Chapter Four: Blessed is he that readeth, and hear the words of this prophecy…
Beast Boy sat at the computer at eleven o' clock at night clicking away at the search in Google for Norman McCay's address. After an hour of research, he found the listing for Gethsemane Church, located in Metropolis. He printed off the phone number and address and shut off the computer. It was late Friday night and he hoped he would be able to talk to him despite the fact that he was calling when no one wanted to receive a phone call.
He hoped Robin and Cyborg wouldn't be fuming over the long distance phone call. They usually didn't use the phone lines because they had the Communicators as a way to stay in touch with each other. He picked up the portable phone and dialed the area code for Metropolis, along with the church phone number. He waited as the phone rang, nervous about sharing his secrets with someone he didn't even know.
"Hello?" the voice asked. "Who is this?"
"This is…uh, this is Garfield Logan," Beast Boy blurted, not knowing what to say. He didn't want to reveal his superhero identity to him, so he gave the pastor his real name. He hoped the man wouldn't hang up on him. There was a long awkward moment of silence.
"I'm sorry, son, you must have the wrong number. Are you trying to sell me something? If so, I'm not interested."
"Um, no. I'm not trying to sell you anything. I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Did you come to Sunday service, Mr. Logan?" Norman McCay asked.
"I didn't exactly make it to church, uh Mr. McCay—"
"Please call me Pastor, Mr. Logan."
"You can call me Gar then, Pastor."
"Why can't you come to church, Gar?"
"I don't exactly live in Metropolis."
"Where do you live then?"
"Jump City, CA."
There was a loud cough on the other end of the line, and he heard Norman clear his throat before speaking again. 'Why would someone all the way across the country call me up here? It must be pretty important to call me this late at night. What is it, son?"
"Well, I was uh wondering if, uh, you've ever heard anything about the Spectre."
"The Spectre, well you're the first person I know of whose ever called me about him. What do you want to know? And more importantly, why are you asking about him?"
"What do you mean why am I asking about him?" Beast Boy asked. "Can't I just satisfy my own curiosity?"
"Well, that depends on why you're curious about the Spectre, or spirituality for that matter. Do you want to know about him because you wish to prove something, or is this a personal curiosity?"
"Well, to be honest Pastor McCay, I've been having dreams about him."
"Dreams? Like what kind of dreams? Please, tell me."
"You mean; you believe me? You don't think I'm crazy?" Beast Boy asked.
"Oh, people do not dream about the supernatural at complete random, son. I take such things very seriously. Please, tell me about them. You're not the only person I know who has had this sort of thing happen to them."
"This dream of mine is kinda freaky, just to warn ya."
"I'm all ears," the Pastor said calmly. Beast Boy hoped he would be able to trust him with his secret. He had a question to ask before he told him his dream.
"Pastor McCay, can you promise to keep this a secret and not tell anyone about it?"
"Why would I need to do that? I don't have anyone to tell it to."
"Where do you want me to begin?" Beast Boy asked.
"Tell me about the first dream you had."
"Have you ever heard of the Church of Blood?"
"The cult movement? Oh yes, and I know they're no church at all. Unlike a lot of people who think they're some crazed movement, I know that such groups are very dangerous."
"How do you know they're dangerous?"
"I know that they rely on the darker side of spirituality. Do you believe in God, son?"
"I'm not quite sure," Beast Boy replied.
"Do you believe in angels and demons then?"
"Yeah, you might say that I do." He knew that Raven was a half-demon, so to say he didn't believe in demons at least would be a lie. He wondered what it had to do with the Church of Blood.
"Well, let me explain, Gar. The Christian faith has the spirit world split two ways, there is the good, which is God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the angels; and on the other side, there is Satan and his demons. The Christians call on the Lord Jesus to help us and guide us, while the Church of Blood calls upon Satan and his demons to guide and help them."
"I see. I think I get that," Beast Boy said.
"So what is this dream that you keep having?" Norman McCay asked.
"In my dream, I'm in a church and…the Church of Blood, they kill me." There was a long silence on the other end of the line. It was a minute before the pastor began to speak to him.
"They kill you…that's something I've never heard before." Another pause. "How do you know it was the Church of Blood?"
"My friends say he did."
"In your dream?"
"Yes."
"How did they kill you?"
"Crucifixion."
There was a long, excruciating pause. He could hear the minister's breathing. Finally, he spoke again. "That's—that's very hard for me to understand. Why—why would they do that? What does it mean?"
"I don't know," Beast Boy replied. "I was hoping you could tell me."
"I'm no interpreter of dreams, but I will pray and see if God tells me anything."
"Thanks, I…I appreciate it. I hope I haven't kept you up too long," Beast Boy said. It had been about a half an hour of conversation. He felt a little better but he still felt that there were some questions unanswered. "Thank you for your time, Pastor McCay." He quietly hung up the phone. He stared at the screen and hit the print button. He needed the address of the Gethsemane Church. He grabbed the stack of papers and headed for his room. He closed the door behind him. He hoped that the next week would be better.
The next day was Monday and it was a bright, warm morning. Beast Boy woke up and went out to the kitchen. He sat down and grabbed some cereal and some tofu milk from the refrigerator. Sitting down, he ate breakfast. After he was finished, he headed for the living room.
Beast Boy noticed Starfire as she came out of her room. She returned with a small book in her hand. Beast Boy looked up at her.
"Star, what's that?" Beast Boy asked.
"It is a book of Tamaranean folklore. I brought it back from Tamaran after our visit there."
"Oh, what kinds of stories are in there? Not any stories about those strange foods you eat, I hope."
"Oh, no, Beast Boy. These are revered folklore and legends of my planet that we hold in the highest honor. My k'norfka, Galfore used to tell me such tales when I was very small."
"Are they in English? I kinda wanted to look at them," Beast Boy said.
"I have translated most of the stories into your Earth language English, I believe that you will be able to understand them."
Beast Boy frowned, he'd never been interested in books, novels or anything of that nature. He liked videogames and pizza too much too pay much attention to those. He began thumbing through the pages, not really reading the words but looking to see if there were any pictures. His only sources of reading material were comic books. He continued looking through the pages.
Turning a page, he saw an illustration that startled him. The figure on the page was cloaked in green, and as pale as a shadow. The being was hooded and mysterious. He knew the being on the page was indeed the Spectre, and he was both powerful and frightening. He wondered why he was mentioned in Tamaranean folklore and began to look at the words written beside the picture.
"Twenty years ago when the planet of Tamaran was besieged by the dreaded Drenthax army, the people of Tamaran fought, but victory seemed unattainable. The Tamaranean priest and priestesses pleaded with X'hal to spare their planet from complete annihilation.
And when the hour was darkest, and their need was dire, when the armies of Tamaran were being decimated, a mysterious figure revealed himself to the Tamaranean General Galfore, telling him that he would deliver Tamaran from the Drenthax army. When the figure was asked who he was he only said he was the Scethra, the Divine Wrath in Tamaranean; and that his mission was to judge the Drenthax army for their unprovoked invasion of the planet.
Thus it came to pass that when Galfore led his troops into battle that the mysterious spirit of the Divine Wrath went with them, and when Galfore sounded the charge, a great figure stood on the field of battle, far larger than any Tamaranean warrior. He stood above the armies; his head scraped the clouds and his cloak stretched across the surface of the planet as he gazed down on the soldiers from Drenthax.
The Drenthax army halted in fright, sensing the being's presence. They gazed upon the face of the being, and terror took them. They cowered in fear and the courage they had departed as the Divine Wrath moved to engage them. The Scethra stretched forth his hand and smote them with green fire. The fiery glow surrounded the entire army, ringing them in flames. As they began to retreat, the Divine Wrath swooped down on them and unsheathed his Terrible, Swift Sword.
Without a word, the Scethra, this force of retribution went throughout the Drenthax army and decimated them. The Tamaranean army only watched as the spirit delivered them from annihilation. And the people of Tamaran were grateful to the Unknown God, who had sent the spirit to deliver them from their destruction. To this day, they believe the Scethra; this spirit of the Divine Wrath will aid those whose souls cry out for justice.
"The souls who cry out for justice…" Beast Boy muttered. He quietly got up and snuck over to the computer printer. It was an Epson Stylus CX54000, and so Starfire wouldn't notice her book as missing, he quietly began copying the pages of the story so he would have backup. He needed all the information on the Spectre he could get, and he had a feeling he wouldn't find it in some government file.
He quickly grabbed the stack of papers and tried to think of where he might be able to find more information. He began to think. If he went to the public library, they might recognize him and wonder what he was up to. Besides, he had a feeling that what he was looking for would be in that kind of a place. But where could he go? What kind of a place in the city would hold the information he needed?
Then he remembered, the original city library. The one where there were secret passages and the ancient catacombs filled with skulls and statues that concerned Raven and the prophecy of her birth. He hoped there might be something about the Spectre. He began heading out the door when a voice behind him said, "Beast Boy, where are you going?"
He turned to see Starfire standing in the middle of the living room. He searched quickly for an answer. "I'm…going to go into town. Tell the others I'll be back later. I have my communicator just in case you guys need me."
"I will," she replied. He quickly headed out the door and flew off across the bridge and headed straight for the old, abandoned library. He landed outside the ruined doors and crept quietly inside. He began looking through the cases; he took the small portable flashlight from his belt and began looking through the old books still on the shelves.
He began taking the books off and looking at them. To his surprise, they weren't in English. Beast Boy frowned, he had no idea what language it was. He wanted to find what he was looking for, but he had no idea what it was. Suddenly, his elbow knocked a book off the shelf and it fell onto the floor. The pages opened and a familiar picture revealed itself and he picked it up.
He wondered who might be able to translate the book for him without tipping his friends. He thought he might be able to go to the Jump City University and speak to a professor there to get some help.
He flew straight to Jump City University and walked into the building and up to the front desk. The lady looked up and saw him standing there.
"Can I help you son?" she asked. "Beast Boy, isn't it?"
"Yes Ma'am," he replied. "Um, do you know who the professor of foreign languages is?"
"What for Beast Boy, interested in going to college?"
"Not exactly, I need some help translating something."
"What is it?" he handed her the book. "This doesn't look like a foreign language, might be Latin."
"You know Latin?"
"Only a little, I took some classes when I went here. Go see Professor Demiurgos; he's the new Latin teacher. I think he could help you if he's not too busy."
"Which way is that?" Beast Boy asked.
"Two doors down the hall, turn right," she instructed. He followed her directions and arrived at the door. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. The door creaked a little and opened. "Hello, who is this?" he took a look at the green changeling and began to chuckle. "Oho, Beast Boy isn't it? Is there something I can do for you Beast Boy?"
"Yes, you're the Latin teacher, right?"
"Yes, what's that you've got there?" he asked.
"It's a book I found and I was hoping you could translate it for me." Beast Boy handed him the book. Professor Demiurgos took it from him and began to examine it.
"Spectaculum, Latin for Spectre. Interesting, I've never seen anything like this before. I would like to examine it further. Is there any time you need this back?"
"I need it back as soon as possible professor," Beast Boy said. "What's your first name Professor, so I can ask for you if I need you?"
"My name is Michael. Just call me Michael," the man said with a smile.
"Thanks a lot, Professor. I'll see you soon." Beast Boy turned and left. He didn't hear the professor's words after the door was shut.
"Indeed, Garfield. We will see each other, sooner than you think," a smile slid across Michael's face. His assignment was to watch over Garfield Logan, and watch him he would.
"Send out our best men to keep an eye on Beast Boy, find out where he goes, what he likes to do, and when the time is right, we will take him," Brother Blood instructed.
A man named John Conners listened to his instructions and left without a word. He worked at Jump City university as one of the janitorial staff. He had other jobs, but the janitorial occupation was a cover so he could influence the students of the university to join the Church of Blood. So far, he had recruited two members from the student body. He was busy cleaning the floor when he caught a very interesting conversation.
"Hello, who is this?" he took a look at the green changeling and began to chuckle. "Oho, Beast Boy isn't it? Is there something I can do for you Beast Boy?"
"Yes, you're the Latin teacher, right?"
"Yes, what's that you've got there?" he asked.
"It's a book I found and I was hoping you could translate it for me." Beast Boy handed him the book. Professor Demiurgos took it from him and began to examine it.
"Spectaculum, Latin for Spectre. Interesting, I've never seen anything like this before. I would like to examine it further. Is there any time you need this back?"
"I need it back as soon as possible professor," Beast Boy said.
He leaned in and listened until he ducked around a corner to keep from being noticed. He pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. "Brother Blood, I've seen him at the college. He's visiting a Professor named—"
Suddenly a pommel of a sword came smashing down on his skull, knocking the man senseless. An angel in shining white stood behind him. "You cannot touch him yet," the figure said to the unconscious form. "The Lord has not permitted it. His time will come, but you will not lay a hand on him until the appointed time."
The angel turned and walked back to his classroom. His clothes faded from their original bright appearance and changed to a dark, jet-black suit that Beast Boy had seen him wearing. He had a lot of work to do, he knew Beast Boy needed the translations before he died, and Michael intended for him to get them.
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. Joel 2:28