pain suddenly pierced his chest. He remembered that she was sitting by his bedside and he was here. He desperately wanted to reassure her that everything would be alright, but how could he?

  Adam took the bread and held it high; with his eyes closed he spoke in a language that Oliver did not understand. When he had finished he broke the bread and put it down, then he did the same with the wine. Finally he opened his eyes and smiled at Oliver, “Please partake of anything you wish, though we understand you do not need it like we do.”

  Oliver could not remember the last time he had eaten or drunk anything, he was not in need of refreshment and he wondered what would happen if he tried. He took a small sip of wine and was amazed by the flavour; he had never tasted anything like it. He was not hungry but enjoyed a small taste of everything. It seemed to disappear in his mouth – it was incredible!

  All through supper the young couple talked of their plans for tomorrow. Finally Eve addressed him directly, “What happened to the serpent?”

  Before Oliver could even begin to imagine how he was going to reply Adam interrupted, “It does no good to think of these things Eve and perhaps Oliver does not even know, the heavens are colossal as you know.”

  But Eve would not let it drop, “They will all know of our banishment and the heartache it caused, surely the serpent will have paid some price?”

  Oliver suddenly had a flashback to the enormous snake he had encountered and without thinking he spoke aloud, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers, he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.”

  They looked at Oliver in awe, “Yes, that is what He said, but what does it mean? When will this happen?” Subconsciously Eve turned to look at the baby, aware that she already had offspring. Oliver had no idea where the words had come from or what they meant, there was clearly more to his present state than he had yet understood. He stood quickly. He needed time to think, perhaps he should just tell them who he was and the problem he faced. He was not a special messenger, he had no powers, he was just Oliver. But as he turned to leave the parchment fell from his pocket and clattered among the dishes, Adam stood quickly too, afraid he had offended his guest in some way.

  Eve reached for the parchment and gasped when she saw what it was, with shaking hands she offered it to Adam who was nearest to her. He studied it and bowed his head before giving it back to Oliver. “My Lord must think highly of you to entrust you with this, please forgive our foolishness.”

  Oliver sat back down, he had to tell them now, perhaps they could help him after all, but Eve rescued him once again. “May I read it all?” she said.

  Oliver handed it over and Eve started to read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

  T hey were arguing over the top of her, “It has to be in the blood,” hissed one, “They are always talking about the sacrifice.”

  “Yes, yes, but the body is redeemed, so we can start with any of the major organs.”

  “I know that, but He has to be related by blood in order to redeem them, hence the genealogy as recorded in the sacred texts.”

  “Well, this female is quite young anyway so we could just start with the ovaries and collect all the eggs.”

  Millie wanted to scream, she had been tied to the table for over an hour already while they argued amongst themselves. They had scraped inside her mouth and taken a sample of her hair so she was, so far, relatively unharmed. She was, however, troubled by this latest bout of excitement.

  They were tall and looked human but Millie knew they were not. They could disappear and reappear at will, going goodness knows where. They all looked very similar and Millie could not tell if there were five or six of them as the numbers in the room kept changing. They never spoke to her and she felt like a laboratory rat.

  “But it’s by faith,” said a quiet voice.

  Millie turned her head, she could just see the one sitting quietly in the corner; he hadn’t moved at all during this frenzied activity and seemed to be waiting.

  “And what would you know?” scoffed the one who seemed to be in charge, “You are only here because you have made visitations and you couldn’t even do that right!” The others laughed obediently.

  He smiled wearily in return, “I know this female is related by kind but I also know the followers of the promise are different. Something happens to them. I have seen it.” The laughing stopped. “Tell us
then,” one of them asked. He got up and walked over to Millie, gently touching her forehead. She tried to read his expression but couldn’t understand him, he seemed sad and yet hopeful at the same time. He addressed her directly, “When did it happen to you?”

  Millie was confused.

  “You bear the mark.”

  Millie suddenly remembered the crown that Michael had given her, but he had said mark. “I don’t know what you mean,” she whispered.

  “See,” he turned to the others, “the redeemer has claimed her for a future time. She is not even aware of it yet.”

  Millie suddenly understood, “Do you mean my baptism? I was baptized as a baby, so was Oliver, my mum wanted it done. She’s not really religious, but her mum always goes to church and she wanted to please her.”

  “Be quiet.” snapped the leader, “We know of your silly rituals.”

  The quiet one stared back at him, “Do you? I have seen the mark blaze into glory so bright that I cannot look upon it, so powerful that it brings me to my knees. The warriors receive the garments of salvation and the robes of righteousness directly from Him. It’s an exchange you see, their filthy rags for His adornment. I have seen it. It is not talked of here because they do not want you to know.”

  The group fell silent; they had never been to Earth. All they knew came from approved channels that told how wonderfully it was all going. The quiet one walked away from Millie and sat down again, “The code of life is within her alright, but only He can activate the seed of divinity in response to their faith. We are wasting our time.”

  Chapter 25

  R uth Benton hobbled the last fifty yards in tremendous pain, she badly needed to sit down and was pleased to see a smattering of chairs left vacant. The young people seemed to prefer standing around and chatting in their little groups anyway, when they weren’t looking at their phones of course. Nobody took any notice of her as she carefully lowered herself into the stripy garden chair; goodness only knows how she would get out. She could see Jack at the edge of the crowd but she was well hidden by the willowy branches, besides it was quite dark now. The prayer chain had been started and she knew they would be here quickly, but would there be enough time?

  Jack took the gun out of his pocket and started loading the bullets. Of course no-one was paying him any attention, why would they? He had no friends here. He grinned as he repeated the list in his head, one bullet for each of them, and they were all here. Brilliant!

  In his excitement he dropped one of the cartridges and bent down to pick it up. As he fumbled in the long grass someone started singing. She had a remarkable voice and when Jack looked up he could see it was Becky standing alone under a small lantern, her blonde hair shining in the artificial light. She was singing Amazing Grace. No-one joined in; her voice was too pure to spoil. Jack would let her finish then he would do it. His head throbbed and his hands shook slightly but all the bullets were ready and so was he.

  Deceiver stood next to Jack and urged him on, pouring thick, black hatred into the deep well of despair, he reminded him of every torment, every insult, every slight, every joke and every crude word they had ever called him.

  Swirling overhead the other demons now encircled the group and their brooding presence brought a sinister edge to the gathering. The temperature dropped suddenly and the girl stopped singing as a rushing wind took her breath away. She could not continue. She spotted Jack and smiled nervously at him, but it was too late, the gun was pointing straight at the boy standing next to her.

  The Apprentice watched helplessly, what was the warrior doing? She had her head bowed and wasn’t even looking, but suddenly there they were! In ones and twos they were moving among the crowd, their brightness hurting his eyes as they took their positions. Swords at the ready they towered over the mortals, their eyes skywards.

  Becky felt her knees buckle, but she did not hesitate, she started to walk towards Jack, deliberately putting herself in the line of fire. So far no-one else had noticed what was happening. She had another ten yards to go when the gun went off.

  E ve finished reading and put the scroll on the table, she smiled happily at Oliver, “Thank you, it is wonderful to read again that which is written by His hand. We are grateful to you for bringing it to us.”

  Oliver had heard the creation narrative before but he had never really listened like he had just now. It was just a story wasn’t it? How could the light come before the sun? And what did it mean “according to their kinds”? He was eager to learn more but first he had to rescue Millie. He picked up the scroll, “Actually I didn’t bring it, it was already here when I arrived so I guess it belongs to you.” He handed the scroll back and Adam and Eve looked at each other in bewilderment.

  “Please. I insist.” Oliver continued.

  Adam smiled and took the scroll. “Thank you. It is time for us to rest now; we are up very early with the sun. We certainly have much to be thankful for today. Will you teach us what to say?”

  Oliver looked at their expectant faces and as he bowed his head he started on the only prayer he knew, “Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name...”

  The little one babbled happily while the cicadas maintained a background chorus in the warm night air, Oliver was just about to finish when he added a silent prayer of his own ... and if you are listening to this Michael, please get me out of here ... “Amen.”

  M illie decided to go on the offensive as she figured she had nothing to lose anyway, she addressed their leader, “You can’t perform surgery you know, you have no other blood supply. I’ll die without it.”

  There was a slight pause and then they all burst out laughing, except the quiet one who just shook his head. Millie was confused, what was so funny?

  “The Master has ordered us to remove all of your blood anyway, we plan to store it and use it when needed, same with everything else. He does not care if you live or die you fool; he hates humans and can’t stand to be near you. We are merely debating in which order to do things.”

  Millie was shocked but wasn’t ready to give in just yet, “Oh, that’s a shame because unlike a machine the human body works as a whole, the individual parts will be useless to you. And if I am alive I can always make more blood.”

  There was a stunned silence; they all turned to the quiet one, “Is this true?”

  He looked at Millie for several seconds before nodding, “They are amazingly complex; I have seen cases where the mind has overridden the body and the spirit has outweighed everything. They can survive when you do not expect them to. The human will is a remarkable influence.”

  The leader seemed to have some doubts now, “Perhaps we should not dismiss the idea immediately, and after all there is no rush to dissect the female. Return her to the cell for now as we have enough DNA for our immediate needs.”

  Millie closed her eyes with relief; she had bought a little time, but how was she going to get out of here?

  J ack dropped the gun in horror as he watched Becky crumple to the ground, but before he could do anything he was jumped on by three members of the rugby team and his face smashed against the cold grass.

  He struggled to see what was happening but Becky was surrounded by her friends, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry...” he sobbed.

  There was pandemonium now as the young people scattered, some wanted to get away, some wanted to get closer, but they were all reaching for their phones. More lights were coming on and doors that had been firmly shut were opening now. Jack still could not see Becky, “Is she okay?” he asked. But nobody listened to him.

  Deceiver watched with interest, a smirk of satisfaction forming. Not a bad result really, but there was no point hanging around now their goody-goody brothers were here. He looked around for the Apprentice, but in the confusion he had made his getaway. Oh well, he would deal with him later. He made an offensive gesture at the Commanding angel and withdrew; they would fight again another day.

  Mrs Benton was still stuck in her chair when the vic
ar arrived; he rushed over to the stricken figure and was soon taking charge. Thank goodness he had trained as a paramedic before being ordained. Ruth Benton did not feel helpless as she watched the scene before her unfold. She did the only thing she could do and the most vital as far as she was concerned. She continued to pray.

  Flashing blue lights appeared and the small crowd obediently parted as the men in uniform made their separate ways to Jack and Becky. Jack was quickly removed but the ambulance crew were taking their time. Ruth was shaking with cold now and as she rubbed her hands together to try and keep warm, the crew picked up the stretcher and headed for the ambulance. The crowd was silent. The sheet was pulled up over Becky’s beautiful face.

  W inston could not understand what was happening. He had seen the horse-drawn chariots before of course, but this angelic army was taking things to a whole new level! He had entered the Merkabah through an innocuous looking door but from his present position he could not take it in. Looking out of his window now he could see a huge structure that appeared to consist of several intersecting wheels. They sparkled like gold, but it seemed to have a greenish-yellow shade to it that made it appear fluid in some way. Winston was also captivated by the rim of each wheel as they contained eyes that watched constantly. Winston was familiar with the term awesome and for the first time considered its use appropriate.

  Michael had told him they were travelling through the heavens at a phenomenal speed but all he could wonder was why the chariots of fire were not consumed? Accompanying them was a vast army of chariots. They were divided into four sections, first were the red horses, then black, then white and finally a section of dappled greys. They were engulfed in flames but everyone he talked to accepted this as normal! The angels inside were huge, some had their wings at full stretch, others were holding enormous swords and shields.