Authors: Angella Graff
“Exactly. Charles started displaying physical, involuntary movement, signaling that his spine was healing and the paralysis was slowly receding. It was as of two nights ago that his other specialist declared that his spine injury had completely healed, miraculously, and should he ever wake up, he would be completely able to walk and as far as he could tell, regain full motor function over his entire body.”
“And let me guess, that’s when your ‘contact’,” Ben said, using finger quotes in the air, “told you that these gods, or whatever, were going to possess his body.”
“I’m afraid so,” Greg said.
“And what do they want him for, exactly?” Ben asked. “From what you’ve said, they can’t even stay in a person for longer than two weeks before that body keels over. It’s not long enough to take over the world or even do any real damage.”
“You’d be surprised,” Greg said in a low tone. “But I don’t believe they want to take over the world, as you put it, nor are they interested in doing any damage. In fact, my contact isn’t quite sure what exactly they want with these people, and he’s been working actively to get some sort of information. It wasn’t until your friend John Doe disappeared that we got some sort of idea what they were looking for.”
“Let me guess, the magical healing powers of Judas?” Ben offered with a snort.
“How much did your friend Mark tell you about himself?” Greg pressed.
Ben rubbed his face and gave a groan. “Oh, not much. He’s immortal, been around for two-thousand some odd years. Something about Jesus and Judas being brothers, and for some reason he’s got to live his life as a blind man.”
Greg was frowning at him. “Jesus and Judas were brothers?”
“Apparently,” Ben said with a little laugh. “He didn’t seem to want to go into it. Wonder why.”
“Interesting,” Greg said under his breath. He shook his head and then sat back in his chair. “You’re aware, yes, that Judas has certain abilities?”
“So Mark and my sister claim,” Ben said.
Greg hesitated for a long moment and then said, “I’m aware of your former medical condition.”
Ben’s eyes snapped up to Greg’s face. “You looked into my medical records? Is that legal?”
“They were forwarded to me by your physician,” Greg said. “I swear, I was not prying. He was absolutely perplexed by the idea that a brain tumor of that size could seemingly disappear overnight without any treatment. He was asking me if I’d seen anything like it.”
“You’ll have to forgive me if this seems a little too coincidental,” Ben said sharply. “Do you have proof that my doctor contacted you?”
“Yes, I do,” Greg said, “but you need to understand that this isn’t coincidence. There are others, outside of my control and yours, who are setting things up. I don’t know why, but I do know that I met you for a reason, and there was a reason I became Judas’s doctor.”
“God, can you please not call him that,” Ben said. “I realize this is all a little… crazy, and maybe there’s too much here to be considered coincidence, but nothing you say can convince me that John Doe is Judas, okay?”
“Fair enough,” Greg said, raising his hands in surrender. “I’m not trying to convince you otherwise.”
Ben frowned at the doctor’s words and crossed his arms. “If you’re not trying to convince me, what are we doing here?”
“I’m here to show you, Ben,” Greg said simply. “I’m here to provide you with the evidence you need in order to move forward. You were brought to my attention, put in Mark’s path, and mine, for a reason. I realize you don’t believe, but I can only hope after tonight you have the ability to understand that what Ju- er John Doe, can do, is dangerous. That it can help, but if that help is put into the hands of millions of fanatics, the consequences could be dangerous.”
“Dangerous for whom, exactly?” Ben asked. “If what you say is true, if he can heal brain tumors and what not, how is that a bad thing?”
“Because as far as I know, he can’t heal everyone,” Greg said. “People are going to get angry, and they’re going to get violent. I’m sure you’ve studied at least a little bit of religion, Ben. Look at the patterns, the violence, the bloodshed. That man, that John Doe, isn’t God. He’s not Jesus. He’s not going to save their souls, and they’re going to want him to. We live in difficult times, we live in the era of a dying religion and that religion is getting desperate. You provide them with a miracle, an honest miracle, and…” Greg trailed off. “I don’t want to think of the consequences.”
“You don’t think it would bring a sense of peace?”
“When has religion ever really brought peace?” Greg challenged.
“Look, I’m an Atheist, so you’re preaching to the choir here, but I’m just trying to look at this from all angles. For humor’s sake, let’s try and reason it out. People get healed, how is that going to cause a war?”
“Because everyone is going to claim that they are right. It’s how Christianity fractured in the first place.” Greg suddenly stopped talking. He was staring at the computer screen with a frown on his face.
Ben followed his gaze and saw a small alert on the bottom of the screen that read, Computer Logged in, Home Office. Password not entered.
“What is that?” Ben asked.
“That happens to be someone in my office trying to log on to my system,” Greg said. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pushed a few buttons.
Ben, who was watching over Greg’s arm, saw a tiny, grainy video flare to life. It looked like the inside of an office with a low light, and two people rummaging around. It took Ben a minute on the poor video to recognize his sister and Mark, but when he did, he groaned.
“Great,” he said with a sigh.
“Your sister and Mark, I take it?” Greg asked.
“Any idea why they’re there?”
“Not a clue,” Greg said. “Well, that’s not entirely true. They’re obviously looking to see if I’m responsible for the missing person. I’m sure Mark is quite frantic about the entire ordeal. It makes sense, he can probably sense it on me.”
“Sense what?” Ben asked with a frown.
Greg gave Ben a sort of tense smile and looked back down at the video. The pair were feeling around Greg’s bookcase, and suddenly the bookcase shifted. Ben peered closer as Mark gave the large shelf a shove, and a doorway appeared.
“Oh dear,” Greg said softly. “I suppose I should give them a call.”
“Mark and Abby’s phones are off. I’ve been trying to dial them all night.”
Greg shook his head and dialed. “I don’t expect them to pick up, but luckily I’m old and my answering machine is an actual answering machine.” He dialed a number and sat silent as it rang. After a few moments, Greg, in a very cheerful voice said, “Well you two, congrats. You’ve discovered my secret. Do me a favor and pick up the phone.”
Chapter
Twenty-One
When Mark’s finger hit the button on the bookshelf, the wall gave a loud pop, similar to a champagne cork, and both he and Abby jumped. Abby took a couple of steps back from the wall, but when Mark felt the shelf shift under his hands, he gave it a small shove.
“What is that?” Abby asked, sounding fearful.
Mark pushed with relatively little effort to reveal an opening in the wall the size of a door. It was dark beyond, but small flames from tea light-like candles were burning in the back. The yellow illuminated just inches around the area, and Mark could see the flickering of flame off of metal.
“No idea,” he said. He started to take a step forward into the room, the space pulsing with the energy of those touched by something otherworldly; something like Yehuda possessed, and himself. Mark reached his hand out, feeling the pulsing of energy around him. It was like drawing his hand through the thickest fog, cold and clammy and heavy against his fingers.
He took another step into the room, but startled when the small, shrill phone on the desk began to ring. He looked back sharply, first at the desk, then at Abby who was staring at the phone, her hand over her mouth.
“Someone knows we’re here,” Mark said in a hushed voice. “There is no way anyone would phone this office at this hour. If it were a patient emergency they’d be calling his cell phone.”
“Are there cameras in here?” Abby asked, looking around frantically.
Mark looked around for any sign of electronics but found no evidence that the office was hooked up to the cameras connected to the main security base. “I don’t think so,” he said.
Suddenly, the phone stopped ringing and a mechanical voice filled the room. “Thank you for calling the office of Doctor Gregory Asclepius. Please leave your message and the doctor will return your call by the next business day.” The beeping of the machine was loud and piercing, making Mark wince a bit.
Both he and Abby held their breaths as a soft, gentle voice spoke through the small speaker of the machine. “Well you two, congrats, you’ve discovered my little secret. Do me a favor and pick up the phone.”
Mark noted that the voice, while gentle, had just the barest hint of threat to it. He glanced at Abby, who appeared paralyzed by fear, so he moved and grabbed the cordless landline that sat on the desk. Hitting the button, Mark put it to his ear. “Doctor Asclepius?”
“Ah, this must be Mark,” the doctor said in a jovial tone. “How are you?”
“In trouble, I suppose,” Mark said casually. He moved back towards the opening of the door and peered into the darkness. “Can I ask how long before security arrives?”
“Oh no one’s been alerted,” the doctor said. “The cameras in my room are for my own personal security. I don’t really trust the minimum-wage employees to protect things that are truly important to me. You’re in no danger, and I have no intention of alerting anyone to your presence.”
“What’s in this room, doctor?” Mark asked, walking back over to the doorway. He felt along the wall for a light switch, but his hand met with nothing.
“Ah, that,” the doctor said. “I’d prefer to talk about that in private, away from the office, if you don’t mind.”
Mark frowned. “Am I in any danger in this room?”
“You? No, you’re not. Your companion, however, might present another problem. I’d suggest shutting the door and maybe finding a hotel room where we might meet tomorrow afternoon.”
Mark glanced over at Abby who was still standing, frozen, her eyes trained on the black room. “Where are you now?”
“In San Francisco, with Abby’s brother. I’m sure he’d like to know his sister is okay,” the doctor said quietly.
“I’ll put her on in a moment. Do you know who took Yehuda?” Mark asked, his voice sharp and demanding.
“I’m afraid I do not, but I’m working on finding out who did. I believe it was someone on hospital staff, but I’m not sure who, just yet.” The doctor sounded absolutely honest.
“And what are you, doctor? Are you human? Are you like me?”
The doctor hesitated. “Again, an answer for tomorrow. I’m urging you to get Abby away from that room as quickly as you can.”
The urgency in the man’s voice became cause for concern, and Mark decided it was time to leave. “Abby and I will find a place in the city, but rest assured if I do not see you by tomorrow afternoon, I plan to come back into this office, find out what you’re hiding, and I’ll take you out if I have to.”
“I’ll be in touch,” the doctor said, and with that, the line went dead.