Chapter One
The Remarkable Room

The hawk soared under the light of a full moon. It winged its way up a wooded valley toward a complex of white buildings that stood out starkly under the cool lunar light. Breaching the perimeter of the compound, the hawk headed for a five-story structure at its heart. It circled the glass dome that capped the building, then landed on its summit where it perched quietly until a slash of yellow light suddenly cut across the wood floor of the circular hall below. The bird flapped its wings in agitation. It settled down and cocked its head to focus one obsidian eye on the tall man entering the room.

The man crossed the hall to the far wall, where he stopped, turned, and checked that he was not followed. He withdrew a small device from his inside coat pocket, held it between thumb and forefinger, and gave it a gentle squeeze. A wooden wall panel swung open into a cool, black void.

When the man stepped through the portal, a solitary lamp secreted somewhere in the room’s high ceiling snapped to life, illuminating an object hanging on the far wall. The remarkable room he had enetered seemed both cavernous and claustrophobic. The dark wood-paneled walls disappeared into shadow before they met the ceiling, giving the sensation of great height while the musty smell of accumulated dust and the enveloping darkness made the room coffin-like.

A high wingback chair stood in the center of the room, barely visible at the edge of reflected light. As the man settled in, the chair seemed to engulf him, pulling him deeper into the shadowed recesses of the room.

The room enshrined a painting — a portrait of four people: a man, a woman, a teenage boy, and a teenage girl. Its colors glowed vividly under the lamp’s warm light. On close inspection, the yellow tinge and slight cracking of its lacquered glaze betrayed the age of the painting. It was centuries old.

The man knew the identity of the man and woman; however, the identity of the two young people was still a mystery.

Are you aware of whom you are? Of what you are about to do and what you may have already done? How can you be?

The man often pondered such questions while sitting alone in the dark room gazing upon the painting.

Where do you live? Do you know each other? Have you ever met?

Usually, thoughts like these led to a sense of frustration, but this time was different.

You’re so young and innocent. You’re blissfully ignorant of the odyssey upon which you are about to embark — unaware of where it will lead. Perhaps the announcement will start you on your journey. Yes, I’m sure it will. It has to. The man felt the growing anticipation of tomorrow’s events — events that would change the world, and, hopefully, bring the people in this old painting together.

That’s what made the painting and the room that held it remarkable. The people in the painting had not yet met. They had not yet had their portrait painted. Still, there they were, faces glowing warmly under the spotlight.

Yes, the people in the painting made it remarkable — the people...

...and the message of danger that lay hidden beneath the paint.

– End Chapter One –