The Third Seal Read online

  The Third Seal

  By

  Sean Deville

  First publication in Great Britain

  Copyright (C) Sean Deville 2020

  Visit the author’s website at www.seandeville.com

  Acknowledgement is made for permission to quote copyrighted materials

  Printed in Great Britain

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher or author.

  This book is intended for entertainment purposes only, and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental

  Readers advisory

  This novel is based on the biblical book of Revelation.

  It is an apocalyptic work of horror fiction. As such it seeks to attain a realistic account of the times we are in. This means it contains graphic descriptions of violence as well as what some may consider to be profane language.

  There will be death, there will be slaughter… there will be blood and gore.

  Also, there are scenes depicting torture. These are necessary for the plot as will be revealed in later books.

  Whilst it contains religious themes, the novel does not proclaim to be an accurate representation of the various religious texts. It’s make-believe for something that I hope never occurs.

  REVELATION 6:5-6

  And when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, Come. And I saw, and behold, a black horse; and he who sits on it had a balance in his hand. And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying: A choenix of wheat for a denarius and three choenixes of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.

  Demons

  Asmodai - Muhammad Yamani, Iranian Minister of Defence

  Kane

  Beleth- Chairman of the Order of the Chosen

  Vine - Treasurer of the Order of the Chosen

  Balam - Secretary of the Order of the Chosen

  Inquisitors

  Aadam

  Lilith

  Lucien

  Father

  Librarian

  Father Creed

  Cardinal Esposito

  USA

  Chief of Staff of the Airforce, General David McKenzie.

  General Patrick Martin, the commanding general USARPAC

  Admiral, Charles Hart, the Chief of Naval Operations

  Brian Fox - Special Agent with the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Counterterrorism and Criminal Exploitation Unit

  Civilians

  Damien/Legion

  Ari Stone

  Giles Horn

  DI Hargreaves

  DI Cooke

  Emily Ralph

  Vicky Ralph

  Mohammed

  HOMELAND SECURITY COUNCIL

  NOVEMBER 2018

  Confidential summary of national strategy for

  Pandemic Disease

  The Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Pandemic preparedness further clarifies the roles and responsibilities of governmental and non-governmental entities, including Federal, State, local, and tribal authorities as well as regional, national, and international stakeholders, and provides preparedness guidance for all segments of society. With new respiratory viral strains constantly emerging, it is incumbent on this administration to do all that it can to defend the integrity of the United States of America. This may entail a curtailment of constitutional rights and the implementation of martial law.

  This summary covers aspects to be considered in the face of a pandemic that threatens the integrity of the country. The following may face resistance on a constitutional level and should not be shared with the wider public at this time. It relates to a declared state of national emergency. Each of the following points should be planned for with preparations made for local and national resistance.

  1) Implementation of Executive Order 10997 – All electrical power, gas, petroleum and fuel supplies to be put under government control.

  2) Temporary federalisation of the national food production and distribution infrastructure.

  3) State by state mandated “shelter in place” for all non-essential workers.

  4) Mandatory quarantine of anyone found to be infected.

  5) Temporary internment of protestors, agitators and non-compliant individuals.

  6) Cessation of trading on the stock exchanges of New York, Chicago, Boston, Jersey City, Miami and Philadelphia.

  7) Mobilisation of the National Guard on a state by state basis.

  8) Control of City and State law enforcement, including county Sheriffs and Tribal police under direct Federal management.

  9) Temporary federalisation of the national health infrastructure.

  10) Temporary federalisation of the national water treatment infrastructure.

  11) Implementation of Executive Order 10990 – The federalisation of all modes of transportation, including the control of highways and seaports.

  12) Implementation of Executive Order 10995 – Allows the government to take control of all communication media.

  13) Temporary suspension of all social media should be considered.

  14) Federal tax relief for affected businesses.

  15) Implementation of Executive Order 13295.

  16) The lockdown of all Prisons, both State and Federal, for the duration of the crisis.

  17) A suspension of Habeas Corpus and the implementation of military tribunals.

  18) A suspension of the 1978 Posse Comitatus Act 18 U.S.C. § 1385 with implementation of martial law.

  A decision on when such measures are required will be made by the Office of the President of the United States with the approval of Congress, unless local and national conditions warrant an immediate response.

  The contents of the overall report will be discussed at the next meeting.

  The Office of the President of the United States

  1.

  August 11th

  London, UK

  Lilith was awoken by unfamiliar voices.

  Ever since she had been discharged from the training camps, there hadn’t been a single day where she hadn’t slept alone. That was not the case now, strangers intruding into the realms of her sleep. She rarely remembered her dreams these days. When she did, they were filled with blood and death.

  Lilith was on this planet for a single, all-defining purpose, driven to acts some would call evil but that were apparently blessed by the word of God. Although she admitted to having doubts about the mission asked of her, none of these interrupted the nocturnal realm.

  Rousing herself, she dangled her bruised and aching legs over the side of the bed. Father Creed clearly liked his luxury, his mattress well used but comfortable. Her body complained, damaged inside and out, though the bruising would heal with time. The Russians had rescued her in the nick of time. If not for their intervention, there was no telling what would have been done to her.

  Whilst Lilith told herself she would have taken her secrets to her grave, there was a nagging doubt caused by the momentary weakness that had crept into her. Which was worse—the brief sign of fragility, or never knowing how she would have ultimately responded to it?

  Would she really have betrayed her Order? Now she was free, she could tell herself it was a passing failing, and that should the moment arise again she would find a way to take her own life willingly. But to even have had the thought grated with her.

  Why don’t you just tell the bitch what she wants to know?

  Veronica had worked her manipulative claws into Lilith’s mind and had started the process of breaking someone who was supposed to be unbreakable. Somehow, Veronica had found a chink in Lilith’s armour, and had done so quickly. It was worse than being ca
ught, to know you could be made so easily vulnerable. That was a graver fate than losing her life, and Lilith knew it was something for which she would have to repent. But could her repentance repair the damage that had been done to her identity?

  Such recriminations would come later, but for now the voices drew her.

  The coveralls provided by Anastasia had been discarded. Lilith was now dressed in clothes that had been graciously donated to the church. She had picked durable items that allowed for flexibility, caring not for fashion but mindful she would need to blend in when she finally went back onto the streets. The boots the Russians had given her she kept. They were a little bit too small, but that was preferable to being too large. Leaving them off, she carefully stood, knowing the dizziness would rock her. For the time being she would lie low and recover.

  Dizziness indeed hit her as she stood from the bed, but she didn’t let it claim her. Lilith, the great and powerful demon hunter. She could just about walk unaided.

  The door to the bedroom led to a small corridor that accessed the main body of the church, as well as Father Creed’s office. She headed there now, curiosity driving her. There was something in one of the voices that was distressingly familiar. Not a person she recognised, but a corruption she knew so well. As impossible as it was supposed to be, she could sense a demonic presence here. How had it got past the wardings invisibly painted onto every brick, every tile and every pane of glass in the church? Even the strongest demon would be forbidden from crossing the threshold of this ancient building.

  The door to Father Creed’s office was closed, and she stopped outside, listening.

  “So, can you help me?” the corrupted voice asked. The demonic essence was there around the edges of the words, threatening to consume rather than in full ownership.

  “No, but maybe I know someone who can.” And who might Father Creed be referring to? An injured warrior who was unsure of her own self, or Lucien?

  “Please help my mummy,” a child’s voice begged. There was innocence there, something so appealing to the demonic mind. Lilith had no doubt she was about to enter a room full of victims and that Creed would expect her to help them. These were the people she was sworn to protect, and yet they were the cannon fodder the demonic masses used to bring evil to the world.

  Lilith took a deep breath and opened the door.

  Father Creed sat with three others. An old man, a young child and an attractive woman whose aura shimmered with the darkness. The tension forming in Lilith eased. The woman wasn’t possessed, but she was close to becoming so. Lilith had encountered this several times before on the streets, hapless beings stalked by Satan’s minions, a taste of the Pit left clinging to them. Her standing orders were to only act against full possession. Humanity was to always be given the chance to fight off the possession themselves. So few managed it.

  Sometimes Lilith felt like she was fighting with one arm tied behind her back.

  How long did this woman have before she was taken? Days? Hours? With these kinds of possessions, the demon always came in the sleeping hours, when the mind was the most vulnerable. It didn’t matter if you thought it was all a dream, if you said yes to the manipulations of your nightmares, that would be enough to allow the Hell spawn full control.

  And then you would be lost because once the demon was in, it would be difficult to uproot. Especially a demon as powerful as this one. The signs were there. If she had to guess, this woman was being stalked by a Great King of Hell. That was an enemy Lilith would struggle to face at the height of her fitness, never mind now. She cursed the fact it was difficult to breath.

  The room’s occupants turned to look at her.

  “And here is that someone,” Creed said. Lilith’s eyes burned into Vicky, seeking any evidence of trickery. She found none, and Lilith stepped in, letting the office door close behind her. Without her knives, Lilith felt naked even though there was no threat here.

  “These are the visitors you spoke of?” Lilith asked. She didn’t come any closer, choosing caution. Despite her sworn duty, Lilith had little time for conversation and for the people she was supposed to protect. To talk and interact with them was an irritation she could endure, but she would always prefer solitude.

  “Lilith, this is James, Vicky, and the little one is Emily.”

  “You’re not wearing any shoes,” Emily pointed out.

  “Hush, Emily,” Vicky chastised, although not harshly. A mother and a daughter, here to ask a priest for help. A rare event in this modern age.

  “And what is it you think I can help with, Father?” How much had the old priest told them?

  “Emily, why don’t you tell my friend Lilith what you see.” I don’t have any friends, Lilith found herself thinking. Was it possible to be lonely in a room full of people?

  “I see a darkness.” The child’s voice was tempered, weak. A young mind close to fracturing as everything it had been told about the world was threatened.

  “I see it too,” Lilith said. “A growing corruption.” So the child had the gift, or was it a curse? How many like her were out there? Many never uncovered their talent, and those who did were sometimes condemned to a diagnosis of mental illness.

  “Please forgive Lilith, she is not a people person.” Creed suddenly held a stern look, as if he was somehow in a position to give Lilith commands. “Vicky here is at risk of being possessed.”

  “And what concern is that of mine?” Lilith demanded coldly.

  “I would like to help these people.” Creed reflected on what he had said. “Can we help?” Lilith was about to admonish the priest for being so presumptuous, but she held her tongue. A single tear was rolling down the child’s cheek. “Can something be done?”

  “You know there is only one sure way we deal with the infection.” Because, in a way, it was an infection. The demons were invading pathogens that took control of the host, stripping them of their self-determination and their hopes.

  “But I thought…” Creed didn’t finish. You have been here too long, thought Lilith. You have become soft.

  “And what did you think, exactly?” There were rules, a certain way of doing things. When a body was found to be possessed, then an Inquisitor was trained to act. Not before.

  “You know the words.” Lilith assumed the words Creed was referring to were the rite of exorcism.

  “Knowing the words and being able to successfully perform the ritual are two different things altogether. You, as well as anyone, know how uncertain exorcism can be.”

  “You’re mean,” Emily said quietly, but there was anger there. I don’t blame you for that, child. She wasn’t here to be liked, but she was here to serve. Could she do what Creed was suggesting? Lilith had memorised the rituals, but only for the psychological impact they had on the feral minds of the demons she tormented. She had never successfully exorcised a demon.

  “Then we are left with the lesser options. I can help with that,” Creed insisted.

  “What ritual? What are you two talking about?” demanded Vicky.

  “Father Creed is suggesting exorcism.” And other things. Lilith looked at the woman. Here was a soul being shown a world she never knew existed. So many would have suspected mental illness, and yet here they were with Father Creed.

  “Have you ever done one before?” James asked. He seemed to accept everything being said here. A man of faith then.

  “No. The technique is…flawed.”

  “But who better to try it on. Here in the house of the Lord,” Creed implored. The logic made sense. Even if the ritual failed, the demon would be trapped here, and in great pain. Maybe that alone would be enough to drive it out.

  “But doesn’t an exorcism imply the demon is already rooted in place?” James sounded alarmed by the prospect.

  “Of course,” said Lilith, “which is why I would rather avoid it. Demons are notoriously difficult to extract once they are in a host body. There is another way.” Lilith's hand instinctively went to the belt of her tr
ousers, but there was no knife there.

  “I’m still not sure I believe any of this,” Vicky admitted.

  “For us to have success, you must believe.”

  “I believe, mummy,” Emily said desperately. That got a gentle hand caressing her hair as a response.

  “Belief is everything. I can see the doubt in you, the indoctrination of a world that has led us to the brink of annihilation.” Lilith looked at Father Creed, an idea shaping. “Father, perhaps some holy water.”

  2.

  New York City, USA

  Fox felt sick.

  The FBI command room was in uproar, the news of the destruction of Philadelphia hitting home with the imminent threat they all faced. They were on the hunt for terrorists, and they knew exactly what the terrorists were capable of doing. Across several walls, TVs relayed the devastation inflicted upon the country, the huge mushroom cloud broadcast live. In an age of atomic weapons, such a threat had always been there, lurking in the background.

  That threat was now a reality. For the first time ever, terrorists had used a nuclear weapon. The world would never be the same.

  If the men they were chasing were in possession of a nuke, would they have it on them in their van, or would they have left it behind? Was New York also about to experience a devastating thermonuclear explosion? New York City, due to its iconic status, was a prime target for such heinous acts.

  “I want to know every place that van has been,” someone shouted, referring to the vehicle Farrokh and Mohammed were presently in. With the van registration, they could trace back its route, could see the life it lived on the streets of New York City. Its recent history would be laid bare, so long as its image was captured by the various traffic cameras scattered across the city.

  Hopefully New York would survive.

  Fox couldn’t stay in here, the air suddenly thick in his throat. Whilst he personally didn’t know anyone who lived in Philadelphia, it was a city that meant a great deal to him. For Christ’s sake, it was where the Declaration of Independence had been signed. By destroying it, the bastards had cut the very core out of what it meant to be an American.