The Detective and The Man of GOD

Recap: Abidel and Beza, Johnny and Cynthia. A man of God and his apprentice, a praise worship leader and his girlfriend. Two very different worlds collide in one epic story. In a bid to end the famine and drought that plague the Edge of Sara, Abidel and Beza journey from High Earth to Low Earth to see the Oracle. Little do they or the people of High and Low Earth know, the Oracle is not true to their Holy Scrolls. He craves domination of both lands and seeks to open a portal to the other world. The world of Johnny and Cynthia. A place called London. Abidel drinks a potion given to him by the Oracle and he starts dreaming through Cynthia’s eyes, and she through his. The first link with the other world. But this is only the first phase of the Oracle’s plan, of which unwittingly, Johnny and Cynthia are pawns. They sleep together on the first date and Cynthia gets pregnant. With this Abidel and Cynthia’s dreams end and the rains fall on the Edge of Sara once more. The Edgeans rejoice but for Cynthia her world is falling apart at the seams. The Oracle tells the High Earthens of the Prophecy of the Chosen One, and when Emperor Melek journeys to the Oracle’s Path with his expecting wife, everything is in place for the Oracle’s great deception. Their baby dies, but the Oracle swaps babies during Cynthia’s childbirth and she is left to think that her baby is stillborn. Abidel and Beza realise the Oracle’s plan but by the time they get to the Path it is too late – the Oracle has simulated the birth, death and resurrection of their saviour to great effect. Now with the Emperor in the Oracle’s pocket, all of High and Low Earth would worship the Seer as a deity. Abidel must journey to the other world and Johnny must go to High Earth if they are to have any chance of returning Cynthia’s baby to her and stopping the abomination that would reek utter desolation to all of High and Low Earth and beyond!

First there was the Oracle, then an Old Prophet and then the Prophecy. Now meet the Detective and the Man of God!

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1.

When Abidel awoke, the first thing he noticed was the lush softness of the bed in which he lay. Johnny's bed. He had not slept on anything so comfortable since before he and Beza were banished from High Earth into the wilderness and even then, he doubted that the royal beddings in the Emperor's palace could match the comfort of the mattress which lay beneath him. He quickly got out of bed and walked into the living room with intent. Though he had not physically been in this apartment, he had appeared to Johnny there in a dream. That made it familiar enough for him to know his way around the place. He was looking for anything that would help him find Cynthia's address. He had to find her and tell her that her baby hadn't really died at birth - he had been taken and replaced by another. He spent thirty minutes rummaging through the living room but found nothing. He did notice a large circular object on one of the side tables. The words "Map Of The World" were inscribed on it and he observed the globe in fascination. Some of the most respected scholars in his world had theorised that their world was perhaps round and not flat, though this had been dismissed by the prevailing school of thought. Perhaps when he returned he would encourage them to reassess their thinking on the matter. If he returned. If Johnny was unable to rescue the child or return himself, then he was stuck in this new world.

After a while, he found what looked like a small pouch on the chest of drawers in the bedroom. In it there were coins that looked like they were made of copper and bronze, surely of much less value than the gold and silver coins they used on High Earth. Then there was some paper, perfect rectangular sheets with the picture of a woman with a crown on one side, clearly a Queen. "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of ten pounds," it read. This paper must have some monetary value, he thought. Another interesting concept, which he would no doubt be returning to High Earth with. Assuming he returned. Eventually, he found a card with a picture of Cynthia in this pouch and on it, a line which said "address". Finally, he had found what he was looking for. He locked the apartment behind him with the keys he found on the chest of drawers and went outside to stop one of the black chariots on the street by raising his hands at them, much like he had seen many people of this world do in his dreams. Armed with the coins and paper from Johnny's purse, they should take him anywhere he wanted to go. At least this is what he hoped.

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2.

When Abidel dismounted the black chariot that had taken him to the address on the card with Cynthia's picture on it, he tried to give its rider the copper and bronze coins he had found in Johnny's pouch as a payment for ride, but the man refused. He did however accept merely two of the paper monies from the purse, and even gave him many more coins in return. "Don't you have any notes in your wallet?" The man had asked him, pointing to the pouch. Odd that the paper would be worth much more than the coins, he thought, as he knocked on Cynthia's front door.

"Yes, may I help you?" she asked, opening the door slightly as she peered round it.

"Well, actually I believe I can help you. Are you Cynthia Robles of Kingdon Street, West Hampstead?"

"Yes, this is she."

"I don't know how to say this, but I have reason to believe that your baby is alive. There was more than meets the eye to your difficult delivery. If I could come in and explain..."

She didn't let him finish. She slammed the door shut, turned both locks, and put the chain over the door. She had suffered a terrible miscarriage only the day before, and was only allowed to leave the hospital this morning only one the condition that her doctor would check up on her round the clock for the next week. Now, a strange man wearing long flowing white robes was at her doorstep, with details of her delivery and claims that the baby hadn't died. As much as she wanted to believe the latter part, she was instinctively wary for her immediate safety. She tried calling Johnny, but his number just rang through.

"Johnny sent me to find you," Abidel shouted from outside, as if on cue. "The baby that died isn't yours, he has gone to find your child and bring him back!"

After a short pause, she shouted back. "Are you a doctor? Were you at the hospital yesterday?"

"No I'm not a doctor, I am a prophet. A man of God. I was not at the hospital but I witnessed your child being taken!"

As she thought, the man was a lunatic. Clearly from some sort of cult. She dialled 999.

"Good afternoon, please state the nature of your emergency."

"I have an intruder who is trying to get into my home. Please get the police over here immediately!"

"Okay calm down ma'am. Putting you through to the police now..."

When she got through to the police, she gave them her address and stayed on the phone with them, explaining the exact nature of the intrusion, and her fears about the surprising amount of detail this man knew about her circumstances.

"Please let me in," the man shouted, "it's imperative that you hear what I have to say!"

"You better leave now!" she shouted back. "The police will be here any minute now and then you'll have to answer to them!"

"I'm not leaving until you listen to what I'm saying!" He sat down and made himself comfortable on the front porch.

No sooner had he sat down did her hear the sound of sirens approaching in the distance. Two of these chariots which he now knew as cars, pulled up in front of the house from different directions and out jumped four men wearing the same uniforms each with some kind of weapon in hand. They began to approach him cautiously. This must be the "police" that she spoke of. Some kind of officers of the law.

"Put your hands where we can see them, and don't make any sudden moves!" Their weapons were pointed directly at him. He did as they asked and put his hands above his head. They approached him quickly, grabbed his hands, put them around his back and locked a pair of metal shackles unto his hands so that he could not move them.

As they led him away, he shouted back towards the house, "You've got to listen to me Cynthia! I know about your dreams, because you dreamt them through my eyes! Johnny is with Beza at this very moment, journeying to High Earth to rescue your child!"

Cynthia opened the front door and stared at the man as the police bundled him into their vehicle, transfixed by the words he had just spoken. Her dreams, the name Beza, another world. Cult or no cult, he was frighteningly accurate about these visions she'd had, just over nine months ago now. She breathed a sigh of relief. At least, now that this strange man was in custody, she was safe, and all her questions about his peculiar appearance at her doorstep would be answered.

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3.
Abidel was taken into a dark room and left seated alone at a desk. There was an empty chair opposite him and a lamp on the desk that only slightly illuminated the room. The room had three walls painted grey, and a fourth wall made of glass. Thick black glass through which he could see nothing. After a few minutes, the door opened again and a tall man wearing a dark brown coat walked in. The man walked towards him slapped some papers unto the table. He placed another object on the table, rectangular in shape and pressed a button on it.

"My name is Detective Carter," the man said as he sat down, "Please could you state your name and where you are from for the record."

"My name is Abidel. I am from the Edge of Sara, the town at the end of High Earth."

"Abidel what? What's your surname? Your family name?"

"I have no other name. I am Abidel of High Earth, servant of the Most High. Abidel will suffice."

"Yes Cynthia mentioned that you said you were a Preacher. ‘Man of God’ I think were your words. Is that how you knew about her miscarriage? You saw it divinely?" His voice smacked of sarcasm.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. I saw it happen, but from my world. Cynthia's baby did not die; it was replaced by a baby that died in my world."

"You've got to be kidding me," Carter remarked. Amused, he stood up and walked towards the glass wall. "Can you believe this guy's story? That he's from some other world and that is how he got the info that he had?" For some odd reason unbeknownst to Abidel, the man was talking to the glass wall.

Suddenly, Carter's countenance changed from one of amusement to one of seriousness. "Listen," he said spinning around and turning to Abidel, "you need to start talking because you're about to get into serious trouble if you don't. Trespassing and harassment are the least of your worries at the moment. Johnny's wallet was found on your person, and he hasn't been seen since yesterday. We've done a sweep of his house and there's no trace of him. No one has heard from him today, so considering that you had his wallet, you're the only person who we know has been in contact with him since yesterday or knows his whereabouts. A missing persons report cannot be filed until 24 hours after they were last seen, so I warn you, if he doesn't show up before that time has elapsed, you will be charged with kidnapping in addition to the other crimes already mentioned!"

"No one seems to be listening to me! I do know where Johnny is. He is on his way to High Earth now to rescue the child from the Oracle!"

Carter paused for a moment and gave him a long hard stare. "Okay, let's try this one more time. Who are you and where are you from?"

This time Abidel was quiet and gave no answer.
"Do you now refuse to speak? Now you listen to me, don't you realise that I have the power to keep you here or let you go? But you need to co-operate if this is going to end well."

"You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. As I told you, I am not of this world. If I was, you would not be able to arrest me or keep me here."

"Would you look at that!" Carter smirked, "now he thinks he is some kind of modern day Jesus Christ!" He was talking to the glass wall again. He turned back to Abidel one last time. "I'm going to leave you here to think about your situation for a while. When I come back I want answers. Real answers!" His voiced echoed as he turned to leave the room and slammed the door behind him.

Abidel was once again left in darkness and quiet solitude. A darkness only slightly illuminated by the small lamp which sat on the table before him.