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Part 72: Where All Journeys Grow

Chapter 23: Captivity

V2.0 – 10/10/2025

For a long time, Mr. Zaryan considered me in silence. He watched me until I started to become uncomfortable. Aaron stood still as a statue next to me waiting. His guards arrayed around the room didn’t move a muscle. The fans above us whirled sending a gentle breeze down on the room.

Mr. Zaryan tilted his head and let out a breath. With a flick of his hand in the air his guards vanished from sight leaving just the three of us in the large room. He stood from his chair and walked over to Aaron. He leaned close to his face and said, “You can go as well. Prepare Mr. Feldman’s room.” Mr. Zaryan glanced at me then added, “Give him the one down the hall from my family’s suite.”

“Yes sir.” Aaron replied, then bowed, turned, and walked out of the room.

Mr. Zaryan returned to sit in his chair. He clapped his hands and a servant rushed in to give him a glass of red liquid, that looked to be some sort of wine. He took a sip of it and considered me again. He tilted his head as if listening to someone speaking in his ear.

“Caleb, open your eyes.” Mr. Zaryan commanded me.

I was confused for a moment as my eyes were open, then I realized he wasn’t speaking about my natural eyes. I shifted my awareness to the spiritual world around me. It was only then that I became aware of the darkness that filled the room. It was heavy and oppressive. I saw the Dark One standing next to Mr. Zaryan. He was leaning down and whispering in his ear. I couldn’t hear his words, but I could hear the sound of the familiar singing. The Dark One stood up and casually leaned against one of the walls near Mr. Zaryan’s chair. He watched me with amusement.

I turned my spiritual awareness around the room and saw hundreds of the Dark One’s minions lining the room, the walls, and hanging about the ceiling. They looked like spiders with wings. None of them made a noise. They watched me with hatred but kept their distance.

My guardian angels stood next to me on either side wielding their swords. The light that spilled from their beings formed a circle around where I stood. Their wings were poised for a fight, but they didn’t move. They stood silently watching and waiting.

“You see them don’t you.” Mr. Zaryan observed, “My friend and his subjects.”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t need to. It hadn’t been a question.

Mr. Zaryan and the Dark One laughed in unison. It was a terrifying thing to behold. I had never seen anyone so controlled by the Dark One before. This place was evil, this place was dark, and yet somehow I was right where God wanted me to be.

“I’m not alone.” I said aloud. My words echoed through the room.

Mr. Zaryan and the Dark One spoke simultaneously, “Oh, I see that all too well, and yet here you are. Trapped. You belong to me now. It took some planning, but my patience paid off. I hear you’re on a journey to Meribah, to the mountain, in Israel, to climb to its peak to be shown where all journeys end. Well… lucky for you, your journey ends here.”

The Dark One stood up from the wall and walked towards me. He glided across the ground, not quite walking nor flying but something in between. His body moved like a snake. Mr. Zaryan stood and took a few steps toward me. The two of them seemed to become as one as they stood in front of me.

“Do you remember the rich man with the nice car that I sent to you along the road?” The Dark One sang the question as Mr. Zaryan asked it.

I did. The man had stopped and offered me a ride to his mansion and all the luxuries that would afford me.

“He was mine.” They said, their voices overlapping and making an eerie sound to my physical and spiritual ears. Then they said, “But no, you were too humble to take him up on his offer, weren’t you. No matter. All I had to do was wait. And when I attacked the car you were in and ran it off the road by killing that poor man with a simple heart attack, you had to survive that didn’t you?”

Tears stung my eyes as I remembered the family that had given me the ride and lost their lives for it. I wiped the tears away remembering what Jesus had told me.

They circled me as I stood there. Mr. Zaryan walked casually overlaid with the Dark One gliding within him. They didn’t enter the circle of light spilling from my guardian angels.

“Oh, I realized then that I couldn’t kill you, no, but I could find a way to keep you from reaching your destination.” They said, “So, I led you right to my dear friend Darren. You remember Darren right? He was so kind to find you work aboard a ship. I knew that I could keep trying to waylay you, but that would only ever be a temporary fix to my problem. You gave it all away, you had nothing to turn back for, so you’d keep going and going until you reached your destination.”

I put the pieces together in my mind. Wasn’t it God who led me here? I felt the chinks forming in my faith. I was trapped here. My life before was gone. What was God going to do now? I turned my attention back to Mr. Zaryan and watched as he took his seat again. The Dark One stood next to his chair but kept a hand resting on his shoulder.

“So, what does one do when he can’t stop you from moving closer to your goal?” The Dark One asked with a shrug.

I stood still.

“That’s when I realized what would work well. You see, I had been going about it all wrong. I was trying to stop you when I needed to become part of the solution to your problem. Barriers weren’t working. Bribes had no effect. So… I laid a trap for you to fall into.” They let out a hideous laugh that echoed through the room, then said in unison, “And you fell right into it, quite literally. You Christians with your ‘faith’. Always keeping your eyes on Jesus. Always trusting His plan. Right. Into. My. Trap. Right off the boat you flew. Right into the path of my dear friend Osiris. Right into his hands. Then.. oh, then… you were in reach. And now you’re here. You’re mine. You’ll never reach the mountain nor climb up to Meribah. You’ll never accomplish whatever holy purpose Jesus might have had for you there. Your race, my dearest Andrew, or should I say Caleb, ends right here.”

My mind reeled. I could see it all so clearly now. But God had been with me. God had led me forward. I reminded myself that the Dark One never spoke truth. He only spoke lies. I knew he fogged the truth with his lies, but I couldn’t leave. There was nowhere to run. I closed my eyes and reached up for God. He was there as He always was. He was with me. I took strength from Him. I knew He had a plan to get me to the mountain, somehow, even though it looked impossible now.

“Did you think me wanting you to be an Israeli national was God’s plan for you? Ha. I did that so that you’d be trapped here. You see, Israelis are hated in this land. If you even think of escaping you’ll be captured and returned to me. I’ve notified the authorities here that you belong to me. I’ve given them your photograph. If found outside my company you are going to be arrested and returned to me. And, since everyone in this country is on my payroll, they’ll do what I tell them to do.” He said, then asked, “Do you understand, Mr. Feldman?”

I nodded.

“Anyway, Mr. Feldman.” Mr. Zaryan said after a moment. “Let’s get on with it. I have other things to attend to.”

The tone of his voice pulled my attention back to the natural world around me. My perception of the spiritual realm faded as I focused on the man sitting in the chair in front of me. He was my owner now, whatever that meant. I had a feeling it wouldn’t take me long to find out.

Mr. Zaryan took a sip from his wine and sat it back on the small table next to him. “You’re going to be here for the rest of your life, so I’m going to make sure that you understand your role here. Best accept it. Get used to it. Try to enjoy it.” He said with a wide wave of his hand.

He considering me up and down, then said, “You’ve got a long way to go and lots to learn if you’re going to be of any use to me.”

He snapped his fingers and the guards returned to their places standing around the room. I was amazed at his control of his people. Aaron entered the room from behind me and walked to stand beside me once again.

“Aaron take this man to Jason. Start his training tomorrow. I want him fluent in Arabic, Hebrew, and Egyptian. I want him also trained in weapons, finance, and covert ops.” Mr. Zaryan commanded Aaron.

Aaron took his phone out and typed away as he listened to his instructions regarding me.

Mr. Zaryan continued, “I want him taught how to cook and do mechanical work on the vehicles. Keep him too busy to think, too busy to pray, too busy to do anything other than learn.” He paused for a moment thinking and I knew that the Dark One was whispering in his ear, then he added with a smile, “Go to town. Find him someone to be his… maid. You know what I mean. Not an Egyptian, no, someone from Europe. Yes, that will work. Someone that speaks English. Someone who can take care of him.”

Aaron finished typing his instructions and waited for more.

“That’s all. Go now.” Mr. Zaryan said with a flip of his wrist.

Aaron bowed to him and led me from the room by the arm. I had a feeling my life was about to get very complicated.

“God, help me.” I prayed silently and felt God acknowledge the prayer.

Aaron led me through the compound and into a large room that looked like a university classroom. In the corner of the room stood a man clothed in a suit and tie writing numbers on the large chalkboard in front of him. He looked like an American. His skin was white, and his hair was blond. He turned to us as we entered. I saw his eyes were blue as we approached him.

“This is Caleb Feldman,” Aaron told the man, “He’s yours now. I’ve emailed you the details of the training Mr. Zaryan wants of him. I’m going to town for a while, I’ll be back later this evening to check up on him.”

The man smiled at me, nodded to Aaron, and said, “Sounds good.”

Aaron nodded to the man and left the room quickly.

The man pulled his phone from his suit pocket and scrolled around on it. Then he looked up at me and said, “I’m Jason. Apparently I’m going to be your instructor now. Looks like you’ve got your work cut out for you.”

“You’re American?” I asked him.

“I am. From Philly. Went to Yale. Studied languages and foreign cultures. Got obtained by Mr. Zaryan almost twelve years ago while on a dig site near the pyramids. Long story. Terrible ending. Now I’m here. I train his new… pets.” He replied.

He walked over to a large desk situated in the front of the classroom and motioned for me to take the seat in front of it. I walked to the wooden chair and sat down. He continued, “I’ve been instructed to teach you languages and finance. Probably other things as well.” He considered me for a moment, then asked, “You speak any languages? Go to college?”

“I speak Spanish, and I have B.S. in Accounting from Colorado State.” I replied.

He nodded to my answer and wrote something down on a pad in front of him. “I’m going to do my research on you this evening. I’ll know you in and out by tomorrow. Mr. Zaryan has forwarded me everything they’ve dug up on you.”

“Mr. Zaryan seems to know everything.” I said.

Jason nodded, pushing his glasses further up on his nose. He smiled and said, “Mr. Zaryan is more connected than anyone I’ve ever heard of in my life. This place is what I call a ‘prison of comfort’. There isn’t any escape. He’s wiped us from existence. Now we only exist here in his world. You’ll come to like it well enough. Give it time.”

I nodded to that. I had no idea what God had planned for me here, but I knew that this couldn’t just be the Dark One’s final victory. I listened as Jason told me of how he had been captured, his identity wiped away, and his new life here shaped over the years in Mr. Zaryan’s service. Would that be me? How long would God leave me here as a prisoner? There were stories in the Bible about God’s people being thrown in jail for their faith, even killed, but I had no examples of whatever this was that I now found myself in.

Jason abruptly stood and said, “Let me show you around.”

I followed him out into the compound, my new home.

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