The Curtain. David T Maddox

name, Amen.”

      In the invisible world, a blood-chilling scream was heard as a strong blow had been struck for the forces of light. Through pain and curses, the voice of the Dark Master could be heard screaming, “The Enemy is a fool, and none who dare defy me will heed what he says. Kill the Bookseller. Now! Find a way.” Argon panicked in fear, not knowing how to obey.

       The Survival Commission

      At the White House, President Joshua Strong gathered a group of trusted friends and advisors to meet with him and his National Security advisor Troy Steed. This was his version of a “kitchen cabinet,” men and women who were present not solely because of their positions in government, but because of their relationship with him over many years. He had often thought to himself that he would trust anyone in that room with his life. Now he would trust them with the country. Most, but not all, carried the light within, as did the president, which explained the invisible presence of both Molech and Lucius and the involvement of others above them.

      “You have heard Troy’s report on the meeting at Secretary Hollister’s office earlier today,” he began. “I want you to form a working group to coordinate our response and preparation to this unknown, but obviously imminent, threat. Model yourselves after the group President Kennedy put together to deal with the Cuban Missile Crisis. I want real options totally independent of any political considerations. I believe that the very survival of the country is at risk and nothing else matters. All agencies will funnel intelligence to you. You will act with my full authority but in complete secrecy. I want nothing released publicly until we have determined the extent of the threat and our response. We are not going to scare the American public with what we do not know.

      “I have asked Tom Knight, the White House press secretary to serve as chairman of this working group which I am calling the Survival Commission. I understand that it is both unprecedented and seemingly inconsistent to appoint an official who must daily work with the press to this position, but I believe deep within that he is to be the leader. He has agreed to accept the assignment for which I am grateful.

      “The commission’s first assignment is to work with the appropriate agencies to coordinate law enforcement and military preparation. For now, stay completely away from mayors, governors and other political people who might have different agendas unless threats appear to be specific to a particular state or city. This is mandated now because, as you know, we are approaching an election cycle. We will bring them in later, but not now. I don’t want strategy to be played out in public. The longer the Jihadists believe we are in ignorance, the better chance we have to discover their specific plan and stop it.”

      Without taking questions or inviting comments, the president dismissed the members of the Survival Commission to begin their work.

       Together Tomorrow

      Down the street in the majority leader’s capital office, a group of senators and representatives met to address issues forced on them for the upcoming campaign. Syria, ISIS, Russia, and the economy were expected issues, along with the usual group of social issues, but now they were faced with immigration issues, foreign business acquisition questions and North American economic union questions. They had little interest in addressing any of these, beyond the immigration issue as a way to garner millions of new voters likely to support their party’s candidates. But since politics was money-driven, they could not ignore the agenda of this new group, which went by the name Together Tomorrow. The Together Tomorrow. group was the moving force behind issues tied to immigration, foreign businesses and an economic union of Mexico, the US and Canada. Their legislative agenda seemed harmless enough on the surface, and they had a seemingly unending source of funds for candidates who supported their agenda.

      The public face of this new group was former President Leonard Cox. Cox was on retainer for $2 million annually. Because of the generous pay, and since this group gave a massive quantity of funds to his party’s candidates, he embraced the opportunity to advance their agenda with enthusiasm. What neither Cox nor the group who were gathered in the majority leader’s office realized was that the agenda they were seeking to advance had been the same one approved in that room far, far beneath the earth in the cave on the Pakistani/Afghan border.

      “I love politics,” Molech told Chemosh, the leader of the forces of darkness in Washington DC. “It offers us so many opportunities for our Tempters – particularly Greed, Pride, Envy, Jealously and Riches, to work in these so-called American leaders, driving the agenda of the Dark Master. Remember when Benjamin Franklin walked out of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia those many years ago and was approached by the woman asking, “What kind of government have you given us?’ Do you remember his response? He said, “A republic, ma’am, if you can keep it.” It has taken some time, but America is no longer a republic. By acting carefully and gradually, we have been able to turn the American government into what they call a democracy, which in reality means mob rule. The opinion of the masses at any particular moment mandates policy. It is no longer what is right or principled or even historic, but what do the polls say the people want this minute. Using the appearance of reality to create what the people want is what we are all about. It is a wonderful system to work with – a government led by the fear of loss of position. Watch these fools as they engineer their own destruction.”

       Paul and Samantha Prepare

      Back in Williams, Paul embraced Samantha and the events of the day poured out of him. He told her of his conversations with Professor Thompson and Chaplain Forrest, and of the meeting tomorrow with the Bookseller. He left nothing out. He wanted her to know all that he had learned, his feelings, and the still unresolved questions.

      “I don’t know what to expect from this Bookseller. When Chaplain Forrest spoke of him, there was an obvious respect and even sadness for the way he had treated him over the years. It seemed for a moment that I was sitting in a confessional, listening to him. I don’t get it. I have never had an experience like that. I am not looking for religion, but it almost seems the answers are not available apart from it.”

      Paul was both surprised and pleased as she told him how she had spent her day researching demons. The support encouraged him, making him feel not so small – he wasn’t in this alone. She seemed changed. She was engaged. She had joined him as a searcher who had to have answers. “While you were gone,” she shared, “I also called a local Catholic church and spoke briefly to a priest describing your dream. I asked about possession and exorcism and he affirmed what you were apparently told. The dream didn’t picture possession. Beyond that, it got formal when he started talking about church doctrine and an invitation to some introductory classes about the Catholic faith. I felt uncomfortable, excused myself and hung up. Why do these religious people always end up trying to get you to join their church or give them money?”

      “I don’t know,” Paul responded. “It almost seems as if most churches don’t have much to do with God beyond using His name to advance their particular church in competition with other churches – if there even is a God. I am not convinced on that one yet. There is plenty of evidence in the world that argues against the existence of God.”

      “Paul, if this Bookseller is so smart and knows a lot about God, this is our chance to ask questions that are never addressed. Let’s put a list together for you to ask him. If he truly knows God, and there is a God, he will be able to answer. If not, then you won’t have to waste your time with him and we can dismiss the dream as a nightmare and the demon stories as myths. We have to be sure about the dream, but like you, I feel a real need to know something about this God. Looking at those who claim to be His followers would lead me to believe it’s all a lie, but I want to know the truth if I can.”

      So they made their list on a single sheet of white paper. There were six questions which read as follows:

      1 Is everyone who is a member of a church and claims to be a Christian really a Christian? If not, how can you know for sure?

      2 Why all the killing now and throughout history in the name of religion?

      3 Is the God of the Old Testament, who instructed the nation of Israel to completely wipe out whole peoples, the same God as the one in the New Testament