The Teacher

The Teacher: Part I Unchained, Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

SAFELY BACK IN THE CAR, WE both just sat there, in shock, neither one having any idea what to say that would adequately convey what we were feeling. Holden had just revealed the full extent of the power available to the followers of the Guardian. Though thankful, I was more confused than ever about whether or not to take another step closer to both Holden, and the higher power who'd won his allegiance.

"We can't just stay here, start the car and let's get going! What just happened back there?" I managed to get out, when it was difficult to think of anything while the image of those four dead men floating frozen in space kept looping in my mind like a YouTube video from hell on instant replay.

"I know you weren't ready to see something like that, but I couldn't let them rape you. Please don't be upset with me," Holden pleaded, all the while a little disappointed that I wasn't on my knees thanking him for saving me.

"Certainly I'm grateful, but what you just did, I assume I'll have that same ability. I'm not sure I want to be responsible for what I might do with that much power at my disposal."

"Don't forget, it's all about free will and using your gifts to work out a destiny of your own choosing. Other people get pushed off their path by outside forces. That doesn't happen to us," Holden confidently explained.

"You make it all sound so perfect, but there are four dead men in that garage! Is that even reasonable much less perfect?"

"Tell me Fallon...I could have just sat there tied up on that chair and watched them hurt you. Would that have been the reasonable thing to do?"

"Of course not, but did you have to kill them?" I challenged.

"People like that, who would do something so vile, don't deserve to continue living."

"Who are you to be their judge, jury, and executioner?"

"Those with power, the strong, rule over the weak. I gave them the opportunity to back off, didn't I, but they wouldn't listen."

"You have all the right answers, don't you?"

"Some day, under the right circumstances, you won't hesitate to keep someone you care about safe either. Yes, they are dead, their bodies no longer function, but their sick souls have returned to the spirit realm where they will have an opportunity to return to the flesh, again to pursue acquiring enough wisdom to move beyond their petty carnal desires. Each of us has to take those same uncertain steps forward."

"Much of what you believe is familiar to me, and I know the early apostles had amazing powers to heal the sick and feed a multitude, but your power is different. You can use it to kill?"

"Please don't be so naïve. Have you read your Old Testament? The Ark of the Covenant channeled enormous power that the Israelites used to vanquish their enemies—many were slaughtered."

"It's not that I don't like the idea of having the power to defend myself, I would just worry about using it in the wrong way."

"There you go again, right and wrong, we don't think that way. There's no need to make judgments about every decision you make. If something you do makes your life better, then it is right," Holden confidently declared.

I RECOGNIZED HIS STATEMENT as being at the heart of the difference between his deity, his religion, and the Christian ideals I was raised with. After all, wasn't it better to give something away than to steal, to say a kind word than to criticize, to tell the truth rather than lie, to pull back instead giving into an impulse of anger?

Not according to Holden's Guardian's Apostle's Creed where Self Comes First.

"So, are we good?" he asked as we pulled up to his apartment.

"For now...but I hope you'll understand when I say there's so much still to think about and work through," I replied honestly.

"I've been there...take your time, and as you now know, time is something you possess in abundance now."

"Speaking of time, just how much longer do we have until the police will be knocking on my door?" I asked, for some reason at that moment remembering the criminal nature of what had happened at the garage.

"Please don't worry. There were no other witnesses and we left nothing behind to tie us to the crime scene."

"How can you be so sure of that? Those creeps had their hands all over me and my DNA must be all over them!"

"Not anymore...the energy level I used to kill them also fried their tissue...or anyone else's that might have been on their body or nearby. Also, in the paper tomorrow you'll find a story about how a fire gutted a garage and the unfortunate victims who'd apparently passed out after doing drugs, dropped a lit cigarette and accidentally starting the blaze," Holden declared, trying to reassure me that the authorities wouldn't be tracking us down.

"And just how are you going to pull that off?" I questioned.

"It's just a simple variation on remote viewing. Similar to how we took our souls off to Rome, I can concentrate and send that energy to a specific location and use it to see something, or in this case, to start a fire."

"Is there anything you can't do?" I responded, half in envy, half in fear.

THE QUESTION WAS SATIRICAL to be sure, but probing as well. Holden was much further along in understanding how to use the Guardian's powers. I wanted to know more, but I was still scared to cross some point of no return where the destiny of my soul would indeed no longer be in my control.

"Fallon, let me drop you off so you can unwind. I've got to pick some things up for tonight. Oh, with everything that happened I forgot to tell you my friends and I are hosting a rave. I'd like you to come, but as always, it's entirely up to you. You can bring a few of your friends if it would make you feel more comfortable," Holden suggested.

"A rave...you're serious? I've never been to one, but I've heard what goes on. Why are you doing this, and why do you want me to come, anyway?" I replied, but with my new nature surging my head was also spinning with the exhilaration of what I might experience.

After surviving a sexual assault, I thought I would want to just spend a quiet night at home, but this strange vitality in me kept pushing for extreme stimulation. Like craving the rush of flooring the accelerator on the Ferrari, I found myself actually wanting to go to the rave so I could see for myself what all the fuss was about.

"After our last concert we posted on our web site that we'd soon be putting a rave together and to be ready when the word went out. Why do I want you to come? Don't you want to keep growing in our Way? Tonight you'll be exposed to others like us, Disciples who have different powers than I have. You can learn from them."

"I suppose you're right."

"So, you go and relax, I'll be back in a while and we'll leave for the rave around midnight, or...you can pick your friends and I'll meet you there."

"Let me see if Blaire and Lydia are up for this. I think Blaire went to one without me, so they might be. Where's it going to be?"

"At the old Jensen farm...there's a big red barn with a hayloft, the main house has about six bedrooms, and the furniture is still there. The place has been vacant for years and it's out in the middle of nowhere so we can make as much noise as we want!"

"Sure, I know where that is...right off the intersection of Harbor View and Lakeshore."

"That's it."

"Okay then, if I'm gone when you get back, I went to pick up Blaire and Lydia and I'll meet you there. Should we bring anything?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact...bring a couple cases of cold bottled water. We've got pretty much everything else covered.

"Will do."