Thomas Hunter is a man torn between parallel realities, each teetering on the brink of disaster. Every time he falls asleep in one reality, he wakes in the other: one where he must race to outwit terrorists intent on releasing an unstoppable virus and the other, far into the future, where a forbidden love could forever destroy the Circle's ragtag resistance. Dive into the mesmerizing world of Ted Dekker's The Circle Series with the first novel— Black. Thomas Hunter narrowly escapes mysterious assailants only to encounter a silent bullet that clips his head . . . and his world goes black. He awakens in an alternate reality and soon finds himself pulled between two worlds. In one, Thomas is an average guy working in a coffeehouse. In the other, he's a battle-scarred general leading a band of warriors known as the Circle. Every time Thomas closes his eyes, he awakes in a different reality, where he must thwart a looming pandemic in one and confront forbidden love in another. Thomas can bridge both worlds, but he quickly realizes that he may not be able to save either. In this mind-bending adventure of suspense, thriller, and fantasy, the fate of both worlds now rests on his ability to shift realities through his dreams—and somehow find a way to change history. Ted Dekker excels in crafting a narrative rich with allegorical depth and spiritual introspection, making The Circle Series a profound exploration of faith, redemption, and the human spirit. Experience the novel that started it all with Black and join the Circle with the rest of the series: Book 1: Black - Book 2: Red - Book 3: White - Book 4: Green BLACK THE BIRTH OF EVIL By TED DEKKER Thomas Nelson Copyright © 2004 Ted Dekker All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-59554-730-9 Chapter One One Day Earlier THE WATER cascaded over Thomas Hunter's head and ran down his face like a warm glove. It was just that, water, but it washed away all his concern and anxiety and set his mind free for a few minuets. He'd been here a while, lost in a distant world that hung on the edge of his mind without any detail or meaning. Just escape. Pure escape, the closest he ever got to heaven these days. A fist pounded the door. "Thomas! I'm outta here. You're going to be late." A mental image of a much older Kara flashed through his mind. She was graying, perhaps in her fifties, and she was asking him to take her with him. Just that: "Take me with you, Thomas." And then the image was gone. He blinked under streams of water, suddenly disoriented. How long had he been here? For the briefest moment he was at a loss as to how he'd even gotten here. Then it all came crashing in on him. He was in the shower. It was late morning. His shift at Java Hut started at noon. Right? Yes, of course. He shook the water from his head. "Okay." Then added, "See you tonight." But Kara was probably already out the door, headed to her shift at the hospital. The thing about his sister: she might only be in her early twenties like him, but what she lacked in age, she more than made up for in maturity. Not that he was irresponsible, but he hadn't made the transition from life on the streets in Manila to life in the States quite as smoothly as Kara. He stepped out of the shower and wiped the steamed mirror with his forearm. He ran both hands through his wet hair and examined his face as best he could with streaks of water clinging to the glass. Not bad. Not bad, chicks dug a little stubble, right? He'd lost some of his edge over the last couple years in New York, but Denver would be different. The troubles with loan sharks and shady import partners were behind him now. Soon as he got back on his feet, he would reenter society and find a way to excel at something. In the meantime, there was the coffee shop he worked at, and there was the apartment, gratis, thanks to Kara. He dressed quickly, grabbed a day-old sugar donut on his way out and headed up Ninth, then through the alley to Colfax, where the boutique coffee shop better known as Java Hut waited. The Rockies stood against a blue sky, just visible between high-rise apartments as he made his way up the street. Mother was still in New York, where she'd settled in after the divorce. It had been a tough road, but she was set now. Indeed, the world was set. He just had to put some time in, regroup, and let life come to him as it always had, with fistfuls of dollars and a woman who could appreciate the finer things in life. Like him. Okay, only in his dreams at the moment, but things were looking up. Maybe he'd finally get back to one of those novels he'd written when his dream of conquering the publishing world was alive and well. Thomas entered the coffee shop two minutes past noon and let the door slam shut behind him. "Hey, Thomas." The new dark-haired hire, Edith, smiled and gave him a wink. Okay ... interesting. Pretty enough. But being a magnet for trouble, Thomas didn't make a habit of flirting with