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Chapter 19

   "Zane!", Mom from downstairs. "Come down for a minute. Family meeting."

   "Alright", Zane called back. "Hang on." Zane looked back down at the Holy Bible and finished up the chapter he was on.

So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, "Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey." And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, "You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings."

   Zane closed up the book and put it on his nightstand. Though the rest of his family studied Revelation together, Zane had decided to keep investigating the book by himself. Currently he was a couple chapters ahead of the family. "What's up?", he asked, sitting down on the recliner. His parents were on the family couch, with Lindsay on Dad's lap. Both looked somewhat worried; Dad's eyebrows were knit into a concerned arch while Mom's face was just painted with worry.

   "Zane", Mom said slowly, "we just got an email from the vice president."

   That was all it took for Zane's stomach to knot up.

   "He said that President Ben-Judah wanted us to come up to Washington a few days early", Mom continued. "He wants to get to know the family a bit more before the picnic."

   Mom looked to Dad. "We're... We're not going to the picnic", Dad managed to get out. "In fact, we're not going to Washington at all."

   Zane raised an eyebrow. "Then what are we doing?"

   Both parents were quiet for a moment before answering. "We'll probably just stay here", Mom answered. "Or even go visit Grandma and Grandpa up in Arizona for a week."

   "But either way", Dad said slowly, "we're not going to Washington."

   "Jim, you don't have to make it sound like it's something bad", Mom said suddenly, staring at Dad wearily. "We don't know why he wants to see us."

   "We also don't know if he's really the beast", Dad retorted.

   "You're right", Mom said briskly. "We don't. We also don't know if he isn't." She paused, taking a deep breath, calming herself. "We're not too sure of anything right now about our government, or even our country."

   "What?", Dad snapped suddenly. "You think that the government is keeping tabs on us? Monitoring us? If that's true, then we're no safer at your parents house than in Washington."

   Zane blinked in surprise. Dad rarely ever got mad at anyone, especially in the family. Where was this sudden burst of... bitterness even coming from?

   Mom bit her lip. "Jim, we talked about this. We agreed that going to Washington wasn't the best idea. Either you've changed your mind, or you lied to me."

   Dad sighed. "I'm sorry, Annie." He stood up, handing Lindsay to Mom. "Just give me a minute to collect myself." He walked out of the living room and into his office, shutting the door behind him.

   Mom looked at Zane. "I'm sorry, Zane", she said softly. "I just... I thought your dad and I were on the same page." She sighed. "I've got to stop using my Eagles rule voice in discussions like this."

   "It's fine", Zane said. "You've had talks like this before. You'll get through this one. You guys will agree on something before you go to bed."

   Mom shook her head as she gave Lindsay a small smile. "I hope so." She chuckled. "Your dad just reminded me of a friend of mine back in high school. He was always thinking that the government was watching our every move through our computers or game systems. He even thought Vine was a way to keep tabs on what people were promoting."

   Zane chuckled. "Man, that sounds-"

   Zane stopped. Something suddenly clicked in his mind. "I'll be right back!", he said quickly, jumping out of the recliner and rushing to the stairs. "Zane, what-" But he didn't catch the rest of her sentence. He pushed himself up the stairs and nearly threw himself into his room. I've gotta warn him!, he panicked, unplugging his phone from it's charger. I've gotta warn him! He opened up his Facebook app and tapped on the private chat room button. He began to type as fast as he could.

Zaneiack: Josh are you there?

JoshRogersInTheHouse!!: yeah man. what's up?

Zaneiack: Stop messaging me. Don't even try to contact me.

JoshRogersInTheHouse!!: wht? why?

Zaneiack: Those guys back at Erins knew we were there because we're being monitored.

JoshRogersInTheHouse!!: wait what

Zaneiack: We never said anything about going to Erins to anyone except each other which was on here.

Zaneiack: On the private chat room.

JoshRogersInTheHouse!!: dude, this is not good.

JoshRogersInTheHouse!!: wait, does this mean they're reading this conversation?

   Zane nearly choked on his own breath. Oh no. No, no I didn't just... I did.

   I just told the government we're on to them.