Cade Foster's Journals: Book One

everything on this site is (c) Chris Brancato, Larry Sugar, Pearson Entertainment, Vidatron Television, and Francis Ford Coppola. i don't own it, so don't hurt me, please! and don't sue me, as i have no money, either...

(since these are from the actual episodes, there's spoilers in here, as i have the ending journal entries, too)

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Quatrain 18, verse 6:

On the seventh dawn of the seventh day
A twice blessed man will roam the fields;
Doomed to shadows with his brethren
Or savior to all who walk the ground.

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~ * ~ * ~

On the run for the past 22 days, borrowed five grand from my uncle Harry, been using cover identities to stay one step ahead of the law. I anonymously contacted the FBI, the CIA, and the Department of Defense about the alien experiment that killed my wife. As expected -- no response. When you're wanted for murder, every move is critical. The wrong choice could be fatal. This is the life of a hunted man; this is my life. I'm Cade Foster.

I used to believe little green men belonged on the supermarket tabloid shelves, next to the latest sightings of Elvis. But now I know different. The aliens are here, and if I'm going to clear myself of this murder charge, I've got to let people know.

I've come to Potomac, Maryland, in search of a man known as Crazy Eddie. He publishes a web page on the internet called the Paranoid Times, a document that seeks to expose the evil conspiracies and dirty little secrets of those who hold power. The masthead on Crazy Eddie's web page says "Believe the Unbelievable." If anyone ever needed a believer, it's me.

~*~

From leagues away shall they arrive
And rain blind terror upon all men
An empty vessel for the soul,
Their wretched beauty sleeps no more
"Century 1, Quatrain 1: Nostradamus believes that the destruction of the earth will come in three waves. The third wave: Armageddon. The second wave: invasion from above." Eddie told me.
"And the first wave is already here," I surmised.
"And if we stop the first wave, we can prevent the others. Says it all right here."
"But does it say how? How does one day have seven dawns, Eddie?"
"Actually every day has 24 dawns, one for each time zone. Nostradamus wrote these in France - exactly seven time zones ahead of Chicago. Chicago's your hometown. He was talking about you."
"Nostradamus is full of crap."
"No, he's not. You're the twice-blessed man."
"Twice-cursed is more like it."

~*~

Journal Entry #1: Gonna seek these bastards out. Wherever something weird is going on, you're gonna find Cade Foster. With the help of my friend Eddie Nambulous, what I find will fill the pages of Paranoid Times. Maybe it will be a road map for others in the months and years ahead, cause we got a long way to go if we're gonna save this earth.

We know they're here; they live beautiful human shells. Maybe our race is too attracted to beauty to be able to spot the evil that lies within. On my bad days, I wonder if the human race is even worth saving. But then I think of Hannah. We can beat them, believe in ourselves... and each other...and we'll kick their asses all up and down the street. As my buddy Eddie says, "Sometimes madmen turn out to be prophets."

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~ * ~ * ~

Quatrain 6, century 8:

Where ivory towers meet the Eastern sea
Young trees of knowledge will fall;
Crushed by the thorny vine of a red rose.

If Crazy Eddie is right, Nostradamus' idea of an ivory tower is here in Boston, Mass. A young Einstein at the National Institute of Applied Mathematics dropped dead with bubbles in his blood, like he's a can of soda someone shook too fast. Word on campus has it he was working on a government project. Now the program needs a boy wonder. Looks like I'm finally going to make it to college. Mom would be proud.

~*~

If a man gives you freedom, it is not freedom. Freedom is something you take for yourself. Ask Lara Korchenko. Or ask me. I learned that lesson today as I left Boston the way I came -- on the run.

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Quatrain 45, century 3:

The trickster seeds the mind with paralyzing terror
Bearing false witness to the bitter truth at hand

I have seen the bitter truth: the aliens are here among us, laying the groundwork for a massive invasion to come. Crazy Eddie believes this Nostradamus quatrain suggests alien interference in a most unlikely place: an abduction therapy group.

Dr. Rita Hagen is a nationally-known expert on alien abductions, thanks to the huge success of her best-selling book. Were the patients at Hagen's clinic really abducted? Is somebody trying to cover up the bitter truth?

~*~

I leave Rock Creek, Colorado, convinced that the false memories planted by Vanessa were a propaganda scheme to discredit those of us who know the truth. That's why I changed Dr. Hagen's letter to encourage others to step forward and be heard.

"Her suicide note is reputed to have said the following: "The aliens are here. They inhabit beautiful human bodies. Pay heed to the bitter truth or it will overwhelm us all."

Dr. Hagen was right when she said memories can either push you forward or hold you back. I carry the memory of Hannah like a soldier carries his rifle into war -- a war most folks don't even know exists, a war that may someday engulf us all.

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May 16, Kalkaska, Michigan: Customers say a beautiful young woman goes from 22 to 102, while doing the shimmy-shake at a local bar. Crazy Eddie tied this intoquatrain 13:

The younger woman shall surmount the old
Before the lusty hearts of many men
The precious drops quench the thirst of time
Before the ugly truth shall take its toll.

Eddie says records indicate that the woman, Margaret Grant, had a nephew in Anchorage, Alaska. Looks like it's time to say goodbye Cade Foster, hello Ben Grant.

~*~

May 19: just left Kalkaska, Michigan: Leonard Wheaton has the fought two great wars of this century: the first against the Nazis at Omaha Beach, June of 1944; the second, perhaps an even more evil force: the aliens who want to make this planet their own.

His bravery has earned him a second chance at life -- and love. I only hope I'll be as lucky.

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~ * ~ * ~

Quatrain 11 century 2:

The star-born one will fly into the hearts of many
With promises of salvation

This Nostradamus prediction has brought me to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where a grass-roots preacher claims extraterrestrial ancestry. If Elton Beleye is an alien, this could be a chance to clear my name, and expose the conspiracy.

Posing as a down-and-out drifter, I'm here to join Elton's cult. Hell, we can all use a little saving.

~*~

The fervent one will fly into the hearts of many
With promises of salvation
But vanity will destroy his purpose
And bring vengence from his own.

~*~

So close, yet so far. The chances of proving my innocence dissolved right along with Elton. But I've learned that the aliens are not immune to the most human of flaws: vanity. Maybe these flaws can be exploited in the battle that lies ahead. One thing's for sure, to put too much faith in any leader is to give up one's power. Leaders are just guideposts. We have to make our own decisions for ourselves. As I continue my journey, I will look not for followers, but believers. It is they who will confront the all-mighty, all-terrible force that lives among us.

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~ * ~ * ~

The trail's grown cold. For three weeks, I've been studying Nostradamus quatrains to lead us to the aliens, but the only lead I found is a newspaper clip about a farm in Indiana. Claims to have a large-mouth bass that breathes on land. Seems to fit with quatrain 32, century 9:

The fish that travels land and sea
Will be cast up on shore by a great wave

Eddie thinks I'm wasting my time, going after a fish, but I can't just sit around, knowing they're here. Time for a fishing expedition.

~*~

The fish that travels land and sea
Will be cast up on shore by a great wave
And pestilence from the sky will drive
Multitudes into the ocean.

~*~

One thing to remember in the war ahead, though the aliens can claim the lives of those we love, they can not claim their spirits. Esther fought for her brother's survival, and she was victorious. Her spirit lives in Cody, and it will live in me.

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Quatrain 42, century 6:

The dark craft shall slay the dragons
Conjured by the humble raven

This Nostradamus quatrain has brought me to Salem, Oregon, where high school senior Diana Black has been charged with multiple first degree murders -- all prominent Salem citizens. Diana claims she's a witch; I'm here to see if her dark powers are of the alien variety. Her attorney needed an investigator, so Eddie created a false set of credentials, and guess who got the job? Time to see what's brewing in ol' Salem.

~*~

In Salem, Massachusetts, the witch trials finally stopped when someone asked if perhaps the accusations were not themselves the agency of the devil. In Salem, Oregon, the force behind the biggest witch trial in 300 years was aliens. Diana should be safe now -- with the potion destroyed, she's no longer a threat to them. But to get rid of these new devils, we may have to draw upon unseen forces within us. Call it religion, call it prayer, of call it witchcraft. Diana was brave enough to plumb the depths of her spiritual powers; maybe that's what we all need to do.

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~ * ~ * ~

I'm on a journey, a journey to find believers. Today I found one where I never dreamed possible. Did Joshua murder my wife? I don't know if I could live with that knowledge, but I might have to find a way, because if I ever hope to win this war, I need someone inside the enemy camp. I need Joshua.

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Quatrain 88, century 9:

Their doom was sealed at the gate
Steel chariots vanish'd in still clear night

What do the first two lines of this Nostradamus quatrain have to do with Ash Grove, Missouri, a small Midwestern town that bills itself at hot rod heaven? Crazy Eddie made the connection. He tapped into an internet chat room to hear a couple of kids discussing the mysterious disappearance of one Jason Coleman, a drag racer and car mechanic.

Does the disappearance of Jason Coleman and his Corvette have an earthly explanation? Or is this another experiment initiated by the aliens who have come to our planet? Gentlemen, start your engines. That's what I'm here to find out.

~*~

Their doom was sealed at the gate
Steel chariots vanish'd in still clear night
Glorious terrain left undefended
'Til the river changes course

~*~

Heading out of Ash Grove, Missouri, where setting suns, baseball games, and hot rods paint the perfect picture of American life. As usual, the aliens covered their tracks, leaving me nothing but a report in the pages of this journal. If even Ash Grove can be home to an alien military experiment, is any place safe? But what happened for Jason and Danny was a silver lining -- maybe Danny learned that respect is something accorded not to what you do, but how you do it.

And maybe I learned not to give up hope. We can all work together, respect each others' skills, no matter what they are. Then maybe I won't have to walk this road alone.

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Corporate executive Elroy Dunn has the psychological community baffled. Tough old goat never had so much as a headache -- now he's locked in a permanent hallucination, ruled by a dominatrix he calls Lady Lumina.

Elroy's predicament may have been foreseen by Nostradamus in quatrain 20, century 4:

The unseen mistress drives her slave mad
In a mansion of many rooms
Where waves ripple within

Closest thing to a mansion near the spot they'd found Elroy is this old inn. Did an alien experiment produce Elroy's delusions? I'm gonna check in, and look for some answers.

~*~

The aliens sought to defeat us by invading the most private corners of the human mind. Perhaps they understood that in our weakest moments, we retreat from reality to the warm comfort of fantasy.

Mary's husband died three years ago, and she just faced the reality that she must let go of him in order to go on living. Let Mary serve as an example to us all. It's time to face reality.

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Quatrain 65, century 10:

The Cheshire breed is spawned
At intertwining battleground
Dominance attained
Without a ship set sail

This Nostradamus quatrain meant nothing to me 'til a young student named Julia Hartman created a human barbecue at the Bradbury Academy in Cheshire, Massachusetts. The problem is trying to investigate a boarding school incident when you're wanted for murder. I needed an air-tight cover. Meet substitute gym teacher and track coach, Cade Ashby.

~*~

If you had the chance to save humanity by condemning one person, could you do it? That was the question I faced with Julia Loomis. I could convince her to go to the reporter from Los Angeles, to tell of the experiment that nearly turned her into a monster, but then I thought of the consequences: her life further destroyed by a curious public, and a government that would probe, study, and confine her.

Poor old Eddie nearly had a nervous breakdown when I told him, but he never met Julia. My decision to destroy the files and to let Julia live her live her life in peace was based on the one thing the aliens forgot: the simple fact that human beings aren't composed of just flesh, blood, and DNA. There's something intangible, something that can't be measured in test tubes, or laboratories. Call it soul, or call it spirit, it's the one edge we have in the battle that lies ahead.

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~ * ~ * ~

After months on the run, a strange thing happens: the life you knew slowly slips away until it finally becomes unreal. You start to think about it like a favorite book, your closest friends turn into characters who will never come to life again. At least, that's what I thought.

Quatrain 32, century 9:

Pillars of light will fall with serpents coiled in their heads
Twelve Lords and Ladies of the Empire
Will be devoured by the Darkness
Or spared by the fruit of golden hue

My wife Hannah's best friend received this year's Pillar of Light Award in New York. If Susan's one of the pillars Nostradamus predicted, then my past and my present are about to collide.

~*~

How did I tell the difference between Susans? The real Susan could never have admitted she loved me -- too much pride. Maybe the same pride that lead her to seek comfort in the arms of the enemy. In their war against humanity, the aliens have discovered something that we've known for centuries: sex can be a weapon.

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Every week, Crazy Eddie posts my journals on the web site Paranoid Times. I need people to know they're here. A few emails have trickled in, but nobody takes me for real, nobody believes. Until now.

Clarksburg, Missouri: Nick Patterson swears he witnessed a double homicide, only one of the victims got up and walked away. Based on what he read in my journals, Nick thinks she's an alien -- the power of self-healing. Maybe she is. Or maybe Nick's just a kid with an overactive imagination. I'm usually guided by Nostradamus quatrains. Today, I'm taking a shot on the word of a teenage boy

~*~

When Jezebel enters the village
Her steps shall shake foundations
With a venomous flower
She breaks chains of steel

~*~

No one believed Nick saw an alien -- not his parents, not the police. As we get older, we stop believing a monsters lives under bed. Thank god Nick believed. If my journals created one believer, it means there will a second, and a third, and one day a chorus demanding to be heard. I live for that day.

In the end, maybe we all could learn a lesson from the neighborhood snoop. You just gotta keep your eyes open -- and believe.

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~ * ~ * ~

I'll never really know the forces at work in bringing me back to Hannah's grave, when every instinct told me it was a stupid thing to do. Maybe it was God's way of allowing me revenge. Is a vengeful God a merciful god? I don't know. Because in the death of Hannah's killer, I feel only a hollow sense of victory.

With the death of Hannah's killer, the force that's driven me these many months no longer exists. In it's place, the harsh reality that I must move. I can't stop. To do so would be suicide.

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~ * ~ * ~

One man seeks a leap to the distant stars
Through a rift on the Northwest Sea
A forbidden love finds
A safe shore, and removes battle lines between foes.

~*~

They say in wartime, truth is so precious that she must always be attended by a bodyguards of lies. Anita knew that to protect her love, her truth, she had to lie. To me, to her race, even to the man she loved.

I lost Anita and James today. But I found something that may be equally valuable -- an ally in the enemy camp.

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~ * ~ * ~

The Paranoid Times web page is set up to warn people of the imminent danger we face from an alien race that has infiltrated this planet. People are starting to take notice.

One email came from a Sheldon Lamont, who says he has pictures of a UFO floating above Columbia, Maryland, just 20 miles outside Washington DC. Matches up withquatrain 34, century 2:

A vision of destruction appears near the throne
And the struggle to reign supreme begins
An approaching storm unchecked
It tests the mettle of all men

That's why I've come, posing as -- Dave Rickman.

~*~

There wasn't a single alien on Remington Street that night -- not Boyd Hackett, not the Lamonts, not even poor John Tran. The aliens took us down with a series of fake broadcasts and a couple of special effects.

In the crucible of battle, we gave away our most dangerous secret -- that we are our own worst enemy.

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~ * ~ * ~

Driven to a desperate act, fighting a war against an enemy nobody sees, or want to believe. I won't keep going alone. I can't.

Quatrain 12, century 5:

Where angels touch grace
One without sight sees the dark enemy
At the right hand of the twice-blessed man
The ally leads him to the summit.

"Where angels touch grace" could be right here at Grace General Hospital in Los Angeles, City of Angels. Somewhere in these walls might be an ally who knows what I do. I need that ally.

~*~

And so I watched my ally walk away. Alikah chose against the destiny Nostradamus predicted for her. Or maybe she didn't. Maybe the summit she helped me climb was my own doubts.

Because I learned something about myself from Alikah: I'm not fighting aliens to clear my name, or avenge my wife's death, not even because Nostradamus predicted it. I'm fighting them because it's who I am. And I won't give up until I win.

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Quatrain 64, century 8:

The slayer flees to the shadow of Olympus
Where mother's tears wash away ties to Rome.

The "Olympus" that Nostradamus foresaw could be Olympia, Washington. That's where Glen Harris, a convicted mass murderer, escaped from police custody three weeks ago.

If Harris is the slayer from the quatrain, then the shadow of Olympia should lie just to the east, a small town called Athlone. That's where I hope a mass murderer will lead me to aliens.

~*~

The slayer flees to the shadow of Olympus
Where mother's tears wash away ties to Rome.
Fear extracts vain sacrifice
Until the raging pyre of the deluge is quenched.

~*~

The people of Athlone were willing to make a sacrifice, but it was wrong sacrifice. It was a sacrifice out of fear. Early civilizations created rituals to calm their fear of the unknown, helpless against the wrath of Mother Nature. Ritual was their way of giving order to an arbitrary world.

For us to survive, for us to avoid sacrificing what makes us human, we must control our fears. Because the sun maybe shining in Athlone, but it's on the calm before the coming storm.

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Quatrain 30, century 4:

Where chariots of iron are forged
Sweet youth cries revolt over a bitter melody

Nostradamus may have been talking about Detroit, the motor city, where a mob of teenagers made headlines when they assaulted two police officers in an underground club. Both cops are in critical condition.

Parents blame a local band called Sonic War for inciting the violence. But if Nostradamus is right with his prediction of alien involvement, this may be about more than rock -n- roll. Guess it's time to face the music.

~*~

Where chariots of iron are forged
Sweet youth cries revolt over a bitter melody
The poison song taints the mind and soul
Spread by air across the land

~*~

In a way, Kat also received her guitar from the devil. The aliens dangled a carrot she couldn't resist -- the lure of success. But Kat learned there are no shortcuts to success. It's a long journey, paved with hardship. I'll remember her lesson as I walk the road ahead.

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Century 5, quatrain 81:

Dusk will become dawn
And the man twice bless'd will be resurrected
The follower will beckon him
To the great war ahead

I had no idea what Nostradamus was talking about, until we got a message on the website from someone claiming to be the alien I know as Joshua. He asked me to meet him in an abandoned lot in Cleveland, Ohio.

I don't trust him. But when an alien agent calls and asks for a meeting, I can't exactly say no.

~*~

I know my place in the world -- I'm the twice-blessed man. I was born, I died, and was born again.

Was sparing my life enough to change future events? Is it possible that what Lizbeth gave to our time was enough to save hers? I don't know. But every action we take today has a consequence on all our tomorrows. With resurrection comes new hope, for the future has yet to be written.

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[Book 1] [Book 2] [Book 3]

These are my Journals...I will stop the First Wave