Rachel Eckermann 7

The lights turned on abruptly. Claire was gone. The table was gone. Etienne could not stand the light. It was so bright. She exited the restroom. "Are you OK?" asked Matt Damon. "No," Etienne answered. Matt Damon gave her a hug. "It's OK." "What just happened to me?" "I don't know. What happened to you?" "How long was I in there for?" "Just a few minutes." What had just happened to me? Her soul was wrecked. She felt so nervous. She felt like going to the hospital. She felt like doing something. Was she insane? Meanwhile, Rachel and Claire were having a conversation. "Who is her lover?" "I believe it is Gabriel." "How do you know that?" "It was the way she tried to poke my eye out. It was peculiarly Gabriel's style." "Is he Satan?" "I belive so." She whispered to Deborah Smiley. "Remove all obstacles." Deborah was in the US, listening to Rachel through the microphone in her ear. Kill Gabriel, she heard. She moved quickly through the streets and shot up the elevator at the Prudential Center leading to the Top of the Hub of the Universe. There she found Gabriel dining with the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She was a German of the Teutonic Order, Belladona. "May I join?" "Of course." Deborah blinked once. Belladona excused herself. "Gabriel, what happened to us?" "Nothing," Gabriel responded. "You loved me once." "Never say never again." "You don't love me anymore." "Loving is such sorrow." "I broke your heart?" "I only break glass." "You are cruel." Gabriel looked into Deborah's eyes. He could not fathom her purpose. "What do you want?" "I want you to take a leap of faith." "Many have died taking that leap." "Could you do it for me?" "Not at all." Gabriel closed his eyes. He could no longer see with his third eye. She slipped some cyanide into his drink. She was wearing a very fragrant perfume. Gabriel gulped down the drink with his eyes closed, taking the leap of faith. "What has this accomplished?" "You deserve to die." "Very well then, but I promise you, life without me would be even more unbearable." Deborah escorted Gabriel out of the Top of the Hub and took him to his apartment on the 33rd floor. He was smiling like a simpleton. So this is what death is like, he thought. It wasn't so bad. Calm, quiet, and alone by himself. He felt no pain somehow. "Deborah, do you remember your childhood when you imagined all those bullets and they were like the voices of your parents yelling while they fought with each. You imagined entering a turnistile..." "How do you know that?" "You were so afraid... but you've never been in the Holocaust..." "Gabriel, do you feel?" "Does anyone with a strong childhood trauma feel? After repetition compulsion and going so hard against the pleasure principle, hiding my traumas in bad habits, hangups, do you ever really feel? If you made everyone go through a psychological Holocaust, would they understand the Jews better for having experienced?" "I really don't know. You just made it so easy for me to kill you." "Oh believe me, The Goddess will save me." "Who is the Goddess?" "I really don't know." Deborah wanted to shed tears, but she restrained herself. She quickly left and shut the door. Gabriel could see lights now, glowing like UFO's. He had to let go of the things he most treasured one by one. He let go of Rachel, of Deborah, and of Claire. He let go out his lust for material things, for beauty, and all high values. He let go of his moral judgements. His body turned white and he was still breathing. He let go of his alterego. He let go of death. God's soldiers are coming to kill me, he thought.