“Ava, I am a messenger.”

“Whatever that means.” She tried not to fidget. The device looked like a big smartphone. She thought of reflective cloaks and transformation optics but knew it was more than that.

“Your belief system will struggle with what I’m about to tell you.”

She stood, an attempt to get control of the situation. She felt more in control standing. “I’m not a fearful person. Where’s the man who lives here?” She knew, but still asked.

“He’s coming. He’s gone for a walk. He doesn’t know I’m here.”

“Well, why are you here?”

“For you.”

<°)))><

Ava walked over to the window and moved the curtains to see outside. She felt weary. There was no one else here. She hadn’t been set up. Why had she come here? She didn’t fully understand.

“How did you know I’d come here?”

“I’m a messenger. I go where I’m told to go and do what I’m told to do. I’m not privileged to know why I do some things or why you do some things.”

“Who tells you?”

“That, you wouldn’t understand. Now, back to the device.”

“What wouldn’t I understand? I take it you’re from the Department of Defence?’

“No, not from Defence. You won’t understand, but let’s try. You don’t believe in the existence of deities. And more specifically, you don’t believe in the single deity known as God.”

“One, how do you know that, and two, what have you and that device got to do with my belief system?” She felt her body coming back to normal—her confidence returning, her underbelly firming.

“You don’t believe because you want proof. That device will give you proof. You don’t want to hear this, but your daughter is with the deity known as God. He is watching over her. She’s talked to God about you.”

With that, Ava swallowed. She felt vulnerable again. But touching her semi-automatic pushed such feelings away.

“What rubbish. Why are you telling me these things?”

“Your husband survived the poisoning. The B12 supplement he’s taking as part of his fitness regime acted as an antidote. Oh, he was still sick, but he’s alive and well and thinking of you.”

“How . . . how do you know these things?”

“Your daughter spoke to God about your husband as well.”

“How do you know? . . . I’m going to leave now.”

“Where are you going to go? The police will soon be here.”

“I’ll get away.”

“You may but I doubt it. Not this time. You’re weary and starting to make mistakes. Coming here was your subconscious looking for rest.” He pointed to the device. “If you tap the screen, you’ll see a large icon.”

“Is this the reflective cloaks and transformation optics device?” Ava wasn’t quite sure what to call the device. “Why would making me invisible prove anything? Why would I want to play with that device?”

“Invisible? No, it’s nothing to do with invisibility. The device is giving you a choice, one that you’ve had all your life. The chances are you’re going to die soon. You’re considered a dangerous individual. There’s an inexperienced young police officer travelling towards this property.”

“Really.”

“Mock if you must. On departing from the police vehicle and encountering you, he’ll think you’re about to retaliate. He’ll panic and shoot you. You’ll die with a bullet wound to the heart.”

“Really.”

“Yes. He’s been trained to shoot at the centre of a mass, just like you were trained to do. And he’ll do what he’s trained to do. He’ll shoot you and kill you.”

She sat, weary. God. Her daughter talking to God. Her husband still alive. Death.

“Your belief system wants tangible, testable evidence God exists. The mechanics of that device are based on scientific knowledge and methods. It’s not the device that gives you the proof. The inventor was like you. He didn’t believe, but his device took people outside the physical realm into a supernatural one. It touches a pathway to God and to evil. The inventor didn’t anticipate this.”

“That’s all very nice if one was to believe in such rubbish. And to be honest, at this point, death doesn’t seem unattractive.”

“Yes, I know. But it’s time you let love rule instead of revenge,”

“By that you mean . . .”

“Do you want to see your daughter again?”

72 – Whispers and thoughts

HER MIND STARTED RESTRUCTURING MADELEINE. Ava’s heart pounded. She felt cold spots and a shiver shot up her spine. She sensed a presence? All a delusion coming from inside her head, there was nothing outside the body. All brought on by fatigue, fear.

Ava closed her eyes, smelled the lingering eucalyptus oil. She took a deep breath. Words were forming at the back of her head. “Yes, I do.” She opened her eyes and looked at the messenger. “Yes, I do want to see Madeleine, but I know it’s not possible.”

Her last memory of Madeleine was her body in the casket. The mortician had covered the bruising around her neck that Ava knew was there. Madeleine looked at peace. Ava wanted so much for her eyes to open.

The desire for revenge was still strong. “Tell me, why does your so called God let such bad things happen? Why does he let a seventeen-year-old girl hang herself?

The messenger spoke softly. “It will always be traced back to love or lack of love. God tells us to love one another, to put others first.”

“What is love?”

“You can answer that. You’ve killed people. Did you love them? You tried to kill your husband. Is that love? Did your parents love you?”

“What is love? I don’t know what it is. How can I answer? I don’t know.”

“There can be many answers to that question, but it will always come back to putting others before yourself. Simple, but true. If you think long and hard, you’ll see it is the answer. What brings it all together is the love of God. First God, then others. That’s it.”

“Love the God who lets a seventeen-year-old girl hang herself? I find that hard to comprehend.”

“God deals with the consequences of death. Those that put their trust in Him go to be with him. Some of this is hard to understand, I know. God watched his own Son suffer on the cross. “Death is a beginning. A new life. Some are taken away from the pain.”