by BOLA ILUMOKA
All law enforcement agencies had been alerted and the pictures of Dennis Riley had been splashed all over the TV, newspapers and the Internet. There was no way he was going to get away, not on Marcus Gates’s watch.
Every individual involved in the multiple car accident that day was questioned and had their backgrounds checked, even the dead were not spared. No stone was left unturned in tracing the witnesses of the fatal car accidents. Well over a hundred and sixteen people had been questioned in a space of twenty-four hours. FBI analysts were working overtime in getting data about every suspect. Dennis Riley was tagged as public enemy number one. A million dollar cash reward had already been promised to anyone that would be able give useful information on the whereabouts of Dr Dennis Riley.
Marcus Gates and his team spent hours in reviewing every interview that had taken place with every suspect involved in the accident so far. He looked for anything that seemed remotely out of place and ensured that every potential lead was investigated. This was easily becoming the largest man hunt in US and FBI history.
Marcus used every connection he had established from investigating home grown terrorists to find out about Dennis Riley, but there were all dead ends. Nobody knew anything about Dennis being associated with terrorists. What amazed Marcus and his team was that it seemed as if Dennis had disappeared from the face of the earth without a trace, it was like he just vanished.
It was three days after Dennis had gone missing that Joshua arrived in the US. A taxi dropped him off at a quiet and peaceful suburban town on the out skirts of Chicago. He was dropped off right in front of a church. All he had with him was a small travel bag. He stood in front of the church briefly to have one more look at the exterior before he would step in. He was wearing a well-tailored dark blue pinstriped suit with a white shirt and a red tie. He swung the small bag over his back, opened one half of the large beautiful wooden double door and walked in.
Joshua looked straight ahead of the auditorium of the small church and saw a man, who was most likely the pastor kneeling down facing the alter and praying feverishly. Joshua approached him and stopped until he was ten feet away.
The pastor stopped praying, but didn’t bother to turn around and see who it was. “Hello Joshua.”
“Mike” was all Joshua said in response.
“It’s been a long time, too long in fact,” said Mike.
“You know why I’m here?” asked Joshua.
“There can be only one reason. You’ve found him, haven’t you.”
“Yeah.”
“Why isn’t he with you?”
“I sent him here ahead of me, we were supposed to meet here, but he got caught up in a lot of things.”
“Then where is he?” asked Mike.
“Have you been watching the news lately?”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“Well, he’s been all over the news lately, he’s America’s most wanted fugitive.”
Mike lifted his head up for the first time, turned around and looked at Joshua. “What happened.” he expressed disbelief.
“I’m not sure, but we’ve got to help him.”
“Help a fugitive?”
“You want us to ignore him, abandon him, he’s one of us? Peter wouldn’t have done that. Call a gathering of the brethren. The Prophets need to assemble again.”
“I don’t know if they’ll respond, it’s been a long time.”
“They’ll respond. Once a Prophet, always a Prophet.”
Dennis was seated on the ground and he was worried and anxious. He just couldn’t get those bloody images out of his head. The thought of the whole thing made him sick to his stomach. Ever since he had told the rest of the captives his dream, they were all devastated. Some of them tried not to show it, but it was obvious they were scared and they didn’t know who was going to be next.
Dennis made a suggestion. “Why don’t we try and escape? We could over power the guards. They only come three at a time to give us our meals”
“In case you haven’t noticed, these guys have guns,” said Lucas. We could get killed.
“We’re more likely to get killed if we don’t do anything,” said Matt, another one of the captives.
“That’s right,” Dennis said.
“Then how do you suggest we do it, seeing as we’re not armed?” asked Lucas.
“One of us could feign illness,” suggested Matt. “Then when their try to help us out we could put up a struggle. It will be all of us against them. They wouldn’t expect it.”
“Sounds like it could work,” Lucas said.
“Then if we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it right,” Dennis said. “I have a feeling that this might be the only chance we have.”
“If anyone isn’t up for this say it now,” Said Lucas
None of the other captives respond to Lucas’s statement.
“It’s settled then,” said Matt.
“When do we do it?” asked Lucas.
“The next time they bring our meal.”
They all nod to each other in agreement.
“Gather round,” said Dennis. “This is what we’ll do.”
Then they all hover round him and begin to hatch a plan.
SSA Gates was reviewing several interview documents of the people present at the accident. He was tired and stressed, but he had resolved that he must get Dennis back into custody. As he was reviewing the documents, he realised a lot of people mentioned seeing a small white van that was trying to provide assistance, but then it disappeared almost immediately.
He called back all the witnesses. None of them could provide a vehicle license and nothing strange about the van that could uniquely identify it. They could only say that two heavily built men came out of the bus and quickly carried Dennis away into the van and the driver drove off. Of course, nobody tried to stop them, there had just been a multiple car accident and there was a lot of confusion and commotion and any helping hand was welcome. At that point in time, anybody could get away with anything.
Then Gates and his team decided to go through several video feeds of traffic cameras in a hundred mile radius to check if they could have a glimpse of the white van. They came up with nothing. Then he decided to take it one step further by pulling up the satellite imagery for that day. They were finally able to see images of the vehicle before and during the crash. They also discovered that the van had been trailing the prisoner transport vehicle closely, until it decided to increase the gap between itself and the prisoner transport vehicle.
Gates was speaking to two members of his team. “This seems hard to believe, but it’s like the white van had been trailing the transport vehicle right from court. It was parked close to the court house during the hearing, and then began to follow the transport vehicle as soon as it left the court house. It tailed the transport vehicle consistently for a while until it decided to increase the gap and wait for the accident to happen.”
“Are you saying they knew the accident was going to happen sir?” asked one of the agents.
“Sounds more like they made the accident happen, so they kept their distance,” said another agent.
Gates spoke. “But it was an accident. The scene was investigated. All evidence indicates it was a genuine accident. Nobody could have orchestrated such a disaster without leaving a clue behind. Even the vehicle that triggered the multiple collisions was tested and investigated, it was a real accident.”
“What about the driver?” asked the first agent.
“He was checked out, he came out clean,” said the second agent.
Gates decided. “Let’s have the accident scene and all the vehicles involved investigated again. We might come up with something that was mistakenly overlooked.”
“I’ll get right to it,” said the second agent and got up and walked away.
Gates could only sigh as he continued to trace satellite footage of the white van from the accident scene. After several hours of tracing he lost track of the
van. One brief moment of the van being out of the satellite coverage area ensured that it couldn’t be traced anymore. Gates was thoroughly frustrated. But he couldn’t afford to give up. This case would make or break his career.
Dennis didn’t know what time of the day it was, but he suspected that it was evening time. He and his companions were ready and alert for the next opportunity. Just as Dennis was mentally revising the escape plot over and over in his head, the door leading out of the basement opened and everybody downstairs could see the light coming from the door. Dennis gave the other captives knowing looks and they all tried to behave as casual as possible.
As their captors came down the stairs Matt pretended to lay helpless on the cage floor while two other captives crouched over him feigning concern. This time it was just three men. Two armed with guns and the third dragging down the meal packs in a sack.
“What’s going on here?” asked one of the armed men?
“We don’t know, he just collapsed. I think he’s running a fever.”
The two armed men glanced at each other and one of them made to open the cage while the other remained back with his gun trained on the captives. The first armed man cautiously entered the cage and crouched over Matt. The meal man had started distributing the food packs to the other captives.
Lucas quickly glanced at Dennis and Dennis nodded with his head. The captives had resolved in their minds that they would rather die trying to escape than wait to be led away like lambs to a slaughter. The moment a few of them had opened their food packs, they flung the contents into the face of the armed man outside the cage and charged at him before he could make use of his gun, while a second group found it quite easy to overpower the other armed man standing over Matt because he was already distracted. The remainder of the group charged directly at the meal man and he was also immediately subdued.
To their delight, they were surprised that their plan worked so easily. They briefly congratulated each other while two of them took charge of the weapons. The others knocked the three captors unconscious while they stripped their clothes and used it to tie them up.
Dennis and his fellow captives gradually and cautiously made their way up the basement stairs. All the men were terrified of getting caught, but not as terrified at what would happen if they don’t escape. As soon as they get into the hallway, the malnourished and unkempt captives begin to move very fast not knowing where they were going but believing that they should eventually be able to make their way out of the massive house.
After about five minutes, Dennis was able to eventually lead the captives to the main entrance of the building. The captives were excited. The thought of freedom again made them happy and their hearts were racing.
Dennis felt very uneasy about the whole exercise. Not that he didn’t want to escape, but he felt that it was just too easy. Why aren’t there any guards? Dennis thought. He had expected that he and the others would have come across a couple of guards, he remembered that he had seen so many people here in his dream. The building was just the way he saw it in his dream, but there were a whole lot of human beings.
Dennis and the captives open the main door from the foyer and step out. As soon as they step out, what they see stops them dead in their tracks. Several armed men had formed a semi-circle covering the main door. Dennis and his friends were shocked to their bones. They instinctively turn around to go back into the house.
Just as they make to go back in, Lucy the high witch, dressed in a black over flowing gown steps out in front of the door flanked by two men dressed in black robes with hoods pulled over their heads. They had no weapons.
“Going somewhere?” Lucy asked.
Dennis spoke. “Why are you doing this to us? Release us.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Lucy said.
Matt who was with one of the guns trained the gun at Lucy with his right hand. “You heard him, tell your men to let us go. We’re not going back inside.”
Lucy spoke. “Let me assure you, none of you will leave here alive.”
Matt cocks the gun. “I am not going to die here.”
“You will be the first.” Lucy said. She then points a finger at Matt and the gun is thrust from his hand by an invisible force. Before Matt has time to understand what just happened to him, an invisible force carries him off his feet and throws back ten feet and he lands on his back unconscious. Blood immediately begins to flow out of his ears, eyes, nose and mouth in seconds.
Dennis, Lucas and the others couldn’t believe their eyes. The captive holding the other gun drops it to the ground immediately. They were all terrified at what they had seen.
Lucy then stretches the palms of her right hand to them and they all fall down to the ground unconscious.
Chapter 9
Joshua, Mike and nine others were all gathered and seated in a solemn assembly in a meeting room in the church.
“Brothers, I thank you for assembling on such a short notice. I know that you are anxious to know why you are here and I’ll go straight to the point. We have been quiet for too long and because of this, the enemy has launched a ferocious attack on one of our own and is determined to have him or destroy him.”
“Who or what are you talking about?” asked one of the prophets.
“I’ve had contact with a dreamer who has no understanding of what is happening to him.”
“How can you be sure?” asked another.
“God showed him to me,” answered Joshua.
“Why was he not shown to us, I have seen nothing or has anyone else seen anything?”
Some of the others just shook their heads or didn’t respond.
“What of you Mike?” he asked.
“Not yet Timothy.”
“Because you haven’t seen him yet doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem.”
“You know the rules Joshua, in the mouth of two or three witnesses is a matter established. You can’t be the only one to see this. We need a confirmation.”
“We don’t have time for your doubts Timothy, someone’s life is in danger, every moment we waste is precious.”
“I didn’t make the rules you know. It’s meant to protect us.”
“Protect us?” questioned Joshua.
“Yes, protect us,” mentioned Timothy. “What befell Peter wouldn’t have happened if we had stuck to the rules.”
“Don’t bring Peter into this. Just because you haven’t seen or heard doesn’t mean God hasn’t spoken,” said Joshua.
Timothy was angered by that last statement. “Are you saying I and the others are deaf to God!”
“Brothers!” Mike cut in. “We are not here to fight each other, this is exactly what the enemy wants. We are meant to support each other and help those that need our help. If God has spoken, then we just need to tune ourselves in to Him to just be sure, it doesn’t make anyone of us less of a prophet”
“What are you suggesting?” Timothy asked.
“I strongly believe we should have an intercession as soon as possible,” said Joshua.
“What?” asked Timothy as he looked in disbelief at the face of the other prophets in the room.
“I know I’m asking a lot, but it’s a chance to tune in and be sure, and the moment we realise that I didn’t get it right we step back immediately, but if I’m right, we’ll be saving a life.” He looked at the face of each prophet searching for support. “So what will it be brothers?”
“Let’s have a vote?” suggested one of the prophets named John.
Dennis and his fellow captives were bundled back to their basement cages by their captors. While they were still unconscious they were all bound with heavy fetters and chains. Some of them had already begun to awake, and they awoke to a whole new world of pain and misery. Not only were the chains heavy, they were quite painful and very uncomfortable. The fetters made it difficult for each person to walk, then the long chain was used to link everyone together. Their worsened situation was like something from a dungeon in medieval mov
ie.
Lucas was among those who had awoken and he felt extremely weak and dejected. He looked at Dennis who was still unconscious and wondered when he would wake up. It seemed like he had all the answers. He wanted to wake Dennis up, but he decided to let him be, he would need all the strength he could get.
It was good that Lucas had not woken Dennis up because he wasn’t having an ordinary sleep. He was having one of those dreams. In his dream Dennis was inside the cage in the basement, but he was alone. All of the other captives were nowhere to be found. Immediately Dennis realised he was having a lucid dream again.
“Dennis!”
Dennis recognised the voice. It was Joshua. Then he heard other voices he didn’t recognise that were also shouting his name.
“Dennis, where are you?” Joshua’s voice called out.
“I’m here.” Dennis screamed out.
Lucy appeared in front of him. “Who’s calling for you Dennis?”
Dennis ignores her. He shouts out “I’m here,” to Joshua.
Lucy incensed stretches the palm of her right hand at Dennis which throws him against the wall with enormous speed. A blazing whip appears in her hand and she disappears.
Joshua, Mike and the other prophets are on an open field in the spirit dimension calling out to Dennis, until Lucy and a two dozen other witches in hooded black robes appear on the field carrying various kinds of unimaginable medieval weapons. Without wasting time Lucy lashes out at the prophets with her blazing whip while some of the prophets try to avoid the whip. Lucy’s whip releases massive explosions that causes fire and holes in the ground. The other witches also join in the fight.
Joshua unleashes his white light sword and goes into battle along with the other prophets. “Where is the location of the dreamer, Dennis?” he asks Lucy as they clash and lock weapons.
“He is mine and I’m not releasing him,” said Lucy. “He is to be sacrificed to my master, Lucifer.”
“That will never happen.” said Joshua. “He is under our protection.”