5:17
Thursday, January 31 – MD Minus 115 days
THE CURTAIN HAD not been fully opened for Paul Phillips as he slept. He had seen much in his dream which had not been apparent when he attended the funeral. Much of the forces of darkness present at the funeral had been revealed in the dream, but he had drawn a wrong conclusion. He cried out in fear at what he saw because to him, it appeared that he was in great danger when in fact he was being delivered and shielded from the influence of his Keeper, who had influenced his thoughts and controlled how he saw things for many years. Reality is rarely as it seems.
Had Paul been able to see the complete scene of which he was apart, he would have witnessed the forces of light also present, but in reduced numbers, for there were few servants of the light present that day at Taylor Jones’s funeral. As he viewed the crowd looking back from the coffin, he would have seen some who radiated light from within as if they were inhabited by light4 – a fact which he would not have understood, even as he did not understand the dark beings he could see. Those few, although in the presence of all the mass of Keepers, had no huge yellow hands resting on their heads or long fingers piercing their skulls with direction from the Dark Master. They received their direction from the light inside, from the Holy Spirit5, who obtains the messages it transmits directly from the Father, another name for God whom the forces of darkness call the “Enemy.” What had actually occurred was that a Keeper’s great hands and long fingers were removed from Paul’s skull by Simeon, a Guardian with the forces of light. It was Simeon’s strong arms that forced the Keeper away. Paul’s momentary and partial view behind the Curtain revealed the conflict between Simeon and the Keeper as the Keeper’s hands were forcibly removed from Paul’s head. Paul also didn’t realize that something like scales had fallen from his eyes and that his ears were now opened because the Keeper’s hands no longer covered them. He could now see, hear and seek to understand, rather than simply accept the Dark Master’s steady diet of deception. The Father had chosen him to be a searcher and had placed within him a passion for understanding what he had seen and experienced, and that made him a very dangerous human being to the forces of darkness – and search he did.
Argon had not missed the events following the funeral. The Keeper assigned to Paul had blazed across the sky to report Simeon’s actions. Some of the messages which had been sent were intended to deal with this new threat directly. The Dark Master had made it clear that a searcher was not to be feared unless the search could not be directed to those living under their influence. The most logical possibilities had been sent detailed messages on the “truth” the Dark Master wanted Paul to find. Since Paul’s chest did not reveal the light inside, there was still great hope that he would continue to be a useful instrument for advancing the Dark Master’s agenda for Williams and ultimately, for America. The coming days would determine much.
Argon had been promoted to head the Dark Master’s forces in Williams for a reason. He had studied the human creatures since the rebellion and knew what to expect from one without the light inside. Paul’s first inquiry would be to his girlfriend, Samantha. She had been prepared by her Keeper. Paul was unknowingly walking into a trap – the first of what Argon hoped would be many leading him back to the camp from which he had been momentarily freed. His Keeper stayed close, waiting for the opportunity to again seize the place of influence, but for now, Simeon, his Guardian barred the way. Unknowingly Paul had been freed at the funeral, but freed for what?
The plan for the conversation with Samantha was simple and followed what the Dark Master had worked from the start in that garden of the Enemy’s long ago. It was easy then to cause the first two human creatures to respond to emotion. They reacted to their perceived needs, and in reality, planted desires. It was all a lie, but that didn’t matter because their feelings told them it was true, and when feelings rule, anything is possible. Without much effort, the Dark Master had turned that first woman called Eve to believe that the Enemy had lied to her and that she needed knowledge to be free of dependence on the Enemy. In those moments, she actually came to believe that she could replace the Enemy and become like Him. The man, Adam, stood there in silence doing nothing because of his feelings for the woman and ultimately joined her in her rebellion.6 He didn’t want to offend her. Peace with the woman was more important to him than the fact he was offending the Enemy.
The human creatures had not changed over the centuries. If anything, it had gotten easier. Samantha would be offended, hurt and ultimately lash out at her boyfriend. The target would feel guilt and desire to change to please the object of his affections and lust. The search would end quickly with influence reestablished. At least, that was the plan, and most of the time the plan worked.
Samantha was hurting. She was possessed by feelings of guilt and anger. Anger at her now-dead father who had not been there for her and guilt for the anger she felt. She felt a desperate need to be held and reassured by Paul for he, unlike her dad, had always been there for her since they began dating at the end of the fall semester of their sophomore year. Their friendship, which had blossomed into much more over the years, was her anchor.
What she saw was not what she expected. Paul was obviously agitated, troubled and tired. Was it reality or was it just a dream – a nightmare? He didn’t know. It seemed real. He knew what he had seen and was afraid to close his eyes. He didn’t want to see the dark creatures again. He was afraid they were coming for him. Samantha saw it even in the midst of all she was feeling. “Paul, what’s wrong? You look terrible,” was all she knew to say. Her great need within was being replaced by a desire to meet Paul’s.
He trembled and reached out for her. Samantha held him close and waited for him to speak. She wanted to reassure him but had no way of knowing how because she didn’t know what was wrong. She had never seen him this way. It was disarming for she truly cared for him.
In a few moments, the trembling ceased and Paul spoke in an almost hushed voice, timidly, “Samantha, did you see anything unusual at your Dad’s funeral? Did you see something standing behind the people or near me?”
“Like what, Paul? Did I see what?” Samantha responded.
It was as if a dam broke as the dream poured out of Paul. He trembled again as he described the great yellow hands with the large fingers reaching out for him to surround his head and pierce his skull. His description and obvious fear convinced Samantha that he had seen something.
Argon was alarmed. How could this human creature have seen the Keepers? They are spirit, nothing about them is physical. They should be invisible to this human. He thought he knew what was going to happen, at least, he knew the plan, but something was wrong. Already Samantha’s reactions were not as had been inspired. Then he saw it, another Guardian from the forces of light had been pushing a Keeper’s hands away from Samantha’s head. Influence had been lost, at least temporarily. Why did the Enemy care about these two? They were totally unchurched and had never expressed any interest in religion except to criticize those who claimed to be religious.
“Did you see anything around me?” she asked, now concerned about herself.
“I was not looking at you when I saw the dark things,” Paul responded. “I don’t know if they were after you. It all happened so fast. I was so frightened that I awoke screaming almost as quickly as I saw them.”
“Look, I have no clue what you saw or what the dream means, but if it were me, I would try to dismiss the whole thing as a bad dream and just forget it. It can’t be true.”
“But it isn’t that simple,” Paul explained. “It was real. I know it was real.”
“If that is what you really believe then you better find someone who can help you work through this and find some answers.”
“Who can I ask that won’t
