Once, and For All

by Kendra G. Johnson

  “Okay,” Granny James countered. “What do you already know?”

  “I know you are scared.” She paused and emphasized, “Even though you do not show it.”

  Granny James simply looked at her.

  “But you are scared, aren’t you?” Mrs. Gage continued.

  Moira did not bother to deny it. “Yes, I am.”

  “And it is for Kenann?”

  “Yes, but I am afraid it may be coming for all of us…to try to destroy us.”

  “What? What could destroy us?”

  “Evil, pure evil.”

  * * * *

  The dream woke them all at the same time. It was 3 a.m. The witching hour. Only two of them recognized the woman in the dream.

  All three women sat on the side of their respective beds, disturbed and frightened for their own reasons. The dream chilled them to the bone even though each woman could still feel and still smell the smoke from the towering fire in their dreams.

  As soon as it could be deemed a decent hour, Mrs. Gage called, asking for a council of war, a subcommittee meeting, if you will. The other two women did not hesitate or question why.

  They met in their private parlor.

  Mrs. Gage met their eyes. “Okay, ladies, we need to talk.”

  “I’m sorry.” Kenann dropped her head.

  “Kenann, you will not take responsibility for any of this.”

  “How can I not!?”

  Mrs. Gage railed. “Because it was completely clear. This was not created by you or perpetuated by you in any way.”

  Granny stared straight ahead and spoke as if to no one. “But it did involve my daughter-in-law and possibly my only son.”

  Mrs. Gage moved to divert them from their own emotional storm and to maintain rational focus. “Before we go any further, let’s all write down everything we can remember. That way we cannot influence each other’s memory.”

  She handed each a tablet and pen. She picked up hers and they all began to write.

  * * * *

  Jake had invited Angelo over for breakfast. Angelo was puzzled but agreed. When he got to his house, Jake answered the door in an apron.

  Despite himself, Angelo laughed out loud and said, “How the mighty have fallen.”

  Jake laughed and pulled Angelo into a one-armed embrace.

  “I can still take you, son.”

  “There is no doubt in my mind.”

  “How do you like your eggs?”

  “Well, soft in the middle I guess.”

  “Round these parts, that’s called over easy.”

  “I’ll remember that.”

  “Biscuits are almost done.”

  “Biscuits?”

  “Well, I didn’t wear this apron to just fry eggs, boy.”

  They both laughed. After the meal, Angelo helped Jake clean up.

  “You didn’t invite me here for a social call, Jake.”

  “I didn’t?”

  “No.”

  “Well, I do my best thinking in the morning, so I figured if I was going to bend your ear, breakfast was my best bet.”

  “Bend my ear?”

  “Chew the fat.”

  “You will need to be more specific, Jake, or less Tennessee.”

  “Have a sit down…I mean let’s talk.”

  “Wouldn’t it be easier to just say that?”

  “Shucks, no. You see, if I’m going to bend your ear, it means I need to talk to someone…for a good while. Now chew the fat really means we are going to just talk about whatever comes up. I just said that because you weren’t getting ‘bend your ear.’”

  “And ‘have a sit down’?”

  “Well, that is more direct. It implies a purpose.”

  “So, are you bending my ear or are we having a sit down?”

  “Both. I need to bend your ear for a while so I can get my thoughts organized. Then I need you to help me figure it out. That’s the ‘sit down’ part.”

  “Do I have to stand while you bend my ear?”

  Jake laughed. “How about this? Come on in here, son, and have a sit down while I bend your ear for a bit.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Angelo smiled.

  * * * *

  Kenann, Granny James, and Mrs. Gage sat in silence, each having shared their respective accounts of the common dream.

  Kenann shook her head. “What is going on? This is freaky.”

  Granny James answered, “I’m not sure, dear. But whatever it is, it is purposeful.”

  “And personal,” Mrs. Gage added.

  Granny stood and went to the window overlooking the large garden below. “Gabrielle, can you recount our combined perspectives and let me visualize it?”

  “Of course, dear.”

  “We entered our dreams seeing nothing but the fire. Our perspectives eventually moved back to where each of us stood: Moira, at the edge of the jungle on one side; myself on the jungle’s edge on the other side of the clearing. Kenann was standing by herself—alone and scared in the middle of the clearing. She was maybe five?”

  “The fire was the backdrop to the tableau. Men in ram’s masks are on the platform, the wall of fire illuminating them. Kenann’s parents knelt in front of these men. Their conversations either mumbled or they were chanting lowly. The men in masks looked up as Kenann’s parents turned to Kenann. They stood and approached her.”

  Kenann emitted a low moan. Granny turned to go to her. Kenann raised her hand to stop her. “Go on, Mrs. Gage.”

  Mrs. Gage looked at Granny, who nodded.

  “They took her by both hands and led her to the platform. She began to cry and pull back. They forced her down on her knees despite her cries and pushed her head down in a position of submission.”

  Mrs. Gage purposely began to talk in third person to deflect the emotions of what came next. “A dark figure approached, taking the child’s hands, and with a knife made cuts in both palms. The central man in the ram’s mask stepped down and, submitting to slices across his palms, joined his hands with the child’s. The other men in masks then came and lifted the child over their heads. They carried her from the clearing. As she passed their positions her eyes beseeched the watchers in the jungle to save her.”

  Kenann traced the lines in her palms that she always attributed to a strong life line. She whispered, “I need Danny Mac.”

  * * * *

  He took the stairs two at a time, pausing at the top. “Too many ridiculous rooms in this place.” He called out for Kenann. Mrs. Gage came quickly down the long hall to his left.

  “Come with me, Daniel.”

  “What is wrong? Is she okay?”

  “Yes, she just needs you.”

  She opened the door and Danny Mac ran in, dropping to his knees in front of Kenann. Neither spoke. She smiled at him and put her palm on his cheek. He wrapped her in his arms and picked her up in one swift motion, and turning, he put her on his lap as he sat. She curled into him and he rocked her gently, murmuring in her ear words of comfort.

  Mrs. Gage and Granny sat close together, clasping hands on the settee across from them. They needed some comfort, too.

  After a while Danny Mac asked, “Okay, ladies, what is going on?”

  Kenann uncurled from Danny’s lap and stood. She stiffened her spine. “We are under some sort of spiritual attack. At the very least, observation.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Remember my bad dream a few nights ago?”

  He nodded.

  “I wasn’t asleep. Someone or something visited me, saying he was coming for me.”

  “The night of the thunderstorm?”

  “Yes. One thing he said shook me.”

  “Even more than he is coming for you?”

  They both smiled.

  She felt herself equalizing with his strength and ability to make her smile even now. “Yes, even more than that. He said my mother sold me to him years ago.”

  “Do you really think—?”

  Granny raised a hand. �
��Let her finish, honey.” She was the only person who could call him that.

  Kenann continued. “The three of us had the same dream last night. It was more like a vision. We all saw the night my parents joined me in a blood oath with some man in a ram’s head mask.”

  Danny Mac looked to the ladies on the settee for confirmation. They both nodded. Danny fell back against the back of the overstuffed chair. He patted the seat beside him and Kenann curled in next to him. He pulled her close with one powerful arm and with the other ran his hands through his already tussled hair.

  He sighed. “We’d better call, Jake.”

  * * * *

  Across the globe there were others who were remembering that night in the jungle. The time had come. It was beginning.

  * * * *

  Jake took a deep breath and told Angelo, “You see, son, something is not right. Do you feel it? I can’t quite put my finger on it. I thought maybe if I had someone to bounce my ideas off of, it would help.”

  “I thought you were bending my ear.”

  Jake boxed the back of Angelo’s head. Angelo laughed. His dad used to do that.

  “Are you sensing something? Anything not right? Someone keeping secrets?”

  Angelo sobered. All he could think about was the secret he harbored. “No, sir.”

  Jake leaned in, resting his large forearm on the table. “You sure?”

  Angelo met his steely gaze. His mouth had gone dry. “Are you accusing me of something, Jake?”

  “Shucks, no.” The tension was gone. “I just want to see if you know something.”

  Angelo considered. He could not see how it might be relevant but he said, “Well, I am in love with Kenann.”

  Jake didn’t move. After a moment he patted Angelo’s arm. “That’s a tough spot, my boy.” After another moment, he asked, “Can you handle it?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Well, if you need to talk—”

  “Thank you,” Angelo said, cutting him off before he could continue, and changed the subject. “The only other thing I know is Judy hates Carter.”

  “Join the crowd.”

  Angelo laughed again. “Mrs. Gage continues to hold out.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  Angelo raised an eyebrow.

  Jake’s voice held a hint of reproof, saying, “That is not what I meant and you know it.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m sorry. I do know Kenann has seemed very edgy this week.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “I don’t know. I watch her.” He glanced at Jake who remained impassive. “But sometimes she seems scared.”

  “Scared? Of what?”

  “I don’t know. She seems to go somewhere in her mind. It does not seem to be related to what is going on around her.”

  “So, she is not afraid of anyone in the group?”

  “Oh, no. No way.”

  “What then?”

  “Something in her past maybe?”

  Jake got up and paced. He turned to look back at Angelo, who was watching him. “Son, I am not sure you will understand this completely, but when you are baptized into Jesus, the Spirit of God comes to live in you. I feel that Spirit warning me. A storm is coming.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The phone rang and Jake reached to take it from its cradle on the kitchen counter.

  “Jake, here.”

  He sobered at the sound in Danny Mac’s voice. “What is it, son?”

  He listened further and added, “Angelo is here. Should I bring him?”

  Another pause. “We’re on our way.”

  * * * *

  Six somber faces sat around the library conference table. Jake spoke first after Danny Mac had summarized the situation.

  “This is complicated business.” He turned to Granny. “Moira, what are you thinking?”

  She did not answer immediately. “I believe we are being warned that evil is coming…is already here. And it has targeted Kenann. Beyond that…nothing.”

  Danny saw Kenann go inward a little more each time it was mentioned. “Kenann, I want to remind you of something. I know it is unsettling to know that as a child your parents offered you up to evil in that blood sacrifice. But you do not ever forget that as it says in 1 John, ‘He who is within me is greater than he who is in the world.’ You are already victorious over Satan.” He paused to make sure she understood. “By the power of Jesus’ blood.”

  Kenann came into his arms. “You are so right, Danny Mac. I believe it was the Holy Spirit who allowed the three of us to see what we saw. A warning. But that knowledge is power.” Her mind drifted to that jungle clearing and she said almost to herself, “I always knew I wasn’t the most important thing in my parents’ lives, but I never dreamed they would do this to me. These were my parents. What does that say about me?”

  Granny actually growled. Kenann’s head came up at the sound. “It says nothing about you. It says EVERYTHING about Ann and Ken. Each one of us chooses our own path. God help them, they chose theirs. I refuse to take responsibility for them. And I’ll be buggered—”

  “Granny!”

  “You heard me. I’ll be buggered if you take responsibility for them, either!”

  “Okay, I hear you, Granny.” Kenann couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face.

  “Don’t you sass me!” But Moira smiled back.

  Jake asked, “Do we alert Carter?”

  They deferred to Mrs. Gage.

  “His appreciation of our group’s ‘peculiar talents,’ shall we say, is definitely growing, but I feel he will dismiss our concerns until we have something more tangible to offer.”

  Angelo asked, “We have been forewarned. Now what do we do?”

  Jake answered, “We keep on living our life in the power of the Lord.”

  * * * *

  The friends relaxed together in twos, talking comfortably. The warning had been given. Challenge accepted. On with life. Granny and Kenann formed one dyad near the garden window. They comforted one another in their mutual disappointment and disgust at Ken and Ann’s actions. Kenann still felt the need to shield Granny from the depth of loneliness and despair she often felt as a child. She knew Granny watched her diligently whenever she visited for signs of unhappiness. As much as Kenann wanted to stay with Granny, she felt an unrealistic need to protect her parents. She couldn’t articulate it then, but in retrospect she had believed them to be in danger. Again her thoughts drifted to Adam. He had always made things right for her growing up. Where was he that night?

  Danny Mac and Angelo were mutually joined in their commitment to keep Hafsa safe. Angelo drew on any memory Danny Mac had of Kenann’s experience several nights ago. He had never been a religious or spiritual man, so wrapping his mind around a potential demonic attack on Kenann was difficult for him to take in. He and Danny Mac had spoken many times that the Son of God had come to earth to be the perfect and final sacrifice for sin. He supposed that if this were true, he had to believe in the rest of the story. He had certainly known evil up close and personal in his lifetime. He just never knew it had a name.

  Jake leaned forward in thought, his large forearms resting on his legs. He asked Mrs. Gage, “Do you think we should go ahead with this thing with Carter?”

  “What else would we do? We cannot put our lives on hold. In reality, this particular threat is always there. We have just been given the foresight to be especially vigilant.”

  “You are a wise woman, Gabrielle.” He took her small hand in his and kissed her fingertips.

  Flustered, Mrs. Gage replied, “And you are a constant surprise to me.”

  * * * *

  The group moved toward the door, saying their good-byes. Granny had gone out on the landing with Kenann and the others. As Danny Mac turned to follow, Mrs. Gage touched his arm.

  “Danny Mac, do not forget, when you look into the abyss…”

  “The abyss looks back at you,” he finished.

  Their eyes met in a solemn prom
ise to fight this thing with all their strength.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Carter had roughed out their initial itinerary and targets as per the National Security Council. He had a professional screenwriter working on a play that accommodated the number of characters he needed. It was to be a comedy. He surmised they would have enough drama in their day job and would welcome the “comic relief.” He smiled at his own wit. Yes, he was going to thoroughly enjoy this. He had tasked Andrew with solidifying the overseas contacts they would need to complete their cover story. If all went as planned, he should have them all in D.C. by early to mid-December, learning their lines and honing their performances. And again, with any luck, they would be off to their first destination following the Christmas season.

  A thought struck him. William and Kate were to be in town late December. Yes, this would be absolutely perfect. He turned from looking over the D.C. skyline and reached for his phone.

  It was answered on the second ring. “Yes, sir?”

  “Get over here.”

  * * * *

  Andy knocked on the doorframe, waiting for Carter to wave him in.

  “Who is that guy you know in MI6?”

  “Hawthorne?” Andy sat in the leather chair in front of Carter’s desk, stretching his long legs in front of him.

  “Yeah, that’s the one. Think he will do you some favors?”

  “After Marrakesh, he’d better. Why?”

  “I need William and Kate to join our Merry Band of Misfits.”

  Andy raised an eyebrow. “I think you had better talk to Her Majesty.”

  “She hates my guts.”

  Andy suppressed a grin.

  “Stupid dogs anyway. Always underfoot. Didn’t mean to step on the little beast. Besides, we won’t be putting them in any danger.”

  “The corgis?”

  “No, you idiot, the duke and duchess. We just need them to play along on our scheme.”

  “In what way?”

  “I want to put on a command performance of our play when they are here in December and then ask them to give it rave reviews and help us open doors to the right people on the Continent.”“Okay, let me get to work on that and I’ll see what I can do.”

  “And on your way out, ask Jane to send another box of those ridiculously expensive biscuits those dogs like. I’ve got to get back in her good graces.”