* * *
One Week Later
Tom Ryland shuffled papers in front of him on the desk as the opening music of the news played, and then he smiled stiffly as he met the camera with his eyes. “Good evening, we have several stories for you tonight, but we’re starting the broadcast off with an update on Executive Order 14127. As we mentioned on Monday night, this Executive Order outlines the new authority provided to the Divine Ops armed services branch, which have been distributed across the United States in metropolitan areas for the safety and security of the United States and its citizens. Due to the recent angelic attack in Reno, Nevada, female citizens may be selected for questioning and re-education based on personal or criminal history, or any actions observed by members of Divine Ops.”
Christopher pulled her closer, and she glanced over at her father who was leaned forward, staring at the television intently. After a brief pause, Ed Foster’s replacement continued.
“We would like to remind our viewers that it is important to abide by any direction given from members of the armed services, or local police. Refusal to submit to questioning is grounds for immediate removal to one of the re-education facilities outside the city.”
Another extended pause as Tom Ryland cleared his throat, tilting his head a moment, and Mary used that opportunity to move from the floor and squeeze between Danielle and their mom.
“Recruitment centers for those interested in joining the Divine Ops are available around the city, as well as all service locations for The Church, for those males aged eighteen and older. We are joined tonight by Bishop Wright, who will explain this opportunity and then lead us all in prayer. Bishop Wright?” Tom turned and the camera panned to show Bishop Wright in the white-collared suit of the priests they pretended to be.
Danielle turned away, burying her face in Christopher’s shirt, and he immediately stroked her back, pressing his cheek to her hair as he whispered, “It’s okay, babe. I’ve got you.”
“Mom, what do we do?” Mary asked, and everyone turned their eyes toward her.
“We just keep doing what we always do. As long as school is still in session, you will continue to go, and I’ll keep going to work, and so will Dad.” Their mom smiled, leaning forward to hug Mary, but when her eyes met Danielle’s… she could see the fear. The panic that she was hiding from Mary, and her father’s face looked strained.
“I don’t want to go to school anymore,” Mary answered softly, muffled by their mom’s shoulder.
“Honey, we can’t have any truancy concerns, okay? You have to go.”
“But Danielle isn’t going to school anymore!” Mary complained, pulling back to turn and face her.
“Yes,” their mom answered. “We withdrew her from college, but that’s fine. She can pick up her courses after this is all done, you have to keep going. Okay?”
“But I don’t want to,” Mary said, and she wasn’t whining, Danielle knew what her sister sounded like when she was afraid.
“Dad is taking you to school before he drops mom off at work, right? That means you’re escorted, and if anyone tries to stop you, then you’ve got a damn good reason to be there.” Danielle reached over to squeeze Mary’s shoulder. “Plus, if anything happens, Christopher can come pick you up.”
“But you guys aren’t married yet, they won’t let him pick me up from school.”
“We’re working on that,” Christopher answered, and Danielle just held onto the smile on her face. It had been almost three weeks since they’d applied for a marriage license, and there had been no response yet. What used to take two or three days, was now backlogged by too many people seeking the same protection Christopher wanted to give her. Leaning over her, Christopher nudged Mary’s shoulder. “Plus, you’re basically my little sister no matter what, right?”
“Not on the paperwork,” Mary groused, crossing her arms, and their father suddenly stood up and stormed out of the room.
“Isaac!” their mom called, but Christopher stood up from the couch.
“I’ll go talk to him,” he said softly, already following her father out of the room.
“It’s going to be okay, sweetheart,” their mom said, pulling Mary back into a hug, and then she reached an arm out to pull Danielle in as well. “We will get through this. All of us, together. Okay?”
“Okay,” Mary mumbled, and Danielle just nodded.
A few hours later, after Christopher had left to be with his mom and Mary had gone to bed, it was just her and her mom at the kitchen table. Staring at the patterns in the wood as they listened to her dad pace around the computer room, talking to someone on the phone loud enough that they could hear the rise and fall of his voice.
“Here,” her mom said softly, pushing a glass of wine in front of her as she took the seat next to her once more.
“But I’m not twenty-one yet.”
“So?” she replied, taking a sip of her glass before gesturing towards the one in front of Danielle. “You’ll be twenty-one in three months, you’re engaged, and… well, I don’t think it matters much anymore. Do you?”
Danielle couldn’t argue with that, and she lifted the glass to take a sip. It was cold, crisp, and she took another drink of it before she set it back on the table. “Thanks, Mom.”
“It helps, trust me.” A small smile tweaked the edge of her mouth before she drank again. “I want you to know that I’m glad you and Christopher are getting married. I think Leann is right, it will help.”
“Not exactly the dream wedding, right?” Danielle asked, trying for a joke like Kennedy, but it fell flat.
Her mom took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly as she leaned back from the table. “You know, your father and I waited until we were married to have sex.”
Danielle almost spilled the wine glass, saving it at the last second to settle it back on the table as she blushed with embarrassment and panic. “Um, well, I—”
“Don’t worry,” Mom said with a laugh. “Dad and I have known for quite a while what you two were up to, and we would have said something to you if we were worried.”
“Oh…” Grabbing for the wine, Danielle took a larger drink, grateful for the subtle buzz that was already leaking into her veins.
“I remember being so excited before we got married. I was just, what… maybe six months older than you are now? God, it feels like so long ago, but I can still remember being so impatient.” Her mom smiled, looking down at her own wine glass as she turned it around and around. “I wish you could have that. The nights with your friends as you’re planning. The different dresses you try on until you find that perfect one… I would have loved to have done that with you.”
“I would have liked that too, Mom,” she answered quietly, stealing another sip of the wine as her mom stared at the table. Then she raised her head and smiled again.
“You’re going to be a beautiful bride, Danielle. I know that your Dad is stressed right now, but he told me how relieved he is to know that Christopher is standing by you. That he wants to protect you, keep you safe. And Leann feels the same way. I think she’s loved you like a daughter for a while now.” Her mom sighed, drinking her wine before she set it back on the table. “We want you to know that you two can stay here sometimes. I know Leann offered her home, and I know her house is less crowded, but—”
“Of course, we’ll stay here too!” Danielle answered, reaching across the table to grab her mom’s hand. “I promise, okay?”
“That makes me so happy.” Her mom let go of the stem of the wine glass to lay her hand on top of Danielle’s, patting and then squeezing as she leaned closer. “He is such a good boy, you know? I’d always hoped you two would stay together. I didn’t want to see him break your heart, and I’m just… I’m so glad he’s good. He’s a good man.”
There were tears in her mom’s voice, and Danielle felt her own start as she dragged her chair closer over the tile so she could pull her mom into a hug. “He is, he’s a really good guy, Mom. He loves me, and I love h
im too.”
“I know!” Sniffling, her mom leaned back, wiping her eyes and laughing softly. “I don’t think I’ve doubted that for a while. But, you know, in times of trouble sometimes people don’t turn out to be who we hope they are, but… Christopher has. For that alone I’d be glad to have him as part of our family.”
“That will mean a lot to him, Mom. Thank you.” Danielle wiped her cheeks roughly, sniffling back the tears as she sat up straight and her mom did the same. “Do you… do you think Mary is safe going to school? I didn’t want to ask in front of her, but do you think we could just keep her home?”
“The school already sent out a carefully worded letter about truancy.” Shaking her head, her mom reached for the wine again and took a larger drink. “It basically said we don’t want to draw undue attention to ourselves. Do you understand?”
Nodding, Danielle felt that same cold tension clench her lungs beneath her ribs. It was a familiar sensation now, one that happened several times a day with each new flash of fear, each new moment of panic or shock or horror. It was almost more disturbing that it didn’t stress her as much as it used to. “I understand,” she whispered.
“Have some more wine,” her mom said as she stood, walking back into the kitchen to grab the bottle out of the fridge and bring it to the table. “We both need it, I think.”
As her mom poured, Danielle smiled. “Other than communion, I can tell you, I never imagined this happening.”
Laughing softly, her mom shrugged a shoulder as she poured into their glasses. “Situations have a way of getting your priorities in line. Just don’t tell Mary, okay?”
Nodding, Danielle raised her newly filled glass, looking at the way the kitchen light played off the pale golden liquid. “Well, this is to you then. I have the best family a girl could ask for, and I love you so much.”
Her mom smiled, a real smile that she hadn’t seen for too long. “I love you too, honey. So much.”
They clinked their glasses, and then her mom leaned over to press a kiss to her hair. It was probably going to be the first time in her life that Danielle had ever been tipsy with her mom, or drunk depending on how much of a lightweight she was with wine… but she decided to leave out the times she’d drank with Christopher in high school, or their friends at college. This was something special. Important. And if it was the apocalypse, then who cared anyway?
* * *
Two Weeks Later
Danielle was in her room, trying Kennedy for the twelfth time that day, when she heard shouting downstairs. Opening her door, she met Mary in the hall as they peeked down the stairs like they had as kids.
“What do you mean they took her?” Dad shouted, louder than they’d ever heard him.
“I’m sorry, Isaac. They came into the office, they had guns, we couldn’t do anything. They made us stay in our seats as they escorted the women out. I swear to God if I could have stopped them, if they’d—”
“Where the fuck is Sarah?” their Dad shouted, but there was something different in his voice, and Danielle grabbed Mary’s shoulder tight.
“Stay here,” she whispered, and Mary nodded with wide eyes as she stood and walked down the stairs.
“I’m so sorry, Isaac. I swear I did what I could, I swear.” There was a man by the front door, sunlight pouring in behind him, and Danielle checked the clock in the living room and saw it was barely after five. “Please believe me…”
“No, this is impossible. She’s married! She’s married to me!” Dad shouted, and his back hit the wall hard enough to make the pictures rattle. “Who took her? Who?”
“It was the military guys. The ones with the white crosses on their uniforms, th-the Divine Ops ones.” The man grabbed onto her dad’s shoulders, both hands fisting in his shirt to lift him. “You need to call them, okay? Call the number and tell them who you are, tell them who Sarah is. They wouldn’t listen to any of us.”
Mom? Danielle stood frozen on the last step of the stairs, and then the man caught her gaze and she saw the sadness in his eyes as he turned back to her dad.
“Isaac… Isaac! Listen to me, you need to call. Right now.” The man shook him, hard, getting in his face as his voice grew more serious. “She told them she had kids. She mentioned Danielle and Mary, okay? You need to call them. Where’s the phone?”
“I’ll get it,” Danielle said, forcing her voice out in a croak. The landline was in the kitchen, beside the toaster, and she grabbed the cordless in a too-tight grip as she walked like a ghost back to the man she didn’t recognize. “Here.”
“Thank you,” he said, harried as he grabbed it and forced it against her father’s chest. “Isaac. Stand up, right now. You have to make the call.”
Her dad took the phone in a weak grip, his gaze somewhere near the floor, and the man let go of him to dig in his back pocket. Yanking out his wallet, he produced a scrap of paper and forced it into Danielle’s hand.
“This is the number he needs to call. He needs to explain who he is, that Sarah is married to him. Do not let him mention the two of you girls, okay?” The man’s eyes drifted over her shoulder, and Danielle turned to see Mary on the steps. “Jesus Christ… please don’t let him mention either of you. Just have him say that Sarah is his wife. Have him ask where he needs to pick her up, okay?”
The man turned back towards the front door, and she grabbed onto his arm. “Wait, where are you going? What happened?”
“I have to go home. I have to be there for my family, just… shit, don’t answer the door, okay? Turn off the lights, pretend you’re not home.” His gaze landed on the ring on her finger and he caught her hand. “Are you married?”
“Not yet,” she whispered, panic making her voice tight.
“Fuck.” He laughed bitterly, releasing her to swipe a hand through his thin hair. “Well, it doesn’t seem to matter anymore anyway. Make your dad call them, I have to get home.”
“Okay.” She nodded, and then he was gone, out the door. She shut it quietly, flipping the locks as she turned back to her dad, watching as he slid the last little bit to the floor.
“Sarah,” he whispered, and she flinched.
“Dad, you’ve got to call this number, okay? You need to call and get mom back.” Spreading out the crumpled scrap of paper, she read the numbers and then reached over to press the talk button on the phone in his hand. “I’m going to call, and you’re going to talk, okay?”
“She’s married… this isn’t supposed to happen.”
“I know, Dad. I know, but I need you to do this. Okay?” Danielle waited, crouching beside him, searching for a hint of her father’s normal presence under the strange expression on his face. “Dad!” she shouted, and he finally looked at her.
“Danielle?”
“Dad, you have to call. You have to ask where you need to go and get Mom.” The dial tone filled the silence, blasting out of the phone. It seemed too loud for the moment, and she felt her chest ache as tears brimmed in her father’s eyes.
“I promised her this wouldn’t happen.”
Taking a deep breath, Danielle grabbed the phone out of his hands and then pushed him back hard. He knocked into the wall, looking up at her like he was confused for a moment. “Snap out of it, Dad! Right fucking now!”
Mary’s gasp from the stairs echoed her father’s huff as his eyes focused on her. “Danielle, you shouldn’t—”
“Yell at me after you get Mom back.” Danielle looked down, dialing the number before she forced the phone back into his hands. “Tell them who you are, explain you know they have Mom, but do not mention me or Mary. Okay?”
“Okay,” Dad replied, barely there, but hopefully there enough for the phone call. Mary was crying on the stairs, and she shushed her harshly before turning back to her dad.
The conversation didn’t take long. It was stiff, bureaucratic, but the information was given and soon her father hung up.
“They said they’ll call me back.”
Danielle nodded, trying n
ot to freak out, to fall apart. Standing up, she pointed at Mary. “Go turn off all the lights, every one of them. Now.”
“Why are you doing that?” her dad asked, sounding far away again as he turned to watch Mary race into the living room.
“Because they might come here. For us.” Swallowing, she tried not to let the bile rise in her throat. “Mom mentioned us because she didn’t want them to take her away, and her friend, the man that came here to tell you—”
“Blake,” he filled in.
“Blake came here and told us that we should pretend we’re not home. Just in case they come for me or Mary.” Those words seemed to snap her father out of the daze, and he immediately grabbed onto her arm.
“No. They can’t. You’re my daughters, you’re—”
“I know.” She nodded, feeling the heat of tears tracking down her cheeks as she brushed them away. “That’s why we’re going to turn off the lights, and sit down together, and wait for them to call you back about Mom, okay?”
“Okay,” he replied, so passive as she pulled him to his feet and led him into the dim living room. Dropping him in his chair, she set the phone beside him and waited for Mary to come back.
“I brought you your phone,” she whispered, handing it over as she turned to look at their dad.
“Thanks.”
“Dad?” Mary moved to her knees by the side of his chair, squeezing his arm as she spoke softly. “Daddy? Are you okay?”
Their dad patted Mary’s hand lightly, absently, as he replied in an empty voice. “I’ll get her back. I will.”
“I know you will,” Danielle answered, giving Mary a look that told her to be quiet. There were no more questions to ask, no more things to say. They just needed to be together. To be quiet, in the dark, and wait until they could get Mom back.
* * *
Three Days Later
Reign of Ruin Page 12