Rushed (29 page)

Chapter Thirty-Two

The way out of the cathedral was far more treacherous than the way in.  An ordinary man would never have found his way through the hellish labyrinth of darkness and shadows.  He would have wandered aimlessly until something in the darkness ended his journey for him.  But he was no longer an ordinary man.  He knew the way out now.  He knew how the cathedral worked.  And he made the journey without thinking about where he was going.  He merely climbed, his poor, exhausted mind still struggling to grasp the awesome things the staff had shown him.

He barely remembered the ascent. 

Soon, he found himself standing in the crater, looking around, trying to recall where he was supposed to go next.  But there was nothing to recall.  The dream was over.  And no one had bothered telling him what to do next. 

He couldn’t return along the same path that brought him here, and he had no idea which way would take him back home. 

He sat down on the crushed earth and stared up at the sky for a while.  The sun had fully set.  The first of the stars had come out. 

It was so peaceful. 

He felt so incredibly small. 

“Magnificent view out here.”

Eric lowered his eyes and found himself looking at the gas station attendant.  He was standing in front of him, staring up at the sky above.  He tried to remember how long he’d been staring up, but he was sure it wasn’t long enough for the little man to have made his way across the wide floor of the crater without him noticing. 

“Nothing to spoil it out here.  No lights.  No pollution.  Just you and the stars.”

Eric stared at the little man.  “Are
you
God?”

Without looking down from the sky, the gas station attendant said, “Me?  No.  Not exactly.”

Not exactly?  What did that mean?

“But I can answer the questions you have for Him.”

“Can you?”

The little man looked at him now.  “Sure.  Let’s start with what happened down there, shall we?”

Eric stared at him.  He felt so sluggish.  He was like a computer that had used up all its memory.  He nodded.  “I found the staff.  It…  Showed me things…”

“It imparted onto you some very specific knowledge.”

“That’s what I said…” Eric replied drunkenly. 

The little man laughed softly.  His smile was so kind, so welcoming.  And his eyes remained compassionate.  “Some things are too important to ever be fully forgotten, but too dangerous to leave commonly known.”

Eric thought about this for a moment, and then nodded.  “This would definitely qualify.”

“Definitely.  These things you know…only one man was chosen to remember while all others were allowed to forget.  When that man died, the knowledge lived on, stored in the living wood of that staff, waiting for another to come along and take the knowledge once more.  In times when darkness closes in on this knowledge, a new man is chosen to take the information from the staff, leaving the staff itself empty in its cradle.  Long after the danger has passed, and when the new caretaker passes on, the information returns automatically to the staff, waiting for the next to find it.”

“So I’m the caretaker?”

“The latest in a long line.”

“But you said the cathedral kills everyone who enters it.”

“No.  Technically,
you
said that Father Billy told you that I said the cathedral will claim anyone who comes looking for its secrets. 
I
told you that I did, indeed, say something like that.”

“So…  How is that different?”

“The cathedral
does
claim all those who come looking for its secrets.  But it doesn’t kill those who deserve them.  Eleven men have emerged just like you did.  And they all returned in the end.”

“Inside the clay pots.”

“Exactly.  To this day, they still protect their secret.”

“So when I die, I’ll go back there?”

“Only in body.  The cathedral won’t keep your spirit.  I promise you that.”

This was a relief.  He
had
feared that he was now damned to a purgatory of hanging out on a shelf at the bottom of a deep hole somewhere in Minnesota for the rest of eternity, like a bored genie. 

“You said before that there were two objects of interest.  Is there another staff?”

“Not a staff, but yes, another object, another secret.  If a man were to possess both, he would become very powerful.”

“But with just one?”

“You are only blessed.”

“Don’t feel blessed.  Feel like my head’s going to explode.  How can I be expected to live like this, knowing what I know?  It’s too much for any one man.  What am I supposed to do?  What do you do when you know the
true face of
God
?”

“That’s where I come in.”

“You?”

The little man gave him the same, broad smile.  “Yes.  Me.”  He stepped closer to Eric and placed his small hands on his face.  He looked deeply into his eyes and said, “I can take this knowledge and put it where it can’t hurt you.  I can put it into your forgotten dreams.”

“My forgotten dreams…?  Like the one that brought me here?”

“Yes.  You won’t have to remember it.  You’ll only know it when you sleep.  It won’t trouble you.  It won’t wake you.  You’ll know without knowing.  The only difference will be that your sleep will be enhanced.”

“Enhanced?”

“Deeper, more meaningful.  You’ll need less sleep and you’ll recharge faster.  You’ll even heal faster when you sleep.  Just a little.”

“That’s…  Cool.  I guess.”

“
Very
cool.”

Staring into the little man’s eyes, Eric asked, “Why me?”

“Why not?  You did magnificently.”

“But wouldn’t someone else have done just as well?”

“Maybe.  Maybe not.  But the right person
was
chosen.  You can believe that.”

“If you say so…”

“All done.”  The gas station attendant, who was by no means a mere gas station attendant, dropped his hands and stepped back. 

Eric realized that he no longer remembered what he knew before.  He simply recalled having once known something very significant, something life-changing. 

“Come on.  Let’s get you home.”

Eric stood up and walked with the small man across the crushed earth of the cathedral’s crater.  At the edge of the woods sat a vehicle he hadn’t noticed before now. 

As he walked, his cell phone buzzed against his leg. 

It was Isabelle. 

“You did so awesome, Eric!”

“Thanks.  I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Yes, you could’ve.”

“No.  I really don’t think so.”

“Aw…  But it’s over now.  You get to go home.”

“I do.”

“And you still get me!”

Eric smiled.  “I do, don’t I?”

“You’re stuck with me.”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Somehow, he could tell that she was smiling on her end of the line. 

“But wait…  If you were there the whole time, did you see the secret too?”

“No.  Only that you learned something very profound.”

“Huh…”

“The secret must have only been for you.  Not me.”

“I guess so.”

“I’ll talk to you later, okay?  Bye!”

“Bye.”  Eric hung up and stared at the phone. 

“You’ve made a few great friends today,” said the little man.

Looking up, Eric found that they had been joined by Edgar, Grant, Taylor and Annette.  They walked with them, all of them smiling. 

“Fantastic job, Eric,” said Taylor.

“I knew you’d get the job done,” Grant boasted. 

Then both of them faded from sight.  Eric stared after them, surprised.

“You came through for all of us,” admitted Edgar.  “We can’t thank you enough.”  Then he was gone, too.

Annette smiled at him, tears spilling from her eyes.  “I’m going to see my Ethan now!” she exclaimed.  She pressed her fingers to her lips and then waved goodbye as she faded from sight.  Again, he found himself alone with the gas station attendant. 

“They’ve done their work.  Now they’re free.  You did a great job today, Eric.”

Ahead of them, he could see the vehicle that awaited them.  It was the old white limousine from the gas station.  As he watched, the door opened and Father Billy stepped out to greet him. 

Eric was relieved.  The last time he saw the man, he was running toward a towering golem with a double-handful of lit explosives.  While Isabelle had assured him that he’d escaped the ordeal unharmed, it was nonetheless good to see him.

“It’s not quite first class,” said the diminutive gas station attendant.

“It’s awesome,” Eric told him.  “I’ve never been in a limo before.”

“Truth be told, neither had most of its parts before I put them there.”

Eric laughed.  “I’m still excited.”

The little man smiled more broadly than ever. 

Chapter Thirty-Three

Eric sat in the back of the old limousine, watching the trees pass by the windows, thinking about all that he’d done since he jumped out of bed that morning. 

That felt like days ago instead of mere hours. 

His shoulder still hurt, but not so bad.  And with nightfall, his sunburned arms and neck had grown uncomfortable.  But all things considered, he was simply thrilled to be alive. 

His phone rang.  It was Karen.

“Hey baby.”

“What’s going on?  Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.  I’m all done.  I’m on my way home now.”

“Finally!  What happened?”

“I’ll tell you about it when I get home.  It’ll be about…  Actually, I’m not entirely sure.  Hold on.”  Lowering the phone he called out to Father Billy, “How long will it take to get me home?”

“About eight hours, probably.”

Returning his phone to his ear, he asked, “Did you catch that?”

“Yeah.  I guess you got your walking in for the year, huh?  Who was that?”

“Oh, that’s Father Billy.  He’s driving me home.”

“Oh.  Okay.”

“I’m his limo driver for the night!” Father Billy called back proudly. 

“Oh.  Wow.  A limo, huh?”

“Yeah, I’m coming home in style,” Eric boasted, grinning down at the torn upholstery and the stained carpet. 

“Cool.  No picking up girls, you two.”

“Hey, no promises.  If Father Billy wants to pick up some chicks, I’m not telling a bad-ass man of God he can’t.”

Up front, he heard Father Billy chuckle. 

“I’m
definitely
going to pick up dinner, though,” he warned.  “I’m starving.”

“I’ll bet you are.  You get yourself a treat.”

“I intend to.”  His eyes drifted out the window as they passed a very familiar gas station.  The pumps were gone, the door boarded shut.  The lawn where the limo sat was overrun with weeds.  It looked like no one had been there for decades. 

Except that he glimpsed through the window a shiny new Coke can sitting on the corner of the desk, right where he’d left it. 

“Huh…”

“What?”

“Nothing.  Just tired.  Listen, I’m going to have to go for the night.  My cell phone battery is almost dead.”

“Oh.  Well, I guess I’ll see you in the morning then.”

“Yeah.  Try and get some sleep.”

“I’ll try.  If you’ve got any charge left when you get back in town, call and wake me up.”

“I really don’t think I’ll have any charge left.  Besides, I think I broke it at some point.  It may be a lost cause.”

“Oh no.”

“Yeah.  Anyway, I’d better say goodbye now.”

“Okay.  Goodbye.  I love you.”

“Love you too.  Bye.”

Eric disconnected the phone and stared at it.  He had always hated these things.  Stupid, annoying little devices that people took far too seriously.  How ironic was it, then, that he’d had to rely on it all day long as a compass for this strange journey and a connection to those he loved? 

A new text message from Isabelle flashed across the screen without waiting for him to answer. 

DO IT!

Laughing, Eric rolled down the window and gleefully tossed the phone out into the night. 

# # #

It’s not over.

Eric’s adventures continue in

Rushed

The Unseen

Keep reading for
a preview of the second book in this thrilling series.