Hidden Thrones

  HIDDEN THRONES

  RUSS SCALZO

  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

  Ephesians 6:11&12

  Hidden Thrones is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright 2015 by Russ Scalzo

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design: Shannon Ehrola

  www.russscalzo.com

  www.endtimeview.com

  Chronicles of the End Times Podcast

  Available on iTunes

  Dedication

  I am blessed to have three beautiful daughters and an incredible loving wife who knows the power of prayer and a kid brother in whom I share many awesome memories. But none of this would have been possible without Helen and Russell my amazing mother and father. I dedicate this book to them. They now look upon the Lord they loved and followed all their lives and share in the rewards of a life filled with faith.

  Thank you Jesus for all you have done and continue to do in all our lives.

  Table of Contents

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Hidden Thrones

  PROLOGUE

  The car slowly navigated up the long, twisting, stone driveway. One had to be careful not to drive too fast because of the thick, tall trees that towered over this narrow passageway. A strong wind blew the giants from side to side, creating strange and ominous shadows on the ground. It was a clear night with the exception of an occasional harmless cloud dashing by a brilliant full moon. Finally, the car stopped a few hundred feet from an old, three-story, Victorian house. The two young people sat there at first, just staring. Then, looking at each other, they broke into sly, mischievous smiles. The moon washed over the old house, giving it an eerie presence that rivaled any Hollywood movie set, but that didn’t bother Tom or Louise. After all, that’s why they were there.

  Tom stepped out of the car first. He was six-feet, three inches, two hundred and ten pounds, with jet-black hair. From what everyone said, especially the girls, he was drop dead gorgeous. The passenger-side car door opened and Louise got out holding a large blanket. Looking up into the wind, she brushed her long blonde hair out of her eyes. She was all that Tom was, but in a seventeen-year old girl kind of way. Beautiful of face and body, she had it all and had no trouble showing it off. Every boy in Blackstone High Virginia was after her and would gladly trade places with Tom any day, anytime.

  Aside from their good looks, they had something else in common. They were totally and outrageously out of control. Tom and Louise did anything they wanted, whenever they wanted. They got caught having sex in one of the back stair hallways at school in their junior year, giving no excuse or apology for their actions, and even had the audacity to ask the principal what the big deal was. That was just the tip of the iceberg compared to some of their more famous exploits.

  Now it was their senior year and they had every intention of making it memorable. The Oslow House was, by everybody’s account, absolutely, positively haunted. There was no doubt about it. Year after year, kids would pull up to the house and then drive away too scared to go in. Many said they did but no one ever had the guts to really do it. There was one case where a kid ran onto the porch, but then took off in a panic when he said he saw a tall, dark figure coming toward him.

  The Oslow House had been empty for a little over thirty years. The Oslow’s, a couple in their late forties, were mysteriously murdered in this house thirty-one years ago this very day. Tom and Louise knew that and had been planning this escapade for some time.

  Louise walked over to Tom, grabbed him by his belt, pulled him tight against her waist, and reaching up, gave him a passionate kiss saying, “Let’s do this thing, babe.”

  Tom looked down at her, grinning, “All the way, Lou. All the way.”

  The two walked slowly toward the house. The swing on its big wraparound porch swayed with the night wind, creating a foreboding squeak that only served to turn them on all the more. As they stepped onto the porch, they smiled at each other one more time and then opened the door. The door was solid wood and heavy, but no challenge for Tom’s physique. He pushed the door open and they walked inside.

  The front room was dark except for the moonlight streaming through the broken glass of the windows. It was difficult to see much of anything except shadows of old furniture and pictures that still hung over the fireplace, just as the Oslow’s had left it thirty years ago. Louise laid the blanket on the floor and began to take her shirt off. Tom followed. It was clear that they planned on going for it right in the old house, defying every story they had been told. Arrogance was their forte. The two fell to the floor and embraced feverishly and passionately. Suddenly, Tom thought he heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs from the second floor and turned his head to see what it was. Looking puzzled, Louise said, “Come on, babe. What’s wrong?”

  Then she heard it too. They both jumped to their feet. Tom looked up and saw a tall, dark figure coming down the steps. Louise stepped back and let out a blood-curdling scream. Tom looked for something to use as a weapon and, grabbing the fireplace poker, he stepped in front of Louise as they both began to move slowly backwards toward the door.

  The figure stopped at the lower landing and spoke. “Well, look who we have here. I know you two very well,” it said in a voice so low and imposing that it shook Tom and Louise to the very core.

  “You don’t know us!” Louise shouted nervously, her voice beginning to shake. Not knowing where the voice even came from, she held on tighter to Tom.

  “Oh, but I do, Tom Stockshire and Louise Crowder. I’ve been watching you for some time. You’re in my house now.”

  Though scared out of his mind, Tom still had enough arrogance to shout, “Oh yeah? Then come and get us, jackass!”

  The figure moved at Tom without touching the ground. In less than a second, it was in Tom’s face. Tom swung the iron fire poker at the figure, but it passed right through it. Tom’s eyes widened and sweat emptied from every pore of his body.

  Louise screamed again and ran to the door, shouting at Tom, “What are you doing? Run!”

  At that moment, Tom felt himself lifting off the ground, still flailing away at the dark figure in vain. Stunned, Louise bolted out the door and began to run for the car. The creature let out a roar like a lion and flung Tom head first into the brick wall above the fireplace. His body fell lifelessly to the floor. The creature moved to the door, looked out toward Louise, and let out a sound so awful that
it even shook the surrounding trees. Louise got to the car, opened the door, and began frantically locking every door by hand. Searching for the keys, she stopped and realized in a moment of disbelief and despair that Tom had them in his pocket. Reaching for her handbag, she fumbled around until she found her phone and shakily dialed 911.

  “911. What is your emergency?”

  Louise’s voice was shaking as she screamed into her phone, “Please help! We are being attacked!”

  “Ma’am, I need you to calm down. Where are you?”

  “We’re at the old Oslow House off of Conway Street! I think it killed my boyfriend!”

  “Ma’am, the police are on their way. What attacked you? Was it an animal?”

  “I don’t know what it was. It wasn’t human!”

  “Are you in the house now?”

  “No. I’m in the car, but I don’t have the keys.” Louise looked toward the house and screamed into her phone, “Oh my God!”

  “What is it? Are you still there? Ma’am?”

  “It’s coming! It’s coming! Help me, please! Oh my God!”

  The creature was now standing just outside her car door. It peered through the window, staring at her. Louise was frozen in fear, her eyes locked with the creature’s. Its eyes were like deep, dark holes with no end. She was completely paralyzed. Louise could barely hear the voice on the phone asking her the same question over and over again.

  “Ma’am, are you there? Are you there?”

  Louise raised her hand to her ear, the phone still frozen in her hand, and spoke in a low, somber voice. “It’s here. It’s here.”

  The person on the other end of the phone tried to stay calm, but even the pitch of her voice was getting higher and higher. “What’s there? Tell me what’s happening. The police are almost to you. Stay with me. Ma’am, are you there?”

  There was no answer. Finally, a click and then silence. Nothing but dead silence.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Jack Bennett sat at his desk typing madly, encircled by piles of papers and books. The only thing visible was the monitor screen that sat right in the center of it all. He was working hard on his latest blog/podcast series, “The Growing Evil on Planet Earth,” when his cell phone started ringing and buzzing at the corner of his desk. He looked at it and drew a deep breath. He didn’t recognize the number so he let it ring, not really wanting to answer it. He was always getting calls from local police departments and various branches of the government in DC to investigate unusual activity, but not usually at this time of night.

  Finally, he picked his phone up and swung his chair around facing what was a literal wall of books on everything from ancient Babylonian religions to the latest reports on present day paranormal activity. In the middle of it all was a large and very old Bible. In fact, Jack had a whole shelf of Bibles of many translations from all over the world. This particular one was loaded with his scribbled notes and comments he had accumulated over many years of travel and research. He referred to it as his secret weapon. Taking a deep breath, he answered.

  “Hello, this is Bennett.”

  “Jack, it’s Frank. We need you to come down to the old Oslow House right away.”

  Frank Lederman was an FBI agent with a special division of the federal government out of Washington D.C. The nation’s capitol was a mere forty-five minute drive from Jack’s house so he and Frank saw a lot of each other. Frank investigated paranormal activity, a new fascination in Washington, and this night he had been called in by the Blackstone Police Department to look into an unusual case.

  “Frank, is this a new cell number? I almost didn’t pick up. You do know its 12:30 in the morning, don’t you?” Jack inquired, sounding exhausted. “Whatever it is, can’t it wait until at least dawn?”

  “No, it can’t and besides, I know you aren’t sleeping. You’re probably sitting at that mountain of cut down trees you call a desk right now, pounding away on your keyboard. This is a weird one Jack, and I mean weird.”

  “Let me guess - more kids messing around at that old house again?” Jack half asked, with a bored look on his face.

  “Not quite. We have a homicide on our hands this time. Two young kids from Blackstone High - one dead and one in complete shock.”

  Jack spun back around in his chair and said, “Okay, I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” He changed his shirt, grabbed a bottle of water and headed out the door.

  Jack had just turned forty years old a couple of weeks before. At an average height of five feet, eleven inches, he was not overly handsome, but good-looking nonetheless. He kept himself in relatively good shape by walking and playing softball when he had the chance. Although Jack had never married and wasn’t really much for socializing, he always kept busy with his work. Over the years there had been a couple of ladies in his life, but there was no one special at present.

  It was a fairly short drive to the old house. Jack pulled down the long driveway and parked next to one of the three police cars that were sitting with their lights flashing. It was a sobering scene as he watched the ambulance silently and slowly pull away. Jack had seen a lot of strange things over the years, but he never got used to seeing the death of anyone so young.

  Frank walked up to him and urged, “You have to see this.”

  The two men made their way onto the porch and then into the house. The main room was now lit up with a couple of floodlights and there was a forensic team already hard at work collecting evidence. Jack looked around and immediately noticed the blood on the brick wall above the fireplace and the large pool of blood on the floor below.

  He drew a deep breath. “Okay, what have you got so far?”

  Frank tilted his head to the side. “Not much. The girl is the one who called it in. Apparently she ran to the car and was able to lock herself in, but couldn’t get away because we found the keys in the vic’s pocket. She was in a nearly catatonic state when we got here. From the hair and fragments from the victim’s scalp that we found imbedded in the brick, it appears that he hit the wall with incredible impact, then collapsed on the floor and bled out. We’re not sure at this point, but it looks likely he was already dead when he hit the floor.”

  “Was the girl attacked physically?” Jack asked with concern.

  Frank shook his head. “No, but she’s not able to talk. I mean she’s gone, like nobody home. We tried to get her to say something, but she just stared out into space and kept saying, He’s coming. He’s coming.”

  Jack leaned in and asked, “Who’s coming?”

  “I don’t know, Jack. If I knew, I wouldn’t have called you.”

  Hmm, Jack thought. “Have you searched the rest of the house?”

  “Yeah. Nothing.”

  Jack turned, took a good look around and said, “This ceiling has to be at least ten feet high.”

  “Eleven to be exact,” Frank remarked raising his arm and revealing the tape measure in his hand.

  “So the question is who or what would have the strength to throw someone that hard and that high to cause that kind of damage?”

  “That’s just it. Plus our vic was 6’3” and had to weigh at least 200 pounds. There are no bears around here and besides, there were no other marks on the body.”

  “We need to talk to the girl as soon as possible. We need to hear what she saw and find out who she thinks is coming. How about the 911 call? Do you have that?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got it here on my phone. Give me a minute and I’ll play it for you.”

  Frank hit play and Jack listened intently. He knew what he was listening for, and then he heard it.

  “We’re at the old Oslow house off of Conway Street! I think it killed my boyfriend!

  “Ma’am the police are on their way. What attacked you? Was it an animal?”

  “I don’t know what it was. It wasn’t human!”

  Jack turned to Frank and said, “You’re right. This is a strange one.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  The next morning Jack headed up
to the hospital. He had to try and talk to Louise. He had encountered something similar to this a year ago in upstate New York and he was certain the girl was right. Whatever attacked her boyfriend wasn’t human.

  He took the elevator to the third floor and the doors opened right in front of the nurses’ station. Approaching the desk, Jack spoke.

  “My name is Jack Bennett. I’m here to see Louise Crowder.”

  The nurse didn’t have to check. Everyone on the floor knew what room Louise was in. The nurse replied, “Her parents are with her right now. I’ll ask them if you can see her.”

  Jack nodded, but he knew nothing was going to stop him from talking with the girl. He needed to see her face and look into her eyes. They would tell the story that her words could not.

  The nurse stuck her head in the door of the room, then stepped out into the hallway and motioned him to come down.

  Jack walked through the door and was met by Louise’s father Steven Crowder. Mr. Crowder was the vice president of Halls Technology Group, a high-tech think tank that made most of its money on government contracts. He reached out and shook Jack’s hand as he walked in.

  The nurse quickly introduced Jack. “Mr. and Mrs. Crowder, this is Jack Bennett.”

  “Hello. No need for introductions. You’re Jack Bennett, the consultant I’ve heard so much about. It’s a pleasure to meet you, but I’m afraid Lou isn’t going to be able to help you much. She is still pretty shaken up. The doctor says it is going be a long road back. ”

  “I understand,” Jack said compassionately, “I just need a minute with her. Is that okay?”

  Sitting right next to her daughter’s bed, Louise’s mother glanced at her husband and shook her head no. Steven walked over to his wife, lovingly put his arm around her and said, “Let’s just give him a minute honey. We’ll stand right outside the door. It will be alright.”