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Unholy Advent:
Deception Of The Christ
Brandon Messerschmidt
Copyright 2011 Brandon Messerschmidt
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Foreword
This piece of fiction was written to entertain… the subject matter, however, and treatment of religious figures as fictional characters, will likely offend the sensitive reader. If you are an individual so engrossed in your faith that you find yourself getting all worked up when someone doesn’t see things your way -- DO NOT read this book… you won’t like what you see, trust me. If, however, you can suspend your convictions and step back a bit -- then you are invited to join in on a grand (and perhaps even insightful) adventure.
Several highly inflammatory names, places, phrases, and concepts are invoked over the next 114,000 words… among them are Jesus Christ, The Mahdi, Ezekiel’s Temple, The Kaaba, and The Dome Of The Rock. In writing about these things, I’ve tried to remain as true to what is known or believed about them as I could while still working them comfortably into the story. I believe I’ve also done well in treating them delicately… with the respect due. If you disagree -- many apologies.
Keep in mind, though, that throughout this work -- nothing regarding the religious implications of the story are ever deemed “certain”. Judgment as to whether or not the people and events that we encounter are really what they claim to / seem to be is left entirely up to the reader.
I don’t claim to be an expert -- or even well versed -- in many of the concepts this book might introduce you to for the first time, nor do I claim that this book is intended to educate anyone about anything at all. As I said before, this was written to entertain… if you find that something you read here sparks your interest, pull up your internet browser and research the real thing… what you read here is fictitious.
Chapter 1
"Your attention, please... The Department Of Homeland Security has raised the National Terrorism Threat Advisory Level to Orange. Security protocols have been heightened for your protection. All checked and carryon luggage will be subjected to a thorough search by a Transportation Security Administration Agent. Please review the back of your boarding pass for a list of prohibited items and remove them from your bags prior to approaching a security checkpoint. All passengers will be screened prior to admission to the departure concourse. If you wish to be screened in a private setting, please notify an agent at your checkpoint. As always, please ensure you maintain sight of your baggage at all times. If you see unattended baggage, please notify a security official immediately. Your attention, please..."
"It's not working, Misses Sparks." David said, frustration creeping its way through the fuzzy warm high he'd been riding since the love of his life took his hand in marriage the morning before. He examined the worn magnetic strip on the back of his Platinum Visa, then whacked the check-in terminal with it -- as though he thought it would help. "That's the third time I've tried it now. Something must be wrong with the card... we're just gonna have to wait in line for an agent."
"Mister Sparks," his blushing bride Tracey responded, raising her voice above the bustle of the airport and the advisory loop echoing from the PA system overhead.
She took hold of his hand, points of light cast off by the sparkling rock on her finger nearly blinding him, and coaxed the card from his grasp.
"I've never known you to give up so easily. Are you already settling into your role as husband? Leaving the tough jobs for your wife?" She licked and gently bit her bottom lip in a way that drove her lover mad as she slid the Visa slowly into the terminal. "What this needs," she explained. "Is a woman's touch."
"Sweetie," he chuckled. "Your charm put a spell on me, but I don't think the machine is susceptible to--"
He paused as she slowly pulled the card out, the machine producing a chime instead of the taunting buzz he had heard when he tried his hand. She smiled and looked into his eyes, piercing his soul in the way they did.
"Oh, come on now!" He objected.
"See, honey." She began. "Sometimes a gentle prodding is required... instead of your manly ravaging."
"I'll show you manly ravaging," he growled playfully. "Just as soon as we make it to that resort."
"Mmmm," she returned, tugging his shirt to pull him closer to her. "It's a long flight, baby. Are you sure you can hold out that long?"
"The plane has a bathroom, doesn't it?"
"Of course it does." She stood on her toes and planted a lustful kiss on him, smiling a naughty smile. "But after the pomp and circumstance of last night, I'm feeling like a queen. You wouldn't expect a queen to spread her legs in such an undignified manner, would you?"
David was lost in the beauty of her sparkling blue eyes, but his sarcastic sensibilities demanded a response. "Now who's settling into marriage, my dear?" He quipped.
Their moment was interrupted by an incessant beeping from the terminal in front of them. The display prompted him to touch the screen to continue the check-in process, lest the session be cancelled. When he did, the machine displayed a diagram of the 737 that would escort them to the isle of Jamaica and a honeymoon they would speak of for years to come.
"Oh, that sucks!" Tracey blurted out, pointing to their names listed in the upper left corner of the screen. "It says David Sparks and Tracey Stern!"
"Yeah, the travel agent said we had to do it that way because your ID doesn't say Sparks yet."
"What a bummer! My cloud just fell out from beneath my feet!"
"Eh, I'm okay with that... Heaven can't have you anymore, you belong to me now!"
"Aw, David." She cooed, reaching up to turn his face towards hers again. "I love you so much, Mister Sparks."
He crouched down this time to make his kiss more easily accessible. "And I love you -- Misses Sparks."
They locked lips again, drawing it out the way that newlyweds do as they squeezed each other with every bit of strength their passion inspired in their wedded bliss.
"Why aren't we like that anymore, Terry?" An elderly voice from behind them asked, shattering the moment.
The young lovers disengaged, a bit embarrassed to have gotten caught up in such a torrid display in front of watching strangers, and turned to see a black couple who were much further down the road of life than the two of them. They were silver haired, the man tall and pudgy in contrast to the woman's frail wiry frame.
"Because you don't look like that anymore, Michelle!" The man answered plainly in a thick baritone tenor.
The old woman's mouth dropped open, then she promptly slapped him on the side of his arm for his insolence. It didn't seem to faze him, though -- he seemed rather used to this sort of thing.
"Eat it up, Mister." The assaulted stranger suggested. "She ain't gonna swoon like that for you after she's dropped a kid or two. Get it while the getting is good!"
"Terry!" The woman scolded as the fresher couple chuckled. "How dare you say something like that, we don't even know these people!"
"Oh, it's okay!" Tracey interjected sweetly, in that voice that people talk to their grandparents with. "You should've heard what he said to me himself just a few seconds ago about the bathroom on the plane!"
"See!" Terry fired. "It's all started falling apart already!"
Of course, Michele whacked him again promptly in response. "Don't mind him, he's just about senile anymore." she said as her husband recoiled. "Allow us to introduce ourselves... we're the Jacksons. I'm Michelle, this old man over here is Terry."
"A pleasure," T
racey said. "We're the Sparks, as of yesterday. My gorgeous husband here is David, and I'm Tracey."
"She called him gorgeous now, you hear that?" Terry pointed out. "I haven't heard so much as the word handsome in over thirty years."
"Hush old man!" She returned. "You're making yourself look like a downtown fool, Terry! He's just trying to act tough, because he's nervous about getting on the plane." Michelle suggested.
"I am not nervous about getting on the plane!" Terry argued. "I just don't like the idea of being groped by one of those security people!"
"Terry, I've been fighting to get you out to Chicago to see our grand babies for five years now. If you weren't such a sissy about flying we could've gone before all this pat down nonsense started! There's no shame in being afraid -- I thought you'd learned that by this point in your life!"
"Okay, so you're right." Terry sighed, looking to the Sparks as he explained. "It's just that -- nobody tries to blow me up when I'm sitting in front of the television! I don't know what's going on in this world anymore... In my days, Americans were Americans -- and we were damned proud! If you were in a crowded public place, or on a plane with other Americans -- you didn't have to look over your shoulder and wonder if someone was gonna try to take you out! We had our disagreements, nobody will deny that; but not even the crazies would have considered flying a plane full of innocent people into anything! You just don't know nowadays -- don't know who's crazy or who hates your guts and wants you dead!"
"Nobody wants you dead, Terry!" Michelle snapped. "Besides, they have everything under control now. That's why those men are gonna grab you all up in your junk in a minute, to make sure nobody is trying to blow anybody up!"
"You really buy all that, don't you?" He fought back. "You really think they have control? You read the paper, the same as I do every morning... does it seem to you like anybody has any control down in New Orleans? It's like Déjà Vu all over again, isn't it? Same as last time, people floatin' on their ass while the helicopters blow them around a little and let the news cameras watch them drown! They said they were ready if it happened again, that they had things under control... but look! They ain't in control of a damned thing!"
"Can you believe that?" Tracey involved herself in the conversation. "I heard they still don't know what made the waters rise. It just came out of nowhere and washed the levees away -- all over again!"
"I think it's that Global Warming," Michelle said, raising her eyebrows. "We've let it go on for too long and done too little about it, now it's time we pay the piper!"
"It's hard to watch the news coverage," David agreed as he shook his head. "Such a tragedy... all of those people -- dying like that."
"Any premature loss of life is a tragedy." Terry commented. "But when it happens like that... when perfectly healthy young men and women have their lives just -- just snuffed out like that... when people die because others with the means to save them from their deaths fail to do so... well -- that's a crime against Humanity itself!"
Suddenly, the computer terminal sounded its chime again, reminding the four of them why they were standing there in the first place. David proceeded immediately with seat selection to avoid any further distraction. He wasn't entirely convinced that Tracey could make the system read their card again if his session was terminated, and the line at the clerk's desk was stretching out into the passenger drop-off area at the far end of the lobby.
"Oh boy," he said, sounding a bit alarmed when he noticed what time it read on the display screen.
"What is it, babe?"
"We've gotta get going! I'm sure security is gonna take forever, and our flight leaves in less than two hours."
"Where are the young lovebirds going?" Michelle asked.
"Mind your business, woman!" Terry ordered this time.
"Oh, it's fine!" Tracey responded with her angelic smile. "We're going to Jamaica -- for our honeymoon."
This brought a huge smile to the woman's face as recollection of a brighter time filled her mind. "How wonderful for the two of you!" She grinned. "I'll never forget our honeymoon. It was so hard to wrestle Terry away from his job -- but the trip was worth every minute of it!"
"That's enough now, dear. The nice people have to get going. I wouldn't want them to miss out on the time of their lives because they were held up here talking to us old folks!"
"I'm not holding them up, Terry!" She barked.
"They don't want to hear some old fuddy dud reminiscing now, Michele. Let them --"
"Who are you calling a fuddy dud you old fool?"
"Fool? Well I never --"
"And you never will again!"
"Come on," Dave smirked as their boarding passes printed. "While we have a chance!"
The two of them broke off quietly while the elders bickered, both of them secretly wondering if they were looking at themselves -- forty years down the line. Each of them concluded, however, that if the sands of time eroded the passion they felt for one another to the dulled incarnation of love that the Jacksons shared, the brilliance of the fire between them now would warm their souls for the duration of this journey called life.
With that knowledge, they pressed on towards the baggage check... walking hand in hand.
Chapter 2