Wings of Deception (36 page)

“My boy!”
He
b
eamed
at the group. “I told you he would not let me down. Come
!
C
ome
!
W
e are ready for the ceremony to begin and you
,
dear boy
,
will
receive the inheritance
of
one’s
dreams
.
All that I am and all that I have will be yours after tonight.
”
Had there been more light Jacks would have seen a greedy look come into the man’s eyes, for it was with great anticipation of having a strong healthy body again that he was most concerned about.

“
Asa
…”

“Please Jacks
.
O
ne time
I would like the sound of the word
grandfather
come from your lips. Can you humor an old man?”

“
Grandfather
then
….
are you certain you want to do this? You could live to be a hundred
.
W
ho knows?”

“The question
Jacks
….
are you sure? It is your freewill to do this. These men are my witnesses
that you choose to…
.
to continue
all the work I have endeavored in my lifetime for the greater good of this Earth.
”

Jacks was
not sure why he would need witnesses
and
looked closer at the men. With only candles for light and the fact they all wore the dark
robes;
he had recognized no one but Abe
.
N
ow
he saw that Garrett
was
among them
and another
he recognized
was the old doctor who resided at the stone house with
Asa
. The others were strangers.

“I gave you my word. I stand by it.”

“Wonderful
! L
et us begin.”
Asa
motioned for
his
chair to be
placed in the circle
and for Jacks to follow. The six
men
pulled hoods over their heads and
knelt
about
a round
piece of
carpet
with
Asa
in the center.
Jacks
was
still standing
outside the circle
feeling a bit foolish
,
as
Asa
began chanting in a language
he
could not identify. Something stirred within him
.
T
he chant grew louder
.
T
he
other voices joined in
.
H
e
was the only person silent. He wanted to laugh it seemed so
ridiculous
but he did not dare
offend
.

T
he chant
ended abruptly
and looking at Jacks with his colorless eyes
,
Asa
com
pelled
him, “Come into the circle
,
my boy
,
and receive your just inheritance. Now
!
F
or the
window of the
heavens are
open and it is time.”

The wind started blowing and the flames of the candles wavered in it. Jacks took a step forward a
s
he
became
mesmerized by
Asa’s
eyes and could not look away. He was almost
to
the ring when a picture flashed before him. It was
the picture
Carol
drew for him months before
.
H
e hesitated
and
Asa
’s
temper began to flare.

“Jacks
,
y
ou must do it now! Enter the circle!”
His
eyes
became
bright flaming red
.
Jacks was
confused
as the man’s whole countenance changed before him
. This
was not
the gentle old man he had come to know. Something was not right but he could not help but take steps forward. He
felt as if he was
not in control
and
unknown
forces were pulling him
into the circle
when
someone screamed his name from behind.

Dwight and the two women had found the abandoned church and as Jacks
had
.
T
hey
thought they were in the wrong place
too
.
B
ut Dwight went around to the back and seeing the soft glow of the candles
ran
back to tell them it was the
right
place.
T
hey
hurried inside and
soon were at the locked door
.

“Call 911, now!”
Dwight
said urgently to
Sheila
and she
fumbled for her phone
.
She
dial
ed
the number
as quickly as possible
and gave
911
the address
where they were
,
while
Dwight stomped the door
open
.

Honey
rushed past him
scream
ing
at Jacks
.
T
he scene before her was chilling and fear gripped her.

“Jacks, no
!
D
o not do it! Please Jacks
for the love of
Jesus
,
do not step into that circle!”

Jacks
stopped and
turned towards the voice
but when he
tried to speak, he could not
.
He couldn’t think
and he looked at his three friends as if he did not recognize them
.

“
Jesus
be
damned
!
Y
ou must
do this
!
Y
ou
gave your word
!
Do
not
listen to her, I am your grandfather, obey me!”

Asa
furiously jumped
from his chair
.
H
is face
was
hideous
. T
he six men
jumped to their
feet
also
.
The wind blew harder and the skirts of the dark garments worn by the
m
whipped about
their bodies
causing them to appear as if they had wings. Jacks watched in a dazed state as o
ne
of them
threw
his body
forward into the circle
beseeching
, “Take me master!
Let me be the one,
I am
willing
, please take me!”

It was Garrett
! H
e
was
prostate
before a
trembling
Asa
, who
then
collapsed
.

Thunder
roared shaking the building. L
ightening lit the
sky
.Garrett
rose
to his fullness in
a
wrath
as
Jacks had never before witnessed
in a human
.
But his eyes went past the
furious
man
,
to
an
army of
angels
that surrounded the entire space.
They were everywhere and his head
began to spin
as h
e
tried to
focus on
Garrett
who was
screaming
at him in a voice that did not belong to him
but to
Asa
.

“You imbecile, you ingrate
,
now
look at what you have done
to me
!
You have condemned me to this…this….
” He ordered the men. “Kill him! I want him dead!”

Abe stepped forward, “But sire, this is too risky, let them all go.
No one will ever believe anything they say.
”

“You dare to defy me?” The words were a snarl and with them he reached up and took Abe by the throat and broke his neck as if it were a match stick. As he raised his arms in the air in his fury, o
ne of the
other
men
Jacks did not know
,
pulled a long knife from his robes and came towards
him
.
Jacks
stumbled
and
fell
backwards
as
t
he blade of the knife slashed
across
his body
,
and
he
witness
ed
no more of the events that took place.

Honey ran
to Jacks
fallen body
blood pouring from the wound
,
with
no regard for
her own safety
.
The man
,
obeying
his master’s
order
,
turned to her.
A
s
the knife pointed at her she stared defiantly at the bearer
and prayed as she
pulled
Jack’s head
to
her
,
cradling it in her arms
.
Dwight and Sheila were being held by the remaining men
.
Dwight
screamed a warning to Honey
as
Sheila tried her best to bite the
man
who held her.

Honey stared
up
at the man who raised the knife to her and with authority
,
she said
,
“I
n the name of Jesus, no weapon formed against me shall prosper.” She
was
prepared to
die
as she watched the gleaming metal stop in midair and
a
look of
bewilderment
come over the perpetrator’s face.
For
as hard as he tried he could not plunge the knife into
her
.

There w
ere
indeed,
thousands
of angels
surrounding the building
but
there was one who held the knife to keep it from his charge. Ragas fearlessly gripped the
blade
until the man let go his hold and it dropped to the floor
.  Sirens shrieked
louder
as they came closer and
Dwight and Sheila both watched as the black clad figures dove off the roof and disappeared into the night
,
t
he bod
ies
of
both
Asa
and Abe
vanish
ing
along with them
,
as they took their flight.

Honey was begging Jacks to be okay
,
but she knew it was bad. He
la
y as
still
as if dead but then
his eyes
opened,
trying to focus on
her face
which had
tears dripping
from it
,
and he tried to comfort her. “Do
not
cry, it
is okay
…..d
o you see them?”