A/N – The word count they give you for summaries is woefully short, so here's the book jacket-length teaser I initially wrote. It will give you a much better idea of what the next 66(ish) chapters have in store:
"You will aid the Great One on his rise to power," a psychic named Vivian Ivins told 9-year-old Catalina Pavenic. "But once he is there, you will have a choice. And your life will depend on the decision." Now, almost thirty years later, Catalina thinks she has managed to keep her two worlds—her new life as a Christian in America and her childhood in Romania—far apart. But when she accepts an invitation to the Gala in New Babylon from her childhood friend Nicolae Carpathia, Catalina's two worlds threaten to collide. As she tries to cope with all she has seen since the Rapture, and all she has lost, she discovers that the choice will not be as easy as she once thought…
Also thanks to Little Pink Chameleon and Autumnrose2010 for posting and to any other readers who might have been too shy to post! I hope you guys like it!
[Disclaimer: If you recognize it from Left Behind, it's not mine.]
Catalina strapped herself into the cockpit as coolly as if she landed 747s every day. It was just two extra engines, twelve extra wheels, and several hundred thousand extra pounds. How hard could it be?
She tried to ignore the unsteady breathing of the passengers outside the door. She had always prided herself on her focus, for her ability to block out anything that kept her from getting her job done. A plane full of people choking—she would not allow herself to think the word dying—qualified as a pretty serious distraction. She focused instead on the controls in front of her.
"If we can land soon," she said to Michelle, though more for her own benefit, "we can get these people out of the cramped cabin and into the open air." She checked the flight path. "How long ago did we leave the airport?"
"Maybe 30 minutes," said Michelle. "The 'fasten seat belt' signs are still up and everything."
"Good," said Catalina. "I'll turn this thing around. We'll be back at the Pittsburgh International Airport before you know it. Or the GC Airport of Pittsburgh, whatever they're calling it these days." A thought occurred to her. "Why don't you try getting the conscious passengers to help you put oxygen masks on the passengers that are unconscious? I don't know how well they'll work against supernatural poison, but it's worth a shot."
Michelle nodded and went back out into the main cabin. Catalina turned her thoughts to the journey ahead of her. She eased the plane into a gradual u-turn, then headed back to the airport. If this sort of thing was happening all over, there might already be medical staff waiting to care for the incoming flights.
Then again, it was just as possible that the sudden destruction had thrown the runways into chaos. She had not been in the air for the Rapture three years ago, but she had heard stories. Passengers screaming as their loved ones vanished before their eyes, harrowed staff trying to keep down riots, pilots disappearing in mid-landing, their planes crashing onto the runway and erupting into flames, killing those inside…
And she had always imagined that the return of Christ would be a happy occasion. Or rather, she had not imagined that there would be a return, or a Christ. That was why she was still here on earth, waiting out the seven year Tribulation with the others who had not believed, while those who had believed had been taken up to heaven in the Rapture. Those left behind had no choice but to watch as the events foretold in the Book of Revelations slowly unfolded before their eyes. They were three and a half years into the Tribulation period, and things were going to get much worse.
She could remember the night of the Rapture, when all of this started. It had been past midnight in America. She and most of her neighbors had been blissfully asleep. It was her sister Valeria, back home in Cluj-Napoca, who had alerted her of the disappearances. Valeria had woken up to find her husband and daughter both missing and was hysterical when Catalina answered the phone. Cat thought her sister had gone crazy. Her disbelief was gradually washed away, though, as she turned on CNN and found Val's story confirmed by millions of people throughout the world whose Christian loved ones had vanished before their eyes.
Her first instinct had been to catch the next flight home, but the airports were closed. For the next few days, then, she had relied on Val for news of home, of who was missing and who was dead.
"How's mom?" was the first thing she'd asked.
"She's fine. She's right here."
"And the Ionescus?"
"They're mostly fine too. Of course, Claudia disappeared. All the children did." Val choked up, as the disappearance of her own daughter was still fresh. "Jon Stonagal is ok too."
She didn't give a damn about Jon Stonagal. "What about Nicolae?"
Val laughed. It was the first happy laugh Catalina had heard since she got the news. "Haven't you been watching the news? He's all over it."
Catalina went back into the TV room. Sure enough, five minutes later, the newscaster was announcing that the young Romanian President had words of comfort to offer the world, and then Nicolae Carpathia appeared, his face solemn but alight with just the right touch of hope. He assured the world that, yes, things may seem terrible now, but if only the world would take this opportunity to come together as one, this terrible tragedy could become a catalyst for peace and brotherhood.
"I know, I can't believe it either," Val said in response to her sister's silence.
"I can," said Catalina. Val was silent, puzzled.
"Mom's saying she just found out Roxana disappeared," she said finally.
"Good riddance," said Catalina.
This phone call had set a pattern for the next three years. When Catalina had decided to stay in America, Val had been her tenuous link to home. Even after Catalina's home in D.C. had been destroyed by the rebel bombings, even after the earthquake had ravaged Cluj, killing her mother, the Ionescus, and almost everyone else, Catalina had survived, and so had Val. From half a world apart, they had come to depend on each other for support, for comfort, for normalcy. To each, the other had been a reminder of a time when some shred of sanity had existed in the world, when they were just two little girls growing up and looking forward to a bright and beautiful future. Val had been Catalina's lifeline, and Catalina had been so excited when Val had announced that she would be moving to Pittsburgh. She had finally gotten all of her papers together. She had just been starting to pack up her things for the move…
And then the accident.
The stupid, senseless accident.
How could that happen? How could God let that hap-
No.
Not now.
Focus.
Catalina forced herself back to the present. She had a plane to land. She contacted the tower.
"Tower, this is Pan Con 391," she said. "We've got an emergency situation here. Request permission to land."
"Negative," came the response. "Runways are backed up. We've got crashes on two and four, and the others have incoming planes approaching. You'll have to go around."
"I've got a plane full of people who need serious medical attention," said Catalina. "We need to land now!"
Another voice piped up. "Everyone's in the same boat here, lady. Haven't you been listening in? The poison's everywhere. You'll have to go around, unless you want to try to make it to the GC Airport of Erie. But from what I've heard it's even worse there."
"Roger that. I'll go around," she said, trying not to let desperation overrule her. Michelle poked her head in the cockpit door.
"What's happening?" she said.
"Runways are backed up," said Catalina. "We'll have to wait. How did the oxygen masks work out?"
"Not good. They're not working. And two more people have passed out." She puckered her mouth as though she were about to cry.
"Hey," said Catalina, who was working hard to appear more confident than she felt, "we'll be fine. God will watch out for us." If God was watching out for them the same way he had watched out for Val, that wasn't saying much.
Michelle, at least, seemed comforted. She nodded and returned to the cabin, leaving Catalina alone with her frustration. She focused on keeping the elevation steady as she circled around. Every second felt like time wasted. How many more passengers had stopped breathing since they passed the airport?
After what seemed like ages, she had circled back. She alerted the tower again. If they told her to go around one more time, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to hold it together, but this time to her relief it was affirmative. "You're clear to land on Runway 3. Begin descent."
Thank God, she thought. Now focus on the landing. Don't think about the poison creeping in through the airtight windows. Don't listen to the ragged gasps coming from the passengers in the cabin. Just land the plane.
Catalina extended the landing gear and lowered the flaps a notch in preparation. At least the weather was cooperating. At least she wouldn't have to deal with high winds or fog, no external dangers. Just supernatural threats which, like most of the tribulation's disasters, did not seem to affect Christians.
She was nearing the airport now. She lowered the flaps another notch. Almost to solid ground. Almost safe.
That's when she saw them: colossal black creatures with death in their eyes and smoke pouring out from between the layers of sharp teeth. Horses, if you could call them horses. Horse things. The creatures hadn't been there a minute ago, but suddenly a whole line of them was bearing down at the defenseless aircraft. Their riders were the size of trees, and were shaped like men but seemed to be made of smoke, smoke that curled around them and licked the sky like tongues of angry serpents. Together, they looked like demons escaped from hell, which was probably what they were. They galloped across the sky, a whole army of creatures, their manhole-sized hooves stirring up the clouds and shaking the air.
They were headed straight for the plane.
R&R, then tune in next Friday to find out what happens next!