The beginning of the end.

The beginning of the end.

The first weird occurrence was when everyone woke up late for work. We had no idea of the time because every clock, watch and mobile phone in the world, had stopped. Time stood still, yet it was fluid, and the world had changed. 

Buses and trains couldn’t run because there was no way to coordinate services without time. We couldn’t go to school because there was no way of knowing when we should attend. Teachers would turn up, and there would be no students. Students would turn up, and there’d be no teachers. Employers couldn’t rely on staff to turn up at all. The world had gone barking mad!

Deeply deposited in my brain, I have a memory. At least, I think it’s my memory, but it could also have been planted there by them.

Most memories were removed and replaced with different thoughts and no explanation for why. I was quite capable of manufacturing my memories, at least before! 

As a young kid, terrorising the neighbourhood, I was sure I had real memories and real dreams; real friends, well known to me and I to them. Friends I knew well; however, very few recollections were retained by me. I possess essential memories such as my parent's identities and where we lived, but most were sucked out at re-commissioning. There’s one faded, undefined memory, though. It nags me at a subconscious level, and I just can’t quite put my finger on it.

 On the day the clocks stopped, I awoke having  just finished reading “The Day of the Triffids.”  I had nightmares of plants rapping on my bedroom window in the dead of night and woke, holding the book, which I then read for what I thought was the first time. 

I wasn’t to know then that there were far worse dangers than Triffids. 

Who or what was responsible for re-commissioning is unknown. The memory of the process has been erased from our brains forever. Some believe aliens have assumed control of our world, but there remains no proof of their existence. Other theorists believed a more significant power had changed our lives. Considering the degree of sickness and war on earth meant that we wouldn’t survive in any case, so the responsible parties probably saved the world from extinction.

There were a few sightings of The Beast before it became common knowledge. We learnt little from these sightings, as they culminated in the mysterious vaporisation of witnesses.

Today, almost two years later, we resemble robots rather than people. Everything is done by rote, eating, exercising, working… Too little laughter these days. Mostly, we hide to avoid the attention of The Beast! Late sightings are more frequent, and we’ve learnt to pretend that we know nothing.

Now there are hundreds of sightings worldwide, every day. Now, the penny dropped… These monsters were responsible for our re-commissioning and were destined to take over the world. God help us all!

My parents are gone, and I was forced to witness their untimely demise. The insidious, hideous Beast, breathing hot, rancid hate, splintered our front door down yesterday with just one kick. What he did next was so horrendous, I couldn’t erase the images from my tired brain.  Sharp green teeth were pulled back into a smile when he dived onto my surprised mother as she half rose from her seat. As he dragged her body into the lounge room, we watched in horror as he smothered her screams with his thick black wings and sank those disgusting fangs into her crepe-skinned throat. Her death mask was one of pure terror, smeared with blood. I felt impotent, pathetically unable to stop the carnage.

The Beast took much longer with my father… He obviously wanted to enjoy the process. Frozen with fear, Father was glued to his chair. Unable to escape, slowed down by his advanced years, The Beast easily kept one constant eye on him. Having finished with my poor mother, he sauntered creepily into the kitchen area where father and I still sat, rooted to the spot in shock and fear. Before we could blink, he whipped out a blade sharpener and honed a chef’s knife to a razor-sharp finish.

Before either of us could react, he stuffed a filthy cloth into father’s gaping mouth and chopped off both of his ears. His bulbous nose came next and then his lips. On and on, The Beast cut until he no longer resembled my father but a deformed marionette with its strings cut and discarded, laying in a heap on the floor. His limbless form lay inert, spurting his lifeblood, before slowing to an ooze as it drained from his devastated body, pooled into the faded kitchen carpet. My brain had trouble processing what on earth I  had just witnessed?

I naturally assumed that I was next and was visibly, horrifically captivated. Clothed in black leggings,  his uneven leg length evident, The Beast wore black ballet slippers and a black jumper, knitted especially to accommodate massive, filthy black feathered wings, extending on either side of his torso. A black trilby adorned with a long red feather covered his misshapen head and maniacal facial features.

What atrocities would he subject me to? I was no match for whatever this creature was. Deep in my brain, however, a tiny fragment of memory was resurfacing. What was it? 

“Cummon” he spoke, almost friendly to me. 

“Wh…wh… where are we going?” I stuttered, feeling an inner rage at myself for being so tragic.

“We’re going to paint the town red.” He roared, throwing back his disgusting head, exposing his pointed green fangs. Howling like a wolf, he approached me, face to face, his breath rancid.

“Just come with me, I’ll show you what’s what,” smiling with those hideously green sharp teeth. Grabbing tightly onto my arm like a vice, I was given little choice. 

We were flying. My mind told me that it was impossible, but another fragment was surfacing in my brain, indicating that I was born to fly. What the…?

What? Was I to be an accomplice in this nightmare? My memory triggers were terrifying. How on earth was my brain wired? Was I a killer? I felt sure that enlightenment was nigh.

This disgustingly strange guy somehow led me to believe that I was inexplicably safe in his company. My mind was still reeling; I needed to focus on our destination.

Fishing a black leather pouch from his pants, he tipped a minute amount of ash-like substance into the palm of his hand. Dragging my mortified face close to his, he blew the ashes upwards, and as we both  inhaled deeply, we breathed in the foul dust. It tasted like manure and I didn’t actually want to know it’s origin.

Seconds later we were sucked into a giant funnel and released to the marble floor of some sort of cathedral. It was certainly unfamiliar to me, but I felt somehow that it was related to my elusive memory. Well, at least I was alive; I began to feel confident that when the time was right, my evasive memory would shine through.

Our current location was clearly not planned and we’d arrived here by accident. This creature clearly didn’t want to be in the cathedral. Dancing on the spot, the ground beneath him burning his feet through his slippers.

 “Hmm… Interesting.” Now certain that my elusive thoughts related somehow to a cathedral. What could possibly be tied to this place?… Whoa, here we go again!

Swiftly, he yanked my arm once more in his vice like grip, and we were flying. His enormous black wings were probably once beautiful; now, they were greasy and stained by copious amounts of blood from previous kills. We seemed to glide for hours, yet time was fluid.

“Good grief… Mother and Father are really dead.” A sudden burst of reality as my shocked mind processed this information. Initially overwhelmed, tears running freely down my cheeks, I suddenly felt that eventually, everything would be okay. Fearing for my safety, though, I needed to ditch the guy in black who seemed to have taken a shine to me. 

Shine . . .

There’s that tatter of a memory again. I couldn’t quite grasp it… Like a shredded sheet hanging on the clothesline. Each time I tried to grab it, it would tear further, and the wind would blow the scraps away. It’s in my head though, of this I was certain by now.

Not ready to free me, he seemed to have another thought and reached to grab my arm. Pulling my arm back, the surprise on his grotesque face was almost comical; I thought he was going to cry. 

“What?” He scoffed

“Well if you insist on dragging me along on these trips, at least change sides. I’m positively covered in bruises from your pincers, so a little less brutality if you don’t mind and alternate arms occasionally.”

I’d surprised him yet again. Long talons raked at his face, and I was suddenly aware that he had only three fingers on each hand. Well, they were more like crab’s claws, with a flipper in place of where his pinky would have been. 

Baring ragged green teeth, he roared. A horrific odour hit my face as I inhaled, and I could detect oily fish, rotten mushrooms, dirty old dog bones and a sweet sickly smell of… mouldy oranges, leaving a disgusting taste in my mouth.

Before I could blink, he grabbed my other arm, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he’d loosened his grip a little. At this stage he hadn’t actually physically harmed or threatened me and I had to wonder whether I would serve a later purpose. Perhaps it was related to that darned evasive memory.

Before I could contemplate further, we had landed in a huge compound. Perhaps a military base? It had barbed wire surrounding the perimeter and I could hear guard dogs barking in the distance. There was a long building where people were slowly entering. They wore blue and white pyjamas with a yellow star sewn on to their sleeve. I glanced up and saw black smoke pouring out of the chimney.

Oh my God, I realised where we were… We had landed at Auschwitz, and I watched Jewish men, women and children being herded into the building and certain death. I wanted to scream out in  protest but then realised, that this was in the past and the past cannot be changed. We can only move forward and never commit these atrocities again. The Beast eyed me surreptitiously, wanting to shock me. He sniggered, and I  realised his need for me to be terrified and compliant. I pledged at that moment that I would rather die than see a repeat of this nightmare.

No sooner had this thought formed when, whoosh… We were off again, soaring through space, and before I could say abracadabra, we fell to earth, landing in a sea of poppies. I felt a tendon in my ankle tear and knew that this would delay any venture for freedom. The flowers, though, were a helpful clue regarding our location.

 We were in Flanders Field; the era - World War One. The echoing of guns, cannons and machine guns reverberated around my exhausted brain like a pinball machine.

Mutilated bodies were piled in every direction, making it difficult to tell whether they were allied soldiers or enemies. Death steals any descriptive features we may have once owned in life. One dead soldier looked, smelt and decomposed just like any other. Sudden nausea caused me to vomit up what little I’d eaten for breakfast. The Beast noticed my discomfort, smirking his evil smile, as only monsters can!

Mission accomplished, he’d produced the desired reaction from me.

Meanwhile, I was rapidly tiring of his games. We weren’t likely to see anything lovely or unspoilt today, and I turned my thoughts to escape, injured ankle or not.

Just when I thought I had a plan to break loose, he clutched my arm and whisked me off yet again, to heaven knows where next!

Not to disappoint, he landed almost gracefully this time in a rather large red shed. A dairy farm! I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why we were here. Big fat cows were tethered to milking pumps and mooed noisily at our intrusion.

            `

We remained only for seconds before I was accosted once more and dragged skywards again. At least it wasn’t raining. Ah… I spoke too soon.

Falling to earth was a process I was gradually becoming accustomed to. Landing with a thump, I quickly checked all limbs to ensure nothing was broken. Curiosity got the better of me. 

“Where are we?”

“You’ll see.” He chortled in his maniacal manner.

He knew exactly where we were and I could almost see the cogs turning in his distorted brain. There was certainly a creative plan in his corrupt mind and I was about to be appalled big time!

Walking… Hobbling on uneven legs, he excitedly approached a bay manufacturing something and auto-filling cans with the produce. Shocked, I realised that we were in a factory which dried and purified milk products, producing baby formula. Here the milk was dried, reduced to powder, and filtered with essential vitamins to keep babies thriving and healthy. Reaching into his filthy pocket, he again drew out the leather pouch he had used earlier.

I  looked at him askance, as if to ask what he intended doing with the ash from the pouch. He never failed to disappoint.

“I’m going to mix this ash into the vat of dried milk so that each squawking little pink baby will receive a tiny taste of my potion, and they will become one of my kind.” The Beast bowed low as if to congratulate himself on his idea.

Beaming his vile smile, he raised his eyebrows to gauge my reaction.

How could I not object? These were innocent babies. I couldn’t stand by and let him populate the planet with disgusting clones of himself. They would eventually grow up to commit the same barbarities as he,  and the whole universe would be full of crab clawed, vile-smelling, green toothed monsters with oily black wings, which would leave a bloody trail wherever they go.

Suddenly, bright lights blinded me, as the long forgotten memory flooded my brain. The memory, implanted so long ago, emerged as the solution to the holocaust created by these creatures, preventing them from existing to threaten the world.

“Cease your abhorrent behaviour.” The bellowing noise hurt his misshapen ears, and he cupped his hands and pincers.

I stood stock-still, tossing up whether I could run with a torn ankle ligament when it occurred to me that it was I who had bellowed the warning.

“Desist your destructive behaviour and submit yourself to the fires of hell. You will go willingly, or I will be forced to send you there myself.”

The black winged, disgusting, crab clawed creature half smiled, his green foul smile but he wasn’t quite sure. He made no move to leave, to go to hell, or anywhere else.

“And who are you to tell me what to do?” Mouldy teeth and disfigured face quite sure of himself, but then no one had challenged him before.

In a voice of thunder, I revealed the memory that I had forgotten until now.

“ I am the heavenly body of Angel Gabriel, having lived in a human form with human parents preparing for this moment.”

The Beast was shocked, knowing damn well who Angel Gabriel was.

“ Many years ago, when the people were reprogrammed, and memories were implanted into our brain, there was always one memory inaccessible to me, until now. Prepared to live in the secular body of an insignificant man, it was challenged that one day I would meet with the likes of you. I and my previously unknown co-conspirators have united on this day to drive your devilish kind back into hell. You and all the other Nephilim. 

Our human forms have served their purpose and now we transform to our heavenly image and cast you down to hell where you belong. Murder and other grievous sins, have no place on this earth.”

The ugly beast lifted his head, shaking uncontrollably; he took in my pure white garments, my massive, pristine, virginal white wings; set back behind my shoulders. My shining soul, a beacon, was hurting The Beast’s eyes, and he covered them with his claws.

With that I, Angel Gabriel pointed both hands sharply towards the ground and the earth opened before us. Raging fires, screaming, and inhuman noises could be heard as the beast was sucked back into his life in hell.

All around the planet, at that very moment, other earthly bodies recalled the memory implanted into their brain when they were reprogrammed. All of the transformed Angels declared war on The Beast and split open the ground, for them to return to hell.

After all of the disgusting creatures had been deposited into hades where they belonged, the  Angel Gabriel’s remembered a second implanted memory.

The people of the world had been cruel and abusive and did not respect their fellow man… the very reason that their memories were removed in the first place. 

It was now all of the appointed Angel Gabriel’s task to ensure that the people nurtured the kind, caring and truthful memories implanted. This way, The Beasts could be held at bay, the Angels could re-join their earthly bodies, and the role of the Archangels would no longer be needed on earth, but some could guard the gates of hell.

“I’m an orphan,” I thought sadly, “but if things go to plan, this new world we have created will be utopia! That has to be worth the sacrifice!”