Blood Royal

by Evan Ansot

  Granted, his life had been unusual—two remarkable spiritual experiences, the hand of God, and a near-death experience, which gave him new vision, and six years in the navy, so he was lucky enough to see a good portion of this world. A lot more than most people had.

  Yet here was the kicker—no wife and no kids. No legacy to leave behind. Who would he leave his house to? His property and dogs? He supposed there were his sisters, but he rarely saw them, and they didn’t live that close to him. Eddie was quite the loner; much less drama that way. Also being the loner, his friends could be counted on one hand.

  Being comfortable in his own skin, he didn’t mind being alone. A little companionship every now and then but nothing worthwhile. Many a woman were stood up on second dates with Eddie; he just didn’t feel like pursuing them further.

  Then this woman came along and out go all his plans of peace and relaxation. Kiss that long-awaited and deserved contentment good-bye, buddy! he mused.

  Elizabeth seemed to know him without him having to tell her, which was a major plus. She could see right through him, and she didn’t seem to mind what she saw in his being. Eddie’s attitude didn’t repulse her in any circumstances as it did others.

  For the first time in a very long time, Eddie was falling in love. And not just with Elizabeth, but her twin daughters as well.They just grew on him in so many magnificent ways. Calling him “Daddy” just melted his heart; they swore that he was their real father, yet he couldn’t make sense of that. He thought how it was possible for him to be Jessica and Joan’s biological father yet never had met nor had sex with Elizabeth, who also lived on the other side of the planet. How can all this be?

  The twins claimed that for years, they saw Eddie in their dreams. Years. That they had seen, heard, and smelt him. It boggled both Eddie and Elizabeth’s minds. Yet their blood type had not matched their supposed father James or Elizabeth’s but matched Eddie’s only. That neither Elizabeth nor James had certain vaccinations such as the DPT, but Eddie had and this had also been shown with the twins.

  And then this latest revelation: that Eddie was the apostle Philip in his past life, and that he had this ability to cast out demons. This one seemed the most mind blowing of all. That according to the twins, there was a part of him that was a bright light that would annihilate and exterminate demons.

  He did some research in the scriptures and the Gnostic texts and found that Jesus had given the twelve apostles the ability to cast away demons, heal the sick, make the lame walk, and in a few circumstances, raise the dead. That it is some kind of supernatural power given to them through the power of the Holy Spirit. All they had to do was use the name of Jesus, and whatever was asked in his name would be granted.

  The demons, with all their powers and advanced technology, were no match for this power of the Holy Spirit. The gates of hell couldn’t stand against it.

  Eddie, like a lot of other people, knew of the trinity— the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and that all three were different aspects of God. He then remembered back in 1986 when he was touched by that hand. That feeling that I had for three days must have truly been the Holy Spirit! Maybe it still lives within me? And that is how I have this unique gift of destroying demons? It all made sense yet still difficult to believe. But Eddie deemed this was not impossible, so he kept researching further into this apostle named Philip.

  His world the last few months had definitely taken a turn. So much for that peace and tranquility that I had so longed for the last few years and hello to adventures filled with saints and giant lizard men.

  Chosen. The word echoed in his mind from the mouth of Francis. What does it all mean? Chosen for what? And by whom?

  September 27, 2014

  Bedford, Texas

  During the last couple months, Elizabeth had convinced

  Eddie to come and see the twins and her in Australia. It took this confirmed bachelor a while before he realized there isn’t anyone else in the world for him but her.Therefore, the passport was issued for him, the electronic travel authority, which is a ninety-day, short-term visitor visa that lasts for up to a year by the government of Australia, was also issued.

  The flight was booked through the airlines to travel from Grand Rapids to Dallas to Sydney. The entire trip with layovers was to take about twenty-two hours.

  The twins were counting the days down until they could finally see their daddy.They started at thirty days, and by the time they were down to one, they were beyond anticipation in seeing their long-awaited father.

  All was well through Grand Rapids. The attendant took his passport number, his ETA, and his plane ticket that cost him two thousand one-way. She scanned all of them, and everything looked fine. The baggage was checked in and tagged to go all the way to Sydney and the boarding passes issued. So he boarded the plane and off to Dallas he went.

  Dallas was where he ran into trouble. Eddie knew something was wrong when the attendant had to scan the passport number twice and asked for his ETA number three times. She then got on the phone and called her superiors. A nice-looking manager showed up and went through the same process the attendant went through.

  “Sir, I’m going to have you to ask to step off to the side for the others until we get your ETA straightened out,” the manager spoke in a rather snobbish voice.

  “What the hell is wrong?” asked Eddie. “Your ETA appears to be invalid,” she replied. Customer service wasn’t her strong suit.

  “I’ve got a copy of the damn thing right here. It says it is good until the twenty-first of August of next year,” said Eddie. He was beginning to lose patience with these idiots. Elizabeth and I had just spent the last month making sure this was all straightened out before we purchased the plane ticket. And now this lady is telling me there is a problem with my visa? What the hell?

  “Please, just stand aside.”

  So he grabbed his bags and watched the circus that was developing in front of him. Complete with three rings, it had an attendant, a manager, and now, another big shot with a suit. All were on their phones. None of them looked like they had a clue.

  Eddie got on his own phone and called Elizabeth. “These jackasses down here seem to have my ETA mixed up,” he told her.

  “That’s not possible, I got it here from the migration attorneys, and they said everything is fine,” she responded. Elizabeth was biting her nails thinking, What the hell is this all about? He should be on his way in about a half hour, and they have him stood up in Dallas?

  “I’m not sure what is going on. I’ll call you back when they get this figured out.” Then Eddie hung up the phone.

  “Sir, can you come here?” said the attendant. “It shows you not having an ETA. I tried to run you a new one, and it wouldn’t issue one.”This attendant had seen better nights than this one. This system was always screwing up, and now here she had another annoyance in front of her.

  “I’ve got one right here,” said Eddie, and he showed her his copy of his visa.

  “I know, sir, and I tried that number, and it says it doesn’t exist,” replied the attendant. This is truly going to be a long shift, she thought to herself.

  “Well then, why did they issue this, and what the hell am I supposed to do now?” he asked.

  The manager walked over to him and handed him a piece of paper and said, “Here is the phone number for the Australian embassy in Washington, DC. You are to call them Monday morning, and then they can tell you what is wrong with your ETA.”

  “Monday morning! It’s Saturday night, for god’s sakes!” said Eddie with a bit of attitude to his tone.

  “That’s what I was told to tell you, sir,” and then she moved on to her next crisis.

  “If I can solve this Monday, can I get a reissued ticket?” asked Eddie.

  “Yes, sir, I’ll see to it personally,” she responded.

  “Thank you,” said Eddie; he then picked up his bags to look for a taxi to a hotel in Dallas on a Saturday night.

  After stopping
at a dozen hotels, finding them full, and running up a fifty-dollar cab bill, he finally found a hotel in the suburb of Bedford. He later found out why all the hotels were full: the Cowboys were playing the Saints on Sunday Night Football. Therefore, half of Texas and half of neighboring Louisiana were there for the game. He then called to update Elizabeth on the latest happenings and nodded off to bed at two in the morning.

  On Monday morning, he was finally able to reach the embassy. They told him that his ETA had expired, that they had no idea why since it had just been issued in August, and that they would get back to him, but that he was free to try Australian Immigration and gave him the number in Canberra, Australia.

  On Monday afternoon he reached Australian Immigration who told him that his ETA was perfectly fine, and they had no idea why the airline had denied him his flight. Eddie was then instructed to go to the same terminal and have the airline reissue a ticket.

  On Monday evening Eddie was standing at the same terminal having the same conversation with the same attendant who was telling him the same old thing. “There is no ETA, sir.”

  “But Australian Immigration in Canberra said it was fine,” pleaded Eddie.

  “I’m sorry, sir, it doesn’t show you having one.”

  No luck Saturday night, none Monday night either, so Eddie booked himself into the same room he’d had for the last two days, followed by another update call to Elizabeth, and another two-in-the-morning sleep time. As the great Yogi Berra had said, “It’s like Déjà vu, all over again.”

  On Tuesday morning, he was back on the phone to Australian Immigration in Canberra who told him nothing except that his ETA was listed as fine and if he wanted to, he could check it on the Internet and then gave him the website for this. He then checked it and showed there was nothing wrong with it.

  Elizabeth then called him and told him that he should call Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection. He told her that he had talked to them twice already, in which she replied that this was different than Australian Immigration. Well, there’s socialism for you, a department of immigration and border protection is different than Australian Immigration. Two different departments doing the same thing. Jesus Christ, talk about inefficiency. No wonder my paperwork is a mess. And why do they call it border protection? Have they noticed that they don’t border any countries? It’s not like they have a hundred million Mexicans trying to get into their country the way it is here, Eddie wondered.

  After spending an hour on the phone with Immigration and Border Protection, they told him that he needed to call back the Australian embassy in Washington, DC, precisely where he started on Monday.

  Finally, on Tuesday afternoon, he called the embassy in Washington who told him that his ETA had been cancelled on the twenty-fifth, two days prior to his scheduled travel day.

  “Well, why didn’t they e-mail me that information? That could have saved me a hell of a lot of trouble. Here I am in Texas because you guys couldn’t e-mail me that!” Eddie was beyond pissed off at this point. He’d had enough of the Australian government for one lifetime.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” was all the official could say.

  Yeah, I am sorry too, Eddie thought, I’m sorry that your sorry ass is currently in my country. “Can they tell me why?” he asked.

  “I can send you the e-mail of the cancellation,” the official said.

  “You’re a few days late but go ahead,” said Eddie. “Why did the ETA go through in Grand Rapids if the ETA was already cancelled?”

  “I don’t know, sir,” said the official rather weakly.

  “Something is fishy here, and I intend to get to the bottom of it. Good-bye.” No wonder their population is less than the state of California. They don’t allow anyone in.

  Eddie retrieved his e-mail and read the cancellation. It was stated that the reason for cancellation was that Eddie had a substantial criminal record including 12 months of incarceration. Well, that’s wrong. I had a few drunken drivings that gave me a total of five months behind bars but not a year! Maybe they are counting the probation period as well? Seems someone didn’t want me into Australia, he thought.

  The next phone call he made to Elizabeth wasn’t pleasant at all. She and her daughters had been counting the days to see him, and now her government had denied him entry. He fought with the airline for two weeks, but they wouldn’t issue a refund because they were willing to reissue the ticket. So much for customer service. Guess I can kiss that two thousand dollars good-bye. If the immigration authority would have e-mailed me that my ETA had been canceled, I would have gladly canceled my ticket and then got a refund, but because they didn’t, there goes that money. Needless to say, Eddie’s opinion of the Australian government wasn’t quite up to par.

  He caught a flight back to Grand Rapids the next day and instead of sulking over the whole situation, decided to do what he has been wanting to do for the last ten years. Eddie Dudley decided to write a book.

  It would be a spiritual book about his spiritual experiences complete with the hand of God, the near-death experience, and his new revelations about the possibility of him being the apostle Philip and the ability he has to cast away demons. He had spent half his life searching for the answers to his questions regarding the spiritual experiences he had experienced. He felt he needed to share some of that information.

  Once he got started, he was on a roll. It took him all of the twenty-seven days to finish a fifty-thousand-word manuscript. The words just seemed to flow out of him in a never-ending tidal wave at the urging of the spirit.

  He then sent his manuscript out to twenty different publishers who specialized in spiritual books, hoping for the best. Little did he know that the spirit would be aiding him in getting his book published.

  October 28, 2014

  Grand Rapids, Michigan

  After Eddie returned from the fiasco in Texas, he and

  Elizabeth decided the next best thing was for the twins and her to fly to Michigan. The tickets, passports, and visas were booked, this time, without a hitch. And the three touched down in Grand Rapids on the night of October 28, 2014.

  “Finally, I get to see you three in the flesh!”he exclaimed. “Daddy!” the twins hollered as they ran to him while the entire airport watched the scene, some with tears coming from their eyes at the sight of the girls’ happiness.

  Elizabeth and the twins gave him a huge hug, and all were excited to be united. For the twins, their long nineyear wait of meeting their father was over. The dreams they had of him but never knowing where he was at was finally over. Jessica and Joan had spent many nights praying for his whereabouts, and now finally, their prayers had been answered.

  Tears ran down the twins’ cheeks at his first kiss to them. Joan could only whisper, “Finally I’m with my Daddy,” while he picked her up and held her tightly, giving them bear hugs that only a father can give to his daughters.

  Eddie proceeded to give them teddy bears as gifts for the girls and roses for Elizabeth. The ride back to Bald Eagle Bluffs was filled with smiles, laughter, and singing. The two-and-a-half-hour drive seemed like ten minutes. Jessica kept touching her daddy to make sure he was real. He’d look back and see her smile that wonderful smile of hers.

  Upon arriving to Eddie’s cabin in Bald Eagle Bluffs, the dogs immediately took to the twins. Curling at the foot of their beds at night for protection, they sensed these girls were special, and they would do their duty. Eddie thought to himself that his dogs never take to anyone instantly such as this. It was as if the angels of heaven were having the dogs watch over the twins, which was true.

  Once the twins were put to bed, Elizabeth settled in for some Italian Lambrusco wine, and Eddie with a diet soft drink. After an hour of chitchat, they snuggled into their own bed and made love for the first time in their lives. It was a special experience, two soul mates reuniting after a life time of separation.

  The four of them would spend the next two-and-a-half months together in Michig
an. To Elizabeth, the four of them represented a complete family. They went to the movies together, went out to dinner, and took long walks with the dogs escorting them. The nature and scenery of his property was breathtaking. She had never seen anything more beautiful or felt such completeness in her life. The mere touch of his hand had sent shivers through her being from the time they first touched down at the airport until the time they lifted off in January.

  Halloween was not celebrated in Australia; therefore, Eddie thought it was imperative to have the twins dress up and go trick or treating in Manistee. That was quite the experience for the girls, to say the least. Pumpkins were carved and candles lit inside them, which stood on the porch of the cabin for a couple days. Massive amounts of candy were eaten.

  Thanksgiving was celebrated with just the four of them. They had much to give thanks for but, mostly, their time spent together. They held hands at the table, and Joan led them all in the Lord’s Prayer. Once this was finished, Eddie carved the turkey, and they all proceeded to stuff themselves.

  It was the first time the Australians had ever seen snow. After the first storm of the season, snowmen and snow forts were built, snow angels were made, and snowball fights had. Memories were made that will last a lifetime.

  Elizabeth’s camera captured memories nonstop. She must have taken a thousand pictures of Eddie with the twins. Her favorite was one of the three of them standing next to the snowman they had built, which the twins named Frosty. For many nights later, she would break out the pictures and study them. Look at their faces, how the girls match his in every way. Their noses, chins, and cheeks all the same. Eye and hair color match perfectly, she mused. She had no idea how it had been done, but she knew deep down that Eddie was their biological father. Whether he knows it or not, this is indeed an extremely special man in every sense.

  Eddie led them all in cutting down their first Christmas tree together—a beautiful scotch pine—that they all decorated together with ornaments and tinsel.