The Called: Chosen (The Called Series Book 2)

by Justin Price

  Jenson Moon made a killing out of not only signing artists and recording them there traditionally, but also by taking the few independent artists that were successful and making them even more so. His hybrid business model worked in a world where music, especially country music, had been changing constantly.

  For many years, country music had lost its identity and sound among the pop and rap that had influenced the genre. The two intertwined, but each genre had gone back to its roots in many ways and country was once again country, albeit, not as popular as it had been during the first half of the 21st century. It had receded back to the southern and Midwestern portions of the country in popularity, but urban country, the mixture of country with other forms of music was still alive and well in the cities across the U.S.

  Abbie looked around the studio at the pictures of past stars who had recorded with Moonshine records. The business had been in Jenson Moon’s family for three generations. It began with his grandfather back in 2059. His vision was to make music pure again. It had become too manufactured and fake. It needed heart…a touch of realism that only real musicians and artists could give it.

  As the band was setting up behind Abbie, Jenson Moon walked in and shook her hand. “I am happy to have you in here today Abbie. I hope that it wasn’t too quick for you. We haven’t even gone over the deal yet. That was my granddaddy’s way though. He sealed everything with a handshake before anything else.”

  “I just appreciate the opportunity Mr. Moon”, said Abbie.

  “It’s my pleasure. Would you like to come into the next room with me so we can go over the deal and discuss a few things?”

  “Absolutely Mr. Moo…”

  Jenson interrupted and held his hand up to her mouth. “You don’t have to call me Mr. Moon. You are part of our family now. Just call me Jenson. That’s what my friends call me.”

  Abbie’s face turned a bright red with embarrassment. “Of course Jenson.”

  The two of them walked into a private room across the hall where he laid the contract out on a solid oak desk. “Well, here it is Abbie. Your future…”

  Abbie just took the moment in as tears flooded her eyes. “You just don’t know the things I’ve been through to make it to this day.”

  Jenson smiled a crooked grin and said, “Those are the things that have made you who you are today. Our brand of music is all about the heartaches and hurt of life as well as the good times. You have lived a lot of those times since you came to Nashville. It’s all that living that is going to make you not just a good artist, but a great artist. I would rather have an artist with some life experience than one who had had everything handed to them on a silver platter with no experiences of their own. Good music sometimes comes from a place of hurt.”

  “I have definitely had my share, especially lately”, she said solemnly. The tragic loss of her best friend, Jenna, was still fresh on her mind. This was her dream too, but she wouldn’t be able to experience it. Abbie’s life had changed so much in just a matter of a couple weeks. She saw her best friend get brutally murdered and then she experienced Jesus in a dream during her recovery in the hospital.

  After her dream, she did some investigating and found a forbidden book at her mother’s house. It was then that she found the truth. She was still a baby believer, but her insatiable appetite for the things of God had caused her to pursue forgiveness of her attacker as well as her absentee biological father, Charles Billingsley. She had yet to locate him and she didn’t even know what she would do when she did.

  The only thing Abbie knew right in this moment was that many of the songs that she and Jenna had written and performed over their seven years in Nashville now seemed cheap and meaningless to her. They had significance because of the memories that they had shared while writing them, but the content was lacking depth. Partying and drinking had lost a lot of its appeal to her.

  Abbie knew that she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Eighty years ago, she would have been able to just sing about Jesus without consequence, but now she had to try to convey a message of redemption more covertly. As she stood there, thinking and reading over the terms of the contract, she knew that she couldn’t violate her conscience and she needed to make that as clear as she could without giving her true stance away to Jenson.

  “There is one thing that I need to talk to you about before I sign this. I know I mentioned it to you the other day, but I wanted to make sure that I will have control over the types of songs that I want to sing.”

  “Well, within reason. If there is a song that we feel would do well and help project the image we are wanting to sell then there would be a discussion and we would try to come to a consensus on it. Sometimes, each party has to give some to accomplish what we want to accomplish…and that’s to make money. A lot of it.”

  Abbie decided to push the envelope a little bit more. “I understand that you are running a business here and that image means a lot to you and the label. I just want to be me. Who I am now is different than who I used to be. There have been experiences that have changed me as a person, and therefore, will likely change me as an artist. I want to do songs that people can relate to other than the normal drinking, cheating, clubbing, sex-filled songs that are usually put out there.”

  Jenson looked at her for a moment and furrowed his brow. The wheels were turning in his head. It wasn’t the first time he had to have a discussion with an artist over creative direction, but that usually came long after they had been recording and touring. This girl hadn’t even started yet, and she was concerned about doing her own thing. He wondered what she would be like to deal with down further down the road. He didn’t need another diva on the label.

  “The contract will be contingent on if we can make this first album with minimal creative conflict. I know you are an artist and you want to express yourself, but we are the experts on what sells albums. We will give this a shot. I certainly hope it works out.”

  “Oh, me too!” said Abbie. “I just wanted to lay everything out in the open sooner rather than later.”

  “Well, I appreciate that Ms. Clark. Read over that contract and if you are still interested, sign it and hand it to my secretary. The musicians will be waiting on you in the studio to get started.”

  “Thank you Jenson.”

  “Don’t mention it”, he said as he walked out of the room and headed back to his office.

  She could tell that he was now having second thoughts about signing her and even though this was what she had always wanted, she was even having second thoughts herself. Could she be a country music star and still uphold what she now believed? As she stood there looking at the offer that would make her a very wealthy woman, she prayed.

  “God, what do you want for me?” she asked. She waited a few moments and a voice whispered in her ear. ‘Sign the contract. You will be a light to prepare the way for my return. I will come quickly. You will have my protection.’

  With confidence, Abbie signed the contract and left it with Jenson’s secretary before heading to the studio. She had finally started her new journey. She was in a precarious position, but it was one that she knew she had been chosen for.

  ―――――――

  The Vasquez family and their friend, Javier Fernandez were driving down a blacktop road after pulling off the highway. The blue lights from a black SUV were dancing throughout the vehicle. They had to decide in a matter of moments if they were going to try to evade another federal officer or just pull over and pray that they weren’t recognized.

  “Listen guys”, said Javier. “I am going to pull over. They are gaining on us really fast. Pull the back seat forward and crawl into the trunk. Be as quiet as you can be. I will try to convince the officer that I was just trying to take a shortcut to beat the backed up traffic.”

  Noah, Joanna, and Ryan all stayed low and crawled into the trunk. The black government vehicle got right on their bumper. Javier slowed down and pulled the car to the side of the road. As the officer
approached, he put on his best smile.

  The officer stood straight and had a black bullet proof vest on. He had one hand on his gun as he came into view. “Where are you headed sir?”

  “I was going home. I saw that the traffic was backed up and I didn’t want to get caught up in it.”

  The officer leaned in closer and looked around the inside of the vehicle. “Do you realize that you just missed a police checkpoint?”

  “Oh… Is everything alright?”

  “Yea, we are just searching for some fugitives that we think could be in the area. Mr. Fernandez, I was checking your record before you pulled over and the central computer shows that you have quite the record and that you were a known gang member. Is that correct?”

  “Yes…well no. I mean, part of it is. I am a reformed gang member. I got out of that seven years ago. My record has been clean ever since.” Javier started to perspire as the officer scanned the vehicle. He just prayed that he wouldn’t ask to search his trunk. Even though he had been clean for years, the record stuck with him and it made for some uncomfortable situations.

  ‘Wouldn’t this be ironic?’ he thought. ‘Going to prison for life for helping people who are innocent after being in and out of jail for most of my life.’

  The officer looked at him and showed him a tattoo that was on his forearm. “Do you recognize this?”

  Javier looked at his arm and nodded his head. He knew all too well. He had been in fights and gun battles with members of that gang. He had even killed a couple of them himself. “Yea, I know it”, he said nervously.

  He just wanted to flee…to drive away as fast as he could and never look back. Maybe he could pull his gun from under his seat and shoot him, even if just to incapacitate him enough to allow them to escape. It wouldn’t be the first time that he had done that. So many things ran through his mind, but the one thing that he knew was that he wasn’t the same person who shot people in his days as a gangbanger.

  He made up his mind that he would have to stay there and let this play out, even if it meant them all going to prison. Javier only hoped that the officer’s days as a gang member were as far behind him as his was. It seemed like they both stared each other down for an eternity, with neither one moving or even batting an eye. Finally, the officer said, “Thankfully, those days are far behind me. I spent years rehabbing my life and proving that I was a productive member of society. Now, I’m doing this. I never would have thought that I would end up being a cop. We hated cops.”

  “I hear that man. Well… I used to hate them too. I think I spent all the hate I had early in life. Replaced it with something better.”

  The officer gave him a knowing look and nodded his head. “It’s funny what can happen in such a short time….the turns that life can take.” He put his hand on Javier’s window seal. “You be safe now amigo. Godspeed.” The officer smiled and walked back to his vehicle.

  Javier was speechless. He wasn’t sure what just happened. Somehow, they had been protected in that situation and he was even encouraged at the same time. Maybe there were more than he thought living in society that had not yet bowed their knee to Assad and the World Council.

  The federal officer made a U-turn and went back the other direction. Javier yelled back to the Vasquez family that it was alright to come out. As they emerged from the trunk and into the back seat, Joanna asked, “What just happened?”

  Javier shook his head and said, “I don’t know for sure. I think that officer might have been a believer. At any rate, he let us go with no more than looking in the back seat for a moment.”

  Ryan said, “I told you that it was going to be alright. God had a plan.”

  Noah rubbed his son’s head. “You were right buddy, but how did you know?”

  “God told me”, he said.

  “This young man seems to know a lot for someone who has never heard the full truth”, said Javier.

  “He has been having dreams from God for months now. We have learned a little from them ourselves. We just haven’t been able to connect all of the dots to know what we need to do with it all”, said Noah.

  “Well, old friend. When we get back to my place. I will lay it all out in front of you as clearly as I can. Do you still have that book that you found in the forest?”

  “Yes, I do. I just haven’t really had the chance to look at it all that much, and I’m not sure that I would even know what I am reading. We would all appreciate it if you could help us to understand.”

  “It would be my pleasure…and absolute honor to do that Noah.”

  The family continued to drive for about an hour and a half until they reached Javier’s home in Bakersfield, which is situated between Fresno and Los Angeles. Javier had left L.A. after getting out of his former gang. It was too dangerous for him to stay and he began a new life in a new city. He had become a security guard at the Buena Vista Museum of Natural History. It was while working there that he discovered God and eventually, Christ. He continued to live among those in the community while secretly holding firm to the belief in Jesus as the Son of God.

  As things became worse in the United States and it became evident that they would be joining the new world order, several pockets of rebels arose. Most of them were believers who wanted to live together in community, but had to do so by meeting secretly. They would also conduct spy missions to keep everyone aware of what was happening in the area with the setup of the new government presence. Some were discovered and sent to prison camps indefinitely.

  The prisons were run by FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It had been founded by Jimmy Carter in 1978 with good intentions. As time went on, the agency began to secretly set up camps in the case of another civil war. The political powers in the United States were preparing to quell any uprising that may result from the introduction of more Communist policies. They seldom had to be used until the year 2086, when the public practice of Christianity became illegal.

  Many of the states in the south and Midwest did not adopt the law and still allowed it at the state level. During the thirty years after that, many believers moved to these states. The country was fundamentally split like never before until President Cain dissolved the constitution, which also dissolved state’s rights. Christianity along with all religion was now banned worldwide.

  Javier, Noah, Joanna, and Ryan pulled up to his home. It was really just a small apartment designed for one person, but it would have to do for now. He parked on the street and they quickly walked into the apartment to avoid any prying eyes. They were sure that their pictures had been all over the news by now.

  The three family members all sat on the couch as Javier walked over to the window to peak out. It looked like a quiet afternoon like any other. He shut the curtains and sat in his chair across from his friends.

  “With the new technology that they have rolled out across the world, I am nervous to even be saying anything out loud. I think we are okay though. Right now, they are being tested only in the largest cities. Los Angeles is several miles away, so we should be good.”

  Javier was wringing his hands and tapping his foot nervously. “Just in case”, he said. “I want you all to take one of these.”

  “What is this?” asked Noah.

  “These are scramblers. It scrambles the voice to the point that it is unrecognizable by their surveillance chips. Even if they could hear us, they wouldn’t know what we are saying or where it is coming from.”

  “How did you get your hands on this?” asked Noah.

  “I really can’t tell you that yet. If the conversation we are about to have goes as I hope it will, then you will know more tomorrow.”

  “Fair enough”, said Noah.

  “Now, let’s start at the beginning”, said Javier.

  CHAPTER 3

  John Robertson was in shock over the death of his friend, David O’Reilly. That man had saved his life and also reunited him with his wife, Maggie. John felt a sense of gratitude and overwhelming sadness that
he couldn’t learn more from him or do something to help him.

  When David had been shot and killed during the mission to rescue Maggie, John had never seen a person handle death in such a peaceful manner. He sat in his chambers underground going over funeral arrangements with many of the people who knew David and had served under him. To many, he was a mentor and leader. A relentless teacher and fighter who was confident in the God he served, even until his last breath.

  In fact, it was the last moments that intrigued John. It was as if David knew that his life on earth was over and once he became reserved to that, peacefulness came over him. He knew that he was going to be in the presence of God within seconds and there was nothing that he wanted more in that moment. His last words even conveyed that sentiment. Not only that, but they also conveyed his concern for John’s eternal destination.

  Emotionally, John wanted to make a decision to follow Christ just based off of David’s example alone and the feelings from his sudden loss. He knew that he wasn’t quite ready yet though. He couldn’t make a decision like this based purely off of emotion. What if he would live to regret that decision? What if it wasn’t the right way to go?

  The plans for David could not be conventional, because the rebel’s lives were anything but conventional. They wouldn’t be able to go out in public in large numbers and have any kind of burial or service. The decision was reached to send a few of them in a van and drive out to the docks in New Jersey to send his body to sea.

  Even if John wasn’t completely sure about everything they believed yet, he couldn’t help but respect them. They held on to their beliefs and risked their very lives by going to the surface, even for the smallest things. This funeral at sea would no doubt bring about the same risk, and possibly even more. The trail of blood that lead to John and the small group of rebels had grown. They were now responsible for the deaths of three government agents.