JACK BATSON AND THE HOLY GRAIL

by Georgekutty Adappur

  “Say good bye and see you in hell.” James barked, and his voice echoed in the room.

  “I will do whatever you say. Please leave me alone.” I begged again.

  “O.K. agreed. But, if you are not willing to obey me, one of the bullets in my gun will give you an answer. Then, come with me…”

  There was no way to escape from his hands, so I obeyed. He untied the knots and set me free. I followed him and we went downstairs.

  “Follow me.” He again ordered.

  We came out from the house and he locked the door. We walked towards his car and got into it. This is how my journey started with James and now we have reached in front of the high priest’s house.

  CHAPTER- 12

  THE FALSE PROPHET AND THE TRUE PROPHET

  We got out from the car and James pressed the calling bell. Meanwhile I was studying the house and its surroundings. It was a two-storied gigantic mansion. They had a swimming pool in the courtyard. I could see some people standing here and there holding modern guns. All of them were in black robes.

  When they saw James, they bend their heads down as though seeing their commander-in -chief. Suddenly, I could see six black Great Danes were running towards me. The dogs barked and rushed towards me as though to swallow me alive. I jerked with fear, stepped back and James came forward for my rescue. Otherwise I would have died on the spot.

  James showed his left hand towards them and all of a sudden those beasts stopped. The dogs knelt on the ground, bent down their heads in front of him and wagged their tails. Those terrible beasts licked his shoes and didn’t move from that position for a while. All these strange things perplexed me, and I expected to see and experience some mysteries inside that house.

  I heard someone’s footsteps behind the main door. Somebody moved the latches and with a creaking sound the door flung open. I saw a pretty woman in black frock standing in front of us. When she saw James, she also bowed her head towards him to show respect.

  “The High Priest is waiting for you.” She said.

  “We struggled a bit to find this place.” James said like a reply.

  She led us through a spiral corridor which had no end! I had never seen such a spiral corridor, because all the houses I ever visited had only straight corridors. Finally, we reached a large dining hall. It was very difficult to see the room clearly with the six tiny black candle lights burning upon the dining table.

  “Sit here!” James commanded me by showing a chair beside the table.

  I sat on the chair and James moved further taking one of the burning candles in his hand. He moved slowly and vanished in the darkness. When he disappeared, another beautiful woman with a black-candle light approached me and asked me in a strange voice:

  “Are you the friend of the priest? You…the unfaithful creature…Satan will punish you.”

  When I heard this curse from that woman I was shocked, but I ventured to reply:

  “I think you misunderstood me! I am not the person you mean. I am Miller, a friend of James.”

  “That is what I meant. You are the friend of the honourable priest James, but you are wrong. Why don’t you worship Satan? If you trust in him, he would give you the power and wealth in this world. He will give you every worldly pleasure if you follow him.”

  “I am an atheist. I believe neither in God nor in Satan. I don’t believe that God and Satan exist in this world. It is just a superstition. In fact my parents are also victims of this superstition. I really feel pity for them.”

  “Who told you these stupid things fool? God and Satan exist, but God is less powerful than Satan. Satan is the creator of everything, he created God too. But God disagreed to obey him. So Satan send Him down to earth and He took birth as a man named Jesus Christ. But, he didn’t give respect to Satan. So Jesus Christ suffered a lot and died on the Cross.”

  “Stupid woman, stop your nonsense. Even if I am an atheist, I won’t believe your false story. My parents are strong believers in Jesus Christ. They taught me, Jesus Christ is the real God. He incarnated into the earth to save all the souls from their sins. He died on the Cross by dropping even the last drop of His blood and punished your stupid Satan through His crucifixion and conquered death through His resurrection. Then how you dare to utter such foolishness. Satan is an evil and liar, even if it is a story or reality. So, don’t talk such nonsense anymore.” I said.

  “You are thoroughly mistaken Miller. As I told you, you are a super fool. But, I warn you, if you are not giving Satan the due respect, you won’t see the next morning.”

  She said hoarsely revealing her anger towards me, as though I have said something wrong. Meanwhile, a terrible smile appeared on her face and I could see two sharp fangs in her mouth. That view froze my blood and I knew that my life was in danger.

  “Juno, bring him here!” She commanded looking into the darkness.

  She put the candle harshly upon the table and clapped her hands. I could hear the rattling of chains and wailing of a man from the darkness. The clinking of the chains approached me more closely. Two men rushed into the room carrying big black-candles in their hands. The light from those huge candles was enough for me to see the room very vividly.

  I could see someone following them behind. It was a stout man with a well-built body. His big round cruel eyes seemed like two electric bulbs. I looked at his face and a kind of hatred was spread over his face. As I looked at him, the feeling of terror almost stopped my heartbeat. Suddenly, a wind blew between us and strong smell of blood filled the room. I cursed myself the time I met James, and the decision to follow him here.

  When I watched that giant beastly man, I noticed that he was carrying a heavy chain in his right hand. He was dragging that on the floor, and it was that noise I heard. Yet, I couldn’t find out who the wailing man was.

  Then I saw a terrible scene with my own eyes. There emerged a man on the floor from the darkness, who was severely injured from head to toe, like a crawling lizard. The other end of the chain was held by the beastly man and fastened around that injured man’s neck. His whole body was bleeding. I understood that the beast man was dragging him through the floor. The wounded man had worn a rugged brown cassock with a hood. His waist was girded with a white rope. His body and cassock were completely soaked in the blood. He had an overgrown beard and a thick moustache that also were wetted in blood. His eyes were sunken in the eye socket and he was tired to the core, yet his face was shining like an Angel. I heard the whispering on his lips that made me to honour his braveness:

  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us, forgive my sins and forgive these people who torture me!”

  He was an amazing young man, approximately in the middle of his thirties. Suddenly, from his cassock I realized that he was a Capuchin priest, the spiritual son of St. Francis of Assisi. I had heard about St. Francis of Assisi from my religious parents. He was the son of a rich merchant but gave up all worldly pleasures for Jesus Christ. I don’t like religion and religious studies, so I don’t care about the stories of the saints.

  My parents used to go to the church every day, because they were traditional orthodox Catholics. I used to go with them when I was a child, but not regularly like them. I was staying in a boarding school until I was a fifth-year student and gradually I lost my faith in God.

  When I went home for holidays, my parents told me to go with them for attending Holy Mass. Even though they were religious, they never insisted me to go with them. They gave me enough freedom to do what I wished, because I was their lone child. Until I reached high school, I was close to my parents. During those days in order to make them happy, sometimes I joined them in the prayer hall when they recited the Rosary. Sometimes, I tried to pray “Our Father in Heaven” and “Hail Mary”.

  When I reached high school, I met with a beautiful girl, Kate. She was very bubbly and loved me very much. I also loved her. She was a staunch atheist and her parents too. She told me, God and Satan don’t exist in this world. Her influence made me a
non-believer.

  When I realized that the severely wounded man was a priest, I started laughing within. If it was an ordinary human being I would have felt sympathy for him. But it is a Catholic priest. I felt angry towards him, because it is the clergy who lead the believers through the falsehood of God’s existence.

  They teach that God is Our Father, so we can call him Father. Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins and those who believe in him will have eternal life. Holy Spirit will help us to lead a sinless life to reach in Heaven. God allows sufferings in our life for our purification, to make us saints. Jesus Christ gave us the Holy Spirit, to help us in our every need of life. If you are anointed by the Holy Spirit, you will get the power to tackle temptation and fight against the evil spirits. All these teachings of the Catholic church and its clergy still irritate me.

  “Do you see this man? He is Fr. Damian, a Capuchin friar.” The beastly man told me and continued:

  “He told us, he is one of the humble servants of the Lord. Whenever we beat him he said, he already forgave us in the name of his Lord Jesus Christ. How stupid he is!”

  When I heard this, I was really shocked and amazed about the power of forgiveness. How a man could forgive his enemy. It is a strange thing for me. If I were in his place, I would have killed my enemy. Even if I am helpless to do something under this cruel torture, at least I would have cursed him in my heart. But this priest, I don’t know who gave him such a strong will power and tolerance, to forgive his enemies when they brutally torture him. When I was pondering about this, that priest smiled at me and started to speak, as though he understood what was going through my mind:

  “Dear brother Miller, why are you thinking doubtfully about this? Jesus blessed me to become a martyr, so I am very happy to undergo these sufferings patiently. Now I am seeing the Crown of Glory that Jesus is going to give me today in Heaven. Do you still think, my Lord Jesus Christ is a helpless God to remove all these pains away from me? Never doubt about God’s power. I will die soon, but I am very happy now, because today I am going to Heaven to meet my Lord Jesus Christ to receive my eternal glory. My dear brother, believe in Jesus Christ and you will have eternal life. I promise you.”

  Fr. Damian’s heart breaking words echoed in my ears like a thunder. At the same time, a lightning struck my heart. I couldn’t talk or move for a few moments. When were heard these words, the beastly man became angry. He grabbed an iron rod studded with nails from the floor and started to beat Fr. Damian mercilessly, from head to toe. Blood started gushing out from all parts of his body. Even during these savage tortures, he was very courageous to talk:

  “Dear Miller, before I die I want to tell you one more thing. Don’t believe the words of that woman. Satan is not the creator of God. Satan is just a creature like all the other creatures. God is the creator of all living and non-living things in this universe, and we are under his mercy.”

  “Some people misunderstand the theology behind God’s love. Never complain or judge that God is the reason behind all the sins that you have done in your life. God never created Satan. God created only Angels. Only because of their own pride and disobedience, three groups of Angels were cast down from Heaven to Hell and became evil spirits. Now they are wandering about the world seeking the ruin and destruction of souls, whom God created in his own image. God has given us the fortune to become His own children by believing in Jesus Christ, who is His only begotten Son.”

  The priest stopped for a moment and smiled at me. I was looking sadly at him. I couldn’t speak, but I could observe the face of the priest, which was shining like an Angel who just came down from Heaven. His eyes were sparkling like a wild fire. When those things happened, I enjoyed peace within.

  “Take him and crucify him like his God Jesus Christ.” The cruel woman ordered to the beastly man who was torturing him.

  The beastly man came forward, snatched Father Damian on his right wrist and dragged him towards the door. I couldn’t control my feelings. I sprang up from the place where I stood and chased that beastly man. Meanwhile, I could grab one candle stick which was very heavy and made of iron. I raised the candle stick and gave a smash at the beastly man’s head from behind. The very next moment, he fell down onto floor with a scream like a huge building that crashed during an earthquake.

  Somebody opened the windows and everything around me became visible. I could see that beastly man’s head was bleeding. Suddenly, another tall fat man appeared from the corridor. His teeth and nails were sharp like that of a devil. He had worn a black robe, and an upside down cross was hanging upon his chest. His beard and moustache were very thick and dark. I looked into his fearful reddish eyes which resembled to that of a devil came from hell. In a hoarse voice, he started to swear at me:

  “Who are you hellish creature? How dare you to intrude into my territory and attack my servants? I will teach you a lesson.”

  Before completing his words, he started smashing me with an iron rod which he grabbed from the desk. I fell down and whined…After a while, I struggled to open my eyes, and I found the man who knocked me down still standing beside me. Gradually I lost my consciousness and his image faded out from my eyes.

  When I opened my eyes again, I was lying beside Father Damian, and my whole body was bleeding like his. I tried to move my limbs, but I couldn’t. There was pain throughout my body. Suddenly, I recognized someone standing beside me. I tried hard to raise up my bleeding head to look at that person. It was the same cruel man who smashed me down. When I looked at his face he sneered at me like a hellish creature. He tapped the iron rod on the floor and made a sound. That sound echoed everywhere in the room.

  “What the hell do you think you are?” He asked me scornfully.

  A mixed feeling of hatred, anger and fear conquered my heart. I wished to cull him as soon as possible. At the same time I knew that I am helpless. I pledged to take revenge on him if I can escape from that hell. I tried to abuse him using obscene words, but voice didn’t come out from my mouth, as though my tongue sank into my throat. He kicked Fr. Damian who was lying alongside me, and the priest moaned with pain. My blood boiled with rage and I wished to finish that hellish man at once.

  “You son of Satan, who are you to kill this Godly man? May God be your judge. Given a chance, I will show you how a devil like you are going to suffer.” I yelled at him and he beat me mercilessly like a cruel master beating his dog. I wished for the first time, if I could salvage that poor priest from this hell.

  “High priest, we have a visitor!” Somebody called him from outside. Then I realized that, it was the same man whom James called reverently ‘High Priest’.

  The cruel man went outside by leaving us in the room. I realized in the dim candle light that, we were the only people left in that dark room.

  “Father…father!” I called Father Damian.

  He opened his eyes and tried to smile. His whole body was shivering with cold and pain.

  “My dear child, don’t be afraid. They can do harm only to our body, not our soul. Do you know why they kidnapped me and took me here. Their ulterior motive is to rob the Holy Grail and conquer this world. But, it is not going to happen. I have hidden it secretly and no words will come out from my mouth even at the expense of my life. They could steal it first, but, by God’s grace I recovered it and hid it somewhere. Can I believe you my dear child?”

  “Yes, Father, you can trust me fully!” I started crying emotionally.

  “Then I shall tell you where it is. Before I die, I want to ensure that it won’t fall into the wrong hands again. I trust you.” Father Damian slowly closed his eyes for a while.

  “I promise you father. I was an atheist, but your sufferings and your forgiveness opened my eyes…. You changed my life upside down…. Now, I believe in Jesus Christ and proclaim that He is the true God. Amen…But… still I am helpless Father. I don’t know how to save your life, and escape from this trap!”

  “Don’t worry, my child. If you are a true follower of Je
sus Christ, you have to sacrifice a lot in this world. Your enemies may torture you or kill you. But, remember His words: Forgive your enemies and love them …. Give your life for your friends… I am very happy my dear child; I obeyed what my Lord taught me. Now I can die in peace.” Fr. Damian continued:

  “My dear child, don’t worry about my life. I will die soon, and I can see where I will be going. Today, Jesus is going to give me eternal glory in Heaven. When I am in Heaven I will pray for you to give you the strength to bear every pain. You will find a way to escape from here. Can you please carry my body to the monastery of the Holy Face of Jesus at Eccopodochia, and hand over to my brethren living in that monastery? Now, I am 36. I was ordained as a priest on my 30th birthday and could serve the Lord and his people for nearly six years. Now my term is over. Thank you Jesus for all the blessings you showered on me.”

  Then, Fr. Damian closed his eyes and breathed heavily. As he took breath his chest was raising up and falling down. He was too tired and totally exhausted, yet an angelic smile appeared on his face. Now the only voice I could hear was Fr. Damian’s deep breath. I closed my eyes and listened carefully. Fr. Damian’s breath reverberated in my ears and suddenly it stopped!