The Children of Eternity (32 page)

“Jerry?” said Leona. She said it so slowly. “I don’t remember you. I don’t know who you are. I don’t know anything anymore. All I know is the pain of these spikes, the pain of not being able to breathe, the pain of not being able to die…” There was a pause. Leona was breathing regularly now, though she occasionally moaned in pain.

“It hurts so much every time I breathe, every time I move, even a little bit. But breathing feels so good too. I haven’t breathed in a long time, Jerry.” Again she paused. “Please, keep talking to me, Jerry. I just want to hear another human voice, a voice that’s real, not in my head. How long have I been here, Jerry? Do you know?”

“Yes I do,” said Jerry. “You’ve been here for over twenty-three years.”

“Twenty-three!” gasped Leona. “It seems so much longer than that. The pain makes it that way. It feels like a hundred years…a thousand.”

“I reckon it would,” said Jerry. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through—but it ends today. There’ll be no more pain. You’ve had enough pain for one eternity.”

“I’ve dreamed of being rescued,” cried Leona. “I’ve dreamed of it so long, but I was giving up hope.”

“Hope has been reborn,” said Jerry. “It may seem strange, but that is the name of my ship, the ship that will carry you out of here—
Hope
. I’m taking you to a place where no one will ever hurt you again, where there will be people to take care of you. I think you’ll like it.”

“What place is that?” asked Leona. “It sounds so wonderful. I can hardly imagine a life without pain.”

“It is wonderful,” confirmed Jerry. “The people there are very nice. They call it Refuge. There are people just like you there, people who have been rescued from the torments of Hell. Now they work to help free others. There are even angels there, very special and loving angels.”

“Is that where you’re from?” asked Leona.

“No,” replied Jerry.

“Where are you from?” she asked.

“That’s a little hard to explain right now,” said Jerry, “but I’m from Heaven. I know how that must sound, but it’s true.”

“Why would anyone in Heaven care about me?” gasped Leona. “I’m a dark soul damned to Hell. I killed my first child, my first son, and God threw me away for it. I deserve to be here. But I’m sorry that I did it. I wish I could take it back. I’ve begged God for forgiveness.” Again Leona was panting for air. A strange gurgling sound arose from within the sarcophagus.

“But why would anyone from Heaven rescue me?” There was another pause. “Unless, unless…no, that couldn’t be.” Again Leona was crying.

“Please don’t cry,” said Jerry, who had begun to cry himself. “Oh, please don’t cry. I care for you, I love you.”

Jerry was now cutting the shell down the other side. He’d come to the first hinge. It looked like it might still swing. He bypassed it.

“I don’t understand,” wept Leona. “How could you love me? Who are you, Jerry? I’ve got to know.” There was a moment’s hesitation. “Is it you?”

Jerry hesitated. He wasn’t quite sure what she meant, but he had to tell her the truth. “I love you…you’re my mother. You brought me into existence, and I’m getting you out of here.”

“My son!” gasped Leona. “It
is
you! How can you love me? I killed you.”

“Life on Earth is overrated; you sent me to Heaven,” said Jerry, who could think of no other way to respond. “I grew up as a child of Heaven. I’ve had a wonderful life there. But my life won’t be complete until I’ve rescued you. I can’t live knowing that you are suffering in this awful place.”

“I’m so sorry for what I did,” wept Leona. “Oh, please forgive me, Jerry…please forgive me.”

“I forgave you a long time ago,” said Jerry, trying to focus on the task at hand. He’d reached the second hinge, a mass of melted metal. He sliced it away. Occasionally he glanced at the scanner sitting on top of his case. They were still alone.

“And you’ve done great things,” said Leona, her voice a little stronger. “You’ve set the captives free, right? God told me that you would.”

Jerry laughed through his tears. “Yeah, I guess I did. I rescued over three hundred people held captive by the devil and his minions during the War in Heaven. People tell me I’m a hero, but I’m not…not really. I was pretty scared the whole time I was rescuing them. I did it because I love people, and I love God. I think you’d be proud of your son.”

“I am already,” said Leona. “I wish I could see you, but I’m blind. I have no eyes.”

“You will,” promised Jerry. “Your eyes will be restored, you’ll see. I have one more captive to set free.”

Jerry’s attention was drawn by a beeping of the scanner. They had company. By the sounds of it, that company was still distant. He kept working. He had less than two feet to go. He glanced at the screen. Three blips very close together were displayed on the screen. He couldn’t quite tell, but they appeared to be about 300 yards away—not too close. They were hardly moving. Perhaps they were delivering a new victim to this terrible cemetery of the damned. He’d try to pry the sarcophagus open, yet leave the hinges intact, rather than slicing away the front completely. Demons had very good ears and they might hear it when the front of the sarcophagus hit the ground. Then he reached the end—he’d sliced the shell in two.

“OK, Mom, listen carefully,” said Jerry. “I’m going to try and open this thing. I know it’s going to hurt. It will be difficult, but try not to scream. There are demons nearby. I don’t want them to hear.”

“Oh please, go,” pleaded Leona. “I don’t want them to get you too. I’m not worth it.”

“You are worth it, Mom,” said Jerry. “Are you ready?”

There was a pause. “Yes.”

Jerry reached for the gap in the shell and tried to pull it apart. He tried with every ounce of strength within him. It didn’t budge. He went for the hinges and cut them loose. Then he pulled once more. Slowly the front of the sarcophagus began to fall forward. Jerry did his best to lessen its impact with the ground. It must have weighed better than a quarter of a ton. He heard his mother gasp in pain, yet she didn’t scream. The lid of the sarcophagus hit the ground, but it made relatively little noise.

Jerry looked up to behold his mother. It was a ghastly sight to behold. She was so very pale, covered in places with clumps of dried blood, and there were two gaping holes where her eyes should have been. In addition, she must have had three dozen deep puncture wounds all over her body. She was still tightly chained into the coffin, her hands shackled behind her back. She was gasping at the air as pus flowed from the puncture wounds in each of her lungs. Had she not been immortal, these wounds would surely have been fatal the first day the lid closed upon her. Immediately Jerry began to cut through her chains.

“To breathe again is so wonderful,” said Leona, starting to cry again.

“Just be still,” said Jerry. “I’ll have you out of there in no time.”

The last chain severed, Jerry helped his mother from that terrible coffin. Then he used the plasma beam to cut the chain joining her wrist manacles.

“I’ll remove the manacles themselves later,” he promised. They sat for a moment on the base of the sarcophagus. Leona was shivering.

“I’m so thirsty,” she gasped.

Jerry reached into the pack and retrieved his canteen. “I’ve got water here for you. I’m bringing the canteen to your lips. Just drink slowly. Don’t gulp.”

Leona opened her mouth. Her tongue was dry and cracked from a lack of water. She began to drink. At first she coughed. Taking in water was something she hadn’t done in 23 years. But slowly she adjusted. She drank nearly half of the water in the canteen before she at last stopped. “I never thought I’d drink water again,” she said in a soft voice. Again, she shivered. “I’m so cold.”

Jerry knew that he had to get her out of these horrible clothes, but there just wasn’t time now. He stowed the plasma cutter and glanced at the portable scanner. The news wasn’t good: the demons were coming this way. He had to get his mother out of here. “Can you walk?”

“I don’t think so,” gasped Leona.

Jerry weighed his options. He’d spoken almost jokingly about a shootout with the demons. Now it was starting to look like that just might happen. If they were going to make a run for it, his mother would need shoes. He focused his thoughts to materialize them. It didn’t work. There was no Holy Spirit in Hell, no well of power to draw upon. That was why his particle rifle had its own auxiliary power supply. It could fire anywhere from 8 to 32 times, depending upon the power setting. Then he would need to reload. He only had three cartridges in his case. Right now he wished that he’d packed more.

“Something’s wrong, isn’t it?” asked Leona, still shivering.

“Demons…three of them,” said Jerry. “I can’t see them, but I have them on the sensors.”

“I don’t understand,” said Leona.

“That’s OK,” replied Jerry. “You’re going to stay right here for a while. It will give you time to heal. I won’t be far away.”

“Take my hand, Jerry,” said Leona.

Jerry placed his hand in his mother’s hand. She squeezed it slightly.

“I had to do that,” she said. “I just had to hold your hand. On that terrible night after you died, I cried. I cried because I would never get to do this.”

Jerry placed his arm around his mother. “It’s OK, I’m here now, and I’m going to be here for you from now on. This is all going to work out, you’ll see.”

“You have things to do,” said Leona. “You go and do them. I’m not going anywhere.”

Jerry rose to his feet. His mother had placed her hands over her face. He was certain that she was crying again. He wanted to stay with her—she needed him—yet he couldn’t. First and foremost he had to get her out of here. He had to get her to safety. He stepped away.

Jerry cautiously advanced toward the demons. Hiding behind a sarcophagus about 50 feet away, he pulled a set of electronic binoculars from his pack and scanned his surroundings carefully. At first he didn’t see them; then he zoomed in. There they were: three demons walking between the living tombs. They were coming in his general direction. “What are you doing?” he asked, almost under his breath.

The demons were walking from one sarcophagus to another, apparently inspecting each one. They were still about 200 yards away. He watched for several minutes. Then they abruptly turned to the left. Now they were actually walking away from him. He watched carefully as they continued their inspection.

What should he do? He considered making the first move—attacking. If he could only get close enough unseen, he could whack these demons before they knew what was happening. The problem was: How close could he get before they saw him? Demons had exceptionally keen senses. If only Jonathon were here. He probably could have convinced these demons to turn on each other.

In the final analysis, Jerry decided to withdraw. He didn’t want to leave his mother alone any longer. He headed back.

Upon his return, he discovered that an amazing transformation was underway. Leona’s skin had taken on a more natural hue. She gazed upon him with blue, tearful eyes. Her regeneration was well underway. A smile slowly came to her face.

“So handsome,” she whispered.

“I take after you,” said Jerry, smiling. He looked to see that his mother’s wounds were barely half the depth that they had been.

“What about the demons?” asked Leona.

“They’re moving away,” said Jerry. “I don’t quite understand what they’re doing. They stop and linger at one of the coffins for a moment and then they move on to another.”

“They’re tormenting them,” said Leona. “They talked to me once in a while. They taunted me, said horrible things, and then they moved on.”

“We’re going to hold up here for a little while longer,” said Jerry. “They can’t see us right now, but they may when we climb into my ship. I’d rather get out of here without incident.”

Leona nodded. “How did you find me?”

Jerry told his mother about the Great Hall of Records, about her book. He told her a lot about Heaven—even the war. Through it all, Leona listened quietly, gazing into the face of her son. Occasionally, Jerry checked the radar; the demons were still moving away from them. He looked at his mother’s wounds again. They were almost gone. “Do you think you can walk if I help you?”

“I’ll try,” said Leona.

Jerry reached into his pack and pulled out a power cell. He grasped it firmly in his hand and concentrated. Before Leona, a pair of shoes materialized. “You’ll need these,” he said, placing them upon her feet.

“You just made those shoes appear by thinking about them?” asked Leona.

“Yeah,” said Jerry. “Actually, people tell me I’m pretty good at it. I’m one of the best, really.”

“I’m so proud of you,” repeated Leona.

“Ready?” asked Jerry.

“Ready,” said Leona.

Jerry helped his mother to her feet. She took a step but quickly stumbled. Jerry caught her.

“I’m sort of dizzy,” said Leona. “Let me try again.”

Leona took several faltering steps. Jerry was with her all the way.

“I’m so tired,” admitted Leona. “I feel like I could sleep for a year.”

“You probably won’t sleep for a year, but you may sleep for several days,” said Jerry. “I’ve been told that people who have gone through what you’ve been through have sort of a rough time for a while. So much pain for so long takes its toll. But it will pass, and there will be people to get you through it.”