by Scalzo, Russ
When they pulled apart, Emily looked into Jack’s eyes and said, “I really like you, Jack Bennett.”
Jack kissed her again. “I really like you too, Emily Richardson. I will call you tomorrow after work.”
Jack got out of his seat, went around the car, and opened the passenger side for her. They walked up to her front door together and stood there for a moment face-to-face. Jack couldn’t resist. He kissed her again. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Jack Bennett.” She loved saying his name. She had waited for this night since the first day she saw him walk into CJ’s.
Jack watched her open the door and walk inside. He turned and walked slowly back to his car. He never saw this coming, but he felt like a schoolboy getting his first kiss. He knew this wasn’t the best time to start a new relationship. It would be difficult, but he would have to stay focused and keep his priorities straight if he were to stay on mission. Still his feelings for Emily were real and exhilarating.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Dante sat in his office, glaring out his window, overlooking downtown L.A. He was still fuming from his encounter with Uriel. He wanted so much to destroy Jack Bennett and his cohort. Dante was so angry that it was difficult for him to keep his human form. The thought of two such weak beings getting the best of him was more than he could stand. He paced back and forth, back and forth, breathing deep and exhaling slowly, trying to stay in control. The intercom on his desk rang once, then twice. He reluctantly walked over and picked it up.
“Mr. Adal, there is a Mr. Therion here to see you.”
Dante’s face grew pale as he answered, “Oh, send him in.”
The door opened and a tall, stern faced, dark haired man walked in holding an ebony walking stick with a handle of pure gold in the shape of a snake’s head. He walked in and sat in the chair right across from Dante’s desk.
Dante’s countenance fell as he spoke. “Well, what happened to sly and deceitful?”
“Master… I, I...”
“Sit down,” he said forcefully. Therion just sat there staring at him for what seemed like an eternity. Dante didn’t know what to do or what was going to happen next. If he were capable, he would have been sweating. Finally, he spoke again.
“That’s not the way we do things. Confrontation with the light is for a later time. We do what we have done for ages. We undermine and appeal to their flesh and get them to turn on each other, or have you forgotten how many congregations and ministers we have completely destroyed with that approach? We do not appear to these mortals in our true form. We cannot give them proof of our existence. They don’t believe in us and that is to our advantage. It took years for us to develop and plant those thoughts in their minds.”
Dante sat there petrified with fear. Shakily, he responded, “Yes, master. I lost myself in my anger and outrage.”
“You will lose more than that if I ever hear of anything like that again. Pride, my prince - pride is the secret weapon. Make them feel superior to everyone else. Pump them up and fatten them for the fall. That is how we win. Divide and conquer. It is a foolproof plan. We are making progress all over the world. Hate is on the rise. Even my lesser spirits are gaining ground. Everyday there are more and more random attacks of violence on the city streets. How do you like those attacks by people using hammers? I never used that one before. Look at the Middle East! It is a virtual playground for hatred and abomination, and all in the name of God. If they’re not killing in the name of God, they’re blaming and cursing God for everything that happens to them. Either way, we win. Oh, and let’s not forget the airline pilots diving their jets into the ground. That’s a new one as well. No one saw any demons or dark angelic beings behind it, all because we don’t really exist. I hope you fully understand.” Therion paused, then added, “Do you understand Dante?”
Dante stood. “I understand, master. It won’t happen again.”
“See that it doesn’t. It has already cost me. A soul has crossed over into the light. Don’t give them a reason to believe. It is prosperity that will divide them. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Get it? Above all else, keep them from praying. It’s bad enough we will have to fight to get the church back from that prayer group. No more setbacks. The countdown to the end of days has begun - we must keep them in the dark. Evolution, aliens, big bang, cosmic inflation - I don’t give a damn what they choose to believe.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Therion rose from his chair and walked toward the door. Turning back to Dante, he said, “I must say, I do enjoy occasionally walking among them in this way. They are so self-centered and full of themselves. It’s rather encouraging.”
With that, he walked out the door.
Dante sat back down and closed his eyes for a brief moment. He understood that he just dodged a very serious bullet. He needed to be smarter and a great deal more careful. He would take the advice of his master and pit them against each other. In fact, he had just the perfect person in mind - arrogant, prideful and just right for foiling the prayer group in High Point. He couldn’t let this small fire spread to other regions of his domain. There were only a few phrases that could strike fear into his heart. They were “revival” and “spiritual awakening.” Dante knew his job was to keep the Christians happy and fat so they would sleep right through the day until the rise of the dark one. Then, it would be too late. As he gazed out his window on the world, he became aware of his own reflection in the glass. An evil smirk slowly grew across his face.
He thought to himself, They will all soon bow to me. He caught himself and looked around the room. His smile grew larger and more sinister as he corrected himself, I mean to the master. Dante knew it was only a matter of time.
* * *
Jack was up, showered and working at his desk by 8:00 a.m. There were so many thoughts running through his head at once, it was hard for him to concentrate on any one thing. What a week it had been! Every part of his world seemed to be flying by at an accelerated rate. There were angels, demons, Frank, and then, there was Emily.
He stopped typing for a minute and stared straight ahead. His mind kept going back to Emily and their incredible first date. He really wanted to go down to CJ’s but he felt weird about it, so he decided to wait and call her after she got off from work. Never in a million years did Jack think he could feel this way about a woman again. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he always thought that he would stay single and dedicate his life to his calling and ministry, but now… now things were different. He took a sip of his, now not so hot coffee, and decided to microwave it for a few seconds, when he heard his familiar text message alert. He looked at it, not sure if he wanted to talk to anybody right now, even if it was just a text from Conni. Reluctantly, he picked it up and read it.
“Good morning, Jack! This goes under the headline, Believe It or Not. I got a phone call from someone from the historical society last night telling me they are sending an electrician to the church on Monday, and if there are no issues with the electric, they are going to let us use the church once a week for prayer again. Unbelievable, right? I’ll let you know what happens. God is good. God bless.”
“Wow!” he said out loud. “Lord, you are amazing!”
He grabbed his heated up cup of coffee and headed back to his desk. He sat down and read the message again. He could hardly believe it himself. It had only been two days since their encounter with Dante and Uriel at the old church, but he knew God always had His ways of getting things done. He couldn’t help but marvel at how cool the situation was.
The day wore on. Jack finished his blog post for the day and jumped back into working on his new book, still untitled, while quietly counting the minutes until Emily would get home from work. He couldn’t help wondering how she was feeling about their date the day after. Maybe she was having second thoughts. Maybe she had decided he was a little too old for her. The thoughts hurt Jack too much to hold on to, so he dismissed them quickly.
The phone rang ag
ain, just in time before he could drive himself totally insane. It was Frank. Jack answered, “Hey, Frank. How are you buddy? How’re you feeling today? Great, I hope.”
“Hey, Jack. Yeah, feeling pretty good I must say. I still can’t believe that it really happened. I have so many questions. I really need to sit and talk to you for a while before I walk into this church tomorrow morning. Are you doing anything tonight, because I can come over and hang for a while if it’s alright?”
Jack’s first thought was, No way. He wanted to see Emily again tonight if he could. However, he knew this was really important for Frank and he had been praying for a time like this for Frank for years. He knew what his answer had to be.
“Sure, bud. We’ll order in and talk about Jesus tonight.”
“Great, man. I'll be at your place around six.”
“Okay, brother. See you then.”
Jack hung up and thought, Brother? That just flowed out, but now he really is my brother in the Lord. God - what You do is beyond words.
The time had finally come to make the call. It was 2:30 p.m. and he figured Emily had had enough time to get home by now, so he picked up the phone and dialed her number. It rang once… twice… three times. He felt nervous and stupid for feeling anxious all at the same time.
Then, she answered. “Hi, Jack.”
“Hi, Emily. How was work?”
“It was okay. Glad to be home. How was your day?”
“Oh, just catching up on a few things,” he tried to sound nonchalant.
They were both searching for assurances, not knowing how to get there. Jack wanted so badly to ask her out tonight, but he knew it was important for him to spend time with Frank. He also wanted her to know that he wasn’t just blowing her off.
“I was hoping we could catch a movie tonight and spend some more time together, but something came up that I really have to do. Are you working tomorrow?”
“No, I don’t work Sundays anymore unless they really get jammed up. What did you have in mind?”
“Well, I know you have your own church you go to, but I was wondering if you would like to go to church with me tomorrow.”
“Sure, I would love that. What time?”
Jack was relieved and excited by her response. “We could go to first service at 9 a.m. and then come back to my place. I could fix you something to eat for a change.”
Emily laughed and responded, “That sounds wonderful. You cook?”
“Well, I make an awesome breakfast. Beyond that, it can get a little dangerous,” Jack said, smiling.
Emily laughed a little louder. “Okay, breakfast it is! What time should I be ready and what do people wear at your church?”
“We meet in the high school right now. We just started this church four years ago, but we already have over three hundred people. It is very casual. No one gets too dressed up. I’ll pick you up at 8:30?”
“Alright, I’ll be ready, and by the way, I had a wonderful time last night.”
Jack’s smile grew wider and wider. “I am so happy to hear that. I did too. I’m really looking forward to seeing you again, Emily.”
Emily was beaming on the other end of the phone. “Not as much as I am, Jack Bennett. See you at 8:30.”
“I’ll be there. Have a good night.”
Jack put his phone back in his pocket, walked out onto his front porch and plopped down in his favorite chair. That smile would linger on his face for hours.
* * *
Jack could hear Frank’s car coming up the driveway. He looked at his watch and smiled. It was exactly six o’clock. He knew how pumped Frank was going to be and that made him feel good even though Emily was still on his mind. The newness of Frank’s experience with the Lord reminded him of his own experience and how blown away he was when he found out how much God loved him.
It was still a pleasant spring evening so Jack left the front door open. The fresh spring breeze blew through the screen door. Frank came bursting up the front steps. “Hey, Jack! How are you, bud? Great day, huh? I love spring!”
Jack wasn’t used to seeing Frank this happy. He gave him a big hug and said, “Doing great, my friend. And I see, so are you.”
“Unbelievable is all I can say. I can’t get enough, you know? I’ve been reading like a maniac. I have experienced so much with you, especially the other night. I feel like I’m living the Bible in real time.” Frank’s eyes were open wide and gleaming with new life.
Jack laughed out loud. “I’ve never heard it put that way. That is awesome. Come in the kitchen, my friend. I ordered a pizza… it came a few minutes ago. I knew you would be hungry and on time.”
They walked into the kitchen with Frank talking a mile a minute.
“Thanks, man. So here I am one of those born again Jesus freaks I used to think were so weird, you know? I mean, before I met you that is.”
Jack just kept smiling. “Glad I could help.”
They both sat down at the table. Jack opened the pizza box and said, “What do you say I pray before we eat?”
“You’ll get no argument from me.”
Both men bowed their heads. Jack prayed, “Father, we thank You for bringing us together and for all You have done for both of us. We thank You for this food. Bless our time together, in Jesus’ name amen.”
Frank and Jack dove into the pizza and Frank started with his first question.
“I read in the gospel of John that Jesus said no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. That is so real to me now. I understand it because I can sense and feel Him in my life. Before it was just a story to me, you know? Like I used to say to you all the time, ‘Whatever works for you.’ It didn’t seem real or even possible.”
Jack couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of Frank’s mouth. It was so cool to hear him talk like this.
“It is personal. You can’t have my experience and I can’t have yours. There are seven billion people on earth and God has a personal experience waiting for each one if they would turn to Him and receive it.”
Frank was just warming up. “I also read about Jesus casting out demons. That’s what you do, right?”
“Well, yeah. I don’t do it myself, though. It is the power of God in me that does it. Jesus said, ‘Anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing and even greater things, because I am going to the Father.’ When he rose from the dead, he gave us power over the darkness and the world.”
“Why doesn’t every Christian do what you do?”
Jack took a deep breath and picked up another piece of pizza. “Frank, I want you to know that I’m not anything special. All I do is try to stay close to the Lord and do what He says. Anybody who does that can do what I have done. Jesus walks beside me and without that, I have nothing. Jesus said ‘I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.’ But He reminds us that we should not rejoice that the spirits submit to us, but rather rejoice that our names are written in heaven. That’s the most important thing.”
Frank’s eyes grew wide. “That demon thing the other night knew who you were. I mean, he knew your name. That is way too freaky man. When I heard that, I was blown away. You say you’re nothing special, but what’s up with that?”
Jack smiled and opened his Bible to the book of Acts, Chapter 19. “There is a story about seven sons of a chief priest who went around trying to cast demons out of people. I guess they thought that they were special because of their father’s position. They used to use the name of Jesus and the name of the apostle Paul to do this, but one day the evil spirit answered them and said, ‘Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?’ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. The point is the devil and his demons know who is the real deal and who is just going through the motions. We are all special to God and, as long as we stay connected and close to Him, we have the po
wer over the darkness.”
“Why wouldn’t all Christians want to stay close to Him?” Frank asked. “I‘ve never felt better in my whole life?”
“Things happen to people, you know that. We get busy and centered in on our own lives, and the cares of this world can overcome us. Sometimes God gets crowded out. I don’t think anyone does it on purpose. Most of the time we don’t even know it’s happening. The other night, you saw how powerful the darkness is. The enemy is sly and deceitful and, if we stop praying, we lose touch with the real reality and begin to lose our way. It’s a battle, but it is a battle we can win.”
Frank sighed with relief. “That’s an awesome story. I still can’t believe this is all happening. I feel like the guys in the Matrix movie. It’s like a world that has been hidden from me and, all of a sudden, I can see into another dimension or something.”
“It is pretty wild. We have to watch what we say to other people, though. You know, like the agency. They have been a great source for me over the years. God has used them to point me in the direction He has wanted me to go. I would say you should share your new found faith in Christ, but for now, we should stay away from talking about demons and angels.”
Frank laughed. “I get it. They would lock us up and throw away the key. How weird is it that here we are, a new covert agency centered on the study of paranormal activity, and we have to be careful not to mention what the real answer is?”
Jack shrugged his shoulders. “I know. In God’s timing, we will have our opportunity, but for now, they would label us religious fanatics and we would be out of the loop and out of a job. Until then, we share our faith in Christ and tread carefully.”
Frank and Jack continued to talk for hours about the Bible and all their experiences together, and of course, just before Frank left, the subject of Emily came up.
“So, how did you do asking Emily out? Or didn’t you?”
Jack shook his head. “I did fine. We had a great time! In fact, I’m picking her up and she will be at church with us tomorrow morning.”
