Apostate – Chapter 18

Come on an adventure with Jack and follow along as he writes his new book in real time! Here is chapter 18.

*

*

*

*

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17

*

*

APOSTATE
by JACK DEY

A whisper from the wilderness calling.

CHAPTER 18

*~*~*~*

A hollow thump directly above Dani’s head interrupted her desperate prayer. Prickling fear tormented her skin while she turned slightly to stare at the roof, holding her breath and wondering what was clambering on the other side of the thin aluminium above her. For a brief moment Dani considered the possibility that Ish may have returned, but then quickly dismissed it. He wouldn’t be playing these games and trying to scare the living daylights out of her. Glaring into the dark space and waiting for something to happen, Dani’s treacherous thoughts hovered around Lisa, her baffling disappearance and the fact that both men were still out searching for her. Gulping in a panicked breath and feeling her temples pulsing, Dani’s blood pressure spiralled while she considered the strangest possibilities. What if Lisa is trying to attract my attention with some kind of desperate signal… a misguided rock thrown at the trailer perhaps? But why wouldn’t she just use the stairs and approach the door like any other normal human being? Maybe she was in unfriendly company… Lisa seemed good at attracting attention from the wrong sorts… and was she being dragged away against her will and the rock was her last ditched effort to raise the alarm?!

Unsure of what to do and totally surrounded by darkness, she decided her conscience wouldn’t allow her to ignore the threat any longer and the possibility Lisa needed her help. Psyching herself up to investigate, Dani began to draw in long breaths, relying on her body’s adrenaline to help her pluck up the daring to enter the fight. Just when her nerve had reached a faltering place of courage and she was about to lift herself off the floor, the trailer roof and walls began to shake viciously. Falling back to the carpet, rippling shockwaves juddered the floor beneath her, making her dizzy with fear while plates, pots and pans added their rattling voice to the dissonance. Terrified and curling into a foetal ball, Dani covered her head with her arms as things escalated horrifically. It almost seemed that the trailer’s shell had reached its elastic limits, toying with critical mass and would violently implode at any given second, destroying Dani in the process as the lightweight structure flew into pieces. Quenching a desperate scream rising swiftly in her throat, Dani convinced herself to hold on, hoping the dark roller coaster ride would abate. However, unbeknown to her, the event had only just begun and as the lunacy spiralled, it forced her and her hope into the tightest folded shape her slender form could possibly make.

Without warning, stifling heat eddies swirled through the clammy, humid air, boiling the trailer atmosphere with deep, choking oppression so tangible it seemed to squeeze the life from her. Then as if things couldn’t get any worse, a creeping presence hung over her like a heavy blanket, making it impossible to think and the hair on her neck to stand on end, sending caustic shivers bouncing up and down her spine. Silently crying out for help, blind to the cause of the invisible storm and feeling like her body was being crushed into the floor, Dani tried to lift her head, but some kind of incredible weight held her down. As her body temperature rose to dangerous heights, she found it increasingly hard to think and breathe, wondering if some kind of treacherous illness had besieged her while thoughts of Lisa rapidly disappeared.

Nothing could prepare Dani for the truth as angels of both persuasions slugged it out over her, blow for blow in a frantic attempt to either conquer or protect. Fierce assaults and counterassaults broke through the spiritual realm, tearing its fragile veneer, impacting and bending the carnal world’s thin dimensional skin in the fight. It was just as well she was blind to the spiritual battlefield at this point in the conflict as the fighters of darkness poured in, unchecked. The gleeful poltroons escaped from under every dubious spiritual rock, tree and cave to take part, outnumbering the freedom fighters by a thousand to one. And yet, Papa God’s brave angelic warriors kept the tide of dissipation restricted to arm’s length and away from Dani’s chaotic body as the heavens seemed to catch fire with the flames of dispute. Again and again, satan’s lily-livered forces teased and traded ugly, sulphurous aggression with the purity and integrity of Papa God’s fighters. Compared to the hordes of hell, the angelic warriors were a small contingent, protecting their human charge with furious, unfaltering commitment, unprepared to ever concede defeat… no matter what the cost to them. They had a job to do and they would remain faithful to their protective mission until the very end.

Watching the freedom fighters struggle as the battle peaked, the cowards of satan moved in for the kill. Swarming like roaches and assured that the freedom fighters could offer little resistance, they jostled each other for a prime position, trying to muscle in and gain the upper hand. They were expecting that someone among them would be the hero who’d outmanoeuvre the enemy forces and while they were diverted, drive their disease-covered blade into the woman’s heart. The competition was fierce among the swarm to be that lucky parasite and at times in the skirmish, the fight was more intense between themselves than against the woman’s protectors. Surrounding Dani like a solid brick wall, the angelic guard countered the relentless enemy attack, exchanging vicious strikes but they were tiring fast.

When it looked like the end was about to come, the battle unexpectedly paused and the hordes divided and backed away, leaving the freedom fighters confused but extremely wary. Recognising the obese and slovenly form belonging to the son of Pharmakeia, the angelic guard tensed, preparing for a new attack. The massive, territorial power was known as the king of cowardice among the powers of the air, and only struck when there would be absolutely no chance of reprisals against itself from any enemy. Stepping up to the forefront, separating the lower ranks of the writhing fighters and preparing to steal the victory for himself, the son of Pharmakeia grasped its tyrannical sword like a dagger. Taking a wild gawk around the much smaller and jealous horde, it smirked poisonously then raised its sword above its bulbous head. Ready to strike and assured that an angelic counterattack was impossible, the evil weapon poised. Knowing the glory was in its grasp and with sorceries clearly glinting across its potent blade, the son of Pharmakeia intended to manufacture a barbaric chapter of unfathomable disease and sickness in the woman’s cowering body. In time, and with little remedy, her suffering would increase as the infected stab erased all signs of the Creator’s signature across her DNA and graffitied satan’s gutless imprint instead. Shortly to follow, the much coveted destruction of a precious and true child of God, and in its place, a grotesque fallen-angel-human-hybrid.

When all other avenues had been exhausted, the angelic guard took extreme measures and dove on top of their charge, hoping to deflect the final blow from her and onto one of them. Reading the son of Pharmakeia’s intention with unparalleled accuracy and unable to divert its cowardly aggression, the small, angelic guard frantically appealed to Heaven for reinforcements. With little time for a rescue, all they could do was watch through furious, battle-weary eyes as Pharmakeia’s dagger began to descend, targeting the beautiful Dani with unchallenged timing.

Crippled by the unseen weight of her defenders, Dani groaned and in the blinking of an eye, the battle abruptly shifted.

“DANI! OPEN UP. ITS ME, ISH!” The entry door pounded with the power and concern of her husband’s fist.

Just as flyspray poured onto cockroaches sends the pathetic disease carriers scattering, Ish’s voice scattered the cowards from hell. Panicked by the massive godly man, the hordes turned tail and ran as his booming and echoing voice hunted their withdrawal. Terrified by the arrival of an unexpected force, the son of Pharmakeia turned its attention for a second away from its prey. That would prove to be its final and fatal mistake. Five lightning fast cutlasses descended in unison upon its throat, and the unworthy head rolled across the spiritual dimensions and evaporated into a cloud of sulphurous smoke, forever dispatched from the carnal world.

One principality taken down… millions more to come.

Feeling the crushing burden disappear from her body and almost crying with relief, Dani knew something had changed with Ish’s strong voice calling from outside the trailer door. Inexplicably, and with Ish’s return, the generator burst back into life and flooded the ruins with clean, steady and welcoming light. Bouncing up from the floor and wiping away the emotion from her face, Dani tore open the door and flung herself into Ish’s embrace. Feeling Dani’s trembling body pressed against his, Ish comforted his traumatised wife and wrapped his massive arms around her. Throwing their weapons back into their sheaths, five invisible and exhausted defenders smiled at the tenderness between Ish and Dani, and then fell on their knees to worship their undefeated and undefeatable King. Knowing their mission was a success and the slovenly son of Pharmakeia had been slain as a result, the defenders returned to their assigned guard posts atop the trailer roof.

When Ish eventually peeled Dani from his embrace, he could still see the terrified expression attached to her countenance, and the shock in her frightened eyes told him that something dreadful had happened—and yet he had a story of his own to tell. This adventure was turning out to be far crazier than he’d expected and he knew it would take everything they’d learnt from the patient Holy Spirit to fully engage. Somehow, Ish knew the crazy would get crazier and it seemed Papa God was giving them, as a couple, the opportunity to fully connect with Him in this new chapter or quietly pack up and back out, leaving a very difficult assignment for another to grapple with. If they stayed, Papa God couldn’t afford a lukewarm response or anything other than total commitment and a hundred and twenty percent from both Dani and Ish.

Agitating at the base of the stairs leading up to the trailer door, Caylin winced at the show of affection between Ish and Dani, turning away in pain and focusing on the cottage instead. Standing like a phantom in the whitewashed light, the cottage appeared unaffected by the strange night, exactly how he’d left it nearly six hours ago. Defeated and tired, Caylin ambled away from the trailer and made a slow trek towards the cottage door, but he knew instinctively what to expect and that Lisa wouldn’t be there. If by some unexpected miracle she’d returned, he knew her reaction to him would be less than conducive and a different nightmare would begin. At the moment, he would welcome any belittling comment Lisa would throw at him. He just wanted to know she was alright—wherever she’d gone.

*

*~*~*~*

*

*

Chapter 19

*

*

*

*

*

****

© 2022 HTTPS://JACKDEY.COM. TO SHARE THIS WORK WITH OTHERS PLEASE GIVE FULL AND CLEAR CREDIT TO HTTPS://JACKDEY.COM WITH APPROPRIATE AND SPECIFIC DIRECTION TO THE ORIGINAL CONTENT. DO NOT USE THIS WORK COMMERCIALLY OR REDISTRIBUTE IT ON ANOTHER WEBSITE. UNAUTHORIZED USE AND/OR DUPLICATION OF THIS MATERIAL WITHOUT EXPRESS AND WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THIS BLOG’S OWNER IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

IMAGE: PIXABAY.COM

About JackDey

Jack Dey, born to adventure, lives in the tropical rainforest of North Queensland, Australia. He has three loves in his life: Jesus; the Editor (his wife of 30 something years); and writing adventure novels. He is the author of MAHiNA; Paradise Warrior; Aunt Tabbie's Wings; The Secrets of Black Dean Lighthouse; The Legend of Ataneq Nanuq, The Valley of Flowers; La Belle Suisse (co-authored with Dodie La Mirounette); Zero; Naive; and Brindabella's Prophet. His latest book, Apostate, is currently being researched and written - and you can follow the story along chapter by chapter as he writes in real time! Jack writes only to please Papa God and considers his writing a ministry, demanding nothing from the reader for his e-books. If you like Jack Dey’s books and would like to support his ministry, please consider praying for the team at Jack Dey and telling your friends about his titles. New books are written with the intention of being a pencil in Jesus’ hand and bringing joy and encouragement to you, the reader.