The Mark

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Henry's chest tightened. For some reason, he knew this man wasn't kidding around. Everything in Henry told him to listen and remem ber whatever came next. Unable to move his gaze, Henry watched as the blue hue in the man's eyes started to lighten, as if there were a deep glow behind his stare.

"The days have begun where great persecution has come upon the earth. Lines have been drawn and you have a choice. If you take the mark of the Antichrist, then you will spend eternity separated from Elohim. If you remain faithful, your reward in heaven will be great. Do you understand me?"

Henry nodded, still unable to form words. The glow in the mes

senger's eyes continued to pull Henry's eyes toward him.. "Yahweh knows your plans, Henry, and they are good. Be careful whom you trust, for brother will now turn against brother and friend

against friend. Yahweh is with you."

The glow behind his eyes began to fade and the magnetic draw to this man released its hold on Henry. When Henry realized he could speak again, he swallowed hard and forced himself to talk.

"You're an angel."

The man smiled, raised his eyebrows and tilted his head as if to confirm his suspicions, but only spoke one word. Then he turned and walked away from Henry's front door. A few seconds later, the light from the porch no longer reached his form and the man disappeared into the night.

Henry walked back into the house and closed the door. He turned the lock and then leaned his back against the door. His breathing was steady and his heart was remarkably calm. He knew he had to call Anna, but he couldn't bring himself to move. He feared that the sound of his shoes on the hardwood floors would drown out the echo of the man's voice in his ears.

And he wanted to remember what he was told..

The word was a charge, a command, an instruction. The word was a call.

Henry closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the man's voice in his head one more time. He remembered the coolness of the night on his face. He saw the glow in his eyes. He heard the voice he would never forget. And then the word. Just one word.

Overcome.

Anna had taken a few days off of work to visit her mother who lived about an hour away in a suburb of Indianapolis. Her mother was recovering from a minor surgical procedure and though she pro tested, Anna wanted to be there to help her recover. She was able to move around easily and that morning, they had gone for a late break fast at a small diner just a few blocks from her mother's home. After breakfast, they window shopped a bit and then headed back home so that her mother could rest.

"I think I'll lay down for a while, if that's okay with you," Sondra Warners told her daughter. "Some of my friends are going to stop by later for dessert."

Anna followed her mother into the house and dropped her keys

into her purse as they walked into the kitchen. "Sure, Mom. I need to check my e-mail and maybe get a little reading done."

"It's two thirty now. Don't let me sleep past four or I'll never get to sleep tonight." Her mother kissed Anna on the forehead and left the room. Anna heard her bedroom door close and she powered up her laptop and logged in. Her mailbox was full of junk mail, as usual, plus a couple of personal notes. But what caught her eye was an ur gent message from Creston Bible Church. She clicked on the title and read the message.

"In light of the international events which transpired earlier to day, Reverend Blackmore has agreed to hold a meeting tonight at the church. He cannot possibly handle all the phone calls that are com ing into the church today, but feel free to e-mail him your questions. He will try his best to answer them tonight. We will meet at 8 p.m. in the sanctuary."

Anna went into the living room and picked up the remote. Her heart fluttered a bit as she imagined what could have possibly warranted an e-mail like that. Over the past few years terrorist activity had increased in America, with major bombs going off in New York, LA, and Dallas. America was still recovering from the loss of life and its sense of secu rity. But the e-mail said "international events", which gave Anna a little relief, but not much. She quickly flipped through the stations until she found a news channel. She sat on the couch and turned the volume low so that it wouldn't wake her mother. The female news anchor read the script with two pictures in a small screen to the right of her head. One was a man Anna recognized but couldn't remember of which nation he was the president and the other was Adolph Hitler.

"... waiting for statements from several government officials, but every eyewitness so far is verifying the authenticity of the event. In response to the announcement today, the Federation of World Powers posted this statement on their Web site: "We completely and unani mously stand behind the statements made by Adolph Hitler today, and urge the nations of the world to unite with us to bring peace and pros perity to the world. This is not a time for divisiveness; this is a time for unity. The One World Denomination system is designed to do as promised to make trade simpler, to make travel easier, and to provide stability to regions of the world which need our help. Joining us is not an option-it is a privilege that should not be taken for granted. We have given our full allegiance to Adolph Hitler and urge the leaders of the world to comply with his request within forty-eight hours. Once the leaders respond, their citizens, we believe, will follow suit.""

The anchor paused a moment as the camera pulled back from its focus on her alone, revealing several others sitting at the anchor desk. She then continued as if on cue.

"We're going to break for a moment and when we return we will analyze the international response to the resurrection of Adolph Hitler and the specifics of his demands. Also, we will try to get the latest in formation coming out of Jerusalem and hear Israel's response to the death of Avi Rabin."

Anna furrowed her brow as she listened to the reports, station af ter station, which talked about Adolph Hitler, like he was alive and well. Finally, she found a channel which played the announcement in its entirety and suddenly everything came into focus. When she looked at her watch again, it was four fifteen and she jumped from the couch and went into her mother's room.

"Mom? It's after four."

Anna gently sat at the edge of her mother's bed and stroked her forehead. Her mother opened her eyes and yawned.

"Wow, I was really gone," she said.

"Mom, something has happened. You need to see this." Her mother sat up. "What? What's wrong?"

"Don't be frightened, Mom, but something unbelievable has hap pened and you need to see this."

Anna turned on the television in her mother's bedroom and flipped on CNN. In the background, a muted version of the transfor mation of Magorum into Hitler was being played as the men on the screen analyzed the action.

"What is this?" Sondra asked her daughter.

Anna could feel her heart begin to race. She wasn't even sure she could accurately describe what she had just seen. "Alexander Magorum, the Russian president, had an announcement today about a new cur rency the FWP is putting in place. In the middle of the announcement, he did kind of a magic thing and turned himself into Adolph Hitler."

"What? What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain, Mom, but just watch a bit. There," Anna pointed at the screen, "did you see that? There was some wind and people were screaming and then suddenly it was Hitler, or maybe a man who looks like Hitler, standing there. The news stations are say ing it's really Magorum and not a body double, according to the eye witnesses at the announcement."

"What does he want? How does he explain this?"

"He claims that he is back from the dead and is going to lead the world into a time of peace and prosperity, that he is a new man and has a power behind him to unite the world. But Mom, he said that the God of the Jews is the enemy. He wants everyone to show their allegiance to him by marking their foreheads and building idols that look like him in their homes."

"Is he crazy? Who is going to do that?"

"Mom, he killed the president of Israel on live television." "What? What do you mean? How?"

Again, Anna struggled with her description. "This demonlike thing came from the ceiling and turned into a spear and pierced him through. He's really dead, Mom."

Sondra Warners threw back the covers and swung her legs off the side of the bed. Anna stood as her mother walked around the bed and out the door.

"Where are you going, Mom?"

"I need a glass of water." She went to the kitchen sink and turned on the faucet. She took a glass from the cabinet over the dishwasher, filled it, drank it all, and turned back around to face her daughter.

"What does he want on the forehead?"

"Three sixes."

Sondra set down her glass in the sink and headed into the living room, where Anna had left the television on. "This has to be a joke. Who would actually follow Adolph Hitler? How can a man raise himself from the dead?"

"Mom, he wants all world leaders to be marked within the next forty-eight hours or he threatened to send demons to kill them. Then he wants the rest of the world to follow suit within two months." "What is our president saying?" Sondra sat on the couch and Anna

sat next to her.

"He hasn't made a formal statement yet, but Press Secretary Crev ell says he will give us his statement as soon as he issues one. He also said that there is absolute mayhem in Israel right now."

"No kidding. The greatest murderer of the Jews has just returned from the dead. And he is the one who holds their peace in his hands, if I remember correctly. Didn't he get the Temple Mount back for them? This is all so strange."

"Yeah, he did. He acquired the rights from the Arabs for the Jews to build there." Anna turned her eyes from the television and looked at her mother. "Mom, could Hitler be the Antichrist?" "No, because we won't be here when the Antichrist is revealed, but

this could definitely be a precursor to his arrival."

"But I thought the Antichrist desecrates the temple and demands the worship of the world. That's what Hitler did today."

"It can't be him, Anna. Why would God leave us here for this? No, it must be a sign that Jesus is definitely coming soon." "Henry and I have been studying the Scripture and he said some

thing like this would happen."

Anna's mom reached for her hands and she willingly gave them to her. Her ther then patted them gently and said, what the Bible says. We are not here during the final seven years, you know

because we will not have to go through the wrath of God. Hold to what you know is true, dear. I don't care what Henry thinks, he's wrong because God won't let this happen until He takes us to heaven." "But Mom, what about the 666? Isn't that a sign?"

"That's just a trick to scare people. Everyone knows the prophetic implications of that number and whoever this character is, he is try ing to rile everyone up. He has to be insane to think Americans will mark their foreheads and build idols, let alone the rest of the world. I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't already been arrested for killing Rabin."