A peace came upon him.
People were still crowded around the large screen. Adventus was moving. He headed towards the stairwell and made his way down the stairs towards his vehicle. A stranger was leaning on his vehicle.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“Hello, Jack.”
“Do I know you?”
“Sort of. Been your close companion for a while now. The boss sent me to you sometime back, back when you were running that investigation on the island. You remember Churchie and his ability to see the unseen world? Your heart was touched then, but you’ve been a wee bit stubborn.”
Just a another strange happening to add to the day. “I remember Churchie, but my detective skills have let me down, as I don’t remember you and I haven’t noticed you shadowing me.”
The visitor smiled. “Maybe it’s because I’m good at concealment."
“You are.” Jack sensed he wasn’t talking to a normal person here. But the man also wasn’t a complete stranger, as he knew some of Jack’s past.
“I’m glad you said your prayer on the way back to the car. The Lord’s been waiting for that. He’s been standing there knocking for a while.”
Was this man an angel? A messenger? “Why are you glad?”
"Because I can now reveal myself to you. But enough of this talk. We have urgent things to discuss.”
“Urgent?”
“Your name is written in the book.”
“What book?”
“The Book of Life.”
Jack was confused but not concerned. He pulled out his keys.
“You won’t have time to get back to Erica before the event occurs.”
“What event?”
“The event Catherine was invited to. The event your family is going to.”
Peace flooded Jack’s heart.
“You need to go back and sit on that bench again and wait.”
Jack knew that was what he had to do. He sensed authority, but a pleasing authority. An authority he trusted.
“Okay, I’ll do that. Thank you for this meeting. You coming with me?”
“Not now. But we’ll meet up again soon.”
Jack nodded and put his keys back in his pocket and was about to start heading back.
“Before you go, Jack, there’s one last thing I’m sure you’d like to hear.”
Jack wasn’t sure what was coming.
“You’re no longer an amber person.” With that, the visitor was gone.
39 - The trumpet call
Something was coming. Erica could feel it. She was peaceful but also anxious. Johnny wasn’t helping her anxieties, as he was pounding her with questions about what he should take with him and were planes going to fall out of the sky. A friend once told her airlines wouldn’t pair Christian pilots and co-pilots, just in case the rapture theory was true. She’d done a fact check online, and found no airlines had such a policy.
“Not true, Johnny.” He looked disappointed. “The flights are grounded due to concerns about the asteroid. There may still be some in the sky, but they’ll land soon.”
“What about car accidents?” Teenage adrenaline was pumping through his veins.
“Maybe God will make all things stand still. The Bible does speak of God making the sun stand still and stopping the moon. Besides, he’s God. He can do whatever He wants with His creation.”
“Yes, DNA and all that stuff. We’ve studied it at school. He has an instruction manual on all of us.”
Erica looked towards the window and gave the outside world her thoughts. “Imagine the computer systems in heaven. Every thought captured. Every word recorded.”
“So this rapture thing isn’t a big deal.”
“For God, no. For us, yes.” Erica walked over to the window. “I’m sure it will be an orderly event.” She sensed a darkness over her street. No one was out walking. She looked up at the clock on the wall: almost three.
Something weird was happening to the wall. The paint was swirling. The wall opened, revealing a passageway, and two shapes appeared. As they came into focus, Erica recognised one as the visitor she’d had earlier. The other she assumed was Johnny’s guardian angel.
The beings smiled. Peace flooded the house.
“It’s almost time for the celebration,” her visitor said. “The greatest event in the history of mankind is about to occur.”
They each held some kind of apparatus in their hands and walked over to Erica and Johnny. They squeezed the apparatus and a fine mist came over both Erica and Johnny.
“Nothing to fear,” her visitor said. “The cells in your body will absorb that. Your cells are being fed new information, new instructions. You’ve been changed in the twinkle of an eye.” He gave a wink.
A strange quietness came over Erica’s mind as if all things were now at rest. In this quietness, she heard the sound of a trumpet. She looked at Johnny. She could tell he heard it too. They hugged.
“It’s louder outside,” Johnny’s visitor said.
The visitors waved them over to the revealed passageway.
They entered without hesitation, the joyous sound of the trumpet echoing in their minds.
* * *
Jack sat on the bench as instructed by his visitor from the car park. He looked over towards where he first encountered the orange man, Thomas Wiley. Where had Wiley’s plan to eradicate amber people come from? What made people want to turn against those who want to love others, who are concerned for others? Yes, the church had turned many people away with the scandals, the hypocrisy. He remembered being told it was all a spiritual battle happening in the unseen world.
As he sat, he realised something strange. There were no moving vehicles. People were getting out of their stationary cars, some scratching their heads, confused with whatever was going on. Motionless buses unloaded their unhappy passengers. He could hear car horns, but they sounded more like a trumpet.
