The Holy Blood (Longish Fiction) (393 hits)
Category: Quotes & StoriesLabels: fictional
Rating: 0.57 on 12 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Hourman (View user info) at 2006-12-04 10:02:03 EST
The findings had shocked them all, and standing around waiting for permission to begin the examination was nothing if not torture. Jane cast an eye on the proceedings, lapdog to Nixon, who's the tyrant of a director of the London Archaeological Service.
It's not often that Susan was so bitter towards someone, but Jane was an exception. Tom was standing next to Susan, his broad shoulders resting against the wall, eyes closed in deep thought.
"What's your opinion then Sue?" Tom whispered, eyes shut, "Think it's just another neat find, or anything special?" Sue leant on the wall next to him and let out a long sigh,
"I don't know Tom. The Thiasois is unlike anything we've ever scene. Did you see it?"
"Yeah I saw." He said in a stern tone, as if the question need not be asked, "We need to have a look. You know Jane will never let us see it." He opened his eyes, and the pale blue resonated out of his face, his eyes almost lighting his features.
The looked at each other and in unison "Pub."
Tom picked up the Guinness and brought it to the table. Lighting up a cigarette he starred at her, more masculine than most women, but feminine enough to still be sexual. Love didn't matter now, it never did.
"So come on you must have a theory." He pressed her, putting the cool ale to his lips and drinking deeply.
"There are so many possibilities... you still friends with the guards?"
"For the love of... yeah ok what time do you want us to go?" He already knew what she wanted.
"Nine. It'll be dead then," Tom started to laugh, "Oh grow up." She shook her head and scratched roughly.
"To be honest Sue it's probably nothing. Just another dead roman in their tomb, unearthed for us to marvel at... marvel at something so trivial to them."
"Tom you know as well as I that death was the most important part of a Romans life" they both laughed anxiously, nothing but excited about nine o'clock tonight.
The door clicked open, as the heavy bolts unlocked the catacomb of knowledge, which was the British Museum. The musty smell of history, the smell that a castle has, age and decay, life and death, wafted out the door.
"Thanks James" Tom said, "here's a tenner go get one in with the lads." James nodded and smiled, leaving Tom the keys as he strolled off to the local with no idea what they were up to.
Susan barged past Tom, and it was a minute before he caught up, out of breath but masking it well, opening his mouth and resisting the urge to gulp in the air. Susan looked at him. "Smoking is going to kill you" he nodded with a smile, knowing the hypocrisy in her comment.
They walked to the third floor and entered the restricted zone, saved for new finds and members of the team. Sat upon the exhibition table even in the darkness it was visible.
Susan hit the lights and threw her jacket over a chair as Tom did the same, except he hung his up on the rack.
"Tom take notes. Start it fresh, I want a full exam on this right now." He nodded and sat down turning on the vast array of monitors and sensory equipment. "Lets go" he said.
"The body appears to have suffered severe trauma around the collar bone, arms, and hands. In fact there are many small fractures on the hands, the ends appear to be snapped ever so slightly splintering them." Susan put a hand on her hip. "What the hell would do that? Unless." Finding the lid on the next table over, she found a 9-digit inscription on the lid. "I thought so." She said with an element of disappointment. Tom looked up from the computers.
"What?" He looked at her, hoping he was wrong.
"It's just a soldier. Maybe a prince or something, died in battle, probably fell of a horse, would explain the fractures as well as the sarcophagus." Tom let out a chuckle.
"Two things wrong with that. The first being a Prince would never be buried in England. They'd always be sent home." She was about to protest. "Don't be stupid, a British prince, would not have been buried at all. The second point is that you haven't even looked at what got us both interested..." her eyes lit and she walked to the other side of the table, ignoring the lid again.
"Start recording. The Thiasos, a display of transition from life to death on the side, is unlike any we've seen before." Her hands ran over the elaborate drawing. " It depicts a number of events... a hill, with a man standing on it pointing to the sun... but the sun is a slightly darker marble than the rest of the limestone tomb... then there is a crowd of men women and children, crying. At the end is a man, dancing... or singing with... I can't see. It's too distorted."
"Any ideas at what it could be?" Toms head was in his hands as he looked at Susan, her mind racing.
"None... I want those digits ran through a scanner. Cross them with all available references in the library..." she skittered around the table to the lid "the digits are 20-11-15-1-12"
Tom looked up and walked over "20-11-15... well that alone is from the book." He looked at her as if she should know. He let out a sigh " The bible. The book of revelations."
"Really? That doesn't make sense. Do you know what-"
"Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them." Tom stopped reading.
Susans mouth was gaping "the creation of Hell?"
"Sort of... it's at least the creation of the underworld."
"Well 12 could mean anything... it could be-"
"The Twelve disciples?" Tom asked, almost shocked at his own intuition.
"So that leaves 1. What could that be? Fuck it Tom, this is all guesswork and none of it would hold up. It's a nice idea but-"
"What if it's the first?" he looked at her, "The black sun, or son, the fallen people, the mocking, or dancing with, an undisclosed figure? The man all alone casting judgement from on high, but lower than the sun... the first of the fallen?"
"Tom... that's brilliant. Holy fuck it's four am... we got to go. Same time tonight? Get some sleep until then." Tom nodded and the two walked out switching off the lights, but not the thoughts in their heads. They both knew they wouldn't be able to sleep.
Nine Pm that night.
Sitting in the chair again, Tom was unable to help the situation. He couldn't think of anything, his mind was worn out. He hadn't slept. He was thinking of leaving before Susan burst through the door.
"I know who it is!" He looked at her quizzically, "the fallen who dances with the devil... Judas."
"Judas? JUDAS? Holy Mother of God...wait how'd you know?"
The numbers are a simple medieval code. The vowels are numbered by prime numbers in order A-1, E-3, I-5, O-7, U-11, the rest of the alphabet is simply numerical, B-2, C-4, D-6, F-8, G-9, H-10 and so on... Tom I think we got it..."
"Where's his skull... though?" Susan trembled as opened her bag pulling out a large book. I stole this on our way out last night," Tom laughed, "It clearly says that if a code is used their will be Latin written somewhere on the tomb. The rim of the lid I think."
Tom rushed over. " I think I see it... but it's worn. I can't translate directly so just take this down.
Hic sileo Judas. Filius of damno , addo of furta , frater ut Immunda. Suus capulatio somes vadum nunquam reperio pacis insquequo is est recidivus. In nomen of Abbas , Filius quod Flamen. Amen. Fornicis Pontifex Dominor obvius annus undecim centum AD
Did you get all that?"
Still frantically typing she hit some buttons and nodded slowly, putting her hands to her mouth. Turning the monitor he read slowly from the screen
"Here rests Judas. Son of the damned, bringer of deceit, brother to the Unclean. His decapitated body shall never find peace until it is restored.
In the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Arch Bishop Dominaco in the year eleven hundred AD."
Susan looked at Thomas, as a tear fell from her eye "We can never tell anyone of this we will deny all knowledge. If people knew that the bible was true... it would destroy civilisation, as we know it. People aren't ready to deal with that"
"I know." He said head down eyes closed.
2 Days later at a small Church in Naples a skull was found in a a wooden cup forty feet below the ground. It was uncovered by accident while checking the foundations.
The old priest threw the cup away and rested the skull in the graveyard, blessing its owner.
Local children found the cup and read out loud "chalice est instituo quod Judas in iam notus vobis. Tego texi tectum is erant is can non exsisto instituo per vir. Is chalice , mos retain malum , insquequo terminus of vicis.' They didn't know what it meant, but they liked the picture on the side, carved in the wood, was a long haired man drinking from a very similar cup... surrounded by his twelve friends.
The cup simply read "The chalice is found and Judas in now known to you. Bury this were it can not be found by man. This chalice, will retain the evil, until the end of time."
User Reviews
Submitted by hour_man (user info) at 2006-12-06 08:19:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
To be entirely honest I never got any real feedback other than 'please stop'. I am happy to continue doing it I guess. I might re-do it. I guess I could have another go.
Submitted by Hiredugan (user info) at 2006-12-06 05:51:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
So, are you ever going to finish the Holy War series?
Submitted by hour_man (user info) at 2006-12-05 04:14:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
You're right.
I think I saw that whole thing in the news about the Roman buried in London and dug up the other day (Headless), and just rushed far too much.
Thanks for honest and mature feedback guys.
Submitted by St_Jimmy (user info) at 2006-12-04 15:12:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
This wasn't bad, but it is well below your usual standard. A few issues:
First, Guinness is a stout, not an ale and if you were drinking it in a London pub, there's a 99.9% probability that it would be served at room temperature.
Second, how the hell did Judas end up buried in England. Such a scenario isn't out of the realm of possibility, but it does deserve a bit of explanation.
Three, how does the tomb's inscription prove that the body is that of Judas?
Fourth, even if the body is Judas, how would that prove the validity of the entire Bible?
Like I said, not bad, but I've seen you do better.
Submitted by TheUniter (user info) at 2006-12-04 13:11:33 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-12-04 11:34:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by hour_man (user info) at 2006-12-04 11:29:01 (#)
Ranking: 0
I FUCKING HATE THE DIVINCI CODE
I hate Dan Brown.
He stole everything from The Holy Blood Holy Grail.
He has destroyed the genre of fictional religious provocation by publically descimating some the worlds greatest historians ideas. He hides behind the pretenses of fictional craft, and his own 'style'. He is nothing more than a cheap hooker taking the watch from her asleep punters desk.
--
Agreed 100%.
I am blown away that a judge in the UK sided with Brown in that court case.
Also, Brown's books are pretty lame. His hero wears a turtleneck. A FUCKING TURTLENECK! I struggled through Demons and Angels and found it so excruciating I never even picked up the Da Vinci Code.
Submitted by hour_man (user info) at 2006-12-04 11:29:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I FUCKING HATE THE DIVINCI CODE
I hate Dan Brown.
He stole everything from The Holy Blood Holy Grail.
He has destroyed the genre of fictional religious provocation by publically descimating some the worlds greatest historians ideas. He hides behind the pretenses of fictional craft, and his own 'style'. He is nothing more than a cheap hooker taking the watch from her asleep punters desk.
Submitted by orph (user info) at 2006-12-04 11:28:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Well, I give it a +1. It's hard to do 'proper' fiction.
Submitted by redskieslookfake (user info) at 2006-12-04 11:23:09 EST (#)
Ranking: -1
This was not gripping and read like a rip off of The Da Vinci code.
And I don't even mean the book, I mean the film. The one starring Tom Hanks who is now so fucking old that he could remake Turner and Hooch and play the dog.
Jowly bastard
Submitted by DrogoRoch (user info) at 2006-12-04 11:18:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
You can do much better stuff than this. It really didn't fire me up to get me to keep reading, I did though.
+1 for the effort and the Latin though, I suck at latin so I will trust the translations were correct.
Just 1 point, I believe Guinness is a Stout not an Ale.
Submitted by hour_man (user info) at 2006-12-04 10:06:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Really? Damn.
Submitted by professorfuckface (user info) at 2006-12-04 10:03:37 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
BORING