Black Souls

By Patrick E. Thomas

Patrick E. Thomas attended Arizona State University and graduated magna cum laude with degrees in business administration and criminal justice. He worked for Lockheed Martin Corporation for twenty-nine years where he became very knowledgeable about airborne weapon systems. This is Patricks third novel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 19, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493183838

Patrick E. Thomas

Patrick E. Thomas attended Arizona State University and graduated magna cum laude with degrees in business administration and criminal justice. He worked for Lockheed Martin Corporation for twenty-nine years where he became very knowledgeable about airborne weapon systems. This is Patrick’s third novel.

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Patrick E. Thomas.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014904613

ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4931-8384-5

Softcover 978-1-4931-8385-2

eBook 978-1-4931-8383-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book 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 permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 03/25/2014

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Chapter 62

Chapter 63

Chapter 64

Chapter 65

Chapter 66

Chapter 67

Chapter 68

Chapter 69

Chapter 70

Chapter 71

Chapter 72

Chapter 73

Chapter 74

Chapter 75

Chapter 76

Chapter 77

Chapter 78

Chapter 79

Chapter 80

Chapter 81

Chapter 82

Chapter 83

Epilogue

This novel is dedicated to my beautiful and talented daughter Nicole,

who I love with all my heart.

PROLOGUE

Hello, my son.

What… what, who are you, and how did you get in here? asked Ezekiel as he drew his FNH Five Seven semiautomatic pistol.

Calm down, Ezekiel, calm down. I am your friend and your savior.

As Ezekiel looked at the man dressed in white robes with a solid gold belt around his waist, he saw an aura of gold surrounding the man. The man had long white hair and a long white beard. Ezekiel looked into his eyes and felt a peace and calmness that overwhelmed his body. He immediately holstered the pistol.

Okay, I see much goodness in you. This is the first time I have ever seen a gold aura around someone. What is your name? asked Ezekiel.

I am Gabriel, God’s angel, and he sent me here to see you. You have a very unique gift. You can see evil when it confronts you. That makes you very special in God’s eyes. He sent me here to talk to you about your gift and how it can be put to good use for mankind, said Gabriel.

Yes, I know what you are talking about. I can see evil people. They have a black aura surrounding them. Just bad people have gray auras surrounding them, and good people have white auras surrounding them. I’ve often considered it a burden to bear. Are there other people like me?

It is no burden, Ezekiel. It is God’s gift to you. You are his warrior here on earth. You are the only one that has this gift. Only once in a millennium does someone like you come along.

But why come to me now? I’ve had this gift, as you call it, all of my life.

God has been testing you all of these years to make sure you have a wholesome heart and walk in the ways of the Lord. He needed to make sure that you weren’t afraid to do battle against the evil enemies that inhabit the earth. The earth is now being overwhelmed by truly evil people. A lot of these people are very powerful and hold high positions in government and industry. God believes the time has come to take the battle to these evil people, and he has chosen you to lead it.

But I am just one man. How can I even make a dent in this evil that surrounds us?

Don’t worry about that. You will have plenty of people who will come to your aid. These are good people who hate evil as much as you do, and they will be your compatriots in your battles.

You know that much of the evil in the world is among the Islamists. Did you really talk to Muhammad, and did he really ascend to heaven from the Temple Mount?

Ah yes, Muhammad. What a disappointment he turned out to be. Yes, I came down to talk to Muhammad on several occasions. To make Islam a good peaceful religion I gave him the chapters of the Quran. The Quran I gave him had its basis in the Bible. But he changed the Quran to add jihad against the Jews and infidels. I told Muhammad that all religions were created equal and were governed by one God. But he wouldn’t listen to me. He thought Islam was superior to all other religions and that it should be the only religion in the world. Muhammad sinned. God sent me to him to tell him to stop killing all of the innocent men, women, and children who would not convert to Islam. Muhammad disobeyed me and God and kept killing Jews and infidels. Muhammad ascending to heaven from the Temple Mount is Islamic folklore created by Muhammad. God forbid him to enter heaven because of his wanton killings. Even today, Muhammad is not in heaven.

That’s just as I thought. It’s because of Muhammad that we have so many Islamic terrorists. They will stop at nothing until the twelfth imam, Mahdi, appears and kills all of the Jews and infidels. They truly believe that is going to happen and then they will have caliphate that rules the world.

There is no twelfth imam. Again, that is Islamic folklore created by Muhammad. Islam is on a path of self-destruction in its motive to take control of the world. Muslims cannot even live in peace with each other. More Muslims are killed by Muslims than anyone else. God will not allow Islam to rule the earth. That is why he made you. You must do everything in your power to stop this crusade along with other very evil entities that inhabit the earth. Are you up to the challenge, Ezekiel?

I hate evil with all of my soul, so, yes; I am up to the challenge. I will serve you and God to the best of my abilities. But where do I start?

It warms my heart that you are so engendered against evil. You will start when I will tell you. I will visit you from time to time to give you missions. There is one thing that you need to know, though. You simply can’t just kill an evil person. If you do, his evil soul will survive and inhabit another person. Here, you must take this silver cross. Stake and drive it through the heart of the evil person to kill his evil soul.

Yeah, I can do that for evil people I actually confront. But there will be many evil people that I can’t get close to. How do I kill their souls?

Look over there. There is no sniper rifle in the world like that one. It is strong and lightweight because it fires silver-tipped rounds that travel at ten thousand feet per second. The rifle is made out of carbyne, which is the strongest material in this earth. It is also much lighter than steel or graphene. These bullets do not use gunpowder. They are loaded with nitroglycerin, which has one hundred times the fire power of gunpowder. It has a range of five thousand meters. There is a sound and flash suppressor on the barrel. The box on the left upper side of the slide rail captures your ejected shells. This eliminates the noise of an ejected shell hitting the floor. This also eliminates elements and light reflecting off spent shells. It is equipped with a very high-powered target-tracking infrared scope. You aim the rifle at your target and a green dot will appear when you are locked on center mass of your target. That’s when you pull the trigger. The rifle will fire three rounds spread two inches apart that cannot be stopped by body armor. One of the three rounds will pierce the heart. The silver-tipped bullet will kill the target’s soul. One thing you should know. When you drive the sliver cross through an evil person’s heart or hit him in the heart with a silver-tipped bullet, his body will turn to black ash. Don’t be alarmed by this. It is evidence that you killed the evil person’s soul. Also, you’ll see over there that I supplied you with silver-tipped bullets for your FNH Five Seven pistol.

Ezekiel went over and picked up the sniper rifle. It was surprisingly light and felt like it belonged in his hands. He felt a deep sense of power as he held the rifle in his arms. He also noticed that Gabriel supplied him with hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

This rifle is amazing, Gabriel. I can’t believe it has a five thousand-meter range. That’s over three miles. That’s astounding. I can’t wait to use it. But where do I start? There’s so much evil in the world. I have been killing evil people on the streets of New York City, but I guess, their evil souls will find another host because I didn’t have the silver cross or bullets.

Don’t worry about that. At least you killed the current evil host. It will take time for evil souls to find other hosts. Like I said I will be visiting you from time to time to give you missions to carry out. These will be very important missions derived from God himself. You will carry out these missions and recruit any help you need.

Okay, that sounds good. I will be waiting patiently for my first mission.

That’s good, Ezekiel. I must tell you a couple of other things before I leave. You are immortal, but you can be killed or injured. So don’t get yourself killed. God wants you around for a long time to come. He can’t wait another one hundred years for someone like you to come along. Also, your beautiful leopard has the same gift as you do. She doesn’t see auras but she senses evil and will kill it on your command. You are lucky to have her. She will give her life to protect you. Always cherish her. She is immortal too.

I always knew Mia was special from the day I rescued her as a kitten in Sudan. She was lying beside her mother who had been killed by a pack of hyenas. I love her with all my heart. Our souls are connected.

Very well, Ezekiel. I must go now, but I will return soon. May God bless you.

May God bless you too, Gabriel. I look forward to your next visit.

CHAPTER 1

It was midnight and Ezekiel and Mia decided to go for a walk. Ezekiel was an impressive man. He stood 6'4 tall with broad shoulders and a small waist. He weighs 225 pounds of solid muscle. He has long blond hair and green eyes. Mia was also impressive. She stood 4'5 tall at her shoulders and weighed 250 pounds of pulsating muscle. She had bright gold eyes.

It was on these late-night walks that they often confronted evil people. Ezekiel felt an extra sense of power after meeting and talking to Gabriel. He felt invincible. He was glad that he now had the silver cross stake so that he could kill evil souls. As he passed an alley, he heard a commotion down the alley. He decided to investigate. He walked down the alley and came to a junction where another alley crossed the alley he was in. That’s where he ran into trouble. There were four black men facing off against a woman wearing black jeans and a tight black leather jacket. Two of the men had knives drawn. Three of the men had black auras surrounding them. The other man had a gray aura.

Well, well, what do we have here? We have four men getting ready to attack one little woman. Do you think these odds are fair? asked Ezekiel.

The girl was strikingly beautiful. She had high cheekbones, long raven black hair, and black eyes. She was tall for a woman about 5'11" and was in very good physical condition.

Hey, motherfucker, get your sorry ass out of here or we’ll cut your ass to pieces, said one of the punks.

Are you threatening me? You said you’re going to cut my ass to pieces. That sounds like a deadly threat to me, said Ezekiel.

Yeah, man, we’ll kill you after we have some fun with this stupid bitch, said another man as the man on the far right withdrew a knife and moved closer to the woman ready to strike.

Okay, now that was definitely a life-threatening response. So… get… ready… to… die. Attack these men, Mia.

Ezekiel withdrew his EK combat knife and closed the gap to the man closest to him. In lightning speed, he turned his body sideways and struck down hard and then up hard on the man’s knife hand severing his thumb. The man dropped the knife. In blinding speed, Ezekiel threw a backhand slash across the man’s throat and followed it with a forward slash against his throat. These strikes went all the way to the side of the man’s neck, severing his carotid arteries. Blood starting gushing out of the man’s neck like a facet turned up high. Just from these strikes the man would bleed out in two minutes and die. Meanwhile Mia charged the man on the far right closest to the woman and jumped up on him, placing her giant front paws on the man’s shoulders and knocking him hard to the ground. She then bit his throat out with her long razor sharp fangs. Just as quickly, she jumped up on the next man to the right and knocked him down. The force of her strike caused the man’s neck to snap back, breaking it cleanly. Ezekiel easily dispatched the last man with a straight thrust to the man’s heart, killing him instantly.

Mia, come. Good girl. Come here and I’ll give you a treat, said Ezekiel as he withdrew a large piece of beef jerky from his backpack. Mia gobbled it up and then put her paws on Ezekiel’s shoulders and gave him a hug.

Wow! That was awesome. How did you do that to these shitheads? And that cat is amazing, asked the woman.

I know how to use a knife. I can slice someone to pieces in a couple of seconds. And then I have my lovely black leopard, Mia, who is a warrior in her own right and knows how to kill quickly, said Ezekiel.

Yeah, that leopard was incredible. She moved so fast I could hardly see her, said the woman.

Now why is a pretty girl like you roaming around the most dangerous streets in New York City? Don’t you know that you could be easily raped and killed out here at this hour? asked Ezekiel.

I’m an independent journalist doing an article on black mob crimes against white people. I was hoping I could get an interview with some of these black people, said the woman.

These people are predators. You should never go on their turf for any reason. They will surely attack you and leave you for dead. If you want to interview them, you need to offer them money to come on your turf to talk. What is your name? asked Ezekiel.

My name is Drisana Oxbow. Who are you? asked the woman.

That name is Cherokee. You must be a Native American. My name is Ezekiel Vanovich and this is Mia, said Ezekiel.

Yes, I am Cherokee through and through. My name means daughter of the sun in Cherokee. That’s why I am not afraid to come out on these streets at night. Cherokees are afraid of nothing, said Drisana.

Courage is one thing. Stupidity is another. Do you carry any weapons? asked Ezekiel.

No, I don’t carry weapons. I have extreme confidence in fighting skills, said Drisana.

And what are those fighting skills? asked Ezekiel.

I have black belts in jiujitsu and tae kwon do, said Drisana.

Neither of which will do you any good in a street fight. That round house kick that you threw that touched nothing but air is a bad move. When you lift a leg into the air, you are losing half of your gravity. You should always keep both feet firmly on the ground. A good street fighter will close the gap on you and you won’t be able to throw a kick anyway. Save your kicks for the guy’s groin or the side of his knee. And one more important thing, you never, ever leave home without a weapon that you know how to use. Also four to one odds are not good especially for a woman. Your back was clear. You should have turned around and run to a populated area, said Ezekiel.

What kind of weapon should I carry? asked Drisana.

I carry knives, a kubaton, and an FNH Five Seven semiautomatic pistol. Knives are my weapon of choice as you just witnessed. My gun comes in handy if I am facing more than four attackers, stated Ezekiel.

What’s a kubaton? asked Drisana.

Here, I’ll show you, said Ezekiel as he withdrew his keychain from his pocket.

The kubaton is this silver metal rod with a pointed end. You can inflict some serious pain on someone with one of these. It can even be lethal if you hit a person in the right place with enough force. You’ll also notice on my keychain a Microtech double action automatic out the front knife. This knife has a wicked four-inch double-edged blade that is sharp as a razor. What you saw me use tonight is my EK combat knife, arguably the best combat knife in world. This is my knife of choice. With a six-inch double-edged blade, it is very lethal.

I would like to learn how to knife fight, said Drisana.

You must first learn how to street fight before you learn how to knife fight.

Can you teach me?

We’ll talk about that later, but first I have something I have to do to these bodies. It would be best if you turned around and didn’t watch this.

Ezekiel waited until Drisana turned around and then went to each of the three men with black souls and drove the silver cross stake through their hearts. Just as Gabriel described, their bodies turned to black ash. Little did he know that Drisana had turned around and watched him do this.

Oh my God, what have you done? How on earth did you do that? Their bodies just turn to black ash. How come you didn’t do it to the other guy? asked Drisana.

You cheated and looked. Shame on you. I will tell you about this over coffee. You will find it unbelievable. Before we go, I need to clean the blood off of Mia’s mouth, said Ezekiel.

Ezekiel took his knife and slice off the T-shirt the man with the gray aura was wearing.

Come, Mia, let’s clean you up and I’ll give you some beef jerky, said Ezekiel as Mia put her big paws on Ezekiel’s shoulders.

A black leopard that likes beef jerky. That’s a new one on me, said Drisana.

There’s a little coffee shop around the corner that stays open all night. It is my favorite place. Let’s go there and get acquainted.

CHAPTER 2

Ezekiel and Drisana entered the coffee shop and were given a hearty welcome by Ishmal, the owner of the shop.

Ezekiel, my good friend, it is so good to see you again. And there’s my dearest Mia, said Ishmal as he came over and scratched Mia behind the ears. Mia licked his hand.

It is good to see you, Ishmal. It’s always a pleasure to come into your coffee shop and smell the wonderful aromas of exotic coffees, said Ezekiel.

Ah, you have a beautiful girl with you this time. What is your name, my dear? asked Ishmal.

My name is Drisana and it’s a pleasure to meet you. Ezekiel said he loved your shop and I can tell why.

Yeah, Ishmal I picked up a stray tonight wondering in a place she shouldn’t have been, said Ezekiel.

Oh my, I am glad you weren’t harmed. It’s a dangerous place out there if you don’t know where you are going.

Well, if it wasn’t for Ezekiel, I probably would have been killed by some very bad men, said Drisana.

You were lucky then. Ezekiel is a warrior and knows how to take care of him and others that are in danger. Okay I know you want black coffee, Ezekiel. I just got in some very good Columbian beans and the coffee is excellent. And I know Mia want her latte. How about you, my dear? What would you like? asked Ishmal.

I will have a latte too, please.

Excellent. I will be right back with your coffees.

Okay, Ezekiel, tell me about how you were able to turn those men into black ash. You must have some kind of special powers, said Drisana.

I will but you must swear to secrecy about this. I know you a journalist and that you would probably love to write an article about me but you can’t. Is that understood? Can I trust you with what I am about to tell you? asked Ezekiel.

I understand and you can trust me. I will not betray your confidence. You saved my life and I will be forever indebted to you for that, said Drisana.

I’ll start from the beginning. Ever since I was born I had the ability to see auras around people. I saw black aura, gray auras, and white auras. These auras denoted if a person was good, bad, or evil. The black auras surrounded evil people. The gray auras surrounded bad people, and the white auras surrounded good people. These auras told me what kind of soul a person had. When I was a child, I was confused about what the auras meant. As I grew older, I instinctively learned what the auras meant. I discovered that the black auras surrounded evil people, that the gray auras surrounded bad people, and that the white auras surrounded good people. I felt that this was a burden I had to carry. I became obsessed about killing the black auras of evil people. As I reached adulthood, I realized that I had an obligation to destroy the people with the black auras. I thought the best way to fight this evil was to join the armed services. So after high school, I joined the army and eventually became a member of the Delta Forces. In fact I was the youngest person to ever be allowed to join the Delta Force. In the Delta Force, I was able to kill many people with black souls. I was so proficient at this that I was recruited me to join a deep black operation that answered only to the president. In this capacity I was able to kill black souls who held high positions in government and industry. We were very successful, and the world was a much safer place for what we did. When Obama became president, he disbanded this covert group. So I just retired from active duty service because I knew the disastrous way this country was headed for under Obama, said Ezekiel.

Ishmal returned with the coffee and lattes. Here you are, my friends. I hope you enjoy it and let me know if there is anything else you would like. I brought you these cherry tarts. They are delicious and go good with coffee and lattes.

You might as well bring another latte for Mia. She’ll lick that one up in a few seconds, said

Ezekiel.

"Not long ago I had a visitor. He just appeared out of thin air. He told me he was the angel Gabriel sent to me by God. He said God had chosen me to fight for him against evil on earth. He said God had been testing me all of the years of my life and was happy with the way I turned out. Gabriel told me it was now time for me to take up the battle of evil in God’s name. He’s the one who gave me the silver stake that I drove through those men’s hearts. I must drive the cross through their hearts to kill their black souls otherwise their black souls will survive and inhabit another person’s soul.

Gabriel told me he would come to me from time to time to give me missions from God to kill certain black souls. He hasn’t given me my first mission yet but I know he will. He also told me that I’m immortal but that I could be killed or injured. Do you understand all of this? Do you have any questions?

That is an amazing story. I would not have believed it had I not seen those bodies turn to black ash when you drove the silver cross stake through their hearts. But you are just one man and the world is full of evil people. How will you battle them on your own? asked Drisana.

Good question. I asked Gabriel that same question. He said the missions God gives me would have a maximum effect on evil and that I would be able to easily recruit good souls if I needed them.

I asked you if you would teach me how to knife fight. Will you do that?

"Yes, I will teach you how to street fight, knife fight, how to use a pistol, and how to use a sniper rifle. There is one big condition to this though. You must be totally committed. You will practice every day so you will need to give up your journalism career. But don’t worry you will be taken care of. Your soul is a very bright white so you are destined to fight evil with me.

Are you prepared to make these sacrifices? You must give up your current life for a whole new life. It’s a big decision. I will give you five days to think about it."

I don’t need five days to think about it. I know I want to do this. I hate evil and I want to battle it by your side.

That is excellent. We will start tomorrow. Meet me here at 8:00 AM, and I will buy you breakfast. Bring a suitcase with your clothes and personal effects. Cancel the lease on your apartment or sublet it. You will no longer need an apartment.

CHAPTER 3

At eight the next morning Ezekiel met Drisana at the coffee shop. She was already there waiting for him. That was a good sign.

Good morning, Drisana. I hope you had a sound sleep because you will need a lot of energy for today’s lesson, said Ezekiel.

Good morning, Ezekiel. I could hardly sleep last night because I was so psyched out about my lesson today, said Drisana.

Well, that is good, Drisana. Let’s have a hearty breakfast so you’ll be in top form today, said Ezekiel.

Good morning, Ezekiel. It’s so good to see you again, said Marka, Ishmal’s assistant manager.

Well, hi there, Marka. You’re looking good. Still lifting weights the way I taught you? asked Ezekiel.

Yes, I’ve been having some really good workouts. That system you taught me really works.

I’m so glad to hear that, Marka. Just keep up the hard work and you will be in fantastic shape. Marka, this is Drisana.

It’s so nice to meet you Drisana. That is a lovely name. Any friend of Ezekiel’s is a friend of mine, said Marka.

That is so thoughtful. It’s a pleasure meeting you, said Drisana.

Okay, Marka, we have hard day’s work ahead of us so give us your special breakfast combination, said Ezekiel.

That will be three Ishmal combos coming up. I’ll be right back with some coffee for you and a latte for my dear Mia.

Marka returned quickly with the coffee and the latte. As usual Mia gulped down her latte and was ready for another one. I’ll get Mia another latte. She sure does love those things, said Marka.

I’m so excited to get started, Ezekiel. What is my lesson for today? asked Drisana.

You first need to learn how to box. It’s very important that you know how to throw a punch with power and speed. So we will spend today boxing. Think of boxing as your base fighting skill. There are only five punches in boxing. Every fighting technique that you learn after that will have its foundation in boxing, answered Ezekiel.

I’ve hit the heavy bag before, but no one has told me how to hit it right, said Drisana.

"Today you will learn all of the simple punches and all of the combinations. I will teach you the proper technique for each