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Arimathea's Box

(A beginning)

2013 Andy Smith

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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This is a wor o" "iction$ Names, characters, b!sinesses, %#aces, eents and incidents are either the %rod!cts o" the

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Arimathea's Box

by Andy Smith

The storm was gathering strength, biding its time, waiting for the moment to strike, and with each

beat of his heart, Joseph knew that time drew nearer.

It was mid-afternoon. All morning the grim storm clouds had writhed above the city, jostling for

position. ow, eerie shapes flickered across the granite sky as silent flashes lit the belly of a

towering, grey behemoth. !e waited, gusts of wind tugging at his cloak and filling his eyes with

sand. It would not be long now.

"erhaps it was just his imagination but he fancied he heard the crowd on the wind, the cries

reminding him of the distant baying of wolves. !e knew how they could be - how they had been -

crying for blood, rabid, tearing their garments in anger when their victim refused to defend himself.

!e breathed deeply to dampen his sorrow. The scent of o#one was strong, and the hairs rose on his

forearms, tingling with static. !e ga#ed upwards, marvelling as lightning tore across the sky and

thunder rumbled around the limestone hills, crimson in the sombre light.

$$$

!e saw the boy in the distance and a sudden, overwhelming sense of loss constricted his throat.

Though the boy was going to tell him what he already knew, his appearance still struck like a knife

in the gut.

ot long ago, on the ninth hour, the clouds had flowed together like drops of mercury swirling into

one in the bottom of a bowl. A monstrous thunderhead had reared into the heavens, its leaden basespreading to the hori#on like a blanket. There was a moment of calm, of darkness and stillness and

absolute %uiet as the air thickened and lay like warm molasses over the city. othing moved. The

wind stilled. &ven the dogs were cowed to silence.

!e remembered the blinding flash and the thunderclap that left him cringing in fear, its fury echoing

around the hills like a blow from the hammer of the gods. Then came the sound, a sound that had

chilled him to his core and which he would remember for the rest of his life. A groan. o, a cry. The

very earth crying out in anguish with a rumble that shook the ground beneath his feet. It was over.

!e was gone. 'ike him, there would never be another.

!e listened to the boy, then took a coin from his pocket and handed it to him. The boy took it,smiling, and skipped away. Joseph did not smile back, for he did not relish what he had to do. (ntil

this moment he had kept his admiration secret, afraid of the reactions of his friends and peers, but

now his heart compelled him to act. The time had come to step into the light. !e raised his hand,

studying it as he turned it this way and that before his eyes. It trembled. !is life was about to

change.

$$$

It was almost dark when they arrived, Joseph leading the way, icodemus following behind,

struggling under the weight of his load. There was still a crowd. A man caught Joseph)s sleeve as he

pushed his way through.*The king is dead,* he said, grinning.

Joseph ignored him and shrugged himself free. All around he recogni#ed faces, seeing them for

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what they were now, gloating, small-minded hypocrites, present only to see that the body was

dumped in the criminal burial pits. !e stepped forward and presented the centurion with the

governor)s order.

*I am to take possession of the body.*

*'et me see+* demanded one, outraged, trying to snatch the scroll. The centurion brushed him aside

and stepped backwards. Joseph watched the man)s scarred face as he read. There was dry blood on

his cheek and shoulders. After a moment, he looked up and nodded to Joseph.*!e is yours.*

The crowd surged forward.

*!e)s come to take the body+* yelled one. *!e must not take the body+*

!ands grasped Joseph)s cloak, pulling him backwards. icodemus struck the offending arm. Then

he too was buried in the mob.

*!old them back+*

The centurion)s voice boomed out and four soldiers, casting lots at the base of the upright, leapt to

their feet, grabbing shields and hastae. Together, they formed a line and beat at the mob with shields

and the shafts of their lances.

The crowd was large and when stones began to rain down on their shields, and the infuriated mob

surged forwards yet again calling for the body, the centurion summoned the rest of his men. &ight

soldiers, busy lowering two other bodies, grabbed their weapons and rushed towards the crowd.

ne body, lowered half way down from the upright, was abandoned where it hung. It slid to the

ground and crumpled face down in the dust, arms outstretched, still nailed to the wood, broken legs

buckled and snapped under the weight of the transverse beam.

ith order restored, the crowd beaten into compliance, the soldiers cast ropes and lowered the

cross. The centurion called Joseph forward and handed him the scroll.

*!e is yours to do with as you see fit. e will see that no man interferes.*

Joseph nodded his thanks and knelt down net to the body. !e removed first the humiliating sign,

throwing it to the side, then the woven crown of spiny Jujube. "eople around him cursed and spat,

but Joseph ignored them. !e too had once thought like them. /eside him, icodemus unshouldered

his load and arranged the contents on the ground. A wooden bo, a roll of fine linen, two pots, one

of aloe, the other myrrh. !e opened the bo and set out a bundle of white linen towels, a knife, a

ra#or, clippers and several small vials. !e wrapped the bloodied crown in one of the towels and

placed it in the bo.

A soldier cut through the ropes holding the man)s arms to the beam.*"lease, hasn)t he been humiliated enough0* said Joseph, as the soldier braced a foot on the beam

and took hold of a hand, preparing to tear the wrist free of the nail. *'et me do it.* The soldier

ignored him, continuing as if Joseph had not spoken. The centurion, watching, picked up a hammer

and tapped the soldier)s arm.

The soldier cursed under his breath and dropped the hand. !e raised the heavy beam onto his knee

and beat the nail from behind until the point was flush with the wood, then worked it from above,

backwards and forwards until the arm came free.

hen the soldier had hammered out the second nail, Joseph gently removed the iron spikes from

the shattered wrists and folded the arms across the man)s chest. !e wiped the dead man)s face,cleaning away the blood, tears and dirt. !e tidied his hair and beard, combing and trimming to

restore an air of dignity, then wrapped the trimmings in the bloodied towel and placed them in the

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bo.

A wound below the ribcage, puncturing deep into the man)s chest, seeped with what seemed to be a

miture of both blood and water. !e cleaned it as best he could, applying aloe and myrrh, and

repeated the process with the broken wrists and feet. Then he bound them with strips of cloth.

icodemus had prepared a long strip of linen, twice as long and wide as a man, laying it out on theground. Together, they lifted the body, icodemus taking the hands, Joseph the feet. icodemus

retched as the man)s shoulder came away from the wood leaving strips of flesh and congealed blood

stuck to the rough grain. Joseph, too, closed his eyes, looking away until his own nausea passed.

hile the women watched from a distance, they laid him face down on the cloth, his feet at one

end, his head in the middle. icodemus returned to remove the torn pieces of flesh from the wood

and place them in one of the vials. hen they were gone, the scavengers would find nothing. !e

wrapped the vial, together with the four bloodied nails, and dropped them in the bo.

As icodemus cleaned the wood, Joseph spread the ointments onto the wounds on the man)s back

and shoulders. !e could hardly believe he had survived the scourging, let alone carried the cross upthe hill. hite bone, chipped vertebrae and ribs, shone through muscle and flesh shredded, by

leather and lead. 1ickened, he did what he could, then folded down the ecess of cloth, covering

once and for all his body, and rolled him over onto his back. !e stood, dropping "ilate)s order into

the bo, and stepped back to bid farewell to the man he so admired. !e would lie in Joseph)s own

tomb, hewn out of solid rock and located a short distance north across the road to 1amaria. o one

had yet lain there. It seemed an appropriate resting place.

*2enturion,* he said. *e are ready. e will take him now. Thank you.*

The centurion nodded. !e seemed embarrassed.

*This man was innocent,* he muttered. 3I will help you carry him.*

The centurion fashioned a litter from hastae and rope and, together with icodemus, lifted him.

They headed for the path and began to thread their way down with the faithful women of 4alilee

trailing behind. Joseph followed, bringing up the rear, lingering slightly as his attention fell upon a

cloaked figure s%uatting on a rock beside the track. 5an or woman, young or old, in the darkness

Joseph could not tell, its face hidden as it was within the shadows of its cloak. As he neared, he saw

it toying with something on its palm. An agonising locust, stripped of legs and wings. The figure

looked up from its macabre diversion, fiing him with epressionless eyes of no colour he could

discern, and smiled.

Though it was not cold, Joseph shivered. !e nodded to the figure and hurried on down the slope. !edid not look back.

666

A thousand and sity-si years later, eight hundred metres to the east on Temple 5ount,

a di""erentstory begins...

July 78th, 79::. As Jerusalem)s walls fall to the victorious 2hristian army and the massacre of

townsfolk begins, I## al-;in, a dying

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As the twenty first century dawns, I## al-;in)s bloody pursuit of 2harles !auteville and his son

5arcus is interrupted by the creation of five blastocysts made, supposedly, with ;A taken from a

Templar relic present at the 2rucifiion, and the appearance of a 5achiavellian apparition and a

ruthless =atican envoy.

The theft of the blastocysts and the discovery of a pregnant minor lead to a violent inversion ofroles and a race to find and destroy I## al-;in before he can birth the Antichrist.