Chapter 45

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Note: Nicolae Carpathia is from the "Left Behind" novels. I may have altered him a little bit.

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President Odonnell knew he had to prepare himself for his first communication with Nicolae Carpathia. He had heard things about this man, how he was the anti-christ in one world, became dictator of this world, then was cast into Hell for all eternity. The "eternity" part didn't seem to take. President Odonnell spoke with Chloe Steele Williams first. Choe had been one of the christians who was persecuted in Carpathia's regime, was even beheaded. If Odonnell was going to negotiate with Carpathia, he was going into this eyes wide open.

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Odonnell: Thank you for agreeing to speak with me mrs Williams.

Chloe: Ofcourse mr president.

Odonnell: Please tell me what kind of a dictator Carpathia really was.

Chloe: At first the world loved him. He came to the scene after our rapture, our first rapture I should say, promised us peace. And it worked, for about a year and a half the world was at peace. But he also used this opportunity to sieze power, silence news media criticism, quietly bought churches and other places or worship and demolished them. Those last two were all through shell companies ofcourse. My husband, Buck Williams, worked hard to uncover these dealings. When the militias rebelled, that was when he unleashed his full fury. Carpathia used nuclear weapons to decimate entire cities.

Odonnell: I've heard that those seven years were the worst in your world's history, but my understanding is that your "God" was responsible for some of it.

Chloe: That is true. Looking back, a lot of people were choosing either God or Carpathia, whichever one they thought could protect them. I was just fortunate enough to choose the winning side, at least temporarily. Carpathia eventually forced all to take his mark, or face the guillotine. That's how I lost my life. We thought we were safe for all eternity. Then it happenned, and Carpathia invaded Heaven. He destroyed it, defeated our God, threw a lot of us into his new Hell. I can't deny that it was a brutal time, but make no mistake, Nicolae Carpathia is a brutal dictator.

Odonnell: I'll remember that.