protecting me, the encounters are always extremely torturous. Endlessly agonizing. Oh, this horrible, horrible language! Ohyo! ohyo! noibe Ohyo! I wish I had never discovered it. Let me die, Peter! Give me the gift of death.«
The language!
»Which language is it, Kelly?«
»Don’t play the fool, Peter. I have long seen that you remember the language. Hoathahe Saitan! Do you remember? Enochian? The language of angels and demons.«
He is right, and you know it! Sat and slept…
Peter tried to collect his thoughts. With bare feet, he stepped into the splinters of his memories and all he could feel was pain. The pain of being torn from something he loved. The pain of no longer being complete. He could not deny that this Enochian language seemed kind of familiar to him. Strangely enough, he could even understand parts of it.
But why? When did you learn this language?
»Tell me the truth, Kelly! Who killed Ellen?«
Kelly wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth. »The truth?« he said. »How can you expect to see the truth if you are not even willing to remember? The Bearers of the Light are frantically searching for the nine seals to create a new world order. That is the truth.«
Peter began to shake Kelly violently. »Enough, Kelly, enough! I want the truth!«
»So you think what I am saying is absurd? Why is that? You know better, Peter. You saw it in your vision, didn’t you? The Light-Bearers will get their revenge by destroying the Vatican and the Catholic Church. And this will happen soon. During the next solar eclipse. During the conclave. It has already begun, Peter. New Zealand, Japan, Libya, the ISS; these were all precursors. Malachy’s Prophecy of the Pope will be fulfilled. The next Pope will call himself Peter. And this will only be the beginning of the end. The Apocalypse starts three days from now.«
LXI
May 15, 2011, Vatican City
L ieutenant Colonel Res Steiner found that his commander was uncommonly quiet and even more withdrawn than usual when he returned that night to the Swiss Guards’ barracks. Not a single word of explanation as to how he had spent the last two days. Bühler greeted them in passing and then he locked himself into his office. The guards in the sala operativa exchanged puzzled looks with each other and shrugged. It was unusual enough that the Colonel had left the barracks just as they were planning one of their most important operations, but that he returned without convening a briefing or giving any explanations was downright disconcerting. So much so that Res Steiner waited only a few minutes before knocking at his commander’s door. No answer.
»Colonel Commandant?«
Bühler did not respond. Steiner became nervous. He did not know that Bühler was sitting on the other side of the door, pressing the barrel of his SIG P220 against his temple, but he knew enough about his commander to regard this silence as a warning signal.
»Colonel Commandant, please open the door, Sir!«
Steiner waved two of the guards over. But at the same moment, the door opened and Bühler let him enter the room. For a split second, it seemed to Steiner as if his commander had been crying.
»Is everything alright, Colonel?«
»Yes. What’s the status?«
»No special incidents, Colonel. The cardinals who are eligible to vote have all arrived and tomorrow they will gather in the Sistine Chapel for a pre-conclave safety instruction demonstration.«
»Very good. Thank you.« Bühler looked at his Lieutenant Colonel. »Anything else, Steiner?«
Steiner was feeling uncomfortable. The change in his commander’s demeanor was too obvious. Not to mention the gun on his desk. However, he did not dare to ask him any questions.
»What about this Venice lead? Did you find anything out?«
»No,« Bühler answered succinctly. »It was a dead end. And that sucks.«
Steiner could see that Bühler was desperately trying to hold back his tears. »If there is anything that I can do for you, Colonel