Nova finished the news and gave back the newspaper. Jack was pondering about the news to extract some clues. She looked at him and asked eagerly to know more:
“So, my dear what is your conclusion from this?”
“My dear girl, I could derive certain things from this. The first thing is, Father Damian had safely hidden the Holy Grail before he was killed. And from the walking stick used by that strange old man, we can conclude one thing. He must be the man who is otherwise called Baal, the third highest authority in the ‘Children Of Hell’ cult. Did the last words in Miller’s diary strike you. It seemed like a riddle. Am I right?”
“Yes, dear! But, what does it mean? Do you think, it points towards the way to the Holy Grail?” Nova asked.
“Yes, I do. I do understand what it means. So, now my job is straight, to discover where Father Damian has hidden the Holy Grail!”
“So, dear what is your next plan?” She asked very excitedly.
“Now, we can almost confirm that, C.O.H members are the perpetrators behind all these murders. Do you remember the sensational news appeared in Kretton Daily a few months ago that, thirteen young girls of thirteen years of age disappeared from their houses? All these young girls disappeared on the same day from their houses, in 13 different places. But after a month, the Police found their dead bodies from one place- ‘Death Mystery Valley’! Their heads were separated from their torso. If we can believe Miller’s diary, we can conclude that C.O.H cult is the sect behind all these coldblooded murders.” Jack said.
He continued after a pause: “My assumption is, it is the same perpetrator who killed both Father Damian and Inspector Davidson. From the evidence I gathered, I realized that both of them knew this guy, Baal, personally. On the night Father Damian was killed, he and Baal had a meeting in the garden. Then, there might have had an argument about the Holy Grail. The C.O.H cult leader Baal knew from some sources that Father Damian preserved the Holy Grail somewhere. Baal might have threatened Father Damian to disclose the secret but he might have declined. An angry Baal might have brutally murdered Father Damian.”
Jack paused for a moment and continued:
“From the narration given by Fr. Jerome, Inspector Damian recognized who the perpetrator is. When the perpetrator visited the monastery regularly, his motive was not attending the Holy Mass, but to rob the Holy Grail. Besides, Davidson retrieved the walking stick belonging to Baal from the murder site. He advised Baal to report before him at Arthurton for further interrogation. I think, that lost walking stick found by the Police bear some significance and that may be the reason why Baal decided to meet up with Davidson when he demanded Baal to meet him. Otherwise Baal might have fled the crime scene long ago! So, to get back his valuable walking stick he might have gone to Arthurton and the meeting eventually resulted in the death of Inspector Davidson.”
Jack stopped for a moment and continued:
“But, when I analysed the available evidences, I still can’t confirm, how an old man can kill such a smart and efficient inspector like Davidson. If the old man was a stranger for inspector Davidson then he would have taken precautions to defend himself, before their meeting. So, that’s why I presume that Davidson knew the old man Baal before. Even for Father Damian, Baal was not a stranger. Father Damian pretended in front of other friars that he didn’t know this old man. I checked Father Damian’s family history and I realized that Baal was Father Damian’s uncle! The Man with the Walking stick was Father Damian’s dad’s elder brother!!”
“Baal’s original name is Martin Springfield. Father Damian is Damian Springfield, the son of Brad Springfield and the brother of Martin Springfield. Do you know Davidson’s full name? It is Davidson Springfield. He is the son of this Martin Springfield, who is also known as Baal in the COH cult. That means, Father Damian and inspector Davidson are first cousins! So, Martin Springfield killed his own son and nephew for his self rescue. On one side, he killed his nephew for the Holy Grail, and on the other side, he killed his own son for the walking stick. So, I checked what is special about the Walking Stick. Why it is so important for Baal? We know, Holy Grail is a priceless treasure. But, why did he kill his own son just for a walking stick? So, there is a hidden secret behind it.”
“So, what is your final conclusion?” Nova asked.
Jack looked at her beautiful face. He found that tears were flowing down from her eyes wetting her cheeks.
“Honey, what happened?” He asked while wiping away her tears with his hand.
“I don’t know Jack! I feel that your life is at stake. Don’t go away from me with this investigation, please…. Let someone else go and find the Holy Grail. I want you to be safe and sound and be with me always. If something happens to you, I would die with a broken heart.”
“Be happy my sweetie, nothing will happen. If I am not proceeding further with my adventure and retrieve the Holy Grail, how can I keep my word given to Father John of the Cross? Moreover, this is a golden opportunity for me to prove myself before the society; also to your parents!”
“So, if it is your final decision, please let me accompany you in this task!” Jack saw an extra ordinary courage gleaming in her eyes!
“My dear child, how can I permit you to come with me, when I foresee dangers encircling me. What you can do is to pray for me to Jesus Christ, Holy Mother, St. Joseph, all Angels, all Saints and all the Holy Souls in Purgatory to embrace me with good luck in my endeavours. I need your support not through your presence, but through your strong and fervent prayers. So, please stay back and do it for me. PRAYER, FASTING, DREAM AND HARD WORK ALTOGETHER CAN CREATE MIRACLES, WHEN NO HOPE LEFT FOR OUR SUCCESS. So, trust me, I will be back soon.”
CHAPTER- 16
THE QUEST FOR HOLY GRAIL BEGINS
The history of Children Of Hell (C.O.H) cult, started 7 centuries ago, precisely in AD 1406, by famous Italian scholar Marco Luigi who was excommunicated from the Catholic Church, for reasons of his extramarital relationship with many girls. His immoral actions were questioned by his wife; so, he killed his wife and two children- a boy and a girl. When his misdeeds were questioned by the Church authorities he became rebellious and started a new sect.
He taught everything against the Catholic dogma. Catholic church adores the Holy Trinity- One God, the Father as the creator of everything in the universe.
On the other hand, COH (Children of Hell) asserts that Satan is their master and the human beings are his servants. They proclaim that God is created by Satan and Satan is powerful than God. Besides spreading this heresy, they try to create hatred among the mankind and between countries. Their ultimate goal is to destroy human generations and keep everything under their sovereignty.
The venom of hatred towards Catholic Church was spread by Marco Luigi and his followers. Among his followers there were many famous people like Martin Luther, Leonardo Da Vinci, John Calvin. Their main goal was to completely wipe out Catholic Church from the world. So these false prophets possessed by Satan himself acted like good teachers and gained many souls through their false teachings.
Even though they are against Christianity and Catholic Church, they believe that Holy Grail and other Christian religious objects has special power to conquer this world. So, their crooked plan to steal the Holy Grail and conquer this world started since time immemorial. All the members in COH cult are very powerful through their wealth, health, capacities, abilities, as they are possessed by demons. Those possessed people have great determination to lead the souls towards Satan and drag the victimised souls into Hell. God's rights are their wrongs, so they promote sins and blasphemies.
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After talking to Nova, Jack opened an olden scroll parchment with ancient Italian writings in it. The parchment was from thirteenth century. The Italian language in it revealed that, it was written by a noble Italian man during that period. Those days, the educational system was only accessible for the people from rich family.
Jack Batson was an expert in Italian language, which helped him to translate the following letter easily:
" My dear Bernardo,
You were asking me for so many years how that day will come into the world. I was asking our Lord the same question, and yesterday I got a vision. I was sitting in my room and praying and suddenly I got a message from our Lord Jesus Christ. I could see myself as walking through the Saint Peters Basilica where the Holy Grail was placed upon the altar. I wished to grab and kiss it; so I reached beside it.
Suddenly the Holy Grail raised in the air. It flew out from the basilica floating in the air. As it flew away from me, I tried to chase it. I followed it for many miles and finally reached a forest in front of a cave, the shape of which was like a big skull. It was a huge cave guarded by a gigantic tall man of nearly 6'5 feet. He held a sword in his hand. He raised it into the sky and called for Satan; suddenly Satan appeared in front of him and blessed him with a curse. Then the name Antichrist appeared on his forehead and that name disappeared as though it dissolved into his forehead. The next moment when I looked at him, I saw the Holy Grail in his hand.
In the next vision, the Antichrist was standing in front of a church and millions of people gathered around him. All of them bowed in front of him, and worshipped him. I could see him performing many miracles, and the people got healed from severe diseases. I could see many churches abandoned by the people. I saw, even the bishops, priests, nuns, and other religious people abandoning their religious life and accepting Antichrist as their saviour. All those people went to the Antichrist, bowed in front of him and adored him as their God.
After these revelations, I got another message from Heaven which prophesied the coming of the Antichrist into the world. After a few centuries, one of the true disciples of Jesus Christ, who would be a warrior like his patron saint, will reign the throne of Saint Peter the Apostle. After being enthroned, he would choose my name for His Papacy. He will be a real saint like his predecessors and would lead the Church in truth.
As the result of His good leadership the Church will go through the right path, so Satan will be more infuriated by His Papacy. The Pope will have many enemies even inside the Church; but majority of the believers will follow Him. So Satan will send Antichrist into the world to tempt and destruct the souls of God's own people. Even the faithful and chosen one will follow Antichrist and his teachings.
So after the Antichrist’s birth, the Holy Grail will disappear from its place as an indication for the people to believe that Antichrist has come into the world. The Antichrist will take birth from a prostitute, and within one week, he will grow into a 30 years old man.
May the Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always,
With Love and Blessings,
Jesus’ humble servant and your Father,
Francis of Assisi".
Jack finished the parchment and gave it to Nova for her to read.
"So dear, do you believe that Antichrist has come into the world?" Nova was anxious.
“Yes, my honey, I do believe it. This letter is written by Saint Francis of Assisi to his very first disciple Bernardo. If you deeply understand the meaning in this letter you can untie the riddles contained in it. It says about the coming of Antichrist and the Pope who will reign the Church at that time. It says, the Pope, whose patron saint is a warrior will choose Francis as his name for papacy. So, the saintly Pope referred in this letter is Pope Francis. Papa’s original name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Jorge refers to his patron saint- Saint George- who was a warrior. And another thing to be noted here is that the Holy Grail disappeared from the Monastery. So, it means the Antichrist is born into the world.”
“So, is it the end of the world?” Nova asked.
“I don’t know Nova, only God knows!” Jack replied.
“Do you have any clue about the place, where Father Damian hid the Holy Grail safely?” Nova asked.
“I have a vague idea about that hidden place. Can you please pass me Miller’s diary? I hope that the riddle in this diary can help me to finish my adventure successfully.”
Nova handed over him Miller’s diary and he read the last page in it:
“Who made it
The one who gifted
Who used it
The one who saved us
Who took it
The Alpha in shepherd’s skin
Who dug it
The one who die for it
Who get it
The one from South
How to get it
Walk to the face of the Lord
Where to find it
In the place of our end
Where is it
Where our very first parents sleep.”
After reading that riddle again, he wrote notes in his book, and finally looked at Nova. Her eyes were wide with amazement and she was thinking what that meant.
“My dear Nova, now I understand who committed all these murders, and where Father Damian hid the Holy Grail. Now, you may go home and I have some other duties to complete today. Pray for my success and I will meet you soon.”
“But, Jack, before you go, can you please explain the secret in this riddle?”
“I will explain everything to you sweet heart. Actually, it contains every information, that I need for the accomplishment of this task. I will tell you everything when we meet again. So, bye my angel.” By saying this Jack left the library and reached the car garage. Nova followed him, but, he didn’t wait for her. He was in a hurry…. Jack got into his car and left Batson Bungalow.
CHAPTER- 17
THE HOLY GRAIL
Jack Batson reached behind the outside wall of the monastery of the Holy Face of Jesus. He parked his car among the bushes to hide it from the public in a safe place. It was 7’O clock in the evening. The Sun had already set in the western horizon. It was too dark everywhere. He alighted from the car and started to walk among the trees. While walking he looked at every direction, as though he was expecting someone’s attack from the darkness.
He switched on his small torch light to see the way clearly. He could hear the howling of the wolves from the darkness. But, it didn’t slowdown his strong determination to complete his adventure. While he proceeded further, a heavy wind blew from northern direction, as though to block him from his quest. Suddenly an unexpected tornado approached and swallowed him.
When Jack regained his consciousness, he was lying somewhere in the darkness. He looked around, but nothing was visible and everything was dark. He couldn’t guess where he was.
After a while, he saw a few candle lights approaching him like a procession, floating in the air. He stood up and waited there patiently watching the movement of that candle lights.
He looked around to see whether anyone was watching over him. But, he couldn’t see anyone. The only thing he could see was the candle lights. Suddenly a hot wind blew upon him followed by a nasty smell. The smell of sulphur and decaying human bodies filled the air. A few stars were twinkling over his head, in the sky. He realized that he was standing somewhere on a muddy ground.
While he looked at the procession the number of candles approached him multiplied. He switched off the light and checked the safety of the surroundings where he was standing. Suddenly he became happy to know that he had reached his destination. It was an old cemetery located behind the Monastery of the Holy Face of Jesus.
The procession was a group of people, clad in strange dresses that reminded him of devils. Suddenly, he felt like a fire coal burning from inside his heart.
“Move further, Move further!” He could hear a voice from inside.
Jack moved further towards the candle procession and stopped behind a tree to study them closely. They were singing songs while proceeding further. They stopped their parade and gathered in a circle, just a hundred metres away from him. While he ambushed behind the tree, he could listen to what they were singing. Those were some strange songs mixed with blasphemies.
It was very shocking
to hear such songs and he realized that they belong to C.O.H cult. They continued their rituals and the songs raised into high pitch. Gradually Jack could understand the meaning of their songs. They were praying to Satan to come into their life and curse them. They used many curses and blasphemies to appease Satan for their mistakes they have done against him. Slowly he understood that they were possessed by many demons. They were yelling and screaming besides saying sacrileges, to persuade Satan to give them apparition.
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