(6)-Pastor Anderson.
As Clare drove through Mount Prospect Heights, heading for Lincon High, she noticed the church she use to attend and saw that a car was parked outside the building in the parking-lot. She drove onto the property, parked in the parking-lot, and got out of her car. She ran up to the double doors of the church, opened one the right door, and went inside where she saw pastor Anderson sitting on one of the steps of the pulpit.
"Oh, God...are you really gone?" Anderson asked. "Is your holy spirit...really gone? Are we alone?"
Clare walked down the aisle and went up to Anderson. "Pastor Anderson?"
Anderson looked at Clare. "Clare. Are you one of them?" He asked.
"Them?" Clare asked, confused.
"A looter." Anderson said.
"No." Clare answered.
"But you're still here." Said Anderson.
Clare nodded.
"Another one. Oh, no." Said Anderson.
"Another?" Clare asked.
"How many...how many i've misled. How many are still here because of me? It was all there, i...i read it, i studied it...i preached it. I preached it. It really didn't matter. How many...are still here because of me? I can't eat, i...i can't sleep. All i can think about...all i can see are those faces who were out there every Sunday. God...how many?" Said Anderson.
"I gotta go." Said Clare before turning to leave.
"No, wait, stop." Said Anderson, standing up, stopping Clare in her tracks. "Where are you going?"
"I'm on my way to the middle school of Lincoln High." Said Clare, turning to face Anderson. "I'm gonna see what i can find out about Tommy from his school counselor. I need to find out what happened to him, Irene, Raymie, Jackie and all of the other millions of people who disappeared. I have a pretty good theory as to what caused the vanishings, but i need confirmation."
"What do you think caused the disappearances?" Anderson asked.
"Aliens." Clare answered.
"Aliens?" Anderson asked.
"Yes. Aliens. They came to Earth the other night, abducted all of the millions of missing people, and left the rest of us." Said Clare.
"You don't really believe that, do you?" Anderson asked.
"You bet i do. That's what the news and media of California are saying. Hey, even the government is saying it." Said Clare.
"Oh, come on, Clare, wake up and face the truth. What happened the other night wasn't alien-related and you know it. You just don't want to believe it." Said Anderson.
"You bet i don't wanna believe it! I mean, what kind of God would do something like this?! Not one of love, that's for sure!" Said Clare.
"God is love, Clare, but he also believes in justice, just like you and me. And he cannot allow any of sin of any kind in his kingdom." Said Anderson.
"You know, you're starting to sound just like my friends, Irene and Jackie." Said Clare.
"Well, maybe it's time you started listening to them!" Said Anderson.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop trying to scare me into being apart of your religious band-wagon with these Bible-like horror stories! You're a grown man! Act like it!" Said Clare.
"How can you live through the disappearances of millions of people and then dismiss it all as just some mass alien abduction?" Anderson asked.
"Because i live in reality, that's why! You should try it sometime!" Said Clare.
"Reality?" Anderson questioned.
"Yeah!" Said Clare.
"Clare, millions of people around the world disappeared out of their clothes, along with millions of dead people. I think reality gets redefined, don't you think?" Said Anderson.
"Well, you can continue to believe what happened was Heaven-related...but i know it was aliens." Said Clare.
"That's it. I can remain silent no longer. Clare, the disappearances was the Rapture. The return of Christ. The gathering. The day of the Lord. All the Christians are gone. All infants are gone. All children under the age of accountability are gone. The aftermath of the event has turned the entire planet into a chaotic world where crime now rules. Many have died in the after-affects of the Rapture...and more will continue to die during this new dark age...right up until the Tribulation is over. Can you really afford to wait any longer?" Said Anderson.
"Well...you have your beliefs...and i have mine." Said Clare before she turned to leave.
"Clare, wait." Said Anderson, stopping Clare in her tracks yet again. "At least hear what i have to say to you about what's going to happen next. After that, you can decide for yourself on wheather or not you want to except it."
"Oh, brother." Said Clare, rolling her eyes.
"Please. It might save your life." Said Anderson.
Clare didn't have time for this. She needed to find out what happened to Tommy and all those other millions of missing people. Right now she could be down at the school, talking to the counselor about Tommy, and instead, she's here, wasting her time listening to religious superstitious nonsense. But hey, she'd wasted all of this time. What was a few more minutes?
Clare turned to face Anderson. "Alright, fine. Let's here it."
...
Later, Clare and Anderson were sitting on two different pews where he had spent the last several minutes reading the book of Revelation to her from start to finish.
"You know what bugs me? You have waited until NOW to scare me out of my wits. Not that i believe what happened the other night was God-related, but why didn't you tell us all of this before it was too late?" Said Clare.
"Clare...do you have a Bible?" Anderson asked.
"Well, yes, at home." Said Clare.
"What does it say?" Anderson asked.
"What?" Clare asked.
"Does it say that Christ died for your sins? Does it say that if you ask for forgiveness...and recieve him into your heart that you'll be saved?" Anderson asked.
"Yes." Clare answered.
"Then why are you blaming me if you don't believe what happened was the Rapture?" Anderson asked.
"Because you could've preached it! You never even talked about prophecy and you even critisized the evangilist for using scare-tacktics at New Hope Village! I would rather have been scared into Heaven than have to go through this!" Said Clare.
"You could've recieved Christ the night the evangilist was at New Hope Village. He gave an invitation." Said Anderson.
"Well, i might have if i would've heard it more than just once." Said Clare.
"Didn't you often say to me that your friends Irene, Jackie and Tommy spoke to you about Jesus?" Anderson asked.
Clare remained silent. Pastor Anderson was right. Irene, Jackie and Tommy had spoke to her about Jesus...on more than one occasion. And she shot them all down. Politely with Tommy, but still. Not that she believed that what happened was the Rapture, but...it still hurt her to know that she ignored her friends' beliefs that they were trying to share with her.
"You're right in a way, Clare. I...i am partly to blame. I preached my own beliefs. I loved to see purity here. People didn't wanna be threatened with the word of God, so i went along. But let me say that if you had a Bible...and it conflicted with what i as your preacher had to say...then you should've challenged me. Since i refused to preach the word of God, it was your duty to find a church where the gospel was preached." Said Anderson.
Not wanting to hear anymore of this lecture about Christianity, Clare got up and walked down the aisle and stormed out of the church.
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