Epidemic (Book III in Dust to Flesh Series)

By RL Stoll

After returning to the University of Chicago, Noelle Nielsen learns her past isn’t completely behind her yet. Visions of the future keep plaguing her and the Archbishop beckons her back to the Dom. No one, except for Tempest, must know why she is in Cologne, Germany again.

Amidst world destruction and an army of Grotesques seeking to steal the Secret Scroll, Noelle must remain calm and help the Archbishop save mankind from annihilation in Epidemic- Book III of the Dust to Flesh Series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: RL Stoll
• Release date: Aug 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370866304

RL Stoll

As a YA writer & educator, my goal is to rouse book lovers everywhere to read and write. I believe writing is advantageous and therapeutic for all ages. Whether it is penning fiction or nonfiction, great things WILL blossom! This is why I choose to write. I want to teach, inspire, challenge, and encourage those around me and generations to come.

Book preview

Epidemic

(Book III- Dust to Flesh Series)

RL Stoll

Copyright 2017 by RL Stoll

RLStolltheauthor.weebly.com

Time Flies Cover Picture

Cover Picture by Crowley VVVVV

Edited by Megan Harper

All rights reserved. No part of this book or cover page may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, expect where permitted by law.

This book is a work of fiction.

Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious.

First Edition 2017

ISBN- 10: 1544804628

ISBN- 13: 978-1544804620

Printed in the United States of America

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to thank my audience. Without you, this trilogy would have been written in vain. I appreciate your taking the time out of your busy schedule to read this book, and hopefully the series. Allowing Noelle to take you on an adventure of unprecedented and supernatural events means the world to me. Hopefully, you not only had a pleasant journey but were spiritually challenged too.

Second, I would like to thank my husband and three daughters, who were the inspiration for the series’ main characters. This project was a labor of love and took many years for me to complete. I couldn’t have done it without your continual love, support, and encouragement. Thank you for always believing in me and helping me accomplish this mission.

Third, I want to thank my editor, Megan Harper. You have been there right alongside me throughout this entire project. You are a gifted editor and always do an amazing job refining and tweaking my work, without ever taking away from the story line. Thank you for polishing this rock into a beautifully crafted gem.

Last, I would like to thank God, who gave me the idea for this trilogy. From the characters, to the setting, plot line, and resolution, this series was a gift from Him. Without God, it would have been fruitless.

Revelation 2:23 (NIV)

I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am He who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. 

This book is dedicated to those

who have ears and are willing to listen ….

CHAPTERS

Chapter 1- Settling In

Chapter 2- Dreams

Chapter 3- Judgment

Chapter 4- Oracle

Chapter 5- Warnings

Chapter 6- The Opening

Chapter 7- The Sounding Trumpets

Chapter 8- The Fifth Trumpet

Chapter 9- The Sixth Trumpet

Chapter 10- Messengers

Chapter 11- Final Trumpet

Chapter 12- A New Earth

Chapter 1- Settling In

After two months of being back in the States, Noelle sat on her hot pink shag carpet and unpacked several heaping boxes of clothes, books, and decorations. Noelle and Tempest, Noelle’s best friend & roommate since freshman year of college, had signed a 12-month lease for a 1,200 square-foot apartment comfortably nestled between two other newly-remodeled Victorian homes in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. Noelle’s bedroom overlooked mature jade oak trees and black vintage streetlamps lining the freshly swept sidewalk, while Tempest’s bedroom overlooked a dog park two blocks away. Even though Noelle and Tempest didn’t own a dog, they enjoyed viewing their neighbors play with their pets in this half acre of pooch heaven. Noelle preferred viewing the Pomeranian and Maltese frolic in the grassy shade, while Tempest favored watching the Shar Pei and mastiff play tug-of-war with their owners.

The avant-garde neighborhood reminded Noelle of what Chicago would have looked like during the turn of the century, except for all the concrete and asphalt. Every time Noelle glanced outside, she smiled. She still couldn’t believe they had gotten such an incredible apartment on their miniscule budget.

If it had not been for a young trader by the name of Ron Johnson, who sold stocks downtown at the Chicago Stock Exchange, Noelle and Tempest would have been moving into a rundown apartment even farther away from campus on this sunshiny afternoon. Ron Johnson, at the height of his career, was presented with an opportunity of a lifetime - to become a broker for the Big Board in New York. Not wanting to sell his bachelor pad in case things didn’t work out, Ron decided to rent his half-a-million dollar abode to two young, poor college students. He too had attended the University of Chicago and was very fond of the institution - so much so, in fact, that he donated a lofty percentage of his annual bonuses to their academic scholarships. This was the main reason he decided to let Noelle and Tempest rent his apartment for a fraction of the monthly mortgage payment. There was a sense of self-gratification supporting two poor University of Chicago students, while still keeping his house preserved being away in New York. The girls were asked to take care of his property, including the front lawn and garden, like it was their own. This saved him from paying landscapers to come take of his yard. They of course immediately obliged, albeit in utter shock and excitement. In fact, the night Ron called to tell the girls that the place was theirs, Tempest jumped in her car and drove straight to Ron’s townhouse to hand him their security deposit, as well as, their first and last month’s rent.

Noelle and Tempest couldn’t be more thankful to have a place to call home, especially when home was a newly renovated two-bedroom townhouse, only one mile west of campus. Most of the studio and one-bedroom apartments in Hyde Park were already taken for the school year, leaving Noelle and Tempest with a scant selection of living options far from campus.

As Noelle hung up an oversized black-and-white photograph of her family on the wall above her dresser, she thought of how this autumn was so much different than the previous one. Not only was she was moving into a place three times the size of her old dorm room, but she was living with someone who knew all of her secrets, someone to whom she would entrust her very life. Noelle couldn’t have asked for anything more. Life was perfect. It was nothing at all like the past year. She could do without escaping her own death multiple times and almost losing Tempest to the Grotesques again.

Tempest, meanwhile, was pleased to have space all to herself, as well as a decent-sized living room to hang out with Noelle, if she decided that she fancied a little company. This place offered the best of both worlds, and she was content having Noelle back in the States by her side.

"So, what’s Thaddeus like?" Noelle asked devilishly as Tempest entered her disheveled bedroom. Noelle put the last picture frame of her Plainwell, Michigan friends on her dresser before turning to face her roommate.

Standing in the doorway with a small cardboard box, Tempest said nothing. Where do you want this? she replied instead, intent on avoiding Noelle’s personal line of inquiry.

Over there, Noelle said, pointing to a vacant spot on the oak plank floor beside her bedroom window. "So, are you going to fill me in on this guy, or do I have to ask him all of my questions instead?"

"First off, he doesn’t like to be called ‘Thaddeus.’ He prefers to be called ‘Thad’," rebutted Tempest.

"Excuse meeee," Noelle interrupted, feigning insult.

"And second, we’ve only gone out once. There isn’t anything to talk about."

Well, since you haven’t stopped smiling since you went out last week, I think that’s a lie, Noelle retorted, raising her eyebrows. Besides, I’m not sure what I think of all this, she said pointing to Tempest’s grin, plastered across her face. You’re in a pleasant mood all of the time.

I can change it if you like, Tempest replied, converting her smile to a sneer.

"No. No. I prefer the smile," Noelle said, smirking as she reached for another picture frame on the floor. She picked up the photo of her and Brett in Cologne and placed it on her dresser next to a picture of her friend and dried roses she had kept from him last fall - the first flowers she had received from a guy other than her father.

"Is there anything else I can help you with before I go to my room to work on homework?" Tempest asked, making it apparent she wasn’t ready to discuss her relationship with Thad yet.

No, I’m good, Noelle said, winking. "But if you decide you want to talk about anything, like a certain new guy in your life, I’ll be in the kitchen putting more stuff away next."

Tempest grunted and returned to her room. Tempest was working through Unit 2 of her photography program at the New York Institute of Photography. Since her online courses were self-paced, she was forced to work throughout the year in order to complete her certification in the recommended two-year time allotted for her accreditation.

Today, Tempest was intent on finishing Lesson 2: Exposure, which she had been working on for the past two months. She was eager to start Lesson 3: Processing Black and White Film, particularly since Ron had given her permission to use the crawl space under the house as a makeshift darkroom. Tempest was anxious to develop the photographs she had taken in Waldniel, Germany last spring. It had taken her 3 months to muster enough courage to look at the pictures on her camera after everything that had happened to her in Kent School. She felt she couldn’t possibly develop them, for fear she might have night terrors again. But Tempest was ready now to see them; she was prepared to face the distressing faces of children who had been innocently murdered between 1939 and 1943 for being mentally and physically handicap.

As Noelle stowed away her toiletry and cleaning products in the bathroom that adjoined the two bedrooms, she wondered what Thad was like. She assumed he was a free spirit, much like Tempest, and a lover of art.

Through the adjacent bedroom door, Tempest focused on correcting tonal values of high dynamic range images she had taken at the Art Institute the week before. As she tweaked the lighting around the famous twin bronze lions, standing erect outside the museum, Tempest thought of Thad. She still couldn’t believe he had asked her out.

After working at the Art Institute for an entire month, Tempest finally noticed Thad, another undergraduate employee, who just happened to schedule his breaks around hers. He would sit silently across from her at the sterile conference table, drinking his Starbucks day after day. He either stared broodingly through the wall of windows or read from a mysterious leather-bound book. Sometimes, he looked at Tempest, but only for a brief second. A few times, Tempest thought he was about to actually talk to her, but he either looked away immediately or walked to the back of the room to refill his cup of coffee. She couldn’t get over how mysterious he was and she had a crushing sense to solve it.

Once or twice, Tempest had thought about saying something to him, but in the end decided against it. She actually relished the silence, and he seemed fine with it too. Besides, after working four straight hours with Constance, her supervisor who talked incessantly about abstract expressionism, Tempest needed a break from dialogue. With the new Jackson Pollock exhibit coming to the Art Institute in late August, it was all Constance could talk about. Tempest was sure she had learned everything there was to know about the Post-World War II American Art Movement since being hired in early spring- perhaps even more than Pollock himself.

Then one day, after a strange and uncertain month of sitting in silence across from one another, Thad finally spoke. He began asking Tempest one question a day, starting with what she did at the Art Institute and what she enjoyed most about art. Eventually, he worked up the nerve to ask her out on a date, and ever since then, Tempest had a smile permanently plastered across her face.

Tempest put the finishing touches on her image and thought about how much she enjoyed Thad’s company at work. Even though he had only started speaking to her a few weeks ago, there was something alluring about his reserved and quiet presence.

Usually, Tempest favored men with more tenacity and resilient temperaments - much like herself, but for some reason, there was something satisfying about Thad’s softer, more subtler approach to getting to know her better. It was the complete opposite of what she thought she wanted in a man, and Tempest found herself wanting more of him with each passing day. At least more than anyone else she had ever dated in the past.

Tempest clicked save on her laptop and walked out to check on Noelle, who was putting stuff away in their stainless-steel kitchen. Tempest could hear clanging pots and pans on the other side of the island and she rolled her eyes. She figured Noelle was rearranging their cookware according to size. After all, Noelle was obsessive and needed everything to be organized perfectly.

Hey, Tempest said, peering down at Noelle, who was sitting with her backside to her. What are you doing?

Just rearranging, Noelle replied, placing a smaller pot inside a larger one. I thought if we put the pots in the pullout drawer and the pans on the shelf, everything would fit perfectly inside this cupboard, she replied with a proud smile.

Great. I was really worried about it, Tempest said sarcastically. I’m glad you worked everything out. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t. I might have possibly lost sleep tonight.

Noelle rolled her eyes and shook her head as she continued reorganizing.

So, where did you get all those pots and pans from? Tempest asked, pointing to the newer cookware inside the open cupboard.

My mother convinced my dad to buy her some new stainless steel pots and pans a month ago, so I got the older ones, Noelle said, pleased, as she glanced over her shoulder.

"Nice," Tempest said, picking up a banana from the fruit bowl on the counter. "So, does your mom need anything else for her kitchen? she asked, peeling the banana. Say, like, maybe some new dishes, glasses, or silverware?" she added, throwing the ripened peel in the pullout trash behind her.

Well, now that you mention it… Noelle said, standing back up. She opened up two other cupboards above the black-and-white coffee maker on their glossy granite countertop, showing off her mother’s knockoff Fiestaware. We now have plates, bowls, coffee mugs, and glasses that match!

"No way! I thought for sure we’d have to eat off paper plates this school year. Wait a minute. What about silverware? Do I still need to steal plastic sporks and knives from school?" Tempest asked with her eyebrows raised, hopeful Noelle might have another surprise for her.

Ta da! Noelle said, opening the drawer to the left of the stainless steel farmhouse sink. She showed Tempest their new matching 20-piece Fiesta-like flatware her mother had given her. Five sets of salad forks, dinner forks, teaspoons, soup spoons, and knives, she said, picking up a red fork with a bent prong. They’re as old as the twins, she added, bending the middle tine back into place. But they’re better than plastic.

That’s awesome! Now we only need to buy food and our kitchen will be fully stocked.

Yup, I even stole some of my mom’s extra steak knives, spatulas, measuring cups, baking pans, and mixing bowls. I hope she won’t be too mad, Noelle said, opening the other two stainless steel drawers beside her. Now, don’t forget where I put everything, she said to Tempest, who was eyeing their newly acquired cookware. And make sure you put everything back where it belongs.

Yes, ma’am, Tempest said, giving her a mock-salute. I wouldn’t dare mess up your perfectly arranged drawers and cupboards!

Noelle nodded as she closed the drawers.

Hopefully, your mom won’t ask for any of this stuff back, Tempest said, chewing on her banana.

Yeah, I know. Hopefully, she’ll use it as an excuse to buy something new for her kitchen, Noelle said, squatting back down to finish rearranging her pots and pans.

Just then, Tempest’s cell phone rang. She quickly excused herself to go talk within the confines of her soundproof bedroom. Noelle assumed it was Thad, given the sudden change in Tempest’s voice. She had gone from her usual sarcastic, spirited self to a cheery, chirpy schoolgirl.

Noelle just laughed to herself and shook her head, amused at Tempest’s newly altered disposition.

After twenty minutes of discreetly chatting inside her bedroom, Tempest emerged into the kitchen again just as Noelle put away a cutting board.

Noelle looked up. What’s up? she said, eyeing the huge, nervous grin across Tempest’s face. You look like you have something to tell me.

I do, Tempest said. Thad is coming over….right now. So you’re going to finally meet him.

Noelle jumped up. Right now! she screeched. But the bathroom is still a mess. I haven’t had time to scrub the toilet or the floors. He can’t see our place like this, she said, frantically looking around at the half-empty boxes scattered across the living room floor. It’s a disaster!

"Noelle, calm down. You are so crazy when it comes to cleanliness! Tempest said, rolling her eyes. The apartment looks fine. Besides, Thad couldn’t care less if you cleaned the toilet seat or not. It’s not like