The Evil Inside (book 4 of Genesis 64)

Chapter 2 - first meeting

The tall, dark, shadowy figure stands in the intersection of the main hallway and a connecting hallway, the only light is from the overhead "Exit" sign in the main hallway. The connecting hallway is complete dark and leads to the school's auditorium. The figure appears to be holding a very small (for the year 2000 at least) cell-phone and speaking in a hushed voice to it.

The auditorium is darkened and the audience is quiet as the Christmas pageant of December 2000 is underway. The only lighting is above the stage of risers and 3 young kindergarten girls stand in the spotlight. The two outside girls are in marked contrast to the middle girl. They are about a head taller than her, both have long hair styled in ringlets - one is blonde and the other brown-haired. Their dresses, though both hunter-green, are the latest fashion. The short girl in the middle of the trio has short dark hair, pale white skin, very chubby cheeks, and is wearing a somewhat old-fashion burgundy dress.

The trio is singing "Oh Holy Night" where the chorus is sung in unison and every girl sings one verse as a solo. When they get to the 3rd verse it's the shorter dark-haired girl's turn, but, as can happen at pageants like this where there's lights and eyes and faces and pressure - she forgets the words to the song! She quickly glances up at her classmates - first one, then the other, but neither one will even look at her, much less give her a prompt. She looks to the music director, but with eyes filling quickly with tears, she can't read the teacher's lips. So, she does what any six-year-old would do in that situation - she turned and ran! She ran right off the risers, down the dark hallway, until... thud -- right into the legs of the figure in the dark.

The little girl grips the two legs with all her might, as if they were Roman columns from the day of Caesar, afraid to move or look up. She hears a man's voice say in a deep whisper "I'll call you back in a minute" and hears the phone snap shut.

Unsure of what to do or say the man looks down at her and simply asks "Are you okay?"

There's something kind and warm and gentle-sounding in his voice, so, eyes still filled with tears, she takes a chance and looks up toward his face. Just as she looks up, the overhead florescent lights start to come on, as someone had flipped the main switch back in the lobby. Now, thanks to the brightening lights, she can make out the features of his face. He does have kind eyes (she thinks to herself). He does have a warm and gentle face, she thinks, as she scans his short dark-brown hair, his wire-rimmed glasses, and closely-cropped beard.

The girl mumbles and stutters quietly "I... um..."

"Yes?" the man asks quietly and patiently.

"I... I forgot my lines." She says quietly.

This man, who has faced demons, swords, bombs and unmentionable evil - who has seen the world taken to the brink of ending, now looks down into the big, brown, tear-filled eyes of a six-year-old girl who thinks her world is ending. He wants to tell her that "It's not the end of the world", but those eyes, are already melting his heart, so instead he says

"Awe, I'm sorry...".

Flashback to Fall, 1970

A Third grade class is making its way across a field from the playground area to the cafeteria when two boys come up behind a much smaller blonde girl.

Rich, a small, wiry blonde-haired boy tells her "Thanks a lot SueAnn because you told on us, we don't have recess for a week" and he reaches out and grabs the little pink purse from her shoulder. Keith, a larger and dark-haired boy tells her "Yea, thanks a lot" as her roughly pushes her shoulder. SueAnn, already off-balance as she turned to grab her purse, topples backward into a large mud-puddle.