Chapter 13: 13. Closed Down
The hours passed, those hours turned to days and those days turned to weeks. Valerian spent that period mostly at home. Locked within his room. Still, he occasionally left to meet Mr. Franklin, who always welcomed him into the church.
Valerian spent many-many hours in simple conversations with the man. Their topic would be the book he had given him. The pastor explained many things Valerian failed to understand by simply reading, thereby helping him.
The book had been interesting, but many times Valerian felt himself tired of it, but after Mr. Franklin explained what it was, he could only try his best. His best remained mediocre, however. And he knew it.
Each time he picked it up, a sense of boredom tried to seep into his mind. Yet he read it and did his best.
The stories within the book remained one of the most inspirational, yet very relatable. At times he felt spoken to. The description of the past events. The lessons learned and the nature of man revealed as plainly as possible.
Still, one of the many interesting things about that book was the fact that it held the interaction of humans with the said ultimate being who had created the world.
He had revealed unto the people of that time and even his current world the gravity of their nature. Thanks to the many hours of explanation and even personal thinking, Valerian had been able to come to the realization of the existence and a veil in those ancient times.
A veil covered the human race separating them from the affection and power of the ultimate being. This veil had been created by the disobedience of the firsts which had spiraled into deeper things. But mostly distance.
In the beginning, It was written that the ultimate being himself descended to meet them and have light conversations with the first man and woman. A healthy relationship.
But distance had been created with the first disobedience of man. His action of listening to his woman who had listened to the enemy delivered the authority the supreme being had given to him, to the enemy.
This singular event brought the downfall of the creation put under the care of the first man and the first woman.
Their authority as stewards had been transferred to the enemy and he had utilized it to the detriment of the human race.
Gaining understanding on that matter had taken a long while, but when it eventually hit Valerian, he understood that man had been stolen from. Tricked and robbed of his glory.
Mr. Franklin had however moved to better that depressing realization, by showing him the historical records of a certain man. But unlike the rest of man, this man had not a human father.
This man had been the direct son of the ultimate being. He had been the culmination of the laws. The fulfiller. The finisher. The spoken word.
Putting on a pair of blue sneakers, Valerian exited his room. He would be going to see Mr, Franklin for the second time that week.
A month and a half had passed since he returned from the hospital, and he had long since begun to get used to the things of life again.
Sure his experience in Sheol played an active role in his decisions and actions, but things were different. With the new level of understanding, he had managed to build throughout the weeks. he had grown.
He had been hungry for information, for the book. It had been unsatiable, it had been great, and Mr. Franklin had revealed the reason for that.
Being not conformed to the earth, he was transformed by the renewal of his mind. The very things he liked before had started to look bland. Especially when he paired the reality of Sheol with the world.
He considered most things a waste of time.
"You're going there again?" May's voice reached Valerian's ears, pulling him out of his deep thoughts. Many things swirled in his mind. Many revelations. He halted his steps to glance at his mother.
Over the weeks their relationship had slowly healed, the same for his dad. The man had gone for a meeting. Money was to be made.
"Yes," Valerian replied, his nose trembling at the aroma that oozed out of the kitchen. It was Saturday afternoon, and his mom was always around. It was only normal that she cooked.
Unfortunately, Valerian stood currently in an exercise that saw him defeating his body's desire to eat. What a great battle that was.
"My regards to him then, don't stay too late," She smiled even if it remained forced. Her last words were most likely going to not come to pass.
Valerian had been stuck at home for over a month and the only place he found interesting to visit was the church. Not even his friends who had never come to check up on him were visitable. She would be his driver were he to show interest.
She wanted her son to heal and believed only interaction with the ones he loved was the only way. Unfortunately, he had too much of his attention on the church and its head. It greatly annoyed her. But he had begun to smile only after going there. She preferred that to his coldness.
The gods knew she couldn't handle it.
"I'll try," Valerian replied pulling the door to leave the house. His steps toward the church were almost rapid enough to be called running, but he bottled up the excitement of his new understanding to take long strides toward the church.
Mr. Franklin had informed him of the time he was usually in the church. And for a Saturday that would be past 1 pm. According to his phone in three minutes' time, the hour of 2 would hit.
Arriving at the oh-so-familiar gate, Valerian furrowed his brows. He noticed something strange and only when he got to the entrance did he notice.
"Why is it locked?" He muttered, his eyebrows creasing in a frown.
He knocked at the gate in hopes of someone being within it. His hopes shattered after ten minutes of continuous banging.
With disappointment all over his face, Valerian turned to begin his journey back home. He tried the man's number but it failed to go through.
Strangely his service provider stated that the number did not exist. That would be the first time he had called actually. The man had never not been in the church.
With the situation getting increasingly weird Valerian walked down the street, only to encounter someone. A man.
He led a couple of individuals as they approached the church.
"Um... please, are you on your way there?" Valerian turned, politely gesturing at the church's black gate in the distance.
"Yes, how may I help you?" The mid-thirties man replied, equally polite.
"I was just returning from there. By any chance do you know Mr. Franklin? The owner of the church?" Valerian made known his thoughts.
The gentleman furrowed his brows as the others behind him simply remained silent.
"No. And that place has been closed down for a few years now. The church there moved long ago." His answer was quick and his face revealed the puzzlement he felt from that matter. Even the four individuals he led looked at the young man before them weirdly.
"Uh?!…" Exclamained Valerian, but before he could further interact with the man, his eyes snapped open. It had been a dream. A troubling one.
The gears of his destiny were set in motion. The time for the arrival of power was near.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Adamoforder
Adamoforder I hope you enjoyed it!
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