Unforgettable Love (Book 1)

Chapter 3

Europa Retreat Centre, Gibraltar

Friday 18, April

23.43 hrs

We had just finished adoration and were allowed to go up to our rooms and get some sleep. Thankfully I was given a room all to myself with a nice cosy bed. The room itself however was quite small and the bed took up a majority of the space, considering it was actually a bed for two people.

  The Europa Retreat Centre itself was situated up the Rock in the south of Gibraltar overlooking the Straits as well as Northern Africa. Built with thirty bedrooms to house its guest, it's been known that on a very clear day in the early morning one can wake up to see the north of Africa and the Atlas Mountains practically within reach. 

  Along with the large dining room that is known to fit at around one hundred guest in it alone and the fully equipped kitchen, the Retreat Centre houses an even larger seminar room with a monitor to watch movies or have presentations, as well as various small workrooms and of course its own chapel which is where we had just returned from a brief period of adoration.

  Because it was the Easter Period this retreat in particular was usually the longest starting from a Thursday through Good Friday – which seems to have been the most active day by far in this retreat – and finally ending on the Sunday to celebrate when Jesus Christ had risen from the tomb.

  I can't say I'm a very religious person and my only reason for being here was thanks to a very close friend who had managed to convince me to join him. In the end I accepted defeat and took him up on his offer to come which admittedly I'm glad I did accept now. 

  During the events of today I found an opportunity to send Fatima a text earlier wishing her brother a happy birthday but she still hasn't replied which I found very odd. I could only assume she was busy with his party so has been unable to check her phone and I myself haven't exactly been free a majority of the day either.

  I changed out of my clothes and picked out my jogging kit from my backpack. Changing into my running shorts and T-shirt once I was all dressed I plugged in my MP3 and walked out of the room to close the door behind me.

  As I was locking the door I heard a voice call me from my right.

  'Going out for a run?'

  I turned and it was Steven, one of the prayer group members, having just returned from the dining hall downstairs. He stood in the corridor, holding a bottle of iced tea in one hand and his room key in the other hand.

  'Que pasa man?' I greeted. 'Yeah, I'm just going for a quick jog and then have a shower when I get back before bed.'

  'Nice, very nice. How far are you going up to?'

  I gave a shrug of my shoulders.

  'Probably going to jog along Europa Road and then up to Europa Point and back again.'

  'OK, that's good. Y tambien how was the movie for you tonight?' he mentioned.

  I thought back to the movie we saw over an hour ago before finishing with adoration. The Passion of the Christ.

  It was actually hard to find the words if I was honest. But so far all I could come up with were the following.  

  'It was... good. Very graphic and brutal and... bloody, to say the least.'

  That was clearly an understatement.

  The whole movie from start to finish was intense and the detail they put into how real they made the whipping of Jesus look sent shivers down most of the member's spines. It's possibly one of the most graphic movies as well as famous for being incredibly brutal in how it depicts the crucifixion of Jesus in such a detailed and horrific manner.