The Beginning of the End by Lorana Hoopes (readict txt) 📕

and the people who run TruthSeekers claim the disappearances were the rapture that is talked about in the Bible. They post videos every week, a preacher’s sermon along with a woman sharing her thoughts about what’s happening in the world today. After watching a few of them, I started attending. The church is small, nowhere near the size it used to be, but evidently similar churches have started popping up again all across the world.”

Lily wasn’t sure which piece of news shocked her more, the fact that churches existed and she hadn’t known or the fact that Katie had been attending without telling her. “I’m sorry, did you say you were going to church? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Katie sighed. “People who spoke out about the rapture were vilified, and I wasn’t sure I believed it. I wanted to go a few times to see what it was all about before I told anyone or asked anyone to go with me. Then these lockdowns happened, and the church was closed anyway, but the website put out a message about a meeting coming up. I think I might go.”

“Why?” Lily asked. It had been a long time since she’d been to church and she wasn’t sure how it played into any of this.

“I don’t know,” Katie said with a shrug. “I just know I felt better when I was there, and who knows, maybe they’ll have answers for this too.”

Lily tilted her head as she considered her friend. Katie was definitely prone to crazy ideas more than Lily was, but she seemed serious about this. Serious enough that Lily found her curiosity piqued. “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

The image of Daman Caturix smiling on the TV sent a shiver down Gabe Cross’s spine though he had no idea why. He didn’t even know who the man was though that was something he was going to remedy right now. He stood and crossed his small living room to grab his laptop. Then he settled back on the couch and began his search.

Daman Caturix was in fact a wealthy billionaire, one who had generally stayed out of sight except for his philanthropic work in delivering vaccines to poor countries. Vaccines? Suddenly, Gabe’s stomach churned as if he’d just eaten a piece of moldy cheese. Was that what this was about?

He clicked into the patent registry and searched for Daman Caturix’s name. Nothing, but there was some link. He was sure of it. He brought up a new search and looked for any companies that Caturix owned or was associated with. The list was long, and he was about to bookmark it to return to later when a name caught his eye. Natas Corporation.

Gabe had gone through a period in high school when he’d been into death metal and tried a few drugs. It was not an experience he liked thinking about, but the name of the corporation triggered a memory in his mind. It had been his senior year and he’d been high on dope and out of his mind. He couldn’t even remember who the band had been, but he remembered very clearly the chant of Natas ringing out around him as the lead singer urged it on. It was after he sobered up and met Melinda that the significance of that day became clear. Natas - the word that he and others had been chanting was Satan spelled backwards.

Gabe clicked back to the patent registry and entered Natas in the search bar. After a moment, a box appeared on the screen. Patent pending it read, but it was not those two words that sent the hairs on Gabe’s neck standing at attention. No, it was the number assigned to the patent that sent ice flooding his veins. 060606. Six, six, six - the mark of the beast. He may not have believed all of what Melinda had told him, but he had been listening. Enough to know that the mark of the beast was bad. Very bad. Now, he just needed to figure out what to do with the information and who to tell.

He moved his cursor to the X to close the window, but as he did, a message popped up on his screen.

Are you searching for the truth?

He glanced around, looking for a hidden camera or someone to step out of the shadows, but it was just him in the house.

He placed his fingers on the keyboard, unsure of what he was going to type before it appeared on the screen. Yes. It was just one word, but Gabe found himself holding his breath as he waited for a response.

Visit TruthSeekers. They can help.

TruthSeekers? What was that? Gabe clicked in the box to type his question, but as he did, the box disappeared. He yanked his fingers from the keyboard and stared at the computer for a moment, waiting for whatever else might come, but the computer did nothing and the single horizontal line continued to blink, waiting for his instructions.

What did he do now?

10

“Finally, it looks like we might be able to get back to some semblance of normal.”

“Huh?” Raven pulled her attention from the message on her screen to look up at Jason. He was a few feet away in her easy chair watching the latest press release from Governor Smythe.

“The governor finally agreed to open the counties who are seeing fewer cases. That means us. It means working out with a mask on and taking the temperature of every person who walks in the door, but it’s better than nothing. I wonder if Brian knows yet.” He pulled out his phone and began tapping on the screen.

“Yeah, that’s great,” Raven said, and she was happy. Mostly. She was getting tired of take-out food and actually getting to sit down in a restaurant again held appeal if only because she’d been denied the opportunity for so long. However, she wondered how that information fit with the information on her screen.

“It is great, but