John Haynes, page 2
“He couldn’t make it.” The driver says.
“Alright. I need to get to the Javits Center.”
“I’ll get you where you need to go.”
The driver hits a button for the partition. After it rises, I grab my phone off my belt. As I’m about to punch in Lilith’s number white smoke starts rising from the floor into the backseat. “Hey is something wrong?” I ask.
I get no response from the driver. As the smoke fills the backseat, I notice the smell is not the engine, or the electrical. I feel myself getting drowsy. Just as my body starts going limp, I hear the back door locks switch on. I grab for the door handle and it doesn’t budge. whatever this gas is it’s having an effect on me. I take all my remaining strength to pound at the back window as I hear the Escalade starting to drive out of the garage, but it doesn’t budge even with my strongest blows. Got to get out of here….
Chapter 9
I’m in the middle of a business call when I hear the buzz of my smartphone vibrating on the desk. When I see Edgar’s number on the screen I smile. It looks like he’s secured Mr. Haynes. While I would love to continue discussing global politics, this business is far more important.
“Mr. President, I hate to cut our conversation short, but I have a call I must take.” I tell the President of the United States. “It regards a very important affair.”
After rushing the President off the phone, I grab my smartphone off the desk, hit the green button and cock it to my ear. “I have secured Mr. Haynes.” Edgar tells me. “We’re on our way to The Citadel.”
“Excellent.”
“Shall I bring him to the dungeon sir?”
While I would love to see this man suffer, I only wanted a meeting. The less he knows about Illuminati business, the better. “Bring him to the conference room.”
“I thought you wanted to put him in his place.”
“He will know where his place is in my world when I am through with him.”
Chapter 10
I’m a bundle of nerves as I catch the time on my iPhone. 1:45. I know New York traffic is slow, but John should’ve arrived at the Javits Center already. Please God, don’t let something have happen to him.
The ring of my iPhone makes me jump. I look down at the number and see Lilith’s number on the screen. I quickly hit the green talk button and cock it to my ear. “Have you heard from John?” A frantic Lilith barks into the phone.
“He’s not with you?” I ask.
“I haven’t seen him.”
“He was supposed to meet you an hour ago.”
“Do you think we should call the police?”
By the time they’d be asking questions John could be dead. “No, I’ll try to find him myself.”
“So what do you want me to do about the presentation?”
John has been preparing her to be an executive for the last year. This’ll be a test to show him how she performs under pressure. “You’re gonna have to make the presentation.”
Lilith doesn’t hesitate. “I got it. I just need the presentation.”
“I’ll send you the files for the presentation in a file transfer.”
“Okay. I hope John is all right.”
“I hope he is too.”
After Lilith hangs up I send her a link to the files for the presentation. Now that I know our presentation is in good hands, I need to make sure John is safe. While I’d like to call 911, they’d need 24 hours to declare him missing. I can find him in less than five seconds. I jump off the white leather sectional, rush down the hall and turn into John’s bedroom. As I look down at his dresser, I find the Mr. Fox Figurine from the Scarrytown playset he had when he was six. As I take the little vinyl figure off the dresser, I peer down at it and chant “Locatus John!”
In moments, the figurine glows and a flash of light takes me from John’s bedroom in the Morris Phillips Penthouse to a conference room somewhere. In the center of the room is long emerald green marble conference table with a gold pyramid etched into its stone with an eye inscribed at the top of it. a Behind the seats of a dozen chairs are a series of doors that float on either side of them. Wherever this is, it seems to be some sort of secret meeting place for some mysterious group.
As I look around the room, I feel an incredible surge of mystic energy swirling around me. Wherever place is, it’s definitely someplace far from earth. I haven’t felt dark spiritual energy like this since I entered Hell aeons ago. I spot John sitting at the foot of the table with his wrists bound in chains. He’s unconscious, but he looks like he’s alright.
I’m about to approach him when I feel a hand on my shoulder. When I turn around to confront who touched me I’m met with the dark eyes of The Stranger. The tall almond colored man dressed in a tailored suit and a fedora gives me a serious look before he speaks.
“Don’t get involved with this affair E’steem.” He tells me.
Chapter 11
My hands clench into fists as I cut a cold look at The Stranger. My boyfriend is chained up by some kidnappers and he doesn’t want me to do anything? He better have a good reason for me not letting John out of those chains and us beating the crap out of whoever is behind this.
“What do you mean don’t get involved?” I demand.
“E’steem, I know you care about John.” The Stranger says giving me an earnest look. “But I need you to trust me.”
“Trust you? My boyfriend is in danger-”
“And his soul would be in greater danger if you interfered.”
It was his advice that led to me growing spiritually. Maybe it’d be smart if I listened to him. “Alright, tell me why I need to hold back?”
“The work John has been doing on Earth has been getting noticed on High. And the outcome of this confrontation will determine how he grows spiritually.”
“Sort of like what happened to me in Central Park with D’lilah.”
“John has shown strong faith as he has overcome these spirits and principalities of darkness over the last two years. Now his faith will be put to the test.”
“Test?”
“The Illuminati are Lucifer’s Stewards on Earth. We need to see if John will stand in the face of their evil before he can be allowed to receive greater power from Our Lord.”
Greater power? He almost killed Thor a couple of weeks ago. “So all those things John has been able to do for the last two years haven’t been coincidences?”
“Not at all.” The Stranger continues. “It was John’s faith in God that allowed him to perform the feats to overcome every adversary he has faced.”
“I’ve never heard of humans having that kind of abilities John has done-”
“We all do things through Christ who strengthen us.” The Stranger replies. “We’ve seen how John’s faith in God has allowed him to overcome all the adversaries he’s faced. Now we want to see if he’ll have that same faith to overcome evil men in the world.”
He’s got a point. People have always been John’s Achilles heel. It’s been easier for him to beat all the supernatural spirits and principalities of darkness because he could pretend he was living some comic book adventure. But in order for John to grow in Christ he has to face his fear of people. “I wouldn’t want to get in the way things then.”
“I know it’s hard for you. But John is in God’s hands now.”
“Is there anything I can do to help at all?”
“All we can do is watch and pray.”
Chapter 12
I look across the table at John Haynes sitting at the foot of our table on the monitor of my office. The husky toast colored man dressed in a layman’s casual forest green shirt, black jeans and Chelsea boots looks even more unassuming in person. He should be easy for me to break.
I light up as I see John stirs out of the somnolent state the drugs we gassed him with. The sedatives look like they’re wearing off; I jump out of my office chair and march over to the door on the far side of my office suite. It's time for me to let this man know who is Lord over him.
Chapter 13
Kidnapped by a mysterious somebody who seems to have an axe to grind against me. Why do these things always happen to me?
I stir out of the state of unconsciousness pondering who could be behind my abduction. Kidnapping isn’t Lucifer’s style. And it can’t be Dracula. After what happened to his daughter, I know he’s not looking to start something with me again. So whoever is after me this time is someone else in Lucifer’s Legion who has a bone to pick with me.
As my eyes flutter open, I don’t feel the smooth leather seat of the Escalade backseat under me. Instead, I feel myself sitting in a wood and velvet chair. From the looks of the antique mahogany arm rests and the Persian rug under my feet, it looks I doubt the social justice types who rail against Morris Phillips on Twitter have the money to afford these kinds of amenities. Whoever wants to make me their captive has some serious wealth.
As I gesture to get up, I feel chains on my wrists. When I look down at the blackened cast iron metal shackles bolted to the floor, I hear the sound of a door opening. As I look up at the man filing into the conference room at the door across from the head of the long green marble table with a gold pyramid with an eye etched into the center of it, I meet the scowling blue eyes of my captor. The stout bald European man in a tailored suit, white shirt and red silk tie sneers at me as his eyes point daggers at me from across the table. “Good you’re up Mr. Haynes.” He says in a thick German accent. “Then we can get to business.”
“And you are…”
“The ruler of this world.”
That’s not what my Bible says. “Is that your unofficial title?”
“Far more official than yours.” He retorts. “I am Hans Schmidt, Chairman of the International Economic Forum. But when I am not in that position, I am the Chairman of the Illuminati.”
Illuminati? I thought they were an urban legend. Looks like the organization conspiracy theorists talk about online is real. “So all the stories about wealthy elites controlling the world are true?”
“They are. Our Lord has appointed us to supervise running his operations the Earth.”
I know who his lord is. “You know, you could’ve set up a meeting with my assistant if you wanted to talk to me.” I retort.
“And that would not show you why our power should be feared.”
“And I should be scared of you because…”
“We Illuminati are the ones who control everything in this world.” Hans continues pressing a button on his remote. After he presses it, a montage of images of major corporate businesses like manufacturing, media, fashion, and technology play on the big screen television next to him. “From the clothes you wear, the food you eat, to the water you drink to the air you breathe. No one does anything in our world without our say so.”
I thought God gave us all free will on His Earth. “And you wanted to show me how you can make a man not be a part of your world?”
“No one would know you even existed.”
So it’s no different than how I lived through most of adolescence. “And why would you want me not to exist?”
“We in the Illuminati have been watching you for some time Mr. Haynes.” He continues. “And we’re not happy with you.”
“What’s your problem with me?”
“You act like you’re some sort of god in our world.” Hans continues as he points his remote at the big screen TV across from me again. As it plays a montage of my battles with God Kaitious, Dracula, and Thor, his hand clenches into a fist. “Crushing despots, besting demons, and breaking gods-”
“I’m doing the work of My Lord.”
“Quite a confident statement Mr. Haynes. However, you may not be so eager to do His work if you knew how you imperiled those you loved.”
Hans points his remote at the TV screen once more. As it changes from the viral video of me beating Thor with his hammer to a series of screens of heavily armed men standing outside of my mother’s apartment door, my father’s apartment door, my sister and brother’s workplaces. “Right now I have stationed our agents outside of homes of your parents and the places of work of your siblings. All I have to do is say the word and your entire family ceases to exist.”
I do my best to quell the anxieties that want to welling up inside me seeing The Illuminati’s agents outside the places where my family live and work. This is no time to be a shy South Bronx kid. He’s playing the same game I’ve run into since I was twelve. Like Scott Grayson and Eric Tuttleson before him, he’s just another elitist trying to use his title and social status to scare me into giving up and running away. With the stakes so high I can’t let him shake me. He doesn’t have any power outside of what I give him over me. “What do you want?”
“For you to know your place.” Hans spits. “This is not your world! We did not sanction you to do anything!”
It looks like he’s more invested in this world than preparing for The Kingdom. “I didn’t know I needed your permission to live my life.”
“Everyone and everything has a specified place in our world. Hans continues. “And you are ignorant of yours.”
I think he’s ignorant of his. “And what place do I belong?”
“Far beneath someone like me.”
But he brought me here. “I take it you don’t think I qualify to be the Illuminati’s new janitor.”
“It is a more fitting position for a nigger like you.” Hans says. “Clearly you are not qualified to wield power of an elite. When you had real power in your hands like the Gem of Omnipotence you were too stupid to know what to do with it.”
Oooh. Racial slurs. He must be really scared of me. Figures an elitist like him would be a White Supremacist. ”I knew where the source of that power came from. Your Lord, The Devil.”
“You could’ve had the world in your hands-”
I would’ve become someone like him. “I would’ve lost my soul if I gave into that power.” I say jumping out of my seat.
Hans cuts a cold glare at me as he rises out of his seat. “You yielded to a greater power that day! And you will yield to me today!”
He thinks me destroying the Gem of Ominipotence was something I did out of weakness. What he doesn’t understand is how strong my faith in God was that day. I trusted in His power overcome God Katious. And it’ll be His power that will allow me to overcome this man who wants to be a god over me.
Hans’ eyes grow wide when I yank on the chains and the fetters on my wrists twist away like tin foil. “Not a chance in Hell.” I tell him meeting his beady blue eyes.
Hans gets nervous when he sees me standing up to him. “Those are chains forged by Hephaestus! Not even gods can break them!”
“They’re nothing to a servant of The Living God.”
Hans’ hands clench into fists as he looks over at the big screen TV. “Nothing! I have the lives of your family in my hands! I could kill them all right now!”
If I truly love my family I’ve got stand on the rock God put me on and rebuke this demon. “And they would be assured a place in The Kingdom when they died.”
“You would abandon your family for God?”
“If I am to be worthy of My Lord then I must forsake, mother, father brother and sister to stand at His side.”
“That’s insane!”
“You could say I have crazy faith.”
The air is tense as Hans keeps his eyes locked on mine. When he sees I won’t break he reaches into his blazer. “Very well. I’ve dealt with your kind of madness before.”
When I see the barrel of his Luger pistol my heart stops beating a mile a minute and starts beating two miles a minute. “If you will not yield to me in this world then I will send you on your way to the next one to be with your Lord.”
I hear my heartbeats slow as he pulls the trigger. As I hear the explosion of the shot echo through the conference room, I see the bullet coming towards me like it’s going in slow motion. Before it can hit me, I reach for the bullet and catch it between my fingertips. When time starts back up at its normal pace, I smile seeing the terrified look on Hans’ face as I hold it in front of him. “My life isn’t yours to take.”
Hans’ mouth falls agape when he sees the miracle I’ve performed in front of him. “That’s not possible! No man can catch a bullet in his hands!”
“All things are possible for those who believe in My Lord.”
Hans gets desperate. He frantically fires multiple shots at me. When none of them hit me his eyes grow wide. “You can’t just be a man!” He yells! “What kind of creature are you?”
As I see the bullets come at me, dark smoke swirls around me. “I am a servant of The Most High God. No weapon you have can prosper against me.”
Hans seethes with anger as he runs out of bullets to shoot me with. He throws his gun across the room in frustration and his hands clench into fists. “You won’t take my soul! I’ll never surrender to you!”
“So you refuse yield to my Lord?”
“Why would I yield to Him?” Hans barks. “I’m the most powerful man in the world!”
“Are you?” I say fading into the darkness. “Let me show you the power of My Lord.”
Chapter 14
The Stranger and I catch the awe struck look on Hans Schmidt’s face as we watch John pluck a bullet fired at him right out of the air. He probably thought he was the most powerful man in the world until a common man like John showed him the power of God.
As a horrified Hans frantically fires his shots at John that miss him, he fades into black smoke that fills the conference room. I know what’s gonna happen next. And I definitely don’t want to get involved.
Chapter 15
I become nervous as I watch John Haynes fades into the black smoke that swirls around him. What power does this man have that he can pluck a bullet out of thin air?
