House of Acerbi

headed toward his house. As soon as they crunched to a stop on the gravel driveway, several armed men jumped from the lead SUV and began fanning out over the surrounding field as a dark-haired man stepped from the back seat and looked up at the windows on the second floor. The time for a long overdue meeting between father and son was at hand.

Stepping up onto the front porch, Rene Acerbi brushed some field dust from his cashmere overcoat and removed a pair of dark sunglasses while he waited. Slowly, the door opened, and a frail Eduardo Acerbi gazed up into the dark eyes of his son. After a long, uncomfortable silence, the old man turned and motioned for Rene to enter.

Once inside, Rene immediately noticed the rustic simplicity of his father’s home. “I can’t believe you gave it all up for this.”

Eduardo’s eyes remained neutral as he smiled. “Would you like some tea?”

“Tea? How quaint, Father. Yes, tea would be nice if that’s all you have to offer me after all these years.”

“Oh, I have much more to offer, my son. Please, why don’t you take off your coat and join me upstairs in the library?”

Rene threw his coat over the back of a worn fabric couch and nodded to the security men standing behind him before following his father up the stairs. The old man pointed to a table by the window before walking into his small kitchen to gather cups and plates.

Rene made no attempt to conceal the smirk on his face as he watched Eduardo reach for the teapot on the stove. “So, Father, what led you to finally reveal yourself to me after all this time?”

Eduardo moved out of the kitchen with the tea and a box of freshly-baked croissants. “Time? Time is irrelevant to people of our faith, my son. In the grand scheme of things, the time we spend in the world is but a flash. We are like flames on a match that suddenly blaze forth and end just as quickly in a wisp of smoke, extinguished by a single breath, but it’s what we do during that brief flash of existence that shapes our eternal destiny.”

“Please, Father, spare me your philosophic sermons about our so-called faith. We both know that faith is only a means to an end, a way to control the masses so that there can be some semblance of order in a world full of those who have barely evolved from their animal ancestors. Without the illusion of an afterlife, people would run amuck. Wiser men than us have known this for thousands of years. Promise the people an afterlife full of peace and joy and you can make them do anything. Religion has been the world’s biggest con since the day man shaped his first idol. Marx called it the opiate of the masses, but religion today is far from being a benign zone of comfort. It’s more like an amphetamine.”

The old man took a seat by the window and began to pour the tea with trembling hands. “So, I take it you never read the scrolls I gave you.”

Rene threw his head back in laughter. “There is so much you don’t know about me, Father. Actually, I read a copy of the scrolls when I was still a teenager. Quite amusing, actually. There are other scrolls you know … actually a book, a book with a much different message.”

Eduardo’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve heard rumors.”

“Then you’ve heard right, Father, because that book contained the words of our true God … Rex Mundi!”

“You’re wrong!” The old man’s sudden intensity startled Rene, causing him to involuntarily recoil from the force of his father’s words. “The book was destroyed!”

“Yes, but we still have its words. Where do you think we received the instructions for altering human DNA? I’m surprised no one else has uncovered it yet. The blueprint for using wheat to change human DNA was encoded within the Devil’s Bible, as you call it. All we had to do was develop a virus that affected only those who’s DNA we altered. We were gifted with a perfect plan … a plan that came from Rex Mundi himself. He gave us the ideal method for ridding the planet of excess baggage while saving the rest of us to rule over a better world.” Rene smiled as he watched his father’s eyes grow wide. “I see you still have some fire left in you, old man.”

“I have more than fire … I have the truth. Following the words of an evil entity like Rex Mundi will only lead you to ruin! You must come out of the darkness and into the light, my son. I will help you.”

“The old yin and yang speech, Father? Good versus evil? A god of light and a god of darkness? Do you really believe your god of light is any more powerful than Rex Mundi? Because if you do, I have news for you, Father. The light is quickly fading, and Rex Mundi will soon control it all.”

“He only controls that which is base and material. Surely you must see that your thinking is flawed. There is another force in the universe … a force of light that we call love, and nothing is more powerful.”

“That force did little for our ancestors, and it’s done even less for me and obviously even less for you. Rex Mundi rules the here and now … the material world, for that’s all we have and that’s all we will ever have. He makes no promises for a golden afterlife, so we must make of this one all that we can.”

The elder Acerbi stared back at his son, his breathing labored by the intensity of their meeting. It was now obvious to him that his son had made his choice. Maybe it was his fault … maybe it wasn’t. Maybe the choice had been made for Rene before he was even born … who knew, but whatever the cause, Eduardo had been hit with the final, terrible realization that he would never steer his son away from the terrible path he had chosen. He had failed as a father-and it was now his duty to correct that mistake.

“At least let me have the satisfaction of giving you something to eat while you are here. Have a croissant … they’re delicious.”

“You’re quite the host, Father. Maybe you’d like a job working for me at my chateau.”

The old man’s shoulders where hunched more than usual as he watched Rene reach into the box and lift out a croissant.

“In answer to your original question, my time here on this earth is growing short, my son. That is why I have revealed myself to you, as you put it. I was hoping that there was some way I could get through to you, because what you’re doing is wrong. You have the potential to be so much more. It’s not too late my son. Throw off the shackles of hate and let the light shine through. Just think of how you could …”

Rene burst into laughter. “Really, Father? Parental advice?”

The old man’s aged body seemed to wilt from sadness as he turned his head and stared out the window. The dark shadows across the road were coming closer.

“You’re right, Father, these croissants are delicious. Who makes them for you?”

Eduardo squeezed his eyes shut to block the tears before he turned back to face his son. “I made them myself. Collette taught me how to make them after we were married.”

“Colette! My nanny? You married my nanny?”

“Why yes … why do you seem so surprised?”

“You’re even more pathetic than I first thought. You walked away from a financial empire and deserted your family to marry a nanny?”

“A nanny who was like a mother to you.” The fire had returned to Eduardo’s eyes. “I left for reasons of faith and to protect you and your mother from those who would have sought to destroy you if they had known I was still alive, but that means little to someone like you. I can see that now.”

“Please, Father, spare me the I did it all for you speech.”

The old man fixed his son with a blank look one gives an unwelcome stranger as he shook out a dusty napkin and placed it on his lap.

Rene coughed as the fine dust entered his nostrils and settled over the table. “You might want to think about hiring a housekeeper to do some cleaning around here.” Rene glanced around the room at all the shelves of books with a look of disgust.

“You know, Father, people who once knew you have told me that you were one of the smartest men who ever lived. Now, here you sit, surrounded by all of this knowledge, making tea and staring out a window. What a waste.”

Rene threw the uneaten half of his croissant on the plate and stood. “I believe our little meeting here is at an end. I’ve seen all I need to see, and it sickens me.” He paused for a moment as he looked down at his father. “Aren’t you the least curious why I agreed to come?”

Eduardo glanced up without answering.

“I only came here because I thought it was possible you might still be some kind of a threat. What a joke. You had quite a reputation for cunning in your day, but I can see now that a creature as pathetic as you is no threat