by Roy Bright
A calm, elderly voice creeps out of the darkness. “There is no need for your weapons, I am no threat. Please, come inside, before you are seen.”
“Who are you?” he says, challenging for a second time.
“My name is Father Francis Keel and since you have The Light with you, I guess Judas has sent you looking for me. Please, come inside, quickly now.”
Gary holsters his weapons, smiles at the girls, relieved and then ushers them inside.
All three stand inside the entrance to the hall and stare at an old, slightly balding grey-haired priest; a torch under his face.
Gary motions to the priest, “Father, I think we have had enough frights tonight without you pulling a Halloween face on us. Please, change the angle of the torch and get us someplace we can talk in a properly lit environment.”
Father Keel looks at the position of his torch and smiles, somewhat embarrassed at his little indiscretion, realizing that his light source is not in the wisest of positions under the circumstances. “I’m sorry, how thoughtless. Please, follow me.”
The priest leads them through a doorway into a medium-sized hall, swinging the torch left and right in front of him as he charts a path through tables and chairs piled high. Small dust particles sway inside the beam as it highlights work tools scattered all over the floor. He takes great care not to step on any of them. “Please, watch your step, everybody,” he says, looking left and right, “The workmen demolishing the church next door store their tools here overnight and I fear some harm may come to you should you fall over in the darkness.”
Everyone looks around as he did, and minds their step.
They reach the end of the hall and he opens up another doorway to the left of a medium-sized stage at the front of the hall. A small, square staircase spirals upwards and Father Keel climbs it.
He chats to the group as they climb. “It seems ironic that the end of the world is happening at the same time I actually manage to find funding to restore my church to some of its former glory. I guess that’s His crazy sense of humor in play again.” He chuckles.
“Whose sense of humor?” Abi asks.
He turns towards her, shining the light in her face causing her to raise her hands to block the light. Apologizing, he shifts it to the side of her head so as still to illuminate her. “Well, God’s of course, my dear.”
“Oh!” she says, rolling her eyes, “of course.”
He laughs again, “Well, maybe my delivery of jokes is a little off, young lady, but all the same, it is ironic.” He smiles at her once again then turns and continues the trek up.
Abi smiles. She likes the priest; he has a very pleasant nature to him.
Father Keel continues, “So, are you fine people going to introduce yourselves or shall we keep this formal?”
Gary smiles, “Yes, of course, sorry Father. My name is Detective Gary Cross and this is Abi…? Err I’m so sorry but, I’ve just realized that I don’t know your full name.”
“Colter,” she replies, smirking.
“Abi… Colter,” he continues, with an apologizing smile, “and last, but by no means least, we have the incredibly brave Charlotte Hope here.”
Father Keel stops on the stairs once again and turns towards them. “There is no need to introduce Charlotte to me detective, I have known her for a considerable time now.” This time he does not shine the light in their faces, but directs the beam above them to light up the small area of the stairs. “There is a small group of priests and Sisters all of whom are aware of Charlotte and her importance to the world. That small group is also aware of Judas and his role in this saga, although he thinks it is only me that knows.” He winks at them, “Come now, people, let us not dally. We can discuss this at great length where it is a little safer.” He turns and carries on up the stairs.
They cover a couple more flights before the staircase levels out into a gangway that stretches high over the stage. Continuing over the stage area to another door at the end of the gangway, Father Keel opens it to reveal a bright light source that causes everyone to shield their eyes from it. Gary is the last to come through and closes the door behind him and the priest nods at him in thanks, then turns off his torch.
They find themselves standing in a small bland vestibule with a concrete staircase leading down.
Father Keel leads them down the stairs in as much the same distance covered as ascending the previous stairway and stops at the bottom, where another door stands; a large, arched wooden one that Gary feels is very fitting with what he would imagine to be an old church design. The priest pushes down on a large black, ornate door handle and the door opens, leading into the main area of the church through a small alcove. Lit candles stand in strategic areas of the large church to allow minimal low light for vision but not enough to bleed out of the boarded-up windows. A few pews still stand in their original positions about ten feet from some small stairs leading up to the altar, with the rest of the pews piled on top of each other in pairs at the edges of the walls. Inside the altar area, on each side and in enclosed boxes, stand three sets of pews behind one another in rows where the choir would sit during mass. The huge stone altar stands at the head of the church and above it, on the back wall, a large cross hangs carrying a carving of Jesus Christ. The church also suffers from littered tools belonging to the workers renovating the building.
Father keel holds out his right arm, gesturing for his guests to go on ahead. “Please, my friends, go and find yourself somewhere comfortable to rest, you are perfectly safe in here.”
“Thank you, Father,” Gary acknowledges, then ushers the girls forward.
Father Keel follows them, “Thankfully, I have quite a lot of bedding inside the sacristy. We were to issue it to the homeless people down on Fifteenth Street, but then the madness began and well, you know the rest. I’ll grab it now if you like? That way you can all get comfy.” He smiles at Charlotte, “And you, young lady, you must be hungry having had one heck of a day?”
She smiles and nods her head with vigor.
Gary places his hand on Father Keel’s left shoulder, “I have to say, Father, if you have enough food for us all, then I for one would be most grateful. I could do with putting some fuel in the old tank.”
“Of course, young man, of course. I knew you would all be coming. I knew Judas would either lead or send you to me.” He shuffles off, stops, then turns back to them, “I’ve made some ham sandwiches, they should do the trick, yes?”
Everyone smiles at the priest and the thought of some actual food turns the mood inside the church upbeat in an instant.
Father Keel beckons towards Abi, “Come, my dear, would you like to help me?”
She looks down at Charlotte then back to the priest shaking her head a little as she struggles to find a way to say no to the old man.
Gary notices her vacillation and decides to bail her out. “It’s okay, Father, the girls like to stay together. I’ll help you, Sir.”
“Ahh well, thank you, young man, that’s quite kind of you and you, my dear,” he looks at Abi, “I can see why Judas chose you to watch over The Light whilst he fights the darkness.” He winks at her.
“Oh, I don’t think he wanted me along at fir—”
He cuts her short, “Nonsense, my dear, everything happens the way it should once the choice has been made. We have many paths that we are allowed to take, but we all have a preordination that cannot be avoided. If Judas allowed you into his group, then he saw the reasoning behind it.” He reinforces his view by pointing at her with the crooked index finger of his right hand. “Anyway, my young friends, we have much to discuss whilst we await the arrival of the Protector and we cannot do it on an empty stomach, so let me grab this food and some warm items for us all.” He nods and then heads towards a door on the left-hand side of the building.
Gary turns to Abi and mouths to her, you gonna be okay?
She in turns nods and mouths back, we will be fine.
They smile at each other a
nd as he turns to follow the priest, he finds him watching, smiling.
“You, young love birds will see each other again soon for heaven’s sake, we are only going one room away.”
They both blush and smile and Gary hurries off to catch up with the priest.
Charlotte looks up at Abi and, in a loud voice and her face beaming announces, “I like him.”
Abi lets out a high-pitched laugh that forces her to put her right hand over her mouth and Charlotte joins in with the laughter.
Gary steps on ahead of the priest as he opens the door leading to the sacristy and Father Keel thanks him. “Have you been the parish priest here a long time, Father?” He asks, as he follows him through the door.
“I have indeed, young man, I have indeed. I have been here fifty-two years last spring, and I am one of the oldest serving priests in the area who still says Mass.” Gary begins to perform some quick mental arithmetic and, spotting this, Father Keel puts him out of his misery. “I am seventy-two years old, young man, no need to get your slide rule and abacus out.”
“I’m sorry, Father and - quite.” Gary says, a little embarrassed.
Father Keel smiles, “I was just twenty years old when they posted me to this church in 1960. It was quite the appointment; I can tell you. I had impressed a wonderful Bishop by the name of Bishop Albert Brodermier you see. He was an outstanding man and had recognized in me the great desire and will to deliver the message of God wherever I could.” He stops and turns towards Gary, enjoying recounting a story from his youth.
Gary looks around the small room for a chair. The room is about fifteen square feet in size and there are bookcases against each of the four walls. At the opposite side of the room to the door they have just come through, resides a small roller desk that he assumes is where the priest would carry out any administration tasks. A cassock also hangs from a corner of a wardrobe door to the left of the room, with most of the cassock covering the mirror on the front of the door. The room has no natural light source, lit instead by an eight-candled imitation chandelier hanging from a white ceiling with brown stained oak beams running parallel to each other over the roof’s surface. He notices a small chair next to the desk and moves to collect it but Father Keel stops him.
“It’s okay, my boy, I am quite capable of standing through one of my stories. I used to do it every Sunday for Mass before the church entered its renovation phase.”
Gary nods and, smiling, indicates for him to continue.
“Anyway, as I was saying, I had told Bishop Brodermier that I was prepared to serve anywhere… anywhere the souls of the lost needed me most. Imagine my surprise when he stationed me here,” the priest gestures around the room but Gary understands that he is referring to the whole area not just the building. “Little did I know, Detective, that this posting was not to be a life of luxury as I had first thought and I hadn’t been stationed here by chance either. I was meant to be here and I was meant to meet Judas.” He winks.
“How is that possible, Father? Did the Bishop kno—”
He cuts him short, “Know about Judas? Yes, Detective, quite a few people know about him. In fact, more people are aware of him than he himself realizes. It would normally be secret information, Detective, but under the circumstances, well… what’s the point now?”
“So… Judas only ever contacted or worked with you, Father? You were his… handler?”
Father Keel smiles then taps the side of his head. “Ahh, you’re a smart one, Detective Cross, a smart one indeed. No wonder Judas chose you as well. Yes, I was his handler. Of course, I was unaware of this at first. You see, I had gotten a little, shall we say, cocky, Detective and believed that my uniform as a servant of God would protect me no matter where I went. I believed my priesthood would immediately grant me respect and safe passage amongst any of my parish folk, be they religious or not. I was very wrong, Detective, very wrong indeed and I am sure I need not tell you, of all men, what people are capable of when they are at their lowest?”
He nods, “Indeed, Father. I understand that all too well.”
“Well, quite, so imagine my surprise when that reality finally came crashing down when, let’s just say, I had entered the wrong part of town delivering my message.” He stops for a moment and turns left and right searching for something. He lets out an exclamation of triumph and opens the wardrobe next to where the cassock hangs. Reaching inside he pulls out a large bundle of bedding with two pillows on top. He smiles at Gary, indicating a need to hand the stack over to him.
At first Gary misses the gesture, then reacts, “Oh yeah, of course, sorry, Father.” He covers the few steps with an over exaggerated stride, an almost apologetic movement, embarrassed that he doesn’t seem to be on the same wavelength as the priest.
Father Keel reaches into the wardrobe once again, retrieves two more pillows, and then dumps them on top of the pile Gary is carrying, almost blocking his view. “You’ll be fine,” the priest reassures him, “you’re a big strong lad and a bit of bedding won’t trouble you.”
“It’s fine, Father, really it is.”
“Good, well, anyway, as I was saying, wrong part of town and all that and I was set upon by some lost and wayward souls and I don’t mind telling you, Detective, those fellas meant to kill me.” He nods and turns his attention away for a brief moment, obvious that he is reliving the incident in his mind.
Gary breaks the silence, “And I take it Judas came to your rescue?”
The priest snaps his attention back towards him, “That he did, young man and with such ferocity that I had never encountered before. He tore those men to pieces, but not before being cut and I mean deeply cut, in his own throat. I saw it with my own eyes, Detective, one of the men slashed at him and cut his throat and you know what? His blood turned to dust and the wound quickly healed itself. Healed itself, right before my very own eyes! He tore that man to pieces, Detective Cross, to absolute pieces. He is a monster, of that you can be sure, but he is our monster, thankfully.” He pauses for a moment, allowing that crucial bit of information to sink into Gary’s mind. “So, anyway, as time goes by, I gradually reach him, pull him out of the jaws of madness and he in turn helps me around the church and parish. After a time, Bishop Brodermier confided in me the identity of the young man,” he brings his right hand up to the side of his mouth as though he were shielding his next statement from an unseen person in the room, and whispers “but not after I pestered the living shit out of him for answers first.”
Gary erupts into a hearty laugh at this sudden break of character from the priest. He liked this man a lot, and imagined him to be a very popular priest in his parish.
“And once I had thought about it at great length, Detective, I realized that our meeting was not by chance. It had all been carefully engineered by the society responsible for moving Judas down this path, the same society that had him perform tasks, from time to time, all in the name of man’s salvation and the same society that has now steered him towards his greatest moment, to protect, The Light.”
Gary shakes his head, “Wait a minute, Father, are you saying that this was all preordained? That these entire last three days, the planet going to shit and everything was all… a plan?”
“No, Detective, as I said earlier, you are presented with many paths in your life and each has an outcome, but you have to see with better eyes than that because the guardians do, and they see the eventualities of all paths at once.” He smiles and places a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t expect you to fully understand it, my boy, heck, it took me over twenty years to get my head around it all, but know this, tonight will be a hell of a night and this path that has been taken, whether it was the one everybody intended to be on or not, will now have to be seen through to the end because there is no turning back from this outcome, whatever it may be.” He pats Gary’s shoulder and stares at him in silence for a moment before turning away, declaring, “Ahh, there’s my little hamper basket. Come on, Detective, let’s get back to the yo
ung ladies, it’s our duty to protect them you know,” he taps the right side of his nose, “whilst at the same time allowing them to be their own, strong twenty-first century selves, of course.”
He winks and Gary laughs once again. Yes, he liked this old man’s sense of humor a lot.
They leave the sacristy and head back into the main church area where Abi and Charlotte chat away like young girls on a sleepover. They cheer as the men bring them the food and, forming a little picnic area just in front of the altar, tuck into the sandwiches with much enjoyment as though it were the greatest meal they had ever tasted.
As Gary sits and watches the girls and Father Keel chat, the priest joking and having fun with them, his dry sense of humor keeping them both in stitches, he cannot help but smile at the scene for the briefest of moments. For once, the day feels normal and all of the troubles outside the door forgotten, as four human beings sit down and enjoy a family meal atmosphere together. He hasn’t experienced this sensation for as long as he can remember and all at once his thoughts turn to his son Jacob, and in turn, his ex-wife and her new husband-to-be. With all the crazy things that had happened today he had, much to his shame, forgotten about Emily.
After a short while of deliberating about her safety, he forces himself to stop thinking about it, praying that this madness hadn’t caught up to her side of Long Island; praying that she was safe and well, that she was strong enough to resist the lure of darkness and that she hadn’t become one of those, things. He sits in silence and prays for many things.
After a while he checks his watch. The time reads 00:36. He turns to Charlotte, who is displaying all the signs of a child fighting sleep and prepares himself for the inevitable onslaught of rebuttals of tiredness and much arguing about wanting to stay up for five more minutes. He takes a deep breath and leans over to her, “Okay, young lady, it’s thirty minutes after midnight. I think it may be time for you to get some shuteye. You are gonna need some sleep if you are to save the world today.” He smiles.