Novels 11 Adam Page 34

  You will learn that evil tends to target those who are least suspicious of its power.

  And you will learn that evil will go to unreasonable lengths to remain hidden. The evidence seen in this report is only the very tip of a very large iceberg hidden in the murky depths where evil remains largely unchecked day in and day out.

  None of the events in this report are unique to the particular set of circumstances laid out here. Similar events are less rare than most would assume and are a matter of public record. For the curious, Martin Malachi’s book Hostage to the Devil details several compelling examples. Only the staunchest of skeptics need worry about not finding enough evidence to give them serious pause. For those remaining skeptics, perhaps a near-death experience would clarify the matter. It worked for Daniel.

  The events in this report in no way support or even suggest a sustainable pattern of criminal behavior or victimization related to demon possession. Psychologists are no more likely to become possessed than FBI agents. Not all serial killers court the likes of Eve. There is no connection between any form of meningitis and possession.

  If your name is Daniel or Eve or Jessica or Heather, you are no more likely to encounter hidden and disturbing forms of evil than your neighbor.

  Which by all accounts is likely enough.

  Anne Rudolph, 2008

  The thief cometh not, but for to steal,

  and to kill, and to destroy:

  I am come that they might have life . . .

  As quoted by John the Apostle

  John 10:10

  AN EXCERPT FROM

  TED DEKKER’S NEXT NOVEL . . .

  SINNER

  COMING SEPTEMBER 2008

  CHAPTER ZERO

  MARSUVEES BLACK reread the words penned on the yellow sheet of paper, intrigued by the knowledge contained in them. He felt exposed, almost naked against this sheet of pulp that had come his way.

  August 21, 2033

  Dear Johnny –

  If you’re reading this letter, then my attempt to help you has failed and I’ve gone to meet my Maker. I don’t have much time so I will be brief. None of what’s happened to you has been by accident, Johnny—I’ve always known this, but never with as much clarity as now, after being approached by a woman named Karas who spoke of the Books of Histories with more understanding than I can express here.

  Where to start . . .

  The world is rushing to the brink of an abyss destined to swallow it whole. Conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran is escalating at a frightening pace. Europe’s repressing our economy.Famine is over-running Russia, China’s rattling its sabers, South America is battling the clobbering disease—all terrible issues, and I could go on.

  But these challenges pale in comparison to the damage that pervasive agnosticism will cause us. The disparaging of ultimate truth is a disease worse by far than the Raison Strain.

  Listen to me carefully, Johnny. I now believe that all of this was foreseen. That the Books of Histories came into our world for this day.

  As you know, the world changed thirteen years ago when Project Showdown was shut down. Myself and a dozen trusted priests sequestered thirty-six orphans in the monastery in an attempt to raise children who were pure in heart, worthy of the ancient books hidden in the dungeons beneath the monastery. The Books of Histories, which came to us from another reality, contained the power to make words flesh. Whatever was written on their blank pages became flesh. If the world only knew what was happening!

  Billy used the books to write raw evil into existence in the form of Marsuvees Black. A living, breathing man who now walks this earth, personifying Lucifer himself. He (and I cringe at calling Black anything so humane as a “he”) was defeated once, but he hasn’t rested since that day. There are others like him, you know that by now. At least four maybe many more, written by Black himself from several pages he managed to escape with. I believe he’s used up the pages but he’s set into motion something that he believes will undo his defeat. Something far more ominous than killers who come to steal and destroy in the dead of night. An insidious evil that walks by day, shaking our hands and offering a comforting smile before ripping our hearts out.

  Billy may have repented, but his childish indiscretions will plague the world yet, as much as Adam’s indiscretion has plagued the world since the garden.

  Yet all of this was foreseen! In fact, I am convinced that all of these events may have been allowed as part of a larger plan. The Books of Histories may have spawned raw evil in the form of Black, but those same books also brought forward truth. And with that truth, your gifting. Your power!

  And Billy’s power. And Darcy’s power. (Though they may not know yet)

  Do you hear me, son? The West may be overrun with a populace that teeters on the brink of disbelief while at the very same time being infested with the very object of their disbelief. With incarnate evil! Black and the other walking dead.

  But there are three who stand in the way. Johnny, Billy, Darcy.

  Black is determined to obtain the books again. If he does, God help us all. Even if he fails, he escaped Paradise with a few pages and can wreak enough havoc to plunge the world into darkness. I am convinced that only the three of you stand in his way.

  Find Billy. Find Darcy. Stop Black.

  And pray, Johnny. Pray for your own soul. Pray for the soul of our world.

  David Abraham

  Marsuvees frowned. Yes, pray, Johnny. Pray, for your pathetic, wretched soul.

  He crushed the letter in his gloved hand, shoved it into the bucket of gasoline by his side, and ignited the thing on fire using a lighter he’d withdrawn from his pocket after the first reading. Flames whooshed high, enveloping his hand along with the paper.

  He could have lit the fire another way, of course, but he’d learned a number of things from his experimentation these last years. How to blend in. Be human. Humans didn’t start fires by snapping their fingers.

  He’d learned that subtlety could be a far more effective weapon than some of the more blatant methods they tried.

  Black dropped the flaming page to the earth and flipped his wrist to extinguish the flame roaring about his hand. He ground the smoldering ash into the dirt with a black, silver-tipped boot and inhaled long through his nostrils.

  So, the old man had known a thing or two before dying, enough to unnerve a less informed man than Black. He already knew Johnny and company were the only living souls who stood a chance of slowing him down.

  But he was taking care of that. Had taken care of that.

  Marsuvees spit into the black ash at his feet. Johnny’s receipt of this letter would have changed nothing. It was too late for change now.

  And in the end there was faith, hope and love.

  No . . . in the end there was Johnny, Billy, and Darcy. And the greatest of these was . . .

  . . . as clueless as a brick.

  Table of Contents

  MAN OF SORROW: JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  MAN OF SORROW: JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  MAN OF SORROW: JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  MAN OF SORROW: JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  MAN OF SORROW: JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  TWENTY-ONE

  MAN OF SORROW: JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS

  TWENTY-TWO

  TWENTY-THREE

  TWENTY-FOUR

  MAN OF SORROW: JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS

  TWENTY- FIVE

  TWENTY- SIX

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  MAN OF SORROW:
JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS

  TWENTY-NINE

  THIRTY

  THIRTY-ONE

  THIRTY-TWO

  THIRTY-THREE

  THIRTY-FOUR

  THIRTY- FIVE

  THIRTY- SIX

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  THIRTY-NINE

  FORTY

  FORTY-ONE

  FORTY-TWO

  MAN OF SORROW: JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS

  AN EXCERPT FROM TED DEK K ER’S NEXT NOVEL . . .

  CHAPTER ZERO