CHAPTER 52

CHAPTER 52

DAVID HERINGER

DAVID THOUGHT ABOUT A THOUSAND THINGS during that hug. He never imagined that would happen again in his life. There were so many things he wanted to say, but emotion wouldn't even let him open his mouth.

The only words that came out of his mouth were:

— Ivy… Oh! Ivy...

Those mere seconds lasted an eternity for them.

Their gazes met, but they were different from the gazes of before. The old Ivy's gaze was mysterious, whereas that gaze was an open book, but it was Ivy...

David would never be wrong.

That was the moment David had been waiting for all his life — to find his great love again. But everything was wrong, the scene was wrong, the clothes wrong, the weather wrong...

Nothing made sense...

But everything David had lived until now made no sense, it would be strange if he found her in a restaurant like before...

That would be weird...

Ivy explained that she needed to get David's attention, but in a way that he wouldn't suspect anything, after all, there it was normal for someone to steal an artifact like a watch, it was worth millions in the hands of a collector. In Sydney, everything was filmed, so if she wanted to get David's attention, she would have to take from him what was most valuable — the watch she herself had given him as a gift so long ago.

That didn't explain those robes, but Ivy did explain everything, she was hiding from her father:

— Like this?

It was the question of David, who would never have imagined that William Johnson was still alive...

But what David could never really imagine was the scene he was about to see.

When Ivy was telling her that William Johnson had also been hibernated shortly after ending his family's lives. He had secretly researched the data Carlisle Burke had done, copied it, and paid them to do the same job.

Before Ivy could finish her account, something completely unexpected happened.

Ivy is shot in the back, causing her to fall into David's arms with the gleam in her eyes slowly fading.

David had heard the old man's laughter at the back of the shed.

He could never forget that laugh.

William Johnson took revenge for his wife's betrayal, and for his daughter's betrayal — the daughter of whom he always gave everything, and who in the end betrayed him in such a cowardly way, betrayed him behind his back — in the same way that Johnson betrayed her, by back.

William Johnson's face was almost cadaverous, he was at least a hundred years old, his voice was slurred, you could clearly see the effort Johnson used to talk to David.

— I'm happy to see you David, after all these years of waiting, I was able to fulfill the dream of sinking your life before your very eyes. The only reason I didn't kill Ivy before was because I wanted you to taste my revenge...

William Johnson continued:

— I can see that you're enjoying the world I've created…are you enjoying every detail I've carefully planned?

David's rage was beyond his limits, he was so angry that it instantly paralyzed all of his limbs, but if that wasn't happening, David would kill that old man with his bare hands, even if he went to hell for it.

His eyes were crying non— stop, wanting to jump on Johnson's neck, while that old man laughed when he saw the inverted version of Pietá by Michelangelo.

That hug that had lasted an eternity of pleasure, was now becoming the most terrible moment of David's life, it had taken so long to find Ivy again and their meeting had only been a mere few minutes.

When David finally managed to overcome his paralyzed muscles and get up, a runaway car came in destroying the door of that abandoned shed and ran over old William Johnson.

Even after being run over, William Johnson still managed to sketch a last smile and a look of satisfaction at David, finally the old man dies.

At that moment, the driver staggered out of the car completely drunk, laughing at what had happened, but not realizing what he had really done.

When he looked in front of the vehicle to see the damage to the car, he realized that he had run over an old man and went into despair.

At that moment, Ivy still managed to summon the last of her strength to summon David.

DAVID RUNNING OUT to meet you saying:

— Ivy… it's okay now, the old man is dead.

She smiled:

— Silly — she said — it was all right from the start.

David didn't understand, but she asked him what mark they had made for each other.

At that moment, David remembered the tattoo they had done, demonstrating that:

As long as they had their hands together, nothing and no one could stop them...

David showed the mark to Ivy, which she returned with a smile and showed him her wrist as well.

The wrist was smooth, without any marks.

But what did that mean? — He thought confused.

She gave him another smile and said:

— I'm not the real Ivy, David... I'm a doppelganger that Dr. Burke chose to trick old Johnson, the real Ivy is safe and sound in Eden, along with her son, Brian...

— Son...? Brian?

The question came out without David realizing he had asked it:

— Yes, David... Your son... when you left on your last tour, Ivy found out you were pregnant, but I didn't want to tell you over the phone, I wanted to wait for your return to tell you the news, but you didn't get back in time.—, and gave William Johnson and Catherine plenty of time to plot against his life, Johnson still managed to escape the fury of his children by saying he had nothing to do with it all. Catherine was tried and convicted by the new commanders of that new world. When Victor and Ted tried to find his sister, Carlisle Burke had already managed to get his daughter out of it all, and had hidden her in Eden.

That's what that Ivy managed to say before taking a last breath to continue the narrative.

— Eden? And where is this Eden?

It was the question David managed to ask, but the answer wasn't so simple.

— He stays where he's always been David, you have the answer in your hands, your parents left the clue, just read the gift they left you and you'll find your wife and child.

She handed over the watch with her last remaining reservoir of life.

At that moment his eyes began to close, and his vision went dark.

When the Ivy doppelganger let her head loll lifelessly to the side, her wig fell off and David could understand that this really wasn't his Ivy.

She was dead and there was nothing David could do but cry.

DAVID DIDN'T KNOW WHAT to think anymore, he was holding the woman he'd thought was dead Ivy in his arms. William Johnson — who, even dead — had a sadistic smile on his face.

And the drunk who was desperately thinking about running away, but knew he would undoubtedly be convicted of killing someone for his recklessness, after all, drinking was allowed, but he would have to leave the car on automatic, however, he didn't do it, if he thought he could enough, and now, he knew he would be tried and, beyond a shadow of a doubt, condemned.

It didn't take long and soon the police were in the shed, David explained the whole situation and was released, but the boy in the car was detained.

THAT MAN WAS JUDGED guilty and sentenced to death. They killed him with a lethal injection a week after the incident.

His name was Kevin Barnet, he was a casino manager. Kevin had been promoted to vice president that same afternoon and went out to celebrate with his friends, and on the way back, he lost control of the vehicle and burst in through the shed door, finally running over old William Johnson.

friend 's misfortune — as if that was the most normal situation in the world. But it stands to reason that Kevin getting out of the way, someone would be promoted in his place, and that should be the reason for the huge smiles on their faces.

WHEN DAVID WAS COMING BACK from Kevin's trial, he noticed a woman crying outside the hotel he was staying at.

David sat next to him and asked:

— What's going on, honey?

That woman was crying and mumbling...

— How weak and stupid I am.

She only spoke ill of herself.

David hugged her — which made her automatically stop crying.

— Would you love a good fuck? — She said, trying to compose herself — You will love it... I promise it will be good...

David smiled — but a smile of a father to a son. He refused the invitation, which made the woman cry again, saying in tears that she wasn't even capable of having sex.

David hugged the girl again and asked:

— What is your name?

— Eva Monsevich. I worked in a nightclub and they dismissed me saying that I was already round too much.

Eva told how she arrived in that city, hoping to be a rich woman, dreamed of having children — but later discovered that she was barren. Nothing he did was fruitful, it was failure itself.

— Man does not live by bread alone, Eve, but by every word of God.

She looked at him strangely, and asked:

— What is it?

David said there was a God who could help her if she wanted to...

But she had never heard of God...

Of that David was absolutely certain.

He invited her into his penthouse.

David was staying in the best apartment in that hotel, which made the girl pay attention to his words.

David remembered that his father always said that being successful is a great way to talk to people, after all, everyone listens to successful people.

And that girl was listening to David's words.

Adam showed up immediately with the patched up bible in his hand — David didn't forget to look where the Garden of Eden was — but he cared first about the girl at that moment.

David began to talk about the life and miracles of Jesus that were described in the gospels. The girl was surprised by those new words she had heard, she had never heard anything like it.

After the prayer, she felt incomparably better.

Invigorated with that ritual. She was feeling good again, she didn't want to commit suicide anymore, she was willing to follow that man who pulled her out of the well and introduced her to a new way of life.

DAVID SAW IN THE BOOK of Genesis that the true Eden was between the Euphrates River and the Tigris River. He researched and found that those rivers still existed at that time, but it was difficult to find anything in all that stretch of land inhabited by human beings...

But if this was where Ivy was, this was where he should go...

DAVID LEFT A GOOD AMOUNT of money for Adam and Eva — so they could start a new life — at least until he finds his family and comes back to start all over again the whole story he was assigned to start over back then.

Adam and Eva cried a lot when they said goodbye to their new and revolutionary friend, the one who brought a new story to them, after all, if it wasn't for David, they would probably both be dead.

DAVID WENT OUT ON HIS JOURNEY — in fact, from the beginning it was a journey — he didn't know exactly where he had to go, but he knew that he couldn't stay still.

David bought a Van model car. He placed a lot of supplies — for he did not know how long it would take to find his wife and child. He decided to consult Burke's hologram, and as usual, another conundrum came up:

— Eden will be found behind where the David hours are...

What the hell did that mean now? — He thought.

David realized how important that watch on his wrist was. When he took it out and looked, turning it over — there was something written in microscopic letters — some letters and numbers.

They were coordinates.

David realized that everything was falling into place naturally, even so, he didn't know much about the place, as he had never set foot in Mesopotamia, it was a land that in his time Western music was not very accepted.

It took two weeks trying to find the place of those coordinates, which gave him many adventures — since that land became a great forest and the fauna was very enriched, full of lions, giraffes, elephants, tigers and the most diverse animals.

He remembered that when he was a child he loved going to the zoo and his favorite animal was the eagle — the American symbol — he thought it was great, but like Indiana Jones, David hated snakes — and snakes were not lacking in the desert part of Mesopotamia..

David slept inside the car, because a big car was strategic, where he could fit a simple bed.

In his research, David discovered that it was the most dangerous place in the world — since all the meat— eating fauna was concentrated there — hunting was prohibited, humanity lost its taste for the insane and unnecessary killing of innocent animals that only kill for its own survival.

IT WAS TWO WEEKS of much reflection for David, after all, he was alone in the desert.

Burke's hologram had nothing more to add to its files.

David remembered that not only had Jesus gone into the desert, but the apostle Paul had also spent time in the desert before starting his journey with Barnabas, to find out what God's will was for his life.

Suddenly he was there, in the middle of nowhere, with countless wild animals that could devour him in seconds at any time.

David felt in the same situation, that desert was as dangerous as sleeping in an aquarium full of venomous animals of all species. David would be a full plate in that place where there was no trace of the human species, being the best hiding place for Christian refugees who had been hiding for a thousand years.

In the unbearable heat, David wasn't sure if what he was seeing was a mirage or real. He saw a distorted image on the horizon, as if he were an angel overshadowed by the sunlight on that horizon.

David got out of the car and ran into that mirage. He no longer had a sense of reality...

After all... What was real?

Perhaps that mirage was the most real thing he had experienced in all those months in that New World.

David felt the warmth of that embrace as if he were embracing the sun itself, warming his body and most of all... his soul.

WHEN DAVID OPENED HIS EYES, he no longer knew whether he was alive or dead, whether he was on earth, in heaven, or even in hell, but the first image he had, he was absolutely sure it was an angel...

Your angel...

David saw Ivy and her unmistakable smile, her voice was far away but her dark eyes brought him close.

They hugged each other without saying anything to each other, just the warmth and holding hands they always said as long as those hands were together. Nothing and no one could separate them, they were fully convinced of that.

Over Ivy's left shoulder, David saw a handsome young man with the same smile she had.

In that instant, he realized that this was his son...

The son I've been waiting so long to meet...

Ivy said they needed to hurry up as there was someone who wanted to say goodbye to him.

Instantly, David thought of a thousand people, but he would never have thought it would be Carlisle Burke.

ARRIVING IN BURKE'S ROOM, he was panting, he was really the skinny old doctor who had caused all this in his life.

Seeing David, Burke gave a friendly smile and said:

— Sit down, please, David... I hope my son didn't give you so much trouble.

— Son?

Suddenly, Norman Brady enters the room and smiles at David.

— Hi David.

David felt a guttural chill run through his spine.

— I hope you're not mad at me.

— Of course not, I just don't understand why you didn't bring me here right away if you knew who I was.

— Everything has a purpose, David, God wouldn't do anything without first teaching you something, I think you've made interesting friends on your trip.

— Of course I did.

— That's great — said the old man, trying to show a smile.

And after sitting next to the old doctor, David took the old man's skeletal hand and Burke began to explain to David the reason for all this.

Carlisle Burke explained that he studied in childhood with David's parents, as he lived in the church orphanage where his grandfather was a pastor, years later he discovered that he was his father's half-brother. It was a revelation that their father had made to them on his deathbed for the two of them, they began from that fact to live as a true family. Religion and science ended up separating them in a way until they discovered William Johnson's intentions. They decided to unite to keep the flame of faith and love alive, as both make human beings better than they really are.

So Oscar Heringer and Carlisle Burke made the Adam and Eve project, aiming to keep the faith and Christianity alive.

Everyone had to think that Burke was an atheist to succeed, despite having as much faith as Oscar Heringer, after all, one believed in what could not be seen, and the other believed in what he saw and accomplished. They needed someone to move the project forward.

Oscar Heringer never imagined that it would be his own son who would be chosen to keep the flame of faith alive in the world...

That choice was up to Burke alone, Oscar Heringer didn't want to interfere in this decision, if a pseudo atheist-scientist could see these types of Christian attitudes, a more open person would undoubtedly accept it too, so it was necessary for an atheist to make such a decision.

Carlisle Burke apologized for not telling the truth from the start, but he needed to keep it all a secret — as the project's success was not guaranteed. Now that success had been achieved, the truth could be revealed without any problem.

Burke only had the strength to tell David the truth, say goodbye and wish them good luck from now on, and that his story ended there...

But theirs was just beginning...

WHEN CARLISLE BURKE CLOSED her eyes, it was then that David was able to hug and kiss his son. They were talking for hours. David wanted to know everything and tell him everything that had happened to him.

BRIAN HAD NOT BEEN RAISED by Ivy, when Brian was born, Ivy was also hibernated — a year after David's hibernation — Brian was raised in Eden, and after the Great Holocaust, Brian never left, however, he decided he wanted to live with him. your parents in the future.

Brian had the best education he could possibly have.

Carlisle Burke considered him a little genius, as he got the best grades and made great inventions. Despite hating music — perhaps he had taken his mother's side, being more intellectual, liking literature — but in his case, he liked scientific literature.

He spent his entire childhood and adolescence looking for books.

David laughed when the boy said he had never kissed a girl, but David understood the boy since he had married Ivy a virgin.

David realized that his son was a very special boy, he was the son he had dreamed of so much, at last he could hug and kiss him.

They spent hours telling each other's adventures. Although the craziest adventure the boy had lived was when they had to flee from America to Mesopotamia because his grandfather wanted to kill them anyway, he was still a child when it happened, he couldn't remember exactly. of all the details of your odyssey.

Brian listened intently to his father's stories with a twinkle in his eye, as if he were watching the movie he liked best.

THE FUTURE BEGAN to be perfect for David from the moment he found happiness in the arms of his family again, that was the great reward he expected from God, he didn't even need anything else in life, despite God always having given much more to David...