by Caleb Adams
“Come,” the Angels then said, “and before thee see the New Jerusalem.” Of falsehood, I now speak not. For the night suddenly became day. Not as the darkness does by a slow retreat back to its grave, but by time faster than the blink of an eye. Standing now, we were atop the Qubbat al-Sakhrah. One Angel was pointing west toward the Mediterranean Sea, and also to the north in the direction of Galilee. The other Angel was pointing to Eilat in the south and to the River Jordan in the east. And at the sight I marveled, for the masses were all prostrating in our direction, with faces to the earth and palms to the heavens. And just as I was about to speak, the Angels said, “Quiet say we and watch as the one you saveth becomes its queen.”
Not a moment after, the earth shook, and I watched as the al-Aqsa mosque fell to ruins. And out of the ruins came a lion with a crown in its teeth. And the lion walked to the one who was born in our tunnels, and she took the crown and placed it upon her head. The Angels then spoke again, “Alleluia, salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God. It is accomplished. Go ye and tell them. The Lord wishes them in His house. A dinner has been prepared at His table, and all shall be seated.”
They were astonished and amazed. It was evident from their faces that they believed every word he had said. He paused long, looked over his flock as if he was a searchlight, and then spoke again.
Verily, I say unto you, from vines grown by crystal springs of living water, fruit picked by heaven’s shepherds, and must from the crushing of pulp and skin underneath feet of anointed children, the Angels have given us wine to celebrate the coronation of the deliverer. So come forward now, in columns of two, and ye shall be given a cup where when all have received, all shall drink.
Footsteps slow and tongues silent, we obeyed and walked toward the twins, who from the ammunition boxes ladled out liquid into cups that were handed to us. When we had all returned to our seats, he raised his cup, signed the cross, and drank first. The little girl with the ram’s horn fell first, and though I wanted to run to her, I knew it was too late. Some stood, twisted and convulsed. Others just fell forward into the mess of their own vomit. It was quick. It was final. Minutes, I suppose. Probably less. Lambs to their deaths, a mass murder. Of all that we were, now we were no more.
I swear to you. Of his intentions, I was not privy. Then ask you why I did not drink when the others did. This question I am unable to answer, to either you or myself. Certainly, I would not have wanted to live if I knew all others were to perish. For now, in the day I sleep, and at night I wander the tunnels. It is as if I am on the earth alone. And yes, while I could summon the General or even walk into his house if I so wish, a part of me does believe that great horrors will soon befall all those that dwell there. So, I have decided to remain. And while the Caliphate will surely also discover our tunnels, I know of many hiding places. And once they have seen all of the dead laid out in the assembly area, I have faith they will search only once and then no longer.
A Child is Born
добре чи невдача
Y ou either have good luck or you have bad luck. There is no in between. But contrary to what people believe, it does not run in families, where generation after generation is either blessed or diseased. Rather, good luck and bad luck choose the ones they want. This I know for fact. This I give to you an example. When I was twelve, my bedroom was moved next to guest room. This turned out to be bad luck. For my uncle who came to stay with us six months later, he ended up staying in guest room. For him, this turned out to be good luck, as every night when rest of family sleep, he have short walk to his niece.
My luck continued the same when two years later I was taken to a doctor to remove child put inside of me. My father told me to shut my mouth. He said he would provide answers to everything. This was in back of pharmacy in Chernivtsi, some 500 kilometers from city of Kyiv. I was on folding table with legs spread out and my feet up on stacked boxes. I was given 5 pills, which put me in a daze. But not enough of a daze where I could not see the doctor. The same bottle of vodka he use to take a drink was same bottle he use to sterilize his hands. I bleed on way home. I bleed for next two weeks. And I bleed until they finally take my uterus away.
I never say a word to my father after this. It was not a long period of silence. His liver fail him two years later. At age of twenty-three, I graduate with degree in architecture, but there are no jobs for me. Finally, fourteen years later, I win lottery and get to come to United States to city of Mies van der Rohe. I feel new again. I feel like as if everything before had been washed away. One week following the drones came. As I say, you either have good luck or you have bad luck. There is no in between.
дівчина
When the young man who delivered the girl to me left, I took hold of her and gave her big hug. I was warm, warm from her holding on to me. Her skin was very cool though. It was strange. Very strange. Since being in the tunnels, I have had the body of many men and soldiers up against me, and none were warm like this.
She had long hair to her waist. And it was black, black as Chernozem fields of where I came from. Her hands she had folded as if she was praying. And through her fingers, she had a black rosary, and she also had prayer beads of olive wood. They were so tangled together I could not tell which hand held which god. She did not even look sixteen. There are many things I wanted to ask her, but first I needed to get her free.
The chain around her ankles was wrapped three times and secured in front by a padlock. I pulled on it a few times. It did not release. This I am sure. So, I left her for a moment and went over to my makeup bag. I was thinking maybe I could set her free with perhaps a hairpin or maybe tweezers. When I returned, her chain was on floor like snake. She must have had the key all of the time. But why, why did she keep herself in chains. I did not ask. I had other things to say.
“What is your name?”
“I cannot seem to remember,” she say.
“Do someone strike you in head?”
“I do not believe so.”
“Do you know how this get into you?” I say after reaching out hand and putting it on her belly.
“You of all people should ask.”
I find reply amusing and give her little smile.
“Do man who bring you here tell you I was whore?”
She shake her head. If I take her at her word, I have to assume she came to conclusion by dress I was wearing. My room certainly do not advertise my occupation.
“Child in you probably do in month,” I say. “Any plans on what you going to do with it when it start sticking head out?”
“Give it to God.”
“Which one?” I say.
“Do you think it matters?”
“Yes, I do think it matter. Right now we have one who seem to be on warpath, and other who seem to be on vacation. So, at moment, neither seem to be good choice.”
“I need to rest. May I stay here for the night?”
“Of course. You stay here as long as you like.”
“They told me you would say that.”
“And who are they?” I say.
“Those who keep me safe.”
I said no more to her that night.
Голоси
My lies I swear on my father’s grave. My truths I swear on my mother’s. Only my grandmother was ever able to figure that out. So on my mother’s grave, I will tell I began to believe the girl is not crazy at all. First, it was the candles. Down here they are not so easy to get. One week of work credits for two. The girl seemed to find comfort in them. So I see they are coming close to being over. I said to her that maybe we should put them out in order to save them. She said to me to just let them burn. I did so. Now two weeks later and the candles still burn as if they do not even need wax to burn.
The candles being strange are not only thing though. It is about this time the voices come. I checked the walls and I checked the ceiling. I am thinking some crack opened up to some shaft, and this is why we hear voices. I did n
ot find a thing. So I spoke to the girl.
“Do you hear these voices?”
“Yes.”
“I wonder of language. I have never hear of it before.”
“It’s Sumerian.”
“How do you know?” I say.
“I am not sure.”
“And you understand it?”
“Yes.”
“And what they say?”
“They are saying a lot. But mostly they are arguing over the soul of the child within me. Those on the left say it belongs to their God. Those on the right say they are lying beasts and it is their God who has dominion.”
“Why you? Why are you pick as mother?”
“I am not the mother. I am nothing but the deliverer. But to which God I still do not know.”
“You are liar!” I scream at her.
After this, she gave me a bad look and brought her head up to have a look at the ceiling. Now we no longer have flames on candles and we are in darkness like I never knew darkness.
“Speak in the whore’s own tongue,” she then say.
I lifted my hand, and I was going to give her a slap when the talking got louder as if they were right by my ear. I fell to the ground like I am a building which has just gone to the ground. But still in my ear voices are yelling things in my own language and they are saying things even I cannot say to anyone. This I swear on my mother’s grave.
Дитина народилася
The water of girl never broke. She did not even have contractions. She just awoke from sleeping, stood up, and told me the time is here. I also did not see any pain on her face. I said to her to lay back down and move apart her legs. This she did not do. She stayed standing and said this must be the way. I heated some water and brought her towels.
I got to my knees in front of her. The flames of the candles started bending like as if there was heavy wind, but there was no heavy wind. The talking in the room started to get louder, but this time like there are voices on one side of room and also voices on the other side of the room. On one side, the voices seemed like they were celebrating. On the other side, the voices seemed like they were angry. She then took both my hands and put them where the baby was to come out. She is probably 10 centimeters dilated now. I said for her to keep pushing, but she said it was not necessary. And then the baby girl came out. There was no placenta and there was no umbilical cord. So, I looked up at her to ask how this was possible. She did not say anything to me, but looked up at ceiling and lifted her arms and then she screamed. The girl she then left and did not return for three days. In those three days, my breasts became full as if I was the mother. This I also swear on my mother’s grave.
Розп'яття
I removed the baby’s mouth from my nipple right after the general’s translator left our room. It was well fed and now asleep, and so I set it down in weapon’s case he had brought us before the birth. I then walked over to the girl with a candle so I could have a better look at crucifix he just put around her neck. It was unusual, quite unusual. Not only because it looked to be thousand years old. But also because it was a locket. Whoever see such thing? I was hesitant at first, but I needed to touch it. Maybe I was hoping if I did touch it, it could also keep me safe like I assumed it was there to keep her safe.
“It will not protect you,” she say, her eyes opening sudden like as if she is some doll just shaken. I am in surprise and I almost fall back.
“Do you know it going to be put around your neck tonight?”
“Like you, I only knew they had stopped arguing.”
“Why is it not put around baby?”
“Because death does not know her name,” she say.
“And so what, so what of all of this? What do any of it mean?”
“It means the other God will be angry. It means there is not much time.”
“Until they find us?” I say.
“Yes. He will send them now.”
She then took hold of the crucifix and squeezed it. When she unravel fingers, I could see on her palm the likeness of it had been burned.
I did not want to believe what I had just seen. But of all the things that I have seen and heard, this was the least strange. This was the one that made the most sense.
Вони приходять за нею
I awoke with a rushing of air through my nostrils as if like I am a racehorse. A hand was covering my mouth, and something hard was pressing into my head. He gave me a few seconds to understand what was happening, and then he removed his hand from my mouth and placed a finger on his lips. When I nodded and gave him a look to say I was not going to say anything, he slid fingers to the back of my neck and pulled me up with a hard grip of my hair.
The other man in the room had already awoken the girl. She was standing with her back to the wall, and the point of a knife was not more than 30 centimeters away. The flames of the candles in the room were now much higher, as if they also had been awoken. Neither man seemed to notice the strangeness of this.
“Take off dress,” the man with knife say to girl.
The girl seem to have no objection to command and reach down with both hands to take hold of the bottom. I say something just as she begin to lift it up.
“I will do what you want,” I say to him.
“And why would I trade a young whore for an old whore?”
“Because when you are done with old whore, at least you will still have life left in you.”
I know I shall have give to him better explanation. I am sure he think it is me who is threatening him. After he come over and give me punch in face, he turn back to girl. She is waiting for him standing there wearing nothing but crucifix around her neck. He then starting masturbating to bring himself to erection. The girl stare at him like as if it is very first time she have ever seen man perform this act. She then place her eyes on me. Maybe she want me to look away. I do not know.
I think it must have been very painful. But the man with the knife did not even scream, even as we all watched his flesh being cut like as if someone else was in the room and cutting it with machete. The other man did also not do much better. Not long after he came over to stare down at the death of his friend, we saw his body jerk forward and then his back arch. Something must have gone through him because we watched him cup his stomach with his palms, and then we saw blood starting to come out from his stomach. The candles were going crazy at this point, dancing all over like they are happy at dying men. And then we heard the sound of wings, like one would hear same sound when someone throw rock up to tree with lots of birds and then they all fly away together.
I looked over to girl. The dress had come back on her body. I never saw her put it back on like I had never seen her take it off. She then just like that go back to sleep, like as if no men had ever come to our room. So, I then dragged the bodies out of the room and brought them to the room next to us. As anyone else would have done, I wondered why both men did not scream. It kept me awake for a long time until I finally went back to room. I only saw one mouth. I did not need reason to open the other mouth and confirm that it too was missing tongue.
Погані мрії
I do not think I have said this but after the girl came, I also move my business to room next to where I sleep. It cost me dearly. But what other choice did I have. I could not lay with men in same room as girl. It would not be appropriate. So, last night I am with soldier and we hear a scream. Soldier above me do not roll off. I do not blame him. He paid and why should he care. We hear screams all the time, and always we hear crying. Noises in tunnels we like. Noises mean people still breathing. It only when we do not hear noises we get worried. It mean people are dead, or it mean we are dead.
I let him finish. Then after, I went to her as I am thinking that maybe it was her though it did not sound like her. She was sleeping, but looking like she was having terrible dream. She was not sweating though. When I dream like this back in Chernivtsi, I remember I awake with body wet and sheets wet. I
did not want to wake her at first. But after taking her pulse and finding it to be going too fast, I decided to wake her anyway. She opened her mouth and took in a big breath like as if she has been under earth and I had just dug her out.
“There there, my zaychyk, it is only dream,” I say to her.
“It was not.”
“Okay,” I say to her. “It is not only dream. Tell me of it if you like.”
“While you were in the other room, two angels came. They helped me to my feet, and we began walking through the tunnels.”
“Do these angels have wings?”
“Angels do not have wings. They have golden armor. They have silver hands like scythes. Bronze feet with four spears pretending to be toes. Tongues as asps do. But wings. No, they do not have wings.”
“I am sorry then. I have never seen one. Please, you go on.”
“After a while, we finally came to a stop. I looked at both of them to question why. It was then that the angel on my left pointed for me to look forth. And when I did, I saw a priest.”
“And this bring you to alarm?”
“Yes, because there I saw that he was being hanged on one of the pipes by his lavender stole.”
“Do you see who is hanging him?”
“Yes. It was another priest.”
“Do you see face?” She shake head. And I have another question for her, as anyone else would have another question for her. “Is this first time you seen angels?”
“No. They have come before and have shown me other things. Terrible things.”
“How more terrible from what we already see?”