by Summer Lee
“How do you know that?”
“It is in the Bible,” he said. “Jesus is called the Lamb of God in the Bible. He will lead His children to springs of living water. No one will be sad, because God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
She stood dumbfounded in the silence that followed.
Finally, she held up one finger. “One more really important question that’s also been bugging me, please explain. How did I get out of that building where I was held prisoner?”
“The truth is that we did it. That is all you need to know.”
“What is truth? Or do you even know?”
He held back a smile. “That’s more disconcerting for others than it would be for you, I’m afraid. Anyone in your vicinity has no choice but to tell the truth. They may assume that it is their choice to speak only the truth, but it’s not. They just can’t help it.”
“What causes it?”
“A truth serum that was connected to the shroud that you touched. It has been in the air all around you ever since.”
Magena showed her concern in a sigh. “That explains why Daniel’s father couldn’t stop talking about the virtual reality world. I thought that was strange.”
His eyes narrowed. “Let me ask you something. What were you doing immediately before you noticed that the truth set you free? So to speak.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. She then searched her memories to find his answer. “Let’s see. I was in the underground cavern and…” She felt her face turn pale as she remembered exactly when the event started. “I… touched the Shroud of Turin. That’s all I remember.”
Levi looked startled. “Without any kind of special glove or protection between your skin and the priceless artifact?”
She was extremely hesitant to answer after she saw his reaction. She was compelled to answer honestly. “Yes. I think so. I’m not sure. I guess I must have. My mind is swimming with everything that happened up to that point. I’m not sure what happened afterward, but whatever it was, put a curse on me.”
He gave a snort. “Truth is never a curse. Nowadays, people prefer to hear their version of the truth and are appalled when they hear the actual truth. No one can accept what actually lies before them in this technological world. It’s a sad fact, but a fact nonetheless.”
“I’m a photographer. I… wasn’t trying to do anything wrong, Levi. I really wasn’t. This is all frying my brain.”
“I know,” he said, with a comforting tone. “If I felt you tried to sabotage this mission, then my demeanor toward you would have changed drastically. The Sons of Destiny are not violent either. We will only use force if all else fails. A last resort, if you will. The same goes for guns.”
“Okay now, wait a darn minute there!” she exclaimed, while pointing her finger accusingly. “I saw Reuben carrying a weapon! It was a big one, too!”
Levi laughed and shook his head. “Right! He was carrying a weapon. Did you see him use it?”
She thought about it for a brief moment. “Well, no, but I wasn’t with him that long either! For all I know he could have shot a lot of people before he freed me!”
“That’s silly.” He gave her a questioned look. “Think on this then, Magena. One less gun in the enemy’s hands is one less gun that will be shooting at us. He wanted to make sure that no one on the other side would be able to get to you. That’s all.”
She was about to speak but found nothing viable to return with. She shrugged. “I see.”
“I will not judge you, Magena. For you were in a situation that was not only unfamiliar territory but one that hit you with one impossible scenario after another. You are entitled to be a little shaken. I am, in fact, surprised that you aren’t more distraught over what you have gone through than you are.”
“I do know how to pray.”
He stretched and looked toward the door. “The Virtual Reality program is no game. As you have seen, it combines reality with fantasy. It proves to be destructive. That was nothing intentional, I’m sure. It was accidental for the creators of it, but exciting for those who plan to use it for evil. From what I’ve heard, this is the first test of this magnitude. It is flawed. That means that all of the glitches will come to light in time. It was the impatience of Dante DiBenedetto that made this major error.”
“People used to have to use a headset to see virtual reality in theaters. What caused the big change?”
“Dante wanted to find the Jewels of Jezebel so badly, that he was willing to take chances on the outcome.” Levi paused and scratched his head. “The idea of Virtual Reality has been circulating in the technical world for a number of years. The technology to use it on a smartphone was a breakthrough. Dante’s work is about enabling access to wireless systems, demonstrating what a completely-fledged value system is capable of. We now have the power to put virtual life like beings into real situations, and this makes it much more realistic for virtual reality users, like Dante. His wireless connections were the final breakthrough to fool people.”
Magena tightened her lips. “How can man have made something like this, Levi? It’s horrible to think about who else has copies.”
“As far as I know,” he started, “that is the only copy in the world. If it’s a success, I’m sure they’ll make more. Imagine a world where you have no idea if it’s real or imagined. Think of what the more creative individuals will produce. That’s why we have to stop it before something really bad happens. This has disaster written all over it.”
Magena cringed at the thought of the consequences. “Pulling feelings and fears from a non-existent world is horrible.”
“Even worse. We believe that people can actually go into it and lose themselves.” Levi dropped his head.
“So you are rescuing them. Right?”
“Trying to. That’s not the biggest concern of the Sons though, Magena. Our biggest concern is being able to bring more than just their feelings out into the real world. We want to rescue souls.”
“Like me.”
“Yes.”
“You are good people.” She smiled. “Can I ask you another question?” she asked with some trepidation. “Will there be more scientists doing the same as Dante in the near future as well?”
“Of course,” Levi replied. “Although our goal is to stop them.”
“By bombing their factories?” she asked.
“That is not the intention.”
“Who blew up those buildings back there?”
“We did. We do what is necessary for the good of the most people.”
“Most people?” She looked him in the eye. “So I wasn’t the only one you rescued today?”
“That’s right.”
“So you are saying that this is more than business as usual?”
He stopped and flexed his muscles. “Yes, the Bible says that a great tribulation is coming. There will be a great multitude that no one can count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before Jesus, the Lamb of God, during the tribulation. They will cry out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’”
“I don’t understand.” She frowned.
“No one does.” Seriously, he said, “It is the job of the Sons of Destiny to prepare the world for the Great Tribulation.”
“So are you saying that is a work you do for God?”
“Yes,” he said. “It is our job to make sure that they who come out of the great tribulation have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
“I don’t understand. Just tell me later.” She felt confused and frustrated. “Tell me this much, where are you and I going right now?”
“Back to the main office. These are the apartments that we live in. The twelve on the front row are for commanders and chiefs. Each of the tribes of Israel will stay together. The twelve houses are for the twelve leaders that you will be meeting.” He then squatted and drew lines in the dirt. “The worship i
s in the center. We’ll have three tribes on the east, three tribes on the north, three tribes on the west, and three tribes on the south. Wait a minute. Would you like to see inside one of the buildings?”
“No, I’m tired. I’ll wait.”
Before Levi could say anything, Reuben suddenly burst on the scene. His eyes were wide and his breathing was erratic.
“Brother Levi!” he exclaimed while still trying to catch his breath. “Simeon’s research is complete! I have some terrible news! It is documented in every account featuring Jezebel that her jewels no longer exist!”
“So it is all virtual reality, isn’t it?” Levi grimaced and it looked like he was going to gag.
Magena looked from one brother and back to the other. “What does that mean?”
Levi composed himself. “It means that if there are no traces of the jewels in this time zone, then DiBenedetto is going to try to pull them out of the virtual world. That is how evil he is. There’s no telling what the effects will be in reality if something of that mass is invented in the virtual world.”
“How so?”
“He could invent bombs. It could be the end of the world as we know it.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“We’re still looking for Daniel.”
CHAPTER TEN
Daniel
Daniel looked out the window of his father’s private jet and watched as the world quickly passed him by. It seemed almost prophetic.
He was allowed to roam around the jet once they took off, because he couldn’t go anywhere, anyway. No words were exchanged between his father and him after they took off.
Every once in a while, he would glare at the older DiBenedetto with contempt. Daniel wanted to see some emotion come out of him, but only saw a stoic, proud man. He wanted to go over and hit him until his hands were broken and bloody. Something to get rid of the frustration. But then he would feel guilty for thinking such thoughts.
The henchmen paid him no mind either. They focused all of their attention on watching TV or keeping an eye on Dante.
Daniel continued to look out the window as his mind wandered back to Magena, wondering where she was. He assumed that she would have awakened in the same kind of facility that he had, with the same tubes sticking out of her. He hoped she wasn’t in the same one he had been in. His father would have no use for her and she would therefore be discarded.
He had to believe that she was still alive. Perhaps she escaped from wherever they were before. If so, her chances were hopeful.
Still, there was no clue as to where he had been imprisoned. His father loved proving he knew more mysteries than Daniel. Especially now.
The fact that Dante underestimated his son was actually beneficial to Daniel. He now knew he was monitored while with the fake Jezebel. He also knew that his father must have already found out what happened there, or else he would have his own son interrogated.
Daniel remembered all the times he tried to get his father’s attention while growing up. Then, when he couldn’t do it by excelling in any one area, he got Dante’s attention by creating chaos wherever he went.
When he realized that his father didn’t seem to care about him, he used his mother as a role model. He smiled when he remembered how loving and nurturing she was. But even she stopped growing as a human being. He also remembered that his father managed a way to destroy her as well.
Shaking his head to clear the painful memories, Daniel decided to plot his next course of action. He knew his father had something to do with where he was and since he knew him so well, he guessed Dante was looking for something unique that would make him a lot of money.
He strained to think of any of Dante’s contacts that would have been able to come up with something that unusual. While traveling in the different world, he felt strange all along. It was as real as it now felt for him sitting on the jet.
Then his imagination got the better of him. Maybe he wasn’t really on a jet and maybe his father wasn’t sitting across from him with a smug grin. Either way, he knew that this had something to do with the weird, phony Jezebel. His best guess was the jewels, but the treasure supposedly didn’t really exist. There was no way the treasure could ever be real. Was there?
That had to be Dante’s diversion. Daniel felt a cold chill go up his spine that told him he was on the right track. He had felt confident that his father was trying to take a non-existent treasure from a Biblical villain who lived a long time ago. But it is more than that, he realized.
“The treasure is real. You want the jewels.” He looked at his father with a smirk. “Good luck with that, Dad,” he said smugly. “You’ll never succeed.”
Dante DiBenedetto had a surprised look as he looked at his son with contempt. “Really? The fact that you, someone who has never accomplished anything, has enough gall to tell me that something I’m doing isn’t going to work, is ludicrous. That is, of course, considering that you even have a glint of what I’m doing. I know you’re not as stupid as you pretend to be, but you could never hope to fully understand the concept of what I’m trying to do.”
Daniel stood and faced his father. He knew that Dante hated anyone trying to confront him on even ground. Because Daniel knew it was why he did it.
He watched as Dante stood up and walked up to him. All the while, glaring at him with anger in his eyes. “Son,” he said, sarcastically. “A son is supposed to want to follow in his father’s footsteps. You’re supposed to do what I did at your age. I followed my father, who followed his father before him. There is no time for complacency, Daniel. Despite what some fraudulent psychics say, we only get one shot at life. You can’t get to the end feeling accomplished, without stepping on the backs of everyone who can give you an advantage. If you don’t do it to them, they will do it to you. I hate to be cliche, but kill or be killed.”
Daniel clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. “How can you talk like that?”
“You want to hit me.” Dante laughed. “Do it! Come on! I give you my word that I won’t sic my men on you and I won’t hit you back! I just wanted to finally see some backbone from the spineless jellyfish that I spawned! Do it!”
Daniel stood still, ready to jump, but did everything in his power to control his urge. He knew that his father didn’t like to lose. If the son did beat the father, then the henchmen would beat the son. Daniel was certain of that.
Instead, Daniel just grinned knowingly and sat back down. “Not yet,” was all he said. “Not this time, Father. But some day, you will cross the line.”
Dante smirked and walked back to his own seat. When he sat down, he was breathing hard—real hard. He gasped, and he grabbed his chest. Daniel could have sworn he saw beads of sweat on his father’s brow. But he did not offer to help. Dante had brought it all on himself.
He was a greedy, mean, old man. He liked the man he had become and really believed Daniel was a wimp. He would never change.
Daniel did not feel a need to impress his father. He had gone to Sunday School a few times as a child, and he believed that the stories he heard there were true. Wicked King Ahab and his heinous wife, Jezebel were portrayed as evil.
God did not hesitate to honor the good men, like Abraham, Moses and David. Everything the Bible said about Jesus had the ring of truth in it.
Daniel looked up and saw that the plane was landing in an open field. A Bedouin camp was about a mile away, over by a barren hill. They had not even left Israel. He prayed, “Forgive my father.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Magena
Magena disliked having to ride in the back of the van with no seats. Outside of the odd number of duffel bags to cushion her when sharp turns were made, there was nothing else to secure her in one place for too long.
It wasn’t long after that she met the third Son of Destiny, Simeon, when he, Levi, and Reuben rushed her back into the van.
Simeon was out of place with his two brothers. They all had neatly trimmed hair. He had long, black h
air which needed a comb badly. He preferred dark green clothing and always wore sunglasses.
She didn’t really have a chance to talk to him, because as soon as he appeared, he belted out, “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” He had a stack of papers that he threw at Levi and then climbed in the van.
Simeon looked around constantly, as if he thought someone or something was going to surprise him. He obviously didn’t like surprises. His energy level was off the charts. From the look of his fingernails, he used them as a snack.
His driving was no different than his appearance. “Does Simeon have to drive that fast?” Magena asked, with great concern in her voice. Mostly, for her own safety.
Reuben looked back at her and Levi sitting in the back from the passenger seat and sighed. “Sorry.”
Levi smirked. “I know this must be very fast paced, compared to what you’ve been through, but we need to get there as fast as we can.”
“Can we get there without crashing?” she miffed. “Where the heck is there, anyway?”
Levi shook his head while he organized the mess of papers that Simeon threw at him. “Our intel found where we think Daniel DiBenedetto is being held.”
Her eyes shined with a glimmer of hope. “Why didn’t you say that to begin with? Let’s get this van moving!”
Levi forced a smile. “I thought you might be interested in that.” His smile faded almost as quickly as it appeared. “We also have information that Daniel’s father is headed toward the physical location of where you appeared when you left the virtual world.”
Magena was shocked. “How on earth did you get that information since I’ve been here?”
Levi locked eyes with her. “What do you think all of these papers are about? Intel from all over the world. We have to weed out the secondary information from the important. The Sons of Destiny are more than just Jacob’s sons, Magena. We are an intricate organization with ties in just about every major country on earth. We have spent decades—no, a century—building contacts and keeping an eye on the world. We look for situations pertaining to the Biblical artifacts. You would be surprised what we have accomplished since our inception.”