The Servants of Twilight

"I wouldn't be surprised if there's a cult somewhere that thinks Burt Reynolds or Stephen King or Rodney Dangerfield is the Antichrist."

Charlie didn't smile at her little joke." We're living in weird times, " he said.

"We're approaching the end of a millennium," Christine said.

"For some reason, that brings all the nuts out of the trees. They say that, last time, when the year 1000 was approaching, there were all sorts of bizarre cults, decadence, and violence associated with people's fears of the end of the world. I guess it's going to be that way as we approach 2000. Hell, it's already started."

"It sure has," he said softly.

She perceived that he still hadn't told her everything Grace Spivey professed to believe. Even in the dim light that came through the car windows, she could see that he was deeply disturbed.

"Well?" she prodded him.

"Grace says we're in the Twilight, that period just before the son of Satan takes power over the earth and rules for a thousand years. How well do you know the Bible-especially the prophecies? "

"I was very familiar with it at one time," she said." But not any more.

In fact, I can't remember much of anything."

"Join the club. But from what I understand of Grace Spivey's preaching, the Bible says that the Antichrist will rule for a thousand years, bringing mankind indescribable suffering, after which the battle of Armageddon will transpire, and God will at last descend to destroy Satan forever. She says that God has given her one last chance to avoid the devil's thousand-year dominion.

She says He's ordered her to try to save mankind by organizing a church of righteous people who will stop the Antichrist before he reaches a position of power."

"If I didn't know there were people-fanatical and maybe dangerous people-who believed in this kind of nonsense, I'd find it amusing. And how do they think their little band of righteous people is going to combat the awesome power of Satanpresuming you believe in the awesome power of Satan in the first place?"

"Which I don't. But as far as I'm aware, their battle plans are a secret known only to those who've become members of the church. But I suspect I know what they've got in mind."

"And what's that?"

He hesitated. Then: "They intend to kill him."

"The Antichrist?"

"Yes."

"Just like that?"

"I don't imagine they think it'll be easy."

"I should say not!" Christine said, smiling in spite of the situation."

What kind of devil would allow himself to be killed with ease? Anyway, the logic's inconsistent. The Antichrist would be a supernatural figure. Supematural beings can't be killed."

"I know that Roman Catholicism has a tradition of justifying points of doctrine through logical processes," Charlie said." St.

Thomas Aquinas and his writings, for instance. But these people we're dealing with are fringe types. Fanatics. Consistency of logic isn't something religious fanatics require of one another."

He sighed." Anyway, assuming that you believe in all this mythology as presented by the Bible-and as interpreted by Gracemaybe it isn't such lousy logic. After all, Jesus was supposed to have been a supernatural being, the son of God, yet He was killed by the Romans."

"That's different," she said." According to the Christ story, that was His mission, His purpose, His destiny-to allow Himself to be killed to save us from the worst consequences of our sins. Right? But I hardly think the Antichrist would be as altruistic."

"You're thinking logically again. If you want to understand Grace and the Church of the Twilight, you've got to put logic behind you."

" Okay. So who does she say is the Antichrist?"

"When we pulled those two little kids out of the cult," Charlie said,

"Grace still hadn't identified the Antichrist. She hadn't found him yet. But now I think perhaps she has."

"So? Who?" Christine asked, but before Charlie could respond, the answer hit her with the force of a sledgehammer blow.

Up front, Joey was still talking with Pete Lockbum, oblivious of the conversation between his mother and Charlie Harrison.

Nevertheless, Christine lowered her voice to a whisper." Joey?

My God, does that crazy woman think my little boy is the Antichrist? "

"I'd almost bet on it."

Christine could hear the old woman's hate-filled voice, rising from a dark pool of memory: He's got to die; he I got to die.

"But why him? Why Joey? Why didn't she fixate on some other child?"

"Maybe it's like you said: You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time," Charlie said." If some other woman with another child had been in the South Coast Plaza parking lot at that same time last Sunday, Grace would now be after another little boy instead of Joey."

Christine knew that he was probably right, but the thought dizzied her.

It was a stupid, cruel, malignant lunacy. What kind of world were they living in if an innocent shopping trip to the mall made them eligible for martyrdom?

"But. how do we ever stop her?" Christine asked.