Drawn through the cave toward the chanting, Jonas thought of the time he spent in the void. He watched people in the physical world and dreamed of going there once again. To feel the fresh air on his skin. To stroll along a country lane, smell the honeysuckle in bloom, and listen to the birds call to each other on a summer evening. The sensation of pleasure and pain he missed. All these years in his inter-dimensional prison Jonas longed for the touch of another human being. But he had to carry the burden, for if he didn’t there would be no human world.
He had searched for Mari the long months of her pregnancy. But he never found her. He even thought of going to find her home. But how could he? He couldn’t ask local people where she lived.
The scandal would have destroyed both their worlds.
Then out of the blue she appeared to him, in the otherwise deserted Chapter House, with babe in arms and spoke to him with a gravelly voice. “Jonas, this is your son,” she said, “this is David.”
He gazed at the boy who had dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes.
“Where have you been?”
She laughed while transfixing him with a cold stare.
“Oh, poor Jonas for all your righteousness, you're blinded by human emotion and sensuality,” she hissed.
With that she turned around and left. He ran out of the door after her but she had gone. He searched along the Cloister, but there was no one about.
Why had she been so cruel to him? The cold stare that froze his being, and that rasping voice, it was as if she wasn’t quite… human. But that couldn’t be—could it? The day they made love she was so gentle and loving. But there was that evil laugh when they had stopped caressing. Then there was her family. She had told him about how her father had worked long hours fishing in all weathers, and her mother looked after her two brothers and three sisters. But he had never seen her walking or standing with anyone, she appeared as she had today.
Anger and frustration welled up in Jonas. It was as if reality, his sheltered reality, had ripped apart. What had it all meant? What could he have done? He couldn’t have confided in anyone for fear of scandal and rejection, he had to carry on and keep the matter concealed. He had to appear pure to be the next abbot.
The chanting was growing louder the further into the cave he went. Jonas could make out an eerie red glow eating up the darkness around a bend. He could sense the collective consciousness of the dimension invading his thoughts, he had to resist and stay focused on pure thoughts for as long as he could. At least until he could contact the one person who could help.
Jonas saw the circle of black-robed monks. The chanting of their demon worshipping mantras was becoming deafening. He could feel their evil thoughts, like gnarled roots, about to tighten around his mind. The source of the red glow was a symbol in the centre of the ring. At the rear of the cave was a huge altar dug out of the sandstone. In front of it there was a hooded figure sitting in a big ornate chair.
Images of his son flooded his mind. The day he saw him, seventeen years after Mari had taken the baby and vanished, he noticed the boy had none of his features; in fact, he didn’t look like her either.
Jonas was then abbot and received David in the privacy of his chambers.
“Father dear, I’ve come back to see you,” David sneered.
Jonas got up out of his seat and closed his study door.
“Afraid they’ll find out you have a son. Tut! Tut! It’s okay, I’ll tell them I was looking for spiritual guidance and had to see the abbot,” he giggled.
“Where have you and your mother been?”
“We’ve been away,” replied David, as he fixed Jonas with an icy stare.
“I’ve taken your name… I’m now David de Longford. It has a certain ring about it, don’t you think?”
“I need to ask you to leave I have business to attend to,” said Jonas, pointing to the door.
“Oh, I won’t be leaving, you know what I’m here for Father dear.”
“I have no money; it all belongs to the Abbey.”
A depressive heaviness descended over him, and he had to sit down as his legs shook.
“Don’t treat me like a fool, I want the Key,” growled David.
“I don’t know where.”
“Oh, but you do. I know the secret of the hiding place is passed down to successive abbots.”
“Look you must leave,” Jonas said, angered by the pleading tone of his voice.
“I see I’ll have to do this the hard way. I’ve probed your mind but you seem to have placed a block in the way,” said David.
The surrounding air tightened around Jonas and he rose out of his seat. Up he went as he spun.
When he was near the ceiling he spun, faster. He could feel the blood rush through his body and surge into his skull.
“You will tell me.” He heard David say in his mind.
“Tell him.” Every fibre in his body screamed! “I must not, I must not, must think pure thoughts!”
Faster and faster, he spun. He was about to pass out when the spinning stopped, and he was returned to his seat. He sat there for several moments feeling dazed. Then, David kneeled before him with tears in his eyes.
“Father please forgive me. Oh, what have I done?”
David rose and ran out of the room. Jonas stood up, but had to sit down again due to dizziness.
After a short time, he rose again and raced to the door, only to find a monk, Brother George, standing there.
“I heard noises, so I came to see if you were all right.”
“Yes fine, I stood up too fast and lost my balance,” said Jonas. “But I’m okay now, thanks for your thoughtfulness,” he continued.