

### Acknowledgements

I first would like to thank God for blessing me with the life that I have. I want to thank my beautiful wife Lena for standing by me and supporting me writing this book. I want to thank my parents Sam and Vivian Hakim. My brothers Joseph and Andrew Hakim. I want to thank Jason Bisdorf, David Guerea, and David Rodreguiz who have supported me from the beginning. Thank you to Shawn Shaman who has shown great support and designing this book's cover.

### VINCENT'S REVELATION

By

### JASSIN J HAKIM

Copyright 2012 Jassin Hakim

Smashwords Edition

"He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave,  
to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."

–REVELATION 13:16–18

Rev•e•la•tion

Something revealed or disclosed, especially a striking disclosure  
as of something not before realized

Prologue

I was seven years old when it first happened. Well, I guess I should say, the first time I saw one. My older brother, Joseph, and I were playing basketball in the driveway. The ball bounced hard off the rim and rolled into the street. Like an idiot, I ran into the street after the ball without looking both ways for cars. All I remember is hearing the screeching of car tires, and the next thing I knew, I was lying on my back looking up at the sun. I sat up on my butt first, and then stood on my feet. I could hear a lot of screaming. I started walking toward my mother and brother who were running toward me, but then they ran past me. It was very confusing. I turned around to see where they were running to and couldn't believe what I saw. I saw my mother on her knees, holding me and screaming for help.

### ***

Everything around me was moving in slow motion. The sun became brighter and brighter. I stood there watching my mother holding me and tried to make sense of what was happening. I was very scared and began to panic. All of a sudden, I felt a hand on my shoulder and a male voice said to me, "It's ok son, it's not your time."

I instantly became calm and felt at peace. I turned around and looked up at the man. He was very tall, wearing gray dress pants and a white button-up shirt. His shirt was gleaming white. He had a very strong jawline with large dimples, brown hair, and extremely bright blue eyes that had a glow to them.

"Huh?" I replied.

The man smiled. "Go back home son, for today is not your time. You will one day be called upon when evil is at his highest point." At that moment the sun became so bright it was blinding. I closed my eyes and covered them with my hands.

When I opened my eyes, I was looking up at my mother. The first thing I did was sit up and look around for the man who had just spoken to me. He was nowhere to be found. I asked my mother where the man went. With a confused look on her face, she looked around at everyone who had gathered around me and asked, "What are you talking about, Vincent? You have been unconscious and not breathing for over five minutes." At that moment, I realized he was not a man. He was an _angel_.

### ***

From that point on, I always had the feeling that someone was watching over me, and from time to time, an _angel_ visited me. It was never the same _angel_ that would come to me. I was scared the first few times they came to me, but eventually I got used to them the more they visited me. They would always talk to me, but for the most part I never really understood what they were trying tell me, or what they wanted from me. The older I grew, the more frequent they would appear, but also the older I became, the more I just ignored them.

I am now thirty-four years old, and for the past six months, the visits have been occurring on a weekly basis. The messages have been more confusing than ever, but I would soon discover that these _angels_ were trying to guide me to my destiny. Of all the people in the world, why the hell was I chosen? To this day, I still don't understand.

My name is Vincent Cain and this is my story....

December 2022

More than a quarter of the world's population has been wiped out in only a few years due to disease, war, and major natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis—some registering one- to three-mile high waves. One has completely annihilated the entire east coast of the United States, leaving millions of Americans homeless and displaced.

The U.S. government has implemented martial law. The people have very few rights and even religion has been outlawed. Those who practice any form of religion are imprisoned. The majority of people have had a tiny microchip, known as the Identification Chip, implanted into their right hands. This microchip contains an unbelievable amount of information about the person, including parental information, schools attended—even the past and present relationships a person has had. No one is allowed to buy, sell, or trade anything without this chip. The government claims that the chip is used strictly for the safety of its citizens and the country. Some people believe that you can be controlled through this chip. Those who refused to have the identification chip implanted have been labeled terrorists by the government and are imprisoned. There have been rumors that these people are eventually executed.

Washington, D.C., has been destroyed by the tsunami. The United States Government has moved the capitol to Detroit, Michigan, due to one important reason. Detroit has the one resource left that the rest of the world no longer has—fresh water from the Great Lakes.

Fed up with greedy and hypocritical politicians, the struggling people of America see hope in a new leader who is also quickly gaining popularity all over the world. The man's name is William Lester III. Lester III is a trillionaire businessman who has made his money as a computer software designer. Coincidentally, Lester III is also the creator and producer of the identification chip. Although most of world embraces Lester III, the few remaining Christian believers are skeptical of him and believe he is the Anti-Christ. They also believe the apocalypse is upon them and the end of times is growing closer.

The world is in total chaos...............

I don't have one

Detroit 2022,12:34 a.m.

The weather is unusually warm for December in Detroit. There is a light drizzle and the roads are wet. Potholes have created puddles in the road. A black police-edition Dodge Challenger has white doors with "POLICE" written in bold, black capital letters and "Detroit District" underneath.

The vehicle is slowly pulling up to the front of a checkpoint that is being conducted by the United States Army. The driver of the police vehicle is officer Alejandro Estrada. He is Mexican-American with tan skin, dark-brown hair with a forward brush cut style, and has a goatee. He is dressed in an all-black uniform with a black long-sleeve shirt with "POLICE" written in reflective material running the length of both sleeves. He wears a tactical, mid-threat-level bulletproof vest over the shirt. Physically, Estrada has an athletic build.

Estrada looks over to his jump man in the passenger seat. His jump man is officer Vincent Cain. Vincent has tan skin, buzzed hair, and a light beard. Vincent is also dressed in the same uniform as his partner except Vincent has three open magazine pouches attached to his vest that hold three 30-round polymer plastic magazines with ranger plates attached to the ends. He also has an embroidered patch attached to the shoulder strap of his vest where "Gloves" is written. Vincent is also wearing the Oakley hard-knuckle gloves that he always wears while working. Vincent is physically fit with a muscular build.

Estrada says to Vincent in a slightly Hispanic accent, "Yo, vato, why you so quiet over there?"

Looking straight ahead and pointing toward the checkpoint, Vincent replies, "Bro, look at this shit! How many goddamn checkpoints are these fuckers gonna set up?"

"Why are you getting so fucking worked up, bro? You know it's been this way for a long time now."

"You know what's gonna happen, right?"

"No, vato, why don't you enlighten me."

"It's gonna take us 45 minutes to get through this shit, and I bet you we get a call."

"Just relax, my dude. We're only on duty for a few more hours then you can go home and fuck that pretty little girlfriend of yours." Estrada says as he taps Vincent on his shoulder.

"Na, man, that ain't gonna happen. She dumped me last..."

Vincent stops mid-sentence because he hears the voice of the female police dispatcher.

"Radio 5-13..."

Vincent stares at Estrada with a look of disgust, picks up the microphone, and responds. "Go for 5-13..."

Estrada puts his head down and chuckles like a ten-year-old boy.

Vincent sticks up his middle finger and puts it directly to the right side of Estrada's face. Estrada moves his head and slaps Vincent's hand away, saying very quietly, "Get the fuck out of here."

The dispatcher continues. "Make eleven thousand four hundred and eleven E. Jefferson, 1-1-4-1-1 E. Jefferson on a breaking and entering. The caller's neighbor broke into his home and was trying to steal his food and power generator."

Vincent keys the microphone and says, "5-13 is en route." Vincent looks at Estrada and says, "Yuuuup, I told you so."

Vincent turns his head to the right and looks out of the window as

Estrada says, "Yeah, yeah...I forgot, vato, you know everything. You're the fucking man, you...are...the man."

Vincent sees many abandoned storefronts. Most appear to have been looted. There are several people walking the streets and most appear to be homeless. With a sad look on his face, Vincent asks, "What the fuck happened to this country, man?"

"This country? Man, how about what happened to this world?" After a pause, he asks, "Hey, vato, do you really think the world is gonna end soon? You know everyone is saying the apocalypse is near."

Vincent looks at Estrada. "Brotha, the apocalypse is now and we are all gonna die horrible deaths."

"Really, vato? You really think we are in the apocalypse?"

"Yeah, man, look at what's happened just in the past few years—earthquakes leveled India and Japan. Tsunamis leveled the east and west coast. Shit, half of this fucking city is still underwater because of—oh, oh, and you really don't want me to talk about the mark of the beast that was forced on us..."

"What's the mark of the beast? And how do you know these are all signs of the end of the world?'

"Just, just...never mind, man," Vincent says in a quiet voice.

Estrada raises his voice. "No man, tell me! How do you know that these are signs?"

"It's all in the Bible. I read it when I was young."

In a concerned voice, Estrada asks, "You don't have one, do you?"

"Have what?"

"A bible."

"No, I don't have one."

"Good! Because you know its illegal to have one. It's instant jail, bro. Man, I can't remember the last time I saw one."

"Yeah, it's been a very long time for me, too."

"Vato, you know you are like my brother. I have no family left, just you, so pleeeeeaaassse do me a favor and don't be telling people that shit. I don't need you getting locked up because they think you're trying to preach the Bible or are practicing religion....Okay?"

Vincent looks Estrada in the eyes and says, "Ok."

Estrada looks as if he does not believe Vincent, but says nothing else.

Estrada and Vincent pull up to the checkpoint manned by 30 soldiers. Tanks, black armored Humvees, and black Strykers are lined up at the front of the checkpoint. There are five lanes and each one is very well lit. A soldier with a dog checks every single vehicle. Estrada is directed by one of the soldiers to pull into the first lane.

He drives the vehicle into the lane and rolls down his window. An Army soldier dressed in a full combat uniform, helmet, clear Oakley ballistic glasses, body armor, and an AR-15 strapped tightly to his chest.

The soldier says, "Right hand."

Estrada sticks out his right hand. The soldier places a scanner on top of his hand. The scanner beeps and a picture of Estrada appears on an LED screen that is affixed to the scanner. Under Estrada's picture are lines and lines of information about Estrada, including bank account numbers, where he went to school, and even women he had dated in the past.

Before the soldier could ask, Vincent sticks out his right hand and the soldier scans it. As with Estrada, every bit of information about Vincent can be read on the scanner.

In a stern, authoritative voice, the soldier asks, "Where are you two headed?"

Before Estrada can answer the question, Vincent says in a very sarcastic tone, "Ummmm...maybe we are heading into the district to handle some _po_ -lice work."

The soldier looks at Vincent, then Estrada, then back at Vincent. He is visibly angry. Just as the soldier gets ready to explode in anger to Vincent's response, Estrada laughs nervously and replies while stuttering. "We—we—we are just heading to handle a disturbance call, sir.... I'm very sorry, my partner and I have had a rough day, so please forgive him."

The soldier stares at Vincent a moment then replies in an angry voice. "Carry on." He pushes a button and the large steel posts in front of the car retract into the ground.

As Estrada drives through the checkpoint, he pounds his fist on the steering wheel. "What the fuck was that!!!! You know these guys don't give a fuck that we are cops! They will lock us up just as fast as anyone else! What the fuck is wrong with you, man?"

Vincent yells back, "Fuck these motherfuckers! If the government wants this martial law shit then the army can go handle this bullshit call! And if they don't want to handle it then they can shut the fuck up and let us pass, so we can go handle our business!"

Estrada places his right hand on the top of the steering wheel and leans his body to his left, turning his body away from Vincent as he takes a deep breath and exhales. After driving a few more minutes in complete silence, Estrada speaks to Vincent in a calm, quiet voice. "So you never told me what the mark of the beast is."

Vincent stares down at his right hand. "Remember? I'm not allowed to talk about this. Your bitch-ass might snitch me out."

Estrada bursts out laughing.

First message

3:34 a.m.

Estrada and Vincent decide to go to Slow's, their favorite restaurant. Slow's specializes in southern-style barbecue. Estrada and Vincent eat here once a week. As they enter the restaurant, both men brush the water off their jackets.

Vincent takes off his jacket and black-knit skullcap but keeps his gloves on and sits down in a booth. Estrada keeps walking and says, "I'm gonna go take a piss."

"Ok." Vincent picks up a menu and begins to look it over.

A woman dressed in a waitress uniform sits down at the booth across from Vincent. The woman is tall and slender. She has wavy shoulder-length blonde hair. She is wearing no makeup and is very beautiful. Her skin is clear and has a slight glow.

Vincent puts his menu down while still looking at it, shakes his head, and chuckles. "Man, you guys always come to me at the worst time. Can I at least order my pulled pork sandwich first?"

The waitress speaks in a calm and soothing voice. "The end of times is near, Vincent."

"Yeah.... Well...tell me something I don't already know, lady."

"Do you not believe?"

"Yes, I do believe, but you guys always tell me stuff that's just common sense."

"Evil is real and he walks among us—he is flesh and blood, the people worship him. Beware of the mark of the beast."

Vincent looks down at his right hand and rubs it.

"Keep your faith and you shall prosper in the end along with all those who believe."

Vincent is becoming annoyed with the woman. "I just don't know what you guys want from me. I've done everything you have asked of me to this point, and yet you guys still manage to disrupt my life."

The waitress smiles at Vincent. "In time you will receive a message from a man. You must believe what he tells you no matter how unbelievable his message is to you...for then you shall understand who you really are."

"Aaaannnd who will this _man_ be? Don't tell me Estrada because that guy don't know shit," Vincent laughs.

"You are his seed."

Vincent gives her a confused look and asks, "What the hell does that mean?"

At that moment Estrada sits down across from Vincent where the waitress is sitting. The waitress disappears simultaneously. Estrada giggles. "Damn, man...you talkin' to yourself again? You need to stop that shit man, people are gonna start to think you are crazy."

Vincent laughs and says, "Yeah...whatever, man."

Home sweet home

After dinner with Estrada, Vincent returned home. He lives in a 950- square-foot loft located on the eighth floor of the Fisher building. Vincent places his right hand near a box located just above the door handle. A beep sounds and the unlocking of the deadbolt is heard.

Vincent enters his loft then locks the door behind him. He puts his hand up to the light switch to turn on the lights, but he does not hear a beep. He removes his hand and puts it back up to the panel again.

This time an electronic female voice speaks from the box. "Hello, Vincent. Your smart meter shows that you have used more power than is allowed. You will be restricted to the minimal amount of power allowed for the rest of this billing cycle. Your refrigerator and television will be the only appliances that will have power. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for choosing DTE."

In a sarcastic voice, Vincent replies, "Yup, home sweet home!"

As he makes his way into the kitchen, he is greeted by his 100-pound German Shepard named Ruger. Ruger has a very intimidating look. He has an all-black face, and black fur stretches over his back and down his tail. His lower body is light brown.

Vincent opens the refrigerator and grabs a bottle of beer. "Hey buddy, how was your day? Were you visited by an _angel_ that tells you shit, and you have no idea what the hell she meant?"

Ruger tilts his head to the side as he sits at Vincent's feet.

"Yeah, I didn't think so."

Vincent walks into the living room, takes off his shirt, and drops it on the floor. He opens the blinds to have some lighting inside the loft. The bright city lights enter Vincent's loft, illuminating his body covered with several tattoos.

On his right shoulder, he has a cross of St. Benedict; on the outside of his arm, he has a non-traditional portrait of the Virgin Mary. On his inner arm is a picture of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and the devil standing behind him. The tattoo flows down to his forearm with Roman soldiers carrying spears and shields, pointing up to Jesus. On Vincent's left shoulder is a dove that represents the Holy Spirit. The dove is carrying a rosary that flows down to Vincent's elbow. Behind the rosary is the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Vincent turns around and the city lights illuminate his back. The tattoo on his back is his most elaborate one. He has a full back tattoo of St. Michael slaying the devil that is illustrated in great detail.

For the first time all day, Vincent finally takes off his gloves and throws them down on the coffee table. Vincent sits down on his black- leather couch and turns on the TV. He then twists off the cap on his beer and take three large gulps.

Ruger jumps up on the couch and lies beside him. Vincent flips through several channels before he stops on CNN because of what he reads at the bottom of the screen. "Lester III—savior of the world?"

William Lester III is at a podium speaking in front of thousands of people. Lester III is 6'2" with a slender build and appears to be in his mid 40s. Lester III has dark black hair with slight graying on the sides. His hair is neatly combed back at an angle. He has a very masculine jawline and dimples when he smiles. Lester III is wearing a very expensive slim-fitting black suit and tie with a red silk handkerchief in his left breast pocket.

Lester III continues with his speech by saying, "It has been nearly three-and-a half years since I have brought peace to the world. I have brought nations together. I have brought enemies together. I have ended World War III—"

The crowd interrupts with loud clapping and cheering.

He puts his hand up to quiet the crowd and continues to speak. "And now my next mission in life is to provide the world with my love and my wealth, and I will guide all of you into a life of paradise!"

The crowd erupts in cheers and begins to chant his name. With a huge smile on his face, Lester III puts both arms straight up in the air. He sticks out only his index finger and pinky on both hands then is quickly escorted off stage by a very large security team.

Vincent picks up the remote control and turns off the TV, stands up, and quickly gulps down the remainder of his beer. He follows that up with a loud belch. He looks at Ruger and asks, "Did you see what he just did at the end of his speech? Huh, boy? Did you notice what he did?"

Ruger looks up at him with his tongue hanging outside his mouth.

"Of course not. You're just a dog."

***

Lester III exits the stadium escorted by his massive security team that leads him to a black-armored Mercedes Maybach stretch limousine that waits for him. A member of his security team opens the rear door. He enters the limousine followed by his closest aide, Lilith.

Three members of his advisory council are already waiting for him in the limousine. His aide, Lilith, has long jet-black hair that is tightly pulled back into a ponytail. She is wearing square, thick-framed black glasses and sitting close to Lester III on the left side with her legs crossed. She is dressed in a form-fitting black suit with very light gray pinstripes.

Lilith whispers into Lester III's ear.

He then looks at one of his council members and asks, "Mr. Jones, what is the status of my new capitol building?"

Mr. Jones opens up his briefcase and removes his tablet. He opens up a file and responds, "We only have minor work left, and we are right on schedule for the 23rd, sir."

Lester III tells Mr. Jones to have the limousine driver re-route and drive to the construction site of the new capitol building. A large security convoy escorts Lester III's limousine as they navigate their way through the downtown streets of Detroit, passing through all security checkpoints and not stopping for traffic lights. As they head south on Woodward Avenue, Lester III can see the building. He looks at Lilith and smiles. It is clear from his body language that he is visibly excited and eager to get to the building.

The security convoy pulls up to the front of the building. Before Lester III is let out of the limousine, the security team exits their vehicles and secures the area by setting up a defensive perimeter around the limousine. A member of the security team opens the rear door, and Lester III is the first to step out.

He stands beside the door looking up at the building. It is enormous. It stands 182 stories high with blue stained-glass windows. There is a left wing of the building that is six stories high, and the roof is a huge platform.

Lester III makes his way to the base of the building as Lilith and the other three council members follow. He turns to them and points behind him at the building. With a big smile on his face, he says, "Behold the new world capitol building and my temple."

He tells everyone to follow him over to the west wing of the building. As they approach, Lester III's attention is drawn to a huge pool of water at the base of the building.

Mr. Jones stands next to Lester III. "A lake of fire as you have requested, Sir."

"Excellent," he replies. "Now let's make our way to the top of the wing. I want to see where I will be conducting all of my speeches to my followers."

Lester III and his council members enter an elevator that takes them up six stories to the top of the west wing. The elevator doors open, and Lester III and his council members all step out onto the roof.

It is roughly the size of two football fields combined. It contains stadium seating that holds approximately 50,000 people. There is a podium at the edge of the wing that overlooks the lake of fire and a gigantic open space that is designed to accommodate two million people standing.

Lilith stands next to Lester III and whispers into his ear.

He smiles and says, "Yes indeed, this is perfect. This is where my people will listen to my word."

Meet me up

Vincent's iPhone rings. Vincent is laying face down on his bed with his face buried in his down-filled pillow. He rolls over to the other side of the bed and picks up his phone, slides his thumb along the bottom of the screen, and answers in a low raspy voice. "Hello."

A female voice responds with attitude. "Really? You're still sleeping? You do know its 5:30 in the afternoon...right???"

"Yeah...so what...I was up late. What do you want?"

"I need to speak to you, it's very important."

"You know, if you wanted a booty call, you should've called last night when I was horny."

"Fuck off, Vincent. Meet me at the Wellington Pub in two hours. And if you get there before me, don't drink because you are a major asshole when you drink."

"Well yes, ma'am."

"Good...bye."

"Bye." Vincent hangs up the phone and rolls back on his side, closes his eyes, and with a smile on his face, and says, "No drinking? Nooooo problem."

***

Vincent walks into the Wellington Pub. It is dark, smoky, and crowded. The carpet is a red-plaid pattern, but some areas are so dirty that it appears black in color.

Vincent walks toward the bar as a scantily clad woman watches him as he walks toward her, sitting at the bar. The woman bites her lip and stands up then falls into his arms. Vincent catches her and helps balance her.

The woman has very long, curly brown hair with heavy volume. She is wearing heavy red lipstick and smoky-turquoise eye shadow that matches her shirt. The woman is highly intoxicated. She puts her left arm around Vincent's neck, presses her breasts to his chest, and slowly slides her right hand down his body and grabs his penis. The woman puts her lips close to Vincent's left ear and whispers in slurred speech, "Hey baby...wanna fuck?"

Vincent laughs. While gently putting the woman back on her chair, he says, "Well if my date doesn't show up, then maybe I'll take you up on your offer."

Vincent takes a seat at the far end of the bar and says to the bartender, "Stag." The bartender gives him a shot of Jim Beam Red Stag. Vincent quickly drinks the shot and tells the bartender, "Just leave the bottle." The bartender pours another shot and leaves the bottle. He again quickly drinks the shot and pours himself another one. Vincent puts the shot up to his lips and just as he is about to drink it he hears a female voice.

"Go figure...you can't go one day without drinking, can you?"

After a brief pause, Vincent continues and drinks the shot.

Vincent turns and looks at the woman. "Hello to Lena."

Lena stands with her right hand on her hip. She is 5'7" and weighs around 110 lbs. She has long, straight black hair that is layered and flows to the middle of her back. She has black eye liner on with glossy lips and has olive skin. Lena is wearing a tight black tank top underneath a black leather motorcycle-style jacket. She wears black form-fitting pants with knee-high black leather boots.

Vincent pulls out the barstool to his right and slaps the seat three times with his right hand, gesturing to Lena to sit down. "So what's up? What did you drag me to this dump for?"

Lena pulls out a 5 x 10 manila envelope from the left inside breast pocket of her jacket. She pulls the paperwork out of the envelope that is folded in thirds, sets it down on the bar, and slides over to Vincent. "While I was at work yesterday, I found this in the computer system." Vincent pours himself another shot and unfolds the paperwork. The first page is a large mug shot photo of his face. "What's this?" he asks.

Lena looks around with a concerned look on her face and says in a low voice, "Vincent, you're on the list."

Vincent picks up the shot he just poured with his left hand and gulps it down. With his right hand he slides the paperwork back over to Lena. "Well...everyone's on the list."

"Well, everyone's monitored through the chip, Vincent, but not everyone's on the list. Being on the list is not a good thing. Being on the list is grounds for arrest even if you have the chip."

Vincent becomes angry. "Well, if those bastards want to come and arrest me then they can come arrest me! I've done nothing wrong. I've committed no crime. I go with the flow just like everyone else, Lena."

Lena raises her voice and asks, "Why are you so hard-headed? Why don't you just listen to what I have to say? Or just read the damn paper instead of pushing it back to me! You know your I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude is part of the reason I couldn't stand being in a relationship with you, and it only lasted a year." Lena quickly pops up off the barstool, causing it to fly backwards. With tears in her eyes, Lena yells in a cracking voice, "You know what, fuck it, I tried! I'm taking a huge risk by even talking to you right now. Just read the paper and take care of yourself!" Lena turns and storms out of the bar.

Vincent notices many of the bar patrons staring at him. Vincent looks back at the patrons, shrugs his shoulders, and says, "What can I say? The girl can't handle her liquor."

Vincent rubs his face with his gloved hands. He takes a deep breath in through his nose and exhales out of his mouth. He flips over the first page. On page two, he reads "SUSPECTED OF: 1) Preaching the Bible 2) Threat to the World Order."

Vincent slams his fist down on the bar in anger, causing the bartender to look his way. Vincent folds up the papers and puts them in his right rear pocket as he asks the bartender for his tab.

"Seventy-five dollars," the bartender says.

Vincent sticks out his right hand. The bartender passes a scanner over his hand as an electronic female voice says, "Charge approved; thank you for your business."

Vincent takes his cell phone out of his right jacket pocket, scrolls through his contacts, stops on the name Adam, and presses "Call." The phone rings several times before a male voice answers.

"Hello?"

"Yo, Adam. It's Vincent." Vincent hears loud music and several female voices in the background.

"Who?"

Vincent raises his voice "It's Vincent."

"Hold...Hold on a minute." Vincent hears Adam yelling. "Will you bitches shut the fuck up? I'm on the fucking phone." Adam responds to Vincent in a very loud and excited voice. "Vincent!!! What's up, my boy!! Where the fuck you been?"

Vincent laughs. "I've just been laying low, brotha. Hey...you still own that bar or did our lovely government steal that from you like some of your other businesses?"

"No, my boy. I'm still owner and president." Adam says, breaking out in laughter.

"Ok, man...I'm kinda in a funk right now. You mind if I come by and blow off some steam?"

"Oh, hell yeah! Your tab is on me!"

"Bet, I'll see you in a minute."

"Sweet, see ya soon."

Evil's games

Vincent walks out of the bar and leans up against the wall. He looks around. He is surrounded by high-rise buildings. The streets are wet, riddled with trash, and very few people are walking around.

He pulls out a cigar from the inside breast pocket of his jacket. It's his favorite cigar, a Rocky Patel Edge Maduro. He slides the cigar under his nose as he inhales then exhales out of his mouth, "Aaahhhhh."

He punches out the end of the cigar with a puncher then puts the punched end to his mouth He reaches into his front jacket pocket for his lighter, but it's not there. Vincent pats himself down starting with his breast pocket then his front pants pockets and rear pants pockets. He realizes that he has no lighter on him and blurts out, "Ah, fuck me. Well, I'm sure Adam will have one." Vincent puts the cigar back inside his jacket pocket and crosses from the west side of Woodward Ave to the east side as a black-armored Army Humvee passes by and beeps the horn at him. Vincent gives them the middle finger then turns around and begins walking north.

***

Vincent walks up to an alley and observes a small white cat drinking water from a puddle. Vincent walks up to the cat, bends down, and begins to pet it. He continues to pet the cat and scratches it's head. Vincent hears a noise behind him. He is very familiar with this sound because of his experience with firearms. It's the cocking back of a hammer on a revolver. He then feels the nose of the barrel pressed against the back of his head.

Very slowly, Vincent puts both hands up in the air. An out-of-breath male voice says, "Back off, motherfucker. This is my dinner! I've been chasing him for six blocks!"

Vincent responds in a cool, calm voice. "Ok, ok, take it easy, pal. The pussy is all yours. I was just saying hi to it. I'll tell you what...I'm just gonna go back on Woodward without turning around to look at you. I'll go about my business and I'll let your bitch ass live."

The cat meows and takes off running deep into the shadows of the alley. The man yells, "Hey, get the fuck back here!" and chases after the cat.

Vincent looks down the alley to get a good look at the man, but all he can see is his shadow in the dark alley. Vincent stands back up and stumbles while doing so. The shots of whiskey that he drank earlier are starting to catch up to him.

Vincent makes his way back onto Woodward Ave and sees a blinking red neon-light sign for A-Bombs. "Ahhhh...there it is." Vincent is about 100 feet away from the front door when he observes a black male leaning up against the wall.

The man is looking at Vincent and tracking him as he gets closer. When Vincent gets near the man, he notices he is tall, around 6'4", with an athletic build and wearing a black fedora that is slightly canted to the left. He is wearing a white button-up shirt and a solid black tie underneath a gray knit sweater. His pants are black and neatly pressed and he is wearing black leather shoes.

Vincent squares up to the man, looks him in the eye, and asks with attitude in his voice, "Can I help you?"

The man puts his head down, giggles, and smiles at Vincent. The man has perfectly aligned teeth that are gleaming white and appear to glow. In a light African accent, the man asks, "Would you like a light?"

"Excuse me?"

"You know, your cigar."

"Um, yeah...sure." Vincent says as he pulls out his cigar from his breast pocket." You look very familiar, do I know you from somewhere?" Vincent then puts the cigar in his mouth.

The man laughs and replies, "Yes...something like that." The man touches the tip of the cigar and it lights up instantly.

Vincent laughs in an over-exaggerated manner. "You guys are unbelievable. I was just thinking to myself—how the hell does this guy know I needed a light? So...what kind of fucked-up message do you have for me?"

The man smiles at him and says, "Beware Vincent, for evil will soon make contact with you. You must know the difference between the messengers of the Holy Spirit and the messengers of evil. They will come to you as flesh and blood."

"And how will I be able to know the difference?"

"Look hard into their dark souls and you shall see."

Vincent places the cigar up to his lips, sucks in a large amount of smoke, and blows the smoke into the man's face. He turns and walks away from the man, saying, "You know, I wish I could stay and chat but I'm gonna go look at some boobies. You are more then welcome to join me if..."

Vincent stops what he saying because as he turns back to look, the man has disappeared. Vincent shakes his head and continues walking.

***

Vincent stands in front of A-Bombs. It's a large 10 x 6 rusty-steel door with a sign that reads "Welcome to A-bombs, the filthiest titty bar in the world." As Vincent stands there, he can hear the beat of the music playing loudly from within the bar.

To the left of the door is a scanner. Vincent places his right hand up to it and hears a beep. Above the scanner is an LED TV screen. A message pops up on the screen: "ACCESS DENIED."

"What the fuck!" Vincent says with his hands out, standing there in disbelief. Vincent then hears Adam's voice over a loudspeaker. "Ha ha! Hey fucker! I'm just messing with you. Hold on, I'll buzz you in." A loud unlatching noise is heard and the steel door slides open to the right.

Vincent enters the very dark lobby. He observes two large curtains hanging in front of him. He sticks his hands through the split in the middle, spreads them open, and steps into the bar. Vincent is bombarded by the sound of loud hip-hop music playing through the DJ's speakers.

He stands there for a few seconds, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. He blinks his eyes several times. The bar is slightly lit by red lights. Strobe lights are flickering, making it difficult for him to see clearly.

Vincent looks to his left and observes a large bar with about 30 bar stools. Every one of the bar stools is occupied by men drinking alcohol. Vincent looks straight ahead and sees 15 women dancing on a large stage. Two of the women are completely naked; each one swings on a pole on either side of the stage. Some women are topless, wearing only G-string underwear while others wear bikinis. To his right are 15 booths that are filled with male customers and strippers sitting next to them, socializing. Then Vincent looks up and notices the bar is three stories high. He says to himself, "Man, I forgot how big this place was."

He takes his first step and stumbles. Vincent is now buzzing hard from the whiskey he drank. He walks along the side of the stage and makes his way to the back of the bar where Adam's office is located. As Vincent looks down at one of the booths to his right, he notices four men in suits along with four strippers all with their faces down on the table, snorting cocaine that is spread all over the table. He continues walking and several booths down, he observes a man in a suit making out with a stripper who is also giving him a hand job while the man sitting next to him is getting a blowjob from another stripper. The man getting the blowjob nods his head at Vincent. Vincent laughs and continues walking.

He finally gets to the rear of the bar and walks up on two large black bouncers wearing all black and standing in front of the double doors. Vincent tries to walk between them, but they converge together and block his way. One of he bouncer asks, "Where the fuck is you goin', mutha fucka?"

"I have an appointment with Adam."

"Hand." The bouncer says in a stern voice.

Vincent raises his right hand. The bouncer scans it and says, "Ok...you all set." He steps aside to let Vincent pass.

Vincent walks through the double doors and squints his eyes due to the bright lights in the back room. He walks further down the hallway and comes upon a closed door on the left. He knocks three times and hears Adam's voice.

"Come in."

Vincent opens the door and steps inside. To his left is a large desk covered with an enormous amount of cash. Sitting behind the desk is Adam, a white man with a short black Mohawk shaved on the sides. He has long sideburns and a soul patch under his bottom lip. Adam has a large stack of money in his left hand and is passing it over to a very large black man standing to his left. With a huge grin on his face, Adam says to Vincent, "Yeah! What's up, motherfucker! What the fuck is up?" Adam then looks down and says, "Watch out bitch, let me go say what up to my boy!"

A naked woman with large breast implants gets up from underneath Adam's desk.

Adam stands up and pulls his pants up. Adam walks around the desk and grabs Vincent in a tight bear hug. "My boy! Where the fuck have you been?"

"Yeah, my man. It's been awhile."

Adam tells Vincent to take a seat.

Before Vincent sits down, he looks at the large black man. The man is huge. He stands about 6'8" with 380 pounds of mostly muscle. Thick veins pop out of his very large forearms. He has a medium complexion and is wearing a black baseball- style cap with an Old English D on the front, a black t-shirt, and a thick platinum necklace with a green diamond Incredible Hulk charm hanging from the end. Vincent puts out his left fist to him and says, "What up, Hulk."

Hulk bumps Vincent's left fist with his right and replies, "'Sup, man." Adam asks, "Vince, you know Hulk?"

"Yeah, he's the only man I've ever seen take on 15 cops at once and walk away from it." All three men laugh.

"Vince, what you wanna drink, man?" Adam asks.

"I'll change it up. Let me get some Goose."

Adam looks at the woman and tells her, "Go bring my boy a bottle of Goose from da back."

"I just sucked your dick now I gotta be your boy's servant." The woman replies with attitude.

Adam walks up to the woman and backhands her with his right hand across the left side of her face. Adam yells, "Bitch, I told you to get the bottle! Now go! Next time it will be my fist!" The woman holds her face and runs out of the office crying.

Hulk laughs and says, "Alright y'all...on that note, I gotta bounce."

Vincent and Adam both say their good byes. Vincent looks at all the money on the table. "Man, I haven't seen paper money in a long time. You take paper money?"

"Yeah, man, it's more fun for all these government officials to have fun. They like to make it rain on these hoes. Soooo...the government allows me to accept paper money. I think I'm the only place around that can accept it."

"I see." Vincent says.

The woman returns with the bottle of Grey Goose, pours some into a glass that is full to the top with ice, and hands it to Vincent, who then thanks her.

As the woman turns to leave, Adam tells her, "Hey, tell Candy to come in here." Adam looks at Vincent. "Man, you look like shit, brotha. What's up?" Before Vincent can respond, Adam's phone rings. He tells Vincent to hang on a moment and answers.

Vincent begins to sip on his drink as Adam begins to yell and scream at whomever is on the other end of the phone. A stripper then walks into the office. She has long, wavy, dark-red hair, large fake breasts, and is heavily tattooed. She is wearing black lingerie, thigh-high black stockings, and black platform high heels. She looks at Vincent and smiles. Vincent smiles back.

Adam places his hand over the phone and says to Candy, "Take Vince to the back and take care of him." He looks at Vincent, smiles, and winks at him.

The woman takes Vincent by his left hand and guides him into a small room that's attached to Adam's office. The room is small, dark, and barely lit by a small red light hanging from the ceiling.

The stripper pushes Vincent down onto a black leather loveseat and straddles him. She begins to dance on him, moving her body to the music. Vincent closes his eyes from the pleasure he is feeling, but he quickly opens them because he is so intoxicated, it seems like the room is spinning when he closes his eyes. The stripper leans back and takes off her top then presses Vincent's face between her breasts. She grabs Vincent's hands and says, "Take off these gloves and touch my body."

"I prefer not to."

The woman smiles, and begins to dry hump Vincent. "Does this feel good? I can make you feel good for eternity."

"Oh really? And how's that?"

"Just accept him."

With a baffled look on his face, Vincent asks, "Accept who?"

"The savior of the world. Listen to his word and accept him."

"Who the fuck are you talking about?"

"William Lester. He is the savior of the world."

"Are you really gonna talk politics right now while your grinding on my cock?"

Vincent is overcome by the feeling of extreme pleasure that is traveling throughout his entire body. He wants to stand up, but his body tells him no. He is paralyzed for the moment.

The stripper slides her body down to the floor, placing her face in Vincent's crotch. Vincent's heart is racing and he begins to sweat profusely. His head falls backwards and he closes his eyes. The room begins to spin. He hears the strippers voice echoing throughout the room, "Accept him, accept him, accept him."

Vincent begins to hyperventilate, shaking his head several times. He is very confused as to what is happening. He then looks down at the woman.

She quickly pops her head up and stares into Vincent's eyes. Her eyeballs are completely black and glossy. She smiles with a large grin. Without moving her lips, her voice is echoing loudly throughout the room. "You will accept him, he is your savior."

Vincent is able to snap out of the trance. In one explosive movement, he pushes himself off the couch and onto his feet, causing the stripper to fall backwards onto her butt. She laughs hysterically as Vincent runs out of the room and stumbles into Adam's office. He can hear the stripper's voice.

"Wait! Where are you going? I'm not finished with you!"

Vincent looks around Adam's office and notices that he is not there, and all the money has been cleared off the table. Vincent exits Adam's office and makes his way to the double doors. He pushes his way through the doors and stumbles through the bar. He looks around and realizes that there is no one in the bar even though the music is still playing and the lights are flashing.

Vincent becomes sick and feels like he is about to throw up. He covers his mouth with his right hand and runs out the front door. He turns the corner and runs into the alleyway. Vincent hunches down, placing both hands on his knees and begins to throw up.

After Vincent finishes, he wipes his mouth with his left sleeve and stands there for a few moments to catch his breath. He quickly notices something very strange. It is now light outside.

He pulls out his cell phone from his right jacket pocket and looks at the time. "What the fuck." His phone reads 8:03 a.m. Vincent realizes that he has been inside the bar for several hours. He is very confused and thinks to himself, how could this be? I was only in there for a half -hour. Vincent stumbles around and then runs home.

Who's the snitch?

Vincent enters the locker room at work and walks past several rows of lockers. He is walking fast and with purpose, heading straight for Estrada's locker.

Vincent spots Estrada at his locker getting dressed for work and quickly walks toward him. Estrada notices Vincent and says, "Hey, vato, what's up?"

At that moment Vincent grabs Estrada, spins him around, and slams his back up against locker while shoving his left forearm into his neck.

In a low, angry voice, Vincent asks "Who the fuck have you been talking to?"

Estrada, in a choking voice, says, "What are you talking about?"

"We talk about the Bible in the car together, and now all of a sudden I find out that I'm on the list for being a suspected preacher! Are you trying to snitch me out to someone?"

"No, vato, I haven't said shit to anyone—I swear!"

Vincent releases Estrada and removes his forearm from his neck.

Estrada gasps for air and holds his neck. With a concerned look on his face, he says, "Vato, you're like my brother. I would never, ever do anything like that to you."

Vincent realizes that he made a mistake by accusing Estrada. "I'm sorry, man. It's just...it's just a lot of crazy shit has been happening to me lately, then on top of it all, Lena called me the other day to meet her up and she gives me this piece of paper and it says I'm on the list. I'm sorry, I'm just flipping out, man. I...I just don't understand why I'm on the list. The only thing I thought of was our conversation that we had in the car the other day."

Estrada places his hand on Vincent's shoulder. "It's okay, bro...I understand. Just blame the Mexican for everything that happens."

Both men break out into laughter.

"Damn, homes...you look like shit. Did you sleep at all last night? You gonna be able to make it through the shift?" Estrada asks.

"Man, last night...well, that's a whole other story that I do not even want to get started on." Vincent says while shaking his head.

Estrada puts his arm around Vincent and begins to walk with him. "It's ok, vato. Let's go get you a five-hour energy shot, and you can talk about it later if you want."

***

Estrada and Vincent are now in the garage of police headquarters. They approach the police cruiser that is assigned to them. Estrada makes his way to the driver's side door, places his right hand on the door handle, and unlocks the door. Estrada gets into the driver's seat. Vincent does the same to unlock the passenger door and sits in the passenger seat. Estrada places his right hand on the steering column, which starts the engine.

Vincent looks over at Estrada. "What makes you think I wanted to jump today?"

"There's absolutely no way you are driving, bro. If I die, it's not gonna be because you fell asleep behind the wheel because your dumb ass was up all night."

Vincent smiles and says, "Yeah, I guess for once I'll have to agree with you." Both men laugh.

Estrada puts the vehicle in drive and pulls out of the garage. As they cruise through the city streets, the weather is as cloudy, cold, and wet as it seems to have been for the past few months.

Vincent says to Estrada, "Man, are we ever going to see the fucking sun again in our lifetimes?"

"I know...this weather is so fucking depressing. It makes me want to eat my gun."

"Yeah, man, for real. Ok, head to the store so I can get my energy fix."

"Yup, already on the way, vato."

At that moment a female dispatcher's voice comes through the police cruiser's radio.

"All units, all units prepare to copy, prepare copy.... As of today's date, 1800 hours, it is now a federal law that mandates all citizens of the United States must have the personal identification chip implanted into the right hand. Any citizen that you come in contact with that does not have the personal identification chip shall be arrested on the spot and turned over to military personnel at the closest military checkpoint."

Estrada's eyes open wide. "H-o-l-y shit! They always said that they were eventually going to make it mandatory, but I was under the impression that it wouldn't be for a few years. This is crazy!"

Vincent cannot believe what he has just heard. He is outraged, but he keeps calm and does not show any emotion to Estrada. "Wow man, something is up. Why is it mandatory so soon?"

"Well, I guess the good thing is the government says 90% of the people in the U.S. are already implanted."

"Shit, at least these people had a choice up until now...it's been mandatory for government employees for three-and-a-half years now."

Estrada pulls over and parks the police cruiser in front a convenience store. "You coming in, vato?"

"No, man...I'm too tired to even move. Just grab me two of those energy shots."

"No problemo, señor. I'll be right back." Estrada exits the cruiser and enters the store.

Vincent leans his head back against the headrest and closes his eyes. He is exhausted. As he sits with his eyes closed, he has the feeling that someone is watching him.

He opens his eyes and looks over to his left. He notices a black car parked on the other side of the street. Two white males wearing black sunglasses are sitting inside. Both men are looking at Vincent, and the passenger appears to be talking on a radio. Vincent says out loud, "What are these yahoos up to?"

Vincent opens the door and steps out of the cruiser. As he turns and faces the two men watching him, the driver of the car puts it in drive and speeds off. Vincent stares at the car as it speeds down the road.

Estrada exits the store and notices Vincent standing outside of the car. "Hey man, what are you doing?"

"Oh, um...nothing. I thought I saw something. I mean...I just wanted to stretch my legs."

"Ok...well get back in the car, we got a call."

"We did?"

"Yeah. Didn't you hear us get dispatched?"

"No, sorry man. I must have dozed off or something."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that's what happened. That's why I responded to dispatch and told them we were en route."

Estrada and Vincent get back into the police cruiser. Estrada reaches into a paper bag and pulls out an energy shot, handing it to Vincent.

"Here man, drink up."

"Thanks, man." Vincent unscrews the top of the bottle and chugs down the shot. Vincent asks Estrada, "So what were we dispatched to again?"

"We have to stand by with the military police as they conduct some type of raid."

"Oh, great. What's this raid going to be about? Some citizens that are upset with the way the government has been treating them, so the government considers them terrorists?"

"Hey, man...unfortunately, laws are laws. People have to follow the rules or be arrested. The government is doing everything to make our lives easier."

Vincent rolls his eyes. "So when did you become a globalist?"

Estrada responds, sounding upset. "Come on, man. You know I don't like talking about this stuff with you because A) we always argue about it, and B) it's not really a good idea to be talking about stuff like this."

"And why is it not a good idea to talk about this stuff?"

"Because man, I enjoy my freedom. I don't feel like being arrested and losing my job."

"Oh, you mean like how we no longer have freedom of speech?"

Now Estrada becomes frustrated. "You see what I mean, man? We argue. Never mind man, just forget it. Anyway, we are pulling up to the run, so put the mic in your mouth and call us out at scene!"

Vincent quickly snatches the mic from its holder. "Five-thirteen is out on scene."

"Ten-four, unit 5-13 is on scene," the dispatcher responds.

Estrada pulls the police cruiser up to two black armored Humvees that are blocking the roadway. An Army military policeman approaches the vehicle as Estrada rolls down his window.

The soldier asks, "Are you guys the standby unit?"

Estrada replies, "Yes, sir, we are."

The soldier gives a thumbs-up to one of the Humvees that is blocking the roadway. The Humvee backs up in order to allow the police cruiser to pass through.

The soldier gives orders to Estrada. "Okay, drive down a block and you will see the rest of the MPs. When you get there, stand by for further orders. Do not get out of your vehicle unless directed to do so."

"Yes, sir."

Estrada drives down the block where several military vehicles are parked. Estrada parks the police cruiser next to a black armored Humvee.

At the scene there are several military personnel escorting citizens out of an abandoned movie theater. The people have their hands bound behind their backs with flex-cuffs and are being put into one of several deuce and a half military trucks.

The voices of military personnel can be heard saying, "Move it! Move it! Let's go!" Some citizens are cooperative and walking to the truck without any problems, and some are being dragged by their feet because they refuse to go willingly. These people are irate, yelling and screaming.

Estrada looks at Vincent and says, "Damn, vato, what's going on? What do you think these people did?"

"I don't know. I'd really like to know since we are now a part of this."

Vincent notices that one of the soldiers exiting the theater has several books in his hands and throws them onto the ground into a pile of several other books. Vincent opens his door to exit the cruiser.

Estrada grabs his left arm. "Where the fuck are you going, man? They told us not to get out of the car!"

Vincent violently pulls his arm away from Estrada. "I want to know what the fuck's going on here." Vincent begins to walk toward the pile of books. His attention is drawn to a middle-aged woman, who is being dragged on the ground by her feet by two soldiers. The woman is yelling and screaming.

She makes eye contact with Vincent and says, "You are all a part of evil! You will all burn in hell next to him! Burn in hell—all of you!" Then a soldier kicks the woman in the head, and she is knocked unconscious.

Vincent walks up to the pile of books. He kneels down and picks up one of the books with his right hand. It has a worn, black leather protective case covering it. He opens the book and is shocked by what he reads.

It's the Holy Bible.

At that very moment, Vincent hears the voice of an elderly woman. "You're a good man. I can see it in you."

Vincent stands up and towers over the old woman. Looking down on her, he asks, "Excuse me?"

The woman looks up and smiles at Vincent. He can feel her putting something in his left hand. In a soft voice, she says, "You're not like the rest of them. There is good inside of you."

Suddenly the elderly woman is grabbed by one of the soldiers. He yells back to some of his men. "How did this one get out? Why isn't she cuffed?" She is passed on to two other soldiers who then place her in flex-cuffs and escort her away.

Vincent quickly places the item in his left cargo pants pocket. The soldier slaps the Bible out of Vincent's right hand and yells at him. "What the fuck are you doing? You are interfering with a military operation! Your orders were not to get out of the car and just to stand by!"

At that moment Estrada jumps out of the car, grabs Vincent, and pushes him back toward the police cruiser. The soldier can be heard yelling, "Yeah...get him the fuck out of here before both of you are arrested for interfering with a military operation."

Estrada opens the passenger door to the police cruiser, shoves Vincent into the passenger seat, and slams the door. Vincent looks out at the pile of bibles. A soldier approaches the pile with a portable gasoline can and pours gasoline all over the pile. He then strikes the tip of a flare to light it and drops the flare on the gasoline-soaked bibles. Within seconds the bibles are engulfed in flames.

Estrada opens the driver's door, quickly sits down, and slams the door shut. He is furious with Vincent. With a beet-red face, Estrada screams at the top of his lungs. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Why can't you ever just stick to the program? You always got to be so god- damn difficult! Pull that shit on me one more time, and I will request a new partner! Are we fucking clear?"

Vincent does not respond.

Estrada asks again. "I said...are we fucking clear?"

In a calm voice, Vincent responds, "Crystal."

Estrada slams the gearshift down into drive and drives off at a high rate of speed, making the tires squeal.

The two men drive around for an hour in complete silence until Estrada's cell phone rings. He answers. "Hello? Ok, I'm on the way."

Estrada drives for several blocks and then pulls over and parks the cruiser. Without looking at Vincent, he opens his door and says, "I need to go in here real quick to talk to someone." He exits the car, slams the door, and walks into a bookstore.

Vincent says to himself, "What the fuck." He looks across the street and sees a convenience store. "Yeah, that's what I need right about now." He gets out of the car and walks across street and into the store.

Vincent walks in on an argument between a customer and the store clerk. Vincent gets in line behind the customer. He can't help but be nosy and listen to the argument.

The customer sticks out his right hand to the clerk. He is baffled and confused, saying, "C'mon man, scan it again, scan it again."

The clerk waives the scanner over the customer's hand several times. In a Middle Eastern accent, the clerk says, "I don't know why it no work."

The customer begins to panic. He turns around to look at Vincent then looks back at the clerk. "Something has to be wrong with your scanner, man. Scan it again! I don't believe this...they turned off my chip. They fucking cut me off—I can't believe this shit, man!"

"I'm sorry, my friend. But it no work." The clerk says to the man.

At the same time, four army soldiers enter the store. Two soldiers grab the man, one holding each arm, as the other two point their AR-15 rifles at him. The soldiers forcefully remove the man from the store. He is pleading with the soldiers, telling them that there must be some mistake.

Vincent is watching all of this occur in a daze.

The clerk attempts to get Vincent's attention. "Sir...sir..."

Vincent snaps out of his daze. "Oh, um...I'm sorry."

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah, let me get three mini bottles of Red Stag."

"Six-eighteen, please."

Vincent opens one of the bottles and drinks it down. He then extends his right hand to the clerk who scans it.

As Vincent steps toward the door, the clerk says, "Excuse me, officer."

Vincent stops and takes a step backwards. "Yes?"

"Why they take him? He is bad man?"

"Yeah, very bad man." Vincent says.

"Where they take him? Jail? I think they kill him. No?"

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I know this. If you no listen to government, they kill you. This why I always listen. I no want to die."

"Yeah, I no want to die either, my friend." Vincent makes his way to the door and exits the store. He leans up against the wall outside and twists off the top on the second bottle, puts the bottle to his lips, and leans his head back, gulping down the shot. Then he sees what appears to be a man standing on top of a five-story building looking down on him. As Vincent tries to focus his eyes to get a better look, he notices the man quickly steps out of sight.

"Yo, vato," Estrada yells from across the street.

Vincent focuses his attention on Estrada.

"What are you doing over there? C'mon, lets go."

Vincent looks both ways then jogs across the street and gets back into the police cruiser.

"What were you doing over there, man?"

"I got thirsty."

"Well, where's your drink?"

"I got a small bottle of water, but I slammed it really fast."

Estrada puts the police cruiser in drive and begins to drive. He says to Vincent, "Ok, here's the deal. I went into that book store to meet with Lena."

With a confused look on his face, Vincent asks, "What did you meet with her for?"

"I don't know, man. She said she needs to meet with you, but can't really have any contact with you."

"Why can't she have contact with me?" Vincent asks.

"I don't know, man. All she said is that she needs to meet you and wants to meet you at Space tomorrow night."

"Space? Why the fuck does she want to meet at a night club?"

"I don't know. I'm assuming it has something to do with the info that she gave you the other day."

"Well, whatever man."

"Fuck it, we'll just make a night out of it. I haven't been to the club in a few weeks, and last time we went I got lucky, remember?"

Vincent laughs. "Oh, you mean you got lucky with that man?"

"What do you mean "a man"? That chick was fine as hell."

"Dude, her Adam's apple was bigger than mine."

"Well, whatever...he sucked a mean-ass dick."

Both break out in uncontrollable laughter. After the laughing stops, Vincent's demeanor becomes serious. "Hey man, I think I'm being watched."

"Watched? By whom and why?" Estrada asks.

"The police."

"The police? We are the police."

"Not the police like us. The secret police." Vincent says.

"C'mon, vato, you know there is no secret police."

"Who the hell do you think Lena works for?"

"Lena works for the FBI. They just have a different name nowadays."

"Well, she told me what goes on in her office, and it's some shady-ass shit."

"You're just paranoid because of what she told you."

"No, man, it's not paranoia. I've seen these guys. They are watching me."

"You just need to relax, vato. Tomorrow we are gonna have fun. We gonna pull some hoes from da club. Whoooo! I can't wait, homes! I'll pick you up at 10 tomorrow, and don't be late. Sometimes you're like a girl, and you take forever to get ready."

"Whatever, man. I'll be ready at 10."

Dance with me

Vincent is down on one knee. He picks up a book with his right hand. It has a worn, black-leather protective case covering it. He opens the book and is shocked by what he reads. The book is titled The Holy Bible.

He hears the voice of an elderly woman. "You're a good man, I can see it in you." He hears this several time in an echo. He can see the face of the elderly woman smiling at him. He feels her put something in his left hand. He sees her face again. She closes her eyes and then opens them. Her eyes are completely white, her skin melts away, and she screams and says, "Save us, Vincent!"

Vincent jumps up and is sitting in his bed shirtless and drenched in sweat. After a few seconds, he gathers himself and realizes that he was asleep and just had a nightmare about the elderly woman that he talked to earlier that day.

Vincent realizes that he forgot to check his pocket and see what the old woman gave him. He gets out of bed and picks up his work pants from the bedroom floor. He feels around and touches an object in the pocket. He pulls the object out.

It's a silver necklace with a pendant on the end of it. He holds it up and dangles it in front of his face. Vincent takes a closer look at the pendant. It has St. Michael on one side, and the other side reads "St. Michael, patron saint of police."

Vincent sets the necklace down on his dresser. He looks at his alarm clock and notices that it is 8:27 pm. He realizes that he should probably start getting ready to go out to the club because Estrada will be over soon to pick him up.

***

It is now 10:06 pm. Vincent is just finishing up getting dressed when his phone rings. He picks it up and sees that Estrada is calling. Vincent answers the phone. "You're six minutes late."

"Shut the fuck up and come outside. I'm here."

"Ok, I'll be right out."

Vincent grabs his black leather jacket and turns to walk out of his bedroom when his eye catches the silver necklace on his dresser. He walks over to the dresser, picks up the necklace, and puts it around his neck.

***

Vincent exits the lobby doors of his high-rise condo to see Estrada waiting for him in his cherry-red Camaro SS. Estrada beeps the horn three times and puts his hands up. Vincent opens the passenger door and gets in. Estrada asks, "What's up, homie? Are you ready to get your freak on?"

"Yeah, your momma called me and told me she was going to be there. So yeah, I'm ready to get my freak on."

"Hey hey hey, vato...easy with the momma jokes."

Vincent laughs, "Yeah, man, I'm ready." Vincent reaches into his right breast jacket pocket and pulls out a cigar. He puts it in his mouth and then lights it.

Estrada looks over at him. "Hey man, what the fuck are you doing? You can't smoke in my baby!"

"Relax, I'm not gonna get any ash on your baby."

"I swear, if you do, I'm gonna put a bullet in your head."

"Just shut up and drive, I need a drink."

"Oh, you want me to shut up and drive, huh?"

Vincent takes a big puff from his cigar, blows the smoke out the window, and says, "Yeah, man, drive."

Estrada pushes the gas pedal all the way to the floor and shifts gears violently. The vehicle purrs loudly from his custom exhaust system. Vincent leans over and looks at the speedometer and sees the needle quickly rotating clockwise.

Estrada weaves in and out of traffic. Vincent notices the traffic light ahead turn yellow. He instantly becomes uncomfortable. He looks at Estrada, then straight ahead, then back at Estrada. Vincent says in a panicked voice, "You're not gonna make it, your not gonna make it!"

Estrada blurts out, "Wooohooooo!" He shifts gears again and says, "Hang on, vato!"

The light turns red when they are about 100 feet from the intersection. Both simultaneously scream, "Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!" as they blow through the red light. Two cars driving through the intersection slam on their brakes.

Estrada bursts into laughter. "Man, what a rush! Do you still want me to shut up and drive?"

"No, don't drive any more."

Estrada slams on the brakes, bringing the car to the posted speed limit. "We're almost there, man."

"You are going to have to take me back home, man."

"What? No...why?"

Vincent looks at Estrada. "Because I think I just shit my pants." They laugh.

Estrada makes a right turn and pulls up to a huge warehouse with a sign that says "SPACE NITE CLUB." There are about 150 people waiting in line to get inside. Estrada drives past the club slowly as he looks at all the people waiting in line. He points at a woman and says, "Damn, vato, look at that ass on that."

Vincent replies, "Look, man...just don't pick up another man like last time."

"Ha ha. Fuck off, vato." Estrada pulls the car up to valet. The doors are opened for both of them by the valet staff. Estrada and Vincent bypass the line and walk straight to the front door of the club. Estrada walks up to the doorman and slaps hands with him. "Hey Sam, how you been?"

Sam responds, "I'm good man, come on in. There's a lot of pussy in there tonight. Enjoy yourself."

"Oh, I definitely will, my man." Estrada and Vincent enter the front door and begin walking down a very long hallway that is dimly lit. The closer they get to the end of the hallway, the louder the dance music becomes. Estrada begins dancing and walking at the same time.

Vincent smiles and says, "Damn man, you know how to get down."

"C'mon, vato, you know us Latinos got rhythm."

"Ok, man, let's just get to the bar." They approach a large metal door and Estrada knocks. The door is opened by one of the club's bouncers. They are bombarded by the loud dance music. The club is huge. Vincent looks out over the dance floor and can see over 500 people dancing. Strobe lights are flashing and there is an elaborate laser light show. Vincent moves close to Estrada's ear and yells, "Man, this place is crazy!"

"Hell yeah, it is. C'mon, man, let's go to the bar and get some drinks then find some hoes to dance with."

"Now you're taking." Vincent says.

They push through the crowd and make their way to the bar. The bartender looks at both men and asks, "What can I get you guys?"

Vincent orders, "Goose on the rocks and Corona with a lime."

When the bartender passes over the drinks, he says, "$25 even."

Vincent reaches over the bar with his right hand and is scanned by the bartender. Vincent grabs the drinks, turns toward Estrada, and hands him the Corona.

"Thanks, vato. I'll get the next round."

Both men turn around and face the dance floor. As three women walk past them, Estrada puts his right arm around Vincent and says, "Look at this shit, vato. Explain this to me, homie...how the fuck can anyone be gay?"

"I don't know, man...why you askin' me that? It's their choice."

"I know it's their choice, but...ok, look at these sexy girls walkin' past us. Would you rather stick your dick in their pussies or some dude's asshole?"

Vincent begins to laugh hysterically and says, "Ummm...the sexy girls' pussies."

"I mean...I don't have anything against gay guys, but damn...I just don't understand it...That's why I think you are born gay."

Vincent smiles and asks in a feminine voice, "You mean you wouldn't fuck me, baby?"

"Yeah, you're a sexy bitch...I be all up in that."

Both begin to laugh uncontrollably. Vincent wipes away his tears from laughing so hard and says, "Ok, so where the fuck is Lena? Let's see what she wants and go get our party on."

"I don't know, man. I'm sure she will find us. C'mon, let's go find some bitches to dance with."

"I like how you think. I trained you well." Vincent says as he points his index finger at Estrada.

"Oh, you trained me? Last time I checked, I had more t on the j."

"Ok, you got hired like six months before I did. But I got something you will never have," Vincent asserts.

"Yeah, and what's that?"

"Four years army special forces, bitch!"

"Ok, I'll give you that. But I'll still kick your ass."

"Yeah, sure. Ok...can we stop fucking around and stick with the game plan?"

"Yeah, you're right, vato. Let's go over there." Estrada points across the dance floor where two women are dancing with each other. The women are smiling at Vincent and Estrada.

They push their way through the crowd and make their way toward the women. Vincent says, "I got the one with the dark hair, and you take blond."

"That's why we are partners, vato, we can read each other's minds."

Vincent stands face to face with the woman with dark hair. He looks her up and down from head to toe. She is wearing black smoky eye shadow and a skin-tight black dress with bright red high-heel shoes. Vincent stares at her large fake breasts, then looks the woman in the eyes. He offers her his right hand and introduces himself. "Hello, I'm Vincent."

The woman bites her bottom lip and says, "Val, pleasure to meet you," and shakes his right hand. Val laughs and asks, "Gloves? Are you cold or something?"

Vincent smiles and says, "Yeah, actually I am. You gonna warm me up?"

Val moves in closer to Vincent, licks her lips, then whispers in his ear, "Oh yeah...I'm going to make you sweat."

Vincent smiles and looks back at Estrada, who is passionately kissing the blonde woman. Vincent laughs and says to Val, "Well that was quick."

Val grabs Vincent by the head with two hands, brings his face close to hers and kisses him. Vincent begins to dance with Val. She dances on him very erotically. They kiss several times while dancing.

Vincent turns Val around, facing her away from him. Vincent grabs her breasts as Val rubs her ass on Vincent's crotch. Val turns back to face Vincent and licks the sweat from his neck as she put her hand down his pants and begins to rub his penis.

After several minutes of dancing, Estrada taps Vincent on the shoulder and says, "Hey, let's take a break and get some drinks and cool off."

Vincent says, "Yeah, sounds good. Let's go find a booth." The four walk upstairs to the second floor and find an empty booth. Vincent and Estrada sit down.

Val grabs the blonde woman by her hand and says, "Excuse us, we have to use the little girls room," then drags her friend away.

Vincent grabs several napkins from the table and wipes the sweat from his forehead. Estrada says to Vincent, "I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get us another round." Estrada slides out the booth and makes his way to the bar.

Vincent leans on his right side and puts his left leg up on the seat. He sits there by himself for several minutes, scrolling through his cell phone, when he notices someone standing at the edge of the booth. He looks up and sees that it's Lena. She's dressed in a tight red dress with a low-cut top. She is wearing her hair down and straight.

Vincent quickly sits up straight. "Hey."

"Is this seat taken?" Lena asks.

"No, not at all. Have a seat."

Lena sits down next to Vincent. He looks at her cleavage and says, "Well you look nice."

Lena smirks and says, "Thank you. Where's your BFF, Estrada?"

"He just got up to go get us another round."

Lena smiles and asks, "Why are you all sweaty?"

"Oh, um...we were dancing."

Lena laughs. "Since when do you dance?"

Vincent smiles and says, "I still know how to shake my ass." They both laugh. In a sincere voice, Vincent says to Lena, "Look...about the other night, I just want to apologize. You were trying to help and I blew you off."

Lena smiles and says, "It's ok. I kind of prepared myself for a reaction like that, but...anyway, look...that's why I wanted to meet."

"So what's up?"

Lena looks around and says, "I don't want to talk here. Come dance with me and I'll tell you." She grabs Vincent by the hand and pulls him out of the booth.

Vincent laughs. "You know, if want to dance with me, all you have to do is ask instead of making up a story about wanting to talk to me."

Lena looks back at Vincent and says, "Shut up, this is serious."

Lena drags Vincent down the stairs and onto the dance floor where she faces him and pulls him close to her. Lena says, "Ok, did you read the file that I gave you?"

"Yes, I did, and I have no idea why I'm on the list. It actually made me paranoid, and I almost beat Estrada's ass over it."

"Estrada? Why him?"

"Well, prior to you telling me that I was on the list, Estrada and I talked about the end of the world and the Bible. You know, shit like that. But like I say, I guess I was just paranoid."

"You don't think Estrada said anything, do you?"

Vincent becomes angry. "No! Fuck no, he didn't! He's like my brother and one of the only people I trust in this world."

"Ok, ok, I'm just saying, Vincent. Look, if you haven't done anything or said anything, then maybe some is trying to set you up?"

"Why would anyone want to set me up?"

"I don't know, but I was snooping around at work, and I came across some paperwork with your name on it saying you have been upgraded to a Level II."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Level I is just you being a suspect and requiring advanced monitoring. Level II is when they physically survey you, and Level III is an arrest warrant."

"Yeah, I've been noticing a few yahoos tailing me."

"Really? You are being followed? So that confirms you are a Level II. You have to be very careful, Vincent, because these guys don't play around. Any little thing you do can make you a Level III. So in the meantime, watch what you say or do."

"Yeah, God help whomever it is that's talking shit because I will kill them."

"You see? You just did it."

"Did what?"

"You said 'God.' People hear you say that, and they think you are practicing religion."

"You can't be fucking serious? I know they have outlawed religion, but come on...they will come after me for saying God?"

"You don't get it do you? One of the strictest laws is the religion law. I see it every day at the office. Hundreds of people are being arrested every day for it."

"Why did you stay, Lena?"

"What do you mean?"

"When the FBI changed into the secret police."

"You know it's not called the secret police, Vincent."

"Well, whatever it's called now. Why did you stay? They do things that you know aren't right."

"Look, I did what I had to do. We were basically threatened with arrest if we didn't comply with the changeover. You don't understand how ruthless these people are, Vincent. They get you to do what they want. But enough of that...just please...be mindful of your actions."

Vincent winks at Lena and grabs her by her hand. "I'll be fine. Let's get back to the booth. Estrada is probably wondering where I am."

Lena notices that Vincent is wearing a necklace. She reaches for it and says, "What are you wearing? You never wear jewelry."

Vincent grabs Lena by the wrist to prevent her from touching his necklace. "Don't touch it! I got it from a friend."

"Ok, damn, I'm sorry."

Vincent turns and walks toward the booth, holding Lena's hand as she follows behind him.

Lena grabs Vincent by his shoulder and asks, "Why the hell are you wearing gloves? What is it with you and gloves, Vincent?" Lena laughs.

Vincent just smiles and continues walking.

They make their way up the stairs and back to the booth where Estrada is sitting in the middle with his arms around both women. All three are laughing together. Estrada turns his attention to Vincent and Lena and says, "Hey! Lena, what up girl?"

"Hi Alejandro."

Estrada looks at Vincent and says, "Well, I was going to put out a BOLO for you, but I guess case closed now." Both men laugh.

Val rolls her eyes and with attitude, says to Vincent, "Who's this bitch?"

Lena responds to Val. "Who are you calling a bitch? You skank!"

Val picks up a full glass from the table and throws it at Lena.

Lena ducks as the glass hits Vincent in the chest, and the drink splashes all over his chest and face. Lena jumps into the booth and on top of Val. She begins to pull her hair and punches her several times in the face.

Vincent quickly intervenes and grabs Lena around her waist and pulls her off of Val. Vincent quickly carries her down the stairs and through the bar.

Lena says, "Put me the fuck down!"

Vincent put her down. "Chill out. Are you ok?"

Lena adjusts her dress by pulling it down and runs her fingers through her hair. "Yeah, I'm fine. That bitch is lucky you stopped me."

Both start walking down the hallway toward the front door. Vincent laughs and says, "Man, I've never seen you lose you cool like that."

Behind them they can hear Estrada calling, "Hey guys, wait up." He runs up from behind them. Estrada laughs and says, "Damn, girl...that was awesome!"

Lena flexes her right bicep. "See these guns? Don't mess with me."

All three laugh as they walk out the front door. Estrada says, "Ok, I'm going to find the valet guy. Bye, Lena. It was nice seeing you."

Lena hugs Estrada and says, "Bye. It was nice to see you, too. Hopefully next time I won't have to beat a bitch down."

Estrada laughs and walks away toward the valet booth.

Lena turns to Vincent, hugs him very tightly and says, "Bye, Vincent. It was great seeing you. I had fun."

"I did, too." Both look each other in the eyes and slowly move their lips closer to each other. Just as they are about to kiss, they are interrupted by the sound of a beeping car horn.

Estrada yells out of the window. "Yo, vato...lets go!"

Lena smiles and lets go of Vincent. "Well, I got to get going. I have to wake up early tomorrow." She then kisses Vincent on his left cheek. She turns and walks away.

Vincent stands and stares at Lena as she walks away from him. Estrada beeps the horn again and yells out at Vincent, "C'mon, man, let go!"

Vincent smiles and gets into the car with Estrada.

A world united

It's late afternoon and Lester III is sitting at his desk with his legs crossed, hands folder together, and elbows resting on the armrests of his large leather chair.

Lilith stands behind him to his left with her right hand resting on top of his chair. Lilith is dressed in her typical black business suit with a skirt and black high heels. The office is very large with a pool table, library, TVs, wet bar, and full bathroom.

A female voice comes through his telephone intercom. "Mr. Lester?"

"Yes," he replies.

"All of the continental leaders are ready."

"Excellent, let them in, please."

"Right away, sir."

The very large wooden door opens. Seven men enter in a single-file line and line up facing Lester III and Lilith.

Lilith leans in and whispers into Lester III's left ear. Lester III nods his head, unfolds his hands, and extends them toward the men. "Gentlemen, this is a great and glorious day. I have been dreaming of this day since I was a young man."

The men are all smiling as they look at each other. A butler pours each of the men a glass of Rémy Martin Louis the XIII cognac in solid crystal glasses and hands each man a glass.

Lester III holds up his glass and says, "Gentlemen, a toast to world peace." They all hold up their glasses and take a drink.

Lester III puts his glass down on his desk. "Now gentlemen...let's get down to business. As a part of the peace treaty that I have put into place to end the world war against Israel, I have outlawed all religion because—let's face it gentlemen—religion is the main reason that there has been war since the beginning of time. Don't you all agree?"

All of the men shake their heads to agree.

"Have all of you endorsed me with your people and declared me as your leader?"

All of the men nod their heads yes.

"Now, the most important question."

Lester III looks at the first man, who is standing to his right. He is wearing a black suit. He has fair skin, brown hair, grey eyes, and a large mole on his left cheek.

Lester III speaks in Russian, the man's native tongue. "Have all of your people accepted the chip into their right hands?"

"Yes," the man replies in Russian.

Lester III looks at the second man, who is Chinese. The Chinese man is dressed in a traditional Chinese military uniform. Lester III asks him in the Chinese language, "And you?"

The Chinese leader responds in the affirmative.

Lester III looks at the third man, who is dressed in a cream-colored suit. He has blond hair and blue eyes. Lester III speaks German to him.

The German leader responds yes in German

The fourth man is of African decent. He is dressed in a green camouflage military uniform with a black beret. Lester III asks the man in an African language.

He says yes.

The fifth man is wearing a gray suit. He has dark-brown skin, black hair, and brown eyes. Lester III asks the man in Spanish, "And you?"

The Spanish leader replies yes in Spanish.

The sixth man he questions is an Arab man with dark skin and a dark-black goatee. He is dressed in an elaborate silk black robe with gold trim and a white ghutra on his head. Lester III asks the man in Arabic, "And you, prince?"

The Arab prince says yes in his native language.

The seventh man is an Indian man with dark skin and a black beard with a mustache. He is dressed in a brown military uniform with a white turban on his head. Lester III asks the man in his language, "And you, general?"

"Yes," replies the general.

Lester III looks at Lilith and smiles at her. Lilith smiles back. Lester III stands up and with excitement says, "Now it is complete, one united world. Now kneel before me and accept me as your father, as you now become my servants and surrender all your power, land, and militaries to me."

The seven men kneel before Lester III and bow their heads. Two men enter the office wearing white medical jackets and latex gloves.

Lester III says, "Doctors, they are ready to accept me." One of the doctors is carrying a tray with seven syringe like instruments. The two walk up to the German leader, who offers his right hand. It's wiped with an alcohol swab. The doctor then picks up a syringe, sticks it in the German leader's right hand at an angle, and pushes the end of the syringe that implants the identification chip.

The doctors then move on to the Asian leader. As the doctor wipes his hand with an alcohol swab, the Arab leader lifts his head and looks at the doctors about to implant the chip into the Asian leader's hand. With a confused look on his face, he looks at Lester III.

"What is this? This was not part of our agreement."

Lester III's demeanor quickly turns from excitement to extreme anger. Lilith leans over and whispers into Lester III's ear. He says to the Arab leader, "So you deny me?"

"No, I do not deny you, but this was not part of the agreement."

Lilith opens a drawer of Lester III's desk and pulls out a nickel-plated Desert Eagle .50 caliber handgun. She walks up to the Arab leader and stands in front of him. She points the gun at the Arab leader's head and cocks back the hammer.

The Arab leader begins to panic, puts his hands together, and pleads with Lilith. "No, wait, wait!"

She places the barrel of the gun directly on his forehead, smiles, and pulls the trigger.

The gun shot completely blows the back of the Arab leader's head open, causing a large amount of blood and brain matter to fly a great distance, spattering the floor and wall behind him.

The other six leaders and the two doctors watch in shock. Lilith, still smiling, turns and walks back to Lester III's desk where she places the handgun back in the drawer.

Lester III removes the handkerchief from the left breast pocket of his suit and passes it to Lilith. He clears his throat, smiles, and says to the remaining leaders, "Now, gentlemen, where were we?"

All six remaining leaders are visibly shaken and scared. They quickly bow their heads, and those who have not been implanted with the chip quickly stick out their right hands.

Lilith removes her glasses and holds them up to the light. She realizes that some of the Arab leader's blood has spattered onto her lenses. She uses Lester III's handkerchief and wipes the blood from her lenses.

***

After the last leader is implanted, Lester III orders the men to stand up. He says to them, "Now, gentlemen, go back to your hotels and wait for further instructions. My temple will be finished soon, and we shall celebrate its completion with a great ceremony, and all of you shall be my guests of honor." Lester III presses a button on his office phone and a female voice asks, "Yes Mr. Lester?"

Lester III leans over the intercom and says, "Please escort my loyal guests out of my office."

"Yes, right away, sir."

"Oh, and one more thing." Lester III laughs while looking at Lilith. "Send in a cleaning crew, Lilith made a mess on my lovely carpet."

"Yes, sir."

The office door opens. The six men walk toward the door, carefully stepping around the Arab leader's body, trying not to step on him or in his blood and brain matter. Once all of the leaders exit the office, the door is closed. Lester III shakes his head and laughs.

My daddy

Vincent sits slouched on his leather couch with his legs on the coffee table. He has a bottle of beer in his left hand and is flipping through TV channels with the remote in his right hand. Ruger walks over to Vincent and sits to his right. Vincent puts down the remote control and pets Ruger on his head. "Hey, good boy."

Ruger begins to whine and pant.

"What's wrong, boy?" Ruger barks. Vincent throws his hands up. "What the hell do you want?" Ruger trots away and Vincent says, "Good. Get out of here."

Ruger returns shortly with a leash in his mouth and drops it in Vincent's lap. Vincent looks over at the clock to see it is 10:45 pm. He looks over at Ruger. "Really? You want to go for a walk this late? Ok, well, guess what—I'm gonna get my work out in and make you run."

He goes into the bedroom and gets dressed. When he exits the room, Ruger is sitting by the door with the leash in his mouth.

Vincent laughs. "Man, you're something else, I should've got a cat." He takes the leash out of Ruger's mouth and clips it to his choker. They exit the building.

Vincent put headphones in his ears and presses play on his iPod, blasting hip-hop music into his ears. They begin running southbound on Woodward Ave, and pass one of the most iconic pieces of artwork in the city. The fist of the great boxer, Joe Lewis, stands in the median of Jefferson Ave.

They continue into Hart Plaza and stop briefly. Vincent looks around and notices that there are no people around. He says to Ruger, "Ok. I'm gonna unleash you, so you better behave." They continue running through Hart Plaza and then along the waterfront.

They run for another half mile and come upon a camp for displaced persons. Vincent can see several hundred white tents with hundreds of people walking around. The camp is brightly lit and enclosed by very high chain-link fences lined with razor wire.

Vincent continues running along the fence line and says to himself, "Displacement camp. Looks more like a prison to me." They continue with their run and now find themselves running through the streets of downtown. Ruger runs past Vincent and is now 20 yards ahead of him.

Ruger suddenly stops and sits. When Vincent catches up to him, he notices something unusual. He notices a little girl around six years old standing by herself on the sidewalk. She is wearing a pink knit cap and has straight blonde hair. She has on a fluffy white jacket, white snow pants, and pink rain boots.

Vincent stops and removes the earphones from his ears. He presses pause on his iPod. The little girl is facing away from him, looking at Ruger. She asks Vincent, "Can I pet your dog?"

Vincent tries to catch his breath. "Yeah, sure. Just do it slowly because he is a security dog and might bite if you make any sudden moves toward him."

The little girl smiles and begins to pet Ruger's head. "I love dogs. What's his name?"

"His name is Ruger."

"I like that name, how old is he?"

Vincent looks around and doesn't see anyone who might be with the little girl. "Hey kid, where are your parents at? It's kinda late for you to be out here all by yourself, don't you think? It's not safe for a little girl like you to be out here by yourself."

The little girl continues to pet Ruger and says, "Don't worry, mister, I'm safe. My father will keep me safe."

"Oh, your father is around? Ok, good. Where is he? I don't see him."

"My father is all around. You can't see him, but if you try hard enough, you can feel him."

Vincent looks around him again, but sees no one. "Ok, kid...stop messing around—it's cold out here, so why don't you tell me where your father is so I can get you back to him, and I can be on my way."

The little girl still does not look at Vincent. "Do you have a father?"

"What? Um...yeah, of course I do. Everyone has a father."

"You should talk to him. My father always tells me stuff."

"Well, that ain't gonna happen, kid. I haven't talked to my father in 15 years. I don't even know if he's alive."

The little girl turns around and looks up at Vincent. She has big, bright-blue eyes that seem to glow. She giggles and says, "Your father is alive, silly, but he's not going to be around forever. Mr. Vincent, you should go talk to him. Fathers always give their children good advice. I know mine does."

"Yeah, well, thanks for the advice kid. Do you live around here?"

"Yes, I live right here." She points to a duplex house. Vincent looks at the house and notices the address is 11244.

"Wow, you live in a nice home."

Suddenly, without warning, Ruger takes off running down the street. Vincent turns and yells to him, "Ruger, get back here!" As he begins to turn back to the little girl, he asks, "Hey...how did you know my name?"

He looks down and notices that she is no longer there. He calls for her. "Hey, little girl, little girl...where are you?" With a confused look on his face, he looks around in all directions. He looks down the street and sees that Ruger is almost out of sight. He gives up looking for the girl and runs after Ruger, yelling. "Ruger, get back here you, little shit!"

After sprinting several blocks, Vincent finally catches up to Ruger. "Stay, goddammit!" Ruger stops and lies down.

Vincent bends over and places his hands on his knees. He is breathing heavily and takes several deep breaths. He stands straight up, places his hands on top of his head, and continues to take deep breaths. As he stands there, trying to catch his breath, he turns toward the street and notices a black SUV moving very slowly in the middle of the road about a half-block away. Vincent reaches for his waistband and realizes that he forgot to bring his handgun with him.

"Shit. Ok Ruger...I'm sick of these assholes following me. You wanna have some fun with these guys?" Ruger barks back. Vincent begins to jog at a slow pace. He turns to look back and sees the black SUV accelerating. It picks up speed, getting closer to them.

Vincent runs into the middle of the street and stops. He turns toward the SUV, grabs his crotch, and spits on the ground. Vincent looks down at Ruger. "Ok, boy...I'm sure that pissed them off—let's do it."

Vincent and Ruger begin sprinting down the middle of the street. Vincent hears the screeching of the SUV's tires. He looks ahead and sees an alley on the right. He looks back and sees the SUV is very close and gaining on him.

Vincent and Ruger reach the alley and make a sharp right turn. The driver of the SUV slams on the brakes and stops in the middle of the road. Vincent turns around to face the SUV and continues running backwards. He laughs, knowing that the alley is too narrow for the SUV to follow him.

He turns back around and continues to laugh. "Come on, boy. Fuck these guys—let's go home."

Why do you talk to yourself?

Estrada and Vincent load their equipment into the trunk of their patrol vehicle. "I think I'm gonna drive tonight," Vincent says.

"What? You never drive."

"Yeah, well, I feel like driving tonight."

Estrada laughs. "What's up with that, vato? When was the last time you drove—like a year ago?"

Vincent smiles. "Yeah, something like that." Vincent gets in the driver's seat and starts the car.

"Hey, vato...let's go get a coffee. I need some caffeine."

"Yeah, sure, I just need to drive by a house first."

"You doing a follow up on a case?"

"No, I had a weird experience last night. I took Ruger for a run, and I ended up talking to this little girl because she wanted to pet him. So out of nowhere, Ruger takes off running. So I tried calling him back, but he just kept running. When I looked back at the girl, she was gone. It was like she vanished into thin air. I just want to go knock on the door and make sure she's ok."

"Yeah, that's kinda weird. Let's go check on her."

Vincent drives down the street where he encountered the little girl. He pulls up in front of 11244, the address where the little girl said she lived. He puts the car in park and looks at the house. "What the fuck?"

Estrada looks at him. "What?"

Vincent exits the car and stares at the house. He looks back at Estrada with a confused look on his face.

Estrada also exits the vehicle and stands next to Vincent. "What's up, man? What are we doing at this burnt-out abandoned house?"

"There's no way. This can't be."

"What do you mean?"

Vincent walks up the steps of the home and stands on the porch. He looks into the home through a broken-out window and can see it is abandoned and has sustained major fire damage. He walks to the front door and touches the address numbers. He says, "1-1-2-4-4. I swear to God, this was the house. I looked right at this address, but it wasn't like this—it was clean and intact."

"Are you sure? Maybe it was one of these to the right or left of it, and you just misread the address. You know it was dark out, and you were tired from running."

"No, man, I'm positive it was 1-1-2-4-4." At that moment, Vincent notices an elderly man at the house next door walk out onto the porch. Vincent calls over to him, "Excuse me...sir?"

The elderly man replies, "Yes, officer?"

"I'm looking for a little girl who lives here...blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Does she live here?"

"Are you talking about Alyssa?" the elderly man asks.

"Um, I don't know. I didn't get her name."

"Well, she used to live there."

"Well, where is she now?"

With a sad look on his face, the man replies, "Well, I hate to tell you this, officer, but she passed away in the fire two weeks ago. Did you know her?"

Vincent looks at Estrada with a confused look on his face. Then he looks back at the elderly man. "Um, yeah...kinda."

"Well, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, officer. If you don't have any more questions for me, then I'll be on my way."

"Yeah, that's all. Thank you for your time, sir."

Estrada puts his hand on Vincent's shoulder. "C'mon, man...let's go get those coffees."

They both walk down the front stairs.

Vincent stops at the base of the porch and looks back, staring at the address. "Yo, vato, open the door man—it's cold out here."

"Oh, yeah...sorry, man." Vincent places his right hand near the door handle and the doors unlock.

They pick up two coffees then drive to the top of a parking structure. "What's up? What are we doing here?"

Vincent gets out of the car. "Come out here. I think it's time I tell you a secret."

Estrada gets out of the car. "Oh man, you're making me nervous."

"Shut the fuck up and just come over here."

Estrada walks over to Vincent, who is leaning up against a concrete ledge, looking out toward the high-rise buildings.

Vincent looks at Estrada. "I have to tell you something, and you're probably going to think I'm fucking crazy."

Estrada laughs and says, "Well, I already know you are crazy. What is it, homie?"

"Well, you know how sometimes you catch me talking to myself?"

"Yeah."

"Well...I'm not talking to myself."

Estrada laughs. "Um...ok...well then...who do you talk to? Ghosts?"

"No, not ghosts...angels."

"Come on, man...for real?"

"Yeah, man, I'm totally for real. I'm not fucking with you."

"No, vato, I believe you. I remember back in the day, my grandmother used to tell me about them. She would tell me they were real, but I never had anyone say they've seen or talked to them. What do they look like? Do they have big wings and halos and shit?"

"No, they look like...well...they look like you and me. Like regular people."

"Well, if they look like you and me then how do you know they are angels?"

"Well, the first thing you notice is that some part of their body glows... like their teeth or their eyes or hair. Second, they don't talk normal. They always say fucked-up shit that's confusing. Third, they don't just walk away when the conversation is over. They just always seem to disappear."

"Disappear? Like...poof disappear?"

"Yeah, like...I'll look away and when I look back, they are gone."

"How long have you been seeing them?"

"Shit...damn near my whole life. Remember when I told you I got hit by a car when I was seven?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that was the first time."

"Fuck, man, that's some crazy shit. So what do they say to you?"

"I don't know, man. I really don't know, and the weird thing is...the angels are always adults. That's why I had to go back to where I saw the little girl. It's the first time the angel was a child."

The female dispatcher's voice interrupts their conversation. "Radio 5-13."

Estrada picks up the microphone and responds. "Five-thirteen radio."

"Make Eastern Market to assist the military police. They are searching the area for a male subject that ran from them during an investigation. Subject is described as a white male, 5'9", slim build, wearing a black hoodie and dirty blue jeans."

"Ten-four, unit five-thirteen is en route." Vincent drives several blocks to the area of Eastern Market. They see several military personnel on foot and in vehicles checking the area.

"I bet this guy is ducking down in one of these alleys somewhere," Vincent says. He drives past several alleys as Estrada lights them up with the police vehicle's spotlight.

"Wait!" Estrada shouts.

"What?"

"Back up, vato. I saw something moving over by that dumpster."

Vincent backs up the vehicle.

Estrada opens the car door. "I'm gonna go check it out, just wait here." Estrada exits the car and turns on his flashlight to check the alley. He hears a noise coming from the dumpster. He draws out his Glock .40 caliber handgun from his leg holster and approaches the dumpster with caution. He quickly opens the side door of the dumpster. A black cat jumps out at him and startles him.

"What the fuck!" He looks back at Vincent, who is in tears from laughing so hard.

Vincent yells out, "That's the closest thing to pussy that you will get. Come on, let's go."

Estrada turns and begins walking back to the patrol car when he hears what sounds like a glass bottle rolling on a floor. Estrada pauses a few seconds to listen then turns back toward the dumpster. With his handgun pointed out in front of him, he tactically approaches the dumpster. As he reaches the dumpster, he slowly turns the corner.

He sees the tip of a black boot. He looks back to face Vincent and points down at the boot. He puts his left hand up replicating and gun, which is tactical sign language for "bad guy."

Vincent gives Estrada a thumbs-up sign and puts the car in drive.

Estrada yells out, "Police! Let me see your hands!"

The man takes off running down the alley.

"Stop! Police!" Estrada yells as he starts chasing the man.

Vincent takes his foot off of the brake pedal and drives around the block at a high rate of speed. Just as the man reaches the end of the alley, Vincent pulls up in the police vehicle and cuts the man off. In one fluid motion, Vincent exits the vehicle, draws his handgun from his leg holster, and points it at the man's head. "Got ya, motherfucker."

Estrada catches up and slams the man onto the hood of the police car. He quickly handcuffs him.

Vincent lights up a cigar and says, "What's your problem, man? Why are you running from the police?"

"Please, officers, I'm sorry. Please...just let me go! If you turn me over to them, they will kill me. I have a family!"

Estrada scans the man's right hand, but no information pops up on the scanner. "Why don't you have a chip?" Estrada asks.

"I shouldn't have to. It should be a choice."

"Soooo...is that the reason why you're running?" Vincent asks.

"Yes...I swear, I've done nothing wrong, I swear. I was out trying to find food for my family."

Vincent pulls out a handcuff key from his pocket and tells the man to turn around.

"Yo, vato, what the fuck are you doing?"

"I'm letting him go. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Are you fucking crazy? Do you want us to get arrested at the same time? We have to arrest this asshole."

Vincent pulls Estrada close and whispers into his ear. "If we lock this guy up, you know damn well what will happen to him. Do you want that on your conscience?"

In an angry voice, Estrada replies, "And do you know what the fuck they will do to us?" Estrada talks into his shoulder microphone. "Five-thirteen radio. Advise the MP's that we got the suspect in the alley two blocks west of Eastern Market."

"Ten-four, I will let them know."

With an angry look on his face, Estrada stares into Vincent's eyes. Estrada then grabs the handcuffed man by his left arm and walks him over toward the street where he waves down an approaching Humvee. Estrada passes the man over to two soldiers, who then force the man into the backseat of the Humvee and quickly leave the area.

Estrada walks past Vincent and says in a low voice, "I'm driving."

Vincent shakes his head, sucks his cigar, looks up into the sky, and blows out the smoke.

Poster child

Vincent opens the door and is greeted by Ruger, who jumps up on Vincent's chest in excitement. "Hey, boy. How was your day? Was it as fucked up as mine?" Vincent pets him on the head. He walks over to the window and opens the blinds.

"What the hell?" A large LED billboard across the street now has a large picture of Lester III. "When the hell did they put this guy's picture up?"

Ruger walks up to the window and looks out.

Vincent looks down and Ruger. "Well...I guess he makes a good poster-child...right, boy?"

Vincent sits down on the couch and turns on the television. He sees a news anchor speaking about Lester III. He quickly changes the channel. The next channel shows Lester III speaking in front of thousands of people who are cheering for him. The headline reads, "Breaking News: one world united."

The news anchor comments, "Ladies and gentlemen...let's listen in on William Lester speaking of a new one-world government."

Lester III stands behind a podium, waving both hands over his head at thousands of people who are cheering for him.

"Thank you. Thank you. After countless years of war, world economic collapse, innocent people suffering, starving, and dying...I said to myself, when will this all end? When will one of these great world leaders or politicians step up and end all this? You see...I was born a common person just like every single one of you. Just like all of you, I had faith that someday, one of these people would step up and end all of this, but no one did. Some people would even pray to God, asking him to help them and help the suffering people of the world. But those people quickly learned that their God does not exist. But do you know who does exist? I exist...William Lester III exists."

The crowd erupts in cheers. Lester III puts his hands up, signaling the crowd to quiet down.

"You see, my people, I was just like you, hoping and waiting for someone to step up, but that someone never showed up. So I became tired of waiting, and I stepped up, and I ended all these problems. I have brought peace and ended suffering in this world. You see, my people, I have brought the world together as one. I have created a one-world government, and in one week, we shall all celebrate this historic event in front of the new world government building when it officially opens. Pictures of me shall be posted everywhere, all over the world, so when all of you see my image, it shall remind you that you are all safe and shall live long, peaceful lives. I love all of you, and good night."

The crowd erupts into cheers. People are hugging each other, and some are so moved by Lester III's speech, they are in tears.

Lester III waves to the crowd and walks offstage. He turns toward the crowd one last time before he exits the stage. The TV camera zooms in to gets a close-up of his face.

Vincent stares at the TV and into Lester III's eyes. He falls into a daze and is drawn closer and closer to Lester III's eyes. In a split second, Lester III's eyes become completely black, but then return to normal.

Seeing this snaps Vincent out of his daze. He quickly grabs the TV remote control and turns off the TV. He shakes his head quickly then leans back on his couch. He takes in a deep breath and then exhales. He looks over at Ruger.

"What the fuck is wrong with me? I've been seeing the craziest shit lately. I think I'm losing it."

Vincent walks over to a large bookcase and moves it over to the right. Hidden behind it is a very large safe. Vincent types in a code and the safe unlocks. Vincent grabs the handle to open the safe, but he doesn't open the door.

"What the fuck am I thinking?" He quickly types in the code and relocks the safe. "Come on, boy, I'm tired. Let's get some sleep."

Vincent lies down in his bed and closes his eyes. He suddenly feels very uncomfortable, as if he is lying on cement. He opens his eyes and quickly sits up. He is confused and realizes that he is no longer in his bedroom. He's in the middle of a downtown city street.

He stands up and looks around. He sees no one. It is cold and a thick layer of fog makes it difficult to see more than 20 feet in front of him. He cautiously walks down the street, looking around in all directions.

Vincent suddenly stops because he hears what sounds like a horse walking on the cement in the distance. He notices the fog in front of him is beginning to dissipate. He can barely see what appears to be a white horse that is standing 50 feet in front of him. It also appears that someone is sitting on the horse.

Vincent squints his eyes to focus and shouts out, "Hello, who's there?" There is no response. The sound of the horse's breathing is very loud. Vincent begins walking toward the horse and rider. "Hey, what's going on? Where is everyone?"

Without warning, the man riding the horse yells, "Heya!" The horse begins running full speed toward Vincent. The horse charges at him so fast, he barely has time to react. At the very last second, Vincent dives out of the horse's way and avoids being trampled.

Vincent sits up and looks at the horse, which is very bold and beautiful. It has silky-white hair and is decorated in gold clothes. The horse's rider is dressed in very shiny silver and gold armor.

Vincent stands up and says, "Who the fuck are you?" He tries to take a step toward the horse, but he can't move. He looks down and notices that both of his feet are embedded into the concrete. "What the hell." He tries to pull and wiggle his feet free, but he is trapped.

The rider removes his helmet. Vincent is shocked to see that the rider is Lester III. Lester III smiles and draws out a sword that hangs from his hip. The sword is very clean and shiny. The handle is made of gold.

Lester III's eyes turn completely black as he laughs. He holds the sword straight up over his head with his right arm. He swings the sword down on Vincent's neck.

Vincent closes his eyes and screams, "Nooooo!"

***

When he opens his eyes, he realizes that he is back in his bed. He is sweating profusely and quickly jumps up.

"Holy shit, I can't take this shit anymore." After taking several deep breaths, Vincent calms down and lies back down. He looks over at his alarm clock. "Shit, I have to be at work in two hours."

He closes his eyes and eventually falls asleep.

It's been a few years

Vincent is awakened by the ringing of his cell phone. He looks at the caller ID that shows "unknown." Vincent answers the phone. "Hello?"

A female voice replies, "Hello. Is this Vincent Cain?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"This is Emily Atkins, I'm a hospice nurse. One of my patient's names is Samuel Cain. He says that he's your father, but I'm looking over his paperwork and there is no one listed as next to kin. Are you his son?"

"Well...yeah, I guess biologically he is my father. What can I do for you, Emily?"

"Ok, well...he's been asking for you. He's not doing well, Mr. Cain. I really think you need to come down to his home. We can't find any other family members."

Vincent sits up in his bed and wipes his face with his hand.

"Hello? Mr. Cain...are you there?"

"Um, yeah...I'm here. Ok, I'll be there within the hour."

Vincent gets dressed and heads over to his father's house. He knocks on the front door to the ranch style home. He looks around as he waits for an answer at the door.

Then something grabs Vincent's attention. He sees a white dove that is sitting on the tree branch of a tree that is in the front yard of his father's home.

The front door opens and Vincent turns toward the door. A heavy-set white woman wearing white nurse's scrubs asks, "You must be Vincent?"

"Yes, hi...I'm Vincent Cain, Samuel's son."

"Hello Vincent, please come in. I'm Emily. We spoke over the phone earlier. Before I take you to his room, I want to talk to you in the living room first."

Vincent nods his head and says "Yeah...sure."

"Can I offer you something to drink?"

"Look, Emily. I don't mean to be rude, but I don't have much time, so can you please tell me why you called me here?"

"Well, for the past several days, your father has been having very bad nightmares. Also the other nurses and I will hear him talking to someone, and when we go into his room to see who he's talking to, no one is there. When I ask him who he's talking to, he says he thinks they are angels."

"Ok, so...again, why did you call me?" Vincent asks.

"Vincent, when was the last time you saw your father?"

"It's been a few years."

"Ok, well, he never mentioned you until about three days ago, and he has been demanding to see you ever since. I and the other nurses did a lot of research and finally found you. We thought because of his condition, he made you up in his mind. But something inside me believed that you existed. Ok, follow me, I'll take you to him."

Vincent follows Emily down a hallway to a closed door. Emily turns to him and says, "Vincent, I don't think your father has much time left, so whatever happened between you two in the past should be dealt with."

Vincent shakes his head. "Emily, you don't know this man like I do. His head is harder than steel."

Emily opens the door and steps aside so Vincent can enter the room. His father, Samuel, is lying in a hospital-style bed. Samuel is 72 years old, but because of his illness looks to be 90 years old. He is skinny and frail. He is hooked up to several monitors and some type of breathing apparatus.

Emily says to Vincent, "I'll be right outside if you need me,'' and closes the door.

Samuel looks at Vincent and motions for him to sit down in a chair next to his bed. Vincent sits down and looks around the room, feeling very awkward and uncomfortable. Samuel pulls his breathing mask off and speaks with a very faint voice. "Hello Vincent."

"Hello, Samuel. Long time no see."

"Yes...long time, son."

"Why did you call for me?"

"You're right—enough of this bullshit. I have been hiding a secret for several years, and just until a few days ago, I never realized what I've been hiding." Samuel places the mask back over his mouth and takes several deep breaths.

Vincent shakes his head. "And what might this secret be?"

Samuel removes the mask and says, "Well...I have to show you something first."

"Ok, and what is it that you need to show me?"

"I need you to go down into the basement. Grab the sledgehammer in my tool room...then go over to the wall where there is a picture of your mother and me. Behind the picture is an 'X' on the wall. Bust a hole in the wall, and you will find a leather binder. Do not open it—just bring it to me."

Vincent laughs and stands up. "Are you fucking serious right now?"

Samuel grabs Vincent's left wrist and takes a deep breath. "I'm very fucking serious." He stares into his son's eyes.

Vincent takes off his leather jacket and skullcap hat. "Well, I guess I'm gonna get a workout in, so I won't need to wear all this. I don't feel like working up a sweat."

"What about the gloves?" Samuel points to Vincent's hands.

"No, these don't come off for anything."

Vincent walks out of the room feeling angry and says to himself, "What the fuck. This is fucking bullshit. Why the fuck did I come here."

Vincent walks into the living room and sees Emily sitting on the couch, reading from a tablet computer.

"Emily, can you tell me where the basement is? Samuel wants me to get something for him."

"Yes, go through the kitchen, it's the first door on the right."

"Great, thank you."

Vincent makes his way through the kitchen and opens the basement door. He looks down at the old wooden staircase and cautiously walks down the stairs. The wooden stairs creak with every step he takes. He gets to the bottom of the stairs and looks around.

The basement is dark, cold, and damp. It smells of mold and mildew. Vincent enters the tool room, grabs the sledgehammer, and slings it over his shoulder.

Vincent looks around at the walls and finds the picture of his parents. He removes the picture from the wall and sets it aside. A white "X" marks where the picture was hanging. The area appears to have been patched up some time ago.

Vincent positions himself in a firm stance. He violently swings the sledgehammer at the "X" and breaks a hole in the wall. Looking through the small hole in the wall, he can see the binder.

In a whisper, he says, "One more good one should do it." He cocks back the sledgehammer and swings at the wall, breaking a large piece of the wall. As Vincent sets the sledgehammer down, he hears Emily calling from the top of the basement stairs.

"Mr. Cain, are you ok?"

"Ah, yeah...yeah, I'm fine. I just dropped something."

Vincent reaches into the hole and pulls out the leather binder. He blows off the dust and wipes off the debris. Tucking the binder under his left arm like a football, he walks back up the stairs.

As he walks through the kitchen, he passes by Emily. "Mr. Cain, what was that noise? I heard two loud bangs."

Vincent quickly walks toward Samuel's room. "Yeah, I'm fine." He walks into Samuel's room and closes the door behind him. He lays the binder on Samuel's lap. "Here's you go. Now you mind telling my why that was hidden in your basement wall?"

Samuel removes his breathing mask and replies in a soft-spoken voice. "What I'm about to tell you can get us killed, but I'm already dead so it really doesn't matter to me. In 2003, I was assigned my last case as a CIA agent. I was in charge of leading a small team of men from the CIA and Special Forces to find weapons of mass destruction while in Iraq."

"A small team? Wouldn't it take several thousand men for something like that?"

"Yes, or so you would think. We were given location after location, but we never found any weapons. In November of '04, we were given a location in the Saladin Province north of Baghdad. This mission was different from the rest. I was told by my boss that for this mission, two other men were coming with me, and that I was not in charge— they were. I wasn't even introduced to these guys; the men just told me where we were going. They took us out to what appeared to be an archaeological dig site. They lead me to a hole in the ground and told the rest of the team to wait outside as the three of us entered."

Samuel places the oxygen mask to his face and takes several deep breaths.

"It was very weird. They walked through this cave as if they knew exactly where to go. We ended up in a large room that was loaded with ancient artifacts. They told me to wait at the entrance as they looked around. They didn't give a shit about the ancient artifacts—they just pushed them out of the way and broke a bunch of things. I asked them what were they looking for because there obviously weren't any WMDs, but they just ignored me and continued to look around. After about fifteen minutes or so, they found a locked box that one of the men pried open with his knife. I heard one of them say, 'There's only two, there should be five.' The man pulled out what looked like two pages of very old paper and carefully placed them in a protective leather binder. The men quickly exited the room and told me to follow them out of the cave. I got into the same vehicle with the two guys and quickly left the area to head back to our base. Just as we got back onto the road, one of the guys told the other one to call the base and let them know they got the package."

Samuel begins to cough heavily. Vincent asks, "You need some water or something?"

"No, no, I need to finish what I have to tell you. So...just before the guy could make the call, our vehicle was hit by an I.E.D. I was knocked unconscious. The next thing I knew, I was being pulled out of the wreckage by an Arab man. I lay on the ground in extreme pain. When I started to regain consciousness, I focused on the Arab man. I remember him being very tall and his gown was a very bright white. I've never seen material so white before. It seemed to be glowing.

"He kneeled beside me, smiled, and put his hand on my chest. As soon as he touched me, all my pain instantly went away. He placed the leather binder that had the papers in them on my chest and said, 'Samuel, take this and keep it with you as a secret.'"

"I asked him what it was and he said, 'It holds the answer that your government seeks about a weapon. They must never see these pages. You must keep this secret safe with you until you are called upon to reveal its secret.' I asked him who was I supposed to reveal this secret to and when. The Arab man smiled and said, 'a messenger will be sent to you. At that time, you will be told to whom you shall reveal this secret.'"

"I sat up and looked around. I noticed that both of our vehicles had been hit by the I.E.D. and my entire team had been killed. At that moment, I realized that this Arab man knew my name—even though I never told him my name. When I turned back around to question him, he was gone. It was like he vanished into thin air."

Vincent thinks, Man...that sounds familiar. "Ok, so what does this story have to do with me?"

"I want you to open the binder. There are two pages. They are very, very old, so be careful with them."

Vincent opens the binder and carefully removes the pages. "What are these?" he asks.

"Vincent, look very carefully...what do you see?"

He looks at both pages side by side. "Well, in this one...it looks like a guy holding what looks like a sword in one hand, and in front of him is a guy with long hair that has a large snake wrapped around him. There's also a bunch of weird writing underneath the picture."

"Look closely at the man with the sword. Look at his body. What does it look like?"

"It looks like some markings. War paint, maybe?"

Samuel coughs. "Or tattoos?"

"Yeah, that could be tattoos. Looking at this second page, it looks like the guy with the sword is swinging it at the guy with long hair, and it looks like there's a bunch of people standing around watching."

Samuel takes several deep breaths from his machine. "Vincent, there never were any weapons of mass destruction in the first place. We went into Iraq to look for evidence of a weapon."

Vincent shakes his head. "You're confusing the shit out of me. What are you trying to say? Were there weapons or not?"

"Yes. This paper shows evidence of a weapon—a weapon that will destroy evil in the final hour. This weapon is actually...this weapon is actually a man. This is evidence that one man is prophesied to bring down evil."

"And how does this prove that?" Vincent asks.

"I see them too, Vincent."

"Them? Who are you talking about? Who are they, Samuel?"

"Angels, Vincent...I see them also. You know when you see them. There's always something about them that glows whether it's their clothing or their eyes or teeth."

Vincent is shocked by what he is hearing.

Samuel's breathing begins to slow down and he closes his eyes. He whispers, "They like you, Vincent. They speak about you and if you just listen with your heart, you will understand them."

Samuel slowly puts his index finger on the picture of the man with the sword. He then slowly points the same finger at Vincent's chest. He whispers something that Vincent cannot understand. His hand drops.

Vincent realizes that Samuel is no longer breathing. He shakes Samuel by his shoulders. "Samuel...Samuel? Hey!"

He places his ear close to Samuel's mouth to listen and hears nothing. He checks for a pulse on Samuel's neck. Nothing.

Vincent calls for the nurse. "Emily, Emily!"

She comes into the room. "Yes, what's the problem?"

"He's not breathing, and I don't feel a pulse."

Emily walks over to Samuel and can see that he is not breathing and has no pulse. She pulls the covers from Samuel's feet and extends it over him, covering his entire body.

"Aren't you going to work on him?"

Emily smiles and says, "He's D.N.R."

"He's what?"

"D.N.R. It means do not resuscitate." Emily places her hand on Vincent's shoulder as she walks past him and exits the room.

Vincent picks up the two pages and stares at the man with the sword for several seconds. He then carefully places the two pages back in the leather binder. Vincent puts his jacket and skullcap hat back on and exits the room.

He walks out the front door and down the steps of the porch. Vincent stops at the base of the steps because he sees two men standing next to a black SUV parked in the street in front of Samuel's home.

The men are wearing black suits with black trench coats and black leather gloves. The older-looking man of the two opens the rear door and says, "Mr. Cain, why don't you let us give you a ride home."

Vincent gets into the back seat. The older man closes the door behind Vincent and gets into the passenger seat. Vincent says to the driver, "Well, I'm sure you don't need directions to get to my house."

The older man looks at the driver and smirks.

The driver adjusts the rear-view mirror to make eye contact with Vincent. The older man says to Vincent, "He finally passed away."

"Yeah, finally."

"His chip gave off the deceased signal."

"What do you guys want from me? Why have you been following me?"

"Because you are a threat to the world order, Vincent. It took centuries to finally get a one-world government in place, and we don't need rebellious people like you fucking it up for us. Especially rebellious fucks who like to talk about God and religion. You should have been thrown in jail by now, but because your father and I were good friends in the past, I haven't done so yet."

The driver pulls up to Vincent's high-rise and puts the vehicle in park.

The older man says, "Now, Vincent, just be a good puppet like everyone else. Keep your trap shut and go with the program. Now get out of my car."

Vincent gets out of the SUV and slams the door. But before he can walk away, the older man rolls down his window.

With a big smile on his face, he yells out, "Oh, and Vincent...I'll be seeing you around."

All by your damn self

It's 11:45 p.m. as Vincent takes his usual seat in the roll call room. He looks to his right and notices that Estrada is not sitting next to him as he usually does. Vincent looks behind him and sees that Estrada is sitting two rows back. Vincent shakes his head, pulls out a pen, and gets ready to copy his shift assignment. The shift lieutenant walks into the roll call room and stands behind a podium.

"Attention to roll call...car 5-10, Bradley and Soles; car 5-11, Wilson and Griffin; car 5-12, McCallister and Letwin; car 5-13, Estrada and Amos."

Vincent becomes angry and drops his pen on the table. "What the fuck?"

"Is there a problem, Cain?" asks the lieutenant.

"Well, if I'm not working with my partner, then who am I working with?"

"All by your damn self," replies the lieutenant. All of the officers in the room laugh. The lieutenant continues, saying, "You will be car 5-41. That concludes roll call, everyone...be safe."

All of the officers exit the roll call room and make their way to the garage. Vincent walks quickly behind Estrada and calls to him. "Estrada! Hey, Estrada!"

Estrada ignores Vincent and continues to walk. Vincent catches up to Estrada and gives him a slight push on the back. Estrada turns around. "What do you want, man?"

"Was this your idea?"

"Was what my idea?"

"You know what the fuck I'm talking about. Did you ask not to work with me?"

"Yeah, I did! I warned you to stop pulling the shit you do, and what you did the other night was the last straw for me. So until you learn how to behave, you will be working all by your damn self just like the LT said."

Estrada turns and quickly walks away from Vincent.

"Fuck you!" Vincent walks to his police vehicle, sits in the driver's seat, and pounds his right hand three times on the steering wheel. "This is bullshit! I can't believe I'm working by myself. What the fuck ever, man."

Vincent places his right hand up to the ignition, starts the car and then quickly drives away, the tires squealing.

***

It's a very slow night for Vincent. He has been patrolling his assigned area for several hours without receiving a dispatched call. At 2:13 a.m., he finally receives his first call from the dispatcher.

"Radio calling 5-41."

"Go for 5-41 radio."

"Make Cadillac Square and assist the Military Police."

"5-41 radio. What type of operation are they conducting?"

"They did not specify."

"5-41 is en route, radio.

Vincent thinks to himself, what the hell do they need me out there for? There's nothing but a big abandoned factory over there."

Vincent arrives at the dispatched location. There are 10 soldiers removing several men and women off of a large military truck and escorting them into a large abandoned warehouse. Vincent exits his vehicle and walks over to a lone solider that has been staring at him since he arrived at the scene.

"Officer Cain at your service," he says sarcastically to the soldier.

"I'm Lieutenant Bradshaw and don't get smart with me Cain. This is a serious mission we are conducting here."

"And what type of mission would that be, lieutenant?"

"Classified."

"Oh, of course, classified. Ok, so...what do you need me to do?"

"We need you to maintain outer perimeter security. There are a lot of displaced citizens running around here, and we don't need them interfering with our operation. No one gets in, and no one gets out. You got that?"

"Don't you think you need more than a one-man roller to maintain an outer perimeter for this big-ass building?"

"Look, Cain...I'm already running an operation with a quarter of the men that I need to effectively conduct my missions. The military is already running thin, so I don't need to hear your shit. You copy?"

Vincent smiles and salutes Lieutenant Bradshaw. "Lima Charlie."

"Good," Bradshaw says and walks away. After walking several steps away from Vincent, Lieutenant Bradshaw stops, turns back around, and says, "Oh, and one more thing, Cain. Under no circumstances are you to enter this building while we are conducting our mission. I will advise you when we are clear and will relieve you of your duty."

Vincent shakes his head. "Yeah, whatever." He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a cigar. He lights the cigar and sits on the hood of his patrol vehicle.

As Vincent smokes the cigar, he looks around, surveying the area, which has very little light. The building that the men and women were taken into by the soldiers is a very large, rundown abandoned factory. It is four stories high, and most of the windows are either missing or broken, and debris is scattered everywhere.

Suddenly he hears a woman scream loudly from within the factory. Vincent looks at the factory to see if he can locate where the scream came from. Several minutes go by and no other noises are heard. He dismisses it and continues surveying the area.

Vincent then looks to the east of the factory. He walks over to a burned-out abandoned car that overlooks the skyline of downtown Detroit. He unzips his pants and begins to urinate.

The screams of a female voice ring out in the night air. This time he knows where it's coming from because he turns his head and sees a woman running from the factory. Two soldiers are chasing her.

Vincent spits out his cigar, zips up his pants, and begins walking toward factory. The woman sees Vincent and begins running toward him screaming, "Help me! Please sir, help me!"

Just before she can reach Vincent, she is tackled by her feet. The woman continues to scream and begins to fight with the soldiers. Vincent asks the soldiers, "What the fuck is going on?"

After a brief struggle, the soldiers handcuff the woman and begin dragging her back to the factory. The woman continues to resist, kicking and screaming. "Please help me—they are going to kill us!" "Hey! I said what is going on here!" Vincent yells out to the soldiers.

"It's none of your concern!" One of the soldiers snaps.

The soldiers quickly drag the woman back into the factory. Vincent stands there confused, wondering if he should have stepped in and helped the woman. He says to himself, No, you did the right thing. She is probably some piece-of-shit criminal or something.

He walks back to where he spit out his cigar, wipes it off, and continues to smoke it. He continues to think to himself for several minutes. He paces back and forth. He has a flashback of the old lady who gave him the St. Michael necklace. He remembers that this is almost the exact situation that she was in, and he stood by and did nothing.

They probably killed the old lady, and I know she wasn't a criminal. I stood there and did nothing. If these people are being killed and they are innocent, then I am just as guilty of killing innocent people for not doing anything. Fuck it, I need to get in there and see what the hell is going on.

Vincent runs over to the opposite side of the factory's front door. He notices the fire escape ladder is down. Quickly and quietly, he climbs up the ladder and enters a second-floor window. He walks around on the second floor. He sees a door labeled "Observation Room."

Slowly he opens the door and peeks his head in, making sure the room is clear, and then enters. He looks to the left and can see a large window. He approaches the window and sees a larger open room on the first floor. Vincent looks down to see eleven men and ten women standing side by side. He notices that they are all handcuffed behind their backs. Then he notices something odd.

The same man who had picked him up outside his father's home is there. Vincent pulls out his phone, zooms in on the man, and snaps several photos. He then switches the phone from camera mode to video recorder and begins to record.

The man begins to speak and his voice echoes throughout the empty building. "I will ask one time, and one time only. This is your last chance, people. Step forward and accept the chip. If you accept it, you will be returned to your homes safely. If you do not accept it, then quite simply, you will die. So step forward if you will accept it."

One man in the line is crying. He looks around at the others and says, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry everyone...but I don't want to die." The man steps forward. "Ok, ok, I will accept it."

Several of the men and women with him yell at him, telling him not to accept it. One of the women says to him, "Do not accept the mark of the beast! You are doomed if you accept it!"

Vincent realizes that the man is the same man that he and Estrada had chased through Eastern Market the night before.

"Very good. Are there any more takers?"

No one else steps forward.

"Very well." The man turns around and walks over to Lieutenant Bradshaw. He puts his hand on his shoulder, whispers into his ear, and then walks away.

"Detail, take your positions," Lieutenant Bradshaw orders. Twenty soldiers line up in front of the ten men and ten women.

"Ready!"

The soldiers lift their rifles to their shoulders.

"Aim!"

The soldiers use the optic sights affixed to their rifles to aim at the men and women. The clicking sound of the soldiers switching the safety on their rifles is heard.

"Fire!"

The soldiers simultaneously pull their triggers, firing multiple rounds at their targets.

Vincent watches in horror, unable to believe what he is seeing.

"Seize fire, seize fire!"

One of the soldiers is overly excited about shooting his person. "Whooooo! Fuck ya! I got the motherfucker in the head. Look at his brains splattered all over the ground." The soldier walks over to the body and kicks it. "That's what you get for not complying, you piece of shit!"

"Ok, let's move outside to the rally point. We got two more missions we need to get to," Lieutenant Bradshaw orders.

"Oh shit," Vincent says to himself. He realizes that he needs to get back to his vehicle before the soldiers realize that he is not outside and come looking for him.

He runs out of the room and jumps onto the fire escape, where he slides down the rails as a faster means of getting down. As Vincent turns the corner, he bumps into Lieutenant Bradshaw.

"What the fuck, Cain! What the hell are you doing? Why weren't you at your post?"

Vincent quickly thinks of an answer. "Um...I heard shots being fired, and I thought that maybe you and your men had encountered some resistance fighters, so I came to help."

Lieutenant Bradshaw stares at Vincent for a moment. "Ok, Cain, you are relieved of your duties. I called your boss and you can go home for the day."

Vincent does not respond and just walks past the lieutenant toward his patrol vehicle. He starts the vehicle and drives away. As he is driving down the road, he begins to feel ill.

He quickly pulls the vehicle over onto the shoulder, opens the door, and vomits. He wipes his mouth with his forearm and leans his head back on his car seat.

"What kind of fucked-up shit was that? I can't believe what I just saw. They really are killing people for not accepting the chip."

He pulls out his phone and looks at the picture that he took of the man. "Fuck this guy." He shifts the vehicle into drive and speeds off.

He returns to the police station and quickly changes into his civilian clothes. He gets into his car, drives to a neighborhood street, and parks the car. As he gets out of his vehicle, he looks around to make sure that no one has followed him.

He flips the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and walks down the street. He again looks around then walks into the backyard of one of the houses. He sees a light on in one of the bedrooms and lightly knocks on the window.

A woman appears at the window. Lena.

Vincent motions for her to meet him at the back door. Lena opens the back door and pulls him inside. She sticks her head out of the door and looks around.

"Are you crazy, coming here? You're gonna get me thrown in jail. What if someone is following you?"

Vincent puts his phone up in the air near Lena's face to show her the picture of the man who has been following him. "Oh, you mean like him?"

"Um...yeah. Where did you take this picture?" She asks.

"I'll tell you after you tell me who he is."

"His name is Leo Denson. He's a former CIA agent."

"What is Leo's job?"

"He's head of operations that oversees the arrest of all who don't comply with the one-world government laws. He is especially anal about the two most important laws—not accepting the chip and practicing religion."

"If he oversees all this, then why is he wasting his time following me?"

"Well...you are what they call a whale. It means that you are a person that has the potential to influence others because of either who you are or because of a position you hold. So he likes to personally follow whales and make the decision whether you are a threat to the world order or not. And if you are, then he issues an arrest warrant and will personally come after you."

He chuckles. "You mean they kill you."

"Well, that's only rumor, Vincent. I think the rumor was made up by the government because it's easier to control someone with fear."

"Oh yeah? Well, I'll prove to you that it's not rumor and it's a fact." Vincent pushes play on his phone and hands it to Lena.

She covers her mouth with her hand and watches in horror as the men and women are killed by the firing line.

"Where did you get this from?"

"Long story short, I was dispatched to assist the military with a so-called mission. I did some spying on them, and this is what I walked into. This is what they do to people who don't comply. They are massacred. What kind of fucked-up shit is this? This cannot be the way this world has become." Vincent shakes his head and walks toward the back door and opens it.

"Where are you going, Vincent? What are you going to do?" Lena asks him in a concerned voice.

He turns around and looks at Lena. "I don't know. Hopefully, someone will tell me what to do. Goodnight, Lena."

Vincent flips the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and walks out the door.

I know who you are

Vincent is once again working by himself. It has been a very slow night at work. He stops at a local deli, buys a sandwich and water, and then goes back to his patrol vehicle to eat. He turns on the radio to hear his favorite station, but there is no music being played.

The voice of Lester III is speaking. Vincent switches to the next station, but no music is playing. Just Lester III's voice is heard.

"What the hell is this shit? This guy's face is everywhere I look, and now I have to hear him every time I turn on the radio?"

Vincent unwraps his sandwich and takes a bite. His meal is interrupted when a bottle is thrown at his vehicle, crashing onto the hood. "What the fuck!" He exclaims with a mouth full of food.

He gets out of the vehicle and looks around. He notices a boy that looks to be around 12 years old standing on the other side of the street. Vincent points at him. "Hey, you, little shit—come here!"

The boy gives him the middle finger, then turns and runs down an alley.

Vincent gives chase. "I'm gonna kick the shit out of you when I catch you!"

The boy jumps a fence and then crawls through a window of an abandoned building. Vincent follows the boy into the building. It is pitch black and he cannot see anything. He retrieves a small flashlight from his gun belt and illuminates the room. He can hear the boy running within the building and follows.

Vincent travels through several rooms and finds himself in a long hallway. At the end of the hallway, he can see what appears to be a room lit by candles. He draws out his Glock handgun and tactically approaches the room, stopping at the entrance.

He peeks his head around the doorframe and looks into the room. He sees no one. He enters the room slowly with his gun held in both hands extended in front of him.

The room instantly becomes black and Vincent can hear nothing.

He feels something pushing on his right shoulder and hears a muffled voice saying something. Suddenly Vincent feels a great amount of pain on the back of his head. He begins to blink his eyes. His vision is blurry, but he can see several candles and what appears to be three men standing in front of him.

He shakes his head and can now clearly hear a voice saying, "Hey, wake up...wake up."

Vincent grunts in pain, "Oh, my head." He then realizes that he is handcuffed to a chair. He looks up at the three men and yells at them. "Let me out of these cuffs! I'm a cop!"

The man who is standing in the middle steps closer to Vincent. He is balding with white hair and appears to be in his 60s. The man puts his hand on Vincent's head and asks in an Italian accent, "Vincent? Vincent Cain?"

"Yes, that's me. Who are you and how do you know my name?"

The man nods his head to the man on his left, who walks behind Vincent and takes off his handcuffs.

"I'm very sorry about having to meet you this way. How does your head feel?" asks the Italian man.

He rubs the back of his head. "It hurts, but I'll live."

Vincent looks over to his left and sees the boy who threw the bottle at his police vehicle.

"You! You're the one who threw the bottle at my car!"

The Italian man says, "It's not his fault, Vincent. He only did what I ordered him to do."

"Why would you tell him do something stupid like that?"

"Because we had to lure you here to us."

"You know, all you had to do was walk over to my car and talk to me. Don't you think that would've been easier?"

"Vincent, do you know who I am?"

"Now that I think of it...you do look familiar. Wait a minute...I know who you are."

"My name is Pope Giovanni Francesco, head of the Roman Catholic Church, servant to God, the father, and our savior, Jesus Christ." He points to the man on his right. "This is Arch Bishop Lazarus." Then he points to the man on his left. "And this is Arch Bishop Vito."

Vincent squints his eyes and is in awe by the Pope's presence. "Yes, yes, I remember seeing you on TV a few years ago before religion was outlawed. But why...why are you here in Detroit of all places? Shouldn't you be in the Vatican?

"The Vatican is no more, my son. It has been destroyed by the order of William Lester, the leader of the new world order. We escaped the attack and came here to carry out our mission."

"Your mission? What mission?" Vincent asks.

"Do you believe in the devil, Vincent?"

"Nowadays I don't believe in anything."

"You know, Vincent...choosing not to believe in the devil doesn't keep you safe from him. Whether you believe this or not, God has a purpose for everyone. Most people go through life living a simple and normal life and are never in the spotlight. Then once in a generation, someone comes along and has a huge influence on people. Then there are people who come around once in the world's lifetime, and these people change the lives of all of mankind."

The Pope walks to a large chest, unlocks it with a key, and removes a large book that appears to be hundreds of years old. He gently places the book down on a table.

"This is the original Bible. All the scrolls from everyone who has ever written something was gathered and condensed into this book."

Vincent walks over to the Bible and begins to flip through the pages. "Wow, this is amazing."

The Pope smiles "Yes, Vincent, it's amazing. But there is a big secret that the Catholic Church has kept since its existence."

"Really? Like what?" Vincent asks with a confused look on his face.

"You see, Vincent...there is a whole chapter of the Bible that was never added to the book."

"Why not?"

"The chapter was not added because the Bible predicts the end of times in the Book of Revelation, so evil already knows what will occur or what we believe is going to occur. But let me ask you this question, Vincent. If you could predict the future and knew what was going to happen, then wouldn't that give you the power to do something to disrupt or change the future?"

"Yes...because then I would be able to manipulate several events to change the future to how I wanted it."

The Pope folds his hands together and then places them up to his lips. In a soft voice, he responds, "Exactly, my son. So if evil knew everything that was going to happen, then he would have had thousands of years to plan his attack. But if he didn't have all the information, then it would be much harder for him to win."

"So, again, what does any of this have to do with me?"

Pope Francesco flips open the Bible. "This is the Book of Revelation, but missing from the Book of Revelation is an entire chapter." The Pope then bends down and picks up a scroll from the chest, places it on the table in front of Vincent, and unravels it. It contains several very old pages and drawings.

"The Book of Revelation was written around 68 A.D. In 443 A.D., Pope Leo and his arch bishops came together and decided that this chapter had to be removed from the bible because they felt that it would give evil an advantage when this time came."

Pope Francesco points to a line of script on the scroll. "This says that a common man, a man of authority, shall rise from the city where the new temple is born. This line says his body will be covered in markings and images from those who are mentioned in the Great Book."

"Ok...so?"

"Vincent, take your shirt off."

"What? Why?"

"Vincent, take your shirt off!" Pope Francesco says to him in a stern voice.

Vincent unstraps the Velcro straps on the sides of his tactical vest, flips the vest over his head, and drops it on the ground. "Is this really necessary?"

"Yes!"

Vincent shakes his head and then reaches behind his neck and pulls off his shirt.

Pope Francesco picks up another page and sets it on the table in front of Vincent. He points to an image on the page. It's a picture of what appears to be a man cutting off the head of a man with long hair with a sword. The man with the sword is shirtless and has several black markings on his body.

Vincent's mouth drops open. He is in awe. He begins to stutter. "My... my...father recently gave me two very old pieces of paper with pictures very similar to these. He told me that this man was a weapon of mass destruction."

Pope Francesco places his hand on Vincent's shoulder and says, "My son, we have been waiting for you for many years. You are the one, Vincent. You are the one that has been chosen to deliver mankind from this evil that is upon us."

"I...I think this is what my father was trying to tell me. I can't believe this. Are you shitting me? Why me?"

"Our paths are already written for us, Vincent. They are written for us before we are even born."

"So what now? What am I supposed to do?"

"William Lester."

"Yeah, what about him?" Vincent asks.

"He is who we call the Beast, or the Anti-Christ. You must destroy him."

"And just how the hell do you expect me to do that? These people love him. Everyone thinks he is the savior of the world, and not to mention, the entire military is his security. I'll never get within 100 yards of him."

"Satan masquerades as an angel of light, Vincent. He disguises himself to mankind as something or someone good. Have faith...faith will guide you, and tell you what to do, my son."

"I haven't had faith since I was a kid."

"I believe you have faith, Vincent. You have seen evil at his best. You know what is right and what is wrong. One more thing, Vincent...you need to make peace within yourself. So ask yourself this question.... who except God can give you peace? Go now, my son, and may God be with you."

Pope Francesco, Arch Bishop Lazarus, Arch Bishop Vito, and the boy all walk out of the room.

"Hey! Hey, where you guys going? So you drop this huge bomb on me and you just leave?" Vincent puts on his shirt and tactical vest and leaves the room.

He makes his way out of the building, walks to the street, and stops. There is a large presence of soldiers and military vehicles in the area. Several military trucks filled with civilians drive past him. He looks up at the buildings and can see several pictures of Lester III posted on them. He looks back down at street level and sees another picture of Lester III on a passing bus. Lester III's picture is everywhere he looks.

Vincent slowly walks to his patrol vehicle and sits in the driver's seat. He sits motionless and stares straight through the windshield for several minutes. He places his right hand up to the ignition and slowly drives away.

Man's best friend

It has been one day since Vincent spoke with Pope Francesco. He has not left his home since then. Lying in bed, he can do nothing but think of all that has happened to him, the things he witnessed, and the things that he had been told. Vincent is physically exhausted and mentally drained. He rolls over onto his stomach and closes his eyes to finally get some sleep.

***

Vincent finds himself in a large park that is surrounded by many trees. The grass is a beautiful dark green. The sound of birds chirping can be heard. The sun is shining bright with no clouds in sight.

He smiles and takes in a deep breath of fresh air. He turns around and sees a number of children on the playground. A beautiful woman is smiling at him. The woman has long, straight jet-black hair and is wearing a red sundress.

The woman signals to him with her finger to come over to her. She begins to walk away from the playground.

Vincent quickly follows and catches up to her. He notices that dark clouds have formed and are moving toward the park.

He smiles at the woman and says, "Looks like a storm is coming in."

"I like storms." The woman says with a smile on her face.

"So what brings you out here?"

"I came here for you."

"For me?" Vincent asks, placing his hand on his chest.

The woman points to the sky. "Look how beautiful that is."

Vincent looks up to see the clouds are now black and are formed in a way that he has never seen. "Um...I wouldn't say beautiful...kinda scary if you ask me."

The woman grabs Vincent's hand and begins to pull him toward the direction of the storm. "Come on Vincent, come with me into the darkness."

"Wait—how do you know my name?"

The clouds now block the sun. It has become very dark and windy. Vincent can hear the children on the playground screaming in fear.

The woman turns back toward Vincent. Her eyes are completely black and her dress has turned black. She smiles. "Don't be afraid, Vincent. Come into the darkness."

He tries to pull his hand away from the woman, but her grip is too strong. Then he feels a hand on his shoulder and turns around to see who is there.

He sees a teenage girl. She has curly orange hair, green eyes, and pale, freckled skin. She is wearing a bright white sundress.

"Wake up, Vincent. Evil is here," she says to him.

The woman with the black hair becomes irate and screams at Vincent in a demonic voice. "You will come with me!" She begins to pull harder on Vincent's arm.

The teenage girl pulls back on Vincent's shoulder and says to him in a calm voice, "Vincent, wake up. Save yourself." She puts her hand up to Vincent's face and snaps her fingers.

Vincent opens his eyes and finds himself lying on his back in his bed. He hears the sound of several diesel-engine vehicles approaching his building. He jumps out of bed and opens the blinds. Ten armored Humvees and two military deuce-and-a-half trucks are approaching from down the street.

Vincent's eyes open wide. "Oh shit!"

He runs to his closet and quickly jumps into a pair of black cargo pants. He throws on a black long sleeve t-shirt. He slides on his work boots and quickly ties them.

Moving over to his nightstand, he picks up his pair of black leather gloves and slides them on. He quickly walks into the living room, picks up his gun belt lying on the floor, and puts it around his waist. He pushes over his bookcase and types in the code to his safe, 1-8-7-5. He pulls on the handle and opens the safe.

The safe is filled with large amounts of weapons, ammunition, and explosives. Vincent removes a tactical vest and puts in on. He grabs six Magpul rifle magazines and fills his vest carrier with three on each side. Next he grabs a Glock .40 caliber handgun and places it into his holster. Now he removes his favorite weapon—an LMT M-4 rifle—kisses it, and says, "Hello, my love."

He inserts one 30-round Magpul magazine, pulls the charging handle back, and releases it, charging the rifle with a round in the barrel. Then he slings the rifle over his shoulder.

Vincent pauses for a second and stares into the safe. He reaches into the safe and picks up a large book. He puts it to his lips, kisses it, and says, "Forgive me, my Lord, for I am about to sin."

The book has a leather cover and is titled The Holy Bible in gold lettering. Vincent flips to the middle of the book and rips out several pages. He loads the middle with one pound of C-4 explosives and sticks in a blasting cap attached to a wireless remote detonator.

He moves over to the living-room window and sees that the military vehicles have stopped in front of his building. Several soldiers exit the Humvees and trucks and run into the building.

Vincent steps away from the window, but quickly moves back because something grabs his attention. Leo Denson is exiting the lead military vehicle.

"Oh, do I have something for you," Vincent says with a smile on his face. He finds a blank sheet of paper and writes on it with a black Sharpie marker: "To my good friend Leo. Go fuck yourself!!!!" Then he places the paper over the Bible, opens the front door, and lays the Bible on the floor. He leaves the door slightly cracked open.

"Come on, boy," he says. Ruger follows Vincent to the living- room window. Vincent opens the window and both exit onto the fire escape. Vincent holds the remote detonator in his left hand and waits.

***

Leo Denson leads the team of soldiers up the stairs to the 8th floor. He points down the hallway and says, "He's in number 8-602." The team moves tactically in a single file line and stops just short of number 8-602.

"What the hell are you guys waiting for? Move in!" Leo yells.

The lead soldier looks back toward Leo and says, "There's something at the base of the door, sir."

Leo quickly makes his way to the door. He bends down, picks up the note, and reads it. Leo laughs, crumples up the note, and flips it over his shoulder. He looks down at the floor and kneels down to picks up the book.

Leo slides his hand over the words The Holy Bible and becomes infuriated. He stands up and yells to the soldiers, "Get in there and bring that bastard to me alive!"

The lead soldier kicks in the door and they all move in, clearing one room at a time. Leo enters the apartment behind the soldiers and makes his way into the living room. The soldiers clear the loft and gather around Leo.

One of the soldiers says, "It's all clear, sir. He's not here."

Leo looks down at the Bible and notices that it is unusually heavy. He immediately flips it open to the middle. "What the fuck!" Leo blurts out as he discovers that the Bible is loaded with C-4.

At that time, Vincent knocks on the window and gets Leo's attention. Vincent holds up his left hand, showing Leo the detonator. The look on Leo's face expresses extreme fear.

Vincent kisses his right hand and blows Leo a kiss. Vincent presses the detonator with his left thumb.

"Noooooooo!" Leo screams out.

Knowing that he has a two-second delay, Vincent grabs Ruger around his neck and ducks down, shielding Ruger with his body. Suddenly there is a huge explosion. It blows out the window and a large amount of debris.

Vincent quickly gets to his feet and unlatches the fire escape stairs. "Let's go, boy." Vincent rapidly moves down the stairs and Ruger closely follows him down.

When Vincent gets down to ground level, he looks for the closest route for them to escape. He realizes that the best way is to get to the main street. He and Ruger run toward the main street. All of a sudden, three soldiers turn the corner. Their rifles are pointing at him. Vincent quickly takes cover behind a large dumpster as several rounds are fired at him.

The three soldiers spread out and hold their positions. One of the soldiers yells out orders to Vincent. "Put down your weapon and come out slowly with your hands up!"

Vincent looks down at the ground and sees a garbage bag full of trash. He rips it open and dumps out the contents. He finds a piece of steak and looks at Ruger.

Next he removes the glove from his right hand and flips it inside out. There is a small hidden pocket in the thumb area. Vincent pulls out his identification chip. He holds the chip between his thumb and index finger. He closes his eyes and experiences a flashback...

He is sitting on his couch shirtless. Set out on the coffee table in front of him is a bottle of Red Stag whiskey, a surgical knife, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, gauze, and a suture.

He picks up a bottle of Red Stag whiskey and takes three big gulps. He puts down the bottle on the coffee table next to the surgical knife. He wipes the sweat coming from his brow. Picking up a bottle of rubbing alcohol, he pours some on his right hand.

He picks up the surgical knife with his left hand and places his right hand on his right knee. Vincent takes several deep breaths and then places the surgical knife to his right hand and makes an incision in the area between his thumb and index finger. He grimaces in pain. A large amount of blood pours out from the incision.

He puts down the knife, picks up the bottle of whiskey, and takes three more gulps. "Ok, the hard part is over," he says to himself. Vincent picks up a pair of tweezers and begins to dig around inside the incision. "Got it."

Vincent removes his identification chip and drops it into a shot glass. Vincent picks up the suture and begins stitching up his incision.

***

Vincent's flashback is interrupted by the second order of the soldier. "I say again: Drop your weapon and slowly come out with your hands up!"

Vincent takes the identification chip and sticks it into the piece of steak. Vincent looks at Ruger and says, "Look, I need your help to get the fuck out of here alive. They don't care about you, so I need you to distract them so I can get out of here."

He feeds Ruger the piece of steak. "Good boy...ok now...run past the bastards and distract them." He slaps Ruger on the backside.

Ruger takes off running toward the soldiers, causing them to focus their attention on him. He runs past the two soldiers who are closest to Vincent and leaps toward the third, biting down on his right hand, which is his shooting hand.

The soldier screams out for the other two to help him.

"Man's best friend," Vincent says with a smile on his face.

Vincent stands up from behind the dumpster, points his rifle at the closest soldier, and aims at his head through his Aimpoint scope. In one smooth motion, he pulls back on the trigger and fires one shot, hitting the soldier in the head and killing him instantly.

By the time the second soldier could react to the gunshot, Vincent has already pulled the trigger. He kills the second soldier with another shot to the head.

The third soldier sees the soldiers being killed and is doing everything in his power to get his arm free. But Ruger's grip is too strong. As with the other two soldiers, Vincent aims at the third soldier's head and fires, killing him instantly.

Ruger releases his grip and runs down the main street in the opposite direction from the military vehicles.

Vincent peeks around the corner and sees the remaining soldier running into his building to investigate the explosion. Vincent runs across the street into an adjacent alley. He runs for several blocks only using the alleyways.

Vincent comes upon a major road and peeks his head around the corner, looking for any military vehicles. Vincent notices that he is now at Broadway Street. "Wait a minute. This is where the Pope's hideout is."

He makes sure the area is clear and quickly runs across the street. He finds the entryway to the Pope's hideout and enters. He navigates through the dark building, using the flashlight on his rifle.

He comes to the doorway where he had talked to the Pope, calling out to him in a soft voice. "Pope...Pope Francesco...it's Vincent Cain. Are you in there?"

There is no response.

Vincent enters the room tactically and looks around. He realizes that the room is completely empty, and there is no sign of the Pope or the Arch Bishops. Realizing that the streets are flooded with police and military looking for him, he decides to hide out for a few hours.

***

Back at Vincent's high-rise building, a soldier retrieves an identification chip locator and types in Vincent's name. A map of the city immediately pops up on the screen, and a red flashing dot appears.

"I got him stationary in an alley twenty blocks from here! Mount up, let's move!" He says the other soldiers.

Eight soldiers get into two Humvees and drive toward the location. The soldiers follow the GPS and approach the location. They park a block away and dismount. They line up single file and approach tactically, stopping a few feet short of the alley.

The soldier with the GPS says to the others, "Ok, he's still stationary fifteen feet into the alley."

The rear soldier taps the soldier in front of him, and each do the same until the lead soldier is tapped, giving the go ahead to move into the alley. The team quickly moves into the alley and stops at fifteen feet.

The soldiers look around, but Vincent is not there.

The soldier holding the GPS is angry. "What the fuck? Where is he? This is accurate to the exact point. He should be standing right here."

The soldier looks down at his feet and notices a large pile of feces. With a confused look on his face, the soldier puts on a pair of rubber gloves and kneels down next to the feces. The soldier sifts through the feces. "Son of a bitch!"

"What is it?" another soldier asks.

He stands up and shows the other soldiers the chip. "That slick motherfucker fed his dog his chip. He can be anywhere by now. Let's move."

They got to you

Vincent looks at his watch and decides that it is late enough to start moving again. He makes a risky decision and decides to go to Estrada's apartment. Besides Lena, he is the only person he can trust, and his apartment is much closer than Lena's house.

Vincent knows that he is going to need some type of disguise if he has any chance of making it to Estrada's apartment. Knowing that homeless people use the building as a shelter, he looks around for any leftover clothing. He moves from room to room and finally finds an old leather trench coat. He puts on the coat and exits the building. Vincent flips up the collar, takes a deep breath and says, "Here goes nothing."

Vincent gets out on the main street and begins to walk toward Estrada's apartment building. After walking several blocks, Vincent can see Estrada's apartment building. Only three more blocks.

At that time, a military Humvee turns onto the street. Vincent becomes nervous. He pulls the collar higher up and puts his head down. He can see the soldier standing in the ring mount of the Humvee is looking at him.

Vincent slowly slides his hand into the trench coat, grabs the handle of his rifle, and switches the selector switch to "fire." He prepares himself for another gunfight. The Humvee is now parallel with him and the soldier is still looking at him.

Just as Vincent is about to pull out his rifle to fire on the soldier, the Humvee continues driving and passes him. He exhales in relief and continues walking. Finally he reaches the front door of Estrada's apartment building and enters.

He quickly gets into the elevator and rides it up to the twentieth floor. He knocks on apartment number 70. Estrada opens the door.

"Vato, get the fuck in here." Estrada grabs him by his shoulder and pulls him into the apartment.

"Damn man, what the fuck did you do? Every cop and soldier is looking for you."

"They're after me because I know the truth. I'm not gonna be part of their movement and kill innocent people. Look...I don't want to get you involved. I just need a place to crash for a few hours, and I promise I'll be out of your way."

"Ok, vato, just come sit down and relax. Take all that shit off and sit on the couch."

Vincent sets his rifle down on the floor and takes off his tactical vest, setting it next to the rifle.

Estrada hands Vincent a beer. "Damn, vato, you look like shit. When was the last time you ate?"

"It's been a few hours. I'm starving."

"Ok, stay here and relax. I'm gonna go get us something to eat. There's plenty of beer in the fridge."

"Ok man, thanks."

"Anything for you, brother. Ok, I'll be back in fifteen minutes."

Estrada leaves the apartment. Vincent leans back on the couch and takes several sips of his beer. As Vincent sits on the couch, be begins to feel light-headed. His muscles are becoming very relaxed, and his vision becomes blurry. He can no longer hold on to the beer bottle and drops it.

At that time, Vincent hears the front door open and several voices are speaking, but he cannot focus his eyes to see who is talking. He can feel someone shaking him. He hears a voice and realizes it is Estrada.

"Vincent...Vincent...can you hear me? Ok, he's out—the drugs worked. You guys can take him now."

Two soldiers pick Vincent up off the couch. He realizes that he has been drugged and turned in by Estrada. Vincent looks at Estrada and in a slurred voice says, "Well, I guess they got to you...brother."

The beginning

Vincent is unconscious, shirtless, and shackled to a metal chair affixed to the floor in the middle of a room. The room is dark, lit only by a dim light that hangs directly over Vincent. A cold bucket of water is thrown on Vincent to wake him up.

Vincent looks frantically around the room. He has no idea where he is. He looks down and realizes that his arms, legs, and body are shackled. He pulls with his arms and feet, trying to break free from the chains. He stops pulling when he hears a voice coming from somewhere in front of him.

"Unless you have super-human strength, you're probably not going to break free."

Vincent squints his eyes, trying to see through the darkness. "Who is that? Who's there?"

He hears footsteps getting closer to him and can see the silhouette of a person becoming clearer and clearer. The person takes one more step toward Vincent. It is now evident who the person is before him.

William Lester III.

"Vincent Cain. Come on, Vincent. Break out of those chains and stand up."

"You know that's impossible." Vincent replies.

"Oh, really, you can't do it? Well, how do you expect to save mankind if you can't break out of these chains?"

"What makes you think that I was going to save mankind? Why would I even want to save mankind? I hate people. I hate everyone, especially your bitch-ass!"

Lester III places his hands on both armrests of Vincent's chair and leans his face close to Vincent's face. "Now you really didn't expect me to think that you were going to actually admit who you are and what your plans were, did you? You see, Vincent...not even the almighty Catholic Church can keep us out."

Vincent hears more footsteps walking toward him. The person's silhouette becomes clear. Vincent recognizes this person. It is Arch Bishop Lazarus.

Vincent becomes enraged and yells, "Fuck you! Fuck you both!"

Lester III smiles. "No Vincent, fuck you. You see...tonight is the night my temple opens and our one-world government, lead by me, will be born. And in front of two million spectators, I'm going to destroy you and the last of the foolish believers out there will bear witness. Nothing will stand in my way! I rule this world now!"

A switch is flipped on and the room lights up. A soldier holds the door to the room open. Lester III exits the room and is followed by Arch Bishop Lazarus.

Still standing in the room is Lilith. Standing on both sides of her are two very large muscular men wearing all black and holding batons in their hands. Lilith smiles at Vincent and winks her right eye at him. She then swiftly exits the room and the door is closed and locked.

For the next 45 minutes, Vincent is punched, kicked, slapped, and beaten with batons.

***

At the west wing of the capitol building, there are an estimated two million people at ground level waiting for Lester III to make his speech. The people are standing around the extremely large rectangular pool that stretches the length of two football fields. Up on the six-story platform, there are an additional 50,000 spectators sitting in the stadium seats.

Lester III and Lilith walk out onto the stage and the crowd erupts in a defining cheer. Lester III waves to the crowd with both arms in the air. As he makes his way to the podium, two very attractive women approach him.

They are standing side by side carrying a large red-velvet pillow. Lying on top of the pillow is a large silver sword with a gold handle. Lester III kisses both women on the cheek and picks up the sword by its handle.

With the sword down at his side, Lester III walks to the edge of the stage and looks out at the two million people on the ground. In one quick motion, he thrusts the sword into the sky, high over his head.

At that moment, pyrotechnics shoot down from above the stage into the large pool below, igniting it into flames. The crowd again erupts into loud cheers. The sword is given back to the two women, who place it on a table behind the podium.

Lester III walks up to the podium and begins his speech. "My sons and daughters, today is a great and historic day, but before I get into all the good that is to come, let's talk about the bad.

"Out there in the very streets where all of you reside, there is a very small group of people who conspire against me and the world order. As your great leader, I am pleased to inform you that within the past few hours, the heads of this small group have been arrested and brought to justice.

"These people are lawless and refuse to accept me. They are a threat to our new way of life. These crimes, as you all know, are punishable by death. So tonight, here on this very stage...where I, your great leader, stands...we are going to bring out these criminals and execute them in front of all of you, and the rest of the world, in order to show those few who refuse to accept me what will happen to them if they do not. Bring out the prisoners!"

At that very moment, Pope Francesco, Arch Bishop Vito, and Lena are brought out on to the stage in a single-file line. All have their hands tied behind their backs and are escorted by large muscular men wearing all black.

The large crowd cheers. Pope Francesco and Arch Bishop Vito walk calmly, but Lena repeatedly tries to pull away and yells to the guard, "Get your dirty hands off of me!"

All three are lined up parallel to Lester III's podium and are forced down on their knees. Lester III puts his hands in the air and motions to the crowd to quiet down.

"Yes, yes...I know, my children, it's terrible. I know...these people also disgust me. I am truly saddened and very hurt by their actions. I have given them a safe and peaceful life, and this is how they repay me. But these are just the foot soldiers of one man. This one man wants to destroy this safe and peaceful life I have created for all of you. Bring out this criminal!"

A large trap door in the center of the stage opens. Large spotlights light the area. An eight-foot tall stone pillar with the head of a snake sculpted at the top of it begins to arise through the trap door. The pillar stops as the base, becoming even with the stage floor.

Lena is in shock by what she sees and begins to cry. "Oh my God, no! Vincent!"

Vincent is on his knees, facing the pillar, with his arms chained together. He is bloody and badly beaten. His left eye is swollen and blood is coming out of his nose, mouth, and ears.

The crowd erupts in cheers. Estrada is sitting in the front row on the stage and looks at Vincent tied to the pillar. With tears in his eyes, he slowly stands up and looks around at the people sitting around him cheering.

Lilith looks at Lester III, who nods his head at her. She smiles at him and pulls out a gold-plated Desert Eagle handgun from her suit jacket. She begins walking toward Vincent.

Estrada quickly walks up to Lilith and begin to plead with her. "Wait, wait...this wasn't the deal. You guys said you were just going to arrest him. You said nothing about executing him."

Lilith continues walking toward Vincent, ignoring Estrada as if he was not there.

Estrada jumps in front of Lilith and holds out his right hand to her. "Here...take the money out of my account, you puta! And I'm taking him out of here. This wasn't the fucking deal!"

Lilith sighs. She looks Estrada in the eyes and then quickly puts the gun to his forehead. She pulls the trigger, blowing a large hole in the back of his head.

Estrada's body drops to the ground instantly.

Lena closes her eyes and turns her head away as she cries uncontrollably.

Lilith steps over Estrada's body and is now standing over Vincent. She stands over him for a few seconds and then crouches down. She looks Vincent in the eyes and smiles as she caresses his face. "Such a shame...you were so close to turning."

Lilith puts the gun to Vincent's head and continues speaking. "So close to giving up on caring. So close to giving up on humanity. So close to giving up on faith and so damn close to giving up on..." Lilith's eyes become completely black and in a demonic voice, "...God!" I thought I had you, Vincent." I should have taken you when I had the chance. Such a waste...I really could have used someone like you. But I like you and I'll give you a few more minutes to think about it...so I'm going to kill you last. "

She smiles at Vincent, then quickly stands up and walks toward Pope Francesco, Arch Bishop Vito, and Lena. Before Lilith reaches the three, Arch Bishop Lazarus is brought out with his hands tied behind his back and is forced to kneel next to Pope Francesco.

Arch Bishop Lazarus is terrified and looks at Lilith. "But...but I did as you asked. I don't understand."

He then looks at Pope Francesco, who says to him in a calm voice, "I forgive you."

Arch Bishop Lazarus looks down at the ground and is ashamed of what he has done. He looks up at Lilith, who is now standing over him.

"Please...I did what you asked."

"Yes, you did do as I asked, and I thank you. But explain this to me Lazarus. You devoted your whole life to God, but yet it only took you minutes to turn on him. Now how can I possibly trust someone like you?"

Lilith puts the gun to Arch Bishop Lazarus's head and pulls the trigger, blowing the left side of his face off. She then sidesteps over to Pope Francesco.

He looks up at Lilith and asks, "Do you really think that you are safe? Do you really think you are not going to burn in hell for eternity at the hands of Satan? The one whom you are a slave to?"

"Oh shut up," Lilith says in an apathetic voice. She raises the gun to Pope Francesco's head and quickly pulls the trigger, blowing a hole in the back of his head.

She looks at Arch Bishop Vito and sidesteps in front of him. "What? No words of wisdom from you?" Lilith asks in a sarcastic voice.

Arch Bishop Vito closes his eyes and says nothing.

"Fair enough." She puts the gun up to his head and pulls the trigger. Blood and brain matter spray onto Lena's clothing. A small amount of blood spatters on the right side of Lena's face.

Lena closes her eyes and turns her head, looking away from Lilith as she sobs.

"Awww...what's wrong, sweetie?" Lilith grabs Lena by her chin, forcing her to make eye contact with her. With her index finger, Lilith wipes some of the blood off of Lena's face. Lilith brings her index finger covered in blood up to her mouth and licks it in a sexual manner.

Lilith closes her eyes. "Mmmm," she says, then opens her eyes and looks at Lena. "There nothing like blowing someone's brains out. It makes my pussy wet. What about you? Are you turned on right now?"

"Fuck you!" Lena yells back.

Lilith giggles. "Don't worry...I'm not going to kill you now. We have this ceremony we need to do first. When that's done, I'm going to kill your boyfriend while you watch. Theeeennnnnn...I'm going to kill you." Lilith smiles at Lena, places the gun back underneath her suit jacket, and walks back over to Lester III and stands beside him.

Lester III turns toward the crowd and begins his speech.

***

Vincent lies on the ground with his hands extended out and chained to the pillar. Blood drips from his head onto the ground, forming a puddle. He is in extreme pain and is barely coherent. He can hear Lester III's voice as it echoes through the air. He looks at the people sitting on the stage who are all focused on Lester III as he speaks. Vincent slowly begins to black out.

He notices a man who is sitting in the front row suddenly turn his head and look at him. The man stands up and begins to walk toward him. Vincent tries to pick his head up to get a better look at the man, but he is too weak to do so.

The man approaches Vincent and stands inches from his head. Vincent looks at the man's highly polished black-leather shoes. "You're not giving up, are you?"

Vincent slowly rolls from his side onto his back. He looks up at the man. The man is standing over Vincent with his head tilted to the side and his hands in his pants pockets. The man is wearing a navy-blue slim-fit suit with a white shirt, slim black tie, and a silver tie clip. The man has wavy blond shoulder-length hair, a very strong jawline, and a cleft chin.

Vincent's focus quickly moves to the man's extremely bright green eyes. "So what kind of advice are you going to give me now?" Vincent asks with pain in his voice.

"You have gotten this far, Vincent. Is there no fight left inside of you?"

"I've been fighting my whole life. I'm done fighting."

"So is this how you want it to end, Vincent? You will not fight for mankind and the millions of innocent people who are still out there?"

"I'm only one man and look at me—I'm in no condition to fight. Why don't you guys put up a fight?" Vincent says in an angry voice.

The man smiles and says, "Our time to fight is soon approaching, Vincent. An army of angels will soon descend onto earth for the final battle with Satan. No one can make you fight, Vincent. It's your choice." The man turns and walks away.

Vincent closes his eyes and has a flashback about witnessing the people being executed in the abandoned warehouse and the old lady who gave him the necklace. He feels remorse for allowing those people to be killed as he stood by and did nothing.

"Wait!" Vincent shouts. "I'll do it, I have to do it."

The man stops and with a grin on his face, he turns and walks back to Vincent. "I knew you would, Vincent. From the very moment you were conceived, you were chosen for this. You don't even realize how special you are, Vincent."

Vincent slowly rolls over and get on his knees. He sticks out his index finger and inserts it deep into his mouth, causing him to vomit. He sticks his finger in his mouth a second time and vomits again. He digs around in his vomit and picks up a small key.

When he was being beaten earlier, Vincent managed to steal the key to the lock around his wrists from one of the guards. Vincent unlocks his right wrist and moves to his left.

"Vincent, you must slay the false prophet first by piercing the heart. Then the head of the Anti-Christ must be removed. Both of their bodies must then be burned."

"Ok, and how do I do that? I can't use my hands."

"On the altar behind the Anti-Christ is my sword. You shall use that."

Lester III continues speaking to the crowd. "Today is a great day in world history! This very building that we stand in was supposed to open as the world headquarters building, but that has changed."

Vincent stands up, limps to the altar, and looks at the sword. He says to himself, "This is the same sword Lester was carrying in my dream."

Vincent picks up the sword and looks at the handle. Engraved in the sword's handle is the name MICHAEL. Vincent looks back toward the man, but he is no longer there. He looks over to where the man was sitting and sees only an empty chair.

Vincent looks out at the crowd and notices something strange. He notices that every single person is fixated on Lester III, and no one is even paying attention to him. It seems as if the crowd is hypnotized. He holds the sword's handle with both hands at a low, ready position and slowly limps toward Lester III from behind.

***

"You see, my children, every nation in the world has formed one great nation, and the leaders of those nations have sworn allegiance to me. They have turned over their power to me. Do you see the power that I possess, my children? Not only do they now serve me, they worship me, as will all of you! You will all worship me because I am no man! I am God! And those of you who refuse me will suffer the same fate as these criminals on the stage. I am your God, and this is my temple!"

He tilts his head up into the air and holds his arms out to his sides. The crowd erupts in cheers. Suddenly Lester III feels a great amount of pain in the middle of his back. His eyes open quickly and he looks down at his chest.

There is a three-foot blade sticking out of his chest. His mouth drops open and blood begins to pour out. The blade is then pulled out of his back.

The crowd becomes silent as they bear witness. Lester III slowly turns around and sees Vincent standing in front of him with the sword drawn back.

Vincent holds the sword in his right hand and lowers it along his leg.

"You're no different than all these people who follow you. You're a puppet, just like them." Vincent takes a quick step backward with his left leg and then thrusts forward with his right leg, lunging at Lester III's chest. Lester III falls six stories off of the stage into the burning pool below.

Lilith looks down in horror. She reaches inside her jacket for her handgun.

Vincent quickly puts the sword's blade up to her neck. "Bitch...don't even think about it."

Lilith removes her hand from her jacket. Her eyes become completely black. She becomes very angry and speaks in a deep, demonic voice. "Fool—do you know who the fuck I am?"

"Yes, I know who you are. You're the biggest puppet of them all. I do have to admit, the devil is smarter than I thought. For centuries the world thought that when the Anti-Christ made his rise to power, he would be a man. Who would have ever thought that the Anti-Christ would actually be a bitch?"

"Do you think that by doing this God is going to reward you? Do you think he is going to give riches and pleasure? No...you are still going to live your pathetic life and struggle to live like the rest of these roaches. Take my hand and join me, Vincent. I will give you everything that you want that God can never give you." Lilith extends her right hand to Vincent.

Vincent looks over at Lena, who is shaking her head and mouths to him, "Don't do it."

Vincent slowly extends his left hand to Lilith and grabs her right hand. Lilith smiles as he grips her hand tightly. Vincent looks into Lilith's eyes and smiles. "Revelation 19:20: The beast was seized and along with the false prophet were both thrown into a lake of fire which burns with brimstone."

Lilith's eyes open wide as Vincent continues.

"It's from the Bible. You should read it sometime."

Vincent lifts the sword high over his head with his right hand and swings downward, cutting off Lilith's right hand halfway between her wrist and elbow.

Lilith screams in agony while holding her right forearm to her body. Her blood squirts all over her chest and face.

Vincent drops Lilith's hand on the ground. He then grabs the handle of the sword with both hands, holds it over his right shoulder, and with one swift swing, he slices Lilith's head off completely at the base of the neck.

Lilith's body becomes limp and collapses on the stage.

Vincent picks up Lilith's head by the hair. He looks out at the sea of people who watch silently. Vincent shakes his head and then flings Lilith's head into the burning pool. Her head lands near Lester III's body and both begin to burn.

Lena gets to her feet and runs over to Vincent. He takes the key out of his pocket and frees Lena's hands. Crying, but elated, Lena grabs Vincent around his neck and hugs him.

They both look out at the crowd of two million people as Lena asks Vincent, "So now what?"

Epilogue

While growing up, I always found myself in some type of leadership position starting from being the team captain on my little league baseball team to being named team captain on my high school football team. Even when I joined the Army and was in boot camp, my drill sergeant made me the platoon leader. I remember pulling him off to the side and asking him why he picked me over 55 other guys. All he said to me was, "Because I see a leader inside of you, Private Cain."

I never understood why I was always being put in leadership positions. Even though I never turned these positions down, I never really tried or wanted to be the leader. I just somehow always found myself in this position. I just wanted to be your average guy and go with the flow. I never wanted to be the guy that people looked to for guidance or to tell other people what to do.

My mother always told me things and gave me advice, but the one thing that she always seemed to say to me was: "You are going to be someone important one day, and you are going to change people's lives."

Never would I have imagined that people would one day be calling me the savior of mankind.

My name is Vincent Cain, and this is my REVELATION...

