The Eye of Madness (45 page)

“I was going to see Thomas and Seth Pendleton before I started back in the morning, but I'll come back tonight.”

“No,” Barbara said. She had grown fond of Thomas and Seth the past few weeks. She was quite attached to Seth. She thought he was the cutest and sweetest little boy.

“No, go check on them. I want to be sure Seth is okay,” she said.

“I can call,” Cecil suggested, but Barbara was insistent.

“We are fine here,” she said. “Go check on them.”

Cecil sighed, but he did not argue. Barbara felt a small pang of guilt because she knew he wanted to get home as soon as possible to see the girls. This storm was anything but predictable. The Impals could be here forever or they could be gone in a few seconds. There was no way to know. As hard as it was for Cecil to wait, they both knew that checking on Thomas and Seth was the right thing to do.

“I'll catch a flight first thing in the morning,” he told Burt.

Air traffic was starting to return to normal since the “eye of madness”, as it was now called, passed. He would catch a military transport from the nearby Little Rock Air Force Base. Cecil soon departed Little Rock with a military escort for the thirty-minute drive north to Conway. He found Thomas and Seth well and in good spirits.

Indeed the storm had passed over the planet. Fear and panic gripped people around the world, but this time it seemed unwarranted. The sky had changed, the seasons changed as they should have almost two months ago. Much to the delight of most people on the planet, television and internet signals returned. The one thing that did not change were the Impals. They were still here, as before, only … the people who died after the storm passed were gone. There was no Impal, no nothing. Death seemed to have returned to its ways before the storm. It was not clear where these recently deceased were. Perhaps they were able to move on.

Life went on as normal for several weeks. Rebekah, Malakhi, and Nehemya celebrated Hanukah with Gestas. Thomas and Seth celebrated Christmas in Conway with his boss, Don Lewis, and his family. Lincoln, Einstein, Tesla, the president, and a host of others celebrated Christmas in the White House.

The president still served in his executive capacity along with the vice president who died during the eye. The remaining members of the government agreed on a special election to occur the third Tuesday in January. This would fill over half of the vacated seats in Congress and several state government positions. It would also elect a new president and vice president. The government officials who perished during the eye were still here. Most wanted to return to their position, but they were denied. Even though the Impals now enjoyed some rights, their nature was too unpredictable. They could be gone in an instant, leaving the government vulnerable.

Most elected governments around the world were doing the same thing in January. The United Kingdom had to replace their Prime Minister and over half the members of Parliament. The royals were miraculously spared except for one obscure Duke who was on a hunting trip near Kent. He took his own life with a shotgun at the behest of the darkness.

One sad royal, who died a long time ago, did not have such a great Christmas. Mary spent Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day with a group of homeless Impals. At least she had company, but each of them were miserable. They had no connection with their former lives. They sat in a small abandoned country church singing Christmas carols. They pretended to toast a Merry Christmas to one another. This only made their mood all the more depressing considering the Impals no longer had a need or desire to eat.

Mary wondered what Donna was doing. She imagined her sitting around a large table garnished with all sorts of food. The house and living room festooned with all sorts of Christmas decorations. It made her happy to think of Donna that way, but it also made her sad with envy. Donna was still a flesher and could enjoy everything about Christmas. Mary's mental picture of Donna was not too far off. She did have a nice Christmas with her parents, even though they did not eat with her. It was the best and most peaceful Christmas they had enjoyed in years. It was the same for Private Poindexter. He enjoyed the celebration with his fellow soldiers and his favorite storyteller.

Cecil woke up on New Year's Day to a dusting of snow. The trees and the grass outside his bedroom window twinkled in the morning sun. As he admired the view, the disturbing feeling that something had changed washed over him. Everything looked the same though. The sky was still blue with white clouds. He flicked the TV on and saw it was working. The Today Show was running a story on the coming special elections. The year had changed overnight, but it was something more. A thought sprang forth in his sleepy brain and he bolted from the room.

When Cecil reached the stairs, he stopped in his tracks and breathed a sigh of relief. Abbs and Steff were on the top landing looking down at him. His spirits lifted at first until he saw their faces. They seemed haggard, as if they needed sleep. Their sad eyes stung his heart.

“Girls … are you okay?” he asked.

The sisters exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison.

“We don't feel right,” Steff said.

Abbs nodded in agreement.

“W-what's wrong?” Cecil asked, his heart sinking through the floor. He expected them to disappear at any moment as Abbs did when the eye arrived. Moments before she vanished, Abbs knew something was not right.

They both stared at him, but did not move until he held his arms apart, inviting them into his embrace. They descended the stairs and sank into their father's arms.

Barbara came out of the bedroom and stopped when she saw them.

“What's wrong?” she asked.

Cecil tried to give a reassuring smile, but it was impossible. He shook his head and mouthed, “
I don't know.”

Barbara walked over and kissed both girls on the top of the head.

“What's wrong, sweethearts?” she whispered.

“I don't know, Mom,” Abbs said. “Something doesn't feel right … something … we don't belong here.”

Thomas and Seth had been playing a board game all night as part of their New Year's festivities. Father Wilson came by early in the evening and visited with Thomas before playing a few hands of Rook with Seth.

“I'm sorry about my insensitivity before,” he told Thomas. “I know my mouth often gets ahead of my brain. It's not a good trait for a priest to have.”

“It's fine,” Thomas said. “It was a stressful time for us all. I appreciate you checking on Seth and me.”

Father Wilson smiled. He then glanced at Seth and rubbed his chin as if he were trying to think of what to say.

“Thomas, do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Not at all,” Thomas said.

“Please feel free not to answer if it makes you uncomfortable.”

Thomas nodded and waited for his question.

“Well, the darkness was here for a while … do you think they were demons?”

Thomas grimaced and shook his head.

“No, they were the darkest evil that mankind ever produced. I saw their countenance as they lurked in the shadows. They were human, but humans who were rotten and arrogant to the core.”

“Do you think they were what the Bible proclaims to be demons?”

“Well, you are the priest, you should know,” Thomas said with a half-smile.

“I don't,” Father Wilson admitted. “We have seen such miraculous things the past several months. We have seen definitive proof of the soul's existence. Even so, I feel as if I have more questions now than before.”

“I guess the next thing you want to ask is if Seth and I have seen God?” Thomas said. He said it jokingly because he knew where Father Wilson's questions were headed.

Father Wilson raised his eyebrows with hopeful expectancy.

“No, we haven't, but I am certain he exists,” Thomas said.

“How?” Father Wilson asked.

“Look at me, look at Seth … look at the other Impals, can you explain this any other way?”

Father Wilson shook his head and sighed.

“I just wish I knew what God's plan was in all this,” he said.

“I do too,” Thomas said. “I do too.”

Thomas did not bring it up with Father Wilson, but he had a singular thought since he discovered Seth after the storm arrived. He wondered what was beyond the doors. What secrets did they hold? Were his parents waiting there to embrace him with open arms and welcome him into paradise? Was Barbara there? Was God? Thomas only knew one thing for certain. Barbara was beyond those doors. He would volunteer for a beating with an iron pipe if he could just see her again, if only for a moment.

Thomas had been thinking of Barbara all night and as dawn broke, a strange feeling came over him. He got up and walked to the window, uncertain of what he expected to see. Something hidden in the recesses of his psyche, pulled at him with a subtle, yet urgent tug.

His son stared up at him with a frown.

“Daddy … I … I … we … don't,” he said trailing off, unable to form the words.

“I know, son,” Thomas said, pulling Seth close. “We don't belong here.”

CHAPTER 49

A SELFISH PRAYER

“Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race.”

~William E. Gladstone

The feeling to every Impal was subtle as the onset of a cold. It sank into their being, giving them all definitive revelation. None of them knew exactly when this feeling started. Perhaps it was when the eye passed or maybe it was yesterday. All Impals were now consumed with the strong feeling that they didn't belong. They needed to be somewhere else. The problem was, none of them knew where.

“What do you mean you don't belong here?” Rebekah asked Nehemya and Gestas. “This is your home, Dad. Of course you belong here!”

Nehemya shook his head and glanced at Gestas. They both felt the same way, but Gestas was not going to get involved with the conversation. This was between father and daughter. He walked across the room and sat down by Malakhi.

“I know it is, my dear,” Nehemya said. “But I cannot explain this feeling to you. It is the most certain I have ever been about anything in my life.”

Rebekah began to weep. “Where will you go?” she sobbed.

“I don't know my sweet daughter. I just don't know.”

Mary felt it at the same time, but it did not have the same effect as it did with most Impals. She already felt alone and out of place since the eye passed. This new feeling deepened the despair she already suffered. Mary was by herself in a small park a few short miles from Buckingham Palace when she began to cry.

The Impal community now existed in a heightened state of agitation. Not agitation that would lead to violence, but more like a caged animal desperate to escape. It has been said the heart just knows when it comes to love. Perhaps the soul just knows when it comes to belonging.

The famous resident Impals of the White House were no exception. They all knew they no longer belonged. They didn't know why they felt this way, but at least a couple of them had an idea of where they might belong. Einstein and Tesla had discussed theories for weeks now, long before this feeling took hold.

“What is your opinion, Albert?” Tesla asked.

Einstein crinkled his bushy mustache and ran a hand through his unkempt hair. “I think the energy from the storm made all us visible. It then closed the portal, so to speak, for anyone else to move on after death. I think it is why everyone remained here after the storm arrived.” Einstein paused and nodded at Tesla. “Do you think the Gates worked?” he asked.

Tesla said, “I think so, but there is no way to be sure. There were no doorways when the Impals went through the Gates. When we faded back onto that plane of existence during the eye, we saw no Gates then either.”

“None of us know anything for sure, my friend,” Einstein said with a grin. “That is what makes science so interesting.”

“Where do you think the people are now who have died since the storm left?” Tesla asked.

Einstein took a long pause and closed his eyes. He seemed to be in a state of meditation. “I think …” he began. “I think it is not unreasonable to assume things have returned to normal.”

“Then why are we still here?” Tesla asked.

“I have always believed if you cannot explain something simply, then you do not understand it well enough. I could say our energy was affected, or something is blocking us from passing over. Perhaps it is even some higher plan of the universe. In short, I don't know why we are still here.”

This conversation continued after, what many called, “the Impal flu” arrived. The Tesla Gates had worked, in a sense. Perhaps not in the way General Garrison hoped, yet they worked all the same. The Impals returned to another level of existence.

Einstein and Tesla engaged in a heated discussion with Lincoln and the president. It was scientists against politicians. A battle of wills heightened by their agitated sense of feeling lost. Lincoln and the president did not like what their scientific counterparts suggested. However, something deep down in their ethereal existence knew they were right. After a couple hours of debate, Einstein addressed the group. When he finished, it was as if a light clicked on. They knew where they belonged. The question was, could they get there?

“My friends, you know me not to be an irrational man. Everything I have ever done has been with a great deal of thought and deliberation. Believe me when I tell you that Nikola and I have put a great deal of thought and discussion into this. We believe it is the only way to get where we want to go. I am tired, you are tired … we are all tired,” he said making a circle with his arms to represent the whole world. “If we don't try, I feel we will never know peace.”

“How do you know the doors will be there?” the president asked. “This is taking one hell of a risk.”