He didn’t look to see what became of the foggy man.  He was gone.  That was all that mattered.  He had no need to see what became of the body.  It was better not to know.

He would likely never know who the man was.  He never shared his name.  And Eric didn’t care to know it.  He wasn’t anybody, just a thug, another monster in the road.

Father Billy was right, it turned out.  There was no reason to know a dead man’s name.

Still trembling, Eric walked through the door and began the long ascent up the cathedral stairs.

Chapter Thirty-Two

The way out of the cathedral was far more treacherous than the way in.  An ordinary man would never have found his way through the hellish labyrinth of darkness and shadows.  He would have wandered aimlessly until something in the darkness ended his journey for him.  But he was no longer an ordinary man.  He knew the way out now.  He knew how the cathedral worked.  And he made the journey without thinking about where he was going.  He merely climbed, his poor, exhausted mind still struggling to grasp the awesome things the staff had shown him.

He barely remembered the ascent.

Soon, he found himself standing in the crater, looking around, trying to recall where he was supposed to go next.  But there was nothing to recall.  The dream was over.  And no one had bothered telling him what to do next.

He couldn’t return along the same path that brought him here, and he had no idea which way would take him back home.

He sat down on the crushed earth and stared up at the sky for a while.  The sun had fully set.  The first of the stars had come out.

It was so peaceful.

He felt so incredibly small.

“Magnificent view out here.”

Eric lowered his eyes and found himself looking at the gas station attendant.  He was standing in front of him, staring up at the sky above.  He tried to remember how long he’d been staring up, but he was sure it wasn’t long enough for the little man to have made his way across the wide floor of the crater without him noticing.

“Nothing to spoil it out here.  No lights.  No pollution.  Just you and the stars.”

Eric stared at the little man.  “Are you God?”

Without looking down from the sky, the gas station attendant said, “Me?  No.  Not exactly.”

Not exactly?  What did that mean?

“But I can answer the questions you have for Him.”

“Can you?”

The little man looked at him now.  “Sure.  Let’s start with what happened down there, shall we?”

Eric stared at him.  He felt so sluggish.  He was like a computer that had used up all its memory.  He nodded.  “I found the staff.  It…  Showed me things…”

“It imparted onto you some very specific knowledge.”

“That’s what I said…” Eric replied drunkenly.

The little man laughed softly.  His smile was so kind, so welcoming.  And his eyes remained compassionate.  “Some things are too important to ever be fully forgotten, but too dangerous to leave commonly known.”

Eric thought about this for a moment, and then nodded.  “This would definitely qualify.”

“Definitely.  These things you know…only one man was chosen to remember while all others were allowed to forget.  When that man died, the knowledge lived on, stored in the living wood of that staff, waiting for another to come along and take the knowledge once more.  In times when darkness closes in on this knowledge, a new man is chosen to take the information from the staff, leaving the staff itself empty in its cradle.  Long after the danger has passed, and when the new caretaker passes on, the information returns automatically to the staff, waiting for the next to find it.”

“So I’m the caretaker?”

“The latest in a long line.”

“But you said the cathedral kills everyone who enters it.”

“No.  Technically, you said that Father Billy told you that I said the cathedral will claim anyone who comes looking for its secrets.  I told you that I did, indeed, say something like that.”

“So…  How is that different?”

“The cathedral does claim all those who come looking for its secrets.  But it doesn’t kill those who deserve them.  Eleven men have emerged just like you did.  And they all returned in the end.”

“Inside the clay pots.”

“Exactly.  To this day, they still protect their secret.”

“So when I die, I’ll go back there?”

“Only in body.  The cathedral won’t keep your spirit.  I promise you that.”

This was a relief.  He had feared that he was now damned to a purgatory of hanging out on a shelf at the bottom of a deep hole somewhere in Minnesota for the rest of eternity, like a bored genie.

“You said before that there were two objects of interest.  Is there another staff?”

“Not a staff, but yes, another object, another secret.  If a man were to possess both, he would become very powerful.”

“But with just one?”

“You are only blessed.”

“Don’t feel blessed.  Feel like my head’s going to explode.  How can I be expected to live like this, knowing what I know?  It’s too much for any one man.  What am I supposed to do?  What do you do when you know the true face of God?”

“That’s where I come in.”

“You?”

The little man gave him the same, broad smile.  “Yes.  Me.”  He stepped closer to Eric and placed his small hands on his face.  He looked deeply into his eyes and said, “I can take this knowledge and put it where it can’t hurt you.  I can put it into your forgotten dreams.”

“My forgotten dreams…?  Like the one that brought me here?”

“Yes.  You won’t have to remember it.  You’ll only know it when you sleep.  It won’t trouble you.  It won’t wake you.  You’ll know without knowing.  The only difference will be that your sleep will be enhanced.”

“Enhanced?”

“Deeper, more meaningful.  You’ll need less sleep and you’ll recharge faster.  You’ll even heal faster when you sleep.  Just a little.”

“That’s…  Cool.  I guess.”

“Very cool.”

Staring into the little man’s eyes, Eric asked, “Why me?”

“Why not?  You did magnificently.”

“But wouldn’t someone else have done just as well?”

“Maybe.  Maybe not.  But the right person was chosen.  You can believe that.”

“If you say so…”

“All done.”  The gas station attendant, who was by no means a mere gas station attendant, dropped his hands and stepped back.

Eric realized that he no longer remembered what he knew before.  He simply recalled having once known something very significant, something life-changing.

“Come on.  Let’s get you home.”

Eric stood up and walked with the small man across the crushed earth of the cathedral’s crater.  At the edge of the woods sat a vehicle he hadn’t noticed before now.

As he walked, his cell phone buzzed against his leg.

It was Isabelle.

“You did so awesome, Eric!”

“Thanks.  I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Yes, you could’ve.”

“No.  I really don’t think so.”

“Aw…  But it’s over now.  You get to go home.”

“I do.”

“And you still get me!”

Eric smiled.  “I do, don’t I?”

“You’re stuck with me.”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Somehow, he could tell that she was smiling on her end of the line.

“But wait…  If you were there the whole time, did you see the secret too?”

“No.  Only that you learned something very profound.”

“Huh…”

“The secret must have only been for you.  Not me.”

“I guess so.”

“I’ll talk to you later, okay?  Bye!”

“Bye.”  Eric hung up and stared at the phone.

“You’ve made a few great friends today,” said the little man.

Looking up, Eric found that they had been joined by Edgar, Grant, Taylor and Annette.  They walked with them, all of them smiling.

“Fantastic job, Eric,” said Taylor.