Caitlin stood there, watching the sky, wiping her tears, and finally tore herself away. She was jostled in the crowd, and felt a small hand grip hers, and finally snapped out of it.Scarlet looked up at her with her joyful, innocent eyes. “Mommy?” she asked.Caitlin beamed at the site of her, forgetting all her sadness. She bent down and embraced Scarlet, holding her tight, smiling, radiant. And then she remembered: Jesus.Caitlin took Scarlet’s hand, checked to see that Ruth was there, and hurried through the mob, heading after him. They were jostled as they went, and it was an effort just to keep them together. The masses flocked around Jesus, who was far away now, and the crowd was growing thicker and thicker. He was such a polarizing figure, Caitlin could feel the tension in the air, so thick it was palpable. Brawls broke out, as some people wept openly, while others argued with each other. It felt like Jerusalem was on the verge of a revolution.The Roman soldiers stood back
Caleb could not believe what he was seeing: all around him, the graves were rising on the Mount of Olives. He remembered the prophecy for the end of days—that the first to resurrect would be those buried on the Mount of Olives—and knew the prophecy was coming true.That meant that the end of days was at hand. Right here. Right now.The thought struck him like a lightning bolt. The apocalypse. It was really happening. Something horrific had been unleashed, and the dark side had gotten to it first. His sense of dread deepened: now, his death seemed inevitable.Caleb turned back to the battle at hand and fought furiously, blocking Kyle’s battle axe just in time. He leaned back and kicked Kyle hard, right in the chest, sending him flying backwards.Another sword came slashing down for his head, and Caleb blocked it with his sword, then spun around and kicked his assailant hard in the gut, knocking him down. It was Rynd. Kyle’s old accomplice.Caleb was at the peak of his strength, fig
Caitlin slowly opened her eyes, in excruciating pain. As the light hit her eyes, it felt like knives entering her forehead. She had to squint—even though it was dim in here, lit only by torches.She felt aches and pains all over her body and as she tried to move, she realized she was chained. She looked over and saw chains binding her hands and feet to a wall. She was standing upright, arms and legs outstretched, chained, her back against a cold stone wall, the cold metal digging into her wrists and ankles. She struggled against her shackles, and realized they were silver.She felt a huge welt forming on her cheek, and realized that was the spot where Sam must have hit her. The thought of that hurt her more than the lump. Sam. Her own brother. She could hardly conceive it. Had he so thoroughly turned to the dark side that he would attack even her?Apparently, he had. And that hurt her more than she could contemplate. Sam, she realized, was no longer her brother. Their relationship w
Caitlin raced through the air towards the Mount of Olives. She managed to put a good distance between herself and her pursuers, and wasn’t worried about them.What she was worried about was what she might find. She had a pit in her chest, a deepening sense of dread she could not shake, that something terrible had happened, that all the people she loved in the world were gone. She felt as if she were already an orphan in the universe.She thought back to Jesus’ words, and willed herself to be calm.Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to her life?Caitlin flew across the arid landscape of Israel, watching Jerusalem and the never-ending palm trees beneath her. She was drawn to this city, yet found herself hating it at the same time. This place was too intense for her, and she associated it with everything that had gone wrong in her life. She just wanted to get away—far, far away, with Caleb and Scarlet. Alone. Just the three of them. To a place where they could live out their
Caitlin faced off against Kyle, Rynd, Rexius, and his legion of vampires. As she stood there, she could feel the rage slowly overcome her. She hadn’t felt rage like this in she didn’t know how long. It was a deep, primal rage, and it overcame her like a storm. It was the rage of a creature with nothing left to live for. It was the most powerful thing she’d ever felt.Caitlin wanted vengeance. She needed vengeance. For Caleb. For Aiden. For Blake. For herself. Every ounce of her body geared up to fight this army. Her entire world turned red, and she knew that she needed to kill every last one of them.Caitlin leaned back and roared, the roar of a thousand dragons. The ground beneath her trembled, as her battle cry reached up to the very heavens.As the ground shook, she saw fear on the faces of Kyle and Rynd. They must have sensed that they were up against a changed person, against a person unlike any they had ever faced. This was the new Caitlin. The Caitlin who had completed her tr
“Sam!” screamed a voice.Sam suddenly stopped, hypnotized by the voice, his sword frozen in mid-air.“SAM!” screamed the voice again.Sam turned and looked, and Caitlin saw who it was.Scarlet stood there, hands on her hips, red-faced, screaming at Sam.“Don’t you hurt her! That’s my mommy! What kind of brother are you?”Scarlet stepped forward, fearless, and positioned herself between Sam and Caitlin.Sam stared back, perplexed. He still held the sword, as if frozen.“It’s your job to protect her. Don’t you remember? IT’S YOUR JOB!”Sam blinked several times.“You promised to protect her. And me. What kind of brother are you?” Scarlet screamed, chastising him.There was something about the tone of Scarlet’s voice—something so honest and real—that it seemed to break through an invisible barrier, to reach Sam. It seemed to reach to the core, to break him out of a trance, to reach all the way to Sam himself, to the man who was once a brother, who was once an uncle.Slowly, Sa
As Caitlin flew away from the Mount of Olives, Scarlet on her back, holding Ruth, her heart was breaking in a million pieces. She was so overwhelmed, she hardly knew what to think. Down below, she was leaving Caleb, her husband, dead. Blake, dead. Aiden, dead. And her brother, Sam, alone to fight that army. He had finally come back to her, had become the brother she once knew. Her heart had soared to see him come back to himself. And abandoning him now, like this—after she had vowed to never abandon anyone again—was the most painful of all. But at the same time, his remaining down there, fighting that army, was enabling her to flee, to search for their Dad—who, Aiden had said all along, was their last hope for salvation. Still, despite everything, she wished that Sam, the last familiar face in the world, could join her, could come with her to find their Dad together.Caitlin recalled Aiden’s words, centuries ago: she was the chosen one. Finding her Dad was her destiny, and her desti
Caitlin looked up at Jesus, unable to speak, unable to breathe. It was beyond what she could process. Yet at that moment, she knew it to be true.Jesus was her father.All this time, he had been the one she had been searching for.Your guide will appear at the Eastern gate.It was Jesus. He was her guide.And he was also her father.A feeling raced through Caitlin, a feeling unlike any she had ever had. It was a feeling of being special. A feeling of belonging. A feeling of pride. In her father, in herself. She was special. Her lineage was special. Beyond special.Caitlin could hardly even conceive what it all meant.She burst into action. After all, this was her father here, nailed to a cross, and she couldn’t stand to see him suffer. She jumped up, and took out the four keys, already knowing they would each be a perfect fit. As she inserted each key, the earth shook and the skies thundered. It felt like an earthquake, as lightning bolts came down all across Jerusalem. It was