Chapter One: Taken
Jason Freeman paced the floor, running his fingers through his thick brown hair. He fidgeted with the collar of his suit, wondering why- the one day he had to stand outside for hours- it had be over a hundred degrees. Tourists ran all around him, laughing and taking pictures. Suddenly there was a huge round of applause and a tall, dark-skinned man stepped out of a car.
A slow smile spread over Jason's face. Finally, this was the moment he'd been waiting years for. The man's eyes locked with his and he nodded once and jerked his head over toward an old ruin turned into a museum. Jason walked briskly and with purpose, steeping gratefully into the museum's cool interior.
"Jason Freeman?"
Jason spun around to see the man standing in the doorway.
"Yes, sir." Jason stuck out his hand. "It's so good to meet you."
The man looked at Jason's extended hand for a minute before carefully putting out his own and shaking it.
"The pleasure is all mine. You said you had information about the…legend."
Jason cleared his throat. "We've found a young woman; her name is Renee Swan. She is expecting a daughter."
"And how is this relevant?"
"The woman is a descendent of Itzel."
"Itzel?" The man raised his eyebrows, finally looking interested.
"Yes, we've had our eyes on her for a while. We believe her daughter is the girl from the prophecy."
"Very well. You have my attention. What do you require of me?"
"I want permission to use the temple of Ah Puch to sacrifice the girl on her seventeenth birthday and fulfill the prophecy."
"The prophecy states that if the girl is sacrificed then the sacrificer would receive all the riches his heart desires and enough power to take over the world."
"Yes sir."
"If I let you use the temple…" The man's eyes bored holes into Jason's skin. "Will you promise me control of the world?"
Jason held his head high. "I want the gold."
The man laughed shrilly. "I have no need for gold. I want the world."
"Then we have a deal." Jason murmured, once again holding out his hand.
The man took it instantly this time and flashed his yellowed teeth. "We have a deal."
"Jason, this is absolutely insane!"
The elderly woman running beside Jason had been begging him not to do what he had set out to for hours.
"Who's going to stop me?" He sneered.
"You can't kidnap a child!"
"The parents will never know! I've already worked it out with the hospital. They'll be told their daughter was a still born."
"And then what?"
"Perhaps you've forgotten. I'm the director of Ridgeway Orphanage now. She'll simply be another orphan. No one will take a second look at her."
"And what if someone wants to adopt her?"
Jason stopped in his tracks and turned to the woman.
"I've got this whole thing figured out." He spat in her face. "I am thirty years old! I'm hardly a child and I would never do anything stupid enough to screw this up! I've been planning for these next seventeen years since I was twenty! I know the prophecy inside and out, I have everyone I need wrapped around my finger! My plan is coming together and there isn't a single fault! Never underestimate me, Desiree!"
Desiree nodded, looking shaken up. "Yes sir."
"You work for me." Jason said, straightening up and starting towards the large hospital doors. "Don't forget that."
A chemical smell greeted the couple as they strode up to the woman behind the front desk.
"How may I help you?" She asked smoothly.
"Jason Freeman."
The woman's face whitened slightly and she gave a nervous smile.
"Down that hallway, first door to the left."
"Thank you."
Jason and Desiree walked down the narrow hallway until they reached a small, white room. A woman was lying on the small bed gasping; a man, probably her husband, was by her side holding her hand.
The nurse attending to her turned and glared at Jason who lingered in the doorway, unnoticed by anyone else in the room. The woman screamed and the nurses swarmed, pulling out the bloody little baby. The nurse cradled it in her arms and ran out assuring the new mother that she would clean the baby off and bring it back.
Jason followed her to the baby room. The nurse cleaned off the baby avoiding Jason's gaze. When she looked up her expression was cold.
"I don't agree with this. It's cruel." She snapped.
Jason recoiled slightly. "I'm sorry if this bothers you, but it's extremely important that this child is in my care."
"I have to go tell those parents that their newborn baby, the one they've been so excited about for months, the one they love, is dead. Do you understand how hard that is to do when the baby really is dead? Do you even have any idea of how sick this whole thing is?"
The nurse wrapped the baby up and stuck her in with the other babies. "She needs to stay here a couple days."
"I'm staying in the hotel across the street. I'll be in to check every day and I'll know if you're up to anything."
"And if I am up to something?" She raised her eyebrows. "What will you do if I can the cops?"
"The cops are informed of the situation."
"You've just got this whole thing taken care of haven't you?"
"Yes, I've been planning this- making connections- for some time. This baby is a key. She is capable of things you'd never believe. And she is the only one. If something happens to her, that's it. I only get one chance to get this right."
"Please." The nurse snorted. "That sounds like the plot of a bad movie."
"To you, maybe. To my fellow researchers and I this is our reality. Our future. The thing we have been working our entire careers for."
"Please leave." She whispered, her voice suddenly going soft. "I have to go tell them the news and I don't want your twisted ass around when I do it."
Freeman walked out of the hospital without another word.
"Her parents wanted to name her Bella. That's the name that is written on the tombstone and I want you to respect their wishes and call her by that name too."
"Bella it is." Freeman said, cradling the little baby in his arms. "Thank you for your help."
"Don't you dare thank me." The nurse pierced him with her glare. "If I didn't have to keep this job, that baby would be with her parents right now."
Freeman sighed and a few hours later he and Desiree were on a plane back to New York.
"Jason," Desiree moaned as she rocked Bella, "look at her innocent little face. How could you hurt this angel?"
"She'll be a teenager when her time comes. And I promise you you'll hardly think she's an angel at seventeen."
"It just seems wrong. She'll never truly get to live her life. She'll be locked away in an orphanage. She'll have only a short, sad seventeen years."
"She'll play with the other kids, she'll have friends, things to do…she won't be sad."
"She's marked for death."
"Everyone is marked for death! They just don't know the exact day death is coming to them. At least she'll know. At least she won't be surprised."
Ridgeway Orphanage was abuzz with chatter when Freeman and Desiree returned. As soon as the door opened, the children jumped around all wanting to see the new baby.
"Everyone calm down. Let Mr. Freeman get situated." Miss Lucille, the orphanage's assistant director came bustling into the main hall, quieting the children down.
"Thank you Lucille. I'm just going to get baby Bella into her room; then you can fill me in on how everyone was while I was away."
"Of course."
Freeman took Bella upstairs to an isolated bedroom away from everyone else. He lay her down in a cradle and smiled at her sleeping face.
"Finally." He opened his cell phones and punched in some numbers.
"Hello?" A man answered.
"I have the girl. Bella is her name."
"Bella." The man repeated softly. "Beautiful name. I'm sure she'll be a beautiful girl."
"You'll find out in seventeen years." Freeman hung up unable to wipe the excitement off his face. After all these years of research and waiting and people throwing doubt and him…he'd finally done it. Everything was finally set into motion. And in seventeen years the prophecy would be fulfilled.