Conversation (1)

Even with the impossible disappearance of hallways in front of his eyes, Joshua still couldn't get his head around what the Curator just told him.

"No, this can't be real," Joshua mumbled as he started to hyperventilate.

If I'm hyperventilating, then I'm breathing, but why am I breathing if this isn't the real world? That means it must be the real world since I'm breathing, but I'm dying, but I don't feel like I'm dying.

Joshua's mind was going around in circles as he tried to figure out his next move, but it only left him frozen on the spot with a growing headache.

"Why is this happening to me?" Joshua glared at the Curator, his eyes begging for answers, but the strange, yet oddly familiar man, simply watched him with sadness, "Why have you trapped me here?"

The Curator shook his head slowly, "I didn't trap you anywhere. This gallery is a construct of your own mind's making. I just decided to meet you here since it's where your soul felt most comfortable."

Though he didn't fully understand what the Curator was talking about, Joshua asked him a very important question, "Why?"

"I'm here to have a conversation with you about your life," The Curator said calmly.

***

Early the next day, after he finally got the distressing Vision about Joshua, Jordan found himself in a meeting of the Church of the Holy Grace's board of directors. The five men that sat at the table around him were all older than him and represented what he liked to call 'the old guard' of the church.

They sat in one of the number of meeting rooms in the church's main building. While many of the publicly available rooms including the church's auditorium were on the ground floor, this meeting room was situated deep within the church's offices on the first floor above the auditorium, and inaccessible from the general congregation. Only the church's staff members were able to utilise this meeting room.

The room was a small one. Big enough to house a circular table and chair up to eight people comfortably. A whiteboard hung on the only plastered walls, while the other three walls of the room were glass to promote transparency and gave other staff members the ability to quickly see if there was a meeting in progress should they walk past.

Jordan stood by the whiteboard as the board settled down in their seats. Though there were no officially assigned seats, he had noticed over the number of meetings that he was part of with the board, that the five old men had designated specific spots for themselves.

He glanced at the man that sat to the right of the seat that housed his belongings. William Bradford, his mentor, was a man in his early-60s. He had strikingly shiny grey hair and his well-trimmed beard had patches of the same shiny grey. He dressed in a dark-blue, casual suit and had been a part of the board of directors for the Church of the Holy Grace for the better part of twenty years.

Bradford straightened in his seat and cleared his throat. The soft muttering of the other members died down and a stifling silence crept up on Jordan as they all waited for him to start talking.

He was, after all, the one who called the board in for the emergency meeting.

"Hello everyone," Jordan started awkwardly. Even though he was a pastor and was used to public speaking, talking at a staff meeting always felt a bit strange to him. He always found it odd that he found it more comfortable talking to nonbelievers — even hardened criminals — than talking to the board.

"Thank you so much for coming in so early today. I apologise for the sudden call-in, but last night I received a distressing Vision." Jordan said.

The other board members seemed slightly uninterested, but Bradford, who knew of Jordan's gift of receiving Visions personally, listened to his protégé silently.

Jordan had slid a copy of papers stapled together over the table for each of the board members for them to look at while he talked. The file had everything publicly available about Joshua Gilbert and Henry Gould.

"Who is this man?" Jack Partridge, another member of the board, and the oldest of the group asked as he skimmed through the information about Joshua Gilbert with his thin reading glasses.

"His name is Joshua Gilbert," Jordan said as he held onto his own copy of the files, "He's a brand-new hire of Madison and Madison, and he was involved in a hit-and-run accident about two weeks ago and is currently in a coma."

"And he's the person you had a Vision of?" Bradford said. His voice was stern and serious.

"Yes," Jordan said. He took a breath to steady his voice before he continued, "And I believe he is going to be murdered sometime soon."

"In your Vision?" Isaac Greene, 63 years old and sat on the opposite side of the table from Jordan mentioned flatly as he looked through the information. A conservative orthodox man, who disagreed with Jordan's more liberal sense and attitude towards pastorship.

"I saw it in the Vision," Jordan said. He started to clench his jaw to hide the quick rise of annoyance that he felt, "in the Vision, Joshua dies in the hospital bed he's currently in. A dark shadow looms over him and kills him."

"The real question is…" Partridge spoke, "…why him?"

Everyone, including Bradford, looked up at Jordan for the answer.

"I— I have no idea."

While Greene scoffed at Jordan's lacklustre answer, Partridge and Bradford shared a tense glance at each other before they resumed their parsing of the information Jordan provided.

"Is he religious?" another of the board members, Mason Palmers, who sat next to Greene asked.

"No," Jordan answered, but quickly added when Greene mumbled something just out of his earshot to Palmers, "but I don't see how that changes anything."

"What's the point of holding the emergency meeting then?" Greene asked, "What's your end goal here?"

The man always wanted to get straight to the point, Jordan thought to himself.

"I would like the board to consider the usage of Providence," Jordan said as confidently as he could.

Almost immediately, Greene, Palmers and the last member of the board, Quinn Owens burst into an uproar. Partridge's stone-still face continued to glance over the information Jordan handed out while Bradford attempted to calm the trio of loud men.

Jordan had expected the outrage, but he knew that he had to bring it up anyway.

"That's enough."

Partridge's voice didn't boom, but it was loud enough to cut through the loud argument between Greene, Palmers, Owens, and Bradford that caused them to quickly go silent and embarrassed.

Partridge flipped the page and started to look over the information that Jordan gathered on Henry Gould.

"Why have you added information about Mr Henry Gould here?" Partridge asked. He looked up at the younger man, and Jordan saw that Partridge was sincere.

"It's all speculation, ("Of course, it is," Greene's voice muttered), but I believe that either members of Gould Constructions or Gould himself is involved in the tragic accident that happened to Mr Gilbert," Jordan explained.

"Oh, come on. This is just utter ridiculousness," Greene scoffed loudly. He dropped his copy of the files onto the table carelessly and sneered, "You've got no proof."

"I already said that it's all speculation," Jordan defended himself, he could feel his anger start to boil because of Greene's behaviour, "But the matter of the fact is, Mr Gilbert was hired by a family member of someone who died during the most recent worksite accident at a Gould site, and whilst doing research for their case, the accident happened.

"This to a man, that had never even been to the hospital for a serious injury, all his life. Two or three days after he seemed to accept the case, he just happened to be involved in a hit-and-run that not even the police have any leads on," Jordan glanced at Partridge. The older man had returned to read over the files of both Gilbert and Gould.

"You're basing this judgement all on one accident?" Greene taunted, "I wouldn't even call that speculation, it's so weak."

Jordan's cool snapped, "You're just biased in favour of the man because he donated a significant amount of money into your campaign funds, Isaac,"

"How dare you!" Greene yelled as he stood up quickly. Quicker than Jordan expected the old man was capable.

"Enough!" Once again, Partridge's dominant voice ordered, "Let's get back to the main point of the meeting. I'm sure that you're against what Jordan is suggesting, Isaac?"

Greene straightened his suit, but did not retake his seat, "Of course."

Jordan held his tongue, he knew that nothing he could say would change Greene's decision.

"What about you Owens?"

Owens thought silently for a moment. He then looked up at Jordan, "Why do you think Providence is required?"

Jordan sighed, "This is also speculation, and might be a reach…"

The reactions that Jordan saw from the board members were all negative as expected, but he continued, nonetheless.

"…but as you know, Emily and I were called in for a Corps job in Hope General, and whilst we were exorcising the demon, it mentioned something about Mr Gilbert that caused some concern," Jordan explained.

"You, of all people, should know that we can't trust a demon!" Greene exclaimed.

A stern, chilling look from Partridge caused the man to freeze silent.

"There was something about what he said that seemed genuine, and if you look at my report, you will know what I'm talking about, but it mentioned that Mr Gilbert was 'a pest' that the other side was asked 'to take care of'. I get that it's nothing concrete, but that, along with my Vision, makes me think that there might be something supernatural going on."

"Well," Partridge said, "Even though not all of us at the board have been given the opportunity to witness the authenticity and accuracy of your Visions…"

"I can vouch for them," Bradford spoke up. He gave Jordan a reassuring look.

Partridge nodded, "We all know where you stand William, but you and Jordan, must understand that the rarity of the gift of Visions, and the ease at which it can be faked, has meant that trust in the gift has all but disappeared over the years."

The older man looked back at Jordan, "I understand your worry, but I'm afraid that this is not enough to justify the usage of Providence, especially when we have all these extra eyes watching everything that we say and do so closely while Congress debates about the Freedom of Faith Act."

He placed the sheets he had been looking over back down onto the table in front of him neatly and turned to the two board members near Greene, "I vote against Providence being used."

Owens nodded understandingly and looked apologetically at Bradford and Jordan, "I'm sorry fellas, but I have to vote against it."