The Scarlet Plan

by Rick W. Warren

  Across town, however, there were some other people with different plans. Eric Landon looked at his fellow shadows and smiled. They were dressed all in black as normal, but this time they had one more added accessory: facemasks.

  “It’s go time,” he said. “This is the night we have been waiting for. This is the night we expose how defenseless and pathetic the people in this city really are. You know your assignments and you will receive a text to let you know where to strike. Stay in the shadows. Strike fast and run faster. The city will never know what hit it, but the Scarlet will know and we will be greatly rewarded. The Scarlet thread runs through it all!”

  “The Scarlet thread runs though it all!” They replied in unison.

  19

  The guys continued to watch through the slats of the barn as Damon worked on securing Convert to the chair. “You know what I love?” he said to Aaron and Emma. “I love the look on your faces. It’s the look of shock and disappointment as you watched the one person you depended on to save you tied up beside you instead. You see, James was a weak idiot when he was a kid and he never changed.”

  “Convert is more of a man than you’ll ever be!” Aaron said.

  “This coming from the guy tied up next to him. You’re really intimidating me right now,” mocked Damon. He looked at Emma. “I bet all of this would make an great news story for you. Too bad you’ll never get to write it.”

  Emma scowled at him. The mockery and arrogance enraged her. Nothing had gone according to what she thought would happen and she desperately wanted to leap at him for all he had done to the people she loved. She knew it wouldn’t do any good if she did. They needed a miracle.

  “Let me give you a little scoop about tonight since you aren’t going to be able to see it. It really is masterful. The Scarlet has been working on this plan for Galesburg for a long time now and all the pieces fell into place. I have to give it to the Thinker. At first, the only real obstacle was Jack and he was easy to get rid of. Then our contacts around the city began to show us other possible obstacles, namely you. Thinker knew how to get you out of the picture too. We knew Convert would come after you and we knew both of you couldn’t stand up to me. Now all three of you are here out of the way while the rest of the Scarlet plan unfolds.”

  “What’s left to unfold?” Aaron asked.

  “Hmmm. You didn’t figure that out? I’m not surprised. Well here’s your big scoop. The success of the football team played into everything we had planned. As you can see, thousands of people have gathered together to watch this game. Meanwhile, that leaves many houses and areas of the city unwatched. Well, while everyone’s away, the shadows get to play.”

  Emma’s eyes began to widen. “So the shadows are with you?”

  “Oh yes, and they’re eager to get their jobs done. They’ll start with the abandoned buildings and set fire to them first. That, of course, will draw the fire department and police to those areas. Six different fires will require about everyone they can get and conveniently enough they will all be away from the football field.”

  “No,” Aaron said as he began to realize what was happening.

  Damon laughed. “You’re starting to piece it together. Good. While all this is happening there is going to be a football game going on. Unfortunately, however, their star football player isn’t going to be playing as well as he was before.”

  “What are you going to do to him?” Emma said.

  “Oh, not me. This one is up to the Actor and the Thinker. You see they’re actually attending the game tonight. After all, they are the reason Clayton is playing so good anyway. Well, sometimes flames die out and the fire fueling Clayton’s athleticism will be extinguished. When the football team loses, it will come as a huge blow to the fans, but it really won’t help when people we’ve planted start riling each other up. All those people, all that anger and emotion, and no police to stop the riot.”

  “You’re sadistic!” Aaron said.

  “Thank you,” Damon said with an evil smile. “Next the shadows will move to houses and I guess you could predict the rest. After tonight, the Galesburg Fire is going to mean a lot more than a football team.”

  “Innocent people are going to be killed!” Emma said as tears formed in her eyes. “Why would all of you do this?”

  Damon leaned close to her face. “Because we can and that’s all that matters. Real power is being able to do what you want whenever you want with no one to stop you.”

  “What about the shadows?” Aaron said. “They’re just kids! You know that some of them will deeply regret what they did. How will you keep the Scarlet a secret?”

  Damon laughed. “It seems to me that you already know the answer to your question. There is a reason they call me the Cleaner. Whoever survives tonight will be taken care of by me.”

  “Even Clayton?”

  “Who says he even makes it off of the football field?”

  Emma and Aaron stared at each other in shock. They never imagined things to be like this. “So what’s your plan with us?” Aaron asked.

  “You’re a gift. Starting with Emma. While Galesburg burns, the Scarlet will gather here, unknown to everyone. Those that grant us power demand sacrifice. You will be the summation of a job well done.”

  Outside of the barn, the guys looked at each other in disbelief. They stood there helpless. They couldn’t help those in the barn and they couldn’t warn their families either. “What do we do?” Mark said.

  Jordan looked at all three of them. They were his best friends in the world, and even though they had been through a lot, they had never been through something like this. He knew, however, that there had to be a reason they were there. “What do we do? We pray.”

  20

  The crowd erupted as Clayton Stoneking and the Galesburg Fire ran onto the field. Fireworks shot into the air as the crowd was whipped up into a frenzy. Fear was visible on the opposing team’s faces as they watched the people shout in unison “Burn it down! Burn it down!” The fervor bordered on fanaticism.

  As the game began, the Fire kicked off to the Battle Axes and descended upon the receiver like a school of piranhas. As it had been all season, the defense was suffocating and the opposing offense couldn’t do anything about it. Three plays later, they were forced to punt the football and Clayton Stoneking’s offense took the field. The crowd cheered as Clayton took his first snap and immediately completed a 23-yard throw. Like normal, they drove their way down the field.

  At one point, Clayton looked over to the sideline and saw the Actor and the Thinker standing there clapping with everyone else. Clayton grinned and nodded his head to the ones responsible for everything he had. This was just the beginning of his greatness. Nothing could stop him.

  21

  Eric’s cell phone began to ring. It had begun. “Hello?” he said as he lifted it to his face.

  “The first quarter is over,” the Actor said.

  The phone went dead.

  Eric looked at the screen of his phone. The shadows had been sorted in to groups of two and spread around the city. All of them had received a pre-paid cell phone to be used only for this night. On his list of contacts, he had the groups listed as: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. He began to type a text message on his phone and sent it to all five phones at once. It said: First Quarter Is Over!

  Each group received their message loud and clear. Throughout Galesburg there were abandoned buildings left from businesses that either shut down or moved out of the city. Some were small buildings while others were larger warehouses. One by one, each group took their glass bottles filled with gasoline, lit the rag stuffed into their openings, and tossed them into the buildings. The bottles broke causing a spread of fire almost instantly. The dry leaves beside some of the buildings caught fire quickly too, expanding the blaze. As soon as the shadows started the fires they ran off into the darkness. Once they got far enough away from th
e fire, they each texted Eric back: 2nd Quarter is underway.

  The Actor answered his phone. To the crowd, he was just another random person on a cell phone. “Second quarter is underway,” Eric said.

  “Keep score,” Actor replied and hung up. He turned and looked at the Thinker and nodded his head. A moment later they heard the fire truck pull out of the station near the school. Its lights flashed and its siren blared as it sped toward the closest fire. Galesburg had three fire stations and already there were six different buildings on fire in six different areas. Thinker grinned at Actor as he turned his attention back to the game. Everything was going according to plan.

  22

  Convert opened his eyes and tried to lift his arms. They were firmly secured to the chair by the duct tape and he couldn’t rip out of it. “What happened to my strength?” He said out loud. “Why would I have it the whole time just to lose it now?”

  “Convert?” Emma said.

  Immediately, Convert’s head shot up as he remembered where he was. “Emma! Aaron! I’m sorry! I don’t know what happened to me. Where’s Damon?”

  Aaron and Emma both looked at Convert. “He went back out the front door,” Aaron said. “He said something about lighting the torches for those who will come later. He told us what the Scarlet is doing tonight. They’re using the shadows to light buildings on fire all over the city, and while the authorities are distracted, they are going to start a riot at the football game. They’re literally trying to burn the whole city down and they’ve kept us here so that nothing can stop them. They intend to kill us as an offering to the Scarlet tonight while the town is in chaos.”

  Convert violently shook his seat, but could not get loose. “Let us help you, Convert.” Mark said as the guys ran up to them.

  Dread instantly shot into the heart of Convert as he realized the boys had found their way here. “What are you guys doing here?” Convert said. “I thought you went home?”

  “We hid under the tarps in back of your truck,” Jordan said. “I’m sorry we snuck here, but we got a message from Aaron that simply said ‘Under the tarps’ and when we saw them in the back of your truck, we figured we were supposed to get underneath them.”

  “Oh no,” Aaron said as he remembered the message he sent before he went inside Emma’s apartment. “I had no idea that’s what it meant!”

  “We didn’t know what it meant, but we both still thought it.” Emma said.

  “I know,” Aaron replied.

  “Then they were meant to be here. Things were meant to happen this way.”

  “We dreamed again,” Trent said.

  “You did?” Convert said. “When?”

  “On the ride here,” Trent replied. “Under the tarps.”

  “What did you dream of?” Aaron said.

  “We’ll have to talk about that in a minute. You have to free us now,” Convert said.

  The guys started to grab at the duct tape.

  Don’t free yourselves! Tell them to hide!

  “Wait a minute!” She said, “Don’t free us! Go and hide!”

  “Where?” Trent asked.

  Behind the hay bales.

  “Behind the hay bales!” Emma replied.

  As quick as they could, the guys turned and ran to a stall filled with bales of hay. They leapt over the back of them and hid themselves right as Damon opened the front door. He walked in grinning. He enjoyed every bit of this. He took joy in his sadistic nature.

  “I’ve got an update for you,” he said as he grabbed an empty chair and took a seat. “The Galesburg Fire is in the lead after the first quarter 21 to 0. It’s everything the team hoped for. Meanwhile, six different buildings are on fire across the city and emergency responders are scrambling to control it. It’s everything the Scarlet hoped for. Currently its the second quarter and then comes the halftime show. What a show it will be!”

  “Damon,” Convert said through gritted teeth. “I promise you that tonight is the last time you will ever be a free man.”

  Damon threw his head back in laughter as he stood back up. “This is better than I thought. As if you haven’t had enough disappointment already, you still think you have a chance to do anything else but die.”

  He walked back to the front door of the barn. “Don’t worry. It will all be over soon enough so I’ll just let all of you contemplate your failure with the little time you have left.”

  23

  It was halftime and the Fire was in the lead 35 to 0. The action of the game isolated everyone from what was going on in the city. Emergency personnel were scattered everywhere. There were simply not enough people to cover all six fires. Even retired and volunteer firefighters were being called up to come help and it wasn’t enough. Some of the buildings were engulfed in flames while the shadows were nowhere to be found. They had already moved on to their next targets.

  The band was almost done playing on the field when the Thinker looked at the Actor. “It’s almost time to go,” he said. “Make the call.”

  Actor grabbed his phone and called Eric. “Halftime is almost over,” he said as Eric picked up on the other line.

  Eric hung up and made his next text: Halftime.

  24

  Clayton and his team came running back out of the locker room to the roar of the crowd. They were one half away from advancing to the next game in the playoffs. The team took the field and did some stretches as Clayton warmed his arm up by tossing around the football. Once again, he looked over and saw the Actor and Thinker in the stands staring at him. Actor reached into his coat pocket and took out what looked like a book of matches.

  Curiosity held Clayton as he watched Thomas Rule, the man who transformed him into a football superhero, take a match out and strike it. Flame burst out on the match head as the Actor’s eyes met the eyes of Clayton Stoneking. Actor brought two fingers up to the match head and snuffed out the flame. Clayton instantly felt weakness come over him as both the Thinker and Actor smiled and started walking down the stairs. Fear crept over Clayton as he saw them get to the ground and start walking towards the entrance of the stadium. He began to walk toward them as he momentarily forgot where he was. Quickly, the coach got his attention and told him to get to the sideline since they were about to start. Clayton reached down to pick up his football and was barely able to hold it. Panic came over him as he realized what had happened. Just like that, his power was gone. The clumsy kid he was before he met the Scarlet had returned. The Scarlet betrayed him and it had been their plan all along.

  The third quarter began and Galesburg was receiving the ball. To the surprise of everyone, the receiving player wasn’t able to hold on to the ball as he went to catch it. The ball went through his hands and a Quincy player was able to recover it and take it to the end zone. For the first time in the season, the Galesburg Fire had been scored on. It’s affected the whole team! Clayton thought. The ball was kicked off again and this time the receiver let it go into the end zone. The Fire would have to start on the twenty-yard line with eighty yards to go. Normally this wouldn’t have been a problem, but now everything was different.

  Clayton started to sweat profusely as he got under center. On the first snap, his hands were so slippery that he immediately fumbled the football and had to land on top of it. The crowd began to murmur as they weren’t used to any of this all season. Up until now, the team had been flawless. On the next snap, the defense immediately ran over the offensive line and tackled Clayton for a sack. The opposing team’s crowd erupted in cheers as they saw it happen. Clayton hadn’t been touched all season. On third down, Clayton stood back for a shotgun snap in the hopes of getting a pass off. As soon as he got the ball, four defenders were already on him. They tackled him hard causing him to fumble the ball again, which the defense picked up and ran into the end zone.

  The Galesburg crowd was shocked into silence by what happened. As for the coac
h, he was irate screaming at the guys on the team, especially the offensive line, as they came off of the field. No one understood what had just happened. The line had been like a wall of iron, but now they could hardly stand up. The opposing team had already scored two touchdowns in the first three minutes of the second half. Clayton knew they were in trouble. He panicked as he thought about how trapped he was. Everything had been riding on him and now it was gone. The Fire was in danger of being extinguished.

  25

  It was phase two for the shadows and this time it meant houses. Each of the pairs were now in new positions in different neighborhoods and each of them had more bottles to throw. Eric had sent them their next signal and now they were ready to go. For many of them, lighting the buildings on fire had been invigorating, and now that they had a taste, they wanted more. The plan was to target houses that were empty, not because they cared about those who might be in them, but so that there wouldn’t be witnesses.

  Once again they threw their lit bottles at the targets and flame burst out everywhere. Unlike most of the buildings, the houses caught fire much faster, and, as before, the shadows quickly ran away to avoid being seen. With everything going on in the city, they knew no one would be able to put these houses out in time. With growing excitement, they left to go on to their final targets. Phase three was coming, their mission would soon be complete, and they would receive their reward.

  26

  Anger began to come over the crowd as the Galesburg Fire continued to struggle on the football field. Clayton managed to hold onto the ball for a series of downs, but couldn’t advance it down the field at all. They were forced to punt, and just like everything else, it was kicked terribly and recovered with only thirty-five yards to go for the opposing team. In the Galesburg crowd, the Scarlet had a few people planted there just for the purpose of riling the crowd up against the players. Whenever the team did bad, which was about every play, they would shout out things such as: “You’re all hype, Clayton!” and “You owe us, Fire! Quit choking!”