Encountering Darkness Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Acknowledgments

  Epigraph

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  About the Author

  Thank You for Reading

  The Great Pursuit

  ENCOUNTERING DARKNESS

  Paul Brandt

  ENCOUNTERING DARKNESS: The Great Pursuit Series, Book 1

  Copyright © 2017 Paul Brandt

  Third Edition: December 2017

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  PaulSBrandt

  Louisville, KY

  www.paulsbrandt.com/paul-brandt-christian-fantasy-books

  Cover Design by Magpie Designs, Ltd, © 2017

  Picture credits: Pixabay

  Textures by Sascha Duensing

  Editors: Johnathan and Sonya Martin

  The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®)

  Copyright © 2001 by Crossway,

  a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

  All rights reserved.

  ESV Text Edition: 2016

  The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

  Crossway is a not-for-profit organization (a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers) that exists solely for the purpose of publishing the good news of the gospel and the truth of God’s Word, the Bible. A portion of the purchase price of every Bible is donated to help support Bible distribution ministry around the world.

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you for taking the time to read Encountering Darkness. Without you, I wouldn't have an audience.

  A special thanks to my editors, Johnathan and Sonya Martin, for their fresh eyes and advice in making this book. I appreciate the help!

  To my friends and family, I would like to thank you for your support throughout my life.

  Last, I thank God for giving me a passion and desire to create. While I write with the purpose of reaching people, I as well write for an audience of one and hope this book shares, even a little, of God’s glory.

  Epigraph

  And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

  Mark 7: 20-23

  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

  John 3: 19-21

  And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

  2 Corinthians 4: 3-4

  Why do the nations rage

  and the peoples plot in vain?

  The kings of the earth set themselves,

  and the rulers take counsel together,

  against the Lord and against

  his Anointed, saying,

  “Let us burst their bonds apart

  and cast away their cords from us.”

  Psalm 2: 1-3

  Chapter One

  Pete stood outside of his home, on his front porch. He leaned on the white railing, which went on along the deck. With a drink of jack and coke in hand, Pete looked around at all he had made in Winfield. He saw the new school and the hospital in the background; he made those because he was able to get the job completed. Pete increased the income of the police force and fireman, and also bared down on getting teachers’ pay raised. He was admired by everybody and contributed to many charities, making certain that people would recognize his contributions.

  Winfield, an insignificant town, sat in the center of no-man's-land. The climate was mild with only a less-than-average, but expected, rainfall. In spite of this, Winfield was lush with vegetation. The only area of concern was the grass. The town's grass was sporadically distributed throughout the town. Only one place had ample grass, but Pete sought to change that. He would destroy that grass and building. Although, even in the one area, the grass was much poorer than one would expect in this region.

  Because of this, few people had high hopes for this town of about 15,000, but this was changing. Along the stretch of the road before him, Pete gazed at the small shops, which opened just a block down the street. A barber, salon, and a sushi establishment were its latest additions.

  “It’s strange, I mean today is strange,” remarked Pete Pethaford out loud to himself.

  Although Pete observed the grand splendor, he thought today was strange because no one was out. There weren’t even cars on the street. It looked as if everything in the town was desolate and nothing was going on. It moved him so much today that no one was out; he had to consider where everybody might be.

  As he pondered, he recalled where everyone went to on this day and he pitied those people. Even as there was always an important message; something about hope and salvation…blah…blah…blah. He perceived they were only destroying themselves. The man in black had to give a message about End Times, and how the End Times were approaching just to get people to pay attention to him.

  Pete chuckled at that conclusion and declared, once again to himself, People were continually ranting about End Times, but no one actually understands what they were saying. Pete addressed one of his white posts, and with a large grin, he gave it a kick.

  After a few minutes with the encounter with the post, he went back inside his house to wait for the people to come back. He went through to the kitchen, but turned away after he noticed a foul stench.

  I guess I will clean that up later, he said to himself.

  His kitchen often smelled awful, so he often needed to clean it. He walked to his family room so he could watch some TV, but turned away from that room after he observed it was a mess. This was a little more unusual since it was common for the rest of Pete's house to be in good order.

  He left that room, and instead, went on to his bedroom to sleep. When he ascended the stairs, he noticed the sunlight appeared to be brighter, but he shrugged that off and continued to his room to rest. While he was in his room, he observed the window was open and
it was cold, so he closed it. When he went to the window, he looked out and recognized the grass wasn’t green anymore. He thought it was strange, but still went to his bed to sleep. It was 12 p.m.

  He slept for an extended period in peaceful bliss. When he woke up, he noticed the clock read 6 p.m. He thought it was odd, but the air seemed mustier and something didn’t seem right; something was unusual. He got up and glanced around his bedroom and everything seemed to be the same, but the air was different. If it was possible, the air smelled cleaner and fresher, but his room still carried a musty smell that obscured the clean air.

  Must be roaches, Pete said softly to himself.

  He decided, after some thought, to leave his room and go back down stairs. As he descended the steps, he noticed that the sun wasn’t out anymore, but rather the clouds veiled the sun. As he drew near to the bottom of the stairs, he recognized the horrid smell again, but this time it was so strong that it was burning his nose. He then sneezed once, sneezed once more, coughed, wheezed, and gagged his way down the rest of the flights of stairs, until he gave in, and let out things from his innards. After he reached the ground floor, he fell, and laid on the floor for minutes, which appeared to go on forever. Pete trembled as he coughed and threw up. He then passed out.

  When he woke up, he couldn’t move, but rather laid there until he could will his body to move. He didn’t dare breathe through his nose, but instead his breathing came from his mouth in rapid pants. After several moments of blundering, he got up, and ran to the front entrance. It was his escape! When he got to the door, because he was so out of it, he took awhile to open it.

  After unlocking the door, in rushed the cool fresh air, and he stumbled outside to his freedom. He fell down to the earth and let it engulf him. Then he felt himself fade away and let himself completely go.

  When he woke up, the sun was blazing and the birds went on singing, well, somewhat. The birds took the several hours he was unconscious to receive free food. They continued pecking at him the entire time he was passed out, but he was too much into his dreams to care. The birds forgot what was provision and what was a soul, so he had small pieces picked out of his body.

  When he inspected himself he discovered that the birds had cleaned him and except for the holes in his body he felt good.

  He got up and glanced around, and he could hear a bee in the distance, as if he was in a dream.

  “Dream!” Pete yelled. “Maybe this was just a dream! Of course! Nothing like this takes place in real life,” he reassured himself.

  Pete, even in a dream, could understand he was sleeping. He had this happen ever since he was a child and researched what the phenomenon was called when he grew older. From what Pete could tell, through his investigation, he had lucid dreams and night terrors. Although, he could perceive he was sleeping, he found that he couldn't shake himself up from one even if he desired to. Because of that recollection, Pete went back to his house, but stopped short at the door. He paused until he could be certain there would be nothing happening inside.

  Unlike what was expected, he at once opened the door and drew a whiff of air when it was open. He coughed a little because of the musty air, but the other death smell was gone and he was glad.

  Pete took a few more steps into the house and the musty odor was likewise gone. He used that instance to acknowledge himself for his courage, even if it was only a dream.

  He wondered if the other smell dissipated in the kitchen, so he moved towards it. As he approached the kitchen, he noticed the scent was gone, but something just didn't seem normal, so he turned around just before drawing near to the entrance of the kitchen.

  Chapter Two

  Throughout the week that followed, Pete enjoyed his time very much. People continued to walk the streets, laughing and having fun. Pete was glad for the difference, but was aware it would again change like it always does. Soon people would go back to their old ways. He hated that time, and he hated people for changing so much. Two-faced was what he would call them; although not to their face.

  The day before the change Pete walked around and chatted with people at a local bar.

  “So how’s everything going mayor?” asked Tom Tetanuga.

  “Oh, fine, I’ve got some planning to do for a new school.”

  “Well, what about the mall and casino?” suggested Tom, “You know we need ‘em and it would be good for our town.”

  Tom was one of Pete’s close friends. He and Pete would often be found at the golf course, along with their other friend, Zach. Tom was Pete’s right-hand man for his job. Although they remained friends, Tom worked for Pete.

  “Yeah, I know Tom, those will all come in due time, but education should come first.”

  “Come on, you have already built a new elementary school.”

  “I have already stated what I am planning to do.”

  Tom shook his head and took another drink from his pint.

  Even though the town, Winfield, was small, it got recognition from around the country as one of the best. Last year, Winfield was voted “Best Place to Live” by CFNA for the third year in a row, and Mayor Pethaford was called Mayor of the Year in his larger region for three straight years. He won the award by not always following what the people wanted, but instead went for important things like schools, police stations, and hospitals, along with the payroll increases.

  Tom became serious and, closing his eyes, thought hard for the right thing to say. Then he opened them and spoke in a caring tone, but this speech seemed like it was made many times.

  “Pete…we have been friends for a while, and you know….”

  “It’s not that speech again is it?” stated Pete in a somewhat harsh tone. “Look, I think you guys are blind and need to look at yourself. Stop looking for things that don’t matter, especially when they don’t need fixing.”

  Tom just sighed, got up, and left the bar.

  Pete slammed his hand on the table and wondered when everyone would stop this nonsense. No one communicated anymore with each other and many only had a gaze that almost made him feel sorry for them. Pete understood that the outburst came from the change that people go through at the end of the week. How predictable and self-righteous! He was one of the few people who took this night for what it could be.

  Chapter Three

  Staggering to a considerable degree, he came home late, but still recognized that none of the street lights went on. He was angry because he made sure his town had important things, let alone street lights so people could get home without getting hurt.

  When he got to his house, he forced himself to the door, but halted because something didn’t seem right. He opened the door and would have fallen if the door let go of him, but instead he swung around with it and nailed his hands into the wall. With the door and the wall on his hand, he was forced to wait until they released him.

  He cried out, “I’ve been good! I’ve been good!” And with those words the door and the wall let him go, and he fell to the ground. He got back up and was about to go upstairs when he noticed the same foul smell. He thought it was strange the smell came back because he believed he got rid of it.

  In great determination, he moved towards the odor, but it stopped him in his tracks and threw him hard to the ground. He tried to get back up, but his head spun and he didn’t know which way was up. Not only was he moving, but everything else was as well. The world was spinning with him.

  The movement was too much for him and he gave his master what it decreed all over the floor. As he laid on the ground he felt lost, but once his stomach seemed better, he soon went to sleep.

  When he woke up, everything still spun for quite some time, but soon it stopped. He got up and moved about. He found himself in a strange room. As he continued to look about he noticed that he was in the kitchen. His heart froze. It skipped a few beats. Although he panicked for a short while, he thought this room should be more frightening, but somehow it seemed different. He relaxed and became at ease in this roo
m, unlike what he normally felt.

  The windows were always closed. The drapes were shut, so it was always dark. The little bit of light that entered the room seemed only to disappear. The light fixtures in the kitchen did not give off light anymore because he stopped changing the bulbs. Pete use to replace them, but the bulbs would burn out in a day or so. Sometimes they would even explode.

  The strong smell he noticed the other day was not here anymore, or at least it was a lot less pungent. He couldn’t pinpoint the location of the distant scent, but felt he better leave the kitchen and go to his bedroom. When he walked out of the room, he congratulated himself for his courage in being in the kitchen and not running away.

  As he continued to his room to sleep, he observed that his whole house smelled a little funny, but didn’t care because he was weary and his head pounded.

  Chapter Four

  When he awoke the next day, he noticed that the sun was mostly covered. He felt a little better from what he experienced the other day, but he stopped. He put his head down on his pillow and groaned. Pete remembered that today is the day he dreaded. He had to lay on his bed for a while because the pain of what was to come today was pumping throughout his whole body. His whole body was shaking, not with fear or pain, but with anger. He grabbed his pillow and pounded his fist into it.

  Once he forced himself to get up, it wasn’t so bad, but he was kind of dizzy from getting up in a haste. He thought for a moment what he would do today, but nothing came to him for a while. He had to think long and hard for what he was supposed to do today, but after a few moments it came to him. The festival was coming up soon. He needed to prepare for it.

  Realizing his error, he laughed because the festival wasn’t for another couple months. He thought maybe he labored too hard on his work and needed to take it a little easier. Pete got up and got ready for the day.