Chapter 18: Divine Work

*** An Old Story pt. 2 ***

Pointing toward the sky, the woman said, “Look, that's the Southern Cross… our ship used it for navigation.”

“The Southern Cross?” asked the man, raising his gaze. “What is that?”

“It's a constellation visible in this hemisphere. It's known as the navigator's beacon. It guided us in the darkness, like a light in the storm.”

“The land you come from sounds fascinating. For us, the stars are the souls of our ancestors who watch over and protect us.”

“I thought you couldn't die…”

“Time isn't the end for our people, but that doesn't make us immortal.”

“What does it feel like to live so long?” asked the woman, intrigued.

“I don't know. I can't wrap my head around not having an end. That concept seems strange to me… I'd even say terrifying.”

A silence stretched between them as they walked barefoot along the beach, feeling the warm sand beneath their feet and the sound of waves gently breaking against the shore.

“This place is beautiful.” The woman stepped ahead and turned to look at the young man with a smile. “I would call it paradise.”

“Paradise?” he repeated with a shadow of sadness. “It is… that's why it's important we protect it. Never reveal your mortal nature. If they discover it… I don't want to imagine what our God might do to you.”

“Yes, I understand clearly. I won't say anything… Anyway, at some point I'll have to return to my home.”

At the end of the bay rose an improvised lighthouse: a stone column crowned by a lit torch that guided the wanderers toward the port.

----------------------------------------

*** A New Story ***

“It was such a complicated plan that it might actually work.” They both thought that.

A synchronous effect in different places but at the same time: an ominous prodigy that only a god could achieve. The problem was that the only witness to that prodigy was the god himself.

“Luring out the rats with bait…” Thea's voice through the earpiece partially returned Lynne to reality. “Keep the weapon steady and slowly raise the bag.”

Elynne was forbidden to respond to her. The drug they had administered had turned her into something like a devoted servant. However, her thoughts didn't match her actions: her mind was elsewhere, suffering, while her face smiled brazenly and her index finger caressed the trigger of the weapon.

The movie progressed just as her mother had dictated, with the protagonists dancing on the pier while the music faded to give way to the climax of the first act.

“Sir, your tickets, please,” said a female voice. It was the same girl who had drugged Elynne.

“Excuse me, but my question is: why should I show them to you?” Roger was confused; this situation wasn't usual in theaters. “Do you think we snuck in?”

“This is merely house policy. We check tickets from randomly selected customers, nothing more. Your tickets, please.”

The girl smiled sweetly.

“I refuse.”

That response surprised the employee, who showed no reaction whatsoever.

“It's house policy. I can't allow you to continue without seeing your tickets. Don't make a scene that would make your companion uncomfortable. What do you think, miss?”

“Ah, I don't know…” Since this situation wasn't in the script, Elynne's response was sincere. “I need to confirm it.”

“Confirm it?” asked Roger, while the employee shot a murderous look at Lynne without him noticing. “With whom?”

From the other side of the earpiece, Thea ordered, “Don't mention me, Elynne.” Unlike her accomplice, Thea remained calm. “Just pretend you're looking inside the bag.”

“I mean… I need to confirm if I have the tickets in my bag,” Elynne explained.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“No, you gave them to me.” Roger crossed his arms, glancing sideways at the employee. “We don't need to show them anything. We're not criminals.”

He had become defensive, but the girl didn't flinch. She recovered her fake smile before Roger could notice.

“Dear customer, there's no need to get like that. You're making your companion uncomfortable.” Her tone changed as the time got closer—only a few seconds left. “Think that you'll embarrass her if you make a scene.”

“Yes, they're just tickets. Hand them over, and that's it.” Elynne lost part of her equally fake smile.

“No scene. The young lady will leave because there's no reason for her to keep interrupting us. Right?”

A *crack* was heard coming from the girl. Something inside her began to fracture.

“It's company policy. I can't allow you to continue watching the movie without checking the tickets. It's taking out a couple of pieces of paper; I doubt that's very difficult. I see those papers and I leave. Seriously, it's a very simple task.”

“I already said I wasn't going to show you anything. We paid like everyone else; we don't have to be bothered this way. Tell the manager he can shove his rules where the sun doesn't shine.”

Another *crack* was heard… it could almost be felt.

“Dear customer, I'll be forced to remove you from the theater along with your companion if you don't show me the tickets. It's not my intention to make you uncomfortable, but I must do my job. Please, help me so I don't have problems with management.”

“Your boyfriend is one of those types, I see,” Thea commented. “In the end, you might be doing yourself a favor. God… it would be so easy to ask you to shoot now. He shouldn't see it coming, but…”

While Thea's doubts intensified, her partner was about to deliver the first blow to Roger.

“Well look, I won't help you with that. I don't have to show you anything because I don't feel like it. Understand? Go away and do whatever you have to do, but don't bother me anymore.”

And so the final *CRACK* sounded. The loudest of them all.

“Dear customer, I'm asking you please not to act like a xxxx idiot. Clearly you're a loser going out with a woman who's way out of your league. Instead of being a stuck-up piece of xxxx in front of your date and ending the night jerking off, crying in the bathroom for the umpteenth time, I'm asking you to give me the damn tickets and cross your fingers that it's not too late to get laid tonight. Thank you!” And all of this without stopping her smile.

Everyone was left speechless.

Poor Roger had received a critical hit to his health points.

“Oof…” said Thea while laughing. “We might not need you to shoot him after all.”

Indeed, those words had hurt more than any bullet. Roger shrank in his seat and remained silent. He dug around in his pocket and took out the tickets.

“It wasn't that difficult, was it?” said the girl as she took them and tucked them into her cleavage. “Thanks for your cooperation.”

And she left.

“What the hell was that?” asked Roger, still in shock.

“I don't know, but I think I won't be coming back to this theater.”

“Did she really just leave without doing anything?” asked Thea, still incredulous.

“Yeah, that girl has serious issues…”

“Idiot, don't answer me!” Thea shouted.

“Sorry!” Elynne got nervous.

“Why are you…?” Roger asked upon hearing Elynne talking to herself.

“It's… sorry… sorry, it's just that this is Ien's fault… if we came to this theater, it was because of her…”

Ien. Elynne stopped when she pronounced her sister's name. There was a slight break in her voice, but enough for Thea to notice.

“Well, I don't think Ien is to blame for this. Besides… I should be the one apologizing to you. I put you through a bad time due to my stubbornness.”

Elynne looked at the ground, feeling a mixture of guilt and sadness. The fake smile was beginning to fade.

“And forgive me for ruining the romantic moment,” said Thea. “Remember when I said 'we might not need you to shoot him'? Well, I was wrong. Sorry for the trouble, honey, but I need you to blow your brains out. Now.”

“What?” asked Elynne, grabbing the weapon again. “Why?”

Still confused, her body obeyed as if it were an automaton.

“It's not supposed to…” Elynne's thoughts couldn't fight against Thea's command.

The instantaneous reaction of her hands, in opposition to her mind, caused her as much fear and desperation as the speed of a second hand.

Everything happened very quickly.

With her hand she rummaged through the bag again. She grabbed the pistol just as her mother had taught her, pulled it out and released the safety, preparing to shoot.

Roger barely had time to comprehend Elynne's movements before realizing what was going on. For a normal person, before his eyes, on an ordinary date, a woman was pointing a gun at her own head.

The event was so fleeting that it didn't allow the information to be processed correctly.

Elynne's face maintained that strange smile, but again her eyes filled with tears.

Undoubtedly, this was the work of a god.

It's the best description for the events that occurred.

Do you know the definition of prodigy? It's an extraordinary event that cannot be explained by known natural laws. Something that defies logic and reason.

Two people, at the same time, had an idea in different places. Those people met at a location simultaneously and carried out a plan that defies sanity.

Let there be no doubt: a god had to have intervened for everything to go so wrong.

The lights went out. The ocean scent that bathed the theater vanished, leaving only the humidity of the old parking lot and the smell of candy. Without the warmth of the beach and without the background music, the atmosphere became tense and cold.

BANG

In the darkness, a weapon was fired.

The sound acted like a kind of silencer, because everything in that place, and EVERYONE, froze until someone screamed:

“They're shooting!”

What followed was precisely what happens when an emergency alarm is activated. The scream alerted everyone inside the theater, and in a very short time everything turned into collective hysteria.

People got up as quickly as they could and tried to head toward the exits. Some used their phones for light, but darkness invaded practically everything.

However, human misery didn't have a chance to manifest, because before most could act like animals…

BLAST

An explosion caused the collapse of the theater's upper floor, and a rain of debris crashed down on the lower levels, cutting the stampede short.

Total chaos erupted. No one could see anything. Dust filled the lungs of everyone present, and the shadows hid a countless number of wounded and dead.

Screams, cries, and the sound of bodies and concrete falling to the ground were the closing curtain for a love movie.