All The Pretty Dead Girls Read Online Free PDF

ultimately the end game of all Christian theology—when the faithful are carried off to Heaven for their just reward. So, why do most Christians fear the Rapture?
    There has long been a rumor that several chapters of the Book of Revelation were removed and hidden away by the early Church. These chapters were not written in the mysterious language of prophecy, and very clearly explain who and what the Antichrist will be. They outline in stark specificity the exact conditions of the world that will lead to the rise of this leader. These are what have been termed the “lost revelations.”
    It is believed by some that if these prophecies were ever made public, they would shake the very foundations, not only of the Church, but of Western civilization itself. Some scholars believe these expunged chapters of Revelation are locked away in the most secure vault in the Vatican and, like other prophecies, can be accessed by only the Pope himself when he succeeds to the throne of St. Peter. It is even said sometimes that St. Peter himself decreed that these dangerous prophecies regarding the end times be suppressed.
    Ginny Marshall closed the document. Now it wasn’t just her hands that were shaking. Her heart was pounding, and the electricity in the house was beginning to flicker on and off.
    It must be the rainstorm, she told herself.
    It can’t be anything else.

Three Months Earlier

4
    “Damn it!”
    Sue Barlow swore as she drove right past the exit for Lebanon. She stabbed at the brakes, but it was too late.
    I’ll have to turn around at the next exit and come back, she thought, annoyed with herself for missing it. But they should have it better marked.
    The sun was shining bright that day, and the trees on either side of the highway were a vibrant green. But it was upstate New York after all, and here and there Sue had spotted a few patches of pinkish gold, evidence of autumn’s impatience to put an end to summer’s run. She’d missed the exit for Lebanon, in fact, because she’d been admiring the rolling hills of trees as far as the eye could see. She’d also been speeding, she realized now. She’d come around that last curve at nearly eighty-five miles per hour, humming along with the CD of The Magic Flute .
    Now she could make out another exit ramp about a mile down the highway. With a quick shake of her head and a rueful laugh at her stupidity, Sue pressed the gas pedal down harder and the car picked up speed. She reached the second off-ramp in the blink of an eye, and a joyful giggle erupted from her throat. Speeding up the incline, she made sure no cars were coming in either direction before she coasted through the stop sign at the top. She shot across the bridge and headed back down the ramp in the other direction, rocketing back onto the highway.
    I love this car, Sue thought again as the speedometer reached eighty with an amazing ease.
    The brand-new white Lexus two-door was a graduation gift from her grandparents. They’d surprised her with it that very morning as she got ready to leave for her first day of college. They’d taken her down to the parking garage beneath their building and there it sat, gleaming.
    “You’ll need a car up there anyway,” her grandmother told her, seeming to try to rationalize their extravagance, her soft Southern accent still pronounced despite years of vocal coaching. “And this way, we don’t have to worry about you taking trains, or sending Radcliffe up to get you for holidays.”
    Radcliffe was their driver. He routinely carried Sue’s grandparents to every occasion, big and small, in the austere black Lincoln town car parked in the spot next to the Lexus.
    “Thank you, thank you!” Sue exclaimed, giving both her grandmother and grandfather giant hugs before running over to the car and slipping inside. It was love at first sight. She’d always wanted her own car, even though she didn’t really need one in Manhattan—the traffic was always horrendous and she’d