by Joshua Laack
Chapter 34
Their destination was surrounded by a thick and wall that was about twenty feet tall. The corners of the wall had video cameras on them, watching for any sign of disturbance. They pulled up to the only gate in the wall, at least in what Andrew saw of it. The gate itself was also impressive. It was huge and solid metal. Unlike a lot of massive gates, it was just a plain giant slab. There were no holes in it and no decorations upon its surface. He was amazed at the thought of a hinge system strong enough to hold and move a gate that heavy. It had to be several thousand pounds.
There was a little drive, about the length of five of the jeeps, in front of the gate. At the end of the drive, a little back from the gate, was a post with a metal box on the top of it. The driver stopped the jeep with his window right by the box and stuck his hand out, pressing a small button on the front. It reminded Andrew of those parking garage boxes that scan an identification card and then the gate automatically opens. The driver muttered something in Aramaic. The huge gate swung inward, silent as a thief in the night, and they drove through.
The courtyard in front of the main building contained a stone fountain that was dry. The fountain was a simple one, just a three layered ring, one set right above the next. Water would have shot up in a spray above the top one and then filtered down over the edges of the rings, back to the bottom. Around the fountain was a circular stone driveway made up of thousands of palm sized stones, each cut to fit with those around them and set in by hand. By the weathered look of the stones, it had been done centuries ago. The driver parked the jeep in front of the main doors and both men climbed out. Johari and Andrew followed them, and then waited a moment for the other immortals to park their vehicle and join the group.
Up close, the outside of the huge building looked ancient. The stone showed signs of wear and repairs that weren't common on the newer stone buildings in the city. The windows on the front and the main door didn't look ancient though. Both looked almost brand new, as in the last few years or so. The door looked like a custom made, solid steel design, double door and the windows were tinted to keep the bright sun out of the building.
As they were ushered into the interior of the building, Andrew discovered that the inside was even more expensive looking than the outside. It also seemed newer, but that could just have been because of the lack of weather related wear that the outside of buildings are subjected to. The floors, walls and ceilings were all made of solid blocks of black marble or a similar polished stone. The ceilings were about ten feet high in the entryway and the halls that disappeared in several different directions. Andrew marveled at the complex architectural arches and stonework that kept the massive ceiling pieces from falling down on his head. He wondered if that weight would be enough to damage him.
The air was cooler on the inside than the outside, although temperature differences didn't seem to affect him all that much anymore so it didn't make any difference, it was just something that he noticed. From the inside, it was even more obvious that the windows were all tinted a shade designed to keep the ever present sunlight in the region from causing too much of a distraction inside the building. It wasn't necessary since his eyes could focus even in the sun, but it was more comfortable not to have it so bright.
They walked for a short time into the building, away from the outside walls and in the general direction of the center, or so it seemed. A minute or two later, they came to a stop in front of a tall set of double doors. They were about nine feet high and six feet across in total. The wood was stained a dark color to match the stone on the floors and walls. Andrew didn't recognize the type of wood that they were carved out of, but whatever it was, the doors looked solid and heavy, like everything else in this place. One of the Blood tapped on the door.
A moment later, the doors swung inward and eight Blood, in identical black robes that draped almost to the floor with hoods that fell forward far enough to cover their faces in shadow, floated out of the doors with hands folded before them. They looked like strange monks of some sort of dark religious order and maybe that is what they were in a sense. They floated until there were four arranged in a square around Johari and another four around Andrew. The original four companions vanished into the room and the great doors silently swung shut behind them.
The image from Andrew's dream while he was still human floated into his head. Today was not going to go well. He wasn't sure about the point of the guards. Maybe it was simply for show. Or maybe they were trying to humiliate the two who had come before them today. Either way, they sure weren't going to get a reaction out of him until he understood the situation better. Johari seemed to be of a similar mind since she did not react more than to display her displeasure at the whole situation by the tight set of her face.
A gong sounded in the room and the eight immortals floated forward, pushing the doors open ahead of themselves. Johari and Andrew had no choice but to walk with them or else be pushed into the room against their will. Andrew shivered as they entered the room. The doom he had known in the dream settled over him. The room was exactly the same as the dream had shown, tall ceilings, the pillars, the table and the poor electric lighting.
The table was empty at the moment, but in Andrew's mind, he could see the faces of the four that would fill it. Somehow, he had seen the future in the dreams he had that night. Before, he would have laughed at the craziness of that. But dying and coming back as an immortal had changed how he looked at the possible and impossible.
They stopped right where he had been standing in his dream and the gong sounded once again. A small door to the left and back of the table opened and the four figures, two male and two female filed out. They took their respective seats, just as Andrew had known they would.