The Great Tribulation: Perilous Times, #3

Chapter 1

Faith Von Bock opened her eyes.

Her first thought was: Where am I?

Her second as she looked around the nondescript room: How did I get here?

But before she could think too much about what was going on, she heard a voice say, Hello, Faith,

Startled, she turned around a couple of times but didn’t see anyone. Not knowing what was happening or being able to see who it was that spoke to her, made her frustrated and it also angered her, so she asked, Who are you? Where am I? I demand to know what’s going on,

The voice chuckled, Oh, you’ll know soon enough. As to where you are, do you remember what happened before you found yourself here?

Of course. I took over the temple in Jerusalem, so I could use it as my seat of power while reveling in my victory over the Israeli’s by making them a part of the world community,

She could hear the disapproval in the voice, Oh come on, Faith, you can do better. What happened after that?

Crossing her arms across her chest, Von Bock decided she didn’t want to play this game, so she asked in her demanding tone of voice, Who are you? What do you want with me?

Now, now, be a little patient. I’ll answer your questions once you answer mine,

Von Bock thought about it, I think I was confronted by someone. Maybe one of the governors of one of the provinces? I don’t remember. I think I remember a gun, but then nothing after that. Then a realization dawned on her, so she asked, Am I.... dead?

In a manner of speaking, yes,

Can we stop playing this game? I demand to know what’s going on, and I want to know now! She was tempted to stomp her feet, but rethought doing so, since she didn’t want to be seen as an immature brat.

The voice sounded annoyed, How old are you? Two years old? I realize patience isn’t your strong point, Faith, but all will be revealed soon. So, yes, you are dead, but only physically,

What does that even mean? Once I’m physically dead, I’m dead. There’s nothing after that. Right? Faith wasn’t even sure she believed there was nothing after death.

Wrong. If you’re dead, then how come we’re talking. I know you’re smart, so figure it out,

I suppose I’m now some sort of spirit and you’re leading me to the afterlife, to my great reward or something,

No, I’m talking to your soul, the very essence of who you are. As for the afterlife and the great reward you think you’re getting, I decided I had better things in store for you back on Earth,

Who are you?

Von Bock was startled when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and was finally able to see who she was talking to. The man that stood in front of her was dressed in a nice suit and was probably the most attractive man she had ever seen – if she was into that sort of thing. He smiled at her, and said, Hello, Faith, I’m Lucifer, or Satan, if you prefer,

She couldn’t help but laugh at the very idea, That’s silly, you’re Satan? Oh please, you look like you should be on the cover of some male glamor magazine, instead of being some sort of Crowned Prince of Darkness,

Thanks to literature and other popular media, nearly everyone always makes the same assumption about what I look like, except for those who God claims He has forgiven, they always seem to see through the deception. Sometimes it works in my favor, and at times like this, not so much. Maybe you were expecting me to look like this? Lucifer morphed into the familiar red demon with horns and a tail, and he even held a pitchfork. Is this better?

Von Bock’s eyes went wide, she was somewhat shocked that the man appeared to actually be Satan. She had convinced herself that he was a myth, but since he was standing right in front of her, she figured she’d play along. Okay, I guess I’m convinced. What do you want with me?

I want to help you take over the world, Satan replied as he turned back into the man in the suit. Then he snapped his fingers and the two were hovering over the planet. Behold the blue ball known as Earth,

Instead of panicking, the sight of the planet below her awed Von Bock, and she sarcastically said, Um, I already have the world, if you hadn’t noticed,

Yes, but without me, you’ll never have complete control over it. Together, we can stop God from carrying out His plans to reshape the world and its people in His image. I’ve chosen you to help me with this because you have been the most consistent in wanting everything I want. I’ve given my services to far too many who have abused the power I’ve given them, which almost always led to their downfall, and you have proven over the years that you won’t abuse that power if I were to share it. I’ve helped you out over the years, but I wasn’t sure until the last few years that you were the one that would help me achieve my goals,

What do you mean you’ve helped me out over the years? I don’t recall asking for your help,

Lucifer returned them to the nondescript room. You may not recall this, but you were beginning to suffer from Dementia the last time you ran for President of the United States. You were saying all sorts of odd, goofy things that baffled your supporters. For example, you couldn’t recall an actual event that happened, which involved a protest in your home state of California that you had brutally squashed as the governor of the state. You said your opponents were making it all up, even though there were videos and other evidence to prove otherwise. But you stuck to your guns, claimed it was all made up, and it was all some vast conspiracy from the right. Then there was the issue with digital communications when you were a senator, in the fact that you and your staff were quite lackadaisical with classified information. You also claimed none of that happened, saying that you were a victim of a right-wing witch hunt because you thought your opponents were threatened by a woman running for the highest office in the land. Those were some of the many reasons why you eventually lost,

Dementia? I don’t have Dementia! And.... and I was the victim when it came to all those accusations,

"Whatever makes you feel better, my dear. To continue what I was saying - the man on the other side of the political aisle that ran against you was backed by me. The guy was as dumb as a box of rocks, even though he was considered by humans in the know as a successful businessman. I thought his obnoxious, boorish, and amoral behavior was a major asset, but his large ego tended to get in the way. It was a little too easy to turn people who should’ve had the moral insight to see who he really was, but they were enamored by his celebrity and fell for the delusion. It was great fun to see so-called Christians abandon their principles.

Anyway, in the end, all he cared about was how much money he could get for his businesses because of his influence as the President through better trade deals and all that nonsense, not how he could help me finally bring about the collapse of the United States of America. However, his totally random style of running the country did accidently start its downfall. When I realized I should’ve backed you instead, I got rid of your Dementia so you could be the woman you are today. Also, did you know I even tried influencing that Indonesian citizen that beat you the first time you tried running for President? He wasn’t all that intelligent, mostly because his Communist upbringing really made him blind to the fact that I was real, so I couldn’t really do much to influence him,

Von Bock interrupted him, Wait a second. Are you saying my first opponent really was from Indonesia?

Of course. Nobody who becomes an Indonesian citizen can be a citizen of two countries at the same time. When he came back to the United States, he never bothered to become a citizen again and very few people questioned it. I’m sure you thought you and your staff were being clever with your attacks, but it was all true,

I hadn’t really believed he was; it was all show for the idiots that were my voters. If I had taken the accusation more seriously, oh the power I could’ve wielded. Oh well, all water under the bridge. Now, what do you want me to do? I mean, I could’ve sworn I heard somewhere that whoever partners with you was supposed to be a man, and I’m most definitely not one,

See, that’s what everyone thinks I’m going to do, and really kind of expects it, so I decided to throw a curveball and make you my representative on Earth just because I wanted to do something different. Anyway, we’ll have to deal with God, who may throw a fit in the next few years, but I’m certain we’ll get our way. I mean, I’ve had more followers than He has in the history of this planet and I command a bigger army, yet He continues to deny me what is rightfully mine, which is a place beside Him in Heaven,

Why did you get denied all of that? From what little I know about it, weren’t you part of the big three in the angel’s department, like in the same league as those other two? What are their names again?

Michael and Gabriel, that’s who they are. They’re all jealous of me, that’s why they’ve denied me sharing God’s power and it’s the reason they exiled me. You understand, don’t you?

Yes, I think so,

Would you like to see what they’ve done to me over the years?

You can go back in time?

Of course,

I don’t understand. If you’re claiming you can go back in time, why not change everything to come out better for you?

My dear, it doesn’t work like that. It’s not at all like those time travel stories where you can change something and a paradox occurs when you return to your own time. The past is set in stone and there’s no way to interfere. Believe me, I tried. All I can do is show you what happened and then we can work hard to change the future to favor us,

Maybe this is a scam, maybe it isn’t, but if he can go back in time, I’d like to see him try. If he fails, it might be good for a laugh. Okay, I’m up for it, let’s do this.

All right, here we go.

Chapter 2

The trip back in time wasn’t what Von Bock expected – it was instant. She kind of expected whirling colors and some kind of vortex through time, maybe scenes of world history going backward, but not being in the present to the past in an instant. She wasn’t sure she should be happy the trip through time was painless and without drama or angry that