Gabriel's Army

Episode 1: Human Moments

She wanted kids, that was never a question, but their fights always ended the same. If they decided to start their family, would he be there for them? There was no doubt that he could provide for them financially, and so could she. But parenting was a two person deal, right? Would she feel like an only parent with him always gone on business? Her, alone taking their child to parents day, baseball games, dance recitals, and teacher conferences? Would she only sit two place settings at the dinner table? Would he be there for the first steps? First words? He swore that he would lay off working so much if they had a child and she did love him beyond reason, but could she really believe that? Katelyn has always been dependent on one person, herself, but so had he. They worked well in their own worlds and coming together for necessity but respecting each other's boundaries.

That was the argument every time though. Hence why she was sitting in the park with her sister, Kara, on that sunny early summer afternoon. The sun was beating down fiercely drawing small beads of sweat all over Katelyn. She enjoyed these days where she could spend time with her sister and watch Kara’s two kids playing. Ren was 10 and Chelsee was 6 going on 30. Katelyn sat on a nearby bench with Kara discussing if it was fair to bring someone into the world when you wanted them to have two parents and may end up with one. Would it make you feel like you failed them?

It happened so quickly. Chelsee was there, then not. All she heard was screaming coming from behind the jungle gym, then the rest of the kids screaming. Ren came running in a panic “Mommy he took her”

Katelyn didn't even think.

“call 911.” she yelled towards Kara and she ran.

She could hear Chelsee screaming for the man to let her go. He was fast. She heard her phone ring. She ignored it thinking to herself...NOT NOW...I NEED TO CATCH UP! I NEED TO STOP HIM! I NEED TO GET HER BACK! That was all she could think in that moment and it almost overwhelmed her senses. She knew she needed to stop the panic and breath. She needed to think and pay attention. Katelyn ran through the streets yelling for him to stop. It is almost like he was invisible. People she ran passed did not look phased until they saw her. They looked at her confused. Frustrating, as they seemed to be just standing in her line of sight, she could just barely catch a glimpse of the hot pink tie dyed tank top Chelsee wore today.

3 blocks away from the park, he turned left. Down a long alleyway. She could no longer see him, or Chelsee. Katelyn could faintly hear her whimpering. Katelyn ran faster than she ever thought she could, sensing Chelsee's growing anxiety. Her phone rang again, but this time she picked it up as she saw Kara's face. Katelyn was barely able to say a greeting. She was running on pure adrenaline at that point. Kara was frantic. Concern rolling waves through the phone. Katelyn, trying to focus, quickly gave her an update, "I am running North of Decauter. Kara, he is so fast." Kara responded "The Police are on their way. They are tracking your phone." Katelyn hung up as she caught a glimpse of him turning right and running straight through the cemetery gate with Chelsee slung like a ragdoll over his shoulder. "Sh*t"

Katelyn ran through the gates and stopped. Breathing heavy and trying to find anything out of place. Nothing moved. Nothing seemed disturbed. It's like they disappeared out of thin air. Where in the hell did they go!? Katelyn thought to herself.

She could no longer hear Chelsee. She realized so could not longer hear anything. Everything had gone silent. Cautiously she began to jog through the rows of marble stonework and flowers. On her right, some stones had flags honoring their military service. She knew this cemetery well, though, to the right past the Military graves, was the oldest section where there were people buried from the civil war and the mausoleums.

The mausoleums...

If I were a kidnapper….” She knew that no one would go back there anymore. Katelyn started running again. This time she tried to be sure footed and as quiet as she could be. She thought her best bet would be to try and sneak up on them and give them the impression they lost her in the chase. Katelyn tried her hardest to search without sound, but she was not that lucky. *c***k* she broke a small branch “sh*t” she said in a whisper. There was a rustle behind her that gave her pause. She froze waiting for some kind of noise or movement. She hadn’t heard Chelsee recently but worry had sent her mind into overdrive. It was then that she heard the movement. “That has to be them” she silently thought to herself.

She approached the mausoleum of the family Rowe. They had been an influential family in the area since the American Revolution, and very well known and respected. Their ancestors played major roles in the community, from politics, land and business owners, and advocates of our small towns' history. The mausoleum looked freshly cleaned. Katelyn remembered that the last death of the family had been somewhat recent and they had just dedicated the 4th of July Festival in their honor. It was a grand building of white marble with grey and black lines along the marble and a pitched roof. There were no windows and the heavy wooden doors caressed with an ornate wrought iron that looked to be sealed shut. So...you didn't go in there, she thought to herself. She noticed footprints in the dirt that ran along the side of the crypt. As she moved around the back, another sound made her grow more cautious.

She carefully crawled along the building and curled around the back side. There he stood at the back of the crypt. Standing in front of what looked to be a door in the ground leading to the underground crypt. The man who took Chelsee stood alone and with his back toward Katelyn, but where was Chelsee?

He turned towards her. She screamed when she saw something in his hand that sent a glint of light when the sun caught it with its rays. There was a flash of fire, and a sharp pain in her chest. She heard heavy footfalls come near to her head, and a muffled voice spoke, “Innocence of sacrifice. Interesting”. Then the blackness consumed her.