Losing Hope | {BOOK 4}

63| A New Prophet

The Darkness fog had hit another town, this one not as lucky as the one we encountered. Thousands died, and there was only one survivor. While Sam and I were heading to meet the survivor, Metadouche called me and said there was something he needed to tell us in person. It turned out the survivor, a man named Donatello, was the next prophet in line and had been activated when the fog hit his town. While we were talking to him, Amos sent me another vision saying we needed to talk somewhere alone.

"I can't be a prophet!" Donatello protested on the drive back to the Bunker. "I'm an atheist and a chemist! I-I believe in molecules, not God."

"Alright, well, we're pretty sure that Prophets don't even know they're in the game until they've actually been touched by God, so..." I trailed off.

"I-I was touched by God?"

"Or possibly his brother, Amos."

"He has family?"

"Yeah, he wants him gone so he can annihilate the universe," Sam added. "That's the headline."

"What?"

"And since you might have a hotline to Amos, we're hoping you can help us find him."

"W-why would you want to find him?" Donatello asked.

"We got to find the guy he's holding," Sam explained.

"Who is it?"

"Lucifer," I replied.

"His nephew," Sam added.

"Oh."

I looked back as Donatello tried the door handle, making it rattle.

"It's locked," I told him.

He ignored me, trying the other door, which was also locked.

"Yeah, that, too," Sam said. "Sometimes we keep monsters in the back."

"I-I-I can't do this," the Prophet stammered.

"Yeah, you can," I nodded.

"No, I promise you, I can't."

"Look, we can't force you to do this. You've got to want this."

"It- it's like asking me to believe in Santa Clause."

"Oh, well, actually-"

"Ellie, not now," Sam shot at me, glancing at Donatello in the rearview mirror. "Okay, look, we- we're not asking you to believe that this is true, just act like you do. People do it all the time."

I turned around in my seat to look at the Prophet again as he stilled and then shuddered.

"What?" I asked him.

"I-I don't know. I-I think I'm sensing something. Something big."

"Like Amos?"

"I don't think so," he shook his head. "Although, how would I know? Could it be... him?"

When I walked into the Bunker, Chuck was sitting at the map table watching TV on a laptop.

"Hey, Chuck," I greeted him. "We, uh, found someone. We think he's the next prophet."

"Neat-o," Chuck replied, not looking away from the computer screen.

"Is that Dean's computer?"

"I've never seen so much porn. Not in one sitting."

"It's- I'm gonna..." I trailed off, hesitantly closing the laptop. "So, uh, listen. He- he's- he's a little nutted out about the whole booga-booga of it all, so maybe just dial back on the- the God stuff."