Reporter Natalie Stillwell was riding in the passenger seat while Joey Hudson, her cameraman, maneuvered the vehicle around the bend in the highway. Gradually their van meandered up the side of the mountain. Finally, the little town of New Bethany came into view. Like many of the small towns in the western area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, New Bethany was surrounded by verdant forest.

They had been warned that the traffic had been very heavy in this region over the last few months. Those rumors had proven to be correct. A long line of cars, trucks and other assorted vehicles moved slowly up the ascent leading to the town.

Until about six months ago the place had been known by a different name. However, when the Reverend Stewart Mosley located a part of his flock here he changed the name to better reflect the nature of his following. At the beginning, Mosley had purchased a single home in the town and moved in some church members with the reported purpose of building a place of worship for his growing congregation.

Within three weeks he had purchased a second and then a third home. A number of other newcomers began appearing on the town streets. All were associated with Mosley’s ministry. They traveled throughout the area in twos and threes. Soon more and more of the properties in the vicinity were being acquired with the help and support of Mosley’s advance team.

These individuals were identified to the local people as Mosley’s Angel Guardians. It was not very long before the townspeople came to understand their real functions. Of course, the protection of the minister was likely their primary responsibility. However, they also had a significant role in approaching the local residents concerning the acquisition of the various homes and business establishments in the community.

The prices that had been paid for the first few pieces of real estate were about the value that the sellers would have expected. Soon the offers involved less and less money for the properties. Simultaneously, the pressures exerted upon the locals to surrender their assets became ever sterner.

There had been gossip about some townsfolk being coerced and intimidated. There were even rumors that some owners had received threats against their lives or the welfare of their families. In truth, some of the people who tried to hold out against the Angel Guardians had shown signs of being subjected to physical attacks. No one would press charges over the matter or even discuss the circumstances with their neighbors.

As houses were taken over, more and more strangers relocated into the recently vacated buildings. By the middle of summer the entire town had become the property of Mosley’s Church of the Grand Crossing.

Complaints had gotten to Richmond about what was happening in New Bethany. The eventual response was that the television station dispatched a reporter, Natalie Stillwell, and a cameraman, Joey Hudson, to find out whether there was anything worth reporting about. Natalie had little in the way of facts to work with. However, there had been rumors; a lot of rumors.

The Reverend Mosley had appeared upon the scene in the area of western Virginia during the early part of 2008. His message seemed to be the regular version of fire and brimstone but salvation and vindication for our side. However, Mosley had introduced a few twists.

For one thing, the reverend was preaching that the end of the world would occur at the winter solstice, December 21, 2012. References to this date had become quite a sideshow since the dawn of the millennium. Some individuals had uncovered the fact that the Maya calendar wheel ended on that particular date. It didn’t seem to matter to anyone that the space on the wheel was entirely filled. The circle was completed and there was no room for any additional days. These individuals coupled their misinformation with a number of other prophecies including those of the Egyptians and supposedly even some insights from Nostradamus. In essence, any source of material that could be distorted to suit their pronouncements was readily grasped upon by the prognosticators.

Of course, predicting the end of the world was nothing really new. It had once been calculated that the end of the world was going to happen in the year 1000. Predictions were unearthed once again to confirm that the end was going to occur in the year 2000. During the early years of the new century, politicians and pseudo-scientists were foretelling the irrevocable changing of the world due to “Global Warming” or “Global Cooling” - depending on the scientist who was speaking - there was some choice in that regard.

The good news is that if the world ends in 2012 nobody really has to worry about “Global Anything.”

There are always individuals who almost lust after world catastrophes. Nobody reports about things going on normally, or “Hey, it looks like we’re all going to be okay.” There is just no interest in that sort of a viewpoint. On the other hand, prophets of doom can always be counted upon to find an audience. Mosley was predicting doom on the grandest of scales and was attracting a significant number of disciples.

There was much more to Mosley than simply the standard sermon about “follow me and be saved.” Mosley had his Angel Guardians and a music minister and hymn writer, Mother DeeDee Dobson. He also had Deacon Jonas Harmon.

Mosley was in his early fifties. He had a full head of graying black hair. He was always attired in a white suit with white shoes, a white shirt and a string necktie.

Mother DeeDee Dobson was a straight-from-a-bottle, flaming redheaded woman in her late forties. Slightly overweight now, she was a retired performer. The Reverend Mosley had converted her and saved her soul, if not her body. It was firmly believed that the flask that was occasionally seen in her opened purse was not filled with altar wine.