Free Nicolae High by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins

of mine said she knows a ten-year- old, but I don’t know. These kids’ mothers are wailing all over the place. This is like the worst horror movie you could ever see.”
    â€œYeah, but we’re in this one.”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œPersonally,” a girl sitting by herself said, “I think it was some big science experiment that went bad.”
    â€œThat could be.”
    â€œYeah, I never thought of that.”
    â€œRight, like a scientist figured out how to beam stuff like in the old Star Trek movies, only he beamed the wrong people and can’t bring them back.”
    â€œI think they’re coming back,” one said.
    â€œYou do? Why?”
    â€œI have to. I’d go nuts otherwise. If I lost somebody in a wreck or I knew they died of some disease, that would be one thing. But these people didn’t die. At least I hope they didn’t.”
    â€œSome people died.”
    â€œNot the ones who disappeared. Just people who, like, got run over because of someone else disappearing.”
    â€œYou don’t know the ones who disappeared are still alive.”
    â€œI do,” Vicki said.
    â€œYou can’t know that!”
    â€œFine, but I do.”
    â€œYou might believe it, Vicki, but you can’t know.”
    â€œThen why do I know?”
    â€œYou don’t. You just think you know.”
    â€œIf my granddaughter is alive,” Mrs. Waltonen said, “I’d like to know that. I agree you can’t really know, Vicki. But tell me why you think so, and tell me where you think she is.”
    Vicki looked around. It seemed people were actually curious. “But isn’t somebody going to get me in trouble with the church/state police? I guess my freedom of speech goes only so far.”
    â€œSo you think Mrs. Waltonen’s baby is in heaven with Jesus.”
    â€œI know she is.”
    â€œYou can’t know that! And if you did, you’d be there too!”
    â€œIf I had known in advance, I would be, yes. With my parents and my brother and sister.”
    â€œWhoop, there it is!” a girl cried out. “You lost your family, so you’ve got to come up with some nice explanation. That’s all right. You’re entitled. No offense to Mrs. Waltonen, but you two can believe whatever you want so you feel better about who you lost. That’s all. I’d like to know where the girls are who aren’t here today. What about that fat girl who was such a good athlete? And those twins nobody could stand? And that girl with the bad face and the—”
    â€œAll right,” Mrs. Waltonen said, “I think that’s enough detail. I have a list here of the girls in the class who are known to have disappeared in the vanishings. The ones you mentioned are included, yes. Mary Alice—you know her? She’s out sick today. And Francis also disappeared. There are two others, Barb and Sue, who are assumed to have disappeared.”
    The girls sat silently for a moment, a few weeping. Finally someone said, “Do you hear how this sounds? We’re sitting here talking about people we knew disappearing.”
    And no one, Vicki thought, seems to want to face the truth. As wild as the truth seemed, it sure made more sense than the crazy ideas she’d heard.
    â€œIs there anybody else who believes this was the rapture of the church?” Vicki blurted, and she scanned the group.
    It seemed everyone responded at once, waving her off, groaning, saying no. But she saw the look of hope on the teacher’s face, and a couple of girls at the edge of the group just looked sadly at her.
    â€œStop talking about it!” came a voice over the din. “We were told not to, so don’t! You’re pushing your personal religious beliefs on us, and that’s wrong!”
    Vicki was mad. “I don’t accuse you of forcing your beliefs on me when you tell me it was aliens or Star Trek scientists. Don’t