The Lord's Plan, Part 2



The next day, Christa's family had gotten the letter about the house, and had begun to pack the very same day. Never getting a chance to say good-bye to anyone but Micah, Christa was greatly displeased when the family pulled away from the town and she hadn't gotten to say anything to Isaac.

She wished that she could have told him.

**Present day**

Moaning quietly, the girl sat up and looked around. The boy was still standing there, and he began to walk over to her. "My name is Kyle. You are Christa. I have been sent to protect the Lord's Bearer." Nodding, she stood up. The two talked for a little while, and then parted ways, Christa walking the path back to her house, and Kyle back through the corn.

** Two years, eleven months, and 23 days later.**

Christa was worried. She had had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach for the last hour. She didn't know what was wrong, but she knew that it was something horrible. Her parents were at a party, and she had been allowed to invite Kyle over to keep her company, although he hadn't arrived yet. Not wanting to wait any longer, Christa ran to the door and threw it open, surprised to find Kyle standing on the other side of it.

"what's wrong?" Christa noted his worried look. "What Happened?" With a sigh, Kyle opened his mouth and began to speak.

"Christa, I have just been told that Isaac was killed. He Who Walks Behind the Rows just claimed him and a few others back in Gatlin. You will begin to feel the effects of what was done to you by Isaac very shortly. I will be back soon to help you." With that, he turned and walked away.

"Isaac's....dead? I'm going to-" Christa asked the empty air. Turning, she ran up to her room and threw herself onto the bed, proceeding to cry for her fallen friend, and for herself, because she knew that nothing would ever be the same again.

Christa's tears eventually dried, but not until she had cried for her Isaac until she had nothing left. Her emotions were dulled and she didn't feel anything, that is until she realized what she hadn't wanted to feel. Sitting up straighter on the bed, she turned to face the mirror. As her tearstained face looked back at her, she opened her mouth and said what she had been afraid to say for the past few years. "I loved Isaac." With those three words a whole new dam of emotions burst open, and she fell back onto the bed, sobbing.

After a while, Christa realized that crying wasn't going to solve anything, and that she needed to take care of herself because it was what was needed. Making her way to the mirror, the 17-year old looked at her reflection, then down, and smiled. Knowing that Kyle would soon be back, she quickly undressed and got into the shower.

Fifteen minutes later Christa was back in her room getting dressed when the doorbell rang. Quickly putting her shirt on, she called for the person just to come in and up to her room. Picking up her brush, she tried to keep calm by brushing her long blonde hair. It didn't work. Turning, she was grateful to see that it was Kyle who entered. Running to him, she felt that he was Isaac, and couldn't resist hugging him. "I love you." The words were spoken before she could stop herself. Pulling back, she worriedly looked into Kyle's eyes and waited to see what he would say.

"That, my child is the most sensible thing I have heard you say in a long time." Taking her hand, he led her down the stairs and into the field where she would remain for the rest of the night, making absolutely sure that the effects of the ceremony would take effect.

For the next few weeks, the twosome got closer, and everyone in school believed them to be a couple. Right around the beginning of summer, people began to notice a change in Christa and Kyle. They rarely came to classes separately, and they began to talk strangely. People swore that they saw them burning things, and making what could only be deemed as sacrifices to something in the middle of the cornfield that was through the woods behind Christa's house. The oddest thing, though that was noticed about the two was the fact that to each other, their names had changed. No one was allowed to call them by their real names anymore. Christa had become Rachel, and Kyle was Isaac.

**August 6th**

School was out for a weekend, and Christa was walking through the woods to meet Kyle at their special spot. Seeing him, her face broke into a smile, and she couldn't resist running to him and kissing him lightly on the cheek. The two most certainly had become a couple, in more ways then one. If it hadn't been for her specialness, it just would have taken them a little longer to hook up then had actually happened.

Deciding that they would tell her parents about their weekend plans sometime later then had been expected, the two walked to Kyle's car and drove off. After they had been on the highway for almost four hours, they stopped at a rest stop, and were on their way not twenty minutes later. About ten hours passed, then they were there. Stepping out of the car, Christa walked slowly up the hill toward the cemetery where Isaac's body was buried. Sitting down on the ground, she let the tears fall again for the boy.

Kyle let her cry for a few minutes, then sat silently next to her, and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. Sniffling, she turned to Kyle and with a tremor in her voice, asked "How did he die?" Not knowing what to say, he remained silent until a voice was heard behind them.

"Isaac didn't die, he sacrificed himself." Instantly recognizing the voice, Christa jumped up and turned around grabbing the speaker in a death grip, not knowing what to say at all, but knowing that the voice would help her understand more.

"Micah." She murmured into the boys black hair. "Oh God, I missed you." Pulling back, she looked into the boy's face, realizing that he had become more man then boy. At fourteen, he wasn't much taller then he had been the last time Christa saw him, but his eyes that had once been so full of life showed a great deal. Christa knew that what had happened in Gatlin had been rough on those involved, and from the tone of Micah's voice, she knew he had been involved.

A long time was spent with Micah, and Christa soon knew the details of what had happened. Micah also told Christa that Isaac had been upset that she hadn't said good-bye, but that he understood. Even Kyle was affected. He hadn't known Isaac, but could feel what Christa was going through.

The teens walked to the middle of town, and are lunch while Christa called her parents and told them where she was and who she was with. They were surprised, but understood. Returning to the table, th trio ate slowly, because the older teens knew that when they were finished they would have to head back to California, and neither of them wanted to leave.

Finally, they got up, and walked to the register, where they paid and walked back to Christa's old house. Glancing around, it was as if Christa had just noticed the absence of adults. Realizing that there were only a precious few around, the girl took in the peacefulness of the situation, completely forgetting that if she had left a week later, her parents would have been dead too.