1

“The Sound of Sin”

Society had always dismissed Irene Elizabeth Duvalier as the hopeless child and the

“wasted life” who had been encumbered by blindness since birth. When Irene reached the age of

twenty-two, she abandoned the Home for the Blind that had supported her for two decades.

During the afternoon on July 23, 2014, she clasped her fingers around her walking cane and

positioned it on the sidewalk that would guide her through the bustling streets of Richmond,

Virginia. Irene always had identified the individuals in her surroundings by carefully listening to

their voices. She focused on the various voice pitches that she had encountered as she wandered

through her life of darkness. Her hand rested on the cane that she had propelled into the concrete

sidewalk, and her sense of touch was stimulated by the glistening sunlight that soaked into her

pale skin. Crowds of Richmond residents brushed against Irene as she balanced herself on the

cane. The voices of the residents blended together inside Irene’s ears until they faded into her

memory. When the residents who collided into Irene recognized that she was wearing

sunglasses and that she was carrying a walking cane, they concluded that she was blind before

they sauntered away from the sidewalk and scattered across the concrete streets. Irene always

had refused to accept the aid of a Seeing Eye dog during her struggle against the darkness. As

she listened for any recognizable voices among the crowds, she condemned the possibility that

she was excessively stubborn. She lifted her head to align her shifting eyes with the sky until she

was roused from the daydreams that ignited her dazed stupor. Irene leaned against her walking

cane and yearned for the dark fog that clouded her vision to dissipate. The mysterious Stephen

Koldewey interlocked his fingers across Irene’s left shoulder and whispered into her ear with the

eternally sinister voice that had haunted her since her childhood arrival at the Home for the

Blind.

Upon seeing that Irene had been alerted to his presence, Koldewey whispered, “Please,

Irene, let me help you. Let me treat you. I know where you are going. I know that you want to

see Jonker’s face.”

Because Stephen Koldewey had taught Irene how to read Braille, Irene felt compelled to

provide Koldewey with the proper respect, but his knowledge of her personal affairs was

unsettling. Laurence David Jonker was a college student whom Irene had first met on a bus

when she was eighteen years old. Irene became convinced that Laurence represented the only

2

individual who viewed her as a human being and not simply as a helpless victim of blindness.

Koldewey placed a CD in Irene’s hand and instructed her to call if she experienced any

difficulties during the treatment. Irene clasped the CD and crossed the street to reach the bus that

would lead away from Koldewey and to Laurence’s home, and after claiming a seat on the bus,

Irene recalled Koldewey’s peculiar behavior. Koldewey monitored his daily sins, and as a child,

Irene was constantly awakened by Koldewey’s screams when he scolded himself for the sins that

he had committed. As Koldewey feverishly slashed his marker along the plaster wall, he was

mesmerized by the blaring music that echoed into each room. Several incoherent chants

participated with the music to cause agonizing shivers that pierced Irene’s back. Koldewey

assigned a different geometric shape to each of the seven deadly sins, and after he identified his

specific sin, Koldewey would sketch a geometric shape on the wall that acknowledged his

transgression. Irene’s blindness prevented her from observing the geometric shapes that

recognized Koldewey’s sinful actions of sloth and lust. Koldewey screamed to express his

torment as he etched the geometric shapes on the wall. Although Irene never could physically

see the geometric designs, she would glide her fingers across the wall plaster on which the

shapes were drawn. Her perceptive sense of touch informed her that these complex sketches

were composed of several lines and shapes. According to Koldewey, the balance of the universe

was disrupted by human sin, and the geometric shapes that he had designed would eliminate the

instability that his sins had generated. Irene clasped the CD in her hand as the vigorous rumble

of an engine and the blending clamor of human voices indicated that the bus had reached its

designated stop. Irene hoped to escape from Koldewey and to reinvigorate her friendship with

Laurence. Unfortunately, the CD that she possessed contained the experimental treatment with

which the insane Koldewey promised to eradicate the blindness of his students.

Human sin tarnished the perfection that once existed by unleashing agonizing sicknesses

and the blindness with which Irene was struggling. Koldewey vigorously insisted that his

experimental treatment could cure Irene’s blindness by erasing the human sin that originally

triggered her miserable condition of blindness. Although human sin had seized Irene’s sight,

flashes of Laurence Jonker’s potential physical appearance danced across the energized canvas

of her mind. She remained alone inside the confines of her imagination as she envisioned

possibilities for the broken world that surrounded her. She desperately yearned for a glimpse of

the benevolent college student who had befriended her, and the mental images suddenly blurred

3

into the darkness that served as a reminder of her handicap. When the motion of the bus ceased

on its sixth stop, Irene became alert because she recalled that the bus would arrive at Laurence’s

home on the sixth stop. She climbed from the seat and was convinced that the inconsiderate

passengers were glaring at her as she gingerly sauntered down the bus steps that led to the

sidewalk. Laurence “Scary Larry” Jonker greeted Irene with the magnificent voice that she had

enjoyed during his numerous visits to the Home for the Blind. During dinner, Irene was

reminded that Laurence treated her with compassion because he admired her personality and not

because he sympathized with the seemingly dependent blind girl. Laurence attempted to breach

moments of silence by addressing trivial topics of popular culture, but he exercised caution as he

considered potential discussion topics because he recalled that Irene had never seen a television

program. Laurence recognized that Irene was comfortable because she had removed her

sunglasses. Although Irene’s shifting eyeballs could not focus on a single object, Laurence

assured himself that Irene was staring directly at him. Irene was preoccupied with the CD that

Koldewey believed would extinguish her blindness, and she eventually excused herself from the

kitchen so that she could examine the CD in the guest bedroom of Laurence’s home.

After Laurence escorted Irene to his guest bedroom, Irene slammed the door shut and

inserted Koldewey’s CD into her portable player before she placed headphones over her ears.

Laurence concluded that Irene was situated in the guest bedroom, and as he walked through the

front door, he informed Irene that he needed to purchase items from the grocery store. Irene

outstretched her hand to search for objects that were obscured by the dark mental prison that her

blindness had generated, and her ears tingled when the music of the CD player blared through

the headphones. The music blended into a corkscrew of ethereal voices that were transmitted

into Irene’s mind. As the repetition of voices bounced across the walls to produce an echo, Irene

glided her extended hand across the coarse plaster of the bedroom wall. Irene was prepared to

dismiss the mysterious voices as incoherent rambling, but the voices that were calling to Irene

commanded her to extinguish the human sin that had triggered her blindness. Irene entered a

hypnotic state as the voices swept across her body to influence her judgment. Her fingertips

slowly slithered across the wall during her journey through the darkness. Her fingertips

indicated that she had reached the plaster wall of the bedroom, and she removed a pencil from

her suitcase as the voices from the music swirled through her psyche. She placed her perspiring

palm on the wall that she could identify only through her sense of touch, and she adhered to the

4

subliminal instructions of the music that would not cease. Her contorted fingers clasped the

pencil that she had rarely used and shoved the graphite tip into the jagged plaster of the wall.

She remained shackled in the solitary confinement of her mind as she feverishly slashed the

pencil in seemingly haphazard directions across the coarse wall. The pencil pierced the plaster

and smoothly traveled in a straight direction before shifting downward in a circular motion, and

the dazed appearance remained etched on Irene’s face as she carved into the wall. While Irene’s

foggy eyes suggested that she had surrendered her mental judgment to the voices, her trembling

hands zealously crafted a complex geometric shape into the wall. After Irene completed her

design, the pencil plunged to the dusty floor of spider webs and mothballs. Irene was startled

when the enormous square wall appeared in the darkness of her visual spectrum, and the shapes

of curved lines could be detected on the center of the wall. The voices that were incorporated

into the music dissipated as Irene struggled with her newly acquired sight of the wall.

Although Irene had been granted the necessary sight to observe the wall, a cloud of

darkness surrounded the square wall because she could not physically see any additional objects.

Her eyes captured the light that was reflected from the wall and transmitted the three-

dimensional object into her perception, but the blue wall appeared black through Irene’s eyes.

She had never viewed the colors of the visible light spectrum, but she was infuriated that the wall

was painted in the ordinary color of black. Her red complexion displayed the emotion of

sadness, and Irene’s receptive ears were suddenly stimulated by the low melody of a chime that

played in the distance. The plaster wall instantly altered its color from the hideous shade of

black into the dazzling blue that all humans with proper vision could observe. Irene concluded

that she was truly viewing the intended color of the wall for the first time, and the mysterious

geometric shape on the wall was a seven-sided design that was composed of a square, a circle,

and a triangle. The voices on Koldewey’s CD had shackled Irene in the hypnotic state that

caused her to etch the mysterious design, and the geometric shape allowed Irene to observe the

wall on which she had drawn the shape.

The flabbergasted blind woman breathed heavily as she examined the wall with her

fingers, and she leaned her head against the wall to ensure that the visible wall was truly real.

Her hand stroked the wall for several seconds, but the square wall was surrounded by a cloud of

blackness because the mysterious geometric shape had caused only the wall to become visible as

an image that was relayed into Irene’s mind. She discovered that the wall was the only visible

5

object in her limited visual scope and that she could not see her hand. As Irene adjusted to the

peculiar setting, her gliding hand formed a black shadow that engulfed the wall. Her

undetectable hand suddenly became chilled and mysteriously merged into the wall plaster.

Irene’s left hand rapidly solidified into the moist plaster, and although she could not physically

identify her hand, the tingling sensation that stiffened her fingers invigorated her sense of touch.

Her pores emitted droplets of sweat that cooled her clammy hands, and when she lifted her stony

hand of plaster from the wall, her hand was so heavy that it immediately smashed into the wall

and rested in the plaster. The flabbergasted Irene frantically shook her solidified hand and

repeatedly slammed her palms into the geometric shape that had seemingly caused her to achieve

sight of the square wall. After her left shoulder leaned against the wall and instantly merged into

the plaster, Irene screamed and thrashed her right arm through the air in a futile struggle to

escape from the wall that was devouring her. The transforming plaster of the square wall

resembled wet cement that formed a portal of swirling plaster from which Irene could not escape.

She positioned her left foot in the center of the spinning corkscrew of plaster that the wall had

become, and the portion of her left leg from her knee to her foot disappeared beneath the

engulfing vortex. The wall now resembled a gaping mouth that hoped to swallow Irene by

absorbing her entire body into its plaster.

Irene could see only the plaster wall and the engulfing darkness that her body created as it

blended into the wall, and she heaved her bruised head back and forth and repeatedly collided

into the wall as she frantically struggled to achieve freedom. She exhausted all her strength to

lift the right hand that had not mixed into the wall plaster, and her free right shoulder lunged

back before she propelled her right hand into the geometric shape that was drawn on the wall.

Her solidified hands remained shackled beneath the spinning vortex of plaster that was

comparable to moist cement, so she could not use her hands to remove her left leg from the

transforming square wall. She no longer could maintain her upright balance, and after her right

leg violently contracted and snapped, she collapsed to her right knee while her left leg and right

shoulder furthered their gradual descents through the engulfing plaster. Despite her panic and

the racing of her palpitating heart, she remained relatively composed as her perceptive ears

discerned the swishing breeze of wind that was being emitted from the transforming square wall.

Irene mustered all her strength to pull her frigid body backwards in her desperate attempt to free

herself from the plaster wall, and her teeth chattered in response to the bizarre event because the

6

plaster that absorbed her body was extremely cold. The moist plaster continued to swirl into a

corkscrew that forcefully dragged Irene’s right knee from the floor, and the hissing wind from

the wall whispered into Irene’s receptive ears to indicate that her death was imminent. Her

twisted right knee was straightened into position by the sucking breeze that swept across her

body, and the spinning vortex of plaster violently dragged both her legs across the carpet floor

until they disappeared beneath the plaster. The sucking plaster hauled Irene’s weary body across

the floor on her stomach, and the square wall consumed Irene’s legs and solidified them into the

cold plaster. Irene’s stomach was lacerated by the forceful motion that propelled her across the

floor, and the torso from her stomach to her head became the only segment of her body that had

not vanished beneath the vortex of plaster. Irene’s right shoulder and left hand remained

completely solidified although they suddenly had been unshackled from the wall, and she

inserted her fingernails into the carpet bristles to prevent the rest of her body from being

absorbed into the wall. The stony fingers of her solidified left hand nearly snapped into pieces as

she contorted her fingers and scraped her hands in a desperate effort to claw away from the

sucking plaster.

After permanent fingernail marks were imprinted into the carpet, the stony index finger

of Irene’s left hand was detached from her body because it was fractured when Irene pulled it

across the floor. The helpless child screamed in agony, but no dripping blood prickled from her

injury despite the tremendous pain that it produced. Despite the cold shivers that the wall plaster

forced Irene to experience, the pain and intensity of the situation caused sweat droplets to

perspire from the pores in her wrinkled forehead. Irene’s blind eyes could physically observe

only the plaster wall, so her eyes failed to detect the sweat formation that rolled from her head

until it plummeted to the stony fingers of her left hand. Irene’s solidified fingertips tingled with

the stinging sensation that the dripping sweat had generated, and the stony infection on her

fingers gradually washed away as the sweat soaked into her aching left hand. She quickly

discovered that her sweat previously had allowed her to free her right shoulder and left hand

from the wall plaster, so she extended her neck to ensure that the sweat from her forehead could

plummet to her stony fingers. Irene’s sweat dripped from her forehead to her stony left hand,

and the perspiration slowly consumed the moist plaster that engulfed her left hand until the stony

infection completely disappeared. She shook her left hand as the plaster was washed away, and

after the stony formation transformed into human flesh, Irene sensed that her left hand had

7

sprouted five fingers. Irene’s sweat had absorbed the moist plaster and had caused her left hand

to return to its original condition, and she continued to imbed her fingernails into the carpet to

ensure that her torso was not sucked beneath the spinning wall plaster. The wind of the whistling

wall produced shrill screams and hisses as Irene wildly thrashed her hands back and forth, and

Irene clawed her fingers across the carpet bristles until blood trickled from her cracked

fingernails. Irene forced her head through the air so that the sweat from her forehead could reach

her cold legs and the additional portions of her body that remained buried beneath the

transforming plaster. The wall plaster that resembled hardened cement on Irene’s skin was

liquefied by the perspiration from her forehead, and the dripping plaster became comparable to

wet mud that rolled down her body and dangled from the hairs on her skin. The sweat slowly

washed away the plaster and caused her solidified body to return to human flesh, and Irene

screamed to express her misery as she mustered the strength necessary to roll from her bruised

stomach to her back. Although the segment of her body from her waist to her feet remained

absorbed into the corkscrew of plaster, she lifted her shoulder blades from the bloody carpet and

retracted her head to peer into the center of the wall. Aches pierced through Irene’s neck as she

raised her head in an attempt to moisten the rest of her solidified body with perspiration. The

cold tingling of the plaster that had hardened on her body caused her muscles to shake and

spasm, and the transforming wall remained the only visible object in Irene’s limited vision as she

stared into the funnel of the spinning vortex.

The hissing wind that the wall emitted forced Irene’s scarred back to slide across the

floor, and her broken fingernails no longer could secure her distance from the wall that hauled

her body toward the spinning plaster. She retracted her neck and glared at the plaster that

continued to absorb her body, and her chin was violently wrenched into the center of the plaster

by the sucking of the wall. Irene forcefully pulled back her head and nearly snapped her neck as

the cold plaster solidified onto her lips and cheeks. She choked on the infection of stony plaster

that slithered across her lips, and although she was tempted to punch the swirling vortex of the

wall, she quickly recalled that the plaster would simply consume her fist. The sweat that dripped

from Irene’s forehead cooled the plaster infection that soaked into her lips, but the sweat could

not prevent the stony infection from extending across her swollen cheeks until it reached her

hair. The brown hairs on Irene’s head turned white as they hardened into plaster bristles that

were snapped into pieces by the vigorous breeze of the wall. The stony infection attempted to

8

pry open Irene’s swollen lips to invade her mouth, and as she gasped for oxygen, her sweat

intensified to cause the solidified plaster on her face to resemble wet mud.

A rumble that could be heard behind Irene simply amplified her anxieties. A small

television set was vibrating on a desk behind the panicked Irene, and the television levitated from

the desk and soared through the air toward Irene’s skull. She recalled that her left hand was

unshackled from the swirling plaster as her shifting eyeballs were forced to stare directly at the

mysterious geometric design that had caused the square wall to become visible. She yanked her

heavy left hand from the carpet floor and exhausted all her remaining strength simply to dip her

hand into the moist plaster until it solidified and was submerged beneath the center of the wall.

Irene’s fatigued left hand slowly glided across the geometric design in the spinning plaster and

smeared the pencil until the shape had been completely blurred. Irene’s left hand, right shoulder,

waist, legs, and chin had blended into the wall plaster, but when the geometric design became

smudged, Irene’s entire body was instantly unshackled from the wall. Her solidified body

transformed into human flesh before she pulled her legs from beneath the plaster and crawled

away from the square wall. The whistle of the wind dissipated because the square wall had

returned to its previous state of lifelessness, and Irene lowered her head to duck as the levitating

television set soared in her direction. When the whistling television set crashed into the wall, the

television penetrated the plaster and was connected to the blurred geometric shape on the wall.

Irene was lying in an unconscious state on the floor, and the smudged geometric shape glowed in

the darkness to transport her from the bedroom setting. When she awakened from her

unconscious state, she opened her eyes and gasped for oxygen as her lungs were filled with

water. Irene realized that she was sinking through a bottomless sea with hundreds of other

swimmers. She could physically observe the aquatic setting of sparkling blue water that flooded

into her eyes and dampened her clothing, but she was alarmed by the sight of the human bodies

that swam in a circle around her. Irene tilted her head upward and scanned the surrounding

bodies as the immense pressure of the water weighed her further into the abyss. During her

desperate gasps for oxygen, she realized that the human bodies were swimming upward to reach

a glistening hook that had been plunged into the water.

The human bodies who intensely paddled toward the enormous hook resembled fish that

were enticed by the bait of a fisherman’s pole. When the humans clasped the sharp hook tip, the

long fisherman’s pole methodically dragged the hook through the bubbling water and lifted the

9

bodies to the surface. The disoriented Irene slammed the water with her paddling hands in an

effort to reach the hook that was lifting human bodies from the sea of impending death.

Although her mouth remained closed, her gaping eyes were clouded by the water that she

observed for the first time, and she realized that she would never be able to reach the elusive

hook because the waves continued to pelt her face. The beaming sunlight glistened on the

fisherman’s pole, and Irene ineffectively pushed against the current to reach the fisherman who

tempted her with freedom. She screamed for the hook to lower so that she could escape from the

bubbling whirlpool, and her arms violently thrashed back and forth in a frantic struggle to grasp

the hook that taunted her. Her eyes closed after the bubbling water aggravated her newly

acquired vision, and when she opened her eyes, she returned to the setting in the guest bedroom

of Laurence’s home.

Irene’s clothing was drenched in the water of her previous experience as she crawled

across the bedroom floor, and after she pulled herself to her feet, she rotated around the room to

scan her surroundings. She had returned to the miserable darkness of her mind because she

could no longer physically see any objects in the room. As her pupils shifted from side to side,

she discovered that she could not see the wall or the smeared geometric shape that had

previously caused the wall to become visible. She was terrified by her confusing experiences,

and her eyes adjusted to the restored darkness as the water that dampened her clothing trickled

onto the floor. The ethereal voices returned and continued their transmission from Koldewey’s

CD into Irene’s mind. The resounding music that traveled from the headphones into Irene’s ear

conquered her judgment and forced her to retrieve the pencil on the floor. During the journey

through mental darkness, her extended fingertips glided across the coarse walls until she entered

the bathroom. The haunting voices commanded the hypnotized Irene to approach the toilet that

her eyes could not physically detect. Irene’s knee violently contracted after striking the toilet

edge, and she collapsed to her knees after being influenced by the chanting voices that flowed

from Koldewey’s CD. Irene clasped the pencil between her shaking fingers, kneeled at the toilet,

and positioned her chin on the cold surface of the circular seat. The pencil slashed across the

toilet seat in several forceful motions to emphasize Irene’s hypnotic condition, and although the

pencil tip could not fashion any permanent marks into the granite toilet, Irene etched the

geometric design on the seat. Her chin rested on the cold seat as her mind resisted the

overwhelming influence of the voices on Koldewey’s CD. She opened her mouth to exhale the

10

oxygen that had amassed in her throat, and she surrendered to the voices that gathered inside her

mind. Her eyes darted downward across the dark spectrum until she discovered that she was

able to see the circular toilet seat and the same seven-sided geometric design that had caused the

wall to become visible. The appalled Irene quickly removed her chin from the frigid surface of

the toilet, and her darting eyes were transfixed by the circular toilet seat that emitted the only

source of visible light. The light of the toilet seat shined through the darkness that obscured her

vision, and her eyelids refused to blink because they were locked on the only visible object in her

sight. Irene experienced tremendous joy after she regained her ability to view another physical

object. The white toilet seat mysteriously displayed a gray shade as Irene cherished the rare

opportunity to examine her surroundings. The floorboard vibrated during Irene’s celebration of

momentary sight, and she nearly tumbled to the unforgiving bathroom tiles as a piercing drone

forced her to shield her ears with her hands. The horrifying voices continued their chants and

alerted Irene that the shriek had ceased when they drowned out the puzzling sound. Irene

directed her eyes to the circular toilet seat and to the seven-sided geometric shape that had

provided the blind woman with her fleeting lucidity.

Her weary eyes closed as they painstakingly focused on the toilet seat that illuminated the

darkness. She smiled with a wide grin that extended across her cheeks because the confusing fog

gradually was being lifted from her visual spectrum. The seven-sided geometric design became

clearly visible on the center of the toilet seat, and Irene placed her palm on the glowing design in

an attempt to understand its significance. When she glided her fingers across the triangular

segment of the seven-sided shape, she inadvertently smeared the design with the sweat that

dripped from her fingers. Her eyes remained closed as she scanned the geometric shape, and her

momentary contentment was conquered by the astonishment that she experienced after she

opened her eyes. She suddenly became icy cold as her body merged with the circular toilet seat

on which she had sketched the seven-sided geometric shape.

A stony formation slowly slithered from Irene’s feet to her head, and after she had

completely transformed from human flesh into stone, the weight of her body became so heavy

that she collapsed backwards through the bathroom wall. Her stony body fashioned an enormous

dent in the bathroom wall, and she exhausted all her strength to rise from the dusty carpet of the

guest bedroom. The falling plaster fragments of the demolished wall invaded the carpet bristles,

and Irene struggled simply to lift her heavy feet as she walked through the gaping wall dent to

11

return to the bathroom. She flailed her rocky arms wildly to maintain her precious upright

balance, and after the tremendous weight became overwhelming again, she collapsed backwards

to the bathroom floor. Her stony body imprinted the image of a human contour into the floor,

and she rested among the wreckage that her body’s merger with the circular toilet seat had

produced. Despite the rocky crust that covered the outer coating of her eyes, she mustered the

strength to slam down the shades of her eyelashes. When she opened her eyes, she discovered

that her stony body had disappeared after being replaced by crusty human flesh, and she had

been transported to a garden of beautiful roses and wheat stalks. In her terror, she feverishly

maneuvered her hands across her body to ensure that the stony formation had completely

disappeared. Her unwavering sense of smell was invigorated by the fragrance of the soil in

which the roses were flourishing, but the incessant chants of the voices in the music were no

longer pestering her mind. The circular toilet seat that Irene had once cherished was replaced by

the breathtaking scenery of the field. She gingerly walked through the grass and stepped over

the scattered tree branches that hindered her progression. The gigantic hook that was suspended

above her in the previous experience had disappeared. The glistening sunlight soaked into her

brown skin as her shifting eyes concluded that the grassy field extended for miles in limitless

directions. Irene pushed through the high grass and the wheat stalks that swayed back and forth

in the gentle breeze, and the blind woman was enchanted by the natural beauty that she was

embracing for the first time. She opened her mouth and indulged all her senses by inhaling the

sounds, smells, and sights in the field, but she quickly became disheartened when she concluded

that the vast field contained absolutely no other human lives. After she satisfied her senses, her

hands frantically pushed through the wheat stalks, but the stalks resembled razors that pierced

Irene’s arms as her sprint continued. When Irene shoved the wheat stalks with her bruised

palms, the stalks retaliated by bouncing from the ground to smack her across the face. The

swaying wheat stalks knocked Irene from her feet, and she buried her face in the gritty soil

before she clutched a prickly stalk and pulled herself to a standing position. Her eyes peered

through the labyrinth of overlapping wheat stalks as detached bristles were scattered by the

breeze.

A line of humans somehow materialized in the windy field of wheat stalks, and when

Irene screamed at the expressionless humans in an attempt to understand her situation, the bodies

remained motionless with their backs facing her. She interlocked her fingers across the shoulder

12

of an unresponsive human who stood in the line, and after she rotated the human to face her, the

human frightened her with his grotesque complexion. The flesh was peeling from the

individual’s cheekbones and was sliding down his face toward his decaying throat, and Irene

immediately turned away from the horror and charged in the opposite direction through the field.

The corn stalks hindered her frantic sprint until she reached a sandy desert that mysteriously

appeared at the end of the field. Several buzzards circled in the misty sky directly above Irene

while her dried tongue and perspiring flesh indicated that she was enduring a humid climate.

She climbed down the rocky terrain and approached an oasis, and the sunlight caused her to

squint as she leaned down to glare at her reflected complexion on the water surface. The

reflection in the water displayed the chubby face of an infant that transformed into a wrinkled old

man with gray, stringy hair. She retracted her head from the disturbing imagery and fluttered her

hands back and forth to regain her balance on the slippery surface of sand. A tornado of

spinning sand and dust launched several grains that were pushed through the air into Irene’s

eyes. When she slammed down her eyelids in response to the unpleasant infection, she returned

to the darkness of the bathroom from which she had been transported. She emerged from the

massive human imprint that previously had been sculpted into the tiles of the bathroom floor.

Her inquisitive fingertips slithered along the bathroom floor and searched for the circular toilet

seat that had once empowered Irene’s feeble spirit. When the fingertips were stung by the cold

tingle of the toilet, the surge of electric impulses informed Irene that she had discovered the toilet

in the darkness. The object was no longer visible after the geometric shape had been smudged,

so Irene remained alone inside the confines of her mind until Koldewey’s CD reactivated its

transmission of the voices into her ringing eardrum.

She removed the pencil from the floor during her readjustment to the darkness that

flooded her visual spectrum, and the brilliant field flashed through her mind to provide her with

the encouragement that she needed to continue. She positioned her palms on the bathroom

counter and exerted the force that allowed her to pull up from the floor. She wandered from the

bathroom into a sea of darkness as the voices in the music continued. Irene considered that she

was insane because the rambling voices provided her with commands that she believed were

completely coherent. In a state of confusion, she walked from the bathroom entrance and quietly

approached the lamp that rested on the table next to the guest bed. She returned to the darkness

that had defined her existence for so long, and the persuasive voices instructed her to etch the

13

seven-sided geometric design into the lampshade that covered an incandescent light bulb. Irene

followed the instructions of the eerie voices, and she dragged her pencil across the coarse fabric

of the lampshade. While the ticking of a distant clock stimulated her sense of hearing, she

continued to slash across the lamp base in various directions until the seven-sided design was

completed. The straight lines that Irene had formed curved into the complex design of the

mystical shape, and the lamp became the only physical object that Irene could identify in her

limited visual scope. Although the lampshade was blue, the fabric appeared white through

Irene’s eyes, and the slight warmth of the lamp suddenly transformed into intense heat that

soaked her skin with profuse sweat. The geometric shape that she had drawn on the lampshade

caused her body to merge with the light bulb, and she resembled a human flashlight when her

skin glowed with the same incandescent light that was emitted by the visible lamp.

She literally became a source of light in the darkness, and she stridently screamed as her

skin burned from the intense heat inside her body. Although her skin was glowing, her eyesight

remained limited and could identify only the lamp on the table, but she was unable to focus on

her vision because the extreme temperature was overwhelming. She nearly collapsed over the

imprint in the floor as she charged toward the bathroom, and her tingling fingertips identified the

smooth surface of the sink after her knee banged into the cabinet beneath the sink. Her shaking

hands turned the handle of the faucet to release water that could possibly alleviate the burning

sensation, and a cold stream of water gushed from the faucet onto her charred fingertips. She

was connected to the light bulb that was powered by an electric outlet, so when the water reached

her skin, sparks of electricity flashed in several directions from her body. She plummeted

backwards to the marble floor in an unconscious state, and the geometric shape on the lampshade

glowed to stimulate her tortured mind to experience another vision.

The lamp blended into the darkness when the unconscious Irene was transported from the

bathroom in Laurence’s bedroom to the acrid forest. In her new setting, Irene lifted her head to

glare at the crescent moon in the misty night sky. She pushed through the gnarled tree branches

and was greeted by mosquitoes that landed on her arm. Several flies buzzed around her head as

she stepped over the tree branches in the grassy underbrush. After she pushed through a thicket,

she reached a camp site as sweat rolled down her cheeks. An old man with a gray beard was

seated on a log, and he watched his glowing campfire as his attentive wife sat beside him. The

old man turned his head and recognized Irene when she emerged from the branches, and he

14

motioned for her to join him and his wife at the campfire. Irene yearned to communicate with

the old man as she cautiously approached the campfire, but she could not unfasten her lips and

remained silent. The old man continued to wave his hand while his wife naively smiled, but

Irene somehow feared the campfire that was becoming larger as it sparkled and crackled. The

intense flames lead the old man to retrieve two sticks from the dirt, and he vigorously rubbed two

sticks together above the rising flames. The rubbing sticks ignited the flames around which the

old man and his wife were gathered, and while the flames escalated higher, the old man realized

that he could no longer control the flames. He fiercely stroked the sticks together and shifted his

glance back to Irene so that he could encourage her to join him around the campfire. The old

man struggled to contain the flame by rubbing the sticks together. His wife screamed

hysterically for Irene to provide her husband with necessary aid to control the blaze. The old

man yielded to the untamed flame that he simply could not subjugate, and he lunged into the

flame as Irene oversaw the mysterious event. The old man bawled in agony as his flesh burned

in the flames that he somehow had intensified by rubbing two sticks together. His wife simply

stared in horror as her screaming husband rolled through the flames. The sight of charred flesh

disturbed Irene, who maintained her distance from the charred man, and the expanding flames

swept upward through the night sky. The flames exploded and hurled debris that caused Irene to

soar backwards into a tree. Her head violently collided into the tree trunk, and after her limp

body slid down the tree bark into the mucky dirt, she returned from her vision to the icy floor of

the bathroom. The burning sensation that was produced when her body merged with the light

bulb had ceased, and she crawled across the bathroom floor until she reached the carpet.

At ten o’clock at night, Laurence Jonker drove into the driveway of his home and was

unaware of the events that occurred after Irene had exposed herself to the hypnotic voices on

Koldewey’s CD. Laurence carried two groceries bags from his car and approached the front

door, but a shadowy presence loomed behind Laurence and smashed him over the head with a

baseball bat. The figure emerged from the murky curtain and revealed that he was Stephen

Koldewey, who had arrived to ensure that Irene would be influenced by the voices on his

mysterious CD. After Laurence collapsed to the concrete of his garage in an unconscious state,

Koldewey retrieved Laurence’s keys and dragged his limp body inside the home to determine

whether Irene had exposed herself to the voices. Koldewey placed the unconscious Laurence

across his left shoulder and lugged him to the guest bedroom where he discovered that Irene was

15

sprawled across the floor. Koldewey placed Laurence in a seated position on the carpet and

concluded that Irene had been exposed to the voices because the square television set had dented

the plaster wall. Irene slowly was dragging her legs across the carpet floor of Laurence’s guest

bedroom, and because her blindness was restored, she detected her surroundings by examining

the carpet bristles with her outstretched fingertips. She could not determine whether her

previous experiences were hallucinations, but the potential pain that Irene should have

experienced no longer existed in the darkness of the guest bedroom.

Irene crawled to a table and pulled herself to a standing position before she became

alarmed by the commotion of heavy breathing. Irene immediately recognized the hoarse voice

of Stephen Koldewey when he declared, “Thank you, Irene. You have cleaned the sinful stain of

human existence. You have unlocked the power of the Septraveck.”

Irene’s eyes shifted from side to side in an attempt to locate Koldewey in the darkness.

She responded to Koldewey’s puzzling statement by screaming, “What are you doing here?

What have you done to me, Mr. Koldewey? What’s going on?”

Koldewey had connected Irene’s brain to the Septraveck, which was one of the musical

instruments that God’s musicians known as the Allegros had played to project the once perfect

universe into existence at the beginning of time. The universe initially thrived as the Allegros’

harmonious song in which humans functioned as its musical notes, but God instructed one of the

Allegros named Srele to introduce free will to the human race. Free will allowed humans to

commit sins that tarnished perfection and that converted the universe from an immaculate song

into an unbalanced universal equation in which humans existed as weak variables. Koldewey

now hoped to restructure the universe by establishing Irene’s psychic connection to the

Septraveck instrument. Her blindness enhanced her other senses and invigorated her with the

powerful emotions that were required to play the Septraveck. Koldewey was convinced that

Irene could restore perfection to the broken world by playing the original song that the Allegros

had performed to project the once perfect universe into existence. He was optimistic that he

could eradicate sins and illnesses by forcing Irene to play the Septraveck with her intense

emotions to transform humans from variables in an unstable equation back into perfect musical

notes in a melodious song. He imagined that humans could exist as immortal beings who would

never die and who would never be subjected to God’s divine judgment in the afterlife. His work

with a mysterious computer company known as the Mechanist group and his own diagnosis with

16

terminal cancer had prompted him to stalk Irene in the Virginia Home for the Blind and to

connect her to the Septraveck. Koldewey considered that he could be defying God’s will by

seeking to restore perfection, but he concluded that he possessed boundless free will that God

would not restrict. Koldewey viewed the seven-sided Septraveck as a numinous shape that was

comparable to the Image of Edessa, which was a square cloth that Jesus Christ sent to King

Abgar V of Edessa to heal him of leprosy. In The Book of Deuteronomy, symbolic coins known

as the Urim and Thummim were used by oracles to predict the future and to separate sinners

from righteous individuals, and the Septraveck symbol could erase the sins that caused illnesses

and could restore perfection to the broken world. Irene had drawn the Septraveck on the wall,

and in The Book of Daniel, a disembodied hand etched the words “MENE, MENE, TEKEL,

UPHARSIN” on the temple wall of the Babylonian King Belshazzar to warn that the Babylonian

Empire would collapse for persecuting Israel. Koldewey was convinced that the Septraveck

shapes on the wall possessed the same divine power as the prophetic words on the wall in The

Book of Daniel. The square, the triangle, and the circle, which comprised the seven-sided

Septraveck shape, stimulated Irene to experience divine visions. Koldewey believed that her

visions were comparable to the eight visions of horses, flying scrolls, and a golden lamp that the

Prophet Zechariah perceived to demonstrate God’s love and judgment for Israel.

While Irene sought to focus her eyes on any objects in the darkness, Koldewey

considered that she had become comparable to the Biblical Jewish Prophet Esther because she

protected her people from being exterminated by the Persian King Ahasuerus just as Irene could

now cease human suffering. Koldewey quoted a verse from T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Love Song

of J. Alfred Prufrock” to explain his unlimited free will to restore perfection to the broken world,

underscored the power of shapes, and compared Irene to Esther when he muttered, “Do I dare

disturb the universe, Irene? In a minute, there is time, for decisions and revisions, which a

minute will reverse. The answer is, ‘Yes.’ I used to ask myself a lot of questions. Who am I to

change the world? Who am I to try to rescue humanity from drowning in this cesspool of sin?

Who am I to save them from God’s unfair judgment? Then, I realized that I had unlimited free

will to do whatever I wanted. I have the free will to change the world; I can control the

mechanics and mechanisms of this mortal coil and turn the sufferers’ screams into songs. I have

the free will to end free will, and it all begins with you. In the Bible, a disembodied hand drew

the words ‘MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN’ on the wall in the temple of the Babylonian

17

King Belshazzar. Daniel interpreted the writing on the wall to mean that the Babylonian Empire

would fall, and it did. In a dream, God showed Daniel a ram and a goat that the Angel Gabriel

interpreted as a sign of the Apocalypse. Those words on the wall had meaning from God, and

those shapes on the wall have the same meaning. They’re a symbol of God’s perfection; they’re

a symbol of the end, just like the ram and the goat. God protected Daniel from the lions in the

Lions’ Den, and now, He’s protected you. Those shapes probably gave you visions, too. God

gave Zechariah eight visions to show God’s love and His judgment for Israel. Zechariah saw

flying scrolls and four chariots. I can’t wait to find out what you saw through those shapes on

the wall. Those shapes on the wall are powerful. The Image of Edessa was a square cloth that

bears the Holy Face of Genoa; Jesus used it to cure King Abgar V of leprosy. The Septraveck

shape is just as powerful; it’s shown you the end. Now, you’ve seen the end of days in this

Laodicean Age of Apostasy. You’re my prophet, Irene, and you’re going to help me change the

world. In The Book of Esther, Hadassah became Esther and saved her Jewish people from being

killed by the Persian King Ahasuerus. Now, Irene, you’re just like Esther; you’ve got to save the

human race from drowning in this cesspool of sin. We can’t be silent about this pain anymore;

we’ve got to use the Septraveck’s music to bring people deliverance from their pain.”

When Irene choked out, “What are you talking about?,” Koldewey recalled that

according to The Book of Genesis, God had banished Adam and Eve from the perfect Garden of

Eden for committing the original sin of eating fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. God informed

Adam and Eve that they would eventually perish and return to the dust that formed them, and

God commissioned a Cherub to use a Flaming Sword to prevent Adam and Eve from reentering

the perfect garden. The Flaming Sword of Eden blocked humans from regaining their perfect

Paradise, and Koldewey insisted that he did not even require the Cherub’s mystical Flaming

Sword of Eden to restore perfection to the broken world. He paraphrased words from The Book

of Ezekiel about human iniquity and quoted a verse from The Book of Genesis when he

answered, “Just listen to me, Irene. Our sins corrupted Paradise. God cursed the ground and

infused the world with sins. We lost the seal of perfection when we were filled with violence,

and we were cast as profane from the mountain of God. Now, we are like dross to Him; we

drink iniquity like water. We are but dust and ashes, but we don’t have to feel ‘the sting of

death’ anymore. We can be eternal, sacred and imperishable. After God banished Adam and

Eve from the Garden of Eden, He put a Cherub with a Flaming Sword at the gates of perfection.

18

It is written: ‘So He drove the man out, and at the east of the Garden of Eden, He stationed the

Cherub and the Flaming Sword, which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of

life.’ The Flaming Sword of Eden kept humans from returning to perfection, but now, I’ve

found the key to unlocking perfection. The key to perfection is in the Septraveck shape. I don’t

need the Flaming Sword of Eden to save us from drowning in this cesspool of sin; the

Septraveck is all that we need to return to Paradise. The Septraveck is the Flaming Sword of

Eden; it is the key to everything.”

Irene inquired about Koldewey’s yearning to restore perfection to the broken world by

retorting, “What do you mean? What did you do to me?”

Koldewey quoted a Biblical verse from 1 Corinthians to explicate his yearning to return

the world to the perfect Paradise that was promised only in Heaven, and he condemned God for

apparently reneging on His promises by replying, “It’s simple; it’s a matter of vision. You’ve

always seen the world in darkness, Irene, but the rest of us have been seeing the world in a

cloudy mirror. 1 Corinthians says, ‘Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but

then, we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete,

but then, I will know everything completely, just as God knows me completely.’ I want to see

this world clearly and completely through God’s eyes; I can’t wait any longer. He promised that

even though people are wasting away, they would be renewed day by day, but He hasn’t renewed

His people. He’s forsaken His promise to prosper His people and to give them hope and a future.

He’s letting us waste away and drown in a cesspool of sin, so I’ve got to make sure that we learn

to see the world through His eyes. The Septraveck will let me see this broken world through His

perfect eyes.”

Irene had been granted only a few moments of sight because the Septraveck shape erased

her blindness and allowed her to perceive the “cloudy mirror” through which other humans

allegedly viewed their fleeting physical surroundings. She was so flustered by Koldewey’s

aspiration to view the world through God’s eternal eyes that she could only ask, “What’s a

Septraveck?”

Koldewey compared the Septraveck to Gideon’s magical trumpets that defeated the

Midianites, the shouts that Joshua used to destroy the Walls of Jericho, and David’s magical harp

that exorcised Saul’s demons and that celebrated the Israelites’ conquest of the Philistines. He

believed that the Septraveck was more powerful than these other divine musical instruments,

19

including King David’s harp that accompanied his one hundred and fifty Psalms and that

enhanced his “Song of Deliverance” in which he pleaded for God’s comfort and mercy.

Koldewey maintained that the seven-sided Septraveck shape was essential to the restoration of

perfection and the end of sins during the Apocalypse when he rasped, “The Septraveck is

everything. The Flaming Sword of Eden doesn’t need to be removed for us to return to

perfection. All that you have to do is play the Septraveck instrument. It’s not just an image, it’s

not just words on a wall, it’s not just a square shape like the Image of Edessa. I used to think that

it was just another false idol, like Micah’s Idol or the ones that the Israelites built to Baal, but it’s

not. It’s not an idol that affronts Jacob’s Twelve Tribes of Israel. The Septraveck is a musical

instrument, but it’s more than that. It’s greater than the harp that David played to exorcise evil

spirits from King Saul. It’s greater than the magical trumpets that Gideon and the Israelite

priests used to shatter the clay jars against the Midianites or the trumpets and the shouts that

Joshua used to bring down the Walls of Jericho. It’s a shape and a musical instrument that will

lead us back to perfection before the Fall. The Book of Revelation says that seven angels will

play seven trumpets to create plagues that will wipe out one-third of humanity. 144,000 people

will be spared from God’s judgment because they’re faithful descendants of the Twelve Tribes of

Israel. It is written: ‘Then, I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and

with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father

written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from Heaven, like the sound of many waters and

like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice, which I heard, was like the sound of harpists

playing on their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne, and before the four living

creatures and the elders, and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four

thousand who had been purchased from the earth.’ The 144,000 people will sing a new song that

will bring an end to human suffering, and that new song is the Septraveck’s music. Now that we

have the Septraveck, we have the key to restore perfection to the broken world to end all human

misery.”

Koldewey’s seemingly incoherent references to the Flaming Sword of Eden, the Image of

Edessa, Micah’s Idol, King David’s harp, and the seven Apocalyptic trumpets only intensified

Irene’s confusion about the significance of the Septraveck, and she asserted, “I don’t understand.

Are you talking about ending the world with music?”

20

Koldewey reevaluated his approach to defining the function of the Septraveck musical

instrument that could restore perfection, and as Irene glared at him with her shifting pupils, he

sensed that he needed to convince her that he was using the Septraveck for just reasons. He truly

believed that during the Apocalypse, 144,000 chosen people would perform a song that the

Septraveck’s music would accentuate, and he hoped that the angelic song and the Septraveck’s

music would eliminate human suffering from the earth. He recalled that Israelite King Solomon

composed over one thousand songs to praise God and that the Levites played lyres, cymbals,

harps, trumpets, and other musical instruments to celebrate the transportation of the Ark of the

Covenant and to dedicate Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. Even after Babylonian King

Nebuchadnezzar forced the Israelites into the Babylonian Exile in 586 BC for seventy years, the

Babylonians commanded the Israelites to perform the Psalms and The Book of Lamentations’

songs that encapsulated the characteristics of Zion. When the Prophet Ezra guided the 1,500

Israelites from the Babylonian Exile and Nehemiah oversaw the rebuilding of the walls in

Jerusalem, the Levite musicians praised God’s grace and were not forced to pay taxes. However,

although Joshua, Gideon, King David, and Hezekiah played music to honor God, many idolaters,

under the Hebrew leader Moses, sang and danced to worship a Golden Calf, and the prophets

Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Amos warned the Israelites that God would punish them for their idolatrous

music. After the reign of King Solomon concluded, Rehoboam ascended to the throne, but

civilian opposition resulted in Jeroboam’s replacing Rehoboam. Jeroboam constantly battled

against the armies of Judah and against Rehoboam’s son Abijah, and after Jeroboam’s death,

Josiah governed for thirty-one years and banned many variations of idolatrous music. As

Koldewey contemplated both the pious and blasphemous uses of Biblical music, he also recalled

“The Song of Moses” that Moses and the Prophet Miriam sang to commemorate the defeat of the

Egyptians and “The Song of Deborah and Barak” that Barak and Deborah performed to celebrate

their victory over the armies of Sisera. After Koldewey’s mental analysis of Biblical music and

its righteous and idolatrous functions, he decided that the most powerful account of divine music

was located in The Book of Acts’ Sixteenth Chapter. In the book, St. Paul and Silas were

exorcising spirits and were preaching in Antioch and Philippi until magistrates incarcerated

them, and Paul and Silas sang hymns that generated an earthquake, which loosened the chains

that restrained Paul and Silas.

21

Koldewey explained the different uses of music in the Bible and sought to persuade Irene

that he was a pious individual when he declared, “Yes, Irene, I’m talking about the end of human

misery with music. In the Bible, idolaters played music to worship Baal and their other false

idols, and other Israelites used music to praise God and to dedicate Solomon’s Temple in

Jerusalem. Even King Jehoshaphat led a choir of Levite musicians with trumpets, harps, and

lutes into battle against the Ammonites and the Moabites, and Isaiah and Jeremiah said that after

the Israelites stopped their idolatry, they would take their tambourines and sing to God to beg for

His mercy. Music is very powerful to the faithful and the blasphemers, but I’m among the

faithful. St. Paul and Silas sang hymns that were so powerful that they caused an earthquake.

Moses said that the Lord was his strength and his song. David said that God would surround His

people with songs of deliverance. Even when Habakkuk didn’t understand why God was letting

the Babylonians punish the Israelites, he still said that God was his chief singer on his stringed

instruments. The songs said that God’s name was above all other names and that every tongue

would confess and use breath to praise Him. I’ve tried to rejoice and raise my voice like a

trumpet to sing to the Lord to show that He’s worthy of praise and glory for His righteous acts.

Now, I’ve found my way to do that. The Septraveck will play a song that will bring an end to all

human suffering and restore perfection to the broken world. I’m trying to do His will, and the

Septraveck is His will.”

Koldewey’s professions that the Septraveck’s supernatural music would satisfy God’s

will for faithful individuals prompted Irene to question her brief moments of sight and the seven-

sided Septraveck shape by answering, “I don’t understand. What did you make me draw all over

this house? How could you make me see?”

Koldewey referred to the conversion of the murderer Saul to the Apostle St. Paul to

explain that God once believed that human blindness and other weaknesses represented His own

skewed concept of perfection when he answered, “I used the Septraveck to help you see, Irene.

God’s idea of perfection used to be for you to be blind and broken. God actually blinded Saul

for three days to turn him from a wicked murderer into His humble servant St. Paul. The

Romans imprisoned Paul, whipped him, stoned him, and eventually beheaded him. Paul died for

God, and when Paul suffered, God wouldn’t even comfort him. When Paul asked God to allay

his pain, God said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’

Human suffering and weaknesses used to be part of God’s idea of perfection. It used to be His

22

good, pleasant, and perfect will to show His works through people who were blind and lame, but

His will has changed. God wanted Paul to be blind for three days to make perfection out of his

weaknesses, but that’s not what He wants for you. He wants you to cure your blindness to create

real perfection and to save us from drowning in this cesspool of sin. He’s given us the free will

to use the Septraveck’s divine music to restore perfection, and that’s what we’re going to do.

The joy of the Lord is our strength, and playing the Septraveck is His will.”

Irene recalled that in The Book of John’s Ninth Chapter, Jesus Christ revealed that

although human sins caused individuals to be born blind, God used human weaknesses so that

“the works of God might be displayed” through His blind and lame followers, so Jesus spit in the

eyes of Bartimaeus and other blind men to grant them sight for God’s glory. However, Irene still

wondered why Koldewey believed that God had once viewed weaknesses as part of His idea of

perfection, and she pleaded for explanations when she rasped, “Wait, just tell me what’s going

on. I don’t understand what you mean, Mr. Koldewey.”

Irene’s confusion slightly miffed Koldewey, and he insisted that God had infused her

with blindness to punish humanity for its disobedience and addressed the origins of her

momentary vision from the seven-sided Septraveck shape when he responded, “How hard is it

for you to understand, Irene? I’ve opened your closed eyes; I’ve shown you the way to real

perfection. I knew that you would listen to the music I gave you. You just couldn’t resist. The

voices in the music have stopped because you followed their instructions. I’ve heard those

voices in my head for my entire life. I recorded the voices on that CD when they came to me.

The voices are those of the Allegros, God’s musicians who played the instruments that created

the world. The Allegros are the ultimate Cherub. Now, they’re holding the Flaming Sword of

Eden; they’ve got the key to restoring perfection. They wanted me to rebuild the instruments,

and I needed your help. The Allegros made you draw that geometric shape with seven sides.

That’s what the Septraveck is; it’s the shape of the main instrument that played the world into

existence. The Allegros played the Septraveck in the beginning, and the universe was a song in

which humans were its notes. The world was perfect, but man infected it with sins and ruined

the perfect song that the Septraveck had made. We can restore perfection, Irene. You unlocked

the Septraveck’s power to create perfection. Your blindness and all sickness exist because of

human sin and disobedience against God’s laws. Moses’ laws in Deuteronomy 28 say that if you

disobey God’s covenant and His word, He ‘will afflict you with madness, blindness, and

23

confusion of mind.’ You’re blind because we’ve broken His laws, but the Septraveck gave you

sight because it erased the sin that caused your blindness. The Septraveck is just a musical

instrument that once gave perfection to the world. Now, just calm down, and tell me what

happened with the voices.”

In the dark room, Irene began to describe the three visions that the three shapes had

triggered in her mind when she declared, “Those voices made me draw the seven-sided shape on

the wall, the toilet seat, and a lamp. I saw these things for a minute, but the shape lost its power

really quickly. I guess the shapes got smeared. I drew the shape on the wall, and I thought that I

was being pulled into it. My hands were so cold. After that, I heard a loud crash because

something was pulled into the wall. Then, the visions started. My clothes are wet for a reason.

The visions had to be real. I was underwater, and I saw a circle of swimmers who were going

toward a big fisherman’s hook.”

With a hesitation, Koldewey revealed that the Septraveck had erased the sin that caused

Irene’s blindness to imbue her with sight for the first time in her life. The Septraveck was a

mystical musical instrument that had played the perfect universe into reality before humans used

their free will to commit sins that resulted in the loss of perfection, so the Septraveck could use

perfection to erase the sins that caused Irene’s blindness and other sicknesses for humans.

Koldewey indicated that the Septraveck cured Irene of her blindness by erasing the human sin

that caused her illness when he replied, “You made a connection with the Septraveck when you

drew it to erase the human sin that caused your blindness. The Septraveck is a musical

instrument that creates perfection. It’s formed by drawing a square, a circle, and a triangle

together in a seven-sided shape. The Allegros have used you to build the Septraveck instrument

so that we can restore perfection. The Allegros told you to draw the shape on the wall because

the wall is a square, the first shape that creates the Septraveck. The Septraveck unlocked the true

potential of the square when you drew it on the wall. The square represents the relationship of

humans with divinity. You must have seen a vision of God as a fisherman Who offered salvation

to the hopeless sea of humanity. You saw humans who were drowning in their sins, and I know

that the humans were swimming toward God’s hook to be saved from their pain. The Septraveck

that you drew pulled the television into the square wall because the television is another square

object. The Septraveck unlocked the power of the square and attracted all the square objects to

it.”

24

Irene’s eyes darted through the darkness in an unsuccessful effort to regain her fleeting

vision and to locate Koldewey, but when her eyes could not focus on him, she readjusted to her

miserable handicap. She continued, “Then, the voices forced me to draw the shape on a toilet

seat. I had another vision after the shape got smeared. I was in a field where I saw a line of

people. Their faces were falling apart, so I ran. I ran to a desert, and I saw my reflection for the

first time. I think it was my reflection. It looked like a baby that melted away into an old man.”

Koldewey responded, “The Allegros forced you to draw the Septraveck on the toilet seat

because the seat is a circle, the second shape in the Septraveck. The circle represents patterns in

the universe and the repetition of life and death among humans. The humans in the line were

decaying to show that all humans will eventually die, but dead humans will be replaced in the

repeating cycle of life and death. The men in line were waiting to accept judgment after their

deaths. You said that you saw a baby that turned into an old man when you looked at your

reflection. The reflection shows that the human race will continue because old men who die will

be replaced by newborn babies. Plants and animals all will follow the repeating cycle of nature,

and everything that disappears will reappear as something else.”

Irene was disturbed by the uncomfortable silence that followed Koldewey’s faulty

explanations, but her blindness prevented her from observing Koldewey’s facial expressions so

that she could determine whether he was sincere. She breached the silence by declaring,

“I woke up, and those voices made me draw the shape one more time. I drew the shape on a

lamp. I saw the lamp for a second, but it disappeared, too. Then, I felt like my body was

burning, so I poured some water on my hands and had another vision. All of a sudden, I saw an

old man in the woods. He wanted me to help him with his campfire. He tried to get me to help

him, but the fire was burning out of control. Then, the fire exploded, and when I woke up, the

voices had stopped. I was back inside this house, and I was blind again. I guess everything that

I felt was an hallucination. Nothing was real, but it hurt so much. It felt so real.”

Koldewey shifted his attention to the lamp that was located on the table, and when he

discovered that the lamp was somewhat shaped like a triangle, he was prepared to discuss the

significance of the triangle that Irene had unleashed. Three sides of the Septraveck instrument

were constructed by the triangle while the remaining four sides were formed by the square that

was connected to the circle.

25

Koldewey considered Irene’s visions and responded, “The triangle is the final shape that

makes up the seven-sided Septraveck, and that lamp resembles the triangle that you needed to

build the Septraveck instrument. You drew the Septraveck on the lamp to unlock the power of

the triangle. The triangle is a three-sided figure that demonstrates the power of three. The

triangle represents the Holy Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost come together to

create one everlasting God. The triangle also symbolizes the unity of a family. A man and his

wife conceive a child to begin a family, and the man, his wife, and their child all contribute to

create one loving family. The old man that you saw was likely your father, and the woman who

was with him was likely your mother. The burning fire represented the passionate strength of

human love, and your father wanted you to contribute to the family. He wanted you to help him

build a loving family, and the fire burned out of control because you were not there to contain

the passion. You were not there to help your family. Where are your parents now, Irene?”

Tears accumulated in Irene’s blind eyes as she was reminded that her parents had been

killed in a car accident, and after she acknowledged her parents’ unfortunate deaths, her eyeballs

drifted in various directions to scan the unyielding darkness.

She screamed, “Okay, Mr. Koldewey. My parents are dead. I’ve got nothing in my life.

Now, what do you want from me?”

Koldewey glared at Laurence’s unconscious body and smirked when he considered that

the stationary Irene could not detect anything visually in the physical world. Koldewey seized

Irene’s arm and placed her left hand on Laurence’s aching forehead, and Irene examined the

wrinkles that were Laurence’s distinguishing characteristics with her sensitive fingertips.

Koldewey’s malevolence was revealed in his voice when he asserted, “Look, Irene.

Here’s the only person who sees you as something more than you are. To him, you’re not just

the blind girl. Maybe, he just feels sorry for you. Do you really think that anything could

possibly work out between you and Jonker? He’s successful; he’s normal. You’re a

handicapped child; you’re not welcomed in his world. He’s happy with his life, Irene. He’s not

your baby-sitter. Leave him alone, and don’t ruin his life. He can’t take care of you just because

you’re the helpless blind girl. You always reminded everyone that you’re blind. Everyone has

to feel sorry for the blind girl.” Koldewey viciously screamed, “How can you trust a man who

you can’t even see? How can you truly know that he’s there? Now, don’t you want to see his

face? You’re connected to the Septraveck. It connected you to all the other geometric shapes in

26

the universe. Why don’t you draw it on his face? The Septraveck can erase your sin for a

moment so that you can see him. Don’t you want to see his face, Irene? Just draw the shape on

his face.”

Koldewey removed a knife from his jacket and pierced Irene’s finger as her fingertips

glided across Laurence’s facial features. Droplets of blood trickled from the wound on Irene’s

finger and stained the carpet with a circular pattern of blood. After she instinctively retracted her

hand from Laurence’s forehead, Koldewey placed the jagged edge of the blade to Laurence’s

forehead and instructed Irene to imprint the complex Septraveck image onto Laurence’s face.

Irene’s blindness prevented her from witnessing Koldewey’s despicable gesture, but she was

tempted to sketch the Septraveck shape onto Laurence’s forehead so that he would become

visible through her eyes. Koldewey located Irene’s pencil near the table on which the lamp was

supported, and he placed the pencil in her palm before he closed her fingers into a fist that

gripped the pencil. Her hand was encumbered by a violent spasm as she gently jabbed

Laurence’s wrinkled forehead with the pencil tip, and Koldewey commanded Irene to sketch the

complex shape more quickly. Irene was apprehensive about the potential outcome of her

drawing the Septraveck, and she was soaked in rolling perspiration that distracted her hand from

the assigned task. The pencil bounced across Laurence’s rough flesh as Irene formed the first

three sides of the Septraveck shape by drawing the triangle that was connected to the circle.

Koldewey’s facial expression displayed his impatience, but Koldewey was unable to convey his

frustration because Irene remained blind despite her acquired talent to etch the Septraveck.

Koldewey had recorded the voices of the Allegros onto his CD, and Irene’s mind was able to

translate the incoherent rambling into cogent commands that informed her about the Septraveck.

The slithering pencil formed the four ninety degree angles that comprised the square portion of

the Septraveck, and when she completed the complex design, she unclasped her fingers and

allowed the pencil to smack the floor. Her arms glided across her eyes as she wiped the sweat

from her brow, and Koldewey intensely anticipated the startling effects of the Septraveck.

The darkness that plagued Irene’s existence gradually was lifted as a blurry human

contour transformed into the unmistakable body of Laurence Jonker. Irene simply savored the

privilege to observe the unconscious Laurence for the first time. The darkness in Irene’s visual

spectrum surrounded Laurence’s body because the Septraveck caused only Laurence to become

visible. She observed Laurence’s golden hair that was divided into various strands on the carpet.

27

She was not concerned with superficial blemishes of Laurence’s physical appearance because

she was so overwhelmed by her first visual encounter with a human face. Laurence was not

awakened from his unconscious condition by Irene’s fingertips, and Koldewey stood in absolute

silence as he prepared for his predicted outcome of drawing the mystical Septraveck onto a

living organism.

Koldewey displayed his insensitivity when he sarcastically declared, “I guess that love

really is blind” as Irene enjoyed the opportunity to view Laurence’s face.

Koldewey connected Irene to the Septraveck instrument that the Allegros, God’s

musicians, had played to project the universe into existence. While the Allegros’ CD established

Irene’s connection to the Septraveck by planting the Allegros’ hypnotic voices in her mind, Irene

inadvertently connected Jonker to the Septraveck by drawing the shape on Jonker’s forehead so

that she could see him for the first time. Therefore, Koldewey managed to establish the

connection that Jonker and Irene now shared to the Septraveck by persuading Irene to listen to

the Allegros’ CD, which he claimed could cure her blindness, and by exploiting Irene’s desire to

capture a glimpse of Jonker’s face. Suddenly, the square wall chunk on which Irene had

previously drawn the Septraveck was wrenched from the side of the room by an unknown force.

The square television set that previously had been imbedded into the center of the wall crashed to

the carpet floor and rested as a heap of discarded wreckage and fragments. Koldewey witnessed

the movement of the wall as it mysteriously levitated to the ceiling, and when he concluded that

the floating square wall was traveling in Irene’s direction, he dived toward her with outstretched

hands. He pushed Irene away from Laurence as the massive square wall crashed down onto

Laurence’s unconscious body, and a cloud of dust and crushed plaster wandered into different

streams that attached themselves to the ceiling. It appeared that Laurence was completely

crushed by the impact of the square wall that was attracted to his body. The toilet seat on which

Irene had drawn the Septraveck rumbled fiercely in the bathroom before it was detached from

the toilet, and the circular seat resembled a Frisbee that rotated as it soared toward the square

wall. The square wall was comparable to a magnet that absorbed the force of the toilet seat when

the seat pierced through the plaster wall. The spinning seat rested in the center of the wall as

Koldewey pinned Irene to the floor so that he could enjoy the spectacle. The coiled cord that

plugged the lamp into the electric socket was pulled from the wall. The lamp was lifted from the

table and was forced into the toilet seat that was impaled through the center of the plaster wall.

28

The square wall and the triangular lamp were connected to each other by the circular toilet seat.

The mesmerized Koldewey gasped for oxygen because he was inspired by the sight of the

geometric shape. Koldewey placed Irene’s head to his chest to shield her from the horrific truth

that Laurence had been sacrificed to construct the Septraveck instrument. Koldewey released

Irene from his menacing grip and reached his feet so that he could inspect the mystical

instrument that had been constructed. Koldewey conscientiously advanced toward the square

wall that had been attached to other physical objects. The square wall, the circular toilet seat,

and the triangular lamp had been connected to construct a mystical musical instrument that could

be carried despite its heavy weight. The blinded Irene crawled through the crushed plaster,

marble fragments, and other debris that invaded the carpet bristles. A trail of blood followed

Irene because her hands were lacerated by the sharp fragments, and her eyes remained directed at

the floor as she crawled toward Koldewey and the mound of demolished objects. Koldewey

cautiously placed his left palm on the triangular lamp and was propelled backwards into another

wall by a wave of energy that was emitted from the heap of discarded objects. The connected

objects were producing sparkling red radiation that forced Koldewey to maintain his distance

from the heavy mound. Irene’s bloody hands methodically maneuvered through the remaining

debris that her blind eyes could not identify. She reached a chair that she identified by

examining the wooden leg with her fingertips, and she pulled herself to her feet by exerting

pressure on the chair seat that supported her weight. Her eyes surveyed the darkness as she

twisted around to encounter the mound. The glowing radiation that the mound released entered

her eyes and caused them to slam down, and when she opened her eyes, the tingling sensation of

the radiation ceased as it condensed into water that accumulated on her eyelashes.

The curtain of dimness that clouded Irene’s vision disappeared, and she could see the

doors, the beds, the tables, and every other object that decorated the room atmosphere. Her eyes

darted around the room until they aligned with the pure evil that was expressed through

Koldewey’s eyes, and she observed Koldewey’s physical presence for the first time. Her

beaming smile was erased by the sight of the objects that had been attracted to Laurence’s body.

Irene collapsed to her knees and screamed in agony when she realized that Laurence had been

crushed by the accumulation of objects on which she had sketched the Septraveck. Irene kneeled

at the wreckage of smashed objects and grieved with tears that streamed down her face, but

29

Koldewey ignored her misery because he was more concerned with the development of the

Septraveck.

As Irene concealed her face in her hands, Koldewey boldly declared, “It’s time, Irene.

You drew the shape on those three objects so that they could come together to make this

Septraveck instrument. These shapes that comprise the Septraveck represent the last remnants of

perfection. The square represents humanity’s relationship with God. The circle represents the

repetition of life, and the circle demonstrates the importance of populating the world with

children. The triangle represents the family bonds that we all must celebrate. All these shapes of

the Septraveck represent everything that humans must do to save themselves from sin. When

you drew the Septraveck on the wall, it tried to pull you into it because the Septraveck needs a

living host to build this instrument. Laurence had to be sacrificed so that the Septraveck

instrument could be built. He made the sacrifice for us all. I couldn’t let you become the

sacrifice because I need you. I need you to play the Septraveck instrument for me. The

instrument has already cured you by erasing the human sin that caused your blindness. These

objects have come together to make the instrument that the Allegros wanted me to build. They

haunted me to find someone who could create a connection with the Septraveck instrument.

They needed someone to play the instrument so that we could restore perfection and erase the sin

that causes our pain. You must play the instrument, Irene, to save us from ourselves.”

Irene cleared the dripping tears from her chin and turned to the maniacal Koldewey who

loomed over her with his shadowy presence. Irene glared at Koldewey and screamed, “Why did

this happen? What do you want?”

Koldewey continued to explain why he targeted Irene and how her blindness could be

exploited considering that her other senses and emotions had been strengthened when he

responded, “I told you, Irene. The Allegros wanted me to build this instrument. They wanted

me to find someone who could play it. It was a simple song that created the perfect universe.

Remember when you drew the Septraveck on the wall. The wall probably came into view as a

black and white image. The Septraveck is controlled by your emotions. When you felt an

emotion, the wall became an image with its blue color. The toilet seat was completely white

until you felt an emotion. The emotion caused the toilet to become the gray color. You probably

heard a noise after your emotions caused the black and white objects to gain color. You were

playing the Septraveck instrument with your emotions. You played the Septraveck with your

30

emotions and caused the colors of the objects to become clear. An emotion of happiness creates

a high note from the Septraveck, and an emotion of sadness makes the Septraveck play a low

note. Now, the song that the Allegros played to create original perfection was two high notes

followed by three low notes and four more high notes.”

Irene continued to sob over the heap of physical objects that had amassed together to

create the Septraveck instrument. Koldewey watched Irene’s sorrowful display with

indifference, and he insisted that her past blindness had enhanced her other emotions that she

needed to use to play the Septraveck to restore perfection to the broken world when he

proclaimed, “Come on, little girl. Now, I need two high notes, three low notes, and four high

notes to create the song that can erase sin. You see, your handicap of blindness enhanced your

other senses. Your emotions have become stronger and more passionate than the emotions of

ordinary people. When the Septraveck erased the sin that caused your blindness, your brain

became connected to the Septraveck instrument. You are the only person with strong enough

emotions to play the Septraveck and to restore perfection to this broken world. You must save us

from this cesspool of sin. The decadence and debauchery that God has allowed for too long will

end tonight when you play the Septraveck with your powerful emotions. I know that it’s hard

right now, but I need an emotion of happiness. Just think a happy thought to play the

Septraveck. It can erase your pain. It can save you from yourself.”

When Irene refused to play the Septraveck instrument, Koldewey concluded that forceful

coercion was necessary to ensure that the perfect song would be produced. He sauntered to the

closet in Laurence’s guest bedroom and opened the door to search for any objects that could

illustrate Irene’s connection with the Septraveck. He uncovered a spherical basketball that rested

on a high shelf, and he locked the basketball beneath his shoulder before he slowly approached

the distraught Irene.

Koldewey lifted the basketball over his head and declared, “You have to play the

Septraveck, Irene, because you’re connected to it. The Septraveck also connects you to all other

geometric shapes. Your body was burning because the Septraveck connected your brain to the

lamp, so you only thought that your body had transformed into a light bulb. Now, the circle

represents the repeating pattern of the life cycle, but the perfect sphere represents freedom from

the physical world. The world is a perfect sphere, but it is full of wickedness and debauchery.

The more you embrace the money, the fleeting material possessions, and physical pleasures of

31

the imperfect world, the closer you get to death. In other words, freedom from the physical

world means death.”

Koldewey outstretched the left hand that clasped the spherical basketball, and Irene’s

chest was ignited by an aching sensation that reduced her to a position on her shaking knees.

She screamed and wrenched her heart in an attempt to alleviate her misery, and when the

delighted Koldewey carried the spherical basketball closer toward her, he aggravated her

condition.

Koldewey fiercely glared at the tormented Irene and bellowed, “I know this hurts. Death

approaches, Irene. Your God can’t save you. You’re connected to the Septraveck instrument,

and you will play it unless you want to die. If the Higher Power will not save humanity from its

sin, then, humanity has to take the initiative. Now, you see how dangerous it is to be connected

to the Septraveck shape. You can see why I needed you. By using the Septraveck to erase your

blindness, I connected to you to every other shape in this universe. I watched you for so long,

Irene. I knew that you would be the only one who could play the instrument. You were the

helpless blind girl who complained to everyone about your misery. You were so sinful when

you complained about your blindness. You didn’t realize how lucky you truly are. How many

people will die tonight of cancer? How many homeless people will die tonight on the streets?

How many people suffer worse than you do? You don’t know what real pain is. You’re so

pathetic. The Septraveck erased all the human sin that caused your blindness. You were special,

my little sinner, and you were the only person whose feeble brain could create a connection with

the Septraveck. You were the only one who could rescue the human race from drowning in the

cesspool of sin. Don’t you get it? There was no ‘Felix Culpa.’ This is no hope in this broken

world. There is no justice. The good and the innocent suffer, and the wicked prosper. Those

who do not even believe in God are the wealthiest. Those who mock Him have all the power in

this world. The Higher Power is a bored spectator of the human race. He just left us alone in

this broken world of pain and suffering. We have to save ourselves if He won’t help us. It’s the

only way.”

Irene’s muscles were paralyzed as Koldewey diminished the distance between the

spherical basketball and her, and Koldewey scoffed at the sight of the veins that bulged beneath

Irene’s skin. After Irene squealed in agony, Koldewey bruised her forehead with a kick and

32

pinned her to the floor by positioning his foot on her spine. Koldewey extended the basketball

closer to Irene’s skull, and the basketball intensified Irene’s misery as her brain throbbed.

She exhausted all her remaining strength when she shrieked, “Okay, Koldewey. I’ll play

it. I’ll play it. Please, I just don’t want to die.”

The basketball plummeted to the carpet of jagged debris when Koldewey received his

desired response, and he helped Irene to her feet so that she could fulfill his request. She

concluded that Koldewey was absolutely insane and darted through the entrance of Laurence’s

bedroom into the hallway, but after she entered another room, her eyes examined the spherical

light bulb of the spinning ceiling fan. The excruciating pain to which Koldewey had exposed her

returned to her chest because the Septraveck connected her to all other geometric shapes. All

spherical objects eventually would trigger Irene’s death, and after she violently plummeted to the

floor, Koldewey slowly loomed behind her and watched her as she crawled away from the

spherical ceiling fan.

Koldewey smiled and declared, “You’ll always be connected to the Septraveck that you

built for me, Irene. How will you ever be able to do anything in this life? You can’t even look at

a spherical object without suffering. How can you ever be expected to live without me? If you

touch a spherical object in this world, you will experience instant death. Now, come on back to

the guest room and play the Septraveck since you will never be able to do anything else. I can

exploit so many connections that you have with the Septraveck. Jonker’s dead because of you.

He was doing just fine until you showed up. I know that you don’t want to die, too. Don’t make

me kill you. You don’t want to face God’s judgment, yet, with all your sins. Play the

Septraveck, and let the end come. The Higher Power can’t stop me because He gave me free

will. The Higher Power gave humans unlimited free will, and the Septraveck is the ultimate

indication of our free will. The shape of the Septraveck is the key to the restoration of

perfection. God gave us the Septraveck shape to test the limits of our free will. The power of

the Septraveck has been waiting for us since the beginning of time. It was waiting for someone

brave and crazy enough to challenge God and to accept the ultimate test of the limits of free will

for humanity. With my unlimited free will, I will restore perfection. You will play the original

song that the Allegros sang to project the universe into existence. With my free will, I will

destroy the Higher Power to replace Him. I will seize His throne. Now, you can see that there is

no hope or justice in this world, but there will be in the next. I promise you that I will be a just

33

God after you restore perfection with the Septraveck. I know that you have committed sins, but I

will judge you fairly, Irene. If you restore perfection, I will not condemn you for your past sins.

I will forgive you, and I will save you from your sins with the Septraveck. You have my word.

You will walk in my light when I illuminate this forsaken world. I will free the human race from

this sinful prison in which He has trapped us. My light will open your eyes.”

Irene’s heavy breathing continued as she wrenched her palpitating heart, and she

remained paralyzed in a position on her shaking knees as her muscles throbbed and spasmed in

unison.

Despite the tremendous agony that transmitted shivers and aches across her spinal cord,

she still managed to scream, “I can’t do it. I can’t play that thing. I won’t change the world.”

Koldewey gingerly walked to his helpless victim and muttered under his putrid breath,

“Yes, Irene; you can play the Septraveck. You have the ability to restore perfection, and you

will do it.”

Irene struggled through the paralysis that pervaded through her entire body, and she

mustered enough strength to lift her heavy head until her eyes identified the spherical light bulb

of the ceiling fan. The light bulb intensified the agony that consumed her entire body, and as she

glared at the spherical light bulb, the shrill shriek of the Septraveck played inside her fragile

mind. As the sound of the Septraveck continued to penetrate her psyche, she attempted to clasp

her hands across her ears, but her paralysis prevented her from lifting her perspiring palms from

the floor. She was unable to shift her focus away from the spherical light bulb, and the sight of

the light bulb distorted her vision until her physical surroundings transformed into blackness.

Koldewey recognized that the piercing sound of the Septraveck was playing inside Irene’s mind,

and when he concluded that Irene’s paralysis prevented her from turning away from the light

bulb, he leaned down to examine her eyeballs. Irene’s eyes could not focus on the images in her

environment, and her blind pupils simply shifted across the white clouds of her sclera.

Irene requested assistance by bellowing, “Please, help me. This thing’s playing inside

my head, and I can’t see again.” Koldewey realized that Irene’s mental connection to the

Septraveck remained active and that the sight of the spherical light bulb had caused Irene’s

blindness to return.

He maniacally laughed at Irene’s misfortune, and he sarcastically declared, “Oh Irene,

who turned out the lights? I told you that it was dangerous to be connected to the Septraveck

34

because it connects you to all the other dangerous geometric shapes in the universe. Your mental

connection to the Septraveck has restored your blindness, little girl. You’re blind again because

you had to be selfish.”

The presence of the spherical light bulb had paralyzed the muscles in Irene’s body, and

she was unable to distance herself from the light bulb. Koldewey interlocked his fingers across

her waist and pulled her stiff body from the floor until she reached a standing position on her

feet. Koldewey placed his arm around Irene’s neck and guided her away from the light bulb in

the hallway, and as Irene distanced herself from the light bulb, her paralysis slowly subsided.

The tingling sensation in Irene’s body was replaced by the feeling that she regained in her

muscles and nerves. When Irene could control the movement in her muscles, she slapped

Koldewey away from her with the back of her hand. Although Irene had distanced herself from

the spherical light bulb, she still remained shackled in mental darkness. She struggled to

maintain her vertical balance, and after her left leg was interlocked behind her right leg, she

stumbled around to survey the spinning canvas of darkness in her distorted visual spectrum.

Koldewey reacted to Irene’s display of helplessness with amusement, and he watched as

she stumbled around the hallway and frantically bobbed her head back and forth.

When Irene accidentally collided into Koldewey, he scoffed and declared, “You think

that I’m the Devil, don’t you, Irene? Well, you can’t kill the Devil, my defenseless, little blind

girl.”

Irene became enraged by Koldewey’s mockery, and she clenched her fists in preparation

to battle him. Despite her mental darkness, she identified Koldewey’s position by following his

voice, and as she approached Koldewey, she wildly swung her fists in his direction. He calmly

stepped aside from Irene’s path, and he then extended his foot to trip her to the hard wooden

floor. Her fists previously had been closed into tight fists, so when she stumbled to the floor, she

was unable to outstretch her palms to protect herself. Her face violently smashed into the floor,

and bloody scrapes were produced on her hands and knees as Koldewey laughed and loomed

over her in her mental darkness. The frustrated blind girl placed pressure on her bruised, bloody

palms to pull herself to her feet. After she detected Koldewey’s raucous laugh, she used her

perceptive ears to follow Koldewey’s voice, and she lunged at him with additional swinging

punches. Her hands and knees received further damage after they returned to the hard floor, and

despite her blindness, Irene was involved in many more attempts to strike Koldewey that

35

concluded with her on the floor. She stood in front of Koldewey and squinted in an ineffectual

effort to peer through the dark mental curtain that veiled her currently blind eyes.

The sweat that tumbled down her red cheeks indicated her frustration, and as Koldewey

was mesmerized by Irene’s shifting eyeballs, he declared, “Come on, Irene; hit me. Fight me.

Avenge Jonker’s death.”

After Irene endured Koldewey’s taunting, she aimlessly charged forward in an attempt to

locate him in the darkness, but Koldewey maintained the proper distance from the incensed blind

girl as she frantically slapped the cold air. Her fists were propelled wildly through the air in an

attempt to strike Koldewey in the darkness, and he positioned his palm on her bloody forehead to

restrain her as her fists swayed in a repetitive pattern. He whistled a serene song to mock her

futile effort as she swung her fists and as the booming cacophony of the Septraveck continued to

play and to bounce from one side of her mental canvas to the other. Koldewey gingerly stepped

backwards to avoid Irene’s feeble slaps, and when her dangling arms rested at her side, he

clasped her throat to hold her in place and to prevent her losing her precarious balance. As his

fingernails scratched her throat and choked her, he pulled back his left elbow until his left hand

rested on his right shoulder blade. He retracted his left hand with forceful momentum, and he

clouted her face with the back of his left hand before he maliciously slapped her with his right

hand. He punched her to crush her nose, and droplets of blood trickled from her nose and slid

down her lips. Irene’s tongue tasted her blood, and in a successive pattern, Koldewey repeatedly

slapped her with his palm and the back of his hands to produce red bruises and welts that

zigzagged across her face. During Koldewey’s battery of Irene, she sensed the physical pain that

his assault had caused, but her blind eyes could not identify Koldewey’s hands as they extended

through the cold air to smack her. Koldewey smiled at the sight of Irene’s bruised complexion,

and he tightened his grip of her throat to prevent her from crumbling backwards to the hard

wooden floor of the hallway.

His hands swiftly traveled through the air to continue the assault, and as Koldewey’s

punches caused Irene’s head to retract violently back and forth, he bellowed, “Real pain hurts,

doesn’t it, Irene? You complained about your blindness for so long, but now, you know what

real pain is. This is the pain that millions of dying people feel everyday. You’re so pathetic and

fragile. I could kill you so easily. God’s going to take us; we’re dead already. Our fates have

been predetermined; we’ve already been condemned by His unfair judgment.”

36

Irene’s glazed eyes turned away from Koldewey and glared up at the ceiling, but her

blind eyes detected only the blackness that her handicapped mind relayed to her. Koldewey’s

tight grip fastened Irene in a standing position to prevent her from stumbling backward, and he

violently pushed her to the unforgiving wooden floor.

Irene soared backwards and rested on the dusty floor of the hallway, and after she tasted

blood in the back of her throat, she slammed down her eyes in agony. Koldewey sauntered to

Irene’s side, and when she opened her eyes, the shimmering light of her physical surroundings

glistened down into her eyes. Irene had achieved the proper distance from the spherical light

bulb to alleviate her misery and to prevent her death. Her mental connection to the Septraveck

shape remained intact and active, and the blurriness of her environment became clear because

her vision had been restored after she distanced herself from the spherical light bulb. Her pupils

no longer drifted across the clouds of her sclera, and she now was able to focus on single images

that decorated her visual spectrum. Koldewey peered down at her, and although her eyes were

forced to perceive his wicked grin again, her eyes quickly drifted away from Koldewey to focus

on the wall and the ceiling. Koldewey instructed her to return to the guest bedroom to play the

Septraveck instrument that she had constructed, and he retrieved the spherical basketball to

persuade with force. Irene rapidly readjusted to her restored vision as the beaming light caused

her pupils to contract, and she slowly crawled across the floor to escape from Koldewey on her

bloody hands and knees. She squinted through the light that radiated down from the ceiling into

her eyes, and after a bloody trail followed her during her frantic crawl across the hallway, she

managed to reach her knees. Koldewey outstretched his hand to frighten her with the spherical

basketball, and she surrendered and rose from her knees to return to the guest bedroom. She

realized that she never could escape from Koldewey because she eventually would encounter a

spherical geometric shape in the outside world. She slowly wandered through the entrance of the

guest bedroom, and her newly acquired limp nearly caused her to tumble to the floor. Despite

her misery, she still maintained her necessary distance from Koldewey as he threatened her with

the spherical basketball that that would guarantee her instant death.

Irene sensed that Koldewey, her fanatical teacher at the Home for the Blind, still was

concealing emotional scars that he longed to convey to another individual in whom he could

confide.

37

Her fingertips glided across her face and caused her fresh bruises to throb, and as the

surrounding light beamed down into her eyes, she peered at Koldewey and declared, “There has

to be a better reason for you to do this, Mr. Koldewey. Why are you really doing this? What do

you really hope to accomplish with all this?”

Koldewey respected the courage that Irene had displayed in her gentle interrogation, and

he was emotionally touched by her poignant words. He stared directly at her to provide her with

the respectable eye contact that she deserved. He revealed that he was dying from terminal

cancer and accused Irene of not appreciating her life when he bellowed, “You’ve experienced

my violent passion, child, and you now know how much the restoration of perfection means to

me. Let me explain myself; I’m not crazy. You have a right to know. You see, I’m a dying

man; I’ve been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. I’ve been given my death sentence by

God, and I’ve got nothing left to lose. Cancer is just one of the many horrible diseases that the

human race unleashed onto itself when we corrupted the perfect world with our sins. Doctors

gave me only a few weeks to live, and my time is running out. I’m in so much pain right now.

I’m only forty-two years old, and I had so much to give to this world. Now, the Higher Power

wants to claim my life with cancer. What did I do to Him to deserve this? I could have given

the world so much. I could have been His greatest creation, but God is greedy and power-

hungry. I will not let Him take me. He doesn’t understand what he’s doing, and He’s so

unreasonable. He just wants to control and to take all of us. We have free will, but He still

enslaves us. Our sins corrupted the perfect world with disease, but He uses the disease to claim

us. I will not be enslaved. With the Septraveck, I can overthrow the Higher Power, and I can

judge humanity fairly for its sins. When humans originally corrupted the perfect world with sin,

every liquid, solid, and gas in our environment became imperfect. The objects in our world

became tarnished by sin, but the shapes of these objects never changed. The shapes of these

objects represent what the objects once were and what they could have been because the objects

could have remained perfect. Despite our sins, the shapes of the tarnished objects never

changed. I looked for perfection for so long, and I found it in the shapes that compose our

surroundings because these shapes are the last remnants of perfection. Perfection is elusive, but

perfection is where you find it. You can find perfection in a square, a circle, and a triangle if you

look hard enough. In your case, you can find perfection in a wall, a toilet seat, and a lamp. The

shapes are all that matters. They represent what our imperfect world could have been. The rest

38

of humanity may see a dirty toilet seat, but I see that the toilet seat could have been perfect. We

all could have been perfect, but God let us corrupt the world with our sins. The Allegros used

the Septraveck instrument in the beginning to play the perfect world into existence. The shape of

the Septraveck instrument determined the melody, the pitch, the sound, and everything else that

was important about the original song that played the world into existence. We were once

musical notes in the perfect song of the Allegros. Now, we are slaves to God in an uncertain

world where His diseases can claim us without warning. Please, Irene, help me fight Him. I

valued my life before He decided to take it away. You once complained about your blindness,

but at least, you’re alive and healthy. While others are slowly dying from terminal illnesses and

old age, you’re taking your breaths for granted. Your selfish breaths could have been used to

save others who appreciate their lives. You’ve seen a vision of God, and yet, you probably still

refuse to accept His existence. You now can redeem yourself; make up for your past selfishness

and sins by helping me. Don’t let the Higher Power take me with cancer. I’m dying, Irene; we

have to do this, now. I’m so scared about His unfair judgment. He already has predetermined

our lives for us. I’m only human; it’s in my biological nature to commit sins. You can’t fight

instinct; you can’t fight biology. I can’t help it, and He’s still going to condemn me for my sin,

something that I can’t even control. I want to save the world from Him and this cesspool of sin.

Please, play the Septraveck instrument, and restore perfection to the broken world. The physical

world is falling apart. Help me put the pieces of the broken world back together. It’s time to

disturb the universe. Why are you too blind to see that?”

Irene wiped her nose and forehead to clear the blood and perspiration from her bright red

face, and despite Koldewey’s convincing rambling, she still believed that he was delusional. She

adhered to Koldewey’s instructions and focused her eyes on the mound of connected objects that

represented a completed Septraveck instrument. Because Irene still lamented Laurence’s death,

the torment conquered her mind and prevented her from experiencing the emotion of joy that

Koldewey demanded. She yearned to cleanse her mind of the resentment that she experienced

after the deceitful Koldewey sacrificed Laurence to construct the Septraveck instrument. Irene

accepted that Koldewey’s insane rambling was truthful and deeply exhaled before she continued

her conversation with Koldewey.

39

She glared at him and asserted, “If I play this thing with my emotions, then, you have to

help everyone. You can cure all illnesses by erasing all the sin in the world. Promise me that we

can save everyone.”

Koldewey hesitated with an intense exhalation as he contemplated his response, and he

breached the silence by declaring, “So many people are dying in this world, Irene. How many

people died last night of starvation? How many people will die today of cancer? The world is so

unfair. Innocent children suffer and die while sinful old men achieve more success as they mock

God. The world lives in the darkness of sin. This sin causes the horrific illnesses that the Higher

Power uses to take our loved ones and beautiful children from us. Now, I will open humanity’s

eyes to save them from themselves and their illnesses. Unfortunately, some people can’t be

saved, Irene. Some people are too foolish to understand what I’m doing. Many do not deserve

to be saved from death. They are too corrupt to be saved. They deserve their pain; they deserve

to die slowly from their illnesses. Those who follow me will be saved by the music of the

Septraveck. Those who oppose me will not be saved by its music. It’s my job to decide who

will live and who will die. The Allegros have chosen me to save the world. Let my judgment

come.”

Irene could recognize the selfishness in Koldewey’s deep voice, and she understood that

he had exploited blind students for his own gain when she responded, “You really are crazy.

You pretended to help blind victims in that home for over twenty years. You exploited my

blindness so that you could build this instrument. You connected my brain to this thing and to

all the shapes in the universe. You killed Laurence. You would use this instrument for your own

purpose. You would play God yourself. You would choose who will live and who will die.

You think that you know better than God does. I can’t play this instrument. I won’t play this

stupid thing for you.”

Irene’s eyes concentrated on the Septraveck instrument, and she embraced her hatred of

Koldewey as she influenced the instrument with her emotions. Her eyes remained fascinated by

the Septraveck, but Irene ignored Koldewey’s instructions and refused to experience an insincere

feeling of happiness. She telepathically communicated her rage into the enormous Septraveck

instrument. The wall chunk, the toilet seat, and the lamp began to rumble after they received

Irene’s influential transmission. Koldewey appeared behind Irene because he was frightened by

the Septraveck’s reaction to her emotions. He would never acknowledge that he feared Irene

40

because she had established an enduring connection with the Septraveck and with all other

geometric shapes in her surroundings.

He interlocked his contorted fingers across Irene’s trembling shoulder and declared, “I

hope that you made the right decision, Irene. The Septraveck is reacting to whatever emotion

you just gave it. If that emotion was not happiness, then, you’re not playing the song that will

create perfection. I don’t even know what will happen if you infected the Septraveck with some

other emotion.”

A guttural buzzing that was released from the Septraveck indicated that the mystical

instrument was playing, but Koldewey realized that the Septraveck was not playing the high note

that would be generated by the emotion of joy.

As the Septraveck rumbled in the center of the room, Koldewey became hysterical and

screamed, “That’s not the right note. What did you do? You were supposed to play a high note

with happiness. You were supposed to be my Esther. You weren’t supposed to remain silent;

you were supposed to use the Septraveck’s music to bring people deliverance from their pain.”

Irene shifted her focus away from the vibrating Septraveck and braced herself for the

consequences of her decision to infect the instrument with the emotion of hatred. The amplitude

of the Septraveck’s drone intensified and shoved Irene and Koldewey several feet backwards to

the carpet. Irene covered her aching ears as the agonizing cacophony diminished. She elevated

her head to observe the seven purple diamonds that were fastened to the carpet, and the glass

diamonds were scattered across the room in a circular pattern that surrounded Irene and

Koldewey.

Koldewey analyzed the seven diamonds that had been produced by the Septraveck and

proclaimed, “Well, Irene, you obviously didn’t play the Septraveck with happiness. I recorded

the voices of the Allegros for a reason. You were supposed to follow their instructions to build

this instrument. The Septraveck erased the sin that caused your blindness, and this is how you

repay me, a dying man. Now, you’ve broken the Septraveck into its purest forms. The diamond

is a shape that represents incorruptibility.”

Koldewey raised his elongated fingers and pointed to the diamond ring that glistened on

his left hand. He continued, “The diamond is a symbol of pure, perfect commitment. Perfection

is where you find it, little girl. With these seven diamonds, you’ve unlocked the power of this

41

seven-sided shape. The Septraveck instrument that you built remains intact, but each of these

seven crystal diamonds represents one side of the Septraveck.”

Irene meandered away from the wall, the toilet seat, and the lamp that constructed the

Septraveck, and she no longer feared the instrument because she controlled all its functions with

her emotions. The seven seas, the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the seven deadly sins,

and the seven major musical notes were contained in each of the diamonds, and Irene discovered

that her emotion had unlocked the significance of the number “seven.” While Irene observed

King Nebuchadnezzar’s gorgeous Hanging Gardens of Babylon in one of the crystal diamonds,

Koldewey retrieved the spherical basketball, but Irene maintained her necessary distance from

the maniacal Koldewey as he slowly approached the seven diamonds. Koldewey commanded

Irene to play the song that would cure sicknesses by eradicating sin, but Irene stubbornly refused

and charged toward the Septraveck in the center of the room. Koldewey examined the seven

diamonds and noticed that Laurence Jonker was drowning inside the diamond that stored the

water of the seven seas. The Septraveck had used Laurence as a human host to transform into a

musical instrument, and Laurence currently was drowning inside the Septraveck as the

instrument drained his energy.

Koldewey extended his finger to the individual diamond and alerted Irene by screaming,

“Leave the Septraveck alone. It’s powering itself by slowly draining the life out of your

boyfriend over there. The Septraveck instrument is a living organism, and it needs human

sacrifices to maintain its playing power. Jonker’s as good as dead. Stay away from it, or it will

take you, too.”

Irene was no longer concerned with the Septraveck that she had constructed when

Koldewey informed her that Laurence was still alive. She yearned to rescue Laurence from the

aquatic abyss in which he was suffocating, but she remained cautious that Koldewey would harm

her by exploiting her connection to all geometric shapes. Irene dashed toward the mound of

objects that comprised the Septraveck instrument, and after she locked the heavy instrument

under her arm, she charged to the individual diamond inside which Laurence was being drowned

by the seven seas. The weight of the Septraveck instrument provided Irene with a burden that

nearly caused her to collapse, but she was committed to the objective of rescuing the innocent

college student from approaching death. She carried the Septraveck instrument to the diamond,

and when she placed her palm on the diamond, she was transported from Laurence’s demolished

42

guest bedroom to the horrifying sea that imprisoned Laurence. Koldewey was astonished that

Irene had been absorbed into the diamond of the seven seas, and he placed his hand on the

diamond so that he could pursue Irene to retrieve his treasured Septraveck instrument from the

sea.

The waves of water pounded into Irene’s face and caused her eyes to burn and itch when

she plunged into the sea, and she carried the heavy Septraveck that forced her to sink rapidly

through the bubbling vortex. She concluded that the burdensome Septraveck instrument was

expediting her descent through the foamy seawater, so she abandoned the instrument and

allowed it to sink. She bent her elbows and jolted her arms back and forth in a challenging

struggle to reach the suffocating Laurence. Koldewey was transported to the sea where he

snatched the sinking Septraveck instrument, and he swam under Irene to seize her leg so that he

could pull her to definite death. In a frenzy, she slapped her hands through the water as her

descent continued, and Koldewey paddled upward to pummel Irene with the heavy Septraveck

instrument. Koldewey gripped Irene’s throat and bruised her face by repeatedly clouting her

with the Septraveck instrument, but she resisted his torturous assault and struck him in the

stomach with her right knee. She recalled that her enhanced emotions controlled the playing

power of the Septraveck instrument, so she stared through the water that invaded her eyes and

concentrated on the Septraveck that Koldewey possessed. After Irene injected the Septraveck

with an emotion, the instrument emitted a guttural shriek that caused Koldewey to suffer by

invading his mind, and blood poured from Koldewey’s ears in response to the playing of the

Septraveck instrument. In his misery, Koldewey relinquished his grasp of the Septraveck

instrument and sank toward the watery depths, so Irene regained her composure and thrashed her

hands wildly to reach Laurence. She propelled herself upward through the frigid abyss and

wrapped her hands around Laurence’s waist as she continued her paddling toward the surface.

She captured Laurence and approached the sunlight that radiated above the water, but her mind

was inundated with the dread that she could not escape from the psychotic Koldewey.

The Septraveck instrument that Koldewey had dropped was reactivated by Irene’s

emotional concerns. The instrument had healed Irene’s blindness by removing the human sin

that triggered her ailment, but her current emotions motivated the Septraveck instrument to

unleash the human sin that it had stored. The melodic song that the sinking Septraveck played

was contaminated with human sin, and the sin was interpreted as a brilliant red tornado that

43

whirled toward Irene and Laurence. Irene’s terror was exacerbated by the physical manifestation

of human sin that pursued her, and her emotions simply stimulated the Septraveck to increase the

melody that powered the tornado. The tornado swirled across Irene’s leg and propelled her into

the rocky underwater cave that was located near the shimmering surface. Irene and Laurence

violently crashed into the rocky formation and slowly slithered down its piercing edges. Irene’s

emotions dictated the vigorous melody of the Septraveck instrument, so she cleared her mental

canvas of all pervading thoughts before she paddled down to retrieve Laurence as he scraped

down the boulders. Many emotional responses to Irene’s dire situation attempted to breach her

mind, but she blurred the swirl of personal feelings and sensations into an incoherent

transmission so that the Septraveck instrument could not interpret any of her emotions.

The melodic tornado of human sin reminded Irene that her connection with the

Septraveck granted her access to the significance of other geometric shapes in her environment.

She attached her lacerated hands to the jagged rock, and during her climb up the protruding

boulders, she recognized that the boulders to which she was hanging were shaped like four-sided

squares. After she recalled that the square symbolized the relationship between humans and

God, she feverishly sculpted the complex Septraveck shape into the stony surface with her

fingernail. After she had unlocked the significance of the square, a fisherman’s enormous hook

plunged from the sunlight into the water. The glistening hook whirled toward the helpless

Laurence as his lungs were filled with water, and Irene grappled the boulders to continue her

climb toward the radiant sunlight. Her hands were bloody and bruised, so she dropped several

times during her climb across the jagged stones of the cave. Laurence appeared lifeless as he

tumbled down the rocky crag, so Irene abandoned her climb and paddled downward to connect

Laurence’s shirt collar to the pointed tip of the fisherman’s hook. She pierced the sharp hook

through the fabric of Laurence’s shirt collar, and the fisherman’s hook rapidly lifted Laurence

through the water and toward the sunlight.

Irene eagerly reached for Laurence’s leg as the fisherman’s hook pulled him toward the

surface, but Koldewey had recovered the Septraveck instrument and splashed under Irene. He

yanked her leg and pulled her toward a watery grave, but the spinning tornado of human sin

captured Koldewey inside its funnel and slammed him into the rocky cave. The tornado zoomed

across Irene’s body and caused her to crash into the rocky formation where Koldewey continued

to pummel her with the Septraveck instrument. The physical projections of the seven deadly sins

44

were stored inside the eye of the tornado, and several hands that represented human gluttony

emerged from the tornado to clasp Irene’s foot. The tornado shredded the cavernous rock and

caused an avalanche of boulders to stream down toward Irene and Koldewey. Irene frantically

maneuvered sideways back and forth to avoid the boulders of the collapsing cave. She peered

upward through the blue bubbling liquid that infected her sensitive eyes, and she recognized that

the hundreds of raining boulder fragments had been shredded into the shapes of perfect spheres.

An agonizing tingle returned to her spinal cord as the muscles and nerves in her body were

conquered by paralysis that the spherical boulders had caused. The water was stained with red

blood, and when the avalanche ceased, Irene and Koldewey were pinned to the cave wall by two

gigantic boulders. Irene’s legs were pinned into a stationary position by the boulder while

Koldewey’s left arm was completely crushed by the boulder that restrained his movement. As

Irene prepared for water to invade her lungs, her eyes glanced upward to the sunlight that

Laurence had reached after he was pulled to safety by the fisherman’s hook.

Koldewey relinquished the Septraveck instrument and allowed it to plummet to the sea

floor after he was shackled to the cave wall by the boulder that had smashed his hand. While the

panic-stricken Koldewey struggled to free himself in a futile effort, Irene prayed to God and

pleaded with Him to rescue the two hopeless sinners from their own sins. Irene and Koldewey

listened to the sickening sound of human sin that continued to play from the Septraveck at the

bottom of the sea.

Even as water invaded his lungs by pouring into his gaping mouth, Koldewey managed to

choke out, “He won’t take me. He won’t take me” during his desperate effort to free his hand

from the boulder that pinned him to the cave wall.

The two humans realistically would have drowned inside the watery prison after several

minutes, but the Septraveck instrument was powering itself by slowly sucking the life from their

bodies. Irene attached her lacerated hand to a jagged boulder on the side of the underwater cave,

and the rock fragments that surrounded Irene were sucked through the water into the spinning

tornado of human sin. Irene’s straightened legs flailed back and forth to produce ripples in the

seawater, and a tiny rock of flying debris pelted Irene in the forehead as her legs smacked the

water. Her blood floated through the bubbling water, and Irene gasped for oxygen and waited

for approaching death until her eyes were attracted to the diamond ring on Laurence’s hand that

was not trapped beneath the debris. She recalled that the diamond embodied purity and the

45

absence of corruption as the twisting tornado of sin prepared to swallow the two humans who

were struggling for survival. Irene extended her hand toward the glistening diamond ring and

wildly thrashed her arm in an attempt to reach the elusive shape that could guarantee her survival

inside the Septraveck. She seized Koldewey’s hand and used her bloodstained fingernail to

scratch the shape of the Septraveck into the diamond ring on his finger. She screamed as the

tornado scarred her torso, but she remained committed to completing her drawing of the

Septraveck onto the diamond ring. Her bloody fingernail slashed left and right in several

directions to form the lines and ninety-degree angles of a square, a circle, and a triangle, and she

connected the three shapes with an imaginary line that she etched across the blank spectrum of

space. The geometric design was completed on the diamond. Because Irene and Koldewey were

shackled inside a giant diamond crystal, the activation of Koldewey’s small diamond ring with

the Septraveck shape created a chain reaction that also stimulated the larger diamond crystal.

The chain reaction of reacting diamonds released a harmonious blast of music that eliminated all

the sinful contamination inside the sea. Koldewey’s wicked desires to enslave humanity with the

music of the Septraveck represented inner sins that the diamond destroyed. Koldewey perished

in an explosion when the activation of the diamond caused the Septraveck instrument to

exterminate his inner sins. The tornado of sins that the Septraveck’s music had projected into

reality also was extinguished by the powerful diamond.

The Septraveck instrument was located at the sea floor, but the instrument could not exist

without the vigor that was provided by a living organism. The Septraveck had attempted to

drown Laurence inside its sea to achieve its playing power, but the fisherman’s hook had rescued

Laurence from the watery prison before the Septraveck was able to murder him. The instrument

that was composed of a square wall, a circular toilet seat, and a triangular lamp shattered because

it could not exist without the sacrifice of Laurence’s life. The seven diamonds into which the

Septraveck instrument had been divided by Irene’s emotions exploded into thousands of glass

fragments. When the seven diamonds simultaneously exploded inside Laurence’s guest

bedroom, Irene and Laurence were released from the seven seas, and they slid down an

enormous avalanche of water that streamed across the floor. Irene and Laurence disappeared

under the engulfing flood when the water of the seven seas reached the bedroom wall. The

waves carried the two victims until they reached the plaster wall, and the branches of water that

extended from the current smashed through the wall. The wall was completely demolished as

46

the relentless current pierced a gaping hole through the plaster and continued to sweep across the

second story of Laurence’s home. Irene and Laurence extended their necks upward in a

desperate attempt to ensure that their heads remained above the menacing streams, but the two

victims disappeared again beneath the stream when the water engulfed their drenched bodies.

Laurence frantically kicked his legs and thrashed his arms in several rotations, and he splashed

his hands through the stream that carried him toward the staircase. Irene remained composed as

the current propelled her through the air, and she restrained the hysterical Laurence by clasping

him to her waist before the stream crashed into the staircase. The stream transported Irene and

Laurence down the coarse steps, but the terrified Laurence remained fastened to Irene’s waist as

the two victims bounced into the wood of each step. The current engulfed the two victims and

the staircase, and during the steep descent, Irene and Laurence violently bounced against the

fourth step of the staircase. A cylindrical formation of water emerged from the stream and

resembled an enormous human palm that propelled the two victims from the fourth step.

Laurence and Irene were released from the current before they soared above the three remaining

steps that followed the fourth step from which they were launched. The stream of the seven seas

chased the two victims as they soared through the air, and Irene and Laurence collided into the

concrete of the floor at the bottom of the demolished staircase.

The water swept across the concrete floor and crashed through the door of the once

beautiful home as Irene and Laurence frantically rolled away from the menacing flood. The

stream crashed through the front door and fashioned a dent into the side of Laurence’s home, so

Irene and Laurence rolled away from the current as its water poured through the dent and swept

across the outside lawn. The two victims remained nearly paralyzed on the concrete floor that

had been drenched by the water of the seven seas, and Irene and Laurence were unable to walk

as the current completely poured through the enormous dent. Irene and Laurence both choked on

the water that had invaded their lungs, and their hands were sliced by the glass of the seven

diamonds that had exploded. The seawater that covered the floor caused Irene and Laurence to

shiver intensely as they crawled through the blood, jagged glass, porcelain, and plaster fragments

that the current had transported. The Septraveck instrument had played the disturbing sound of

human sin, and the sound would haunt Irene and Jonker for the rest of their lives as they

remained nearly paralyzed on the bloodstained concrete floor. Irene sensed the dripping of water

droplets that plummeted from the staircase to the concrete floor, but the beating of her palpitating

47

heart overwhelmed the sound of the dripping water. The Septraveck instrument had played the

disturbing sound of human sin, and the “sound of sin” would haunt Irene Duvalier and Laurence

Jonker for the rest of their brief lives in the broken world.

THE END