Safe Haven (Book 6): Is This The End of Everything? Read online

  Safe Haven:

  Is This the End of Everything?

  Christopher Artinian

  Published by Headless RAM Publishing

  COPYRIGHT © 2020

  CHRISTOPHER ARTINIAN

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Dedication

  To all the fallen heroes.

  To receive my book, Before and Beyond Safe Haven, absolutely free (for a limited time only) click here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/1v9xdaxx77

  prologue

  THEN

  “And the Lord said unto me, Noah, it was not by accident that your parents named you thus. Like my son will rise again, you are he reborn. You are the seed of Methuselah, son of Enoch and as you saved all life on Earth before, so shall you, again, for I am sending a second great flood.” He paused, looking beyond the stage lights to the huge gathering in the darkened hall. Not a sound rose from the auditorium; it was almost as if everyone was holding their breath.

  “Then what happened? Tell us! Please tell us!” a voice finally cried.

  Noah grasped the lectern and continued, his rich Texas drawl blanketing the audience in reassuring honesty and warmth. “Well, I tell you what, where I grew up if you went downstairs one morning and said that God had visited you in the night and told you that you were actually the seed of Methuselah, your next trip would be to the funny farm in a white van and a snug little jacket with straps around it.” The audience all laughed. “Yes, sir. That was not something I was going to say out loud, but here I was, fifteen years old in my bedroom and I was hearing this voice. Now, my family were all good Christians, yes they were. We were front row centre every Sunday morning in church. My mom was the guiding force behind every bake sale, every church event. My pop, well friends, he was just about the best man I’ve ever known. He would help everyone and anyone because he took it as his duty to always, always do the Christian thing. But if I’d have told them about this conversation, well, let’s just say that leap of faith might have been a little too far, and I knew it.” He paused again, took a drink of water, and dabbed his forehead with a dazzling white handkerchief before returning it to his pocket.

  “Praise the Lord,” a woman shouted out from the back of the large hall.

  “Yes indeed, ma’am, praise the Lord. So, there I was, having this conversation, and I suddenly had the most horrible, terrifying thought. I remembered back to my readings,” he said, holding up a dog-eared copy of the King James Bible. “God had made a covenant with Noah. He had decreed that neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. And on remembering that, I started to wonder if it was our Lord almighty that I was talking to or if it was some trick that Satan himself was trying to ensnare me with.”

  “Satan, be gone!” shouted a voice.

  “Fret not, my friends. I challenged the voice that spoke to me. I said, ‘Lord, if that is you why do you break thine own promise?’” He paused and looked into the darkness once more. “He replied not with a serpent’s tongue but with the voice of a child. He said, ‘Noah, what I breathed unto you was this; I said, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake, and by that vow I still stand.’ Well, friends, round about now, I was just more confused than ever, I tell you.”

  A small ripple of laughter fluttered around the room. “Tell us! Tell us!” shouted a man near the back of the crowd.

  “I said, ‘Lord! Forgive me for I do not understand. You have said to me you are going to unleash another flood on the earth yet stand by your covenant still. How can this be so?’ Well, friends, that’s when I knew that it was our Lord that I was talking to. He said, ‘Noah, the flood that is coming is of a different kind. It will not harm the earth, the plants of the earth or the beasts of the earth other than Man. Man has become too sinful, too corrupt once again and it is you, Noah, you who I charge with finding the chosen ones so that Man can start again. The flood I am sending will wash the earth clean of Mankind so that you can build civilisation anew, in my son’s image, not just in shape but in deed.’”

  “Surely!” a woman at the front called out.

  “And so it was told!” shouted another voice.

  “Yes, friends. The time is coming.” He looked to the side of the stage. “C’mon, sweetheart, come out here and join me.”

  Raucous cheering and applause began as a former beauty queen in her late thirties with flowing black curly hair and a smile as wide as her face swaggered onto the stage in the highest of heels and the tightest of dresses. She stopped next to Noah, leaned into the microphone and said, “Why, thank y’all.”

  “Now, most of you surely know that this is my beautiful wife, Angeline, or Angel as she’s better known. She is the one who convinced me that I needed not just to speak my message but shout it out loud. She is the one who said to me, no, told me that I had to start the Noah Jackson Ministry.”

  “Yes!” came a roar from the crowd and everyone in the auditorium began clapping and cheering. It was several minutes before the sound died down enough for Noah to continue talking.

  “I said to her, ‘Angel, Angel darlin’, the message I need to spread is too big. We don’t have two dimes to rub together.’ Back then, I was just working in my pop’s shoe store. Folks, I knew I had a calling, and I knew I had to do something about it but I didn’t know what until God delivered this beautiful woman to me. She said, ‘Noah, I have faith in you. Speak what you know to be true, and others will have faith too.’”

  “Speak it!” shouted a woman from the front row.

  “Yes, sir!” shouted another.

  “Well, not for the first time and not for the last, she was right. Ten years later, in conjunction with my good friends at Emerson’s Bank, JKC Petroleum, Hero Cola and of course IFG Shipping and Holdings we are launching The Ark, a luxury cruise ship capable of accommodating five thousand blessed vacationers. My friends, I have never been so excited in my life, and I know pride is a sin, and please forgive me, but right now, I am so proud of what we have all accomplished together.” A huge screen lit up behind Noah revealing a newly built cruise liner in a vast warehouse building in a dockyard. “Now, my wife wants to say a few words.”

  There was more rapturous applause as Angel stepped up to the microphone. When the clapping finally quieted down, she smiled widely and said, “Hi y’all,” only for the applause and cheering to start once again. “Well, you’re just all so sweet. Thank you. Thank you.” She raised her hands to calm the crowd down. “I wanted to tell you about the vision my husband had for The Ark. Now yes, it’s true, there is a flood coming. We don’t know when, but as sure as I’m standing here in front of you right now, it’s coming. And what do you know?” she said, turning around to look at the screen. “We’ve only gone and got ourselves an ark built to save the chosen ones.” There were more deafening applause and cheers, and Angel turned back towards the crowd. “Now, it would be a sin to let such a beautiful boat as this—”

  “Ship, honey. It’s a ship,” Noah interrupted.

  “Well, s’cuse me darlin’, a beautiful ship as this,” she said, smiling, “to just sit in the dock. I got that right? It is a dock, ain’t it?”

  The audience laughed and applauded. “Yes, sweetheart, that’s right,” Noah said, laughing too.

  She turned back to the audience and looked around the crowd. All eyes were on her. “Well, let me tell you folks, right here, right now, that The Ark is going to be doing God’s own work. Our cruises are going to go all over the world to historical religious sites and sites of worship, but at the same time, we’re going to be working with some of th
e world’s biggest charities to deliver aid. Can you just imagine that? You ever feel guilty about taking a vacation, knowing that there’s so much suffering in the world? I know I have. But now you can take a vacation, you can go to chapel every day, you can even hand-deliver food to some of those starving babies in Africa if y’all want to.”

  The huge hall erupted once more, and Noah and Angel shared a loving look. When the noise showed no signs of abating, Noah put his hands up. “Folks … folks … she’s not done yet.”

  The clapping came to a stop and Angel unleashed her killer smile once again. “In addition, there are state-of-the-art recording and broadcasting facilities on board, so not only will we be doing good and spreading the word from the Noah Jackson Ministry all over the world, but we’ll still be beaming back live on the Noah Jackson ministries channel so y’all can see just how much your donations are helping those in need. And I know what some of you are saying, I know some of you are saying, ‘But if this flood’s coming, what’s the point of saving those in need? What’s the point of helping others?’ Well, I tell you, folks, when my husband told me about his conversation with our Lord, I said the same thing, and this is what he said.” Angel backed away from the microphone, and Noah stepped up to it.

  The image of the giant luxury cruise liner disappeared, and a close-up of Noah Jackson’s face filled the entire screen. “I said to her, ‘Angel, darlin’, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Those are Jesus’s own words, and I know God has spoken to me and told me his plan, but he has not told me when. He has not told me who the chosen shall be, so, now more than ever, it is essential that we do his work and spread his teachings, so that we may be considered worth saving.’”

  Angel took a tight hold of Noah’s hand, turned towards the crowd and said, “Amen!”

  “Amen,” came the hysterical response from the audience as cheers and applause erupted once more. The couple looked at one another, leaned in and kissed; then the massive screen behind reverted back to the cruise ship. Noah and Angel peered into the crowd and cast the odd wave before eventually walking off the stage, hand in hand. The giant screen continued to show the ship, but website addresses and donation hotlines for the Noah Jackson Ministry began to scroll down as well.

  They nodded and smiled and shook the occasional hand as they walked back to their dressing room. They passed their two burly security guards, Doug and Viktor, and closed the door behind them.

  “What the fuck was that?” Noah hissed, tearing off his silver tie. “It was like I was talking to an empty fucking hall. You were meant to get Levine to Coach them, I mean, Jesus H Christ, that’s what we fucking pay him for. I could barely hear the one who said, ‘Satan be gone.’ It was like I was talking to my fucking self.”

  “Just one minute, you sack o’ shit,” Angel replied, pulling her high-heels off, throwing them into one corner of the room and unzipping her dress. “You told me after the last time that you were going to speak to Levine. You were going to tell him just what you wanted so a debacle like Nashville didn’t happen again.” The warm, rich and friendly southern accents now disappeared as the pair shot barbs at one another.

  “Goddammit, woman, I said nothing of the sort, I said—”

  Angel grabbed hold of the thick mop of distinguished greying brown hair on top of her husband’s head and pulled it to the side. “I’ve had just about enough of your shit, Noel!”

  “Let go of my goddamn hair, Angeline,” he said, grasping her arm tightly in his left hand.

  “You want something doing from now on then get one of your whores to do it,” she said, yanking her hand away with a fifteen-hundred-dollar toupee sprouting through her fingers.

  “Aargghh. You fucking cu—”

  She thrust the wig into his open mouth and punched him in the face. Noah went toppling over the couch and landed heavily on the floor. There was a knock on the door. “Mr Jackson?”

  The bodyguards had been with them nine of the ten years since the ministry had begun. They were in the inner circle. They were both well-paid security professionals having served time in law enforcement before going to work for themselves.

  “It’s alright. We’re alright,” Angel said, standing over her pathetic looking husband whose teeth had clamped around his tongue as he had fallen. He desperately tried to fish the now bloodied hairpiece from his lips as his legs still dangled over the frame of the upturned couch. “I told you, you never call me that word.”

  He jumped to his feet. “And I told you that you never call me Noel. All it needs is for one slip—one slip in public, Angeline, and this whole little house of cards comes toppling down.”

  “Seriously, hun? You think I’ll fluff my lines as the dotin’ wife?” she said, slipping back into her warm Texas drawl. “Well, I tell you, sugar, there’s only one of us who will ever topple this house o’ cards, and it’s the lyin’, stinkin’, thievin’, adulteratin’ sack o’ monkey shit that’s standin’ in front of me now.”

  “You dumb piece of white trash. You might want to pick up a book once in a while. It’s adulterous, and it’s not like you don’t have a goddamn queue at your bedroom door. I’ve seen shorter lines at Disney World.” He gathered himself and slowly stood up, walking over to the mirror. He retrieved the handkerchief from his pocket and wiped away the blood from his lips and chin. “At least I don’t have to worry about any embarrassments. Least I chose me a barren whore.” He looked towards her through the mirror and her shocked and horrified expression made him grin.

  “You’re a bastard. If people knew who you really were—”

  “If people knew who I really was, we’d all be in prison. Now, be a good girl and go get my glue,” he said, replacing the wig on his head and trying to manoeuvre it into the right position.

  Tears began to run down Angel’s cheeks. She ignored her husband’s request and walked over to the dressing table where an open bottle of Southern Comfort called her. She poured a glass and took two thirsty gulps. “I want a divorce.”

  The cruel smile left Noah’s face, and he walked across to her, taking the glass out of her hand, taking a drink himself and then refilling it. “Now, I know you don’t mean that.”

  Angel took another drink. “I do mean it, with all my heart.”

  “You want me to say it? You want me to say I can’t do this without you? You want me to tell you that if it wasn’t for you I’d still be Noel Brown, a footwear salesman at my dad’s shoe shop? You want me to tell you that then I will. But listen up, ’cause this is the last time. We’re in the big leagues now. This marriage of ours has been a sham for years, all part of the illusion, but Jesus, Angel, we’re just about to launch a luxury cruise liner. We’ve gone from big-top sermons with snake handlers and faith healers to stadiums with corporate and celebrity endorsements. We’re at the top of the game, but there’s more to have, more to take if we’re willing to do what’s needed.”

  Angel took another drink. “We’re going to go to Hell for what we’re doing.”

  Noah smiled. “Trust me, Angel, the Lord has spoken to me, and Hell will visit every child of the land ’cept the chosen ones.”

  She looked at him long and hard then suddenly laughed. “I hate you,” she said tenderly.

  “Oh darlin’,” he replied softly. “I hate you too, with all my heart.”

  Chapter 1

  Now

  It had been another unseasonably warm autumn afternoon, a perfect day for foraging, but now darkness had fallen.

  “We’d better think about heading back,” Wren said, shining her torch in Sammy’s direction.

  “Okay.”

  “You don’t sound very keen.”

  Sammy looked at her friend and sighed. “I miss Emma.”

  Wren started to say something then stopped herself. “How’s Mike?”

  Sammy picked up he
r full backpack and placed it on her shoulders. “Sad.”

  “Maybe you and me could go foraging on the shore tomorrow. I’ll drag Wolf’s lazy arse out of bed, too, and we can have ourselves a picnic on the beach. How does that sound? Maybe Jake would like to come.”

  “I’d like that. Jake prefers to spend all his time with John though. They go everywhere together. Everything’s changed since Emma left.”

  Wren slid her own backpack on and put a comforting hand on the younger girl’s shoulder. “Fine! We’ll have another girl’s day out,” she said, shining the torch ahead to light up their way, even though she knew these woods better than virtually anyone.

  The two of them began to head out of the trees. “Wren.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why do you spend so much time with me?”

  “Don’t you like me spending time with you?”

  “Yes. I like it a lot. But there are some girls your own age in the village.”

  Wren smiled. “I never really got on with girls my own age. I like spending time with you. You remind me of me.”

  “Since the crops started coming in, people aren’t interested in foraging anymore.”

  “I know. But that’s better for us. We have the woods and the shoreline to ourselves,” Wren said.

  “Did your sister like foraging?”

  Wren let out a little laugh. “Oh, good grief, no. My sister liked makeup, and nail paint, and designer clothes and boys.”

  “Doesn’t sound like you had a lot in common.”

  “We didn’t. Not in the time before all this started. But then…”

  “Then what?”

  “Then we became closer than ever.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sammy said, weaving her hand into Wren’s.

  The older girl looked down at Sammy, and the two carried on walking in silence until they finally reached the tree line and stepped out into the tall grass. “That’s beautiful,” Wren said, looking towards the enormous full moon rising over the bay.