Souls - Interlude - The Plea
Posted by Jim Toledo on Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Escaping into the mysterious woman's van, Frank, Joe and Claudia finally catch their breaths. They take the woman's offer of alcohol and medication to calm their nerves. She introduces herself as Maria, and explains that it was her job to save them.
She drives them back to her place, where she hopes to explain to them what is going on.
They arrive at an abandoned church, a place she claims to be safe because it is on sanctified ground. Inside they discover she is well equipped, weapons, computers, and various literature on many aspects of the occult.
Maria begins to tell her story. She tells them how God had created man with the intention of only creating so many souls. That when the last soul was born and dead, the end time would come and all of man would be judged whether they gained entry into paradise or not. She exclaimed that the weight of this decision would lie in the actions of the final souls, those born last, who are a product of the countless millennia of human civilization.
However, God's greatest gift, on which he would judge man, was also it's most deadly weapon. Free will meant humanity had control over it's own destiny, and that some force out there was perverting this. She claimed that the end of humanity was polluted by evil sources, and that now, those same forces are hunting the souled ones, hoping to bring forth the end times before humanity can redeem itself.
Still confused, Maria explains that the trio are all souled human, an extremely rare gift in the modern age. She also explains that having a soul had some benefits in seeing the truth of things. It was then that she tell them the whole reason she is even sharing this with them. Humanity's free will means that there is a chance, a secret gift of God which would allow humanity a second chance. Maria and others like her, are out saving Souled human beings, not only to buy more time before the end of days, but to find the way to refill the cup of souls and to help humanity redeem itself.
The trio, overwhelmed by all the information, and skeptical, are given time to think about it. Maria leaves them in her home where they could stay until they felt safe enough to go home. She pleaded though, that they consider her offer, that they help her save humanity.
The trio rest until the afternoon, where Claudia begins to explore Maria's home. She discovers countless books of the occult, many of them works of fiction, the others barely passing for reference or non-fiction. She also discovers a wall of Polaroids, several dozen names and pictures. Claudia realizes these are the people whom Maria feels she is saving. She also find some have dates, and wonders if perhaps some of these people have died.
Her suspicions are confirmed when she discovers a scrapbook of articles, newpaper clippings, etc, of accidents, unsolved murders, all matching with the names and dates of those on the wall.
Unsure of Maria's motivations or intentions, and still skeptical about everything that just happened, Joe, Frank and Claudia decide to go back to their normal lives.
Or at least try to.
She drives them back to her place, where she hopes to explain to them what is going on.
They arrive at an abandoned church, a place she claims to be safe because it is on sanctified ground. Inside they discover she is well equipped, weapons, computers, and various literature on many aspects of the occult.
Maria begins to tell her story. She tells them how God had created man with the intention of only creating so many souls. That when the last soul was born and dead, the end time would come and all of man would be judged whether they gained entry into paradise or not. She exclaimed that the weight of this decision would lie in the actions of the final souls, those born last, who are a product of the countless millennia of human civilization.
However, God's greatest gift, on which he would judge man, was also it's most deadly weapon. Free will meant humanity had control over it's own destiny, and that some force out there was perverting this. She claimed that the end of humanity was polluted by evil sources, and that now, those same forces are hunting the souled ones, hoping to bring forth the end times before humanity can redeem itself.
Still confused, Maria explains that the trio are all souled human, an extremely rare gift in the modern age. She also explains that having a soul had some benefits in seeing the truth of things. It was then that she tell them the whole reason she is even sharing this with them. Humanity's free will means that there is a chance, a secret gift of God which would allow humanity a second chance. Maria and others like her, are out saving Souled human beings, not only to buy more time before the end of days, but to find the way to refill the cup of souls and to help humanity redeem itself.
The trio, overwhelmed by all the information, and skeptical, are given time to think about it. Maria leaves them in her home where they could stay until they felt safe enough to go home. She pleaded though, that they consider her offer, that they help her save humanity.
The trio rest until the afternoon, where Claudia begins to explore Maria's home. She discovers countless books of the occult, many of them works of fiction, the others barely passing for reference or non-fiction. She also discovers a wall of Polaroids, several dozen names and pictures. Claudia realizes these are the people whom Maria feels she is saving. She also find some have dates, and wonders if perhaps some of these people have died.
Her suspicions are confirmed when she discovers a scrapbook of articles, newpaper clippings, etc, of accidents, unsolved murders, all matching with the names and dates of those on the wall.
Unsure of Maria's motivations or intentions, and still skeptical about everything that just happened, Joe, Frank and Claudia decide to go back to their normal lives.
Or at least try to.
