American Heroes Series - 01 - Resurrection (12 page)

Cydney opened her bedroom window that faced out onto her driveway. It was at the opposite end of the house from the living room.  Grabbing the extra set of car keys and a credit card she never used from her vanity drawer, she picked up the computer and slipped from the window. There was about a six foot drop to the ground but she managed to make the drop without falling and without damaging her still-running computer.  It was nearly dark out with the neighborhood settling in for the night. In stealth mode, she made it to the car and got in.

She was fairly certain they would hear her car start but she couldn’t let that stop her.  Starting the car as quietly as she could, she quickly backed out and took off down the street, away from her house and away from the arguing cops.  It was a simple move to make a turn and end up on the street that she wanted to take to the freeway. 

Once on the boulevard, she gunned it.

***

Olivia glared at the lady with the hugely made-up eyes and pink-hued hair. She looked like a clown. The woman had been trying to communicate with her for the better part of a half-hour, ever since she had arrived at the upscale hotel.  But Olivia didn’t want anything to do with her or any of the other people in the hotel suite.  She was finished being scared of the strangers who had abducted her; now, she was just angry.

It had been an odd journey to this moment in time.  Right after she had gotten home from school, a man had knocked at the door and asked for Brad Hetherington. Olivia had told the man that her father had died years ago and the man had seemed very distraught; he explained he had been an old friend of Brad’s and hadn’t known about his death.  The man had been so pathetic that Olivia had let him in. She had taken him into the kitchen and given him a glass of water, whereupon the man directed the conversation from Brad to Cydney and they had ended up on the subject of the Western Pacific Museum of Antiquities.

They had talked a lot about the museum and the new exhibit. The man had seen the advertisement for the Resurrection exhibit.  Olivia had told him all about The Lucius Robe and her mother’s role in the exhibition.  The man had been very interested, very attentive, until Olivia had run out of things to say.  Then the man had smiled, grabbed her by the wrist, tied up her hands and bound her mouth.

Olivia had put up a fierce struggle.  The kitchen had been a wreck by the time he finally secured her.  She tried to scream and yell but he had stuffed something into her mouth and then taped it shut so that no sound could come out.  Then he had pressed something against her nose, something with a strange metallic smell.  After a few whiffs of that stuff she had passed out.

When she woke up, she found herself in a hotel suite with some other people.  One of them was a crazily-made up woman who looked vaguely familiar. There was another guy, in the kitchen, who kept opening and closing the refrigerator.  Groggy, a little nauseous, Olivia sat impatiently through some questions until someone asked her what she wanted to eat. Repeated refusals finally brought forth a macaroni and cheese admission.  So they had produced a gourmet macaroni and cheese with strong-tasting cheese sauce that Olivia didn’t like very much.  And, of course, more questions while she ate.

Then they had produced her cell phone, which had about fifteen missed calls on it, all from the same number.  The man who had kidnapped her hit the redial on the number and not surprisingly, Cydney had answered.

Olivia had been allowed to say one or two words to her mother before the man who kidnapped her took over.  He had wandered into a nearby bedroom, still on the phone with Cydney, and Olivia had been left alone in the living room with the weird-looking woman.  

“You’re such a beautiful girl,” Coral Chastity Aames sat across from Olivia in the penthouse suite of the Hilton Hotel in Pasadena. “What grade are you in?”

“I’m a sophomore in high school,” she said. “And when can I go home? I’ve told you everything I know about my mom and the museum. Can I please go home now?”

Coral smiled with her bright pink lips. “Olivia, would you like to go on an adventure?”

Olivia frowned. “An adventure? Not really. I just want to go home. I have a math test tomorrow.”

Coral laughed softly. “I’m sure your teacher will allow you to make it up,” she said. Her smile faded. “I know you have talked to my friend, Nat. But did he tell you why we have asked you to be our guest for a while?”

Olivia’s frown deepened. “I’m not your guest; you kidnapped me. That guy on the phone to my mother broke into my house and tied up my hands.  I have a ton of homework and I need to get home.”

It was clear that Olivia was a brave girl; never once during her ordeal had she cried or panicked.  She had been very stoic through everything and even now was acting like she was in charge.  Coral thought perhaps she really didn’t realize the serious of the situation, like this was some kind of prank. But it was clearly no prank. 

“Let me tell you a little story and perhaps it will help you understand why you are here,” Coral glanced up at Joseph as he walked into the room from the kitchen. He had a soda in his hand and sat down on the far end of the couch across from Olivia.  Coral’s gaze lingered on him before continuing. “Back in time after Jesus was crucified, men wrote different texts about Jesus and his followers and their deeds.  Some even wrote texts about the future and predictions. Most of these texts, or books, ended up in the Holy Bible.  Men from the Catholic Church chose what books would be put into the Bible and what books would not.”

Olivia was staring at her with an unhappy face.  Coral continued. “One of those texts, the Apocryphon of James, suggested that Jesus did not die upon the cross but was rather spirited away out of the city and someone else was crucified in his place.  It was told that Jesus married Mary of Magdalene and together they escaped by boat to the southern coast of France.  There, they had a daughter.  This daughter married and had children. It is said that the royal family of France, the Merovingian royal bloodlines from the twelfth century that fed directly into the kings of France all the way up through the nineteenth century, are directly descended from Jesus’ daughter.”

Olivia gave the woman an impatient expression. “I’ve heard all of this, lady. I saw that Holy Grail movie, too, and I read the book. This is nothing new.”

Coral’s smile turned somewhat stiff.  She sat forward, her blue eyes suddenly hard and serious.

“Olivia,” Coral sounded as if she was seriously preaching to the girl. “I know all of that is common knowledge. But did you know that the bloodline of the French kings continues even today? Even though France has a Prime Minister, still, the royal family exists.”

“So?”

Coral cocked her head. “That mean’s that Jesus still exists.  And He should be the Holy Ruler of Mankind.”

Olivia made a face. “So why are you telling me? I don’t care about any of this.”

“But you should,” Coral said passionately. “Because you are going to help us crown a new Holy Roman Emperor.”

“What?” Olivia rolled her eyes, thinking that this strange woman had completely lost her mind. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, lady. Can I please just go home?”

“Olivia,” Coral smacked her hand against the coffee table. “You don’t seem to understand, sweetheart. You are going to be a big part of God’s new kingdom on earth.  It is through you that the king will be crowned.”

“Through me? What are you talking about?”

Coral was on her feet, her eyes riveted to Olivia. “You are going to help us get the Robe to place upon the king’s shoulders.”

“Huh?”

Coral nodded eagerly and sat on the edge of the coffee table, her face full of the joy of her endeavor. “Remember I told you that the French royal family still exists; that the direct descendents of Jesus still exist?”

Olivia didn’t like the way the woman was looking at her. “Uh… yes.”

Coral threw an arm in the direction of Joseph. “That young man is a direct descendent of French kings, which means that he is a descendent of Jesus,” she announced. “He will be our next Holy Roman Emperor and you will help bring about a new age of glory, Olivia. Isn’t that exciting?”

Olivia looked at the good-looking young man seated a few feet away from her.  She looked utterly skeptical.

“Who are you?” she asked.

Joseph smiled faintly. “I’m Joe,” he said. When she continued to eye him critically, he elaborated. “My name is Joseph Henri Phillipe Andreas d’Orleans. My grandfather is widely considered the heir to the throne of France, being able to trace his lineage to the second century after Christ.  My heritage is Merovingian, descendants of Jesus and Mary’s daughter, Sarah.”

Olivia was growing increasingly apprehensive; no longer angry, or scared, or just plain bored.  There was something more now, an added element that had her very edgy.  She began to lose some of her confidence.

“I had to do a project for my French class last year about the French Royal Family,” she said, her gaze shifting back and forth between Joseph and Coral. “I remember reading that although the d’Orleans laid claim to the throne, they’re really just an offshoot of the House of Bourbon.  The Bourbon kings ruled in the fourteenth century, I think, and they were descended from the House of Capet, who themselves descended from the Carolingians, who descended from the Merovingians.  That’s the family that supposedly descended from Jesus’ daughter.” 

Joseph grinned at her. “You’re a smart girl. I can hardly remember that stuff.”

Olivia wasn’t falling for his charm.  “Can I please go home now?”

“Don’t you want to help?” Coral asked her, diverting her attention from Joseph. “After everything we’ve told you, don’t you want to help?”

For the first time since her captivity, tears filled Olivia’s eyes. “No,” she said flatly. “I want to go home. I want to see my mom.”

The tears spilled over her cheeks and she lowered her head, wiping them away as quickly as they fell.  Coral reached out to touch her blond head but Olivia smacked her hand away, recoiling from the strange woman’s touch.

“Don’t touch me!” she cried. “Let me go home. If you don’t let me go home, I’ll scream so loud that they call the police. I swear I will!”

Joseph moved across the couch, closer to her but not close enough to touch her. She was in a panic.

“It’s okay,” he said, guilty that this girl had been kidnapped on his behalf. “No one is going to hurt you, I promise.”

Olivia was huddled in the corner of the couch. “Let me go home.”

Joseph’s dusky blue eyes were riveted to the pretty young girl. “We will,” he said softly. “But we’d really like to have you as our guest for a while.”

Coral rose from the white chair she was sitting in, moving closer to Olivia. “My dear, you must understand that this endeavor is bigger than all of us,” she insisted. “We have support from the Church itself.  Many, many people want to see a new world order where Jesus’ descendant will rule. Don’t you want to be a part of this glory?”

Olivia flipped over the back of the couch and landed on her knees. “No,” she screamed. “I want to go home. I don’t care about a new world or kings.”

“But you are a part of us already,” Nat came out of the bedroom with Olivia’s cell phone in his hand; he had just hung up on the girl’s mother. “You are key to obtaining the Robe.”

Olivia shied away from the man who had kidnapped her, backing herself into a wall.  She just sat there and cried.

“If… if I tell you a secret about the Robe, will you please let me go?” she begged.

Coral, Joseph and Nat showed definite interest in the question. “What secret?” Joseph asked gently.

Olivia was trying to calm herself, wiping at her face. “Promise me I can go home now if I tell you.”

“I promise,” Joseph said before the others could speak. “What’s the secret?”

Olivia looked at the other two people in the room; Coral had her hand at her throat is waiting for the most divine information while Nat, the mean man, watched her impassively.  Olivia swallowed hard and focused on Joseph.

“Take me home right now and I’ll tell you.”

“Tell us now or I’ll drive to your house right now and kill your mother,” Nat replied evenly.

Olivia’s eyes widened. “No,” she gasped, the tears returning full force. “Please don’t hurt my mother.”

“Tell me your secret or I’ll kill your mother tonight.”

He had only succeeded in creating a hysterical child.  Joseph cast him a disapproving glare as he inched closer to Olivia, hoping to calm her down.

“Tell us your secret and your mother will be fine,” he insisted kindly. “Please, Olivia. It’s important.”

Olivia sobbed and hiccupped, wiping her face of snot and tears.  Her big eyes moved back and forth between Nat and Joseph.

“Swear you won’t hurt my mom if I tell you?” she whispered.

“I swear,” Joseph said. “What’s the secret?”

Olivia gazed into his handsome face, realizing the bargaining chip she had tried to use had been used against her. She was terrified they would do what they said if she didn’t tell them.  She had no choice.

“Okay,” she sniffled, wiping at her nose again. “My mom said that when they removed the Robe from the crate and were putting it in the display, that they saw a tooth stuck in the material.”

The reaction was varied; Joseph’s eyes widened, Coral’s mouth popped open, and Nat remained characteristically unmoving.  It was Coral who finally spoke.

“A… a tooth?” she repeated.

Olivia nodded firmly.  But the expressions of the three strangers made her feel more terrified than ever before.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The doorbell rang. It rang again. Finally, the man dozing on the couch with the muted television flickering in the background rose wearily and stumbled through the dark, coming to the door and resting his hand on the latch. The bell rang again and he snapped.

“Who the hell is it?” he demanded.

“It’s me,” came a muffled voice from the other end.