GladhavenChronicles
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GLADHAVEN CHRONICLES
The Dungeon of Dread
4 young adventurers, and one tween, were in the village square, listening to 'Brand', the village hero in his mid 30s.
'Only 3 leagues northwards. A dungeon of dread, with treasures which abound. A fearless wizard watches over them. The treasures are aplenty.'
So the tween and the four young adventurers in their early teens set out one Saturday morning, armed with wooden swords and leather shields, they found the dungeon, and descended.
'Wealth galore,' said the tween, about the amazingly decorated and well lit and plush dungeon.
They filled sacks with golden goblets, and other artefacts, and entered a room.
A goblin was there.
'Swords ready,' said the tween. 'Our first fight.'
The goblin yawned, and looked at them. 'We're a legally registered gaming adventure park of KBO, the Kobold Business Organisation. Please put our stuff back.'
The youths, embarrassed, returned their goods. At the exit, the fearsome wizard, manager of the adventure park, said 'You should thank your lucky stars I'm not telling your parents.'
The Adventurers were relieved indeed.
The End
Scarlet
Scarlet was a girl. She had red hair. She joined clubs. Lots of clubs. She was 16 years old. Full of life. Full of passion. She was the number one sportsperson in her school. She was the number one academic. She was the prettiest girl you ever did see. She had 3 boyfriends, and 12 other suitors. She was more popular than many minor celebrities. She really was the bees knees.
But she was bored. So fucking bored.
Angus was a teenager, in a school which hated him. He dressed in black, listened to heavy metal, wore Satan Lives on his T-Shirt, and told everyone to fuck off regularly. His grades were pathetic, but he was averaging B+ in music. The teacher, despite her very conservative leanings, admitted he could play the bass guitar quite well.
But Angus was mostly bored. So fucking bored.
After school, Angus was down by the river behind the school grounds, his one and only heavy metal friend having departed, and there he was, practicing on his bass guitar, when he noticed the Scarlet Bitch, who was fucking her boyfriend for all too see, and then the boy was gone, and she was putting her dress back on. Quickest way to VD as far as Angus was concerned.
Scarlet noticed Angus. She came over to him. She did what she liked. She ruled.
'Hey,' she said to him.
'Hey,' he responded.
'You like metal?' she asked him.
He nodded.metal
'Dafuq?' he said, as he looked at her.
3 weeks later they were dating, and she was in the band. She was learning keyboards, as she was already good at the piano, and she had bought several heavy metal classics upon his recommendation.
Scarlet was no longer bored.
Angus was no longer bored.
Life has a weird way of working its shit out.
The End
Scarlet 2
Scarlet lived in Gladhaven. A small town in Nebraska, were nothing happened. Except Angus. Angus had an alright dick. She enjoyed sucking it. Angus always said 'Amazing babe'. 'You really blow my mind.' She was used to doing it.
8 years passed. She was still sucking Angus dick. And, by then, she was not so sure how much she wanted to go on doing it. Scarlet worked in her father, a Lawyer's, firm. She was legal aid. She had graduated from Gladhaven Institute of Technology, because it didn't have a university, and decided to stay in her home town, and not go off to Omaha to study at Uni. She loved Angus. Even if he was a loser. Her main old school boyfriend before Angus was doing well. He was also a lawyer, in the heart of Gladhaven CBD. Very rich now, so her father told her. 'You let that one get away,' so her mother reminded her. Every bloody day, nearly.
Angus, finally, after leaving school at 17, had cracked his first job last year at McDonalds. Working the fries. He was currently part-time. She didn't have to support him so much anymore. But all night he watched heavy metal videos, and played heavy metal music. He drank a lot of beer, but never really got drunk. Funnily enough he was usually sober. 2 or 3, 4 at the most, and he would leave it at that. And he never drove while over the limit. With the law changes he went to Colorado occasionally to smoke pot, but only once every 6 months. He didn't do it otherwise. His uncle had been a Marist Brother, and his father had raised him with strict rules. She had tolerated his obsession with Heavy Metal, but he was weirdly clean cut in some ways. She found that, though, in the metal scene. A lot of the kids were quite straight. Not really sons of the devil that you might think.
He loved Scarlet. She knew that. And his metal had gradually improved. His old metal buddy, Rufus MacLean, who was good at guitar, and acceptable on drums, had partied with him for years, and they had endless demos. Some of them actually reasonably decent in Scarlet's opinion. But it was a life going nowhere, and she was questioning. Was it enough for her?
'You know, it will work out in eternity. We have original copyright. The world is still young on metal. I'm pretty sure our stuff is legit.'
'Your weird Noahide beliefs,' said Scarlet.
'It's all about original copyright,' said Angus.
'It better be,' she replied.
'Thought you loved me anyway,' said Angus.
'I do,' she replied. 'But success is important. Look, I won't leave you. But you work your shitty talent. You work it buster.'
So he did.
The End
Life's an Adventure
Lucas, Robert, Mary and Steven. And Isabelle the Tomboy who was a bit older.
'Life's an adventure,' said Lucas.
'Let's get drunk,' said Robert.
'Your too square to get drunk,' said Mary, looking at the glossy magazine in their hangout club.
'And your too much of a lady to get drunk with me,' replied Robert. Mary was a lady. A rich bitch. She lived in Gladhaven, the daughter of a rich man on the town council, and her father had bought them this house, down one of the sidestreets next to the river which ran through the centre of town, for a clubhouse when they were younger. They'd been hooligans, somewhat, when they were younger. Even trying to rip off stuff from the Dungeon of Dread Adventure park, which had just been a little bit of a joke, acting on Brand's advice. Brand Brigsby. Town Cool Kid. Now 40, and mostly drunk, living on the streets, cause his wife had left him, he'd lost his job, and he didn't give a shit anymore. Mary pitied him, and bought him a hot dog every now and again, but he still didn't care.
'Lucas MacLean. When is Rufus coming over?' asked Mary.
'We've never been cool enough for him to want to hang with us,' said Lucas. 'He is only into his heavy metal community anyway.'
'You don't dig Angus Campbell,' said Steven. 'And that's Rufus best mate.'
'He called me a bitch, once, in school. I've never forgiven him,'said Mary.
Isabelle looked up. She had been playing Alice Cooper's album 'School's Out' lowly on the record player. 'You love heavy metal, but you can't get over your gripe. Your just jealous that Scarlet landed him. You wanted him bad. You said so all the time.'
'Shut up,' said Mary. 'She's a protestant bitch, that Scarlet. Presbyterian. She wouldn't understand him.'
'And you would, I suppose,' said Lucas. 'He doesn't even believe in the Church anymore. Mostly that Noahide cult on the southside. What he follows.'
'You never leave Catholicism,' replied Mary.
'Tell that to Martin Luther,' replied Lucas.
Mary stuck her tongue out at Lucas who had gone into the kitchen to get a can of Coca Cola.
'So when is Rufus coming over?' asked Mary to Lucas again.
'Eventually,' replied Lucas, walking back into the room.
'They'll never let you join their band,' said Isabelle. 'Your only average on drums. And Scarlet doesn't like you that much.'
'I'm getting better,' said Mary.
'Mary O'Donnell. Drummer for 'The Decadent Dreamers'. She'll be famous, I tell you,' said Robert.
'Shut up Robbie,' said Mary.
'They'll scream for her,' said Robert.
'Shut up,' said Mary again, smiling.
'They'll scream at her,' said Lucas. 'Her drumming is that bad.'
The gang laughed. Mary blushed. Another day passed in Gladhaven.
The End
Life's an Adventure 2
'Mary O'Donnell. You are no good girl. No good.'
'Look, boss. I spent all afternoon stacking those can's the way you said,' replied Mary. 'What? Aren't they done to your liking?'
The boss glared at the girl. She was arrogant. What would you expect - her family was loaded. She only worked in the Supermarket because her father insisted she do something productive with her time, and even though she was bright enough and academic enough she couldn't really be bothered pushing too hard in life. She was set to inherit a fortune. She already owned a clubhouse where she could sleep if she wanted to. She just didn't really care that much because of it. Life was an adventure, with her church social group, and that was how she'd liked it since leaving school, and the way it had always been. She wasn't planning anything different.
'Look, the can's are stacked fine. But it took you 4 hours which was a 20 minute job. I don't even know why I'm paying you. We must be making a loss.'
'Sorry Mr Rodriguez,' replied Mary. 'I'll try better next time.'
'You do that girl,' said the Supermarket store owner, and walked off.
'Moron,' she said as he departed, and got back to putting new vegetables into the vegetable aisle.
'Wassup?' asked Lucas MacLean, when Mary O'Donnell walked through the clubhouse front door, late on Friday afternoon. Evening, really.
'Work,' she replied. 'Boring as usual.'
'But it pays the bills, huh,' replied Lucas, grinning.
Steven was in front of the stereo, and Alice Cooper's 'Welcome to My Nightmare' was playing. As usual. Steven dug the coop. The clubhouse had all his records on vinyl, ironically, because Steven was a puritanical for the older music, which had to be in an appropriate format, be that record or cassette. Sure, by the 90s CD was cool enough for stuff of that era, but forget it for anything 1989 or older.
'Put on Iron Maiden. Or Def Leppard,' said Mary. 'Enough of that Alice Cooper shit. I've had my fill of that bloody album.'
Steven flipped her the bird, but put on 'Pyromania' by Def Leppard onto the record player.
'You look like shit,' said Steven, looking at the sweat on Mary's face.
'I feel like shit,' she said. 'I had to actually do real work late in the day. Clean the frikkin toilets. They were disgusting as well.'
'Mary O'Donnell. Working for the money. Who would ever have thought it,' said Steven.
'And she's on minimum wage too,' said Lucas. 'Isn't life ironic.'
'Shut up,' replied Mary, and likewise made a finger gesture.
Mary looked at Steven. He was dressed in black. 'You going to see her again. Are you? Gertrude?'
Steven nodded. 'She's pregnant,' he said.
The other two looked at him, stunned. 'Your frikking kidding, aren't you?' asked Lucas.
'I'm sort of the dad,' said Steven.
'What do you mean sort of?' asked Mary, eyebrow raised.
'Well, if you don't count the incubus involved,' said Steven sombrely.
'Man,' said Mary. '24 and the doofus is a dad already.'
'My dad was 24 when he had me,' said Lucas.
'Yeh. And look at how you turned out,' said Mary. Lucas threw a CD at her.
'So, what's the plan?' Mary asked. 'We doing anything tonight? Or just crashing here and listening to music.'
'Isabelle is bringing pizza. From Pizza Hut. Nice ones,' said Lucas. 'She'll be here when she finishes work at 6. Probably get here around 7. I think we are just crashing here tonight.'
'That will do just fine,' said Mary. 'I think I'll work on my next volume of 'Mary Rox'.' Mary Rox was a compilation series of CDs which Mary burnt onto CD from her PC. She'd done 7 of them so far, and planned them out carefully.
'Another night of bullshit then,' said Steven.
'Another night of bullshit,' agreed Mary, as, indeed, another night of bullshit passed in Gladhaven, and another weekend got underway in the quiet and sleepy Nebraskan American town.
The End
Life's an Adventure 3
The gang were at Church. Sunday night, when the usually attended. St Thomas', on Main Street, on the south side of town. Father Mick Collins was the Parish Priest of the Catholic Church, and Mary Donnelly went every week. She never missed. She was not religious, in her own words. But she never missed church. There was a difference between being religious and simply being properly devoted to one's faith and what one professed to believe.
'I'm not a hypocrite. I go to church every Sunday. I practice my faith. But I'm not a nun,' Mary was wont of saying. She delineated between being religious and simply being somebody who took seriously what they claimed to believe. More intellectual acknowledgement in her own words.
'So,' said Father Collins, closing his homily. 'Like Christ we must humble ourselves. To Calvary, if necessary. To the bloody martyrdom of our own soul, for the sake of the Kingdom of God.' And then he finished his sermon, and returned to his seat.
After Church the 5 of them were out in the front ground of the church, the priest talking with people.
'That's him,' said Isabelle, the oldest of them, pointing to a man.'
'Daniel Daly,' said Steven. 'Founder of the Noahide Church.'
'It's not a church,' said Lucas.
'Duh,' replied Steven. 'They say he's secretly really old. Like two or three hundred or something. That's he's been around since the 20th century.'
'Very few that old,' said Mary, looking at him. 'And he only looks about 40.'
'He has grey hairs,' said Steven. 'But mostly dark brown. They say he's ageless. One of God's chosen ones. Will live as long as Noah apparently.'
'950 years,' said Mary.
'So the rumour goes,' said Steven. 'Apparently there are lots of them out there. In the world. Old people, now. Shielded by Government, usually. Not talked about. Shy to the media. Government doesn't want people to know the Bible is true.'
Mary looked at Daniel Daly. 20th Century? It was the year 2096. Nobody should look that young born from the 20th century.
'I'm going to talk to him,' said Mary.
The gang watched as Mary O'Donnell walked over, and introduced herself to the Noahide Pastor Daniel Daly.
'Hello. I'm Mary,' said Mary. 'I'm a churchgoer here at St Thomas'.'
'Pleasure to meet you,' replied Daniel, and smiled at her.
'So how old are you then?' asked Mary, blurting it out.
'Mary O'Donnell. Mind your manners,' said Father Collins.
'I'm 123,' said Daniel. 'Turning 124 in November.'
'123? Seriously?' asked Mary.
'I do not tell a lie,' responded Mr Daly. 'But keep it to yourself, ok. And your friends. I could hear you all. You want to know. God's people are allowed to.'
'How come? How come he blesses you with such long life?' asked Mary.
'If you want it,' said Daniel, grinning. 'Ask him for it.' And he smiled to her, and returned to his conversation with the priest.
Mary looked at Mr Daly, thinking on that statement, and wandered back to her group.
'What did he say?' asked Steven.
'Uh, nothing,' said Mary.
'Nothing?' queried Steven, the rest of the group looking at her.
'It's not important,' she replied, as the group starting gossiping on just that. But Mary just looked at Mr Daly, and thought on what he said. Ask for it. As simple as that? Ask for it. And, driving home, thinking on that, a leap of faith was taking place in the heart of Mary O'Donnell. A very momentous leap of Almighty Faith.
The End
Life's an Adventure 4
'Everything is backwards in Gladhaven,' said Steven.
'How so?' asked Mary, looking up from her New King James study bible.
'Let me explain,' said the lad. 'Yankees live on the south side of town. All the Catholics on the south side. Protestants on the North side. That's backwards. The Catholics in our town are very biblical, while Protestants barely quote scripture, and are very much into traditional ways. We listen to a heck of a lot of Heavy Metal, but tonnes of Christian CDs as well. Protestant ones, heaps of them. We barely touch traditional Catholic Music. And Father Mick encourages us to be biblical, and embrace our Protestant brethren to get along. You know that Scarlet bitch?'
Mary nodded.
'She prays the rosary. Calls herself a Catholic Presbyterian. Says the Anglican Church and the Lutheran Church and the Presbyterian are traditionally called Catholic Churches anyway.'
'That's actually true,' replied Mary. 'They do use the Apostles creed very often, and do identify as Catholic very often.'
Steven looked at her. 'Are you serious?'
Mary nodded. 'Most of the Protestants in this town are Apostolic,' she said. 'There was a movement in the town when it was young where the protestant churches studied the Apostolic Fathers regularly together, and creeped closer to traditional Catholicism. I read about it in a town history book.'
'Apostolic Fathers?' queried Steven, a blank look on his face.
'Sequel to the New Testament,' said Mary.
'Well there we go again,' said Steven. 'The Protestants are Catholic and the Catholics are Protestant. Gladhaven is all backwards.'
Mary looked at the bible she was reading. New King James version. As protestant as hell. She chuckled a little.
'I'm not protestant,' said Isabelle. 'I'm a Jehovah's Witness.'
Lucas guffawed practically, and Mary just stared at Isabelle. 'A Joe Hoe?' she queried.
'I have seen new light,' said Isabelle. 'The Watchtower controls my destiny,' she said, still grinning.
'Are you a faithful slave?' asked Steven.
'I am literally of the John class,' said Isabelle.
'That holy,' said Mary. 'Are you ready to announce the Kingdom of Jehovah?'
'My presence,' makes it known,' said Isabelle, now standing, and putting her hand out like a communist visionary.
'All hail Queen Isabelle, Lord of the Joe Hoe's,' said Lucas.
'Yes. Yes Lord,' said Isabelle. 'For I am a man in many ways.'
'That's true,' said Steven.
'Shut up moron,' retorted Isabelle. 'Your Queen has spoken. Off with his head.'
'Shall I get the guillotine your majesty,' said Lucas. 'We can have a proper beheading.'
Isabelle, grandly, gazed at Steven. 'Nay, I sense he has repented, and fears the Mighty Queen of the Watchtower once more. He may have mercy.'
'Praise for the mercy of Queen Isabelle,' said Mary sarcastically, as Isabelle collapsed on them all, laughing her head off.
As they chatted amongst themselves, Mary laughed a little, and returned to her study. Genesis. Chapter 9. The Noahide thing.
'..........................rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
'Really?' she said out loud, to the spirit.
'Really,' it said in her heart and head.
'Mary? Who are you talking to?' asked Isabelle, as the others were wrestling.
Mary looked at her. She didn't respond, but looked blankly at Isabelle, her mind elsehwere, and returned to her bible. Isabelle fell to wrestling again, but had her eye on her bestie.
'You expect me to believe this?' she asked HIM again.
'You expect me to believe in Monkeys, do you?' the voice said in her head.
She shut up. She wasn't really sure if she believed in monkeys anymore. She wasn't really sure if old Darwin really was scientific any more. Too many holes. Too many problems.
'950 years is a long time,' she said quietly.
'Try infinity,' replied the voice.
She didn't say anything. She just smiled. And picked up her bible, went off to the back room, and sat quietly reading. Isabelle came in after a while, looked at her, and looked at what she was reading, but didn't comment. But she could see the intense look on her friends face. The intense look and that something was happening in her. Something, very deep, was happening in the heart of Mary O'Donnell.
The End
The Black Witch
'Black Witch will get you.'
'Shut up Mary,' said Steven.
'If you go down to the woods tonight, your in for a big surprise. Coz Gertie, the black village witch, will swallow your soul alive,' teased Mary, with the song they all knew as kids.
'Gertrude is misunderstood,' said Steven Morris.
'Hang around with her too long,' said Mary Donnelly. 'And you're the one who'll be misunderstood. You know how damn judgemental this down is. Witches are practically for a burnin, Stevie. It's not the 21st century yet, you know. We're still in the 1700s.'
'I don't care,' replied Steven. 'She teaches me shit. Weird shit. Ley lines. And about Incubus and Succubus. All sorts of crazy shit.'
'You'll end up crazy,' said Mary. 'But its your funeral.'
Steven was in black, again. Not heavy metal black. Just black. Warlock black, he liked to pretend.
On the Southend of Gladhaven Town, there was a forest. At the beginning of the road which ran into the woods was the new brick Noahide fellowship, only a few years old. The Haven Noahide Fellowship, which had steadily been preaching around town to gain converts of interested parties. They had a few. Judaism for non Jews, really. The Rainbow Covenant. Steven appreciated the sentiment of religion for gentiles, as it were, but he was happy with his Catholicism. But further into the forest, along the road, you found a caravan by the river. And that is where the Black Witch lived, and told fortunes to those brave enough to wander in, and read palms, and she even had a frikkin crystal ball, which amused Steven. Tarot cards too. She was the real thing.
'I like you in black,' said the 31 year old Gertrude Collins.
'You like it,' said Steven defensively.
'It is the colour of my lord and master,' she replied.
'Satan?' he queried. She nodded. 'Are you sure you can trust the devil?'
'He's just - misunderstood,' replied Gertrude the Black Witch. 'Now, don't move.'
She proceeded to take a black marker, and draw lines on his chest for a while. And then markings on his face and arms and hands.
'What's this shit for?' asked Steven.
'I'm part of an old coven,' said Gertrude. 'These are symbols of our coven. They attract the demons we want.'
Steven was nervous. 'Why do we want to summon demons?'
'An Incubus and a Succubus,' said Gertrude.
'Sex demons,' said Steven.
'What else,' she replied. 'Tonight we have some fun. They'll make you cum like you've never done. It's intense.'
'Oh,' he replied. 'Cool bananas.'
'Now, keep quiet,' she replied. 'I've got work to do. Take off your pants. You can leave on your underwear.' He obeyed, and she continued on marking him, and then spent 20 minutes doing herself.
'Sakaramar. Here us. Delvana. Here us.' She broke the neck of the white dove, and spilled its blood into the cauldron. 'Blood of life, pure and clean. A sacrifice for demon dreams.'
Steven felt it, the feeling in his spine, tingles. And then like electricity all through him and in his crotch and anus. And then Gertrude was pulling him to her bedroom, and he was suddenly more the man than he really was, and he was inside her, and thrusting, and his orgasm was intense, and then it went all dark, and he was in blackness.........................
* * *
'You were wonderful,' she said.
'I was?' asked Steven, coming to.
'The pleasure was - amazing,' said Gertrude.
'Gee. That's good,' he said. 'I remember coming. And not much else.'
'I think I conceived,' she said.
He looked at her. 'Your fucking kidding.'
'No,' she said, and laughed a bit wickedly. 'But don't worry about it. I won't ask you for anything.'
'Oh,' he replied. 'Well, ok. But I can be its dad if you don't care.'
'I don't want the world to know about it. I only go into town for food and to clear my social security payment. They don't care about me. They just pay it to get rid of me. I hate them. All of them. But your different. Your like me, Steven. Not the same as them. Fuck, like fucking muggles they are. Even though that's all bullshit. Everyone can use the power if they want to. If they let it.'
'Sure,' he said, looking at her belly. Was his child, even now, in there? Growing?
'I'll come again. Next week,' he said.
She grabbed him, and touched his manhood. 'I'll be looking forward to it,' she said, and moaned a little.
Later, he had cleaned up the markings, and was in the clubhouse again.
'Did she fuck your brains out?' asked Mary.
Steven didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything. It had been too - intense - to even speak about.
But he would go next week, anyway. He would go again, and find passion. Find passion with the Black Witch.
The End
This is Gladhaven
Mary O'Donnell looked at the brick building. The door had a sign which read 'Open'. It was midday Wednesday, and she had no idea about the service times for the Noahide fellowship, but she walked in anyway.
It was a basic sort of hall, seats, a pulpit down the front, and some paintings of Noah's Arks and Rainbows and things. There was a bookcase with books, and speakers, with a stereo. And not much else. The carpet was blue and basic, and the walls were painted light green. There was a desk behind the pulpit, with one figure there. Mr Daly, ironically
'Ahem,' she said.
He turned and looked at her. He waved her over. She walked in.
'Hello again,' he said.
'You think you guys are right,' said Mary.
'Torah is right,' said Mr Daly.
'What about Gospel?' she asked.
'A message of hope, I suppose. Eternity is based on strict obedience to law principles which don't change. Love is great, but live by too much grace and sin runs rampant in the end. And your eternity won't last.'
'I think I might almost agree with that now,' said Mary.
'Are you asking him for the tree of life, then?' asked Daniel.
'Something like that,' she replied.
'Are you over Jesus of Nazareth?' he asked.
'If I have to be,' she replied.
'Sit down, if you like,' he said. So she sat.
He returned to his notes, and she sat there, as he scribbled away. And that was all he did. 3 hours of it, just scribbling. She waited, though. She didn't really care. Everything else in life - sort of - now - was boring. There wasn't life there anymore. She didn't feel life in any of it anymore. There was life here.
He turned to her. 'This is Gladhaven. It is probably your central focus for eternity. Some will live. Some will die. Dreams will come. Dreams will go. Gladhaven will not change, in the hereafter, from what you know. Get used to it. Settle down into it. Into the fibre of its being. One day you will be the community. One day they will look to you to guide them. And one day you will be all that is left of it all. So get used to it. This is Gladhaven. And welcome to Haven Noahide Fellowship.'
Mary smiled, and blushed a little. Then he drove her home, and all was well. All was well.
The End
This is Gladhaven 2
'Do you think you are more suited to Noahide Friends of Catholicism?' Daniel blurted out to Mary who was studying a JPS Tanakh with him in the Noahide Assembly hall.
She looked at him. 'What the hell is Noahide Friends of Catholicism?'
'One of our Assemblies of Faith.'
'The Associated movements of the Seven Divine Fellowships,' she replied.
'It's for Noahides. But its for Catholics. But its for Noahides. But its for Catholics,' he said.
'Which is it?' she asked.
'It uses the Catholic Jesus Gospel I told you about. There are a few associated sort of semi-Christian Assemblies of Faith. This one is for Advancing Noah Movement members who really, in the end, don't want to give up keeping their Catholic faith, but can't call Jesus Christ or God.'
'Website?' she asked.
'Scroll down on http://karaitenoahide.angelfire.com/ he said.'
She picked up her laptop, clicked the page she had bookmarked, and scrolled down. She found the site.
'5,000 members worldwide,' she said.
'It's grown a lot, that one. Very quickly. Lots of Catholics have joined it. What a lot of them are looking for. We sort of have a mass as well. A lot of Catholicism in it, but not really the, forgive me, idolatry sort of issues.'
'Idolatry sort of issues,' she said smiling to herself. 'Putting it bluntly I suppose Mr Daly,' she said to herself.
'Interested?' he asked.
She read for a while, and half an hour later she turned to him. 'It's for me. It's what I'm looking for.'
'It can be run from here as well,' he said. 'If any of your friends are ever interested, we can have a Sunday mass here at the fellowship hall. A small crucifix can be used if necessary.'
She looked at him. 'You don't mind a crucifix?'
'Only a small one. And we don't have a plethora of them in the movement by any means. But there is some traditional Catholic iconography. And usually the libraries the fellowship keeps have a range of Catholic books and CDs.'
'You didn't tell me about this before?' she said, looking right at him.
'Didn't think it necessary yet. But you seem to be very traditional and loyal to your religion of upbringing. Probably little point in trying to change that terribly much.'
She returned her focus to the website. 'Noahide Friends of Catholicism. Amazing,' she said, in the not so subtlest of sarcastic tones.
The End
This is Gladhaven 3
Father Mick Collins of Gladhaven St Thomas Catholic Church surveyed the congregation. Missing souls. The tweens. Gone off to Noahide Friends of Catholicism at the Noahide Church further down south.
'Catholicism wins souls. It is our commission from Christ,' he began. 'But some stay, and some go. And that has always been the life of the church. Ever since Luther left, we have had those who leave us. We have often longed for christian repatriation, but I think, in the end, that is a naive dream of our Church. The Orthodox like being the Orthodox, and Protestants never agree with Papal decree. It is the way of things. Should we be surprised by this new Torah emergence? I think not. In the end, church, those who choose Jesus because they love Jesus will remain in our church. In the answering of all divine mysteries, who is really to say our faith is completely true in every respect. We hold to that, we hold that Jesus revealed the Father, and that he is our way of salvation. And perhaps that should be enough for us in the end. If there are many rooms in the father's house we can but hope that those gone from us find their own sanctuary, for we should not judge those others not of our flock, for Christ forbids that. But I must remind you, this gospel we hold dear is a gospel of salvation and we must keep the faith, even when others disagree, and endure till the end of the age. For he will not tarry, but comes as a thief, and we must stand firm till the end, unwavering, not given over to teachings not entrusted to us from the foundation of our faith.'
The priest sat after his short homily, and the Church looked at him. And the mass continued.
Afterwards the Priest was speaking with the only teenager in the Church.
'You think you will remain, young Genevieve?'
'I didn't like them anyway,' she said. 'They were always insisting on bible, and didn't follow Catholic tradition. I'm not really sure if they are saved or if they are lost, but in the end I don't think they really fitted with us anyway.'
The priest nodded, and touched her on the back lightly, and moved on to the next parishioner.
Later, in his presbytery, he looked at the letter from Mr Daly.
'Dear Father. I do evangelize our faith. I don't pretend not to. You know that. You knew that. But I don't really like stealing souls, unless that soul is one which I feel has a destiny with us, and finds a meaning in us they might not find elsewhere. I grew up Catholic, as you know, and I feel the Catholic Church remains a home for the Bride of Christ, but that, in the end, many choose not to be when they have their own thoughts on that issue. Some just don't fit in the end. I didn't, in the end. Crucial faith came to play. But I pray to God that you shepherd your flock, and pray for new life to take the place of that which has left you, and that the Church will go on, which it should, and which it shall, and that a more perfect union of Catholic faith be found in those who know it for their eternal treasure, who know it for what it believes and represents, and who know it as their own home, and their own foundation. I encourage in God Almighty, stand firm, and may eternal truth find our salvation written in the innermost parts of our eternal life.'
The Father enjoyed the letter. It was well enough and fairly enough written. Perhaps there was no need to worry about the Noahide Church too much. Hopefully they had enough mind to take the religion of God seriously enough.
He put down his letter, picked up the remote, turned on the Pay TV to the Christian Channel, and settled in for some Protestant Sermons, for he watched them from time to time, to learn, to stay abreast with broader Christian thinking, and there would be a Catholic mass on very soon, which would settle him down. Mother of God, he thought to himself. I pray your hand be where it needs to be. And another afternoon passed in Gladhaven, another day of faith and question.
The End
This is Gladhaven 4
Mary O'Donnell had a new job. The Supermarket job had run dry - she was not exactly the most competent of workers - but was now earning a living frightening people. She was ghoul in the KBO adventure park, south of the town, were the work was just running around scaring adventurers, and fighting them with plastic swords and the like. It was fun, and lively, and not boring. The pay was ok, but it made dad happy. One of the characters, Karl, was an interesting fellow. He was a demon. All in red. Horns. The Devil, really. And she looked at him from time to time, and thought on that. The Devil. The actual Devil. Did he exist? Really? Job said so, but that was poetry? Was there really an old Lucifer running around the world testing people. She wondered.
She was at the Noahide Friends of Catholicism meeting, and the others had gone home, and she was sitting with Daniel, organising papers. She'd become an unofficial secretary of his.
'Daniel?' she began.
'Yes Mary.'
'The Devil? Is he real? Really real?'
Daniel turned to her, and his face was a squirl of concentration. 'You don't want to mess around with old Bradlock.'
'Bradlock?' she asked, curious.
'Ole Damien Bradlock. I don't think he would be your cup of tea.'
'Whatever are you talking about?' she asked him.
He folded a piece of paper, put it in an envelope, handed it to her, and she licked and put a stamp in the corner.
'This weekend. You busy? Saturday?'
'I work in the morning, but I am free from midday, and all Sunday.'
'Then we are going on a trip. Not too far from here. Merriman. North Nebraska.'
'What is in Merriman?' she asked him.
'Answers to your question,' he said, and returned to his envelope sorting.
The weekend came around, and he picked her up from KBO, and they drove to Merriman. It didn't take too long, and they were there late afternoon.
They drove along the main street, and he parked in front of a white building.
'This is Haven Noahide Fellowship. Merriman chapter,' he replied. 'Come with me.'
She followed him, and he took her inside. There was a few inside, and they nodded to Daniel, but he led her out the back of the house, down to a shack out the back.
'See that?' he said, pointing at a weird antenna on top of the shack. 'It keeps prying eyes away. We have an internet portal which can't be traced. We're not officially on the system inside.'
He led her inside, and she looked around the mucky shack, which had newspaper articles pasted everywhere.
'Damien Bradlock,' he said, pointing at a one of the well featured faces. 'He's your man. We are well aware of him.'
'My man?' she asked innocently.
'Your devil,' he said, and sat down at the PC. When it had booted he brought up a page. 'Read,' he said.
'Damien Bradlock. Business man supreme. A rising power in Western Economy. Ruthless, determined, power mad. Obsessive over women and alcohol. He's the Devil in disguise.'
'What are you saying?' she asked him.
'We're heading towards something,' he said. 'Judgement Day, I guess. When it all comes down to it. And the players are going to play, play, play, play, play.'
'And the haters gonna hate,' she replied, looking at the picture of Damien. 'What do you know about him?' she asked.
'I'll tell you more. When you are older. But he's up to no good. There are powers out there, these days. They've been around a while now. And a culmination of prophecy is approaching. Settle things once and for all, I guess. For many groups with vested interests. Many, many groups.'
She nodded. And, as she read, she had a sense of coming into a world which was not the pretty world of Gladhaven she knew growing up. A more complicated world. A more difficult world. A more - challenging world. And, perhaps, not a world which she would have chosen.
'You think I'll be around for a while, do you?' she asked him. 'You've been subtle about it, but I think I know what you are hinting at.'
'Prayed for that tree of life?' he asked her.
'A little,' she said.
'Then beware the old tempter,' he said. And, as she looked at the picture of Damien Bradlock, she would remember to keep that in mind. To keep her faith, to keep her life. And to guard herself. For this Damien fellow didn't look that friendly. And, whatever kind of devil he was, he didn't look like someone to mess around with. Not someone to mess around with at all.
The End
This is Gladhaven 5
'You just gotta know when to either give it away, or get a new idea. Seriously, Steve. Apart from Dance of Death which had a bit of life, everything post Blaze Bayley from Maiden is redundant. Brave new world bores the fuck out of me,' said Mary. 'And everything after Dance of Death was old formula, with no new life. Get a new idea, or retire. The kids bought it, they thought it was cool, but there dead to me after Dance of Death.'
'Shut up,' said Steve. 'Iron Maiden rule.'
'Yes, it comes to a point, get a new idea, or why bother. It ends up boring,' said Daniel.
'I think so too,' said Mary. 'I like Merriman. It's interesting. But not for me. You are going back to Australia soon? Will you vouch for me on citizenship application? Canberra sounds great.'
Daniel smiled, and nodded. Mary had moved on.
The End