The Charismatic One - A Saint or a Devil?

by The Abbotts

  “Your kids in there, too?” he asked in a drawl.

  “Yes. My daughter is in there with that Lucien!” she answered in an angry voice. “Have you got children, in there?”

  He nodded. “A boy and a girl, both Lucien mad! Think the sun shines out of his, um, sorry Mam.”

  Kate smiled despite the seriousness of the matter. “Do you think the local sheriff would do something, if we complained?” she asked him.

  “Nope, tried last time, this happened. He just said that as they were over eighteen, they were adults in the eyes of the law. Unless there’s an actual crime going on, they won’t intervene!” he looked defeated. “They’re good kids usually, just kind’a hypnotized by that devil!”

  She spoke to a couple in the other car, who also wanted their daughter to come home, but again the local sheriff was powerless to act.

  They sat in the car, while other cars and trucks began to congregate outside the steel fence, as they were denied admittance by the young guard with the rifle. Then a familiar van came into view.

  “Hey, it’s Oscar!” cried Dan and he went over to his friend. “What are you doing here?”

  He hugged Kate and motioned to his van. “I’ve got all my electronics gear, in there. I’ve been gaining as much information about Lucien and his crowd, as I can. Other moms and dads who have had this problem, are talking to each other and if you like, I can contact them for you!” he offered generously. “I want to help Ashley, too!” His eyes glowed.

  They soon put their heads together and decided to post the location of Lucien’s ranch online and ask all the parents to take action, by driving to the spot and demanding that the local sheriff take action. They hoped by sheer numbers, they could influence the local authorities to act.

  By the evening, dozens of cars and trucks were congregated outside the fence and the number of perimeter guards had been reinforced to six.

  The sheriff’s car drew up and a middle-aged, grey-haired man emerged and asked, what was the fuss all about? The parents all forcefully told him. Several of the young men and women inside, were under eighteen and this could allow him to enter and check on their welfare. He was a fair man who privately disliked Lucien and his antics and nodded agreement, if they all behaved.

  He made this request to one of the young guards who disappeared for a time, and then came back and said resoundingly - “No!” This did not please the sheriff who then called for reinforcements.

  Three police cars drew up and the men held a lengthy conversation. The sheriff then approached the gate again, but the answer was the same. He then declared that the guards were under arrest, but they just laughed at him, from behind the fence.

  Then the sheriff made another call and half an hour later, a huge yellow backhoe loader appeared around the bend, to the cheers of the grouped parents. It headed towards the steel gates and drove straight through them!

  The young guards took several wild shots and then ran towards the main house. The police cars took after them followed by a cavalcade of the parents’ assorted vehicles. Kate, Dan and Oscar cheered, as the hacienda came into view. It seemed as if there were teenagers everywhere in the pool and verandahs and they all scattered, as the police cars with their sirens blaring, came screeching up to the house.

  ***

  Lucien had found the siege rather amusing at first, although Ashley seemed alarmed. She didn’t want to see anyone hurt, especially Kate and Dan!

  Now he felt, as if his authority had been insulted and as his people thronged around him, his green eyes blazed.

  “Give me your strength!” he commanded and he deliberately drained them all of power. Many of them sank to the floor, fainting. Only Ashley and Hobbs remained strong and non-violated.

  “Please don’t hurt my parents, Lucien!” pleaded Ashley with frightened eyes. “Think of your own folks!”

  But he just laughed nastily. “I got rid of them long ago, Ashley; they were an unnecessary encumbrance!”

  Zack Hobbs flinched. He had heard rumours that Lucien’s parents had died in a suspicious fire, when he was a child. Could he really have been the cause of their deaths?

  Then Lucien walked from the house and confronted the police and the irate parents.

  ‘This is my property, get out!” he shouted in anger. He raised his hands and the earth rocked beneath their feet!

  Many of them fell to the ground. Parents screamed and found it difficult to rise again. The police officers then, took out their guns and with a twitch of Lucien’s hands the guns flew out of their grasps and into the air. Then he created a thrusting wind that pushed them all back several yards. Frightened, many of them ran away.

  He then reentered the house and an invisible barrier seemed to enclose it. No one could gain entry, even though they tried, with crowbars and hammers.

  Ashley through the window could see her mother, Dan and Oscar outside looking worried and covered in the red soil of the dusty courtyard. She felt bad for them, but she couldn’t desert Lucien. She hoped that they would just give up and go away.

  Lucien paced the rooms nervously his face filled with anger. “They have ruined everything! I’ll kill them all!” he screamed with rage.

  Ashley had been trying to help the young men and women who were still weak and depleted of energy. She helped them to the sofas and others to lie on the floor.

  One dark-haired girl was crying, “I want to go home!” She only looked around fifteen years of age and Ashley’s heart went out to her.

  She thought for a moment. “Lucien, why don’t you let them go out to their parents? If they all exited at once, it would create chaos and the police might even, go away!”

  “You’re right; they’re no use to me anymore. Let’s get them outside!” and he walked up to one fallen boy and pushed him roughly to the front door. Others staggered after him, in a confused manner. Ashley helped the young girl to the door, followed by many others who blinked in the strong sunlight and then walked unsteadily towards their waiting parents.

  She hurried back inside, when she saw her mother and Dan approaching the front entrance, she locked the door with two big bolts. There were only half a dozen members of the band, Zack Hobbs, Lucien and herself now in the house.

  “They’re all outside; maybe we’ll be left alone, now!” she said sitting close to Lucien on the sofa.

  “But they’ve spoilt my plans and I will get even! I’ll kill them all, while they’re outside! They’ll be sorry that they messed with me!” his voice was hard and cold and his face seemed sinister and ugly, for once.

  “How, you gonna’ do that Luc?” asked one of the band members with a sour laugh. Ashley found the young man repulsive and arrogant.

  “I’ll use the power from the crystal pylons. They’re energy conduits from many of my followers, throughout the country and with them, I will create a deadly mist that will poison everyone around, for a hundred miles! Goodbye oldies and non-believers, alike!” Lucien laughed loudly and his band members joined him, in a raucous noise.

  Only Ashley sat shocked; she didn’t want anyone to die, especially her mother and Dan. This was not what she thought Lucien was all about; she had thought he was here to help the young ones, not kill the oldies! But what could she do? If she tried to stop him, he would most probably turn on her! Her heart beat loudly in her ears and her mind seemed full of confusing thoughts!

  She went to her room and found her cell phone, which she had hidden in her underwear drawer. She turned it on and saw many messages from her mother and friends, but she ignored them all.

  She quickly sent a text message to her mother saying - “Get away. He is planning to kill you all.” Then she had an additional thought and sent - “Smash the crystal pylons. His energy source” Then she shut down the phone and slid it to the back of the drawer, just as he entered the bedroom.

  “It’s earlier than I ever planned to start my Great Conquest, but that doesn’t matter!” he chortled. “I’ll use all the stored energy to kill o
ur enemies and then, gradually take over the country, state by state, until, they declare me ruler! No one will be able to stop us, babe!” he laughed and his green eyes glowed dangerously. His plan was about to start!

  Ashley feigned delight, but secretly she hoped that her mother understood her message, before it was too late!

  ***

  Kate felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket and almost dismissed it, in the chaos outside, as the exhausted young men and women were reunited with their worried parents. However, something, made her take it out and look at the text message.

  She quickly showed it to Dan and Oscar and they tried to decipher its meaning. Dan hurried to the police chief and warned him that Lucien might release poisonous gas on the crowd and the police swiftly ushered the crowd to their cars and trucks and ordered them away.

  Oscar meanwhile, was walking slowly around the hacienda and examining the four crystal pylons at each end of the house. They were around fifteen foot tall and giving off a low hum. His dark eyes suddenly filled with light.

  “We gotta’ break these up!” he pointed to the nearest pylon. “They’re supplying him with psychic energy! Get hammers or anything, to knock them down!”

  “I know something better!” shouted Dan and he ran for the backhoe loader that had knocked down the front steel gates, so easily. He started it up and drove it up to the first crystal pylon and crashed into it, with a loud thump. It shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.

  Then he lined the huge machine up again and began work on demolishing the other three crystal pillars. Kate and Oscar watched him, jumping up and down with excitement!

  Inside the house, Lucien suddenly slumped onto the bed. Ashley watched him worriedly; what was happening, now. She heard the crashing sounds outside and saw through the window, Dan in the backhoe’s cabin looking determined, as he crashed the crystal pylons to the ground. Her plan had worked!

  Lucien suddenly looked at her in shock. “You planned this! How else could they have known! You traitorous bitch!” he had read her thoughts!

  He stood shakily and grabbed her and thrust her on the bed. “Now, you will become my bride!”

  Ashley thought that he was going to rape her, but instead, he disappeared for a few seconds, but returned before she could scramble off the bed. In his shaking hands, he held a long carving knife!

  Her bluish-grey eyes grew large and she bucked and thrust on the bed, her long legs kicking out. Lucien had to use his psychic energy, to keep her immobile on the bed.

  “This is not how I planned it! You were meant, to give up your life voluntarily for me! You’ve ruined it all, Ashley, but I will still gain strength from your death!”

  Ashley found that she couldn’t move at all; her body was frozen, She closed her eyes with her heart beating wildly in her chest and prayed for help!

  Chapter Eight

  Joe

  Outside the house, the sheriff stood scratching his head; he didn’t know if he should arrest the man in the backhoe for vandalism or if his actions were justified, in the current situation.

  Suddenly, the smaller man Oscar called out, “Hey, the force field around the house is down! We can now, get in!”

  They tried the front door, but it was bolted shut. The sheriff tried hailing the people inside, but no one came.

  “Break it down!” he instructed his men, when they heard Ashley’s frightened screams.

  When the door had fallen, they all rushed inside through the main living room where several of the band members sat listlessly and Zack Hobbs sat grimly smoking his cigar.

  They rushed to the main bedroom, where the shocked group saw Lucien, his face filled with anger, raise a large carving knife, above Ashley’s prone body. He was reciting a garbled mantra in a strange tongue and in his fury, did not see them.

  He was about to strike, when the sheriff took out his gun and shot him in the arm. He turned with menace and sneered, when he saw them standing in the doorway.

  “She is mine; you will not have her!” he screamed and turned back to his task.

  Dan rushed across the room and tried to hold the young man who seemed to have gained super-human powers, for he thrust him off, as if he were a child. He fell heavily against the wall.

  Kate and the police officers began to rush towards Lucien, but he snapped his fingers and they all fell to the floor. He turned again to Ashley and his once handsome face, was now contorted, into an evil mask. The once charismatic young man suddenly looked ancient and wizen!

  Then to their amazement, a golden image suddenly materialized and the male figure strode towards Lucien and thrust the knife from his hands. He scooped Ashley from the bed and threw her lightly to Kate. That was when she recognized him.

  “Its Joe, Ashley’s father!” she cried in wonderment, cuddling Ashley to her. Ashley’s eyes opened wide and she softly murmured, “Dad!”

  “Let’s get out of here!” yelled Dan and they all staggered from the room and out of the house. The befuddled band members and Zack followed them.

  They stood well back from the house and saw flashes of light, as the battle between the forces of good and evil took place. The earth shook beneath their feet.

  “Send your energy to Dad!” muttered Ashley, who was finally coming around. Everyone exchanged shocked looks, but did as she said and they all focused positive thoughts to the golden angel.

  Suddenly the roof burst open and a huge, ugly shape that was Lucien in his real form emerged. It was a cloud of red ominous light with an ugly, distorted figure within it. Yet a golden figure appeared and drew him down.

  Meanwhile a storm had appeared from nowhere and black clouds and thunder shook the area. The watchers ran for their cars and finding shelter from the blinding rain, watched the conflict with round eyes.

  The house began to explode and the walls fell away, scattering debris everywhere. Then as the two figures wrestled for domination, a lightning bolt flashed downwards, momentarily blinding the spectators.

  It struck them both, but only the golden angel arose from the ruins of the mansion. Lucien’s body now reduced in size lay blackened and burnt. Then it turned to ashes and was blown-away, on a strong wind!

  The golden angel looked once in Kate’s direction and waved and then it rose in the sky, on golden wings, which caught the glint of the sun and was gone, in an instant!

  Everyone looked stunned, dirty and disheveled. The sheriff scratched his head; how was he ever going to write this one up?

  “Are you okay, Ash?” asked her mother, who was holding her tight.

  Ashley nodded. She had so much to explain and apologise for, but now was not the time.

  “In the future” began Oscar who was quite oblivious to the delicate situation, “when you scrutinize someone like Lucien who seems charismatic and lovable, instead watch him or her for a time and then, judge their true character through the head and heart, not the eyes and ears. Then you won’t be deceived again, Ash! He preyed on your generation’s need for unity, but he abused it!” he said solemnly.

  And for once, they all agreed with him.

  “I want to go home to Middletown, Mom!” sighed Ashley and they all smiled in relief and in a small cavalcade, headed out of the ranch and towards a more hopeful and peaceful future.

  ***

  A year later, Zack Hobbs was not a happy man. He had lost everything he had owned in the debacle over Lucien’s estate that had been later, confiscated by the courts and used as monetary retribution, for his victims.

  His protégée was now considered a charismatic, but flawed charlatan who had abused young men and women, rather than as a potential conqueror of the world.

  Zack had almost gone to prison himself, as a co-conspirator and only his smart lawyers’ advice had got him off, penniless but free.

  Now, he was slowly regaining his old clients and making a meager living. He was on the way to see an old client who had been offered a small role, in an advertisement on television, for a beauty cream. He rubbed
his hands in anticipation of a good rewarding future.

  He walked up three flights of stairs, which made him puff badly and then he rapped on a faded door. A beautiful blonde woman opened the door and beamed at him, “Zack come in; good to see you again!”

  “You’re looking good, Alexis! That plastic surgeon fixed you up real fine!” he sucked on his cigar and a puff of blue smoke enveloped them both, for a moment.

  “I got a great commercial for you - a skin cream ad for a medium sized company! Stick with me kid and we’ll make it big!” he chortled, as he took a seat on a faded sofa. “You look like you could do with the dough!”

  Alexis nodded, “It’s been hard. But if you can get me work, I’ll be able to manage”. Her hard blue eyes stared at him.

  A strange gurgling noise rang out, in the small apartment.

  “What the hell is that?” remarked Zack with surprise, “A dog or something?”

  Alexis smiled and hurried to a corner of the room and picked up a bundle and carried it proudly to Zack.

  “It’s my son, Loki!” she held the baby, so that Zack could see him. He was indeed a beautiful child with golden hair and handsome features.

  “Cute Kid! Hey, what’s that?” asked Zack with surprise and he pointed to a small red birthmark, on his upper right arm. His dark eyes grew large. “This is Lucien’s son, right?”

  Alexis nodded. “Yes, he’s Lucien’s and mine! The one and only good thing that I got, from him!” She sounded exalted.

  Just then, the baby opened his eyelids and regarded Zack with cold, green eyes. He thrust out his chubby hands and grabbed the lighted cigar and laughed, when it touched his skin, but no burn mark appeared.

  “Yeah, he’s Lucien’s alright!” sighed Zack. But whether it was regret, fear or joy, Alexis was not sure!