The Chosen Ones Book 4: A New Enemy

Chapter 21

They were in and out of Phil's cabin loading their vehicles. Once they left they were never coming back. Matt and Casey's dream home hideaway was no more. They would have to start over again.

As Tyler and Gavin came walking by carrying boxes Matt pulled them aside.
"Hey, I need you guys to do me a favor before we leave here."
"Dad, I'm sorry I lost my cool back there. I wasn't mad at you." Tyler said.
"It's all good." Matt told him. "I understand. Sierra could have been hurt, I get it."

"What do you need?" Gavin asked.
Matt handed him a piece of paper. Tyler read it as Gavin held it. The two guys looked at each other, then at Matt. Tyler gave his dad a smile.
"We're on it." Gavin said.

Casey came out, smiling.
"What are you grinning at? We're leaving the place we've loved." Matt said to her.
"We find a new place. As long as we are together it doesn't matter to me where we end up." She replied. "It'll be better than this one."
He kissed her. "I love you."
"Love you more."
"Take a ride with me to our cabin. I have a few things still there I want to grab before we go." He told her.

They took the short drive to their now dilapidated house. It was the first time Casey was seeing it in the daylight. They went upstairs and grabbed guns, ammo, the Book of the Damned, and a few personal items: pictures, favorite pieces of clothing, and some books.

As they put the last few pieces in the Bronco, night began to fall. They stood in front of the vehicle waiting for the others.
"Where are they?" Casey asked. "We should be on the road by now." Concern in her voice.
Matt looked down at his phone. "Shit. Phil just texted me. He said there are lights on in that old church in the woods. He's gonna check it out."

The old church was abandoned and had been there for seemingly decades. It was now an old broken down wooden structure. When they had first moved out here Matt and Casey had discovered it on one of their walks. Casey fell in love with it immediately. The idea of a small church in the middle of the forest was oddly romantic. She often went inside and just sat peacefully with her thoughts.

"Lights?!" Casey replied. "There's no electricity in there. It could be Gabriel. Tell Phil he shouldn't go alone."
"I'll call the others." Matt told her. "We should back him up."
They armed themselves and started the walk to the old church. Casey took point. Matt checked the group text but nobody had gotten back to him yet.

"It's really reckless of him to go alone." Casey said, quietly. "Where are the others? We're supposed to be leaving." She repeated.
"Relax." Matt said. "I'm sure we'll all end up here and it's probably nothing." He assured.
The church was in view now. Casey motioned for him to be quiet as they crept slowly towards the door.

There were indeed lights on inside the old church, possibly a lantern or flashlights. Casey's AK-47 was pointed outward. She was poised to kill whoever was in there. The light shone through the broken boards that once blocked out the glass windows. They climbed the old rickety steps that creaked as they ascended. Casey gave Matt one last look as she reached for the doorknob. He nodded to her.

She pushed the door open slowly with the tip of her gun. The first thing she noticed were the lights. They were string lights that were hung along the perimeter of the entire church, about halfway up. A man stood on what used to be the altar. He was wearing a white robe with a green scarf like cloth draped around his neck and hanging down to his knees.

She was about to aim her gun at him when music started playing. Confusion set in as Shannon, Sam, and Sierra came out of a door behind the altar carrying flowers and stood to the left of the man, who she now knew was a priest. Peter Gabriel's "The Book of Love" played out of one of Sam's Bluetooth speaker.

The girls smiled as Casey began to realize what was going on. She turned quickly to face Matt, only to find him down on one knee with a huge diamond ring in his hand. She immediately started to cry, all while still smiling.

"I know there is nothing that will ever tear us apart. And I know we said in the past getting married didn't matter." Matt started. "But you drew memories in my mind I don't want to ever erase. And I have a whole forest inside of me, and your initials are carved on every tree. So will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

She nodded through her tears. He stood and hugged her.
"What do we do now?" She asked.
"Well, I'm gonna stand up there." Matt replied.
Phil and Gavin were now on the other side of the priest, who looked like he was scared and confused at the same time.
Casey felt an arm interlock with hers and looked up to see Tyler.

"It's about time." He said.
She started crying again. Damnit! She thought. She wanted to keep it together. The thought of him walking her down the aisle was perfect. Of course when she was a little girl she envisioned her father being the one to give her away. But that was taken from her, and if there was an alternative, there was no one else she would have wanted to do it than Tyler.

"Thank you." She said to him, reaching up on her tippy toes and kissing him on the cheek.
"I love ya, mom."
He walked her to the front and she and Matt were married that night in the old rickety church Casey had loved so much. A fitting last night in Virginia. A place they would never return.

At last they were back at Matt and Casey's cabin with both vehicles loaded. They were ready to go. First they hung out for a little bit, sitting on the tailgates and hoods of the trucks, drinking champagne and talking about the night. A little bit of normalcy, something they hadn't had much of the last week.

"Tyler and Gavin really kidnapped that priest?" Casey asked, laughing.
"Hey, man, he wouldn't come with us." Gavin explained. "So I had to pull a gun on him."
Phil spit out his champagne laughing. "You pulled a gun on a priest?!"
"Hey it got him here didn't it?" Gavin replied with a smirk.

"Don't worry, I donated very generously to his church when we dropped him off." Tyler said.
Shannon was lying against Phil in the bed of the truck. She seemed back to her normal self.
"All I gotta say is it's about time." She said. She raised her glass. "To the best couple I know. May you guys live forever."
They all toasted.

"Hey, I'm sorry I went off on you." Casey said to Shannon.
"Stop. It was well deserved." She replied.
"Okay." Sierra cut in. "It's time to get out of here."
Tyler picked her up and put her over his shoulder as she yelled out, laughing.
Sam grabbed Casey's hand and looked at her diamond ring, which was now next to a gold wedding band.
"You're married." Sam said. "I'm so happy for you." She hugged her.

"Thank you." Casey replied. "I'm sure you're not far behind."
Sam looked over at Gavin who was shotgunning a beer with Tyler. She rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Yeah, he looks ready." She joked.
"Tyler. Burn it down." Matt said.
Tyler went inside and started a small fire, that would soon engulf the house and it would burn to the ground, leaving no evidence.

Matt drove with Casey riding shotgun with Tyler and Sierra in the back. Phil drove his truck with Shannon in the front and Sam and Gavin in the back. They were on their way home. The place they all grew up.
As they hit the black top they could see two plumes of smoke above the trees, about a mile apart. The two cabins, Matt's and Phil's, were up in flames.

Maple Brook. This would be their final stand.