Never Alone

Chapter 4: The Comfort

"No! No," Ruth sobbed as she woke up from the nightmare, "It was only a dream, a horrific, abysmal nightmare." As Ruth began to calm down she began to realize that she didn't know where she was. Until she remembered what happened the day before. She looked around her. It appeared to be an interrogation room, like the one in the cop shows. She wondered if there was a two way mirror too. She couldn't investigate further because at that moment a lady entered the room.
"Hello, Ruth my name is Gertrude. I am here to ask you a few questions," Gertrude said as she took out some papers from her black suitcase," so you were brought here because your parents were reading illegal material to you is that correct?"
"Yes," Ruth said hesitantly.
"What did you learn from this material, if anything?" Gertrude asked pleasantly enough writing down something on the papers.
"I learned a lot. I learned that I am a sinner and was going to Hell. But God sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross for my sin so that I could go to heaven. Jesus raised from the grave defeating death forever and those who believe in him will go to heaven," Ruth stated.
"Well, darling," Gertrude said with a small sigh, putting down the pen she had in her hands, "you know that all of what's in this book is made up, fictitious," Gertrude said putting her hand on Ruth's knee.
" It is not made up," Ruth said confused on why Gertrude would say that.
"Yes, it is darling, Gertrude said with a pitying glance.
"It makes sense," Ruth declared, " and why would you ban a fictitious book anyway?
"Because darling, even fictitious books can be deadly to a society," Gertrude said irritated , a hint of steel entering her otherwise pleasant voice, "They could put wrong ideas in your head."
"But if you read through the Bible, you would realize that there is no wrong ideas in it," Ruth replied
"Darling, it doesn't matter what it has in it. You have to renounce this "supposed" God and never talk about it again," Gertrude said with a snap.
Ruth thought about her family. How they always read from the Bible and searched for answers when they had a question. She recalled when she became a Christian, how peaceful she felt when she called on her father in heaven. She was scared but Ruth knew she couldn't renounce Jesus, so she prayed for strength and peace.
"I can't," Ruth said.
"What did you say," Gertrude said with hardly suppressed anger.
"No, I will not renounce God," Ruth said again with more strength.
All aspect of kindness vanished from Gertrude as it was replaced by a white hot fury. "Well, then you will be put to good use," Gertrude said as she pulled Ruth up by her hair. Gertrude threw Ruth into the wall and sneered at her as Ruth lost consciousness.
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"Where am I," Ruth whispered as she looked around her.
It looked as if she was in an alley way. It was dark.
"I better find a store where I can use a phone," Ruth told herself as she got up and dust off her clothes. Ruth looked up and down the alley way wondering which way to go. She decided to blindly turn right. After five minutes of walking Ruth noticed a store. She opened the door and entered the building. She looked around the store. There were silhouettes of strange objects lining the walls. Ruth continued down the aisle starting to get an uneasy feeling.
"Hello," Ruth called as she went up to the cashier counter, "hello!"
"Hello there ," an old crouched woman came up to the counter.
"Hello there mam," Ruth replied with a nervous smile, " I was wondering if I could use a phone to call a friend. I am a little bit lost."
"Of course ," the old lady said with a slight smile. She went to the back room and appeared with a red dial phone, setting the phone on the counter."
"Thank-you," Ruth said with a smile. She dialed her friend's number and waited for the phone to dial. The phone ringed for a few seconds then static. A deep voice came through the static softly at first, then louder and louder. With this voice black smoke began billowing from the phone.
"What is this," Ruth asked herself trying to wipe away the smoke twirling towards her. As the smoke thickened Rachel started to despair. She felt like she was suffocating. But when the smoke seemed to have gotten the better of her, a bright light encompassed her making the darkness vanished.
"I am with you," a different voice said, a comforting and peaceful voice, cutting through Ruth's panic