Dimensions of Genesis (29 page)

“Deep thoughts?”

“Mmm...yes.” he responded, “An old, human
habit of mine.”

She laughed, her voice tinkling like
bells.

“Evangeline?” he started, turning onto his
side to face her.

“Yes?” her lavender eyes glimmered with the
bewitchment of the silver moonlight.

“Do...higher beings...kiss?” David asked with
his confidence unfaltering.

Her lovely cheeks blushed lightly as the
corners of her lips arched into a smile.

“Yes.” she answered, her voice a light
whisper.

Bringing himself to a sitting position, he
asked her as he reached out and caressed her hand. “May I?”

Looking into each other’s eyes, both leaned
in to greet the kiss.

As their lips touched, both began to glow
feverishly. The energy exchange between them was powerful, yet soft
and natural. David felt an electrical energy surge from his head
down to his toes. A sensation of light passed through his soul.

After the kiss, they moved away from one
another slowly, still gazing into each other’s eyes.

Smiling at one another for what seemed like
eternity, their ethereal courtship came to an abrupt halt. A sudden
sensation of dread overcame David, and apparently Evangeline as
well. A dense veil of fear swept across the hills of Heaven,
everyone, including David, felt it wash through their soul. It was
as though Heaven itself had shuddered like an earthquake within the
dimension.

“What was that?” David asked, startled.

Fear shadowed Evangeline's eyes as she spoke,
“It is time.”

Judgment Day

The cave smelled of old water and wet rock.
Droplets of moisture could be heard dripping somewhere in the
darkness. Gideon lit several candles perched upon protruding rock
ledges, giving the cave an eerie hue. The flame flickered, courtesy
of the howling wind outside, creating a panoramic fire dance upon
the walls.

Lily shivered as she sat on a wooden bench
shoved in one corner of the cave. Gideon paced slowly, his hands
clasped behind his backing; waiting.

“What...is going on?” Lily asked, trembling
from both the dankness of the cave and the fear welling in her
soul.

“Hmmm...?” Gideon responded as though Lily
had disrupted his thoughts, “Ah, yes, well, we are waiting for
Judges to call on you.”

Swallowing hard as she remembered her
horrifying dream, she repeated, “Judges?”

A sly smile pulled at the corners of his
mouth as he sauntered towards her. “Yes Lily, you have sinned, have
you not?” His English accent, so eloquent, yet accusing.

Frowning, she thought back to her life,
internally debating whether she'd done anything to deserve being
punished for.

“Ah ha, well, let us refresh your memory,
shall we?” He started, “Did you, or did you not tempt a priest out
of priesthood?”

Lowering her head, Lily nodded, protesting in
a quiet voice, “I didn't mean to.”

“Oh! Well, that makes all the difference,
doesn't it?” His voice sarcastic and cruel.

“Well, while we're on the subject. Did you or
did you not have premarital sex with the priest in question?”

“Yes.” Lily admitted as tears of shame glided
down her face.

“Did you or did you not,” the volume of his
voice increasing, “conceive a child, a bastard child, out of
wedlock!!”

Cringing at his words, she nodded
reluctantly.

Gideon strode quickly up to Lily, took her
face in his hand and sharply pulled up her chin to force her eyes
to his.

“Now seriously, princess, where in the bible
does it condone that behaviour? Hmm?” Gideon asked calmly, “Did you
really think that your crimes would go unpunished? Did you think
God was just 'joking' when he gave you the rules?! You didn't
really think you were exempt, did you?” His voice echoed harshly
throughout the cave.

Sobbing, Lily now understood. It was clear;
she had to accept the consequences of her actions.

A dark shadow appeared at the mouth of the
cave, cloaked in a black shroud.

“It is time.” His baritone voice
announced.

“Well, then, let's get this done with. Shall
we?” Gideon said, his voice now chipper as he once again offered
Lily to take his arm.

Walking out of the cave, like the last mile
of death row, Lily entered into the blistering heat of the desert
sun. She and Gideon marched slowly toward a gathering in the centre
of the valley. The rocky cliffs snarled in the hot summer sky.

As they approached, Lily noticed the ground
change from red to black in the distance, forming a huge circle. It
resembled an enormous oil slick, coating the red sand like pitch
molasses. Narrowing her eyes in effort to focus on the patch of
darkness, she then saw that whatever was upon the ground—was
moving.

Lily gasped as they arrived at the outer rim
of the black ring. Hundreds—thousands—of shadow serpents slithered
upon the ground.

The crowd of shadows parted like the Red Sea
as Gideon led Lily through. The gathering taunted and laughed at
her while Gideon paraded her past, a cocky grin upon his face.

With a sea of snakes ahead of her and the
shadows closing the gap behind her, Lily knew she was trapped.

Even though she knew her and Gideon were not
friends, she clutched at his arm in terror. Ahead, she could
distinguish a familiar sight, the Judges' metallic bench. The Court
of Shadows that had stalked her dreams and terrorized her being
when she was alive, now loomed ahead of her.

High upon the metallic bench, in the centre
of the writhing mass of shadows, the six cowled Judges once again
looked down upon her.

“Bow!” Gideon roared at her as he let go of
her arm and pushed her down by her neck. Landing hard on her knees,
Lily began sobbing uncontrollably.

The crowd surrounding her laughed maniacally
the harder she cried. They seemed to get a sick pleasure from her
unhappiness.

“Lily Donovan!” The Judges voices boomed like
thunder, “You have committed offences against the word of our Lord,
how do you plead?”

Her head hung, she whispered without
resistance, “Guilty.”

A roar burst throughout the crowd, cheering
for her decision.

“For crimes committed, your punishment is to
sacrifice one of the humans involved in the crime.” Their combined
voices formed an audible hiss when the spoke, “You must choose. The
sinful priest or the bastard child. Choose!!” The Judges bellowed
at her.

Glancing up from her yielded position, she
anticipated seeing the images of Gabe and Hope shimmering onto the
Judges' metallic bench. Instead, to her horror, her eyes focused on
Gabe and Hope being shoved in front her—in person.

“No!” Lily cried out when she saw them
manhandled cruelly. God no! I can’t choose...to watch one die!

~

“Michael...” David said the angel's name
nervously as they descended in the tunnel, leading them into the
Sahara desert.

“It's okay David, just remember what you’ve
learned and above all...have faith in yourself.”

Closing his eyes, David tried to centre
himself as he prepared his heart and soul for the biggest challenge
of his life. His thoughts flashed back to the days when he was an
intern, to his first time in the emergency room.

The hustle and bustle, the blood and the
crying, his emotions were overwhelmed, yet it was exciting. His
adrenaline was pumping and his mind sharp as a tack. Running back
and forth from a three person car accident to a woman crowning her
baby's head, he loved the fast-paced stimulation. But above all,
beyond the thrill, was compassion. The inner desire that never let
David quit until that last patient was helped. The love that he
felt for a perfect stranger, the need for them to survive and to
hold their loved ones one more time, fulfilled his soul's
purpose—to heal.

“Let's do this.” David said aloud.

Approaching the mouth of the tunnel, David
asked. “Why are they in the Sahara desert?”

“From what we can tell, they want her to
believe she is in Hell. The more believable they make the facade
look; the easier it will be for the dark energies to convince her
she is damned.”

Michael's head then abruptly turned toward
the reaches of space, “It's almost here David, the Wave of Genesis
will arrive in moments. You must hurry.”

Nerves fluttered in his stomach as he
prepared to leave the safety of the tunnel. It was then David
paused and looked at his friend, “Thank you, Michael...for
everything.”

“See you soon, my friend.” The Archangel
stated as he ushered David over the threshold.

I sure hope so. David thought, exiting the
tunnel.

David made his way down the side of a steep
cliff. Again he was surprised at the level of fatigue he felt while
in Earth's dimension.

Settling himself behind a rocky bluff, he
peered into the valley to witness a sight he couldn't believe.

Kneeling before the Council of Shadows, David
could hear the ghost girl weeping. Her head bowed shamefully, he
cringed as deep, ominous voices commanded her, “Choose!”

Held captive before her were a man and a
girl, presumably the ones she loved most while she was alive. Again
they ordered her to choose, “Who is to live...and who is to
die?”

This is how the dark beings have always
dominated their prey, David empathized with the girl; they inspire
guilt and fear, and then feast upon the wounded spirit.

Watching cautiously from his vantage point
high in the mountains, David crouched, hidden far from the glaring
eyes of the beasts. The girl’s agonized cries reverberated off the
steep walls of the mountains as she struggled with the impossible
decision to end the life of one to spare the other.

Fear swept through David as he watched masses
of shadow serpents slither at her feet like a sea of black leeches.
Each beast snarled and salivated with cruel intention, undoubtedly
hoping for the order to devour her.

She's the one. He lowered his eyes as
hopelessness eclipsed his heart; she is the soul we need to save
this world.

He yearned to rush to her, into the valley of
death, to spare her this sorrow. There’s just too many of them.
Hundreds...maybe thousands. If only she would remember who she
really is. He thought nostalgically as he recalled the moment of
his own awakening.

Raising his eyes to the heavens, his bore
witness to the very sight he'd been dreading.

It's here, we're too late.

Defeated, David watched as the Wave poured
into Earth's atmosphere, enshrouding the sky with darkness. Though
beautiful, he knew it carried the power to consume an entire
dimension. Earth's dimension.

Lifting the Veil

Hope was crying as she clutched Mr. Binx
tightly. Gabe squinted as his awareness came back to him. He could
tell he was somewhere very hot and dry, though he had no
recollection how he got there. Shaking his head, he called out to
Hope, only a few feet from him, “Honey, it's okay, Daddy's
here.”

He yearned to go to her, to hold and protect
his daughter, to tell her everything was okay. But he couldn't, his
feet were held like a vice attached him to the ground. Hope, too,
appeared to be stuck.

What is going on? He thought, bewildered.
This was like something out of a nightmare. Am I dreaming?

The blistering wind whipped at his face as he
surveyed his surroundings. The desert, this is a desert. How did we
get here?

Looking at the ground, at the red earth, he
was certain he'd seen movement. Shielding his eyes from the glare
of the sun, he focused his sight on the ground. For just a split
second, he saw something vaguely familiar—shadows. Like the shadow
he'd seen around the girl's neck at the exorcism, he now saw them
slithering upon the ground. Only now, there appeared to be far more
of them.

His heart began pounding from the surge of
adrenaline pumping through him. Something...evil is going on here.
He thought, alarmed as he noticed a large, dark cloud emerging in
the distant sky. The clouds rolled in quickly, supernaturally so.
Thunder and lightning soon raged overhead as the dark cloud settled
over the valley.

The closer the cloud got, the easier he could
see the snakes, writhing on the floor of the hot valley. Amidst the
smothering mass of shadows, he could see a glimpse of white,
something peeking out from within the darkness.

A girl, in a white dress.

Gabe put his head in his hands and squeezed.
I've lost my mind! I'm seeing hallucinations!

“Daddy?” Hope screamed. “Snakes!”

“Hope!” Gabe yelled as he pulled on his legs
in attempts to get to her.

Wait. She sees them too. Maybe I'm not
crazy!

The storm raged angrily overhead, but Gabe
noticed the clouds appeared to be moving downwards. Billowing
clouds of grey, purple and black were descending onto their
location. Now, just above the peaks of the jagged mountains
surrounding them, the storm threatened to engulf them.

With the strange storm now so close, the
scene that lay before Gabe became crystal clear. Whatever this
cloud was, it appeared to be blending the normal with the
paranormal. More than that, it opened his mind. He could remember
things from childhood, long forgotten memories trapped in the
recesses of his mind. The enchantment of imagination, the
wonderment of life and the belief in magic that only dwelt within
the minds of the innocent.

The most important thing he remembered was
the angel that helped him bring Lily back to life—and what she said
to him. The words the angel spoke sang in his mind like an
enchanted melody.

As his eyes focused on the ghostly girl in
the white dress, he gasped.

“Lily!”

The Chosen One

The wind blew the dry sand into her mouth.
She rolled the grit around her tongue, appreciating the ability to
taste again. It had been years since she'd experienced taste, well,
since she’d left her body.