Morningstar/Alignment by Keith Trimm (people reading books txt) 📕

Alex stepped away from the Pastor and held his hands up to the crowd. His purple robes hung from his arms hovering inches from the dirt he stood upon. "Hear me now!" he yelled to the crowd. "In ten days we shall gather at the coliseum." Alex turned slowly as he continued, "And we shall baptize these men before the eyes off all." Alex looked down at Tony and pointed at him. "Tomorrow we shall end the Second Coming forever! Tomorrow the savior is mine!" Alex paused and scanned the crowd. A smile crossed his face and he raised both hands to the sky. "Take them to the prison!" he yelled and turned away. The crowd parted like the Red Sea as Alex and Pastor Jack Rhine walked through the masses disappearing into the crowd.

Tony and Jackson were picked up and carried overhead by the crowd across the courtyard to a doorway in a large stone building. The wood doors were unlocked and opened allowing the mob to carry the two prisoners inside. Tony and Jackson were shackled to the wall with heavy chains and locked behind an interior door. Only a sliver of light penetrated the darkness illuminating the dust that swirled in the air.

The exterior door was shut with a crash of wood and stone and locked from outside. The men were in almost total darkness. The stone walls concealed any sounds from the outside world.

The sliver of light shot a dot on the far wall and Tony’s eyes began to adjust to the dark. He could make out the faint outline of Jackson shackled on the wall next to him. "How are you doing Jackson?" Tony asked.

"Considering the circumstances I would say I’m doing wonderful," Jackson replied sarcastically. "Since we aren’t going anywhere soon, I have a few questions for you."

Tony shuffled in his restraints and the metal clinked against the stone wall. "Go ahead," he replied.

"Who are you?"

Tony paused thinking the question was ridiculous. "I am professor, Dr. Tony Rhine," he replied.

"Ok, now who are you really?" Jackson asked. "They sure seem happy to have you hear for some reason." Jackson waited for the answer. A moment passed and he added, "And why did he call you the savior?"

"I would rather not get into that," Tony replied.

Becoming angry, Jackson said, "I am in this too. I would appreciate it if you clued me in."

"Jackson could not see it, but Tony was shaking his head in disgust. "Fine!" Tony said and rested his head against the stone behind him. "They seem to think I am Jesus."

"They do?" Jackson asked. "I kind of got that vibe myself."

"You’re kidding, right?" Tony asked.

"I am a very religious man," Jackson replied. "Unlike you, I don’t require absolute proof. I have faith."

"What makes you think I am him?"

"I have seen demons. I have seen the dead rise. I believe I am in Hell, and I believe I have seen Satan in the flesh."

"No you have not!"

"Was that your father?" Jackson asked.

Tony was silent. He had no answer. "I don’t know," Tony replied. "I still think I we have jumped dimensions somehow."

"Did you ever consider that maybe Heaven and Hell are dimensions?" Jackson asked. "Maybe the world we came from is just one of three dimensions. We just ping pong back and forth between them."

"And maybe monkeys fly out my behind!" Tony replied. "I will never believe I am in Hell and there is no way I will ever believe I am Jesus Christ."

"Ramsey said the demons asked if he were the son of man. Who do you think they were talking about? There are only two of us left and I am sure it is not me."

"If I were the Son of God, I could free myself from these restraints right now," Tony said. "Or maybe not. Even Jesus could not get himself off that cross."

Jackson shook his head. "Jesus had to die that day. It was prophesized. If he had come down off the cross, the ransom would have never been paid. He died for our sins. He was the sacrifice."

"He chose to die? I find that hard to believe," Tony said smugly.

"We are going to die and be reborn into Hell just because you are to cynical to even try to believe it."

"What do you want me to do? Just toss out my common sense?"

"I want you to get some faith. What will it hurt? We get baptized in ten days!"

"Why ten days?" Tony asked. "Why don’t they just get it over?"

"It makes sense."

"How?"

"It’s in Revelation’s 2:10" Jackson replied.

"I don’t suppose you want to share it with me?"

"What good will it do. You don’t believe anyway."

"Just tell me the verse!"

Jackson paused a moment then sighed. "I don’t know it exactly. It has something to do with the devil putting some souls in prison for ten days and tormenting them. Those who are faithful to God will not suffer the second death."

"We are living out a prophecy in Revelations?"

"Well, not exactly. You, I mean Jesus is supposed to be on the other side of the fence. It looks to me like your friend Alex there made a plan."

"A plan?" Tony asked.

"To stop the Second Coming. To keep Jesus from judging the living and the dead." Jackson replied.

Tony thought a moment. "It would make sense," Tony said. "How else would my father, a riotous man of God be trapped in Hell?"

"He did say that every soul he stole he kept for his own," Jackson said. "Maybe he has no intentions of giving up what he has stolen."

"At judgment day, this place would fill up with sinners. Why would he want just these pitiful few?" Tony asked.

"Maybe he likes stealing from God. He has pride. At the judgment he would have to give up his spoils."

"Yeah I see, I think he prefers to steal from God rather than fill this place with sinners."

"We have ten days to figure something out doctor. I hope you get some faith before then." Jackson said.

Chapter 29

On the tenth day of captivity, the prison door swung open filling the small room with bright light. Tony and Jackson were blinded as they were hauled out into the courtyard tripping over their food bowls scattered on the floor. It took a while for their eyes to readjust to the sun and to the presence of their captors.

Four guards armed with long spears prodded the men into the back of an enclosed cart and then closed the door, tying it closed with rope. The two captives looked out between the slats of the cage and saw that the courtyard was vacant except for the guards posted nearby.

A crack of a whip sent the cart moving. The massive beast that pulled the cart lumbered in a slow yet steady pace along the dirt courtyard. The wheels made a grinding sound as they ground over the loose sand and rock strewn about the area.

"Where are you taking us?" Jackson yelled.

His answer was a stab in the leg from one of the guards walking behind. There would be no talking. Tony scanned the area, surprised to see no one around. The city seemed deserted. He looked to Jackson who was holding the bloody wound with his hand grimacing in pain.

"That jerk!" Jackson whispered.

"Are you alright?" Tony asked.

"Hell no," he said surprisingly calmly, and wiped sweat from his brow with his free hand. "We’re going to die today," he added looking off in a daze. "I should enjoy the pain. It may be the last feeling I have."

Tony looked to the floor of the cage. His head began to ache and his skin became hot and sweaty. "It must be ninety five degrees in here," Tony said.

"I expected Hell to be a lot hotter than that," Jackson said almost jokingly.

"I didn’t expect Hell to have blue skies and green grass either," Tony responded. "I think most people have it wrong."

"Why don’t you write a book about it," Jackson said with a smile.

The cart rolled further across the courtyard down the main street towards the coliseum. They were now rolling over cobblestone and the cart rattled with each stone they moved over. They were flanked on both sides by stone buildings and strange animals not familiar to either of them. Behind them, keeping pace with the lumbering beast, were the guards ready to strike at them at any moment.

"I didn’t think Hell was a place," Tony said. "My grandmother told me Hell was an eternity from God. That’s what my dad used to say when he preached."

"I don’t know what to tell you friend. Maybe this is another sacrifice." Jackson said. "I guess you haven’t been to prolific in the miracle department so far."

"There aren’t any lepers around for me to heal," Tony said with a grin.

"I got one for you."

"What’s that?" Tony asked.

"My leg," Jackson said looking at the blood running down his calf. "It would be a great test."

"Test your Lord? That is blasphemous!" Tony said.

One of the guards struck the side of the cage with his spear startling the two men. Tony moved away from the door and sulked into a corner. He looked to Jackson and closed his eyes. He reached over and placed his hand on Jackson’s wounded leg. Moments passed with only the sounds of the cart rolling and the guards’ footsteps behind them. Tony opened his eyes and looked at Jackson’s wound. There was no difference.

Jackson whispered, "You have to believe. You have to have faith."

Tony retracted his hand and folded his arms across his chest. Frustrated he turned and looked outside the cart at the buildings passing by.

In the distance they could hear the sounds of a massive crowd. They knew the coliseum was close and soon they would meet their fate. Louder and louder the sounds became as they heard cheers and yelling bouncing off buildings in all directions. Tony turned and looked over the beast pulling the cart at the huge building before them.

A moment later they were in a dark tunnel entering the building. The sounds of the cart bounced off the stone walls echoing back and forth. The opening of the tunnel grew smaller and smaller as they moved deeper inside the building. The door to the entrance was closing and the tunnel became very dark. Clanking and clopping sounds were the only things the two men could hear now. The crowd was to far away. The further they moved the more the tunnel lightened. The crowd noise became louder as they neared the exit moving ever onward.

Exiting the tunnel they broke into the bright daylight and the crowd roared with excitement. The show had arrived. Tony and Jackson scanned the stadium looking at the people in the stands surrounding them. It reminded Tony of a bull-fighting arena, the way the high walls prevented anything from escaping into the crowd. The coliseum was massive. It was three times the size of a football stadium, but in a perfect circle. They were wheeled out to the center of the field and stopped next to a sixty-foot tall obelisk where the beast was unhitched and led away.

The cart was untied and the two captives were pulled out and brought around to face in the direction of Alex who was sitting on the kings throne. Alex sat flanked on each side by two leathery winged demons that kept watch over him like a hawk. Surrounding them were many servants and guards who tended to Alex like the royalty he was.

Tony looked up to Alex, who was sitting high on the royal platform. Restrained from behind, Tony was forced to stand at attention as Alex looked down upon him. Jackson joined Tony at his side and both men felt spears at their backs.

"Tony!" Alex said leaning back in his throne chair. "The time has come." Alex slowly stood and walked to the edge of the platform. "We have gathered to rejoice at your baptism." Alex raised his arms to the crowd and the masses cheered.