by Summer Lee
Before he could finish his verbal disclaimer, she opened up her palms and reached out to push him away. As soon as her hands made contact with his body, flames emitted from them, catching his clothing on fire. Smoke engulfed him. His very life essence began to fade. It faded faster and faster until he stiffened into a corpse.
Yasmeen gasped and looked surprised.
“Dad!” Daniel yelled as he ran toward his father, tears streaming down his face. “No, Dad, don’t go until we settle our differences!”
“Don’t touch him,” said Cranston, stepping toward Daniel.
Daniel stopped in his tracks. Still reaching toward Dante, he lowered his head. “Dad, don’t go. I’m sorry.”
“No, Daniel! I said not to touch him.” Alan Cranston huffed while trying to secure the younger DiBenedetto by grabbing his arms. “We have no idea what’s going on here! It looks like misfiring electrical currents.” He held onto Daniel. “Look what happened to your father. It could happen to you, too!”
“Like you care about anything but our money, Alan!” Daniel screamed as he squirmed his way out of Cranston’s grasp.
“That’s not true, Daniel, and you know it.”
Alan Cranston raised his rifle toward the Hive of Baal. “Get out of here.”
A few of Dante’s henchmen stood with him. He said, “Brothers! We are here for a reason! With new knowledge of this timeline, we should have no trouble conquering the Hive members! Raise your guns and be prepared to sacrifice yourselves if need be, to clear a path to our new glory!”
Daniel had to let it go. He realized that anything he did after that was futile anyhow. His father was gone. So he plopped down onto the ground, his face buried in his hands. “I loved you, Dad, when I was young.”
His father had departed his body; long past being able to hear anyone or respond to anything. He was dead. In a matter of seconds, where once stood an egotistical, power-mad, industrialist billionaire, he now lay a smoldering creature of charred ash, not unlike the char that covered Yasmeen when she was manifested in the real world a little earlier.
Daniel and his father never got along, maybe even hated each other, but he still wouldn’t have wished to happen to anyone what happened to Dante, especially someone in his family.
Without emotion, several of Dante’s men huddled together to discuss what their next options were. The Hive of Baal must have seen them, because most of them took off running lickety-split. Suddenly, the army of henchmen opened fire on the Hive, who were running hard and fast into the hills, trying to get away.
A handful stayed back to protect Yasmeen, as she stood and glared at Daniel. “I know… everything.” She looked at the remains of Dante DiBenedetto. “I know everything he knew.” Daniel ignored her.
Only a few of the Hive of Baal were left. They looked confused. Almost as if the members shared the same intellect, they moved as one away from Yasmeen, leaving her to face Daniel alone. The Hive members only had swords and spears. On the other hand, Dante’s men were armed with submachine guns. When they opened fire, they pretty much wiped out the Baal worshipers in minutes. The rest had run away.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Magena
The clouds floated away, and the sky was gray.
Magena was left now touching air with one hand and the shroud with the other. Her eyes widened as she stared at Reuben, as if he had answers as to why the two of them were still in the virtual valley. His look only told her that he didn’t know for sure. “I think we are here because we are real people,” he said defensively.
Now that made sense.
She closed her eyes, as thoughts raced through her memories to figure out if they had done anything wrong. Touching both the shroud and the treasure was the key to getting out of the virtual world the last time. It should have worked this time. She didn’t think that it mattered which one she touched first. It should have been that easy of a solution. If that was true, it was far too late to touch any of the treasure, because it was gone. “What do we do now?” she whispered.
“Maybe we don’t have to do anything,” Reuben said, without whispering since it was just Magena and him now.
She opened one eye and looked at him with interest. “Okay. What else do you have up your sleeve for me? How do we get out of here?”
He looked around, then back at her. He spoke calmly. “Maybe we don’t have to do anything but wait and pray.”
She couldn’t think of anything else either. Reuben would never know how comforted she felt in his presence. Someone taking charge and coming up with simple ideas was great. His suggestion made sense. She nodded and was able to smile without forcing it. She liked that. “Will you just pray, Reuben?”
He didn’t even bow his head. He said, “Help Lord.”
They would wait patiently now until they could think of something. She said, “Perhaps one of the Sons of Destiny will find the van and bring it to us.”
As soon as she spoke, it happened. The van came bouncing over the rough road and stopped by them. “Get in,” Levi called out. “We know where Daniel is. We must go to him immediately.”
Magena and Reuben jumped in the back with Issachar, and they were soon heading down the highway.
Even though Magena knew that the world that Daniel’s father had created wasn’t real, it showed how intelligent he was. Daniel had inherited that intelligence, and he had common sense. Surely he was keeping himself alive. She hoped that wherever Daniel was, he was enjoying some kind of peace.
“Don’t fret.” Reuben told her he had been praying for Daniel silently. “Really! Don’t worry, Magena. I am sure Daniel is fine.”
Levi drove the van around the last hill, where they saw the action. They arrived in the middle of conflict. A handful of the two inferior armies was still fighting. Reuben and Levi got out of the van and looked at the battle and then at each other. “We need to stay out of that fight,” said Levi. Reuben agreed.
“What do we do?” asked Magena.
“Issachar is our greatest fighter,” Reuben told Magena as he helped her out. “He has mastered every type of fighting known to man and is more than proficient at every level. He will take down the wicked army without even touching them.”
The men who led the charge for Dante had opened fire with reckless abandonment into the swarm of Hive members. It was apparent that the Hive was not proficient in massive warfare, because a good percentage of them dropped before they could engage with their ancient weapons.
Magena wasn’t sure she liked being on the sidelines of the first war she ever witnessed. It sickened her to see so many Hive members being lost because of their ignorance, but she knew that she had to keep in mind that they were just figments of Dante and Alan’s imagination.
The Sons of Destiny did not need Magena to fight. For the most part, Magena didn’t really know how to fight anyhow. What she did know how to do was tap into her ancestral fighting spirit and yell. So she gave in and stayed out of the way.
Issachar soon destroyed most of the Hive worshipers as he moved toward Yasmeen. Magena thought of it as being like watching a movie; only up close and personal. Magena remembered stories from her parents about her ancestors fighting wars of their own.
Issachar was the biggest Son of Destiny at 6’ 4” and 250 pounds of solid muscle. He had two 4’ battle staves that he was twirling around with little to no effort as he approached the Hive soldiers.
Magena saw Daniel and Yasmeen together, so she ran over to them. Levi followed her. Yasmeen was saying, “I am now queen. My brain has soaked up all of my master’s knowledge. There is so much to remember. It is just so… overwhelming for me to understand.”
“Then let me help you out with that responsibility.” The familiar voice came from behind Daniel. He turned and looked surprised. Magena looked back to Yasmeen, forming a fighting stance. With her elbows forward and her feet shoulder width apart, she took one step back with her right foot and oriented it with her feet at right angles to each other. Sh
ifting her weight to her right foot, she relaxed her left leg—ready to fight. “You’ve been wanting a piece of me. I’ll take all of you.”
Daniel was impressed. “Keep your body straight now,” he said with pride. “And your hands in guard position.”
Jumping up and down, Magena glared at her opponent. “Okay, Yasmeen, it is just you and me.” Suddenly, Yasmeen whirled her fist toward Magena, missing her. Magena kicked quick and high, pivoting to maximize her punching power. As she pivoted all the way around, she brought her other foot up, kicking Yasmeen in the jaw.
Yasmeen grabbed a spear from the ground and thrust it toward Magena. As she launched the spear, Magena sidestepped it. “You shouldn’t have done that,” said Magena, as she kicked the spear out of her hand. Raising her foot, she kicked Yasmeen on the other jaw, breaking her neck. Before collapsing in death, Yasmeen called to her followers, “Fight back. You must win.”
She was too late. The minions had all run away. They didn’t seem to care that she might die. But now she breathed her last and was dead.
Magena had mixed feelings. She would never have done that to a real person. This was different. The world would be a better place without Yasmeen.
Everything else that was going on at the moment just disappeared from importance as Daniel smiled at Magena. She blushed and smiled back. Stepping over to her, he embraced her for what felt like forever.
Magena pulled away and looked at him. “You look awful. You need to rest.”
“I do need rest. My head is spinning, like I’m suffering from the after-effects of making the transition from the virtual to the real world. I don’t know what it is,” said Daniel, “but going between worlds the way I did leaves something to be desired.”
“I understand. I feel the same way.” Magena stopped and looked at the seared figure on the ground. “What’s that?”
Daniel lowered his head. “That’s… what’s left of… my father.”
“Gracious!” Her eyes bugged out. “Your father! That is awful.”
“I know. Yasmeen did it.”
“We must bury him properly,” said Magena, after getting over the shock. “And bury Yasmeen beside him.”
It was as if Cranston did not care. “If I am to search out new followers and take over this land once again, I assume I should get started.”
“No you don’t,” said Daniel. “I’m sure you just had a heart attack.” Simeon and Levi agreed.
A couple of motorcycles roared up and stopped. They were followed by two SUVs. Magena said, “Sons of Destiny, I assume.”
“Sure are.” Levi and Simeon both beamed.
Reuben and Daniel turned at the same time to see five other young men arrive, all dressed in black slacks and turtleneck shirts. Reuben smiled and pointed at the other men. “Magena. It’s my pleasure to introduce Judah, Gad, Asher, and Zebulun! These are all the Sons of Destiny!”
Magena introduced them to Daniel. He gasped, as he looked at Magena. “You sure do keep some important company nowadays.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Magena
Magena saw Daniel walking toward Cranston and was concerned. “Get away from Alan, Daniel, while you can,” Magena told him. “There may be radiation in the air around him.”
“No,” said Daniel. “Cranston needs help.”
Magena didn’t like that answer as she looked at Daniel. “Please trust me.”
“Okay.”
Glancing around the area, Magena knew the Sons of Destiny had turned the tide and got rid of the Hive of Baal. Magena smiled when she realized that these were good men. She would take these stories back to her parents and share them with her family. “I want to thank you guys for your help. Without you, Daniel and I would be dead.”
“That’s right!” Levi said. “God led us to you two.”
“The minions would not have been here long after Dante’s death,” said Judah. “With no fighting skills, how could they possibly hope to defeat a human army and the Sons of Destiny? They went in like lambs to the slaughter!”
“They had no feelings,” said Daniel. “My father invented them.”
“True,” said Magena. “They had to disappear after Dante’s death anyhow.” She sniffed back tears. “How can we end this, Reuben?” Magena asked.
“We will take care of it for you,” said Reuben.
Magena realized that she had bitten off more than she could chew with the odds, so she backed off and watched.
She remembered the Bible stories of Jezebel that she heard in Vacation Bible School. Jezebel was used to not having to fight her own battles. That’s why she was murdered so easily once Ahab had been killed. He always protected her before. His army always protected her. But now she was dead and gone. Dante could not bring her back in the form of Yasmeen.
Magena’s mind flooded with thoughts of Dante DiBenedetto. Once she met him, she saw that he talked a lot. The words that came out of his mouth were not good. She had absorbed a lifetime of information from him in such a short time. How could one man be so ghastly and brilliant at the same time? She could not believe the wicked advances he had made in the modern world. She was now familiar with Dante’s worst possible traits in technology, the internet, and business. Dante’s ego was dangerous. His ability to use people and then throw them away, like garbage, was frightening. He was a monster unlike any other the world had ever known. Yet, he was Daniel’s father.
Considering her own self-preserving tendencies, she could have nothing to do with him. She needed friends who would build her up, not tear her down. If she managed to live through this new experience, she would never leave home again.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Daniel
Daniel had managed to break away from Levi and find his way back to Cranston, who was on his knees, having what appeared to be a complete heart attack. “Alan,” Daniel said, loud enough to jar Cranston back to reality.
“Is that you, Daniel?” Cranston replied, looking as if he had just awakened from a bad dream. He put another aspirin in his mouth and chewed it.
“Yes. Tell me what is going on.”
“This is too much for me. Your dad told me what he was doing to you. I thought he was joking. I never believed… I humored him, thinking that it would be okay in the end. He assured me that no one would get hurt, Daniel, since it was not reality. But people got hurt.”
“You can’t stress about it.”
Cranston looked up at Daniel, as tears flowed easily. “If I had thought for one moment that this was how this was going to turn out, I would never have…” He paused for a brief moment. “How could I prepare for this? I mean, really. I pride myself on my analytical mind.”
“I know.” Daniel stared straight ahead. “But now you’re ill.”
“I used to be able to examine all possible solutions to any problem and come out with a great answer, but this…”
“I know.” Daniel knew in spite of the anger he felt toward Cranston for his betrayal, he had to forgive him.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s tough,” Daniel returned with an expressionless face. “The tough things are what we have to do in the name of the Lord. I’m just learning that.”
Alan grabbed his chest again. “I keep having these pains.”
“We have to get you to a doctor.” He saw his father’s backpack lying to one side. He opened it and looked inside. “Hey, here are some nitroglycerin pills.”
Daniel took a second to look back at where his father’s remains were in open space. He sighed and continued, “I don’t have to tell you what kind of situation we’re in. Dad is gone. The keys to his SUV burned with him in his pocket.”
“I know.” He put a tablet under his tongue. “The nitroglycerin will work.”
“They were Dad’s. He had heart trouble. God rest his soul.”
Magena stepped to Daniel’s side and put her arm around his waist. “It’s not your fault. He’s not the only one who died. You just can’t take the blame.”
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��May God have mercy on my father’s soul. I really don’t know if he had any love for anyone in his entire life,” said Daniel. “This is so sad.”
“He was a good businessman,” said Magena. “Remember that.”
“Okay.” Daniel sniffed and nodded his head. “I know he won’t be able to talk God out of the judgment day. I just wish I could have told him that I was in his corner much of the time. Maybe that would have made things better.”
Magena shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. How can you know?”
Daniel looked at Alan. “How are you doing?”
“Better. I think I’m going to be okay.” Alan clasped Daniel’s hand. “You know, Daniel, your father wanted to destroy you. I couldn’t help with that. So I hoped for a chance to help you. I knew that eventually someone would come along and help Dante crack the code, so he could find Jezebel’s treasure chest.”
“The treasure. This was all about her jewels?”
Alan removed a coin from his pocket. “This coin is only a teaser to what’s out there. Your father and I saw it when you two found the treasure underground. Although, I must admit that helping Dante create a Jezebel wasn’t easy.”
“That coin. It was on the chain around Yasmeen’s neck.” Daniel looked at it and nodded. “How did you get it, Alan?”
“It’s not the same one. We found more.”
“Really?” While Daniel was trying to think how that could be, Magena was talking about Dante. She said that she thought they should burn some candles for Dante before burying him. “That would be a nice gesture.”
Shaking his head, Daniel stood and frowned. “I don’t want to. But maybe I should.” He looked at the older man. “What do you think, Alan?”
“Sure.” Alan shrugged his shoulders.
Daniel said, “More than ever, I have a feeling I’ve just begun to learn about life.”
He then scanned the horizon and saw that all was quiet. The Sons of Destiny brought a measure of peace as they patrolled the area. The last of the minions either fell during the scrimmage or ran away. Dante’s men were gone.