by Lior Akerman
Only a few moments passed between the explosions they heard downstairs and the gunfire they heard on the floor they were on. People were shouting. All the workers ran towards the elevators and stairs and Mike saw that many workers ran back to their offices in terror. They were in panic. Some were on fire.
Alice was in shock, frozen in the corner of the office, not saying a word. Mike reacted and bent over her, calling her name. He had to shake her gently to bring her back to reality. She breathed and sighed in relief and Mike picked her up in his arms. On his way to the stairwell, he saw his co-workers dragging themselves in all directions in confusion. Some tried to help the others that were in flames and others tried unsuccessfully to escape the fire sent towards them from a source Mike could not identify. The elevators were not working, so Mike ran towards the service stairs he was familiar with, at the edge of the offices. He kicked the door open and started to walk down the stairs.
22 floors down, in the lobby, there was damage everywhere. There was a terrible sound of concrete collapsing, the designed ceiling was on fire, the alarms of cars and shops outside were screeching. The fancy lobby turned into a sticky mush of concrete, metal and burnt flesh.
The two figures appeared at the entrance to the offices at the exact moment that Mike entered the stairwell carrying Alice in his arms. They were dressed in black and their faces were also covered in black. They went directly to Mike’s office, ignoring the disaster around them, the flames and the cries of the workers. They were searching for him amongst the puddles of water and the chaos but there was no one there. They could not find him anywhere. They remained in the wet and flooded offices for a few more minutes and then rushed down the stairs. Back on the street, they disappeared into the cloud of smoke coming from the lobby that was on fire. They were so close to finding him and removing the obstacle from their path but they failed. Their next stop was West 23rd Street in Chelsea, where he resided.
The traffic on the street was blocked by the police and the rescue crews. The only way to move through the city was on foot. Mike’s apartment was very far, in the southern part of the city. Mike had an instinct that he should turn north on Madison, away from the office and his apartment. He continued walking on Madison for a while, Alice lay in his arms in a fetal position.. After over half-an-hour walking, he arrived at the corner of East 65th Street where he turned right. He crossed Park Avenue, continuing another 100 meters until he reached the building on the corner of Lexington. He stopped, looked at the building and only then did he realize why he had come there.
On the top floor of the building was Alice’s well-kept apartment that he remembered from the evening half-a-year ago when they celebrated the birthday of their director, Steve. He crossed the street, entered the lobby and took the elevator to the top floor. When they arrived, he asked her softly:
“Where are the keys?”
“They should be in the electricity closet in the stair room, under a grey box at the bottom of the closet.”
The key was there. Mike bent down and took it, holding on to Alice with his other hand. He carried her over his shoulder and laid her on the grey sofa. Then he allowed himself to collapse on the white chair and let out a sigh of relief. He looked out of the window to the south and saw the cloud of smoke and dust rising above the disaster area. After catching his breath, he went to check on Alice. She opened her eyes, she did not seem to have any injuries. She was just wet and full of dust and dirt. She tried to stand up but got dizzy and fell back on the sofa. She tried again, this time with Mike holding her hand, and succeeded, walking a bit wobbly and shuffling slowly towards the bathroom.
“I have to shower,” she said.
“But you aren’t stable. You will fall. You want some help?” he asked.
She turned around to face him, smiled and gave him a long kiss on the mouth.
“You are amazing, my guardian angel.”
She closed the door, undressed and sat down in the bathtub and turned on the hot water. That was all she needed at that moment - hot water and the safety of a man that would love her.
Mike went back to the living room and turned on the television. Reports continued to flow in from all over. There were endless terror attacks and new fronts all over the world. Once again, Manhattan was hit, the building he works at of all places. The reporters continued to give updates on the investigation of the series of suicide attacks in Israel and of the results of the missiles fired at cities in the U.S.
The senior analysts were calling it a general world war but they could not say who exactly the enemy was.
17.
Zfat and New York, August 25th
Rabbi Yaacov and his wife spent most of August in public shelters and secure rooms. The authorities in Israel instructed civilians not to leave their homes because of the continuous missile attacks and the danger of there being additional incidents. The news from around the world was not encouraging, spreading fear in light of the wave of violence. For over two weeks, all communication lines had been down and, even after they were repaired, it still took a while before people could contact the U.S. and other countries.
A month earlier, Rabbi Yaacov had managed to inform his nephew of the strange letter he found when he visited the tomb at Kfar Kana. Since Avraham was extremely busy and since the situation was so sensitive, they decided to discuss the matter in detail later but then the war broke out and all communication was cut off.
Rabbi Yaacov waited until the late afternoon hours to call Avraham in New York, so he would not wake him up. He spent the time he was stuck at home during the war to study the Talmud - the tractate of Yoma, the verses he was directed to in the strange letter from his brother Yochanan. That day he was calmer and more patient. He took another look at the texts he copied:
“They brought the Kohein Gadol to the chamber called the Beit Haparva, which was on holy ground. They hung a linen sheet between him and the people. He washed his hands and feet, then undressed; Rabbi Meir says he undressed first and then washed his hands and feet. He immersed, came out and dried himself. They brought him his white garments, which he put on, then he washed his hands and feet.”
When Avraham answered the phone, Yaacov informed him, in his broken English, combined with Hebrew, of the visit to the tomb in Kfar Kana. He read him the letter he found on his windshield. Avraham was stunned. He had tears in his eyes but he made an effort not to fall apart in front of his uncle. Yaacov continued and read the text from the Yoma tractate to Avraham. They tried to understand what had happened but it remained a mystery.
“I will send you a fax with the entire letter in a few minutes and I will attach the quotations from Yoma?” Yaacov told his nephew.
The conversation ended without saying goodbye and Avraham stayed where he was, lost in thought. After a short while, the fax in the rabbi’s office rang and the machine printed out the two page letter. The first page was in his father’s handwriting and the second in Yaacov’s. Avraham went over to the old chair in the corner and collapsed onto it in despair.
Two hours later he felt a bit better and decided to call Mike and update him on his findings. He remembered it was very important to Mike to find his father, although he did not know why. When Mike answered the phone, Avraham said:
“I have an update on my father, Rabbi Yochanan Aharon Hacohen. I am not sure I understand everything, but you asked me about a month ago to find out what was going on, so if you could stop by, I can give you the update.”
Mike was hanging on his every word. He thanked him and planned to get to the synagogue as soon as he could. He left work early and took the subway to the West 23rd station on 8th Avenue. He headed straight for the synagogue that was on the other side of the junction.
When he walked into the rabbi’s office, he saw Avraham standing in the corner reading from a Talmud that was opened in front of him. Rabbi Avraham noticed Mike and welcomed him but he continued to
read the text in front of him. He seemed to be very troubled. Mike came closer to him, waited a moment and then asked:
“What is going on?”
Avraham was fully engrossed in his book and did not respond. Mike came over to him and placed his hand on his shoulder. Avraham snapped out of his trance and looked at Mike. He put the book down on the table and went over to the desk on the other side of the room. Out of the top drawer he took out two white pages. He handed them to Mike and said:
“I received a call from Israel today, after not hearing from my family there for over a month. My uncle Yaacov went to look for my father where he was supposed to be and he did not find him. Instead he found this letter,” pointing at the first page that Mike was holding.
“What is in the second page?” Mike asked.
“It is a quotation from the Yoma tractate that Yaacov was asked to find and transfer to someone called ‘the messenger,’” Avraham answered. “I do not know what is going on here but that is definitely my father’s handwriting and I don’t understand how that is possible.”
Mike read the letter slowly and then read it again. He sat down in the corner and continued to stare at the pages and to read them over and over. At first, he found the connection between John’s gospel regarding Jesus’ miracle in Kfar Kana and the rabbi’s words on the messenger. After reading the words carefully, however, he realized that the essence of the two had to do with the mission and the miracle. Once again, the message came from Father Mathew or Rabbi Yochanan and was intended for him and had to do with the mission.
At that moment, it suddenly hit him. Mike understood that it all had to do with him. He was overcome with fear and he was silent and lost in thought. What more was going to happen to him? He still did not quite understand how the text Yaacov quoted from Yoma was related, since it described the ritual of appointing the High Priest.
Mike slowly got up, placed the pages on the desk, thanked the rabbi and headed out of the office, without even turning his head towards him. He came to the rabbi’s office confused and left even more confused and fearing what was about to happen.
He left the building and stood on the sidewalk not knowing where to go from there. He crossed the street, heading east, until he reached his apartment building. He decided not to take the elevator and walked up the six flights of stairs to his apartment. Mike looked at his front door, hesitated and then turned around and continued up the stairs to the roof. He went over to the concrete railing on the south side of the building. Leaned on it and looked up into the sky for answers. He sat down on the ground, leaning on the wall and held his head between his hands. His thoughts began to blur, his eyes closed and his head fell to between his knees. The noise of the cars on the street below and the glare of the morning sun woke him up. He had spent the night on the roof.
Mike went down to his apartment, had a quick shower and, uncharacteristically, had toast with cream cheese for breakfast. He set out for his office. At that moment, he did not know that he would soon be back on that roof, meeting the people he had been looking for. He also did not know this was going to be his last week in the building and that he would never be able to return to his apartment.
18.
New York, September 2nd
Considering the state of war the world had been in since August, today was a quiet and ordinary day. This peace did not continue, however. The relative quiet was disrupted and the sound of two huge explosions came from 5th Avenue. Both explosions occurred right near the office. The windows shattered, falling on the workers, chairs and tables flew everywhere and anyone in their path was hurt. The internal walls collapsed and people were shouting for help. Outside the building, the sound of the demolition and collapse continued and a huge thick cloud of dust hovered over the city. After a few minutes, the networks started to broadcast live news reports. The company offices were completely destroyed in the massive explosion.
Mike opened his eyes, looked around and found himself lying beneath a plaster wall that had collapsed on him. The bodies of some of his colleagues were scattered around him. He did not feel any pain and he realized he had not been injured. He picked up the wall and stood up. His first thought was that he needed to find Alice. He called out her name and started to search for her amongst the ruins. She was lying there, with her back to the wall and her eyes closed. Covering her was a narrow metal cabinet that had stored files in the office. The cabinet had shielded her from the glass and concrete shards that flew from the building, slicing anyone in their path. Mike bent down to Alice and called her name. He lifted the cabinet off her and slapped her gently on her cheek to wake her up. She started to choke and cough and Mike lifted her up on his arms. Here he was again carrying her on his arms towards the stairs they had used before to escape from the building. As they moved, they saw their colleagues dragging themselves in all directions in confusion. Some tried to help their friends that were hurt, others just stared into the city skyline. On Madison and 5th, life had come to a halt. The two buildings collapsed, with concrete and metal flying everywhere. Thousands were buried in the ruins and the entire area turned into a suffocating mixture of dust, concrete and metal. This time, Mike knew right away where he was taking her.
When they reached her apartment, he gently laid her down on the blue sofa and went into the kitchen. After a few minutes, he returned with a cup of coffee in one hand and a wet cloth in the other. He gently wiped off Alice’s beautiful face and patted her dusty hair. She opened her eyes and started to recover from the trauma. She slowly raised herself up to sip from the coffee and the she looked into his eyes and kissed him.
“Thank you, angel,” she said and then slowly made her way over to the shower.
She came out of the bathroom clean and smelling of soap, wrapped in a white robe. She found Mike on the sofa. He was exhausted from the efforts of the last few days. Alice took a blanket from her room and covered him. When she finished drying her hair, she sat on the couch opposite him and watched him until he woke up an hour later. She looked at him with a loving smile and went to make him some coffee.
“Weak,” he asked.
“Did you see what you look like? You need to get cleaned up. That is no way for a savior to look, my rescuer,” she said with a smile.
Mike turned around and looked at her suspiciously.
“A savior?”
She was taken aback by his response.
“Why did you say savior’?” he asked again.
“Because you saved me. Why not?”
She was surprised by his response. Mike relaxed and said:
“ I was just not sure I heard you correctly.”
He tried to smile in order to hide what he was feeling. He finished drinking his coffee and got in the shower. He had to wash the days troubles off and prepare himself for what was coming. Something told him that he was in for difficult days. He stood under the hot water for a long time, letting all of his worries wash off. Alice gave him a white robe to wear. Coming out of the shower, he did not see Alice anywhere. He was very thirsty and went to pour himself a glass of cold water and continued to look for her. The only place she could be was in the bedroom. He knocked on the door gently and called her name. There was no answer, so he opened the door slowly and saw her sprawled out on the bed. Her robe was opened a bit, showing the curves of her body that he liked so much but never actually saw. She was exhausted and fast asleep.
In the other room, where she made a bed for him, he found the clothes she left for him to wear. They were the only men’s clothes she had that would fit him - a white golf shirt and pants, with white golf shoes. Mike smiled to himself, suddenly everything around him was white. He thought of the excerpt from the Yoma tractate that he wrote down for himself, according to the instructions of Rabbi Yaacov Hacohen. He felt a pang of fear, wondering if he was being led to the place the universe wanted him to be.
It was already evening in Man
hattan and all the civilians were instructed to remain in safe shelters or to leave the city into open areas. Mike turned on the television and discovered that the Trump Towers and the Rockefeller Center had collapsed, following a huge explosion. Thousands of people were buried beneath them, endless lives lost. Mike suddenly recalled the short vision he had had a month earlier. Mike and Alice planned to spend the night in relative quiet, sleeping in her apartment and ignoring the explosions and sirens outside.
As Mike was getting some rest, the two dark figures headed towards his apartment on West 23rd Street. They were hoping that this time they would be successful in finding and destroying him. Later on, the neighbors would not know how to explain what had happened in the building, whether it was part of the war they were suffering through, or if it had to do with a higher power. Mike only heard about it the following day.
After a short time, Mike woke up, put on the white clothes Alice left for him, and left the apartment in a hurry. He did not know why but he knew where he was heading.
Samael and Charnbog arrived at the red building and rushed up the stairs to the 6th floor. They approached his apartment and Charnbog forced open the door with his right hand and they went in. The apartment was empty. They searched the apartment for him, only to discover that they had missed him again. The neighbors on the 6th floor came out to see what the commotion was about and that was the last mistake they ever made. They carefully approached the broken-in door of Mike’s apartment and did not understand where the noise was coming from. James Houston, the car dealer, and his young girlfriend were the first ones out. They were followed by Amus Jeremia and his blond girlfriend, Irena. The elderly Jack Mason also came out into the stairwell, followed by Laura and Jane, the neighbors next door. They heard noises coming from Mike’s apartment and were careful not to get too close. Two men in black came out of the apartment. They were terrifying, with red eyes and invisible faces. The two figures looked at the neighbors, then exchanged a glance. None of them had any chance of surviving. Samael turned to his right, with Charnbog to his left, they burned the people around them with flames coming from their eyes Before the neighbors had any idea what was going on, they were turned into dust on the burnt carpet.