The Wicked End

Months passed. Nicky's awkward behavior toward me had seemingly died down at least for the time being, but he was still much closer to Matt than he was to me. At least he wouldn't grow up to be a pansy momma's boy.

I was happy that Matt was staying home more and more often as Nicky grew older and older. It helped with the baby's fussiness if anything. As long as Matt paid attention to Nicky, things would go okay.

"You wanna go down to the beach?" Matt asked.

"Okay... let me go get my suit on and we can go," I said before running up to my room to get my swimsuit on. I got ready and went downstairs and Matt carried Nicky as we walked the few blocks to the beach.

I was confused when we got there. People were standing along the shoreline, their eyes fixed on the ocean. There were huge ships out on the water, moving toward us. I couldn't even count how many there were, and I didn't know where they'd even come from.

"What do you think that is? There aren't really any ship ports here for them to stop at," I said.

Matt shrugged. "Not sure. Maybe they got lost?

"...I guess," I said and shrugged it off. What was it my business why the ships were coming in? People were just being nosey.

We got settled on the beach, me on my towel next to Matt, Nicky waddling along the sand. I kept secretly watching the ships as they came in out of the corner of my eye. After about fifteen minutes I headed down to the water, insisting to Matt that I needed to cool off. I would imagine he knew why I was really going down to the water, but I couldn't resist. I wanted to be nosey.

I waded out into the ocean until the water was up to my knees. I stood there watching like everyone else. I nearly jumped out of my skin when Sarah appeared next to me, standing in the water like I was.

"Jesus Christ! Think you could give a little more warning before you do that?" I asked, clutching my chest. It didn't take much to put me on edge and make me jumpy.

"Watch the language, please," she scolded. "It's more fun to freak you out like that thought. I'd assume you'd be used to it from when you lived with Zacky. He used to do the same."

"You mean, when he held me there against my will," I pointed out.

"Yeah sure, whatever. Same book, different pages. Anyways... do you know what all this is?" Sarah asked.

"Nope, but I bet you're about to tell me," I said, and I turned around to see if Matt thought it strange that Sarah appeared out of nowhere.

"Too right you are. And don't worry. He can't see your hear me. No one can but you."

"Why me though?" I asked.

"Because, you're the key... just like Zacky told you before. He was right, you really don't listen very well, do you?" she asked, looking at me in disappointment.

"I do too listen. I just don't believe everything I'm told," I scoffed. "If you're gonna tell me what this is all about, then just tell me already..."

"Alright, I will. Aboard all those ships are warriors of every shape and size. They are coming from all over the world, joining their forces together for the Final Battle. They are all on the side of evil, coming to join the ranks of the Anti-Christ's fast-growing army."

"But why are they coming here, to Huntington Beach?" I asked, full of skepticism. Why, in all places of the world, would they choose to join up here? It didn't make sense. "Because they like the beautiful beaches," Sarah grumbled sarcastically. "Why do you think? Because the Anti-Christ is calling them forth. He is here," she explained.

"Why would he be here?"

"He's been here all along! He was born and raised here!" Sarah said, getting exasperated and raising her voice.

"Well then who is it? Who is this Anti-Christ then?" I asked back, getting just as aggravated as she.

"I can't tell you that. It's something you must figure out for yourself," she replied, calming down. Just then, the high-pitched squealing sounded in my head. The third trumpet had been blown. "Get ready... watch the sky..." Sarah said, pointing upward.

I scanned the sky, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Then, spark shown in the sky, and a light like the glinting of a coin in the sun could be seen above the clouds and far over the water. It looked like a star, but it was falling. I felt a pang in my stomach. It was going to hit the ocean and wipe us out with the tidal waves it would create. We were all doomed. I glanced back at Matt and Nicky on the beach. They had seen the star falling like I had and were staring on intently. I then looked over at the crown along the beach. They too had seen the falling star and, fearing the worst, they began screaming, turning away to run to what they hoped would be a safe place somewhere inland.

"Hey... I told you to watch for a reason," Sarah said, jabbing me in the side with her elbow.

"Shouldn't we-"

"No. Just stay and watch. Nothing too terribly bad is going to happen. Though I hope you have some bottled water at home. You're going to need it."

I did as she said and watched the falling star. I braced myself for the impact as it came closer and closer to the water below. Finally, it hit, seeming to be engulfed by the ocean.

No tidal wave. No massive earthquake. The star created a large, bright emission of light and gasses once it hit, sending a shockwave of air outwards. It almost knocked me over from the sheer force, but that was it.

"That's it?" I asked.

"No. Taste the water."

"Ew, the salt water? No thanks."

"Just do it and you will see," Sarah said. I rolled my eyes and sighed. I leaned down, cupping my hands as I gathered water in them. I pulled the small pool up to my lips, hesitating a moment. I glanced at Sarah, who nodded at me to proceed, and took a sip. I instantly regretted it, spitting the water back out. It didn't taste at all like sea water. In fact, I'd have preferred sea water to whatever it was I had just drunk. The water was all brackish; a bad mixture of bad flavors in my mouth. Like cheap wine and mayonnaise together.

"What the hell was is that?" I spluttered, trying to get the foul taste out of my mouth.

"The taste is bad, is it not? The water has been made bitter," Sarah responded.

"It's fucking nasty is what it is."

"When the third angel blew his trumpet, a great star fell from Heaven. It was burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on a third of the springs on water. The name of the star was Bitter, and a third of the water turned bitter."

"Lovely. Number Three. So that gives me four more years before the 'imminent doom' of war? Superb," I grumbled.

"Yes. Four years to war. It's not going to be a pretty sight. Forces are already coming together. It's going to wipe out what is left of this world. And we're going to need you. You have to pick a side my dear. Think about that," Sarah said before turning away and disappearing.

I sighed, looking upward. So there really was a God, staring down on us all.