January 4th,
"Dear Lord, I thank you for the progress we've made so far concerning Dany's kidnap. Please continue to protect us from the evil one and hide us under the shadow of your wings for the devil sleeps not and would stop at nothing to see us fall. But as long as we stand upon the solid rock of ages, Jesus Christ our foundation, your Grace would sustain us and keep us, Amen."
"He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty...."
Psalm 91 was on repeat in my mind all through out the day and I let it flow because I had an uneasy feeling about today. I woke in a good mood but that's not all. Uncle Hugo hasn't come back since yesternight and the rest of us were seriously worried. We just kept hoping and praying that all was well but instead, that uneasy feeling didn't fade for long.
Lord, what's wrong?
Well, I later saw what was.
"Ray, I don't wanna think about it but what's going on? Uncle hasn't come home and his phone is unreachable!" I said as he buried his face into his palm.
"Guys just calm down, please. I feel this strong urge to be really alert now. And anxiety isn't gonna help at all. I feel we need to pray." Tony said as we nodded and huddled together, holding hands.
"As the Lord leads, Tony." I said, nodding for him to go on. He hesitated for sometime, the atmosphere calm and quiet, he frowned deeply and the next words he said made me frown too...
"He that dwells in the secret place of the most high, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty..." he prayed the whole psalm as the rest of us were saying our 'Amens'. That wasn't the type of prayer I expected- but it brought this odd feeling of peace and calmness inside of me. After the prayer, I looked at the others and I could tell they also felt the same peace I did.
"That was...a different prayer, Tony." Ray said as he smiled.
"Those were the first words that flowed out of my mouth when I spoke. I also didn't plan on praying Psalm 91." He said as we chuckled.
"That's amazing. Those were the first words I said too when I woke up this morning. Wow" I said as he looked at me surprisingly and I nodded.
"That's so cool." Lissa remarked as Ray spoke up.
"Then I guess we should study that today. Right?" He asked as we nodded approvingly.
"Sure thing."
"Absolutely."
"Right away!"
♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤
Lissa and Tony were just about leaving, around 7pm when the light went out. We were immediately plunged into darkness as we groped around awkwardly, looking for our phones.
"I found it-" I said, raising my phone in victory as I was interrupted by a loud yelp and a loud gasp followed.
"Tony? Lissa? Ray? Anyone?" I asked as I immediately turned on my phone's torch. Before I could say another word, the power was restored and I rushed towards Tony who was on the floor, groaning in pain as Lissa was starting to panic.
"Wha- what happened? Tony?" I asked as we tried to help him get up but when Lissa saw Tony's blood stained palm, she passed out.
"Ray? Ray?!" I called as i ran to the kitchen to get a bowl of water and i splashed it on her face. She woke up immediately, panting as I knelt beside her.
"Lissa, get yourself together! We need to get Tony to the hospital right away. He's been injured badly. Please just calm down." I said, rubbing her back gently as she nodded, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths in and out as I helped Tony to wrap a cloth around his injured head. Lissa and I helped him up, with his both arms on our shoulders.
"Where's Ray?" I asked, looking at her hopefully.
"I don't know Sandy. What's going on? He's no where to be found. Ever since the power went out, I didn't see him and I don't know how Tony got injured." Lissa said, her voice cracking and her eyes, brimming with tears.
"R-Ray i-is....I-is" Tony slurred then held his head in pain as I shushed him.
"Calm down, what happened to Ray?" I asked as Tony suddenly fainted.
"Tony?! Tony!" Lissa and I screamed as we laid him on the lawn and i immediately called the 911 emergency line. Just then, I saw uncle Hugo's van pull up in the driveway and when he saw us, he rushed us to the hospital where Tony got immediate treatment. Thankfully, the doctor said the injury wasn't too serious and that he would be discharged the next day. Lissa and I sat in the reception as Uncle Hugo went out- we told him we couldn't find Ray, even after calling his phone.
It was a rough day and I was so tired when I got home. Uncle Hugo had eventually found Ray who had no idea where he was all the while we were attending to Tony. The only thing he said he could remember was his nose being covered with a smelly cloth, right after the power outage and him waking up, right at the gate of the town and Uncle Hugo coming to pick him up shortly afterwards.
That was wierd.
I was about to collapse into the couch closest to the door when a saw a little note beside it. It read:
Be careful or next time I won't.