The Order of the Redeemed

by Warren Cain

  Chapter 25

  Larry walked into the adobe-style house considered average in this small town of Larendo, Mexico. He waved at the man in the blue Chevy as it took off.

  “Thanks, Juan.”

  A short black man dressed in colorful clothing greeted Larry at the door.

  “Ahh. Larry Kincaid, I assume,” he said pulling his hand from underneath the robed clothing and offering it to Larry. “Keither Lal.”

  “Pleasure to meet you,” replied Larry, shaking his hand.

  “Come, there are others who are excited to meet you.” Keither smiled as he turned towards the only other door into the room they were standing in.

  Larry followed Keither into a small dining room with a table that looked to have been made from whatever wooden material was lying around outside the house.

  “Gentlemen and Nikita, I would like you to meet Larry Kincaid.”

  Four men sitting around the table stood up as though they had been introduced to some famous dignitary. A young Chinese man took the liberty of introducing himself first. “Yen Pong. It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Kincaid,” he said, bowing slightly.

  The introductions took off as though they had been rehearsed.

  “Fenton Green. I’m from Germany.” Fenton gave an amazed look as he shook Larry’s hand. “It is an honor to meet you.” His green eyes glowed as though he were a child waking up on Christmas morning to a stack of presents under the tree.

  “Nikita Merkovi.” The tall blond woman took Larry’s hand. Her smile and bright blue eyes captivated Larry for an instant.

  “Um . . . pleasure to meet you, Nikita,” replied Larry.

  “Pleasure’s all mine,” she returned in a voice that sounded like she enjoyed watching Larry stumble over his words.

  “Well, now that the introductions are over, I’m sure Larry has some questions he would like to have answered.” Keither looked at Larry as if to say, you do have questions, right?

  Larry gave a nod.

  “We have all been chosen to serve a purpose higher than ourselves. We bring redemption to the sinner. We would not have the power to do this if it were not given to us from above. We must always keep in mind that we are servants no matter the greatness of our work.”

  “Are you familiar with the Holy Grail, Mr. Kincaid?” Yen took advantage of Keither’s pause to hasten the explanation.

  “You mean the cup used at the last supper?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ve heard of it.”

  “We hold it in our possession. The five of us are responsible for maintaining possession of the grail and its proper use for the redemption of sinners. It holds amazing power, Mr. Kincaid.” Yen’s eyes glowed passionately as he talked about the grail.

  Everyone in the room looks like they’re on a high talking about the grail.

  “What do we do with the grail?” Larry asked, trying to encourage one of them to start speaking again.

  “We represent the five continents,” Yen said, taking the opportunity to pick up where he left off. “That gives us each two months and some change that the grail is in our care. By taking it to the people who need redemption and having them drink from it, we fulfill our duty until it is time for someone to take our place.”

  “Then what?”

  “Then we will go on to complete whatever task God has chosen for us, whether it be a small task or the one God has for you when you complete your time as grail keeper.”

  “What task is that?”

  Yen and the others smiled.

  “That will be revealed to you by God in his time,” Keither replied.

  “I assume I am responsible for North America when my two months come around.”

  “You are correct.” Nikita spoke for the first time since the introductions.

  “How will I communicate when I’m in the non-English speaking areas of the continent?”

  Fenton smiled. “You don’t think all of us here know how to speak English, do you?”

  The room fell silent to give Larry a moment to comprehend the recent information he had just been given. “But . . . ” He wanted to ask how, but his mind had stopped as it tried to process the new information.

  “Same concept as speaking in tongues,” Yen jumped in, always excited to be the one to explain how the system worked. “We all speak in our native languages, but here we all understand each other. I assume you met some people on your trip here who you were thrilled to learn spoke English.”

  “You mean . . .” It had not occurred to Larry that he had met a fair amount of people who spoke English so far south of the border.

  “Not everyone will be able to understand you. If you are in a room with two people, one who speaks English and the other Spanish, you will only be able to communicate with the one who speaks your language so no one outside of our group realizes the miracle that is taking place.”

  Larry looked around the room at the different nationalities gathered.

  “Hard to comprehend,” said Fenton. “We all experienced the union through our near-death experiences and we are almost certain that experience is what gave us those gifts. We also receive the power to see what our mission is, but this gift does not come to us until we drink from the grail.”

  “Are you ready to drink from the grail, Larry Kincaid?” The question came from Keither, whom Larry had originally assumed was leader of the group but now realized all held an equal place.

  “I’m ready.”

  Nikita reached down and grabbed a briefcase. She opened it up. Inside was a wooden cup.

  “Is that the grail?”

  “Yes.” Fenton took the glass pitcher on the table and poured water into the grail. “May you do all God asks of you with an unquestioning enthusiasm that he will find pleasing.”

  Nikita handed the cup to Larry. Larry took the cup and looked around the room at the others who had drank from this cup.

  “To unquestioning enthusiasm.” Larry put the cup to his lips and drank.

  Chapter 26

  The sun was shining on the city of Peking, China. Larry stood on the side of a hill looking down on the large city. He took a deep breath as the wind blew across his face.

  “Have you ever been to China?”

  Larry turned, surprised to see a young man in a white three-piece suit standing behind him.

  “I’m Marty,” said the young man as an innocent smile crossed his face.

  “Uh . . . um . . . Larry Kincaid. How did you get here?” Larry was sure he would have heard him come up behind him.

  “How did you get here?” he returned.

  “Well, I’m not sure.” Larry blinked, trying to recall how he had come to this spot in China when his last memory was falling asleep at the house in Mexico.

  “I’m dreaming. That’s it,” said Larry at the sudden revelation.

  “You could call it that. I’ve been sent here to show you where you are going and things you need to do. You will only be told and shown what you need to do to complete the task God has chosen for you.”

  “Are you . . . ” Larry hesitated not exactly sure what he wanted to ask.

  “I’m an angel. A messenger doing the work of God. Yen will be taking the grail to Asia when everyone leaves Mexico. You are to go with him and see the sinners redeemed. First I want to introduce you to someone.”

  A strange sensation ran through Larry’s body. Almost instantly he found himself standing in a small apartment filled with loud music and Chinese teenagers.

  “The girl in the green shirt at the table is Lynn Won. Lynn’s parents are out of town for the weekend, and she decided to have a party.”

  Larry spotted Lynn sitting almost directly across the table from where he and Marty were standing.

  “I’m partying all night!” she screamed with a wild look in her eyes.


  The table was surrounded with kids watching the excitement she seemed to be the center of.

  “Take a look in her eyes, Larry.”

  Larry walked over closer to her and bent down to see her eyes. They were wide open, but it looked to Larry like she was ready to burst open.

  “She’s higher than a kite.”

  “Take a closer look. Can you see what she sees?”

  Larry bent over once again and looked directly into them.

  “What is that? I . . . ” Larry couldn’t put to words what he saw in her eyes. He then saw the opposite side of the room.

  “What the—”

  Larry no longer saw Marty. He was sitting at the table with two lines of cocaine in front of him.

  I’m so wasted. The thought was not his.

  I’m in her body . . . or her mind.

  Larry saw many memories of her doing drugs. It started out so small.

  Can quit anytime I want.

  Now reason and sanity no longer existed in this mind. The addiction was all there was.

  The drugs. Where and when can I get them and use them?

  “She’s out of control,” Larry said, suddenly finding himself standing next to Marty, watching the chaos from a bystander’s view.

  “That’s not all, Larry. See the guy going into the bedroom? Lynn’s little sister is in that room. She cried herself to sleep about thirty minutes ago when Lynn yelled at her because she wanted Lynn to put her to bed.”

  A feeling of rage surged through Larry. “We have to stop him.”

  “You’re watching something that happened almost two years ago, Larry. Lynn went into the room the next morning and found the guy passed out on top of her. She was dead. The man had tried to stop her screams but ended up suffocating her. He didn’t even know he killed her until the next morning.”

  Larry’s feeling of rage turned to a feeling of sickness.

  “Lynn is unable to forgive herself. If she doesn’t find a way, she will be driven to insanity.”

  “She’s to blame for this, too. Him and her are both to blame.”

  “And what about Gloria and Mike? Do we not allow the person involved in their death forgiveness?”

  “I . . . I’m sorry. I know people would be just as disgusted at me as I am about this. It’s hard not to want to judge the situation. When I died and was shown some of the things I would do, it seemed so easy to accept the things God wants of me. Now that I’m back in a human body I still do things I shouldn’t and I don’t feel like I can do what God is asking me. I . . . I just feel incapable or unworthy. What gifts or talents or whatever you want to call it do I have that will do this girl any good? I’ve never been one to help others.”

  “Don’t be too hard on yourself, Larry. It would be easy if you didn’t have to live as a man. That’s why God created the flesh so the spirit would be challenged and be capable of becoming stronger.”

  It makes me feel weak. Like I can’t do it. I guess if I make myself do what they ask it will make me stronger. Larry glanced up at Lynn. She is a lot like I was—just doing what she wants and not aware of the damage it’s causing. Hope I can help you, Lynn. Neither one of us did the horrible deeds, but the bad things we did had a direct effect on the situation.

  “How can I help her, Marty?”

  “That’s the man God needs for you to be, Larry. Compassionate, not judgmental. You’ve experienced things that will help you understand the people you will be helping. You will be going with Yen to China to help her.”

  Chapter 27

  The bedroom at the most southeasterly corner of the adobe house was filled with eerie shadows from the near full moon shining through the room’s only window. Four silhouettes could be seen sleeping on the cots neatly placed to allow for a walkway near the center of the room. The four men had taken the larger bedroom and left the smaller for Nikita to allow her privacy.

  Larry awoke from his dream and glanced up at the moon. He got up from his cot as quietly as possible and made his way into the small bathroom situated between the two rooms. He closed the door quietly and turned to the basin to wash the “old” feeling from his face.

  “Larry Kincaid,” he said to himself as he caught his reflection in the small wood-framed mirror that was hung so low he remained hunched over to see his reflection. Slowly he wiped the thick dust from the mirror.

  I guess if we ever find that McCarry guy, we’ll give him a piece of our mind about the incident in the forest.

  “Do you still see your old self in there, Mr. Kincaid?”

  Larry turned, startled at the feminine voice with the slight Russian accent when he thought no one else was around.

  “I don’t know. I see a physically different man than who I was and a lot of me has changed inside also. I want to be better, to do better.”

  “Let’s talk outside so we don’t wake the others.”

  Larry followed Nikita out the front door and into the sparsely grassed yard. The moon was almost directly above them and was full enough that about half the stars were not visible.

  “Looks like a good night for a walk, Mr. Kincaid.”

  “Call me Larry.”

  “Why do you suppose, Larry, that our physical appearances were changed when we had our experiences?”

  Larry hesitated for a moment. He had thought of several reasons for this, but some of the reasons he came up with would sound foolish to speak out loud.

  “I . . . well . . . maybe so we don’t have to look at ourselves in the mirror in disgust for some of the things we’ve done in the past.” Larry gave her a quick glance to see her reaction. A slight look of his explanation being a possibility crossed her face.

  He asked, “Why do you think our appearance changed?”

  She paused for a second to find the right words. “Because we changed. Inside and out. We had to change to complete the work God wants us to do. The minute we accepted our work we changed inside. You and me, we gave up the person we used to be. We had to become somebody new because the old us ceased to exist. Not looking the part might help us to believe the old us doesn’t exist. The same way a seed turns into a plant and is no longer the seed.” A look of satisfaction crossed her face. She had communicated exactly what she was feeling.

  “That makes sense to me,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

  “When I look in the mirror now,” she continued, “I don’t see my old self or even my new self. I see what I can become. The potential I have to do what God wants. It gives me the ability to do what he wants me to and the ability to forgive myself.”

  “What’s your theory on the new names? I can’t for the life of me figure out the names. I mean, take Larry Kincaid for example. That doesn’t strike me as extremely religious or even meaningful. Why wouldn’t I have been given a name from the Bible, say Peter or even Joshua. That would make more sense.”

  “Are you familiar with the story of Saul on the road to Damascus?” Nikita asked, turning to Larry.

  “Vaguely.”

  “I wonder if when his name was changed to Paul if he thought it should have been Moses or Abraham. Might have made him feel as though expectations of him were incredibly high or that he needed to do the same things they did. Maybe God didn’t want him to feel like that. Wanted him to feel like his mission in life was unique and naming him after someone else would take that away.”

  “That sounds reasonable, Nikita. His experience does sound a lot like ours. I wonder if he had a near-death experience. He may have belonged to the Order.”

  “Maybe,” replied Nikita.

  The rest of the walk remained quiet.

  Chapter 28

  The workers slowly made their way into the large metal building that housed a four-star auto parts business in Mankata, Washington. Their silence was the familiar ceremony of the factory workers mentally preparing themselves for th
e next eight monotonous hours. The job provided them with the money to pay the bills, insurance, and a bond with fellow workers that empowered them to make it through the injustices of the workplace and the trials that came from other areas of their life. As much as they appeared to dread the start of the work day, this factory provided them with the means to raise their children, put them through college, take care of them during any financial, health, or family crisis that would present itself to them, and eight hours of social interaction with people who became as close as family.

  “Ready to make some brake pads.”

  Kirk smiled at the petite blonde that made the blue coveralls and safety glasses each worker was required to wear look attractive. He had worked with Stephanie for two years and enjoyed the enthusiasm she displayed that made him believe she liked coming to work here.

  “You know it, Stephanie. But I don’t like it near as much as you do.”

  “Do ya wanna go for that beer yet?” Stephanie would ask Kirk almost daily.

  Kirk worked with Stephanie since his first day on the job. She was a nice-looking woman, who worked hard at the factory and just wanted to have a little fun after work. She would often talk about where her and her friends had gone the night before or what club they went to over the weekend. Kirk found her attractive and enjoyed her cheerful conversation at work but had no interest in dating at this point. However hard she tried to break down the wall he had built around himself, he worked twice as hard to maintain it.

  “No, thanks,” would be his only reply.

  “Sometime maybe I can show you how to have a little fun,” she would say with a smile that tried to hide the disappointment of being turned down.

  Stephanie was nearing her thirties. Though she was a beautiful woman, throughout her high school years she never felt attractive. Time had taught her that with her natural looks and the right amount of confidence she could convince men she was worth a look. She developed a soft spot for Kirk. He knew she just wanted to have fun, and she never drove when she drank, but he had not touched alcohol or another woman since the night of Sarah’s death. He just couldn’t allow himself to get close to either one.