Operation Dark Angel: The Rise of Nicolaitanes (Apocalypse Series Book 1) Page 28

  “Katy, are you sure about this place? How do you know we can trust these people?” he asked.

  “We’ll be safe here, I promise. He would not have sent us here if he didn’t trust them completely and I trust his judgment. Besides, where else are we going to go? We can’t go back. Those people definitely meant to harm us and we don’t even know why or who they are,” Katy said firmly getting out of the car.

  Serenity sat there watching the people outside. She was trying to get a feel for this place. She wasn’t sure what to make of it yet. She definitely wasn’t certain if this place would be safe enough from whatever they were running from.

  Someone was watching them from inside the house. Serenity could see a silhouette against the curtains. She decided to wait in the car for a moment, just in case they needed to leave in a hurry.

  ****

  Tara and Andrew arrived back at the base. She was so glad to be done with this little assignment. Working with Andrew had been an experience she could have done without. He was a whiny, incompetent fool, as far as she was concerned. Tara hoped that she wouldn’t have to work alone with him ever again. Andrew parked the car in the garage and they walked back to the situation room to join the others. Andrew was not looking forward towards reporting to Nicolaitanes about their failure. He walked slowly up the stairway.

  CHAPTER one hundred and twelve

  Ezekiel and Katy walked cautiously towards the house. It feels so strange to be doing something like this. I feel like we’re in a spy movie or something. Or worse a mobster movie where they are about to kill their victim. Ezekiel shuddered at this last thought. Katy noticed how nervous Ezekiel seemed to be. She grabbed his hand and patted it gently.

  “So this is how it must feel to be in the witness protection program,” she laughed. “This is just like one of those television shows we watch. Now all we need is the guy in the suit with the dark shades.”

  She smiled. A minute later, they both burst out laughing. That was when Ezekiel noticed Serenity had not gotten out of the car. Is something wrong here? Ezekiel nodded towards the car; Katy turned to see what he was nodding at.

  “Why is Serenity still in the car?” she asked. She turned and walked back to the car. Katy opened the door and leaned in.

  “Is something wrong Serenity?” Katy asked.

  Serenity pointed at the house. “Someone is watching us. I’m not so sure about this place. How do we know we can trust them? For all, we know they could be one of the ones after me?”

  Katy sighed, “Look, I know you are afraid and you have every right to be. My friend from the church would not send us to someone that we could not trust. He wouldn’t send us somewhere that he himself would not go. Serenity dear, you have to start trusting someone—not everyone is out to get you. Besides, who can be against us when God is for us?”

  Serenity looked at Katy then up at the house. “Do you promise?” Serenity asked.

  “Yes, come on,” Katy said reaching for Serenity’s hand. Serenity took Katy’s hand as she got out of the car. She walked towards the house holding Katy’s hand for comfort.

  “Lord, I hope I was right in telling her that. I am unsure of this place as well. Father, please watch over us and keep us safe. Amen,” Katy prayed silently.

  CHAPTER one hundred and thirteen

  Andrew and Tara stood quietly outside of the situation room. Neither wanted to walk into the room for they did not know what Nicolaitanes was going to do or how he would react to the news.

  “Well, we may as well get this over with,” Andrew said walking into the room. Tara agreed.

  Everyone looked up at them as they entered the room. Nicolaitanes raised his eyebrows at Andrew. Andrew slowly shook his head no, as he sank into his chair. Although Nicolaitanes didn’t say a word, Andrew knew that he was angry. Tara sat down in her chair without a word. Nicolaitanes was furious. How could they have failed such a simple mission? He walked over to the window and stared out at nothing for a moment. He turned around glaring at Andrew and Tara.

  “You are all dismissed!” he said vehemently.

  Nicolaitanes abruptly turned off all the television screens, slamming the remote on the table. Everyone looked at each other curiously. Just what has gotten into Nicolaitanes? They each got up slowly from their seats and headed towards the door. No one said a single word.

  “Andrew. Tara. I wish that you remain behind,” Nicolaitanes said coldly. They turned around nervously and headed back to their seats.

  “General Ludlow?” Nicolaitanes called.

  “Yes?”

  “Shut the door behind you!”

  General Ludlow glanced at Nicolaitanes, Andrew, and Tara. He slowly shut the door behind him. I wouldn’t want to be them. Alexander decided that he would use this opportunity to go home and get some sleep. After all, Nicolaitanes hadn’t said when they should be back. He figured if they needed him, they could just have his secretary call him at home. He also wanted to speed some time with his wife. He reckoned he had a couple of hours before he would be needed anyway.

  CHAPTER one hundred and fourteen

  Nicolaitanes stood glowering at Andrew and Tara. “Would one of you mind telling me what exactly happened? I gave you a simple assignment,” Nicolaitanes said. Tara looked at Andrew.

  Andrew sighed, “We don’t know exactly what happened. We were watching the house as you asked. We never saw Serenity there, so we aren’t even sure if she was actually there in the first place. The only person we saw was the old woman, Katy. Then a little while later, a doctor showed up with his medical bag, which seemed a little odd to us. We saw him go to the house though I have to admit we never actually saw him go into the house. We got a nagging feeling a little while later and went to the door. No one answered, but you could hear the television blasting. We went inside the house, but we could not find anyone. We don’t know where they went. They did not come out of the house as we never took our eyes off the front door. They didn’t leave by car as both the old woman’s and the doctor’s cars were still in the parking lot.”

  Nicolaitanes looked from Andrew to Tara his nostrils were flaring. Where did they go? Did these fools somehow bungle this up by watching the wrong house? If not, then how did they possibly get out of the house without Andrew and Tara seeing them? Nicolaitanes got up and paced back and forth across the room with his arms folded. He stared out of the window for a moment. He pinched the bridge of his nose in thought.

  “I want you to go back to that house and search it again. You had to have missed something. Either that or you were watching the wrong house. Also, find out who the doctor was and why he was there. Yes, Serenity is with them. I guarantee it. Find out where Serenity, the old woman, and the doctor went. Do you think you can accomplish this without messing it up?” Nicolaitanes said flatly.

  “Yes. We’ll go right now,” Tara said getting up and dragging Andrew out the room with her.

  “He sure is angry with us,” Andrew said.

  “He is more than angry. We had better get this taken care of, if not, I suggest that we don’t come back here,” Tara said hurrying towards the elevator.

  CHAPTER one hundred and fifteen

  “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” asked Byron.

  The silence in the car was killing him. Gage looked at him and slowed down a bit. He looked around them; no one seemed to be following them. Traffic seemed to be in a hurry to get away.

  “It wasn’t safe for us to be in Ramla anymore,” Gage said staring at Byron.

  “Does this have something to do with whatever you found out at the internet café?” Byron asked.

  Gage stared out of the windshield. He looked afraid.

  “Remember the piece of metal I found in the rubble with the symbol on it? You and I discussed our suspicions of where we had seen the symbol before. Well, I found the symbol on the internet. We were…,”Gage whispered.

  He didn’t get to finish telling Bryon what he was saying. There was a loud whistling so
und, followed by an enormous blast. Something rammed into the car causing it to flip over several times before finally settling on the roof upside down. They were both knocked unconscious.

  CHAPTER one hundred and sixteen

  Katy and Serenity walked up to the safe house. Serenity stopped a few steps away from the door. Ezekiel knocked on the door as instructed. The front door opened an inch.

  “Who are you? What do you want?” the woman asked.

  “This is Ezekiel, Serenity, and I’m Katy. We were sent by a mutual friend. Jesus is the way and the life,” replied Katy.

  “None can come to the Father except through Him,” replied the woman. She opened the door cautiously. She peered up and down the street.

  “Were you followed?” she asked suspiciously.

  “No,” Ezekiel replied.

  “Quickly, bring in your things and leave the keys in the ignition. The car will be taken care of. I am Meredith,” the woman said.

  Meredith Lawrence was a slender, young woman.

  They walked into the foyer of an elegantly decorated old home. Serenity was amazed, “Your home is so beautiful, Meredith.”

  “Thank you. It was a blessing from God.”

  “Come, let me show you where you will be staying,” Meredith said heading down the hallway.

  Meredith stopped at a door at the end of the hallway and led them down a stairway into the basement. There were four large bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, and a common room. Meredith stood in the common room watching her guests.

  “As you can see, there are no windows down here. This way no one from the outside will know that you are here. You are in hiding now. So we need to go over a few rules. Please don’t go outside or make any phone calls. This is for your safety as well as the safety of the others staying here. When you are upstairs try to stay away from the windows as much as possible. Enjoy your stay here with us. I’ll leave you to freshen up a bit,” Meredith said before turning to walk up the stairs.

  Katy and Serenity went off to choose a bedroom. Ezekiel set off to check out the basement. He was looking for emergency exits if needed. Katy chose a country decorated the bedroom. The room was decent sized with two full size beds in the room. She chose the bed closest to the door.

  “Katy?” Serenity called from the doorway.

  Katy looked up. “Yes, Serenity.”

  “Do you mind if I bunk in here with you? I don’t really want to be alone right now.”

  Katy just stared at her. She really didn’t want Serenity in there with her, but she didn’t want to seem selfish either.

  “You may take the other bed if you wish,” Katy replied.

  Katy started putting her clothes in the dresser next to the bed. She figured they were going to be here awhile, so she may as well make herself at home. Serenity sat quietly on the bed watching her. She opted to leave her things packed in case they needed to leave in a hurry. She was glad they were out of the open, but she didn’t really feel safe here either. Something bad is going to happen if we stay here. Why don’t they see that? We know nothing about these people. How can Katy trust people so easily? I don’t understand her.

  “Aren’t you going to unpack, Serenity? You may as well get settled in as we may be here for quite some time,” Katy said.

  Serenity shook her head. She lay back against the pillows and stared at the ceiling.

  “How can you trust these people so easily? You don’t know anything about them. For all we know they could be working for the ones after me,” Serenity replied.

  “I thought that we talked about this. You are safe here, Serenity. I know you don’t trust anyone, but you’ve got to start trusting people. You cannot go through life not trusting anyone at all. Yes, we have to be careful who we give our trust to especially now with the way the world is. If I, like you, trusted no one, then you would be in a whole lot of trouble. Who would you have gotten to help you?”

  “I don’t know. I guess you’re right. Nobody would have helped me if there wasn’t some form of trust.”

  Serenity sat up on the edge of the bed and looked at Katy thoughtfully. “Can I ask you something, Katy?”

  “Sure, what is it?”

  “Back when you first met me, you said that you knew me from the base because we had met a few days prior. What did you mean by that? I really don’t remember any of it. I don’t think that I work for the military so I really have no idea what I was doing there. Can you please help me fill in some of the blanks?”

  Katy’s heart started pounding loudly and she quickly sat down on the edge of her bed. Her face paled and her hands became clammy. How can I answer that question without giving away what it was that I was doing there and the project we were working on? I think it is better that she doesn’t remember anything about that horrible project. I wish that I myself could forget about it and my involvement with it.

  “I’m sorry Serenity, but I was mistaken. These old eyes aren’t what they used to be. I’m sorry for any misconceptions,” Katy replied. Lord, forgive me for that little white lie. It’s better that she not know the truth.

  “Oh, it’s okay Katy. I was just hoping you held a piece to my non-existent memory.”

  Serenity was disappointed. Now, why do I get the feeling that you aren’t exactly telling me the truth? Are you hiding something from me? Did I do something horrendous? If so, then by all means don’t tell me.

  ****

  Ezekiel found a locked door at the end of the hallway. He wondered where it went to and why it was locked. Other than that, he didn’t find any doors leading out except the door back into the house. Ezekiel wasn’t so sure he liked that, but at the same time, it meant that no one could get in so easily either. Ezekiel put his bag in a bedroom before going to check on Katy and Serenity. I must ask Meredith about that door.

  CHAPTER one hundred and seventeen

  Nicolaitanes sat staring out of the window. He was extremely furious with the events surrounding Serenity. He sat in the chair with his arms crossed across his chest fuming.

  “Are you interfering with this?” he yelled at the ceiling. “This is my time! My time, do you hear me?” he said furiously.

  Rosalind stood in the doorway quietly watching Nicolaitanes. “What is it, Rosalind?” Nicolaitanes said without even turning around.

  “Is everything alright, Nicolaitanes?” Rosalind replied coming into the room and sitting across from him. She was genuinely concerned.

  “Everything is fine, Rosalind. Why don’t you go get some sleep?” Nicolaitanes replied calmly.

  She looked at him sadly, then quietly got up and walked back out of the room. She decided to head back to her room for a while. Apparently, Nicolaitanes did not want her around for whatever was going on. That was fine with her; he could have his little tantrum without her.

  ****

  Ezekiel went upstairs to search for Meredith. He found her in the kitchen washing dishes. “Excuse me, Meredith. May I talk to you for a few minutes?” Ezekiel called out.

  “Yes?”

  “Would you mind giving me a tour of the house? What’s behind the locked door at the end of the hallway downstairs?”

  Meredith looked at him questioningly. “Well Ezekiel, if it will make you feel better, I will give you a tour.”

  “Downstairs first, if you don’t mind,” Ezekiel replied. Why is it that you have ignored my question about the locked door? What do you have in the room behind it? Seems highly suspicious to me. How can I get you to show me what’s in there? Hmmm.

  Meredith wiped her hands off with the dish towel and led Ezekiel downstairs. She gave him a tour pointing out all of the bedrooms and bathrooms downstairs then turned to head upstairs.

  “That’s not everything down here is it?” Ezekiel implied pointing to the locked door.

  Meredith stopped dead in her tracks. How does he know that door is locked? Why was he trying to get in there? Who are these people?

  “Where does that go?” he asked.

  Meredit
h turned around, “Why do you want to know?”

  “Look, Meredith. I don’t know anything about you or this place, but I do need to know where all emergency exits are. And from down here there doesn’t seem to be any except back up through the house and that does not sit well with me! It appears to be a deathtrap waiting to happen. Now, while I appreciate your hiding us, I would like to know……….no, I need to know where that door leads! I don’t know you from a hole in the wall. How do I know we can trust you?”

  “And how do I know that I can truly trust you, Ezekiel?”

  “Touché, Meredith. You must trust me somewhat as you allowed us to come here.”

  “Look, if I show you what’s behind that door and it turns out I cannot really trust you, then none of the safe houses will be safe any longer.”

  “Look, whatever it is you can trust me. Maybe I can even help in some way.”

  Meredith thought about it for a few minutes, maybe she could use Ezekiel’s help. “Alright. Come with me, but tell no one what I show you. And I mean no one. Can you promise me that?” Meredith asked.

  “I promise,” Ezekiel said crossing his heart.

  Meredith unlocked the door. Ezekiel followed her into a large room with what appeared to be long hallways off of the room. This looks kind of like what Katy has under her home and then some. Is that an arms room? Now, what do they need with that? These people look as though they are prepared for the outbreak of a major war. Why? Ezekiel could not believe what he saw.

  “Just what have I gotten myself into?” Ezekiel mumbled.

  CHAPTER one hundred and eighteen

  Tara and Andrew drove back to Katy’s home. They decided to look at the house a little more closely. Perhaps Katy and the doc have even returned from wherever they went, in which case we will bring them back to see Nicolaitanes. Tara doubted that it was going to be that easy. They had no clue where Serenity, the doctor, and the old woman had gone. They weren’t even sure Serenity had ever been there in the first place. They still weren’t all that concerned about Serenity anyway. She was dead as far as they knew.