Inside Lucifer's War (21 page)

I look up to see a deer in my headlights. It doesn’t move, so I swerve to the right. I lose control of the wheel but slam on the brakes. The car skids off of the road and stops short of some cedar bushes and a barbed-wire fence. Fortunately, the airbag doesn’t deploy. I step out of the car and survey the damage. I’m fortunate. I won’t need a tow truck. I should be able to get the car safely back on the road.

A pair of headlights light up my car. A truck slows to a stop behind me, leaving its headlights on, which blinds me. The rain begins to intensify. I need to get the car back on the road before the ground turns to mud. I hear the truck door open and the barking of a large dog. Then the door shuts and a large man in a baseball cap walks toward me.

My heart races slightly. “Thank you for stopping, but I’m fine. It looks like I can get my car back on the road. Thanks, though.”

The man looks at me for an awkward moment and then slowly says, “What makes you think I’m here to help you?”

“Listen, I’ve already called the cops. They’re on their way. I don’t want any trouble.”

The man looks me over. “I’m just the messenger,” he says. And he begins to transform. He begins to flow into something that is growing beneath him. His arms expand and then dissolve. I see a face push itself through the man’s face. I start to back away as a creature emerges in front of me. I recognize the creature as the one that had been with Lucifer in his lair. His long limbs are full of muscle, and his skin is almost transparent. His face is little more than a skeleton. His tongue is forked. I trip over a bush, falling hard to the ground. He stands over me.

He says, “He warned you about the Fischers. Yet here you are.”

I’m immediately deathly afraid for the Fischers, which stokes some anger in my voice. “You tell him that they have nothing to do with any of this. I’m taking care of my affairs. I’ve done everything he has asked. I needed the Fischers. I had to use them. That’s all. I was just using them. Please tell him to leave them out of this. After Saturday, I will never talk to them again. I promise. Please!”

His face comes to within a few inches of mine. He grabs my chin with his right hand and squeezes hard. I try to pull back, but his grip is unrelenting. His tongue quivers in the air like a snake smelling its prey. He releases me and says, “I’m just the messenger.”

With that, he turns, transforming back into the man in the baseball cap, and walks back to the truck.

Unsure of what this means for the Fischers, I start to follow him. His dog comes around the corner of the truck and curls his lips at me with a low growl. I abruptly stop in my tracks. I hear the creature laugh as he and the dog climb back into the truck.

His words echo in my mind, and I’m at a loss for what to do. I’m deeply afraid for the Fischers, although I know I can’t go back to the house. That would only make things worse. I have to hope that Lucifer believes that Saturday will be the end of our relationship. I think that if I can make it through Saturday, everything will be fine. I try to convince myself of that.

Inexplicably, I get back into my car and decide to look at the e-mail from Leslie. My head sinks as I read it. I’ve missed the meeting with Josephine.

This night is a disaster, and it’s all my fault.

C
HAPTER 20

Everything Changes

I stay at home on Friday and spend much of my time trying to occupy myself with random things. I don’t want to think about anything. I pack, make arrangements for my car, secure a storage locker, jog, send an e-mail to my First Orchard contact to get my itinerary. I try not to think about Thursday, or more importantly what didn’t happen on Thursday. I can’t face Leslie. I’m not sure if I’m more upset with myself for disappointing Leslie or for once again not being there for Josephine. I’ll call Dr. Gould and see how I can make amends. I quickly try to put it behind me and focus on what I can do now. I can take care of Ashley. I can take care of the Fischers. I can take care of myself. Those thoughts get me through the day.

I awake early Saturday. Too early. The clock reads five thirteen. I roll over and try to get back to sleep. After tossing and turning for a while, I get up. It’s five thirty. I step onto my balcony. The air is slightly chilly against my chest and arms. I decide to go for one last run around the lake. There won’t be many people out at this hour. I’ll be alone with my thoughts and the lake. As I grab my keys off the counter, I see the wrinkled piece of paper that Mike handed to me. Revelation 12:7–12. I sit down at my computer and Google the verse.

And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”

I start my run with that verse in mind. I keep focusing on the word
Lamb
. I have heard it before, but I can’t place it. Then it hits me. In Lucifer’s lair, he used it. He said that I was protected by the Lamb. In his speech, he mentioned a book of life that belonged to the Lamb. I feel an energy surge through me. My pace quickens. It feels like a picture is coming together, like I’m a detective putting together the clues from a crime scene. The words I heard when I first found myself in the lair, the words that Lucifer said I no longer believed, which is why he chose me, those words must have come from the Bible. That’s why the demons hissed and screamed. But did that mean I heard the voice of God in that moment? I suddenly stop dead in my tracks. It’s all coming together, but the thought of the consequences is overwhelming.

In that moment, I hear a faint whisper, as if the wind is speaking to me:
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star. I am the way and the truth and the life. I Am Who I Am. I Will Be Who I Will Be. I am the Lord.

Those words are followed by a chorus:
Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!

I spin around, looking to see if anyone is near me. I don’t see anyone, but I hear the whisper again. I’m sure that God is speaking to me. I yell back, “What do you want of me? Why me? Why not someone like Mike?” The whisper is gone, though.

I run back to the apartment as fast as I can. I’m exhausted when I walk in the lobby. I can hardly catch my breath as I enter my apartment. I pick up my cell phone and call him.

“Mike, can you and Stacie come over a little earlier than we planned?” I ask hastily.

“Thomas? What time is it? Is something wrong?” Mike asks.

“It’s six thirty-ish. I’m really sorry. Look, it’s very important. How soon do you think the two of you can make it over?” I ask.

“I don’t know. One minute ago I was asleep. Do you want to talk about it now? Over the phone?” he asks.

“No. It has to be in person, and I would like both of you to be here,” I say.

“Okay. I’ll call Stacie. Give us ninety minutes. If we’re going to be late, I’ll text you.”

Ninety minutes seems like an eternity. I jump in the shower and try to put together more of the puzzle. The Alpha and the Omega. The First and the Last. The Beginning and the End. Then I think about the chorus. Were those angels? Is Jesus the Lamb? If so, is the Bible true? Is Satan’s version the truth? My thoughts turn to what Mike said about my father. I should ask Satan to produce my father. That would be the test. It all makes sense. If the Jesus of the Bible is real and what was written is true, Satan would have no grip on my father. He would be protected by the Lamb. His name would be written in the book of life.

My mind then moves from the spiritual to the practical. Yes, all of it may be true, but it also seems true that Satan can give me all I desire and protect me even if I’m not in the book of life. If I defy Lucifer, what would become of me? Would God accept me after all I’ve done against him and after I’ve been actively working on Lucifer’s behalf? If those were God’s words when I first faced Lucifer in his lair, then why hasn’t he been there at other times? Why does he come to me in the quiet and seclusion of a run, in a whisper, no less? If I defy Lucifer, would he stand with me?

I wish Mike and Stacie were here. I have so many questions, but my time is quickly running out.

While I wait for Stacie and Mike, I use various Bible websites and discover that Ezekiel 28:12–19 is an allegory for Satan:

Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: “This is what the Sovereign L
ORD
says: ‘You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.’”

When I search for the keyword
lamb
, I find several verses in Revelation and the gospel of John: “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” “In a loud voice they sang: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’” And, “When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God!’”

I send the links to my phone and print them and put the list in my pocket. I’m not sure how I will use them, but I feel they are important.

Finally, a knock comes at the door. I fling open the door and am surprised, not by who I see, but what I see. As expected, there stand Mike and Stacie. The surprise is Stacie. She is wearing a baseball cap with her hair pulled back, simple gold earrings, and a peach sweater. She looks stunning. For a moment, I stand and stare. In that moment, I know I love her, and I know what I need to do.

“Can we come in?” Mike asks.

“Please. Please!” I say with eagerness. “Please have a seat. I need to tell you everything.”

They sit on the couch with a hint of suspicion, curiosity, and intrigue in their eyes. Then I look Stacie in the eye and blurt out the one thing I never thought I would say, or at least say and actually mean it.

“Stacie, I am completely captivated by you. I don’t know what to do or say around you, and that’s something that has never happened to me.”

I can see she’s feeling awkward at my confession. She slowly slides into the corner of the couch, but her eyes never leave mine. So I continue.

“I now know what it means to be in love with someone. I wanted to tell you that before . . .” My voice trails away with that thought. I can’t believe I’m saying this. It’s as if I’m watching myself say it.

“Before?” Mike asks.

“Before I do the right thing,” I say. “See, I didn’t call you both over here just to tell you how I feel about Stacie. That’s certainly uncomfortable with you around. But I have to tell you everything, especially after this morning. I’m not sure if you’ll believe me, but it’s the truth and you need to hear it.”

I tell them everything. It all comes out. Everything that has happened over the last couple of months. I tell them about waking up in Satan’s lair and being surrounded by demons. I tell them of the worship service the demons were performing for Satan, the booming voice that thundered around the walls, and Satan’s poisonous words to me. I tell them of the conversation I had with Satan, about my disgusting appearance, and how Satan told me I wasn’t good enough for God. Mike tries to interrupt me with a reference to the price that Jesus paid and grace, but I stop him so I can finish everything without forgetting any details. I tell them Satan’s comments that the Lamb is still protecting me and how it all came together when I heard the whispers this morning. I explain that the puzzle is coming together, and the missing piece is the question about my dad. Mike is right. That will be the test. I tell them how I continue to get pulled back to visit with Satan, and how I can see demons in the eyes of people at the university and on the street and in restaurants.