Rapture Falls (24 page)

“Baine we don’t have much time left to us, yo
u need to find the
Cathedral of
St David
,
it lies in the city of the same name, all I know is that the monk was a man close to God and as such entrusted with a marker to the Cube, all answers lie within the Book of Enoch Baine,
you must hurry and hold true to your own thoughts, keep yourself inside and wait for your moment, you will stay on their path and in their plan until the right time is upon you, you will get one chance and one chance only
. They will come at you from all sides, in force and in treachery, do not trust their faces no matter how much you may wish to, they have but one objective and it is not in your best interest to fall for their seductions. At the end of the fight you don’t have to stand tall, you don’t have to stand proud, but you must stand brother, you must stand”.

             
Baine found himself once again sat on the cold wooden floor surrounded by the Clock Tower, his back ached from the uncomfortable position and the stress of the situation
, he stood and arched his back stretching his aching limbs for relief. He now had another step in his journey and he now had his own mind, he was clearly held in check by their plans, whatever choice he made at the minute, whatever path he took it had already been decided, all he could do was to keep his thoughts clear and his mind sharp for their deceptions. He walked slowly toward the door of the Winter Smoking Room lost in his own thoughts and concentration, he reached the exit door leading to the cold night again but warmed by his purpose, he crossed the lawned grounds quickly
,
eager to be on his way and about his business. As he crossed he noticed that the main exit door was slightly opened, figuring that perhaps a night cleaning crew were about he moved quickly and cautiously towards the exit. The entrance gate was flanked between the Barbican and
Black
Towers
;
it held two immense gates that were inserted on either side of the massive wall giving a large passageway into the castle. Baine slipped past the first gate and into
the link
, he could neither see nor sense any
presence
here, the second gate leading outside to the street was also ajar, Baine eased himself
around the door and passed through to the outside, the walkway lead across the old moat that had surrounded the castle and was some ten to twenty feet from the street. Baine felt something wet on his shoulder that had come from the door puzzled he turned to look at the gate behind him and stopped, nailed in an reverse crucifix pose
hung
Hugues de Payens, blood flowed down from the horrific looking bolts that punctured his wrists and feet to nail him up
and hold him to the heavy wooden gate
,

“Oh fuck” Baine muttered already real
is
ing that it was too late, he span
back to the dark street,
suddenly the night exploded in light so severe that he was
temporarily
blinded
.

“Armed police don’t move” came
an
authoritative voice
electronically
amplified
from beyond the harsh glare
as several members of
the Welsh armed response unit pointed Heckler and Koch’s finest semi automatics expertly at his head.

Baine
looked
bleakly
at the insurmountable odds and
summed up the nights conclusi
on as best he could, “Bollocks”, he muttered.

MEET AND GREETS

“
So it shall be at the end of the world; the angels

shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.

And shall cast them into the
furnace of fire; there shall be a
wailing and gnashing of teeth”.

Matthew 13:49-50

McCullum reached up and took the offered hand of the tall man, his back was painfully sore and he could feel the wet blood from the seeping wound soaking his shirt.

             
“I imagine you have many questions” the Tall Man said

             
“Yeah, well, how about we start with who you are and what the hell that was” McCullum held himself gingerly

             
“My name is Gabriel child and I am the
Archangel
from your Sunday school teachings Brendon” Gabriel’s smile was warm and radiant; McCullum instantly felt a love and compassion that he had been lacking in his life for so very long.
“As for our friend I think that hell is probably a rather apt description, you have been walking in the trails of others for a short while now Brendon, walking unfortunately with little understanding, but first let me help you with that” Gabriel motioned towards his back and his throbbing injury

Gabriel moved slowly towards him, McCullum did not trust the man yet he could do nothing to ward off an attack even if one was launched,
powerless
he sagged onto one knee. Gabriel moved to his rear and placed his hands upon his back, the warmth was instant and he felt the fiery pain subside into a balmy haze,
then a cooling breeze before dissipating completely,
he stood and stretched to his full frame.

             
“Well that was pretty
impressive
Gabriel I must admit, you know I’ve got a dodgy knee that you could take a look at, you’re better than using BUPA” McCullum
spoke with an out of character
giddy
levity and
felt an easiness with this man, someone
that was a
complete
stranger
to him but he felt closer to him than anyone he had encountered since he left home. His carefully constructed intimacy walls had been torn down on flimsy foundations in seconds and it felt right.
His experience with the Priest had left him guarded, but he immediately recognized those feelings as a hollow teenage infatuation, an insult to true emotions filling his very soul now.

             
“I have been with you since you were born Brendon, I have followed you and sat upon your shoulder watching throughout your life, guiding and protecting you, I know that you have been lonely child, I know that you have been in pain for so long now, I have been waiting for the time of your ascension” Gabriel placed a hand upon his burning brow, “Your time is now and your place is at my side”

             
McCullum suddenly found himself sobbing uncontrollably against the mans coat, he was drawn into this man, this angel, his, his father, he knew this to be true now,
his mother had lied about his creation, for the first time
he was held in the embrace of his father, the man who had sired him and he was home.

Desk
Sergeant
Robert Farrell was uneasy, he shifted from foot to foot nervously behind the supposed sanctuary of the large oak barrier that placed him inside the police station and separated him from the public. The reason for his disquiet currently resided in cell three, an oddly aver
age man of no threatening size
or demeanor, the only life in the suspect lie behind his eyes. Farrell had in his thirty year career faced many violent and disturbed people, he had once happened upon a woman roasting her own baby alive inside an ordinary kitchen oven as she peeled and chopped various vegetables with a smile on her face and a tune whistling on her lips, when they had led her handcuffed from her quiet
suburban
two up two down she had looked at him with a strange vacant stare that had chilled him to the bone, l
ooking inside
cell three he had felt the same chill.
The man had been arrested at the castle of all places, with a highly respected but dead priest nailed to the front door; he had been brought in unsurprisingly without a struggle as the cities finest had descended with all of their fury, the man had apparently not spoken a word, he had no identification of any kind and only carried a small backpack containing some weird looking book. Farrell had logged the bag into the evidence room and was now waiting for Superintendent Irving to arrive for the questioning, for some reason
Irving
had taken a real personal interest in the case and everything was on hold until he got there. Farrell wandered down the hallway again, despite his unease he could not stop himself from periodically passing cell three and looking at the man, he
slowly and
cautiously slid open the small metal viewing window, the cell was dark only a small shaft of light permeated the gloom
, the mans face was hidden in the blackness only his legs that hung over the cot were visible but Farrell felt the mans stare
burning
through the shadows.
Farrell stood that way rooted to the spot for around a three minute lifetime, suddenly the bell from the front desk sounded, the
high pitched noise shattered the
hypnotic state, he shook his head violently casting off the creeping weariness, he backed away from the door eager to leave the cell and its
eerie
occupant behind and headed rather too quickly back into t
he brightly lit reception area.