Chapter 3

Lucinda entered the room Rahul indicated to, and once again she marvelled at the scale of the house and the enormity of its individual rooms although, the room was cosy despite its size. There were copious comfy red sofas and leather armchairs strategically placed to prevent the room looking over crowded and a large mahogany fireplace took centre stage, the walls were covered in various paintings, portrait and pastoral. The abundant furnishing of the room belied its immensity and helped to perpetuate the cosy and homely feeling that was prevalent. It was a room designed for cold winter nights spent cuddling around a fire and Lucinda immediately liked it. Following Rahul she sat where he motioned to, at a table where a place setting had been laid out.
‘I have taken the liberty of ordering some light food for you; Martha will bring it in shortly. Would you like a drink?’ he added,
‘Yes please’ she replied.
There were a selection of drinks on the table and Lucinda opened a bottle of water. After taking a long drink, she looked up at Rahul and asked him ‘Why am I here? And who are you?’
He paused and then pulled out a chair and sat next to her, pouring himself a glass of water from a freshly opened bottle. ‘My name is Rahul Furlong and I am the friend and executor of this estate for the late Margarite Furlong who passed away this evening.’
‘Oh!’ Lucinda could think of nothing else to say.
Rahul smiled, a sad look coming into his eyes, ‘my dear, I will tell you why you are here but you must keep an open mind for what I am to tell you is not only amazing but somewhat incredulous. Right, so where to begin? Margarite Furlong was the guardian of a legacy that is old as it is powerful. Many people have either a religious view or evolutionary view of the creation of the world and its inhabitants. And in fact it is an amalgamation of the two views that gave rise to this world of ours. Indeed, it was as scientists say and yet it would never have occurred if God had not initiated it all. Let me explain, and if I lose you please stop me my dear, you are young after all. When the world was first born it was via an explosion; the so-called “big bang theory”. The religious amongst us believe that God created the world in 6 days. I have learned that there is a truth to both these beliefs, the world was indeed created by a big bang but the explosion was orchestrated by a catalyst, and that catalyst was God. The omnipotent energy behind everything. Once the world was born life began in the Cambrian explosion, the so-called primordial ooze which occurred 3000 million years ago. Exhibiting the first signs of life in oxygen producing plants. This lead down an evolutionary ladder that is diverse as it is incredible, I will aim to keep this as simple as possible and try not to throw too much at you at once.’ Rahul moved to the fireplace, leaning against it he continued regaling Lucinda with his fantastic story. Meanwhile she took the opportunity to leave the table and made herself comfortable on one of the many sofas in the den.
‘The millennia passed and various life forms roamed the earth. The ice age took the dinosaurs, which gave a chance for our early more conceivable ancestors to be born. By which I mean those that came close to roughly representing the typical human form as opposed to our ancient reptilian ancestors, which obviously didn’t. The first apes existed up to 65 million years ago and they eventually led to Australopithecus, a man like creature who appeared just 1.8 million years ago. Remember now, we are talking millions of years; evolution is a slow process at the best of times. Essentially we have been through many millieniums to get to where we are today. I digress; I believe you have some understanding of the bible and who Lucifer was?’
‘Yes I do,’ jumped in Lucinda, she had read many books about these things as it had always interested her.
‘Soon after the big bang happened, God fathomed a design for the creation and evolution of all life on the planet, this included a design for the eventual existence and evolution of humankind. It was a set of instructions known as the The Divine Plan, made literal in the form of a Scroll, a Scroll created by the hand of God detailing his plan for humankind. You may ask why this Scroll was made and indeed it does seem odd. Well, from what we know it was prepared for his first creations, Angels. Once the universe was born and the heavens full of the singing of angels, God wished to inform them of his will and intent, the Divine Plan. This was done by the writing of the Scroll, almost as though it was a Divine newspaper,’ Rahul smiled at this analogy.
‘If we turn to the bible, and interpret a little of what it tells us so that it corresponds with Guardian lore, we learn that the argument that led to the casting out of the Angel Lucifer also resulted in the inadvertent loss of the Scroll. It all began with the giving of souls or spirits to humans, this too was written in the Scroll. Some of the angels saw God’s earthly creations as being…. beneath them and could not understand his desire to give them souls. God went on to decree, that the righteous souls would be given a place in heaven. The angels being the egotistical and vain creatures they were did not consider sharing heaven with the mediocre souls of humans as acceptable. However, God had spoken and his word was without question or should have been, and indeed would have been, if it hadn’t been for the Archangel Lucifer who begat a rebellion in heaven, questioning God in his decision to allow mortal souls in. You see for many angels humankind was seen as playthings for God to amuse himself and to provide entertainment for them. Upon raising the rebellion Lucifer questioned the rights of mortal beings to have souls and their right to enter heaven, heaven was for angels and his Divine Worship and not for inferior mortal souls. He accused God of loving the mortals more than he did his angels, and inferred that God was proud in requiring reciprocation of his love for humankind in the form of their love and obeisance. Justifiably God was outraged at Lucifer for questioning him, he warned Lucifer to abide by his law. Lucifer then further outraged God by spreading the word that the mortals did not have any heavenly substance, and were no better than beasts of burden, with or without souls. And even though our God seemed to need them, they like his angels would be without him eventually. He argued that humans could live without God and the idea of God.
Of course, once the issue had been raised it was out there, it spread like wildfire and many angels chose sides, agreeing with Lucifer or faithfully standing by the Holy Father. Eliminating the angels that questioned humankind’s need for God would not assuage or indeed answer the question, would the remaining angels forever wonder at the integrity of Lucifer’s claim?
God knew the question must be provided with an answer and so banished Lucifer out of heaven along with the angels that had chosen to take his side. It just so happened, that Lucifer had taken the Scroll from its sacred resting place with a view to finding a way to destroy it, and in banishing Lucifer; the Scroll was cast out.’ Rahul smiled, ‘so much for free will. A subtle battle began between God and Lucifer who is commonly known as Satan, the devil, the dark prince, Beelzebub and by countless other names. Whilst humankind remained unaware of the battle being waged, the Scroll written by the divine hand was gone. The heavenly father had written it, and it being of God was indestructible. So that the path set forth for humankind would always remain true to his written word.
I hope I haven’t lost you?’
‘No of course not’ replied Lucinda, unaware it was story hour, did this mean she had to make up a story too when it came to her turn. She was still at a loss as to why she was here?
‘I will continue then my dear,’ Rahul said. He moved over to the window just as Martha entered with buttered crusty rolls and soup for Lucinda. ‘There you go my girl, get that down you, you look as though you could do with fattening up.’
Lucinda blushed as she moved to the table enticed by the smell of the soup, ‘Chicken soup, my favourite’ she murmured thanks to Martha.
‘Well, to get to the point,’ continued Rahul from the fireplace, ‘the legacy of the divine Scroll is The Guardian’s at birth, to protect the Scroll from coming into anyone’s possession and therefore she is the one who must guard the Scroll. The Scroll’s whereabouts are only known to her. Margarite Furlong was one such guardian and she fulfilled her life task admirably.’
‘Are you telling me this is real!?’ Lucinda exclaimed almost choking on her soup.
‘Oh my dear, but yes very real as you will no doubt see soon enough.’
Lucinda smiled wryly to herself, this guy really was crazy and where did he get this wonderful tale? Perhaps he was senile.
‘I can see by the expression on your face that you are not entirely taken with the story. However let me continue. The Divine Scroll as it came to be known, is on earth with us and once the angels realized what had happened, under Gods direction they appointed an earthly guardian to protect and guard the Scroll.’
‘It’s just a Scroll why would it matter anyway?’ asked Lucinda, deciding she would play along for now.
‘Well my dear that is the whole matter. The Scroll has its own magic and guardian legend has it, that whomsoever has the Scroll will become the most powerful person on earth. He or she will have the power of our heavenly father to undo or aggrandize his will.
‘What do you mean?’ queried Lucinda not understanding what Rahul was getting at.
‘Let me simplify it a little, the Scroll gives the keeper the power to make or break humankind, the power to undo the Divine Plan as it is stipulated in the Scroll. Devolving humankind or conversely bringing about future evolution. Imagine influencing the divine plan, meddling with evolution as if it were a game. No mortal or immortal being should have that power. Are you with me my dear?’
Lucinda was so glad she had always been an avid reader; books were her refuge, a means to escape the horrors of the world and the pain felt at times. They were her sole passion; she had begun reading from the age of three and nearly always had a book with her everywhere she went. They had become a comforting thing for her; knowing she could lose herself in between the pages of fact or fiction, having read ahead of her age by several years and reading almost anything she could get her hands on. Her teachers, during her limited attendance at school often commented on her amazing grasp of the English language. She could read the most complex text on any topic and after searching through a dictionary for the meaning of words, she never forgot. Eidetic memory one teacher had said. Listening to Rahul and understanding everything he was referring to was quite easy. She had read numerous books on religion and Darwinian Theory, on how we had supposedly evolved from apes. She had read about angels and many related topics. It almost seemed as though some unforeseen force had prepared her for this moment in her life in terms of knowledge. That’s silly she thought; now she was starting to get caught up in the story. ‘Yes, I think I understand what you are saying, so someone who had the Scroll could turn us all back to apes?’
‘Yes exactly but that’s not all, the power is unlimited and there are no constraints to its use. It may be used to devolve or evolve as few as one or universally, and everything in-between. For instance; a single race of people, males, perhaps children or the old, the keeper of the scroll would have the power to choose. Chaos would reign with everyone at various stages of the divine plan, some devolved and some evolved. We don’t know what is ahead for us in our evolution, though scholars have speculated it would probably be an evolution of the mind, telepathy, telekinesis, various abilities related to the development of presently dormant areas of the brain to do with manipulation of energy. Perhaps the eventual result being us evolving into pure energy; sentient energy beings using our developed minds for everything from communication via telepathy, and telekinesis to carry out tasks. I imagine the skills we would develop would be more than we could predict and extremely varied perhaps even from person to person. Perhaps to a degree where we are even being nourished by the very energy around us, eventually eliminating our need to consume food for sustenance.’
‘Wow!’
‘Wow indeed, my dear’.
‘What does this have to do with me?’ Lucinda asked, ‘why am I here? How did you know where I was?’
‘I think it is time to tell you your role in all of this.’ Rahul sighed and moved closer to Lucinda, he gently held her hand. She had long finished eating or given up having become riveted by the story she was being told.
‘You are important in this because as the last guardian died she told me your whereabouts. As soon as one guardian chooses to finish her earthly life she is replaced by another, in a constant cycle to ensure the Scroll is forever guarded. If there is no guardian the spell that keeps the scroll hidden would cease to work and the scroll would come out into the open, resplendent for anyone’s taking. And that brings me to my point…. the next guardian is to be born to you.’
Lucinda looked baffled, and then laughed, ‘well you are going to have a long wait, I am only 15 and I am not planning on having children anytime soon’.
‘In ordinary circumstances I would certainly hope that to be the case, my dear.’ Rahul said ominously glancing at his watch, there was half an hour remaining before midnight and this had been a long night. ’You are to be the mother of the new guardian, who will be born tonight.’
Lucinda laughed in disbelief, ‘Afraid not Rahul, I think I would know if I was pregnant, for a start where’s my bump? I have not missed any…… I am not pregnant’
‘My dear, when I found you, you were in pain and you felt something trickle down your legs, yes?’
‘Yes….but’ Lucinda mumbled, thinking about it,
‘Well my dear I am happy to tell you that that was your first and only contraction, sort of a signal or warning to you to get some where safe, after all you can’t be giving birth in the middle of a street or busy shopping centre. The trickle down your legs was your water breaking.’
‘Oh this is ridiculous’ Lucinda stood up and looked at the door ‘I would like to leave now.’ Suddenly she felt a little light headed, ‘what…. was that?’ she half muttered grabbing her stomach; possibly just a muscle cramp it was gone as quick as it had come. She continued to the door making her way past the sofa she had sat on earlier, suddenly her movement halted as her legs stopped responding. Instantly they gave way causing her to fall onto the sofa. It was as though they were acting independently of her, Lucinda thought fleetingly before exclaiming ‘What the hell is going on?’
‘My dear it is exactly as I said you are pregnant and your child will be born tonight and will continue the legacy of the appointed one. The Guardian of the most sacred Scroll ever created.’
‘I am not having a baby…this is silly’ just as Lucinda said the words she felt something shift inside her. ‘Oh…oh what the hell was that!?’ she cried out.
‘Well I do believe it is time, please try to relax.’ Rahul said as he walked to the door and disappeared for a moment, Martha returned with him carrying towels, scissors and hot water.
‘Oh my God what are you going to do with that?’ Lucinda asked eyeing the scissors suspiciously, for the first time this evening she felt fear. What if she had misjudged this situation and these people were insane psychopaths, crazy people meaning her harm as they had probably harmed all the other youngsters they had enticed here with some lie or another.
No sooner had she deigned to think the thought, then it seemed to float out of her mind, instead calmness suffused her accompanied by the earlier sense of being in the right place. She marvelled at the feeling it was almost like floating, standing through no effort of her own, Martha helped her to remove her jeans and underwear. Rahul turned away to face the fireplace. Well at least he is preserving my dignity, thought Lucinda trying to object, why was she helping Martha remove her trousers? She didn’t seem to have any control; it was almost as though her actions were governed by something or someone else. Martha instructed her to lie on the couch and covered her with the blanket she had brought in earlier, and then began laying out towels. Waves of expectation were washing over Lucinda, it felt as though something was coming, this was followed by a feeling of tremendous excitement, it was the weirdest sensation she’d ever experienced. Martha turned and lifted the blanket and looked under it, Lucinda parted her legs through no will of her own.
‘The child is crowning’. Martha declared.
Crowning! Crowning! What could be crowning? There was no baby, she was not pregnant and this was absurd. Lucinda could do nothing but lie back and let the process happen, fleetingly thinking she had been drugged; maybe they had put something in her soup. Once again, no sooner had the thought crossed her mind; it floated away in the same manner as before. Strange she wondered, every time she entertained a negative thought it did not remain, it seemed to vacate her mind almost immediately.
‘Yes it is coming now’ Martha lifted the blanket and began administering beneath it, Lucinda felt something slide out of her and felt an overwhelming feeling of euphoria at the exact same moment. Martha raised the blanket, Rahul was now on hand, she brought out something from under the blanket and Lucinda looked on, thinking when will they realize I am not having a baby? She was stunned…..sure her eyes were playing tricks on her. Martha was holding….a newborn baby and after clearing its airways she wrapped it in a towel, the baby had a shock of brown hair and looked up at Martha with an expression that almost seemed to suggest consternation. Lucinda became enthralled as Martha passed the child to her; she reached for it unable to do anything else, astounded yet intrigued. ‘How is this possible?’ she asked no one in particular.
She wasn’t a virgin, but she couldn’t be pregnant, she had only had sex once with a boyfriend from her old town before she was moved to a new foster home. They had thought they were in love; she had been devastated saying goodbye to Tim. How was she going to tell him she had just had his baby? None of this made any sense to her; she had never dreamt she would get pregnant, still unable to believe it. Martha was busy cleaning her up; Lucinda felt her administering between her legs, wiping and cleaning up the blood and matter that ordinarily followed things like this. When she heard her gasp, Rahul hurriedly moved closer asking her what was wrong, a worried look on his face.
‘There is another, its twins!’ Martha exclaimed, quickly extracting the second child. Lucinda felt the euphoria depart in a hurry and the child in her arms began crying for the first time. A great feeling of despair and worry clouded her mind, something was wrong! Something was wrong with the baby! It was all she could think. Not knowing how she knew but a sense of fear pervaded that all was not as it should be. Martha, with Rahul’s help did the same for the second child as they had for the first, once again there was no pain but this time no euphoria either just a hollow feeling that something was missing. As she raised her head to look, the child became observable; it had a full thatch of blond hair and the most piercing bright blue eyes. At this point it all became too much for her and she saw the blackness coming. Someone removed her firstborn from her arms and not a moment too soon as the darkness clouding her vision became all-consuming. And though she tried to fight it, gradually she succumbed to it and lost consciousness and in some ways she even willed it.