Inside Lucifer's War (27 page)

“Dr. Fields, are you okay? What kind of pain are you feeling?” the nurse asks.

“You’re going to think this is funny,” I say. “I thought I had some tingling in my leg. But my leg had just fallen asleep. I panicked. I’m really sorry. Thank you for coming so quickly.”

“Okay, but I’m going to check your diagnostics at the nurses station just to make sure everything is fine.”

Stacie is not convinced, however. “What’s going on, Thomas? And I mean what is everything going on? No lies, no omissions. I want to know everything,” she commands.

“You’re a threat to them,” I immediately tell her. Based on her reaction, I don’t think she is prepared for my words. Her brow wrinkles and she sits back in the chair, giving me a confused look.

“What?” she asks.

“You’re a threat, Stacie. You’re a threat to the Principal, and you’re a threat to Lucifer.”

“I don’t understand,” she says.

The realization of everything suddenly hits me. I couldn’t save Mike, and now I’m here with the one person I care about, and I know I can’t save her. Tears run down my cheek. “I’m not sure I can save us, Stacie. I can’t see a way out.”

She wipes away the tears with her hand and gently sets her hand on my arm. “Shh,” she tells me over and over. When I finally stop, she leans her head down a bit and looks up at me, catching my stare. “Thomas, you never could save me. That job is finished. Don’t fear for me.”

I can see a tear flowing down her cheek. I realize that she is braver than I and that her only concern is for me. My whole life I have worried only about myself, and here is a woman pouring herself out for me. She perplexes me.

She says, “I told you in your apartment that this isn’t a war you can win by yourself. I will help you fight this, but we both need Jesus. You are up against powers you can’t defeat. Can I quote you a passage?”

I nod.

“Paul told the church in Ephesus, ‘Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.’ Look, you’re living this battle out in a present, tangible way. Most people only see the shadows of this battle, but you are on the front line. What does the Bible say? It doesn’t tell you to gather up your own strength. It says to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”

“You’re on the front line too,” I say.

“What?” she asks.

“You told me I was on the front line. I’m telling you that you’re on the front line as well. I just happen to have a clearer vantage point.”

“Clear up my view for me, then. I can handle it. Tell me what’s going on,” she says.

“Where do I begin?” I ask.

“I find the beginning is typically a good spot,” she responds.

“Not in this case. I’ve already told you about my Lucifer encounters, though not everything,” I say. “Let’s start with Dallas. Do you remember my trip to Dallas?”

“Yes. The trip you took before you came over to my apartment,” she replies.

“The organization that sponsored the fund-raiser is a front for a sinister organization bent on controlling the world,” I begin. “I know that might sound like an exaggeration, but it’s not. This organization has infiltrated the top levels of government, business, education, even religious institutions. You name an organization, and they’re there. The money, power, and influence these people have are matched by no other organization. They call themselves the Principal.”

“They want to control the world?” she asks incredulously.

“In short, yes. They want to control all the resources of the world. Their platform is world peace. Sounds harmless, right—world peace. How they want to get there is anything but harmless, though. Ultimately, they want to throw the world into chaos through wars, famine, poverty, religion, and disease, but then they want to be the ones to have all the solutions. They control the means to end poverty. They have the cure for the diseases they launch. They end wars through bribery and force. People will look at them as the peacekeepers of the world. As near as I can tell, this organization has been around for centuries, but it’s only been recently that the playing pieces have aligned for them to make a decisive move toward their goal.”

“Why now?” she asks.

“Think about it like this,” I say. “Imagine there are some people who can live for centuries without aging, like vampires. Over time, they gather resources, infiltrate organizations, rectify mistakes made in the past, etcetera. I’m not saying these guys are vampires, but their organization can go on for generations. It’s been refining itself and positioning itself for a special moment. There’s also a spiritual aspect to this. In my conversations with Lucifer, he feels like it is his time too. We are a lighted match away from total chaos. Think about it. Who has confidence in their country’s economy or the world’s governing bodies? Even Americans no longer trust their government. Do you think the NSA’s spying activities against the American people and subsequent leaks about them were an accident?”

“What does this have to do with you and Dallas?” Stacie asks.

“In Dallas,” I explain, “I was approached by the Principal. That’s who offered me this new position. They want my writing skills. Ultimately, they want me to write their manifesto. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Satan has forced me to join this organization and plans to use me to write his bible. It’s not just my writing skills, though. They both want me because of my anti-Christian apologist attitude, which I’ve communicated throughout my professional life.”

“Satan, I understand,” she says. “But why does the Principal have an anti-Christian bias?”

“They see Christianity as the ultimate threat, because Christians see peace coming only through Jesus and the worship of God,” I say. “They also believe they can change the world through prayer and through the gospel, instead of by force. The only true allegiance for diehard Christians is Jesus. The Principal sees peace coming through themselves and allegiance to their organization. They’re comfortable using whatever means is necessary to push themselves on the public. They will leverage anything. But they can’t leverage Christianity to do that. And if the Bible is accurate, then Satan would want to destroy the Christian church. Doesn’t the Bible say that the gates of hell can’t withstand Christ’s church? Since Satan is behind this organization, or at least I believe he is ultimately, then it makes sense that they want to destroy Christianity. They will use every means at their disposal to do it. I am supposed to be a cog in that machine.”

“So, Dallas . . . ?” she presses.

“In Dallas, they recruited me. I was contemplating the offer when I was put in a no-win situation. They backed me into a corner.”

“How?”

“I went up there with another professor,” I explain. He had put me in touch with the Principal. His name was Andrew. He had been involved on the fringes with the Principal for many years. Andrew, being curious, started to look into the organization. He discovered a lot on his own, but then he hit the mother lode when he found a tablet that belonged to the Principal. He stole it and downloaded the information to a flash drive and printed off some of the material. The Principal discovered that Andrew had the tablet. As far as they were concerned, he now knew too much. On Saturday night in Dallas, in our suite, they killed him and the woman he was with. They killed them both right across from where I was sleeping.”

“Didn’t you call the police?” Stacie interrupts.

“I couldn’t. They set it up to incriminate me. They drugged me that night. I was so out of it that I couldn’t recall anything that happened that night. When I woke up on Sunday, I saw the living room was in shambles. Small puffs of white powder, presumably drugs, were on the coffee table and other places. I don’t use drugs, and I know that Andrew didn’t, either. It had to have been planted there. When I didn’t hear Andrew getting ready that morning, I went into his room. I saw him in bed with a woman he had met that weekend. They were dead. I ran out of there and right into two men from the Principal. They made sure I knew how bad the situation looked for me. They told me they would clean up everything for me, and nobody would ever suspect me of anything, if I asked them to take care of everything. Of course, this also meant that I’d agree to work for them. Or, they said, I could call the police and try to explain the bodies and the drugs and my memory loss.”

I pause to take a swallow of water. “But that’s not the whole story. The day before, Andrew tried to set me up with a woman.” I see Stacie’s brow frown, so I choose my words carefully. “Nothing happened with this woman. We chatted with Andrew and his date, but that was all. I didn’t expect to ever see her again.”

“But you did?” she asks.

“Yes. The day after I returned from Dallas, she came to my office. She was afraid and panicked. She said the Principal was trying to kill her too. She told me they had killed her sister—Andrew’s date—and she needed to get out of town immediately. I told her I would help her. I took some cash out of my investments, and I asked Mike to book her on a plane to Italy. On the day of the shooting, I was going to meet her at a restaurant and give her the money. That’s why I had to leave the apartment when I did.”

“What happened to this woman?” Stacie asked. “Have you seen her since the shooting?”

“She came to visit me today,” I say.

“So she still needs the money,” Stacie suggests.

“This is where it gets more complicated,” I say.

“More complicated?” responds Stacie.

“It’s why I texted you. She showed up here with another man. Turns out she wasn’t some scared little girl. She was undercover FBI. They’ve been monitoring me to see if they can trust me or if I’m already part of the Principal. The whole thing with me helping her get out of the country was a charade to see which way I’d go. Give her the money or turn her over to the Principal.”

“Why did they visit you, then?” Stacie asks. “To warn you about the Principal?”

“In part. But the main reason was to recruit me to work for them. They want someone on the inside who can get information for them.”

“What’s their selling point?” she asks. “Immunity if you help them? Can they protect you?”

“It’s not me I’m worried about,” I say.

“Who then?” she asks.

“They say that if I join them, they can do a better job of protecting you,” I say.

“I don’t get it,” Stacie says.

“They came across some information that suggests the Principal is planning to kill you,” I say, staring hard at her. “They showed me some surveillance pictures of you during your normal routines. The pictures came from the phone of someone who works for the Principal. They’re watching you.”

“What? Why me?” she asks.

“They perceive you as a threat to them.”

“How could I be a threat?” she asks.

“Two reasons. Both of which are my fault. Do you remember when you and Mike came over to my house for a jog? I had drunk too much and was still in bed . . . There was a woman there . . . You flustered her, and she had to leave the apartment quickly? Apparently, she wasn’t interested in me. She works for the Principal. She was spying on me. The Principal is worried that Andrew gave me the information he found about the organization. She was trying to find it. When you and Mike arrived, the two of you became high risks for them. The FBI believes the Principal is concerned that you may have access to the information Andrew supposedly gave me.”

“This is madness, Tom. I knew nothing about any of this until a few minutes ago.” She stands angrily and paces around the room. Then she asks, “Did Andrew give you any information?”

“Sort of,” I say.

“What does that mean?” she asks, a severe edge to her tone.

“I took it from him the night he was killed,” I say. “I think they were looking for it when they killed him. And they’ve been looking for it ever since. They don’t trust me yet, and they certainly don’t trust anyone who has access to my apartment. Such as you.”

“This is insane!” she says.

“I don’t think that’s the only reason they want you dead,” I mumble.

“What’s the other reason?” she asks.

“Apparently I’m not very good at hiding my feelings. I’ve never had to hide them before, so I haven’t had much practice. They think you’re a terrible influence on me as a friend. Not to mention . . . ” I trail off.

“Not to mention what?” she asks.

“Not to mention that I love you,” I tell her quickly and look away.

“Thomas,” she says, “even if we had feelings for one another, there’s so much that separates us. I just . . . ”

“I’m not asking about your feelings for me,” I say. “I’m just telling you why you are a threat to the people who are trying to kill you. Look, I’m so sorry I feel this way. I wish I didn’t. I wish I didn’t love Mike like a brother, but I did. I wish I could have avoided any contact with your family. It would have been safer for all of us. I tried. You have to believe me when I say I tried. I never wanted to bring either of you into this. God, I hate myself for it. I wish that bullet had hit me in the chest. It would all be over with, and you and Mike would be safe.”