Soul
Copyright © 2016, 2018-2020 by VeryWellAged
Author's note: This chapter is NOT a stand-alone...The story starts here.
Consequences
Why?
Because I said so.
But I want to stay!
OK, so tell me why you want to stay.
You are more powerful than Jesus.
There is no Jesus, Aina. I told you that, but you really will never believe it. You truly do believe in Jesus. There is nothing I can do to change your mind. You need to think I am the devil, even though there is no devil, because your mind cannot accept any other possibility.
If you are not God you must be the Devil!
Aina, God and Devil are the same thing. They are the two sides of the same coin. It is a coin that has nothing to do with me.
They not the same! They are at war with each other!
Yes I know that is what you were taught. I know you believe it. That is why you must leave. Those whose souls are bound to the devil or to god, go to the other side. I cannot claim them. They are true believers. If you truly believe that you are giving your soul to the devil, I don’t get it. The priests who think their soul may go to the devil actually have doubts. You don’t. So there is no choice, you need to go.
But I will give you my soul!
No, child, in your heart you will be giving it to the devil. I am not the devil.
WHAT ARE YOU?!?!?!
Aina, you need to go.
NO!
Aina, listen to me. I am worried about you. It is not safe for you to stay here.
WHY! What are you?
I am a collector of souls. I told you that.
Only God and Devil collect souls. Why you say you not them! You always say this! I not believe it! Why you say such a thing?
Aina if I go into your head to show you, there is a good chance that your mind will fall apart. It is called catatonic, though I am not sure that is something that makes any sense to you right now. But, if I try to show you, you may end up sitting in a room, just rocking back and forth until you die. I don’t want to do that to you. It is best if you just leave. I cannot use words to show you. For you there are no words that will work.
Show me!
No. I do not want to hurt you.
Show me, or I will tell all the priests about you! Ha! Yes, I will not be silent!
Are you trying to blackmail me?
You say you will hurt me if I tell? OK hurt me and show me. Maybe I survive. If not, I not able to tell anyone, di ba? So do it. Show me.
She is a real pain in the ass. She is also right, to the extent that I do not want her talking. The likelihood is that I will turn her into a vegetable, but I may not. Or she might go into a fugue state for a period of time and emerge from it. I can’t know. It is free will.
My three souls look stricken. I can’t blame them. I am not happy.
Very well Aina. Say goodbye to the world as you know it. If you ever see the world again, it will be a different one. You may never see anything again. This is your choice. You have asked for it. I give you two hours to clean up, toilet and get your affairs in order. It may be the very last time you will have the opportunity in your life. Go!
Amelae, please make a large pot of coffee. I will not eat. Erlyn and Mirafe, if you two are hungry take some food with you and then go assist her. Talk to her but do not allow her to eat. I do not want her to choke on her own vomit later. Ask her if there are any things she wants to be told about, if she loses all her memories. You have two hours.
Master?
Amelae, I need to get ready and you need to be doing something, not hanging over me. When the coffee is made, eat something and then please prepare the spare room across from my work area for Aina.
Master, she has not sold you her soul. Why you allow her there?
Sweet Amelae, when I am done with her, she will either be quite mad, out of her mind, or the most obedient of all of you. I suspect one of the former possibilities. But if I am going to destroy her, I will give her the privacy that seems most decent, as her madness envelopes her and kills her from the inside out. Either way, I expect her to lose herself, and be unable to communicate for some time. We will need to nurse her.
What I am about to do is possibly the cruelest of acts. The human mind is not designed to contemplate this. I am about to, metaphorically, pull back the curtain and show Aina what she and all humans really are. I am going to show her the game board. She is going to see the collector, His Majestic Fatness, as he scoops up the souls as they slip from the vessels that contain them. She will see herself, and those around her, as the vessels they are. And when I am done, what will be left of Aina? What will she be? She has demanded I take her soul. I am obligated to do it, but I can’t until her mind is adjusted. This is the nightmare scenario I never want and try to avoid. I should never have taken this one from the control of the priest. Better to have let him kill her, than my doing so.
Amelae has the room prepared. I ask her to keep a carafe of coffee filled for me in the room, but not to try talk to me or communicate with me until I leave the room.
Master, how long will this be?
It is not something that happens quickly.
Maybe two days. I am not sure. Each mind is different. If it ends sooner, it will be because Aina’s mind has shattered.
You will be with her for two days, in that room and all you want is coffee?
Oh, I could drink water, but yes I prefer the coffee. It is an indulgence, if you will allow the sick pun.
I do not understand.
Never mind, it is hardly important.
An hour later I am in the room. Aina appears, escorted by her two guides. She is dressed and has a determined aspect.
Remove your clothing.
Why? Will you give me a child now?
No, I will not touch you. But for what we are about to do, your clothing would be a problem. Take them off. Mirafe, will take them from you. You will never wear clothing inside this house again.
The girl disrobes. While she is not as painfully thin as she had been when she first arrived here, she is still not robust. She is not juicy. That makes what we are about to engage in all the more troubling. Still the recent weight gain, may prove a boon.
I ask all three souls to leave me alone with Aina, who is currently sitting on a chair.
Are you ready?
What are you going to do to me?
I am going to show you who your god and your Jesus really are. I am going to show you, what you really are. I am going to rip all that you know out of your mind so that it can perceive the game in which you are but a simple pawn. If you survive, you will be a loyal servant to me. If you do not survive, you will sit in your own filth and rock in that chair all the days following this one until you die.
You are going to kill me?
No Aina, you have demanded I kill you or make your mind see what it is incapable of seeing now. I asked you to leave and you refused. This is entirely your doing. I will show your mind what it seems to be unable to fathom on its own. Whether you stay sane, go insane, or die, is out of my control. It has to do with free will.
See you are the Devil!
Ah, that again. No, the devil is a construct, just as god is. These are two sides of the same coin. To believe in one who represents divine goodness, you need to believe in the other who represents divine evil. That is the “Christian god concept.” The Jews do not have a devil because their god is not divine goodness. Their god concept is both good and evil. They believe they have to pray each year to be allowed to live another year! That is why your church tells you that the god of the Jews was a vengeful god and yours is one of salvation. I am not part of that nonsense.
She spits out, So! You are going to show me the truth?
No, I am going to show you, what is not the truth. I am wasting my time. She will never get it, no matter what I say. Ah, but you do not believe me. All I can do is show your mind. So here we go…
Her eyes flash wide open, and then, she screams. It is excruciatingly painful for her, as I move in and start ripping away the artifice. You think you are naked when you disrobe? Ha! That is not really naked, this is naked. When your mind faces what it, under normal circumstances, is designed to never see, and there you are, defenseless, alone, and exposed, you are truly naked. I am not kind. There is no way to be kind.
She is whimpering. She gasps. She sits silently sobbing. I take her on a journey. It is not a fast thing. It must be absorbed, or her brain will fight back and reject that which it is being shown. The human brain is programmed to deny some things. I have to override that, to force it to see what it will not willingly see.
Human time is lost to me now as I take her on her journey.
My senses smell shit. She must have defecated. I ignore it and continue on the journey.
I think I hear her trying to retch, but her belly is empty, it will be dry heaves. Still the acrid aroma of stomach acids reaches me. We continue on.
Now she is moaning, pleading, No, please, no… Oh, no, no, no,… how? But why? … No! no. no, no…
I press on. I am sad, sad for her. She should have left peaceably and lived a life without this torment. I wish such pain on no one. It is, simply, and by definition, inhuman. That is a tautology, but could not be truer, even if it were intended as hyperbole.
For the moment, she lives. Her brain is stronger than I expected. That is both good and bad. It means I have to work harder to rip out the mythical constructs. It means that her defenses are stronger, and we have to go at this far longer. It means she is enduring more pain, it may just possibly mean she will survive, but not that she will be sane. That is unknowable now. Only time will tell.
I back out of her mind and reenter the human world. She is a mess, but I can see signs that my three souls have washed her and cleaned around her. The carafe by my side has some hot coffee in it and my cup is half filled. She sits there. Her eyes open and peering out to something beyond her and not here. She is motionless.
I get up and walk out of the room. I shower, change my clothing and leave my private rooms. The girls are sitting at the dining table. It is evening outside.
Hungry, Master? Erlyn has a look on her face of incredulity.
I guess a little. Are you OK, Erlyn? Why the ‘off’ expression?
You know how long you take?
No. I think it must have been a while, but, no, how long?
Three days. You were in there for three days. We force her to take water by putting it on her lips. We afraid she will die! We afraid you will die, even though we know you not die. You not eat for three days. And you not very hungry? What about her?
I am not sure she will eat. Make her some broth and take it to her.
Amelae, gets up and says she will do it. Mirafe says she will put a plate together for me. I reach out for Erlyn’s hand and she quickly proffers it.
Master, will Aina survive?
I think she will live. I do not know if she will be sane.
When we know it?
If there comes a time that she ends the walled off, non-communicative state she is in, she will either be quite mad, or dangerously and murderously violent, or she will be sane, but different. I do not hold out hope for the latter.
Why?
It is just not the likely outcome.
When will we know?
There is no telling. Someone will need to be with her at all times from now on. … Tell me, have we heard anything about the bishops?
Wala pa1.
Mirafe returns with a plate of food. I eat some. Rarely am I tired, but what I have done, has exhausted me. I pick around at my food, eat a bit more and retire to my bedroom, to sleep for a couple of hours before entering the work area to check on things. As tired as I am, I am concerned about Amelae’s mother and I need to know what is happening with the bishops.
I log into the hospital network, and look at the SMS messages between the docs treating her. The new meds appear to be working. She won’t die now, at least. The docs are patting themselves on the back. The bishop has texted me. It came a day ago. It is a supplication. I do not need to answer it.
With the bishop who was causing problems, I watch as things move toward completion. It has taken three days. But as of now I can see things are about to come to a conclusion.
Two hours later and about half an hour before the act, I send out a broadcast to all the bishops less the one who will likely die. This is a token payment for failure to do as instructed. I am watching all of you.
That evening the late news programs lead with a story of a mentally unstable man shooting a bishop before killing himself. Later reporting indicates the man was a congregant in a church where the bishop was the local priest many years ago. No motive is known.
Text traffic between the bishops and the PNP is frantic. But there is nothing to indicate the gunman had any accomplices. As the gunman is dead, there is nothing to follow up. The SMS text is not mentioned. One of the reasons is it is from a dead priests phone and the SIM is in police custody. No one wants to mention that.
I send out another text. How many of you want to die? Do as instructed or perish.
A number of bishops send texts back with questions that amount to, ‘who are you?’ I don’t respond.
Within hours, two bishops have committed suicide, unable to accommodate what is occurring. Other bishops are busy communicating with their priests. We will see how things progress.
I poke my head into the room that Aina now occupies. Amelae has her lying on the bed and is lying next to her. Both are asleep.
I return to my work area. There is a text from ‘my’ bishop.
Rome asks to talk with you, I give them this number. Please do not be angry.
I say nothing in return.
I look at the bishop’s call, text and IP logs. I can see who he has been talking with in Rome. I do not reach out. I dig. I want to know who this guy’s family is. I look for vulnerabilities.
It is so easy! I have a basket of fruit from which to pick. I choose three ripe fruits. I set things in motion, and at the same time, I wait. I don’t have to wait long. The text is angry, threatening, demanding and at the same time dismissive. It is curious how much of a buffoon, and puffed up pontificator each of these guys are.
Fool, I will rain down on yours, now. Consider this a warning. Stay out of this or all will feel my wrath. In the next 48 hours, things will befall your loved ones. Just be thankful none will die. It could have been far worse. Threaten me again and it *will* be far worse. You are nothing. Beware of who you threaten.
I see email traffic from the Cardinal to the bishop. “Have this man arrested!” The email back says, “How I tell police to arrest smoke or fog? Not a man!”
The Cardinal replies, “This is a parlor trick! It is only a man!”
A few hours later, it is time for some fun. I can see someone approaching the Cardinal’s rooms. CCTV is a wonderful thing. It is a nephew who has the problem I created for him a few hours ago. I send a text to the Cardinal, Knock, knock, let your nephew in. Twenty seconds later, that is exactly what is happening at his door. Thirty minutes later, his nephew is still with him. I suspect things are getting ugly. But I am not done.
His younger sister has just received very bad news and it says the Cardinal was the cause. She tries to call him, but I make the SS7 signaling indicate a busy condition. I send him a text, Ring, ring, your sister is calling. I allow her next attempt to go through.
I wait until I see the call ends, and send,
Enjoy her call? This is just the beginning. I will rain pain down on all you know. There is one more yet to come in the next forty hours. Each will believe it is you who is doing this. I can and will do this, and far more, to you and to the entire church, or you can stand back. I have plans for your congregants in the Philippines. When it is done, I will have no further need of you or your church unless you interfere further. Choose.
I get a reply.
All you want is to shut down that other church’s solicitation game?
Yes.
OK. I will order the bishops to comply. No more!
When I see the results, I will end your misery and not before.
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