“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.”
“Ah yes, the cross, the Christian symbol.”
“Ah yes, the cross,” the man said. “The cross is foolishness to those that don’t believe, who are perishing, but to those that believe, who are being saved, it is the power of God.
“Being saved from what?”
“Perishing.”
“But that’s what it is. We die. It’s all part of the cycle.’
“The earthly cycle, yes. Stop and listen. The power of that inner voice—your thoughts, if you like. It communicates so much; it directs your life. If you listen closely, you’ll hear two voices. One is less demanding, softer than the other, and is often drowned out by a more pervasive voice. The drug you’re bringing into the world assists the drowning out of the softer voice. It blocks the way to the path we all seek. Just like a lack of love can block the path. And the path is not an earthly one.”
Ava could hear her inner voice. It was working on a strategy—to get away from this gibberish and escape. What was she doing here? Why was she listening to this mad man—the shack seemed to breed them.
Madeleine, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. It was love she felt for her daughter. She couldn’t put it into words. She’d thought she put Madeleine first, but did she? No. It was a lie. She had fought the feelings of guilt the many times she was away from home, neglecting her family because she didn’t know anything else—it was all about Ava. Ava looked at the device and smiled.
“Did an inner voice tell my daughter to take her own life? Why would it do that?”
“We have the choice to perish or be saved but we only have this choice while we’re alive. God has an enemy who wants those created in God’s image to perish. Your daughter called out to be saved before she died, and God does not reject those who call out to him. We all have that choice.”
