Genesis: Rough Draft Edition (Angel Protocol, Book 1)

Chapter 4: Shawn

Chapter 4: Shawn

Shawn finally calmed down and started to think logically. The past few hours he wasn't just scared, but embarrassed. All of his friends and himself hung from restraints naked with only gags in their mouths and metal bars that covered their privates. Shawn was embarrassed about his weight, his rolls, which he thought everyone was looking at. He knew it was ridiculous to think they would be staring at him, but it what he was used to. Why he didn't go to the beach. The stares, always the stares.

Although they were his friends, he could tell they thought the same, they were just polite about it. His new friends, Bruce and Charlie, who were both physically fit. Bruce was broad and Charlie was lean, but they had athletic physiques. Lisa was the shortest, but she had an average hourglass body. Jasmine was taller than her but shorter than the guys. She had a small chest, but large hips, but each and every one of them stayed in shape. Not like him. They were all reminders of how he didn't take care of his temple. Jasmine even told him as much before they arrive.

He was hurt by her comments, but she was right. The truth hurts especially when it came from somebody you liked. Charlie tried to convince him to talk to her, but he knew the answer. She wouldn't be interested in him, because he wasn't physically ideal. Her words had hurt, but being around her made him feel sorry for himself for not being attracted to her or to anyone really. Now here he was physically exposed.

He couldn't' tell how everyone else felt, but he imagined that they felt scared too in their own ways. The memories of the previous night started returning to him. He remembered Lilith grasping them all in some kind of force. She somehow made them all go unconscious. He remembered the conversation he and JAsmine had with Michael, the old man in the alley who they tried to help. Michael was trying to find a woman for a client. He was attacked by demons for some reason and as he was explaining how he could see them he started freaking out about Lillith. He was the first to be knocked out. He wasn't here with them and Shawn didn't like the thought that he could be dead. What was Lilith's play?
His body felt tired and numb from being in the same position for hours. Worst, he kept trying to stare away from the naked women but didn't' want to stare at his male friends either. He said silent prayers and wondered if his lack of physically taking care of his body was a sin that he was paying for right now. Or was it his resentment? He felt, know he knew he was jealous of Bruce and Charlier. He could see how they were both getting closer to Lisa. In Charlie's case, he grew closer to all the women in the ministry. He was jealous, of his only friends in college at this point.

Trying to keep those thoughts away he let his mind wander about the night and how they summoned weapons to fight the demons. He could hear something inside of him analyzing those memories. Could they summon those weapons? He tried to focus on his fear to summon it, but nothing happened. Maybe because he was n't in mortal danger. His mind raced still trying to figure out the puzzle. He knew they were all doing that. They each had different majors, but they were all very capable individuals, the thought.

He kept thinking between the night and then he remembered something. When he thought he was going to die, his life flashed before his eyes. From his high school troubles to middle school. To all the pain and happiness of being a child. There were also flashes of a time where he thought he was in Egypt. He saw images of an Ibis, the moon, and hieroglyphics. They were brief, but he remembered that moment. He focused on that moment. Why did he have those flashes and then he felt his naked body get warm. The same feeling from the night when the weapons came. He kept focusing, blocking out his jealously, his embarrassment, his own ego.

He grabbed that memory and held it and around him he could feel the metal bending. The memory rushed and he could see glimpses of wars. His eyes opened and a blue light shined around him. He rolled his eyes up and he could see a blue halo. In his hand was the staff. He still didn't let the memory go though. Unlike that night he rode that power and let it go. This time he focused on keeping it. He could feel the power calling him as if ran through his body. The more behind it, however fleeting was the source. There was more to it, he knew, which is why he had to hold on to the memory, keep the power with him. His body felt like it was getting stronger. The surge of power swelled in his eyes and he looked at his bonds.

The word-break came to mind and blue lettering appeared on the structure. The word-break imprinted on it and shimmered. The bonds started to break and crumbled onto the ground. With his hand, he used the staff to brace his fall. He landed gently as if he had done this before. Still holding that power He imprinted the word break on the bonds and gags of his friends. Soon they were all falling and covering themselves as they turned to respect each other privacy.

"Shawn, how did you do that?" Jasmine asked.

"Who cares, we're free," Charlie said.

"We need to figure out how to get out of here," Bruce said.

"Can we get clothes first?" Lisa said.

"I think, I think I can help with that. Everyone sit down away from me." they did and he used his staff to imprint clothes onto their skin. The imprinted words glowed and the light began to mold around him and his friends before fading away. They were all wearing white long robes as if they were in church. They all stood and look at Shawn.

"Robes, this is the best you can do?" Charlied asked pulling his robe. "Oh, a loincloth for underwear."

"At least we're covered," Lisa said. She looked at Jasmine. "Now how do we get out of here?" Shawn knew she respected Jasmine and expected her to have a plan. In a way, Shawn did too, after all this was a group she created as a vision from God. He couldn't help but feel though that Lisa was too dependent on Jasmine and didn't have the same strength of faith, which was okay. Everyone was on their own walk. He just hoped that she would be able to stand on her own.

Jasmine looked at Shawn and his heart almost skipped. His little crush has grown into love. Forbidden love, the best kind of love, is what he imagines Charles would say. Her hair was long and gorgeous. Her little gap was cute and she didn't seem phased by what has happened. He admired that about her. Her strength of will and determination to succeed. If they made it out of this he would lose the weight and prove to her he's worthy.

"Shawn, can you break the door ?"

"I can try." He focused on the door, but Bruce stopped him. "I want to escape, but we don't know what is on the other side. It could be a whole team of scientists, security guards, we don't know if they have weapons. We should talk this out before being hasty."

"True, but we can't just stay here and let her put us to sleep. We should escape while we can. We have to try." Jasmine crossed her arms.

"She's right, I vote let's get while the getting is good," Lisa said with her hand on her hips.

"No, you're just agreeing because you're scared and Jasmine is putting a lot of faith into the unknown. I'm not saying that God won't see us through this, but we really should talk this out and not jump into action, that's how e got here." Charlie said.

"You're agreeing with me?" Bruce asked as he gave Charlie a qualitative look. Shawn

"Only because I don't want to go into a fight we can't win."

Then they all looked at Shawn and he knew they wanted him to vote. He knew the guys were right, they didn't' know what was on the other side, but staying here didn't seem smart either. He wasn't afraid to disagree with Jasmine, it was one of the reasons she respected him. He also believes that she was right and God will guide their actions. It was all about being wise and he knew that in the end, they had to escape.

"We should take our chances of escaping." He said and could see Bruce and Charlie's eyes gazing at him.

"Alright then, let's all go and die."

"Well, at least we'll die fighting and not trapped."

"Will you two cut it out," Jasmine said. "Shawn go ahead."

Shawn lifted his staff and imprinted the words break, but the wall nor the doors broke. He tried three times with different words.

"Well, it looks like we get to plan after all," Charlie said.

"Why didn't it work?" Lisa asked.

"I don't know." Then he felt his body freeze. He looked at the others and they were paralyzed too. Lilith walked in and looked at them with a sinister gaze. She pointed to the closed doors.

"I see I was right about you five. The reason I kept you in here." She looked at Shawn and his heart started beating faster. "And one of you can use your halo at will now. As you can see from my halo, I have an ability too."

"Magnetism," Charlie said.

"How observant. I guess it's time to discuss why I kept you here."