Veiled

VEILED

“
I have always
existed,

not just me but all of
us,

the spirits who wait to
live.”

By S.B. Niccum

PUBLISHED BY:

TreasureLine Publishing on
Smashwords

Veiled

Copyright 2011 by S.B.
Niccum

All rights
reserved.

This book or parts thereof
may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form by any means without prior written
permission of the authors, except as provided by United States of
America copyright law.

Smashwords Edition License
Notes

This ebook is licensed for
your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or
given away to other people. If you would like to share this book
with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each
person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not
purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only or provided
by the author of publisher, then please purchase your own copy out
of respect for the author's work.

The following is a work of
fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or
used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead,
to factual events or to businesses is coincidental and
unintentional.

Views expressed in this work
are solely those of the author.

* * * * *

I dedicate this book to all
those who came before, whose faces and lives sparked and inspired
my imagination since I was a child. I also dedicate this book to
all who loved and helped me along this journey: my husband,
children, parents, siblings—families are forever.

* * * *
*

A note from the
Author:

This book is a work of
fiction.

It is neither doctrine, nor
doctrinally correct.

This book happened because I
let my imagination go wild.

If you want to know what is
real, read the Scriptures!

* * * * *

Characters and
Gifts:

Tess: Gift of
Discernment

Alex: Gift of
Wisdom

Celeste: Gift of
Faith

Russell: Gift of Working
Miracles

Nancy: Gift of
Healing

Valerie: Gift of
Premonitions

Dorian: Gift of
Visions

Dane: Gift of
Healing

Henry: Gift of
Knowledge

Katie: Gift of
Interpretation of Tongues

Leo: Gift of
Discernment

Irene: Gift of
Discernment

Estelle: Gift of Beholding
Spirits

Max: Gift of
Tongues

Luz: Gift of Beholding
Spirits

Amor: Gift of
Healing

Paz: Gift of
Knowledge

Fallen Angels:

Agatha

Eros

Eugenia

Amanda

Marcel

* * * * *

Preface

“
And there was a war in
heaven:

Michael and his angels
fought against the dragon;

and the dragon fought and
his angels,

And prevailed
not;

neither was their place
found any more in heaven.”

Revelations
12:7-8

I have always existed. Not
just me but all of us—the disembodied spirits who wait to
live.

We were formed by the
Eternals, whose image we resemble. They are the creators of the
universe; they are immortal, perfect and beautiful in every way,
not just their bodies but their minds as well. They have reached
their full potential of progression and evolution. They are
omnipotent and omniscient.

Most of us follow them and
obey their laws. However, there are those among us who are
rebellious and devious, and do not like to comply with the
Eternals’ rules. These rebellious spirits rejected the plan of the
Eternals for our evolution, and wished to appoint a new ruler—the
Second One—over our future planet. They are gaining strength and a
large following; their hope is to overthrow the First One, our
current ruler appointed by the Eternals.

The time has come for us to
choose sides and the choice is clear for me…but that is not the
case for all. If those of us who oppose the rebellion fail in our
attempts to stop them, we will be destined to live our next life in
servitude to an unjust and cruel god.

* * * * *

Chapter 1

“
He would rather see them
fail, than fully evolved?”

“
Of course not! He would
rather see them choose for themselves if they want to progress and
fully evolve,”
Michael
countered.

“
Choose? Choose? We will
fail without the Second One’s help and they won’t do anything about
it!” Beelzebub said, pointing to no particular place in space. “The
Second One guarantees us full evolution into Immortality, isn’t
that what we all want?”

“
The First One would
rather die for us a thousand deaths than see us fail, but he would
never take our freedom to choose away from us.”

“
The Second One guarantees
us that not one soul will be lost or suffer unnecessarily. The
First One guarantees us nothing. Who would be fool enough to follow
this First One?” Horrified gasps and murmurs were heard throughout.
No one had ever been so insolent when referring to our
leader.

“
The Second One is the
most qualified to lead. He’s been preparing for this task his whole
existence. If we follow his lead, we will all make it!” Cheers
erupted from a large number of spirits that were clustered together
at one side of this council. They were the Fallen Angels, the
rebels who followed the Second One.

We’ve come to this council
to hear the debates between one of the First One’s most trusted
High Councilor, Michael, and one of the Second One’s most
persuasive minions, Beelzebub. The point of these debates is to
help us figure out what the best way to acquire more knowledge and
experience should be. Most of the spirits assigned to Earth are
present, and though my clan and I already know what side we are on,
many other spirits are undecided.

Beelzebub continued with a
loud voice, “Listen to me Spirits of Earth, under the Second One’s
rule you will have equality. No one will lack for their basic
necessities; everyone will be guaranteed health, and an
equal—longer life span. We will have no wars among ourselves,
because we will be unified under one ruler—the Second One—at all
times. There will be no rebellions. Justice will be swift and peace
will abound for all and in all generations.

“
Since we were given
spiritual form, we have all witnessed what has happened in other
Planets. We have seen what wars and sickness can do. We have
helplessly witnessed the sorrow and anguish that all these are
capable of inflicting on mortals. If we follow the Second One, we
will never have to worry about those things. We will be free to
pursue our own interests and develop our talents without the waste
of life. Relinquish the day-to-day cares to the Second One, and
together we will evolve into a glorious society.

“
What more could we want
out of life? Why would we ever accept the Eternal’s faulty plan?
Why should we do what other worlds have done? We are smarter than
they, we can choose a better way to live, and we have the option to
choose another ruler—The Second One!

“
He will lead Earth to
greater peace and we will show the Eternals and the Universe at
large, that we, the spirits of Earth can accomplish that which has
not been accomplished before. Who is with us?”
Beelzebub shouted, and the same group of eager spirits
erupted in cheers. Scattered groups of spirits throughout the rest
of the crowd cheered as well, but the majority did not, and this
angered him; one could see it in his face.

He had been very
persuasive, but the number of spirits cheering were nowhere near
the number he expected. He had hoped for a major uprising, but only
managed to impress a few of the undecided spirits. I had to admit
that he made a tempting point—life without the threat of wars and
unnecessary death due to ill health was very desirable. As he said,
we could focus on developing our talents and providing for
ourselves better—right?

It was now Michael’s turn
to speak; he had been calmly waiting on his podium, which was
placed at the other end of the stellar stage.

In the center stood the
rest of the High Council with two Royal Court Cherubs and Seraphs
on either side. Each of the Cherubs was holding a Flaming Sword tip
down in front of them—currently the swords were inactive, but the
Cherubs seemed quite ready and willing to let them light up. I
wasn’t sure what kind of damage a Flaming Sword could do to a
spirit that feels nothing, but I heard that they are the only
weapons that can actually hurt both the living and the…
not.

Behind the High Council was
the Choir of Angels. The whole bottom row of the choir was holding
bells, the top row was holding trumpets, and the Angels that stood
at each end of the choir were holding huge harps.

“
Thank you, Beelzebub, you
make a very compelling argument,” Michael said with an earnest look
as he faced his opponent. Then he turned and looked at us with a
pleasant, easy smile. The contrast between the two was staggering.
While Beelzebub looked agitated and defiant; Michael looked calm,
confident and stately.

“
I too love peace. I too
love equality, but the First One loves us too much to force those
principles on us when we will have no memory of this conversation.
Once we step through the Veil, we will forget about this debate,
what was said here, and our vote. We will even forget all about the
Eternals, the First One, and the Second One.

“
We will still be who we
are… but think about how we might feel obeying without knowing why?
If we do as Beelzebub suggests, all we will know when we get to
Earth is that our leader imposes rules on us, rules that we might
not understand and may even want to defy—and if we do—what then?
What is this ‘swift justice’ that Beelzebub so casually
mentions?”

Murmurs rose from the
masses. Many spirits were nodding their heads, realizing for the
first time what the implications of the Veil could have on this
decision.

“
And if we are to have
equality, you might want to ask yourselves why the Second One is
promising some spirits ‘a favored position in mortality’ if they
join his cause? How equal is he really going to be, when he sets
himself above the rest of us here and now?” Beelzebub looked
positively livid at that last comment and eyed Michael with a flash
of hate. Michael, however, either didn’t notice or ignored him, and
continued with his side of the debate.

“
I assure you, the First
One does not want to see anyone lack for basic necessities, but the
choice for a unified government, with true equality, has to come
from us. He would never impose a law on anyone who will have no
recollection of ever agreeing to it. He would never make you obey
His laws out of fear and He would never force you into a spiritual
evolution you know nothing about.

“
But He will come and
dwell with us, and teach us all He knows. He will live among us and
sit on the ground with us—not a throne. He will pay the way for us
to evolve and progress if we choose to do so. And he will show us
how to create a free government with equal rights if we but
ask.

“
No one can guarantee our
safe passage into evolution; not the First One, not the Second One,
not even the Eternals can. The only one who can is you, to yourself
and to no one else. But the First One will guarantee us one
thing—freedom.

“
To spiritually evolve and
progress we’ll need two things: experience and freedom. Experience
is the reason why all worlds follow this plan. Experience has
taught even the Eternals that true evolution of souls happens when
they are free to make their own decisions. In fact experience has
also taught the Eternals that the Second One’s way does not work,
for it is not such a new idea after all.” Michael pointed one arm
at Beelzebub and stepped down from his podium, floating in space
and coming closer to the masses.