“Bullies!” Rebecca charged down the steps with her fists clenched and kneeled beside him. She ran her fingers across his cheek, and then spun back to face the men. “Go away!”
Nausea radiated from his stomach. With his eyes turned to the road, another white van pulled up behind the first one followed by a white Cadillac.
The driver got out and opened the back door to the Cadillac. Pastor John stepped out.
Michael sat up. Two men in military fatigues escorted Pastor John across the driveway to the house. They hovered over him. One man ripped off his backpack and tossed it aside.
“They said someone was trespassing at the Miller house,” he said. “I’m surprised it was you. We seem to keep running into each other. Michael, right? Why do you keep pushing your luck? What were you doing in their house? Stealing something, I imagine. It’s a good thing we rescued you, or you might have gotten hurt.”
“We’re looking for her mom,” Michael said.
“In the Miller house? What makes you think she’s in there?”
“We got trapped in their car last night,” Rebecca said. “A phantom almost killed us. It’s my fault. I’m sorry, Pastor John.”
Pastor John studied her face for a moment. “Sorry to hear about your mother,” he said. “May she rest in peace.”
Rebecca was silent.
Pastor John turned to the shorter man, the one who had pushed her earlier. “Take her home.”
“No.” Rebecca clung to Michael. They ripped her away from him as one of the military men held Michael down. Within a few minutes, they had whisked her away in one of their white vans.
“What were you doing in that house?” Pastor John asked him.
He blurted out the first thing that came to him. “We heard they had beer.”
Pastor John grabbed Michael by the hair and threw his head back. Michael spit onto his white pant leg. The two men in military fatigues crouched down and held Michael’s head up by the hair as if preparing Pastor John for a shot at him.
A car drove by at that moment and the driver glanced over. Pastor John waved and grinned. The driver waved back and kept driving.
Pastor John slammed his fist into Michael’s chest, knocking the air from his lungs. He gasped for breath, bent forward, and wheezed air in. His chest was on fire.
“Brother Steven,” Pastor John said, “please help Michael into the back of my car.”
Brother Steven, one of the military men, drew a pistol from the holster around his waist and forced Michael to stand. Pain shot up his right leg as he limped to the car. Brother Steven opened the back door and pushed him inside. Pastor John settled in on one side and Brother Steven on the other side with Michael trapped between them. The driver slammed the door behind them. The other military man got into the front passenger seat, holding Michael’s backpack as they drove into town.
“Why were you in that house?” Pastor John asked.
“I was looking for Jesus,” Michael said.
Pastor John formed a wide toothy grin. “Hell and damnation await those who use our Lord’s name in vain. Do you think this is a joke?”
“You’re the joke,” Michael said, defiant.
Pastor John expanded his grin. “Brother Jacob,” he said to the driver, “make a loop through town so we can talk.”
The driver nodded.
“I see you’ve inherited your grandfather’s temperament. I wouldn’t normally bother with any of this, but since you’re Artie’s grandson, I’d like to welcome you to Stone Hill, home of Stone Hill Risen Temple. I’m Pastor John Crane, and I founded the temple three years ago, although I was the pastor of the former church in that same location for decades. Your grandfather was an elder in the former church, but we had a falling out after I founded the temple. I also knew your dad briefly many years ago. How is he doing?”
Michael’s chest tightened, and he lost his breath. He swallowed and nodded. “Fine.”
“That’s good to hear.” Pastor John met Michael’s eyes, and then turned to look out the window. “Maybe your grandfather explained the temple to you already, but I doubt he gave you the full story. Do you see all those fine people in white clothes around town? They’re my people. This is my town. This is my kingdom. They would do anything for me, and I would do anything for them.”
Michael stared at the stain on Pastor John’s formally pristine pant leg from where he had spit on him earlier. They would stop the car near the end of the conversation, beat him senseless, and then toss him out the side of the moving car.
“I’m a healer,” Pastor John continued. “I can save anybody I want. Or, if they choose, they can perish a sinner’s death.”
“One of those monsters will eat them, right?” Michael asked.
Pastor John snickered. “Not monsters, demons. I keep my people safe from them. Those who don’t follow the temple fall prey to the demonic phantoms that test our faith. Nothing to fear if you follow my teachings.”
“You’re nuts. Those things attacked us last night for no reason. Rebecca’s a follower. How come it attacked her?”
“She disobeyed me. She went out after dark.”
“I’m guessing the Millers weren’t followers of yours.”
“They were not.” Pastor John pointed to the houses along the street. “Each of my followers obeys me. Their houses are protected by the Temple Passover. We paint our temple symbol on all their doors, and the phantoms pass them by.” Pastor John’s eyes twitched for a moment. “Just as Moses protected his people from the wrath of God on Passover, I protect my people from the phantoms.”
The same circle and cross symbol he’d seen during the temple rally was painted on the front door of most houses. The houses without the symbol had been boarded up.
“How does that black goop work? Some kind of magic trick?”
“The Dunamis is a gift from God. Through me its power is manifested.”
“It smells like crap.”
Pastor John rolled his eyes. “I agree the smell is not appealing.” He turned to the driver. “Brother Jacob, take us to Artie Halverson’s home.” Brother Jacob nodded.
“Do you know where Rebecca’s mom is at?”
“Audrey? The phantoms have taken her to judgment.”
“What was her crime?”
“That’s between her and God.”
“We need to find her.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
“How do you know?”
Pastor John didn’t answer. The car turned down the gravel road near the cemetery. Michael caught sight of the white car in the driveway of the Miller home where he and Rebecca had spent the night.
“I suppose you’ll kill me now, right?”
Pastor John’s brows shot up, and a smirk formed. “That’s ridiculous. I don’t kill anyone. I’m a healer. We got off on the wrong foot. I hope you’ll stay in Stone Hill and join our temple. I feel you’d be happy here once you understand us better.”
“Not going to happen,” Michael said emphatically.
“We’ll see. Once you understand more, we’ll talk again.”
The limo turned into his grandfather’s driveway. Finn and his grandfather came out the back door and stood at the top of the steps until the car stopped. Finn stepped back inside, behind the screen door. Pastor John rolled down the car window, and his grandfather walked over. Brother Steven climbed out, and Michael followed. The man in the front passenger seat rolled down his window and threw Michael’s backpack onto the driveway. Michael grabbed it and hurried over to his grandfather.
“I recommend keeping an eye on your grandson, Artie,” Pastor John scolded.
“Thanks for delivering him back to me safely. We were concerned when Rebecca came back without him.”
Pastor John attempted a smile.
“Michael!” Rebecca’s voice came from behind him. He spun around, and her face lit up when their eyes met. She ran to him and wrapped her arms around him.
“The evil in this tow
n is growing, and we all need to follow God’s word to fight it,” Pastor John shouted. “Those who don’t follow God’s word in these evil times will find themselves a victim to the devil’s angels who roam the Earth.”
“You can stop the bullshit, John,” his grandfather said. “This has gotten out of control. Maybe the feds need to get involved.”
Pastor John grinned. “It’s God’s will we discovered that temple. God bless, my old friend.” He rolled up his window.
The car backed out of the driveway and spit gravel behind them as they sped off toward town.
Finn then opened the screen door, revealing the assault rifle in his hand.
“I’m glad you’re safe,” Rebecca said.
“Sorry,” Michael said to his grandfather and Finn.
His grandfather shook his head. “I’m the one who’s sorry. We’ll get you home again with your mom. I shouldn’t have brought you into this mess.”
Michael hung his head. “I’m sorry for causing you problems.”
“You’re not the problem, Michael,” his grandfather said as they walked back inside the house. “The problem just drove away. I’m calling the feds.”
Finn set his rifle on the kitchen counter and walked through the living room to the large windows at the front of the house. He moved himself close to the window and peered down the road. “Well, there’s a white van out there.”
“Of course.” His grandfather picked up his cordless phone in the kitchen and listened. “The phone’s dead. What a surprise. They don’t want us calling for help.”
“Grandpa, what did he mean when he said, ‘It’s God’s will we discovered the temple?’”
Finn came back into the kitchen. “You best sit down. I need to explain something.”
13
Finn gestured to Michael. “Go upstairs and get cleaned up. You stink like shit.”
Michael plodded upstairs and took a shower. His stomach growled as he put on clean clothes. When he returned to the kitchen his grandfather had prepared a bowl of cereal for him at the table next to Rebecca. She slumped in her seat with dull eyes, but broke into a smile when he sat down.
His grandfather sat in the seat across from him, and Finn sat at the end of the table.
“I should have explained more when you arrived, Michael.” His grandfather folded his hands in front of him. “I think I was trying to block it all out so you wouldn’t have a bad experience during your stay. You’ve been through so much. Let’s talk. Where should I start?” He looked at Finn.
“Tell him about the orchard,” Finn said.
His grandfather nodded. “A few years ago, Pastor John, Finn, Ray, and I were ripping out a big tree from the orchard behind the church. Do you remember going there with your grandma when you were little?”
Michael nodded.
“While ripping the roots out, we discovered something below the tree, like a stone floor. It wasn’t a floor to anything, but we found out later it was the ceiling to an old underground temple. At first we were just annoyed with it because we thought the city had allowed the church to plant the orchard over an old building foundation without removing it, or at least letting us know about it like they’re supposed to. We dug down a few feet on one side and discovered the top edge of a door. After a lot more digging, we figured out how to open it and, with our tools, we jarred it open just far enough to poke our flashlights inside. It was a big room, as big as this house, so then we thought maybe it was an old cellar from the pioneer days. Maybe they’d figured out how to build this thing.
“So anyway, we dug down around the door and opened it enough to squeeze in there. The walls were covered with drawings and paintings, or rather they had been paintings at some point, but a lot of it was cracked and falling apart. This wasn’t an old farmhouse cellar. Religious symbols were everywhere. Crosses, strange writings, and a bunch of old rotting wooden boxes were piled over near the door where we’d come in. The first thing we did was look in those boxes. They broke apart when we opened them. They were stuffed with silver, bronze, and stone items like what you’d find in an old church for ceremonies and stuff like that, so we spent some time going through it all.
“We carried it all up into the orchard and laid it all out on the ground. We tried to figure out what it was and what it did and what it was for. We understood none of it. Our first thought was to call an archaeologist or someone like that to help us decipher the meaning of everything. We got all excited. We thought we’d found some ancient tomb, like that Howard Carter guy discovering King Tut’s tomb in Egypt!”
His grandfather chuckled, and he glanced at Finn. “We thought we’d be famous.
“Anyway, we crawled back in there and discovered a hidden door against the wall. A huge stone that must have weighed a ton, but when you pushed on the edge of the stone, it swung inward and pivoted around the middle as if held into place by the most advanced technology we have today. Smooth and easy, like something was holding it up in the air. We pushed it open and went down even further. The walls were still lined with all these drawings. We didn’t know what they meant.”
“Close the window!” his grandmother yelled from their bedroom.
Finn and his grandfather looked at each other. His grandfather stood up. “I better check on Mary. I’ll be right back.”
After his grandfather was gone, Finn spoke up. “Any questions so far?”
“Can we go down there?” Michael asked.
Finn shook his head. “Trust me. You don’t want to go down there. The temple has it fenced off anyway.”
“How come this wasn’t on the news?” Michael asked.
“That would have been fine with us, but old PJ had other plans with what we found down there.
“Treasure, just like in the movies. The room at the bottom of the stairs was a temple filled with stacks of metal armor and weapons and crates of gold, silver, bronze, and stone treasures. A ton of religious artifacts just like you’d find in some ancient king’s tomb. I don’t know what the room above this was, but this larger room was a temple. It took us weeks to haul all that shit out of there.”
His grandfather returned to his seat.
“I told them about the treasures in the temple,” Finn said.
His grandfather’s face brightened. “Lots of amazing treasures! Wish I could have kept it all. I felt like a pirate during that time. Those were fun days. The only fun days.”
“PJ had us keep it a secret until we could figure out what to do about it,” Finn said. “Back then he still had a good heart, so we trusted him. Not so much anymore.”
“So that’s where the gold bowl came from,” Rebecca said, “the one he uses when he heals people?”
“He’s not healing anyone,” Finn insisted.
“I’ll explain that too,” his grandfather continued. “So the temple had these stone shelves built into the walls where someone used to put torches. Right in the center of the room was this cylindrical stone structure like an old well except the opening was capped with a big stone wheel. We tried to lift it off, but it wouldn’t budge. A contraption was attached to it with ropes and pulleys. You had to walk down a few steps to get to the well. It was sunk into the floor with stairs to it on all four sides. I don’t know how in the world they built something like such a long time ago. It was all made of stone, wood, and bronze, and across the room, straight across from the door we’d entered, was another doorway. We didn’t go through that door at first, but we found out later where it went.”
His grandfather paused and looked at our faces, probably to see if we thought he was bonkers or not. But then he continued.
“Anyway, that stone wheel I was talking about had an old chain attached to it. The chain was strung up to the ceiling and over to the wall so that if you pulled on the chain, it lifted the stone wheel off the well. We were like kids goofing around, so of course one of the first things we did was try it out. We lifted that stone up a few inches and just like that….” His grandfather snapped his fi
ngers. “This black thing snaked out from the crack. We thought it was a snake’s head at first because the light was so poor, but it didn’t have a head. It moved like an octopus’ arm, but it didn’t have suckers. It had teeth, like human teeth, along one side of its arm, and as soon as we saw that thing squirming, we dropped that stone right back down on it. That thing was stuck there, and we looked at it with our flashlights to see what kind of animal it was. How could an octopus survive down a well in Stone Hill?”
Nobody answered him.
“That squirmy bastard let out a hiss through that little gap,” Finn said, “like a king cobra ready to attack.”
“PJ ran out of there first and we were right behind him,” his grandfather said. “It took us a while to figure out what to do next, and PJ decided we shouldn’t tell anybody.”
“Who the hell would believe us if we told them we’d found a giant octopus in an old temple below our church?” Finn said. “Nobody would believe that.”
His grandfather continued. “So we took the stuff we’d pulled from the temple that day and loaded it into our truck to take it over to PJ’s house so we could all look at it in the light. We went through it, and we realized this wasn’t just regular religious stuff. Some stuff looked as if someone had built it in outer space if that makes any sense. Weird shapes and designs like I’ve never seen before or since. They were like things out of a science fiction novel, but still scientific, like ancient mathematical devices. Some designs were similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics. We tried to match the symbols to known Egyptian writings, but none of it matched. We couldn’t decipher any of it at first. We kept going back for more over the next few weeks and took as much as we could fit in PJ’s house. He had a much smaller house back then, so his wife was furious when we dragged all this junk through her living room. We spent weeks going through everything.
Shadows Rising Page 10
