Chapter One
Fear
Ronia sat crossed legged, on a rotten wooden floor of a tin shed, an old and tattered Bible lay in her lap, her only source of light was small candle, similar to the ones her church once used during Christmas, which she held in her left hand. It wasn't the best place for someone to be, but Ronia had no choice, it was either that or deny Christ, which for her was not an option. Not to mention the fact that her home, which lay just feet in front of her had been burned to the ground, along with her Bible, the one she read now had been found in a dumpster. The front and back cover were torn off, and all pages up to Genesis and after Revelations were missing, also, it looked as if it had been trampled on by a mob and then chewed on by rats, but to Ronia this Bible was the most precious thing in the world. Every once in a while she would hear noises outside, when that happened she would held the candle as close to her body as possible, shielding the flame with her right hand to hide any flicker of light that might be seen. After a minute or two she would relax and keep on reading the Bible, memorizing as much as she could. For some reason, God had blessed her with a steal trap mind when it came to the Scriptures, she would forget formulas, names, and numbers hours, sometimes minutes after being told them, but when it came to the Bible, she could glance at a verse and have most if not all of it memorized the first time. She often wondered about that, she wondered if God had given her this ability so she would be prepared for a time such as this, what ever the reason, Ronia was thankful for the gift. Slow minutes turned into hours, and still she sat there, Bible on her lap, taking in as much as possible.
Samuel let out a breathe of frustration, he had been trying to get a hold of Ronia for the past hour, he needed to tell her that they had to leave this town, the C.P or Christian Police (admittedly an oxymoron, for these police were not Christians, but were, instead, in charge of arresting any and all Christians) as the newest police force was called were on their way here to arrest any Christians living in the area. That of course, was if they had not yet been here, and if they had then Ronia could already be.... He mental slapped himself, he couldn't think about that, Ronia had been born a fighter, she had to be, what with her family life, her father was a drug addict (or in this case, still was), and her mother, before she was saved, had been an alcoholic, so she had to be still alive, right? She couldn't possibly be dead, could she? Again Samuel gave himself a mental slap, adding a physical slap along side; he wasn't going to find out any answers by worrying, he had to go over to her place and see for himself what was happening. He started out for Ronia's home, because he had lost his job, Samuel could not afford gas so he could not take his car. After about an hour or so he could see the clearing where Ronia's house was supposed to be, but something was wrong, he couldn't see anything, normally he could see at least the roof, but now he could see nothing. Samuel ran as quickly as he could in that direction, when he got there, he saw the charred remains of her house. He fell to his knees, crying in grief and pain, his best friend, the girl he loved as a younger sister was dead, burned to ashes.
Fear
Ronia sat crossed legged, on a rotten wooden floor of a tin shed, an old and tattered Bible lay in her lap, her only source of light was small candle, similar to the ones her church once used during Christmas, which she held in her left hand. It wasn't the best place for someone to be, but Ronia had no choice, it was either that or deny Christ, which for her was not an option. Not to mention the fact that her home, which lay just feet in front of her had been burned to the ground, along with her Bible, the one she read now had been found in a dumpster. The front and back cover were torn off, and all pages up to Genesis and after Revelations were missing, also, it looked as if it had been trampled on by a mob and then chewed on by rats, but to Ronia this Bible was the most precious thing in the world. Every once in a while she would hear noises outside, when that happened she would held the candle as close to her body as possible, shielding the flame with her right hand to hide any flicker of light that might be seen. After a minute or two she would relax and keep on reading the Bible, memorizing as much as she could. For some reason, God had blessed her with a steal trap mind when it came to the Scriptures, she would forget formulas, names, and numbers hours, sometimes minutes after being told them, but when it came to the Bible, she could glance at a verse and have most if not all of it memorized the first time. She often wondered about that, she wondered if God had given her this ability so she would be prepared for a time such as this, what ever the reason, Ronia was thankful for the gift. Slow minutes turned into hours, and still she sat there, Bible on her lap, taking in as much as possible.
Samuel let out a breathe of frustration, he had been trying to get a hold of Ronia for the past hour, he needed to tell her that they had to leave this town, the C.P or Christian Police (admittedly an oxymoron, for these police were not Christians, but were, instead, in charge of arresting any and all Christians) as the newest police force was called were on their way here to arrest any Christians living in the area. That of course, was if they had not yet been here, and if they had then Ronia could already be.... He mental slapped himself, he couldn't think about that, Ronia had been born a fighter, she had to be, what with her family life, her father was a drug addict (or in this case, still was), and her mother, before she was saved, had been an alcoholic, so she had to be still alive, right? She couldn't possibly be dead, could she? Again Samuel gave himself a mental slap, adding a physical slap along side; he wasn't going to find out any answers by worrying, he had to go over to her place and see for himself what was happening. He started out for Ronia's home, because he had lost his job, Samuel could not afford gas so he could not take his car. After about an hour or so he could see the clearing where Ronia's house was supposed to be, but something was wrong, he couldn't see anything, normally he could see at least the roof, but now he could see nothing. Samuel ran as quickly as he could in that direction, when he got there, he saw the charred remains of her house. He fell to his knees, crying in grief and pain, his best friend, the girl he loved as a younger sister was dead, burned to ashes.