Speak out loud what you desire for your life. “I desire to make a wonderful living, doing wonderful work in a wonderful way under grace and in perfect harmony with nature.” I say this every morning and every night. It works for me. I make a nice living. I’ve seen a great deal of the world. I’ve made lots of friends both locally and internationally. I feel blessed. Fame is not my game… living well is.

Your plan must consist of your goals. List them. Say them in a loud, strong voice, “I CREATE AND I’M PROUD!” Shout, “I AM CRAZY ABOUT WHAT I DO FOR A LIVING!”

If you really feel the urge to be an Artist, commit right now to being an Artist. Not becoming an Artist, being an Artist. That fact that you’re reading this post in the first place reveals that you have the intention. Now all you need to do is realize that regardless of whatever anyone else may say or think, you hold the power in your hands to create whatever you have a vision for, be it a painting, a song, a book, a film, or your very own life. There is no need for Involuntary Commitment as long as you make this Voluntary Commitment.

Take a deep breath and be thankful for You are an Artist.

Each of us, at one time or another, has had a vision for our lives. Whether you’re a painter, a musician, a filmmaker, a writer, a sculptor, or whatever, you’ve had the vision of where your talent can take you, and the life that you long to have. Many who have audacity to follow these dreams are told that they are crazy for doing it. Don’t listen to those voices.

Realize the potential you have inside you and the power of the Voice that is speaking through you. Identify your goals and take the time to draw steps to reaching them. Have a plan for yourself that stretches, five, ten, and fifteen years down the road, and live as if that is your reality. It’s not crazy to follow your dreams. It’s crazy to think that you’re unworthy of them. They wouldn’t have come to you if they didn’t want you to connect with them.

Thank you so much for reading Descent and for participating in this experimental adventure. If you missed any of the installments, you can purchase the complete eBook from The McAllister Code website or Smashwords.

For more from Steve McAllister, go to Modern Hippie Mag where Steve and his wife Jasmine have started a new online magazine celebrating healthy, conscious, sustainable living. Also check out InkenSoul Press, where Steve will be posting a bunch of other things that he writes. And make sure to subscribe to the feed here at The McAllister Code to keep updated on Steve’s next book, Maelstrom, hopefully coming in 2010.

EPILOGUE

The Kelly family and Jessica celebrated Christmas in Beth’s hospital room. She was recovering nicely, but her doctor suggested she remain in their care for a few more days. Although Kyle had forgotten his presents in North Carolina, several gifts were exchanged. He promised to send the others to them as soon as he got back to school.
Two days later, though she insisted that she was well enough to go, Beth missed Dan Banks’ funeral. The sun shined brightly on the group at the cemetery. Dan’s parents, who had been separated for two years, hugged. Kyle hoped they would be able to work things out. Dan would have loved that.
Michael and Emily Bowers introduced themselves to Pastor Kelly and apologized for what happened. After a brief conversation, Patrick gave them the name of a good marriage counselor. In a few months, both of them would become proud members of the church.
After the maple casket was lowered into the ground and most of the people had left to carry on with their lives, Kyle remained by the graveside, studying the headstone. He held some flowers in his hand. Jessica stood beside him, her mascara running slightly.
“You know, I never really understood the meaning of that Bible verse before,” he muttered.
Jessica took his free hand in hers and squeezed gently. “Which one is that?”
“Greater love has no man than a man who lays down his life for his friends.” His brow furrowed. “Most people, myself included, take it for granted. It just sounds nice to say. I spend my life telling kids how Jesus died for them, but I never really… When Dan died, I knew exactly what it meant.”
Jessica nodded her head, but said nothing.
“When Dan looked at me….right before he jumped in front of us,….that verse popped into my head. I knew what he was going to do. I knew. And then I didn’t want him to do it, but I couldn’t speak. I just froze up.”
“It all happened so fast,” Jessica said softly. “I can’t believe he did that for us. I can’t believe it really happened.”
“I can’t believe it happened twice.” Kyle laid the flowers aside the headstone.

The police investigated the deaths of Lieutenant Jorgansen, Bill Warner, Blaine Abernathy, and the other men found at the warehouse. Most of them had police records citing Lieutenant Lionel Jorgansen as the arresting officer. One man, an older gentleman who had been shot in the chest and head, had no records. Kyle admitted to shooting two men, but was not indicted on any charges. He was, however, required to make himself readily available for any further questioning. Michael and Emily Bowers returned to Sarasota and aided the police in putting the pieces together.
Mark Davis was never found.

On January 5, the day before Kyle was to return to North Carolina, Kyle and Jessica walked hand in hand along Siesta Key Beach. Although he had shared openly with her about his feelings over the last several days, Jessica still felt that Kyle was distant, preoccupied. His mind seemed to drift along with the current. She reached up and patted him on the head.
“What’s going on up there?” she asked. “What are you thinking about so intently?”
“Everything. Nothing. God. Dan. You. My job. Family. Those birds over there. Rubik’s cube. Violence. Dr…”
“Okay. Okay. I get the point,” she said with a smile.
They walked in silence for a few more minutes.
“You know,” he broke the silence, “it’s kind of funny.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m closer to God now than I have been in a long time.”
“Why is that funny?”
“In the last few weeks, I almost lost my sister, my best friend was killed, I shot two men, got beat up a few times, and all kinds of other stuff. But through all of that, God showed me how faithful He really is. I mean, I asked for all of it. I asked him to draw me closer to Him, to make our relationship better. It’s like the only way He could get through to me was to take everything I loved away until I could only trust in Him. Once I did, He gave me more than I had to begin with. My best friend is in heaven. My family is getting along. I have you. It’s amazing, really.”
“It’s been a wild vacation, huh?”
“Really wild.”
Their bare feet moved softly in the sand for the next few minutes. Kyle seemed to be opening up to Jessica, but something still plagued her. There was something in the way he was acting that seemed strange. It wasn’t a bad thing. It was just something.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she said.
Kyle stopped. Facing forward, he exhaled deeply. He turned to look into her eyes. Against the backdrop of the setting sun, the shined brightly amid her silhouetted face. He took both of her hands in his.
“Jessica, this has been the most life changing time in my life. Everything has been turned upside down and back again. But through it all, you were there. You gave me advice that I usually ignored. You comforted me. You helped keep me in my place. You helped to make sense of everything. You always did that for me. Even when we were seeing each other before. You mean so much to me.”
The sincerity in his eyes caused tears to well up in hers.
“Those years you were gone were torture. Every girl I met I compared to you. None met the standard. I don’t want to go through that again. I don’t want to be without you again. I love you, Jess. No one else has ever made me feel the way you do. I just…I…don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have you.”
Jessica’s lower lip began to quiver.
Still holding both of her hands in his, Kyle knelt to one knee in the sand.

This concludes Descent by Steve McAllister. Buy the eBook now!

Dan leaped. A barrage of gunfire erupted throughout the warehouse. Kyle felt a thud against his chest and fell to the floor. The wind was knocked out of him with the impact. Struggling for a breath, he tried to move. He tried to stand up. He felt weak, overpowered. He couldn’t move. I’m shot! I’m dying! His eyes were shut tightly as he lay on the floor. His chest was constricted like something was crushing him. He struggled, tried to move. His hands moved up and touched something. Warily opening his eyes, he saw that Dan was stretched over his body.
Looking quickly to his left, he saw that Jessica had also been knocked down. She looked at him aghast. Her eyes moved to Dan and all color that had been in her face dissipated as her eyes widened in horror.
Kyle wriggled his chest from under his friend enough to sit up. With his right hand, he touched Dan’s chest. He was warm and moist. As Kyle removed his hand and looked at it, he started at the crimson stain.
“Noooooo! Dan! Dan! Look at me!”
He touched his friend’s face and turned it toward him. Dan blinked heavily and looked at him.
He smiled. “You did good, Buddy.”
“Dan, don’t worry. We’re going to get you help. You’re going to be okay. It’s going to be okay.”
“Did I get him?”
Kyle looked toward the end of the corridor and saw that the man in the Armani suit had joined his associates. He was riddled with bullet holes. “Yeah, Dan. You got him.”
Dan moved his head enough to see the blood that stained his chest. His head fell back and he exhaled deeply. He closed his eyes, still smiling.
“Dan! Dan? Don’t leave me. Don’t…”
Dan reopened his eyes. “I believe, Kyle,” he said in a raspy voice. “I believe.”
Jessica moved closer, softly placing her hand on Dan’s forehead, brushing away his bangs. Her lips quivered as tears came to her eyes.
“Everything you said, Kyle,” Dan said. “You were right. I’m going to heaven.” He coughed as blood trickled from the side of his mouth. He smiled again. Blood had tainted his teeth a harsh pink.
“Dan,” was all that Kyle could say as he looked into his dying friend’s eyes.
“God loves me, Kyle. You said so. He’s taking me to a better place. I’m going to go to heaven.”
Tears cascaded down Kyle’s face. “I love you, Dan. I love you.”
Dan coughed again, but the smile returned quickly to his face. “You know, it doesn’t even hurt that much.”
“That’s good, Dan,” Kyle said in a voice a little above a whisper.
“I’ll meet you there. Okay, Kyle?”
“Someday, Dan”
“Don’t hurry. Okay.”
Despite the pain, a soft smile pushed through onto Kyle’s face. “Don’t worry, Dan. I won’t”
Dan’s speech began to slur. “Oob god oo ake cayw of Dess.”
“I will, Dan. She’s in good hands.”
Dan spit more blood out of his mouth and tried to smile again. “Mebbee God wiw et us av a ows togeddew. We awways wanned dat, huh?”
“Maybe, Dan.”
Dan’s eyes glassed over. A smile remained on his face. Kyle could still feel his lungs expand against his legs. He held his friend closer as tears began to flow more freely. Jessica squirmed closer and put her arm around Kyle, leaned her head on his shoulder, and wept.
Kyle felt the last breath escape Dan’s lungs as Jesus escorted him home.

This is an excerpt from Descent by Steve McAllister. Buy the eBook now!

The recoil from the shotgun pushed Kyle’s shoulder into Jessica, who had been pressed against him. The former hunter careened into the wall behind him and slumped to the floor, his white shirt quickly taking on a dingy red color.
Kyle watched as the man’s life was drained from his body. He hadn’t really seen the other man die when he shot him. He had just shot, and the man had disappeared behind the bushes. But now, Kyle watched as his potential killer’s eyes turned cold and glazed over. Jessica lightly touched his shoulder, but he didn’t flinch. He just stood and looked, unblinking, at the man who had died by his hands.
Oddly enough, Kyle didn’t feel guilty for taking part in the man’s death. He didn’t feel convicted of murdering another. He wasn’t glad for it, but he wasn’t distraught. The only feeling that came over him was sadness. Sad that it had to come to this. Sad that the own man’s sin had lead Kyle to defend himself and those he loved.
“Kyle?” Jessica pulled on his shoulder, a worried look in her emerald eyes. “Are you okay?”
Kyle smiled faintly. “Yeah…I think so.”
He leaned forward, looking in the direction from where the man had come. No one was there. He handed the shotgun to Jessica and picked up the hunter’s automatic rifle.
“Can you use that?” he asked.
She fondled the rifle clumsily in her hands. It was like Barbie with a bazooka. “I hope I don’t have to.”
Kyle smiled again. “So do I. Come on. We need to find Dan.”
Jessica followed him as he moved back down the corridor, to where they had last heard gunfire. As that crept to where they hoped Dan was, wind blew outside. The branches of the oak trees behind the warehouse scratched eerily upon the metal roof like nails against a chalkboard.
Kyle stopped as he reached the end of the stacks. He saw a hand on the floor, coated in blood. Dan? He moved closer around the corner until the body connected to the hand was plainly visible. Thank God! A man who was not Dan was sprawled across the floor. Dead. Kyle looked up and noticed another man slumped against the wall.
Slowly, Kyle stepped past the first and larger man to approach the second. Jessica followed closely and tried not to look at the bodies. The face of the second man was covered with blood, but Kyle could tell that it was Jorgansen.
“Hey!”
At the sound of the whispered voice, Kyle spun quickly and raised his newly acquired rifle toward the sound.
“Whoa!” Dan said, emerging from the darkness of the back room. “It’s me.”
Kyle exhaled hard. “Don’t do that! I could have killed you.”
“Tell me about it.” He motioned with his head toward the front of the warehouse. “I take it you got one.”
“Yeah.”
“What do you say we get out of here?”
Jessica muttered, “Can we? I mean, are there more?”
Dan nodded. “Most likely. But I think we might have them outnumbered now. Let’s go.”
Dan led the way with Kyle and Jessica in tow. Moving swiftly, yet deliberately, they crossed the back of the warehouse. Occasionally, they would stop and listen, the silence being broken only by the sounds of their beating hearts. They moved on. Quickly. Quietly. Cautiously. They reached the end of the crates and paused. Dan craned his neck around them and waited. Nothing. They seemed to be alone. Dan slowly turned the corner to get a better glimpse of the room.
BANG! Crack!
A lone bullet smashed into one of the boxes inches from Jessica’s head. She jumped away from it, pulling Kyle to the ground with her. With the suddenness of the move, her shotgun dropped to the ground. Kyle frantically tried to get a grip on his own rifle and get to his feet. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Dan moving swiftly back toward them.
BANG! Crack!
Another bullet hit a crate, startling them. Dan stopped in his tracks, Uzi gripped firmly in his hands.
“Don’t try anything!” came the voice. “Those were warnings.”
Kyle slowly turned around, still on his knees. At the other end of the corridor, standing over the bodies of Dan’s failed assailants, was the man in the Armani suit.
“Lay the gun on the floor and get to your feet! Slowly. Don’t make any sudden moves. Now, Officer Banks. Come out from behind the boxes with your hands over your head.”
Dan didn’t move.
“Hold the gun by it’s barrel and come out from behind the boxes.”
Dan didn’t move.
The man with the Armani suit held his gun firmly in front of him, trained on Kyle and Jessica. “Officer Banks, the lives of your friends lay in your hands. Do the wise thing and come out from behind the boxes.”
Dan didn’t move.
“Officer…”
Dan stirred.
“Banks…”
He crouched.
“I’ll give you until the count of five to come out.”
Dan ran a hand over his face, wiping off the excess sweat.
“Five.”
He wiped his hand on his pants.
“Four.”
He grabbed the gun firmly in both hands.
“Three.”
He looked at Kyle. Winked
“Two.”
Kyle tried to say something. A sickly gurgle erupted from his trembling throat.
“One.”

This is an excerpt from Descent by Steve McAllister. Buy the eBook now!

Kyle held Jessica close as gunfire went off in the back of the warehouse. He hoped that the only shots that were fired were from Dan’s gun, or at least the only shots that hit their target. He had no way of knowing. He waited.
Jessica remained motionless and silent in his arms. Listening. He squeezed her a little tighter, trying to elicit some kind of response. She looked up at him with weary and worried eyes.
“What now?” she asked.
Kyle couldn’t see anything from his vantage point. They were hidden among the boxes along the wall of the warehouse. But as much as they were hidden from those who hunted them, the hunters themselves could not be seen.
“I’m going to try and see what’s going on,” Kyle said while standing slowly to his feet. Kyle peered out of the hiding place. The corridor created by the crates was empty. He looked down to where they had left Dan. Nothing. “Wait here.”
“No way,” Jessica said also standing to her feet.
“Jessica, this is no time to argue.”
“You’re right. So let’s go.”
Giving in to the fact that he could not persuade her to stay put, Kyle led the way to the front of the building. As they reached the end of the stacks, the sound of a creaking door stopped them in their tracks. It reminded Kyle of hundreds of horror movies he had seen in the past, where ghosts, unseen to the human eye, would mysteriously open doors and scare the daylights of the living. But Kyle knew that whoever was opening the door now was far more dangerous that a rampaging specter.
They heard footsteps. Approaching footsteps. Kyle gripped the shotgun in his hands. His palms sweat furiously. He feared that if his hands started to shake too badly he would drop the rifle, rendering them helpless. He quickly wiped his hands on his pants and repositioned them on the gun.
The footsteps continued briefly, then stopped. Kyle and Jessica could hear whispering, but nothing intelligible. The footsteps started again. Coming toward them.
Kyle wanted to run, to flee. He wanted to get out of this position without having to pay the consequences due him. Already this night, he had taken one man’s life. The fact hadn’t really hit him until he was hidden among the boxes and heard the not so distant gunshots. He had taken a man’s life. He had killed someone. He had been defending a friend, but he had killed a man just the same. And now came another. Kyle wanted nothing more than for the man to lay down his gun and surrender, but he knew that it would not be that easy. The man approaching him killed for a living. He would surely kill Kyle, Jessica, and Dan to protect his business.
Kyle held the gun aloft, aimed at the edge of the crates. They waited. The footsteps still came. Closer. He noticed his own breathing was becoming heavy, panicky. The footsteps stopped once again. The last ones he had heard sounded close. Too close.
Kyle exhaled deeply in anticipation. Before all of the air had even been expelled from his lungs, he saw the man emerge from behind the boxes. He was holding a rifle in his hands, one much more powerful than Kyle’s shotgun, and he swung it in their direction as he jumped into their path.
The look on the man’s face changed from a hunter’s assurance to a prey’s shock in the blink of an eye. He stared down the barrel of Kyle’s rifle as a deer stares at headlights.

This is an excerpt from Descent by Steve McAllister. Buy the eBook now!