Compass Call: Survival & Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 3) (31 page)

With Joel and Randy’s help, Steve lifted John’s chair and carried it to the back of the van. Tony watched as they slid the chair into the van, and he smiled broadly when the doors were slammed closed. With John out of the picture, taking his house would be little more than child’s play. All he had to do now was convince his wife to abandon the house for the benefit of her husband’s life. And that shouldn’t be too hard with good timing, and a healthy dose of terror. The timing he could manage himself, but the terror was up to the Desperado’s. He just hoped they would fulfil their part of the bargain.

As soon as the van’s rear doors were slammed closed, John began to test the strength of his bonds. The pillowcase blocked his vision, but it was way better than duct tape. He was glad he wasn’t gagged either.
Feigning unconsciousness had worked much better than he’d hoped, but that didn’t mean his bonds were poorly tied. The cords dug deeply into his wrists, and he was already loosing feeling in both hands. His feet were also tied to the folding chair, and though he had a small boot knife strapped to his ankle, he couldn’t reach it.

John cursed himself for being so stupid to underestimate Tony, and for putting everything he had worked so hard to accomplish at risk through pride and overconfidence. Now that he was bound to a chair in the back of Steve’s van, John wasn’t even sure why he was compelled to meet with Tony in the first place. He thought back on the minutes leading up to his abduction and knew he ignored several warnings, the least of which was Pete’s. Still, a part of him new the abduction was supposed to happen, that he was supposed to learn something from it. He wasn’t worried for his life as much as for the safety of his family while he was away.

He asked Pete for an hour with Tony, and guessed that only about thirty minutes had elapsed. That meant Pete wouldn’t start worrying about him for at least another half hour to forty-five minutes. And it would be another fifteen minutes beyond that before Pete would organize a search and rescue party. John wondered if that was part of Tony’s plan, to lure Pete away from the house and eliminate him.

He heard everything that was said in the garage. At first he was filled with so much anger and vengeance that he could barely contain himself. But then he began to see and understand the finer points of his predicament. Though he ignored the promptings to stay home, to not meet with Tony, another side of him knew the experience was necessary. That was the hardest part for John to grasp, the part about his abduction being necessary, but he rolled with it, curious to see how things would play out. He felt, more than knew, that his capture was somehow necessary for the survival of everyone in the company.

The chair almost tipped over when Steve rounded the first corner, but John managed to keep himself upright by shifting his weight. He didn’t want to fall on his side and risk a broken arm, so he prepared
to push back with his toes and fall on to his back. However, the rest of the turns were much easier to manage. John also opened his senses to every identifiable sound. It was difficult to estimate speed and direction, but he felt they were traveling south. For the first time since leaving the garage, John wondered where Steve was taking him.

A question that wasn’t his own emerged in the front of John’s mind,
“Do you really wonder where you’re being taken?”

“Sarrif? Is that you?”
thought John in reply.

“Oh, so now you’re willing to listen?”
replied Sarrif.

“Look, I know I blew it. Now how am I going to get out of this mess?”
asked John in a mental reply.

“It’s not like I can untie you, so you’re on your own there. But that’s the least of your problems. You’re first going to have to deal with the very real threat of your captors,”
said Sarrif.

“How can I do that when I’m tied up?”
asked John.

“Yes, that is the problem. How do you propose to handle your captors?”
asked Sarrif.

“If I knew that I wouldn’t be asking for your help,”
said John.

“You don’t need my help,”
said Sarrif.

“What do you mean I don’t need your help? I’m tied up. What do you expect me to do?”
replied John.

“I expect you to act. Why do you think we’re talking?”
replied Sarrif.

John pondered Sarrif’s words and wondered how he was expected to act. He was tied firmly to a chair. He had no access to a weapon, and essentially no hope for rescue from Pete. He knew it was important to act quickly in POW situations, especially since he was being moved by only one man, but he was securely tied to a chair and unable to free himself. Then it dawned on John that Sarrif might be talking about acting on the other side, so he asked,
“Do you mean act spiritually . . . on your side?”

“That makes sense given the fact that you’re tied to a chair,”
replied Sarrif. Clearly satisfied that John finally managed to piece everything together.

John tried to calm himself for separation, but the discomfort of his body kept interfering with his ability to reach the necessary meditation point. Before, when he achieved separation, it was while he was laying comfortably on his bed. This was the exact opposite of relaxation based meditation. Numb hands and a throbbing cheek and jaw made relaxing nearly impossible. Bouncing around on a metal chair in the back of a moving van also didn’t help.
“I don’t think I can do it. There’s too much going on. I can’t concentrate,”
said John.

“Then you will join me soon, brother, and we can work together on this side,”
replied Sarrif, curtly.

John knew what Sarrif was trying to do, but it was annoying just the same.
“You’re not helping matters, Sarrif,”
replied John.

After a long moment of silence, John heard,
“You can do this. Meditation was once a way for you to become familiar with separation. Now that you are familiar with it, you no longer need it like you did. You must learn to balance yourself at any time. Reach for the feelings you know. See yourself separated and it will be so,”
replied Sarrif.

“Right. OK, let me try. I still need to be calm though,”
replied John.

“If that is what you believe, then it will be so,”
replied Sarrif.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”
asked John.

“It means you control your mind and your mind controls you. If you set conditions for separation then it will be so,”
explained Sarrif.

John took a couple deep cleansing breaths and tried to slow his heart rate. He relaxed in his bonds and immediately stepped free of his body. He saw Sarrif standing next to him in the van and said, “I did it.”

“I knew you could,” replied Sarrif, as he put a hand on John’s shoulder. “But you are not finished.”

“Tell me about it. What do I do now?” John asked, as he looked around the interior of the van. He saw Steve from a spiritual perspective and realized how dark he looked, with very little light. He also looked misaligned, as if his spirit was in opposition to his body. John didn’t understand what it meant, but he didn’t have time to inquire. But John did approach Steve’s spirit and ask, “Why are you doing this?”

“He cannot answer you,” said Sarrif. “And though he looks somewhat disconnected, his body is in complete control of his spirit. It is, as you say, along for the ride.”

“Can I separate his spirit from his body?” asked John, as he studied Steve’s complex spiritual aura with curiosity. When Sarrif didn’t respond, John turned to him and repeated the question, “Can I permanently separate it from him?”

Sarrif nodded and asked, “End his earthly life?”

It was John’s turn to nod in reply. Sarrif pointed to Steve’s spirit and said, “Yes. You have just cause to act accordingly and remove such a threat,” replied Sarrif. “But you must use wisdom and always consider the consequences of your actions as they relate to your physical side.”

John thought about Sarrif’s words for a moment and said, “Killing Steve, separating his spirit from his body while he is driving would cause the van to crash and kill or injure me as well,” said John.

“You see some of the responsibility, but not all of it. Yes, it is important to consider where you are in relation to your physical body. It would not be wise to remove Steve’s spirit while you are bound to a chair in the back of a moving vehicle, but it would also not be wise to disrupt the lives of anyone near the scene of that separation. You must be aware of everyone around you, especially those who are in need of more time,” finished Sarrif.

“How will I know the difference?”

“You will know.”

“How do I accomplish a . . . permanent separation?” asked John.

“That, my brother, is the easy part,” said Sarrif.

John heard the van crunch along on loose gravel and he turned to see an old rundown roadhouse. It was the same roadhouse he had seen with Eli in an earlier vision, so he wasn’t surprised. Steve drove the van around to the back and John noticed the unmistakable outline of many motorcycles sitting under a variety of tarps and blankets. He then watched with interest as Steve pulled to a stop near a small
loading dock and bleeped the horn. A door slid open just wide enough for a man to step out. He was armed with a shotgun and stared silently at Steve.

“I’ve got a package for Raul,” yelled Steve from the van window.

The man at the dock nodded and said, “Wait here,” and then disappeared into the roadhouse. John turned to Sarrif and said, “Should I return to my body now?”

“That is your choice,” replied Sarrif, “but I think you will have a better view of things from this side. You already feel the intent of these men; that they plan to kill you, your friends, and your family.”

That wasn’t all that John felt from the men and women in the roadhouse. He also felt their intense corruption, it assaulted him like so much poison smoke. Crimes and debaucheries of all sorts and magnitudes emanated from the bikers in streams of thick dark light. But there was even more, for there were countless lost and evil spirits mixed and mingling about in the roadhouse with the bikers. Most of the evil spirits saw John and Sarrif and shied away from their light, it appeared to hurt or blind them in some way. But others, those who looked more like former bikers, just glared at John and Sarrif with contempt. The bravest of them cursed and spit at them, angry with the disturbance of their dark peace.

One such spirit, a large and exceptionally loathsome earth born evil spirit, barred its way through the crowd to confront John and Sarrif. He screamed, “You’re not welcome here light-born! This is our place. We have claimed it for ourselves. Leave now or die!”

Sarrif drew his sword and removed the creatures head with a flick of his wrist. His sword was returned to its sheath before the demon’s head hit the ground. The rest stepped back, slipping into the walls, floor and ceiling of the roadhouse. As John and Sarrif walked into the roadhouse, the darkness receded from around them, but it was never very far. They were like two torches in a cave of absolute darkness. “Why don’t they just leave? Isn’t there something we can do or say that can drive them completely away?” asked John.

“There is, but to what purpose? This is a place of darkness. Physical people, those sensitive to the essence of this place, would find it cold and uninviting and turn away at the door. But others, those who have lost their sensitivity to darkness, would feel at home here. It is a place of evil, and we are trespassing on their turf, so to speak,” replied Sarrif.

“I understand, but why not just call down an army of angels and clear this place out, you know, make it clean again?” asked John.

“You could,” said Sarrif as he looked up. “In fact, they stand ready, but again, to what purpose? This place speaks of corruption. It could be purged of evil, but it would return.”

“Then I’ll burn it down,” said John.

“That would change the physical state of this place, but the evil presence would remain. This ground is committed to evil. It’s a portal of darkness, and it would require a great deal of work just to return it to a balanced state,” said Sarrif.

“I’m guessing there are a lot more of these places on earth?” asked John.

“There are. More than you realize,” replied Sarrif.

“So this is more training?”

“In a way, but it’s more like your progressive awakening. It’s another way for you to understand your abilities. Training is . . . well . . . training. You already know much, but there is much more to know,” said Sarrif, as he rested his hand on the hilt of his sword when another particularly threatening evil spirit hesitated to yield to their advance into the roadhouse. The spirit slinked back into the wall, and Sarrif continued, “This action is justified, it is of righteous purpose. You will always be permitted to eliminate an evil threat proportional to your righteous mission. It’s an act of balance, as predicated upon by the mission of the lord and lady.”

John nodded and watched as the bikers carried his unconscious body, still tied to the folding chair, into the center of the roadhouse. They dropped him unceremoniously to the floor, facing the table where Raul, the biker gang leader, sat with two of his lieutenants. One of the
bikers who helped carry John into the roadhouse removed the green pillowcase from over John’s head with a flourish. The room filled with laughter, cheers and cursing. John saw that he did, indeed, look pretty pathetic sitting there tied to a metal chair, slumped and drooling spit and blood onto his lap in long strings. He assumed he would have been entertainment for them regardless of his condition, but he felt their desire to awaken and torment him. “You said the lord and lady set the conditions for balance here?” asked John.