The silver bus rolled into Danville and stopped outside a Nine to Eleven–the only shop on the main street. A man climbed down the few steps and left the vehicle. Dressed in a loose, crumpled suit with a white shirt open at the collar he had short brown hair and bright blue eyes.
The bus door hissed shut as the vehicle began the rest of its journey to Phoenix. The man looked along either direction of the empty street and then entered the store. He purchased several small bottles of water and two large bars of chocolate, which he stuffed into a holdall.
Outside, he slung the holdall over his right shoulder and then walked along a wide street which had houses with the shutters closed on either side. Beyond, the rugged mountains rose into the cloudless sky.
Leaving the town behind, the man climbed up a gentle, dusty slope as Saguaro cacti stood in silence among the rocks. Even though it was November, the heat caused beads of perspiration to form on his brow.
A man appeared from behind a rock spur. He was well-built and wore a red checked shirt and jeans. Leather snakebite protectors covered his lower legs, and a hunting rifle was slung over his shoulder. “Hi,” he said looking the stranger up and down. “It’s hot for November?”
“Yes,” answered the stranger as he came to a halt.
“I’d watch out for snakes up there; it’s been a hot fall!”
The stranger gazed at the hunter with passive eyes and then said: “I have no fear of the serpent.”
He then climbed on.
In Amsterdam Matthew watched the door to the back shop open as he chatted to Aada by the till-counter. “I’d better go,” he said as David appeared and beckoned to him.
He made his way past several browsers and then followed David through the back shop area and into his office.
“You’d better get packed Mattie; we’re going to the US.” David announced as he slipped in behind his computer desk in the dimly-lit room.
“The States! What for?” Matthew asked as he lounged on a seat.
“There have been strange vibrations in the demonic worlds; so, I did some digging, and I’ve found out something startling. Should have seen it coming!”
“Am I going to like it?”
“Well, yes and no!” David answered, his face bathed in the blue light from his computer screen.
“It’s Grondin, right?”
“Yeah, I’ve found out what he’s been up to; or should I say who he’s become. What all this has been leading up to is that a certain line thought to be extinct both physically and non-physically has produced an individual-the second coming if you like!
Matthew jumped out of his seat, interlaced the fingers of one hand with the other and placed them on the top of his head and applied pressure.
“What, like Jesus Christ’s back!”
“Yeah, but he isn’t going by that name.”
“But why America?” Matthew asked as he paced around the room. “Shouldn’t it be Israel or somewhere?
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“I’ll explain about that after, but apparently the guy has been raised and well sheltered by some religious group in the States.
“Where does Grondin fit into this?”
“This is the part you’re not going to like!” David said as his red eyes bored into Matthew's eyes.
“Oh shit!” said Matthew.
“Over two thousand years ago the Sin Gatherer condemned Satan to imprisonment in a dark dimension where there was no escape for one so powerful. However, after a few centuries his power, and memory, waned and he could pass through the dimensions.”
“So, you mean that Grondin was the Devil all along?”
“Yes, he has been gathering dark power from souls, and he will now have remembered who he is!”
“And he’s going to what–challenge Christ again?
David stared into space and grimaced. “I don’t know.”
“So where in America are we going?”
“We fly to Los Angeles and pick up a car.”
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