Cardinal Emmanuelle lowered his secure cell phone.
No answer – again.
He took a deep and loud breath trying to calm the rage brewing inside him…it only added fuel to his anger. Ben Wilson had left him a rather cryptic message earlier in the day about there being a complication, and unforeseen turn events that needed ‘verification’. He had been trying to connect with him directly ever since, calling every fifteen minutes like clockwork with no answer.
Verification? That was an odd choice of words, he thought. Still it could really mean only one thing, Ana’s older sister Siobhán was somehow still alive and this complicated matters to no end. Ben had apparently now gone silent and was not answering his phone, an additional irritation that presently was more maddening than the possibility that the girl was still alive.
He could hardly believe this turn of events. Ben had told him only a few days ago that his assignment had been completed – that Siobhán the last of the older sisters had finally been found and terminated. Everything appeared to be coming to together as planned. Now it seemed that forces had conspired to complicate their plan…forces that made him uneasy and concerned.
The Almah, the virgin daughters as they were called, had been concealed from the outside world and protected in their ‘Fathers House’, the Church, since the living time of Jesus Christ. In top secret scriptures, the actual last testament written by Christ himself…and only known to the Pope and his secret advisory Council Arcana Imperii – Council of Invisible Power…a daughter of Christ is prophesized to bare a son and inherit the rightful throne and kingdom of the Father.
The first child of Mary Magdalene was a daughter, and Christ directed his apostles to conceal this daughter and any that followed. They were to protect and nurture them for all of time, and ensure that his lineage remain unbroken. He told them later during his resurrection that his return and the full rapture of his heavenly Father would be marked by the birth of a son of his daughter.
The first daughter was called Jana. She gave birth to two daughters, Seneca and Emmanuelle, having never know a man…and so it would continue. Each daughter would give birth to two more daughters, never more than two, and it seemed through…Immaculate Conception –a reality that the Church found increasingly uncomfortable.
It also seemed that with each generation the sisters were becoming more in tune with the nature of their station and purpose. Some had begun to develop talents and skills which demonstrated a much deeper and profound understanding of the universe and heaven. The sisters also exhibited the ability to know and feel what another was experiencing, as if they were joined by a shared web of connections. They would often talk of each other and things, even when separated by continents, as if they were in the same room and experiencing the same event. The Church was careful not to call these talents supernatural or miracles, it was clear they were skills which were certainly beyond the limitations of ordinary men.
This evolution of the Almah had sparked considerable debate within the Council Arcana Imperii, and increasing uneasiness among the believers that something was amiss. The fear emerged that perhaps the Almah had been compromised and contaminated by evil…perhaps by even the anti-Christ himself. This would explain the successive generations of daughters – with not a single son, and these new disconcerting talents. Clearly they reasoned something needed to be done, and that it was the duty of the Church to correct this errant path and restore the wishes of the Father and Jesus Christ.
For hundreds of years the Church had waited for a son…and the Church had grown increasingly impatient and exhausted substantial treasure. It seemed clear now that an evil force had compromised the heavenly plan and it was incumbent on mortal men, the servants of God themselves to intervene, even accelerate and guide the wishes of Christ and Heaven toward the natural and intended outcome.
A plan was crafted and the Cardinal along with Monsignori Benoit and Monsignori Vicarii had been charged with executing it swiftly and concisely. In total there had been fifty seven daughters slain, save one little three year who would become the vassal to their ultimate goal. The plan had called for one daughter to be spared and brought in to direct Church custody and control. She would be properly indoctrinated into the Church and with the linkage to her sisters dead any further unholy powers and skills would be extinguished. Then immediately upon experiencing her transition to womanhood, be artificially inseminated and through controlled genetic processes give birth to a son – the first Son of Christ…let loose the full prophecy Christ and the Lord himself will descend from the heavens.
The fact that Siobhán could possibly still be alive proved that significant forces of good and evil were very much still in play. If Siobhán remained alive then her shared connection to Ana must also still exist and as long as this linkage remained they could never properly protect Ana or control her development…or carry out their plan. The revelation that Siobhán had somehow survived Ben Wilson’s crusade also meant that the other side…the dark side was assembling to protect these daughters. The thought of this and the implications sent shivers down the Cardinals spine.
He must confirm this situation, he thought anxiously.
The Cardinal lifted his secure cell phone and redialed Ben Wilson’s number on more time. He placed the phone to his ear and listed to it ring on the other end, desperately needing him to answer.
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Lawrence Lewis
About Lawrence Lewis
I do a number of things professionally...but most of all and the true purpose of what I do through "my work" is to provide for my family, be a good husband and great father, and try to make a difference as a world citizen...I guess it's not much more complicated than that 🙂