CHAPTER 122

CHAPTER 122

THE SMALL PLANE RECEIVED clearance from the tower to land. Nicole Hulmann contemplated through the window all the aerial magnitude of the city of Rome. His eyes, however, lingered on the Vatican, more precisely on St. Peter's Square, which with Bernini's columns projected the vision of a fabulous lock, as if waiting for an immense key to come down from heaven to open it.

— The Vatican seal is also represented by the key — Victoria said, noticing the young woman's attentive gaze. — On it are two crossed keys superimposed on the papal crown.

— What does that mean? — Asked the young woman.

— It signifies the pope's authority over spiritual and earthly things.

— Exactly — Roman Green confirmed — when the square was built, the Pope asked Bernini that the place portray the ultimate symbol of papal authority. The brilliant architect then had the idea of building it in the shape of a key, as if telling the world that the passage to the spiritual realm would take place through the Vatican.

THE LIMOUSINE WAITED for them at the airport.

Antoine, with the help of Roman Green, installed Victoria in the car next to Nicole.

— Let's go to the hotel right away — the woman said as she picked up the phone.

— Who are you going to call? — Nicole asked, watching Victoria.

— We can't waste time, my daughter, we're going to meet Gregory Evans.

— Yes — answered the detective — That's perfect, in thirty minutes we'll meet at the hotel.

And hung up.

— Victoria and her friends already in Rome? Fernando asked, impressed.

— I'M HAPPY WITH YOUR contribution, Victoria, but due to the murder of a French priest in the city of Padua, I must say that the investigations took a different direction. Perhaps Domenico Di Polli is not the culprit as we imagined, sorry for taking your time.

— Well, don't be sorry, Detective, what's important is discovering the truth.

— You said that Domenico Di Polli might not be the culprit? — Nicole asked.

— Exactly — Greg confirmed — this religious murdered in Padua was a French exorcist. I don't know how, but what is certain is that he discovered something amazing, he discovered details about the Brotherhood of the Serpent conspiracy.

— Details? — Asked Roman Green.

— This exorcist made the mistake of sending a letter to the Vatican informing of his discovery. The letter spoke of the Brotherhood of the Serpent's intention to prepare a global government for the world, as well as the appearance of the Antichrist.

— We already know that — said the woman.

— Exactly — confirmed Greg — but the letter went further, it also reported that the Satanists were preparing the third world war, and not only that, but that the third part of the stars that had fallen would return to their former place in the sky. And that this would happen through a sea of blood.

— Will a third of the stars return to heaven?

— What's in it to surprise you, Father? — The woman asked.

— It's just that the exorcist, in fact, isn't exactly referring to stars — Green clarified — stars in prophetic language is a synonym used for angelic spirits.

— That's right — confirmed Greg — when the Bible refers to the fall of Lucifer, it compares him to a star:

"How you fell from heaven, O morning star..."

— But it says here that they will try to come back — the woman insisted.

— This part is incomprehensible to me too — Nicole stated.

— And not only that — Greg resumed the word —, according to the exorcist, the antichrist would have to be baptized in the blood of a special virgin, born under the sign of Mars.

— And who would it be? — Victoria asked — she must be that special virgin, born under the sign of Mars.

— What you don't know is that there has been a new kidnapping, of a woman.

— New kidnapping? Who is she?

— The niece of Domenico Di Polli.

That left everyone astonished.

— Otherwise, why would they have kidnapped her in Venice?

— Sign of Mars... — Nicole grumbled, mulling over her own thoughts.

— What did you say? — Greg asked.

— I was thinking about what you said about that Mars sign. I just remembered that in our last meeting, you told us about a meeting with the Secretary General of the Vatican, and that in that meeting the Cardinal had revealed that the Antichrist would be the bearer of a sui generis blood, a blood that does not it would be totally human, but the fruit of the union of a beautiful woman with an angelic being.

— Yeah, I remember that — Greg replied — but what about it anyway?

— You also said that this blood would be tainted and violent blood, and that a sanguine person could be considered violent, and that the god of war, Mars, would be associated with this violence.

— Yes — he agreed.

— Well then — Nicole continued — if blood is related to violence, and this has connotations with the god of war, Mars, it is very likely that the French exorcist, when he stated that the antichrist would be baptized in the blood of a virgin born under the sign of Mars, were saying that Di Polli's niece has the same blood that flows in the antichrist's veins!

— But why would the Antichrist have to sacrifice someone with blood similar to his own? — The woman worried.

— As a theological matter — Nicole continued — if we look at the pages of the Bible, we will see that the Devil has always tried to imitate God. It was like this when he sought to be adored. The prophecies reveal to us that he will also try to imitate Jesus by presenting his pupil, the antichrist, as if he were the offspring of King David. With regard to blood sacrifice, it could not be different. Not being able, like Jesus, to shed his own blood, since he does not have enough power to live again, just like Christ, the antichrist would have to shed the blood of another person, but with a composition similar to his own.

— That seems surprising to me — confessed Fernando — but I must admit that it has a certain logic.

— Did you just say that this exorcist priest made a mistake by forwarding a letter with these revelations to the Vatican? — Green asked curiously.

— Yes, that's what I said, Father — Greg confirmed — I believe the Brotherhood of the Serpent has indeed infiltrated the Vatican.

— How can you say that? — Green questioned him again, already quite apprehensive.

— Next to the body of the murdered friar was found the same mark of the cross of Anu by Freddy Martinez — said Greg.

— One of the symbols of the Sisterhood of the Serpent — Nicole exclaimed.

— Exactly — Greg confirmed — one of the symbols of the Brotherhood of the Serpent. When we went to Padua to investigate this event, we contacted the bishop of the city, who gave us a copy of the letter containing the revelations. According to this bishop, in obedience to Canon Law, the murdered friar must have sent another letter, similar in content to this one, to the Vatican. We believe this letter was intercepted by the Brotherhood of the Serpent.

— WHAT WAS THERE? — Asked Greg noticing the anguish stamped on the faces of his interlocutors.

— You have just said what we did not want to hear — replied Roman Green — because you have just confirmed why Cardinal Di Polli abruptly ended the meeting he was having with us.

— As well? I don't understand — replied the detective.

— When we were talking to him — Victoria intervened — one of the cardinal's assistants interrupted the meeting to give him some news and it was visibly frightening.

— Probably he learned about his niece's kidnapping.

— Probably.

— Like you, I am also distressed to learn that the Brotherhood of the Serpent has infiltrated the Vatican.

— Agent Dante — the woman said — there is something you need to know about us.

— Is there anything I need to know about you? — Dante asked taken by surprise.

— Yes, have you ever wondered why we know so much about the Brotherhood of the Serpent?

— I always imagined that as the daughter of a renowned archaeologist... — began Fernando Dante, not knowing exactly what to say.

— Have you ever wondered the real reason why we were welcomed to the Vatican?

— I confess that I was curious — tried to answer the federal agent.

— Well then, I think the time has come for you to know the truth.

She looked at Greg who nodded.

— Do we know the truth? — Fernando was taken by astonishment.

— What do you mean by this? — the agent asked.

— The reason why my friends and I know so much about the Brotherhood of the Serpent, or rather my father, was the keeper of a fabulous treasure sought after by the Brotherhood of the Serpent, the Golden Book of Atlantis. A millennial treasure, hidden since the times of the pharaohs and that can reveal the exact place where God hid the Tree of Life!

— What are you saying? — Asked Fernando Dante, perplexed.

— Was your father the keeper of an ancient treasure that could reveal where the Tree of Life is?

— That's right — confirmed the woman — not only my father, but my grandfather and so on.

— Tree of Life? What tree is this? — Fernando asked — not understanding anything.

— It's in the book of Genesis — Nicole informed —, it was the tree that was in the center of the Garden of Eden, next to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the same one that caused the original sin. According to the Holy Scriptures, shortly after the fall of man, humanity lost access to the Tree of Life, because if someone ate from it, he would live eternally.

— This is fantastic! Simply unbelievable! — Exclaimed the agent. — A tree whose fruit can enable man to escape his own death! —

— Well believe me, gentlemen! As a researcher linked to the University of New York, my father had access to the secret collection of several museums. There, he found a parchment that had been stolen from the Alexandria library, before the great fire. With this information from the parchment, after several excavations, my father ended up finding a Golden Book. According to the parchment, this book was known in antiquity as the Golden Book of Atlantis, a pre-flood city and was a gift from Nimrod, general of Lucifer's armies, to his children.

— Was this book a gift from a demon? — Fernando was astonished.

— Yes, that's what my father reports in a letter we found hidden in his library. In that same letter he also reveals that there was an attempt by the Brotherhood of the Serpent to seize one of the three parts of the Book of Gold, by infiltrating one of its members in the expedition, logically they had one part and the Vatican the third and last part..

— Is the Serpent Brotherhood after this book? I'd like to see it — Fernando asked without letting them know that he had already seen the book on another occasion with Greg.

— Unfortunately this will not be possible, agent. We were convinced by Cardinal Joseph Messina that the book would be better off in his custody.

— Did you say unfortunately?

— Yes, that's what you said, I'm no longer convinced that I made the right decision, thanks to your request that we investigate the Cardinal Primate of Venice.

— Please, Victoria, explain yourself better — asked the agent.

— Well then, like you, we believed that Domenico Di Polli was part of the Brotherhood of the Serpent and that his intention was to take over the Vatican and then destroy it.

— Did you believe, I mean, that this hypothesis was overcome?

— I can say that this belief was deeply shaken. During our meeting in the Cathedral of San Marco, Domenico Di Polli revealed to us that his nephew, contrary to what we thought, entered the Vatican not to assassinate Joseph Messina, but to obtain some documents that would implicate the Secretary General in a conspiracy to overthrow the government of Israel. For the Primate of Venice, Cardinal Joseph Messina intends to assume the papal crown and, soon after, with the support of the conspirators, present Israel and the world as the Messiah promised in the scriptures.

— This is simply unbelievable! — exclaimed Fernando Dante — Domenico Di Polli is then affirming that Joseph Messina is the very antichrist!

— The maximum representative of Lucifer on Earth — she continued — According to Di Polli, Joseph Messina intends to successively assume the papacy, the government of Israel and the government of the world.

— That explains why he tried to stop our investigation from continuing — remarked Gregory Evans.

— It explains a lot — said Dante. — It also clarifies the death of the French exorcist, whose letter must have reached the Vatican Secretary General. It explains the origin of Joseph Messina's deep knowledge of the Brotherhood of the Serpent.

— What I fail to understand, Detective, is then why did Joseph Messina himself summon us to the Vatican and provide us with information regarding the Brotherhood of the Serpent?

— This is easy to explain. Do you forget that when the Cardinal summoned us to his presence, we had already discovered the involvement of the Swiss Guard? The Cardinal's attitude was very intelligent!

— By becoming our confidant, he dispelled suspicion of his own involvement. If it helped us, it was to confuse us.

— And now, what are we going to do? — The agent asked.

— I don't know — said the priest. — Do you have any suggestions, Greg?

Greg smiled, as if he already knew the outcome of it all.

— It's a very complex situation — the woman acknowledged — we're dealing with totally unknown forces. Perhaps we should alert the authorities, what do you think, Father Green?

— I believe you are right, Victoria; the only possibility of preventing the realization of the Brotherhood of the Serpent's plan, perhaps, is to alert the authorities. We would start by informing your friend, Senator James Hofma, he would help us to reveal to the other authorities about this huge conspiracy.

— Father Green is right. In addition to the Senator, we would have the support of Cardinal Di Polli; no one more than he would want to unmask Joseph Messina. However, I think we would need proof...

— A test? — Green asked in surprise.

— Agent Dante is right — Fernando Dante agreed — we need some document, something that can prove what we are saying to the authorities.

— The Vatican Nuncio's letters — recalled Gregory Evans.

— Yes, agreed Green, or else the Golden Book!

— That's impossible — observed the woman — Domenico Di Polli's nephew ended up losing his life trying to get hold of the letters incriminating Joseph Messina. If only we hadn't delivered the Golden Book!

— How about you, Nick? — Victoria asked, turning to the place where her daughter had been.

— Nick... where's Nick? — The woman worried.

— While you were talking she told me she was going for a walk — replied Antoine.

Distressed, the woman turned her eyes to the butler, who ran into the suite.

— Victory! — Said Antoine, returning moments later — the safe-conduct has disappeared!

— Safe-conduct...? What safe conduct is this? — Asked Agent Dante.

— Antoine, quickly call Venice and ask Domenico Di Polli to come here immediately; tell her it's urgent as Nicole is in serious danger. Also call that air taxi company, I want them to put a jet at the Cardinal's disposal.

— What's going on, someone want to explain it to me, please? Dante insisted.

— The safe-conduct — replied Greg calmly — we had an authorization from Joseph Messina himself to enter the Vatican.

— Does the young woman have the permit now? My God! — Exclaimed the agent, 'what is she going to do? — Invade the Vatican?

— Yes, she has the authorization and I'm afraid she intends to invade the Vatican.

— Greg! Where are you going?

— Stay here and find the cardinal, I'll go after her.

And ran out of the room.

— Victoria — Antoine interfered after hanging up the phone — Cardinal Di Polli is not in Venice, his assistant informed me that he came to Rome as soon as we left there...