Chapter 9

The year 1900

"Fear not the army of wolves led by a sheep. Fear the army of sheep led by the wolf."

Bray stopped for a moment and looked around at his followers gathered around him.

"I am a lone wolf. I have gathered an army of sheep. I intend to use my sheep to achieve our goal: total domination. You have all been chosen. You are weak and I will make you strong." Abigail was standing next to him, also looking out at the crowd. A warm breeze came through and her long dark hair flowed with the wind, catching the attention of many men in the crowd. Bray smiled as his beloved's scent wafted by his nose. Having his sweet Abigail by his side not only made him feel fearless, her beauty was also the reason many of the men were here tonight. She charmed them with her smile, her soft words, and brought them to Bray to become one of his followers and help spread his message.

"My darling Abigail," he said softly as he reached for her hand and brought her onto the makeshift stage that he had Luke and Eric had construct for just this purpose-spreading his message. She stood by his side, clutching his arm tightly as she looked out at the crowd.

He turned his attention back to the masses who were hanging onto his every word. "I am the Messiah. I am here to save the world. I will turn this world into my vision. Together we will destroy any obstacle that stands in our way. That is the reason why I need all of you," he gestured to his followers. When you chose to follow me, you have chosen to give up your free will. I will create a new world order, but you must do something for me first. You must obey."

"Do not hide from the truth. Do you hide because you are afraid? Is it because you are embarrassed to show the world who you truly are? I understand. I really do. Reality can be a very difficult pill to swallow but that does not change the fact that each and every single one of you are guilty. You are guilty because the truth, somewhere deep down inside yourself, you hate the person that you have become. You look in the mirror and don't like the person that is staring back at you. So you cover yourself with makeup as if that's gonna heal the source and cover up all the inconsistencies with all the ugliness that is inside of you but it does not change the fact that you are all liars!"

Bray continued to berate his followers for another thirty minutes. Because of their sheep tendencies, they listened. The listened to his hypnotic words and his cryptic promises. Abigail knew the truth. She knew what her beloved wanted to achieve. He wanted to achieve domination. And she would be there, standing by his side, until the very bitter end. "I am different. I am not like you. I am a lot of things, but I am not a liar. My tongue is the sword of truth and it cuts through the deception of everything in your world. I speak the truth that you oh so desperately try to hide from yourself.

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"You would never hide from me, would you my sweet Abigail?" Bray asked softly as he tenderly stroked her long dark hair.

"Never," she murmured as she tried to pull him closer. He pushed her away gently.

"You love me…." he asked as his rough palm stroked her cheek.

"Yes."

"Forever?"

"Yes."

"Even if we are separated one day, you will still belong to me?

"Yes."

"If for some reason, you leave this world before me, will you wait for me on the other side?"

"Yes," she whispered as she firmly grasped his shirt and pulled him closer to her. She wrapped her arms around his waist. "You are the only one for me. All the words you speak, the promises you make, I believe you."

"I have no doubt about that my dear. After all, you are the chosen one….."