I was scanning my blog for some other post that I thought I
may have already written about when I stumbled upon another post. Sometimes
ago; I decided to post “Apocalypse Countdown 666” on my blog chapter by chapter
but then after posting the first part; it seems to have completely slipped my
mind. Surprisingly, it has been viewed 1,422 times and because of that…I will
resume posting the rest of the book. I have rewritten the highlights of the
book in shortened format most of which I have already posted in my blog under
modified titles but those I haven’t; insaallah I will.
“Life after Death” is the chapter I consider one of the most
important highlight of my book that I would rank 4th after my
discovery of the Beast 666, Time Travel and the New Jerusalem. If you have been
a follower of my blog; you must have already read about the 3 but not “Life
after Death.” It is a true story of, love, death and friendship. It is about life
after death. It is partly a horror story and it happened long before there was
internet. My dilemma is this: the people involved are on facebook! I will put only their initials although in
the book (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/278-1977955-6963129?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Nosca%20Khalid);
I saw no reason why not to mention their names but I am not sure if they will
approve on facebook.
Because of my haunted journeys from birth and beyond; paranormal
phenomenon became one of my fascinations in life. I
never imagine though that I will witness another one so bizarre; so
unbelievably freaky and yet so enchantingly touching that regardless of
how skeptic one could get...this is one glaring evidence that there is
something real inside of us all; call it spirit if you will that is truly
immortal. This is a true story of love,
death and friendship. These are real names, real people...this is the truth
stranger than fiction.
(Note: this story is an excerpt from Apocalypse
Countdown 666 copyrighted by Janus Publishing Co., London. Although, the
copyright has returned to the author; no part of this story shall be published
neither in print nor in the web without the author’s written consent.)
Long before engineer M and his
wife MC tied the knot and exchanged the “I do” vows of love and till death do
us part; they were my friends.
Our town is small nestled in a
valley that in my view is more of a plateau surrounded by mountains. With an
elevation of more than 3,000 feet above sea level; it is one of the highest
villages in Saudi Arabia. It is one of many breathtaking towns and cities along
the Southern Heights of the Arabian Peninsula.
Engineer M was a consultant
engineer in one of the construction companies in town. His wife MC meanwhile
was the hospital dietician. AB and his wife L both work in the hospital.
Engineer
KP is not only a friend; we both came from the same Muslim tribe in the south
of the Philippines.
I was
on that day the ambulance physician on call, 24 January 1993. I found M on the
X-ray table, blood trekking from his mouth, ears and nose. I back stepped with
film of tears clouding my vision. The surgeon was talking to me but I could not
focus my mind at that moment.
The
hospital surgeon after speaking by phone with the neurosurgeon in Assir (Abha) Central
Hospital ordered to transfer the patient immediately. There were MC, DG (Filipino
male nurse) and I in the ambulance. The two hour drive seemed like an eternity.
I had to hold back my tears and turn my head every time MC spoke to the
unconscious M urging him to hang on.
Two
days later...I read a copy of the CT scan report. I knew; M will never wake up.
He died the following day.
In the
morning of Friday; 7 February 1993, two weeks after the accident...I met
engineer KP at the hospital gate. He told me in not so many words that the
spirit of his best friend possessed the body of AB and won’t let go. I couldn’t
see any good reason why would M’s spirit choose AB. He was in Manila when the
accident happened and they knew each other’s but the relationship is not the
kind I can really call that of close friends.
I was
invited to attend the ninth day of prayer for the dead on that same day
(Friday). It was the only subject the Filipino community talked about but the
hushed conversation did not escape the other aliens in the hospital.
DAY 3 (of spirit possession) – Friday, 7 February 1993
AB (Possessed)
bent on his knees during the rosary. I was in the last row observing the room
with special interest. MC (dead M’s wife) led the prayer. AB’s face contorted,
his chin twisting uncontrollably (can’t help being reminded of the exorcist).
He reached for the tissue and blew his nose. L (AB’s wife) who was kneeling on
his right would once in a while nudge him with her elbow to stir him from the
spell. We break up for the night at 9:00 pm.
DAY 4 – Saturday, 8 February 1993
I was
startled by the incessant ringing of the door bell. I was on duty in ER the
previous night so I spent the whole day in bed. I found J, a Filipino male
Nurse at my door.
“Doc,” said J apologising,
“they are asking if you can come to the camp.” It was the place where the
nightly vigil was being held.
I
peered at my watch. It was 4:14 pm.
“Why?”
I asked.
“AB
(possessed) chased MC (dead M’s wife) in the hospital today. I don’t know the
whole story but you will if you will come.”
“I will
be there,” I said, trying to mask my excitement.
MC is
confused and emotionally freaked out. AB
and L were likewise worn out by the startling tension they have been subjected
to in the events of the last several days.
MC wanted to speak with her husband’s spirit for the last time. She
wanted to talk him out of the spell; make him understand; make him accept but
the terrified L won’t let her husband go again to the nightly vigil. She was
obviously terrified by the bizarre almost horrific incidents of the last 3
days. I was chosen to speak with L and bring possessed AB with me.
“I’m
glad you came,” said AB. He led me to the receiving room.
“I came
to speak to you and L,” I wanted to speak my purpose.
He
closed the door of the receiving room. There were DG, him and I in the room.
“I need
to speak to someone who understands.” I feel his desperation for help. “People
most probably think, I am crazy or out of my mind. I can’t walk with my head
up.”
“Don’t
torture yourself with those crazy thoughts. We all understand,” I said
reassuringly.
“How
many believe that the spirit of M is inside me? Well...at least not now.” He
brought out a small Bible he kept in the vest pocket of his pajama. “I read
this to keep him away.”
I can
feel the presence of M with certainty. I can see it through AB’s eyes and in
the way he looks and stares. He could be manipulating AB’s words.
“I
don’t know,” I replied. “I have not heard of any dead Muslim, at least not here
in Saudi Arabia who has returned to haunt the living. Jinn...yes! Some people
can be possessed by Jinn what we commonly refer to as natural spirits. They can
be exorcised but even if I can bring one who knows, I don’t think it will work.
Muslim exorcism will not work with M because he is a Christian. He won’t
understand.”
“What
if he doesn’t leave me alone...will I become crazy?”
“I know
M is listening right now,” I squirmed uncomfortably, “but he has no other
choice but to go. Other spirits will come and take him. People who met an
untimely death become restless. They cannot accept that they are dead so they
do things they usually do without the body. If the living helps each
others...the dead does likewise. They have spirit organizations too whose work
is to guide the spirit of those like M. From darkness...they will help him to
the light. In Islam, it is called Barzak where souls are supposed to stay while
waiting for judgment day. I think it is what Christians call Purgatory. “
“I can
remember everything but I can’t control it,” said AB and then, “No! I will
not,” he almost screamed.
“What
is it?” startled, I asked.
“He
wants me to go to the Hospital.”
DG and
I looked at each other then in unison turned to the wall clock. It was 6:30 pm,
the usual time M fetches MC from the hospital.
“No! I
will not,” repeated AB loudly as if shouting at someone then he was calm.
“I
know, spirits of the dead are very lonely and they are very eager to communicate,”
I said to draw M into a conversation but so far, he had not spoken to me
directly.
“True,”
AB responded. “It was windy and very cold that night. He was naked sitting in
the corner and very sad.” (5 and 6 February will be remembered as the night
Saudi Arabia shivered. It snowed in some part of the kingdom.)
AB’s STORY
Day 1, 5 February 1993
“It all started on Wednesday,” recounted AB. “We came to
the villa to attend the prayer for M. There was a spider crawling all over the
place. I told the spider to stay away from the burner or be burned alive. It
climbed over me and circled my head 3 times before crawling down. Someone stepped
on the spider and crashed it. Half-way home on the 15-minute drive...I felt
itchiness on my neck. I scratched it. I could hear M in my mind asking if he
could communicate through me. I said, “It is okay.”
“Turn
the car back,” I told DG. He turned the car back but I tried to resist. I said,
“No, turn the car back and drive home.”
We must
have driven the car 3 times around the petrol station until finally...M won
over me.
Along
the stone walk to the Villa...I fell on my face and sprawled over the plants.
When I regained consciousness...I was on the sofa with everyone cowering over
me. I felt cold so I walked to the bedroom. MC (M’s wife), L, E and MR followed
me to the room. At this point, there was no doubt in everyone’s mind that the
spirit of M is inside me. I asked everyone to leave except MC (M’s wife) and I
asked MR (a friend) to stay to allay everyone’s fear.
M and
MC talked about their children and their plans. M insisted that MC continue
with the building of their house. Engineer KP (M’s best friend) tried to enter
but I screamed, “No!” with both of my hands raised. I kissed MC and run out of
the room sobbing uncontrollably.
“Let us
pray,” I said after sometimes. I kneeled before the altar and everybody
followed. M inside me was feeling hungry so he partook of the foods placed on
the altar. I took a stick of cigarette from the altar and lit it. I held it in
my left hand while I smoked. I wanted to hold it in my right but my right hand
felt very heavy every time I tried so I kept it on my left hand. (AB doesn’t
smoke. It was the first time I ever heard of the dead coming back and partaking
of the food and smoking from the cigarette placed on the altar for the departed
and in Saudi Arabia of all places.)
DAY 2, 6 February 1993
During
the second stage of the rosary, AB did the unexpected. He ran out of the house
agitated. He held the doorknob from outside pulling and pushing and wailing as
if in pain.
“AB,” engineer
KP begged.
“MC,” Whispered KP, “Speak to
him.”
“Dad,”
MC called tearfully, “it is very cold out there. Please come inside.” Her voice
quivered with tears. “You see! We put off the incense.” Everyone stirred into
action. Windows were thrown open to let the smoke of the burning incense go.
AB
walked back into the house and walked directly to the bed room. He came out
thirty minutes later.
“On
Friday,” AB continued, “You know what happened, you were there.”
“How do
you feel now?” I asked.
“I feel
better at least at this moment. I don’t feel him now but there is one reason
why he refused to leave,” he squirmed on the flat chair.
“What
is it?”
“I
don’t think it is right but he is very persistent.”
“You
have to say what it is,” I pressed on. When he whispered it into my ears, I
said, “What?” I was shocked. I knew I was being given the task of delivering
the dead man’s demand.
“Do you
want to speak with MC and get it over with?”
“L
won’t let me.”
I can tell; he was being
evasive. The spirit knew I am very close to KP. He wants me to deliver the
message.
“I will
speak to her (AB’s wife).”
“No, I’m
not ready and besides, M is not inside me now. I am trying to probe my mind but
he is not there.”
“Dr. Khalid,” RA (another friend) called
behind the door, “KP is here asking for you.”
“Let him in,” AB called back
before I could say a word. The entrance door is several feet from the receiving
room’s door. He was standing behind me while I spoke with engineer KP.
“AB is alright,” I said,
“there is no need for him to go (meaning to the camp).” Alright means M’s
spirit is gone. I was wrong.
“In that case then; I will
bring MC to the Hostel.”
I saw the shocked look on KP’s
face followed by a loud thud and commotion behind my back. AB was on the floor
paper-white and unconscious. L was at his side confused and weeping while RA
was pulling him up from behind. The mention of MC’s name and finally moving out
of their villa to live at the hospital hostel triggered the spirit’s frenzy. We
lifted his body and sat him on the long flat chair.
I assured L that her husband
will be alright and closed the door. In the room were RA, engineer KP, DG, AB
(possessed) and I.
“Shall I control it?” AB murmured
weakly fighting off the spell.
I said, “No!” this is the
moment of truth...I wanted to add.
AB turned to me, his eyes
glaring. It was scary.
“Dr. Khalid! Tell KP what I
told you.”
“Nope!” I answered amusingly,
“KP is here...you tell him.”
KP in that moment was sitting
on his left and holding his arm.
“What is it?” KP reacted
frantic at the mention of his name. “Tell me, you know I will do anything for
you.” He pulled the small plastic children’s chair and sat in front of AB face
to face.
AB hesitantly delivered the
dead man’s wish almost inaudibly into KPs ear, I doubt if anyone in the room
understood. I wouldn’t know if I didn’t know beforehand.
KP was speechless. He caught
his head between his palms and held it while his elbows rested over his knees.
“M, you are asking too much
from your friend,” I broke in to break the silence and bide time for KP. It was
a decision of a lifetime...making a pact with the spirit of the dead.
“M,” KP finally spoke. “I
treated you like a brother and MC is like a sister to me. I will be there for
your family whenever they need me...I promise,” and KP raised his hand in oath.
“Please, leave AB alone, he is very tired.”
AB nodded.
“Do you have any message for
MC?” I asked.
“I love her,” the spirit (via
AB) mumbled.
Engineer KP’s STORY:
“M, I
am here,” KP looked around in the now empty house. It was eerie. “It is for AB
and L that I am doing this. Come and speak to me.”
(I
learned few days later that at the moment KP was calling M’s spirit, AB said to
his wife, “I am AB speaking to you now but I have this strong urge to go and
sleep at M’s house.” L and the other Filipino families sleeping in their house
for support stopped him from going. It was the reason they were there to
restrain him just in case.)
No one
knew except for one friend that engineer KP after he dropped MC to the hostel
had returned to the empty house to confront the spirit of M. It was the last day the Hospital director had
given to the Filipino community to bring MC to the hostel. It is forbidden for
unmarried female employees to live out. The only friend engineer KP invited to
keep him company understandably declined.
The company’s small compound
for the consultant engineers is isolated in the hills between the town of
Zahran Al Janoub and the Saudi Arabian border with North Yemen few kilometers
away. No other house is visible within miles of the perimeter...an extremely
scary place to confront the spirit of the dead but then; what friends are for?
The
clock chimed 3:00 am. The only sound in the rolling hills was the generator. KP’s
lids were heavy. He couldn’t fight it anymore...he finally dozed off.
“I
treated you like a brother and your wife is like a sister to me. I understand
your concern but I have my own life to live. Please understand...I can’t
promise to marry MC but I promise; I will always be there for them.”
“Only
then,” said KP, “did I realize that he was not alone. There were many others
outside. One by one, they walked into the house. A heavy fellow among them
wrestled me to the ground forcing me to say yes to M’s wish.”
“Did
you recognize any of them?”
“I had
an unmistakable feeling that the fat guy who pinned me to the ground was ka’
Erning (He was a friend in the same company who died of heart attack a year
earlier.)
“Then
what happened?”
“The
heavy guy who had my face to the floor tried to tie my hands behind my back.
The others came and tried to help Ka Erning hold me to the floor but M
intervened and pushed them away. I broke free and woke up. My entire body in
spite of the cold winter dawn was perspiring profusely. I walked out of the house,
climbed into my land cruiser and drove to our own camp five miles away.”
DAY 5: THE LAST DAY
I
picked up the phone on the third ring. The emergency room was quiet. The time
was 7:00 am.
“Hello.”
“Doc!”
“Yes,”
it was MR.
“He
wants me to drive him to Najran.”
“Do
it,” I answered anxiously. “He wants to see the place of the accident.”
AB told
me later that he felt completely free of M’s presence when he saw the place
where the accident happened.
EPILOGUE:
Strange,
unbelievable, bizarre; call it as you like. MC resigned from her work several
months later and returned to the Philippines to take care of the children she
had left to the care of her mother. She set up a bakery employing several
people. She is doing very well. Engineer KP moved to another place in Saudi
Arabia when the company sold out to another. The camp was abandoned. AB and L remained
in their works. AB confessed that the experience have changed his outlooks in
life. He said sorry to all the people he had disagreements with in the past.
The big problem was/is...AB had
opened a portal for the spirits of the dead into his world. He would find them
everywhere wanting some kind of help. He would find them early in the morning
outside their door or by the windows and he would drive them away. I was once
called to the X-ray department to find AB pale and half conscious on his chair.
He was in a trance. He pointed to a magazine he was reading. There was someone
in the article he was reading who died and entered his
body (by just reading his name) wanting to communicate. I told him to say
firmly, “No.” When spending his annual leave in Manila; the spirits would
follow him everywhere into the bus and to the malls. He had to get use to their
presence or he would lose his mind. I tried to convince him to tame the gift
(if you can call it one) and become a professional medium. He was terrified
that they would come in droves if he accepts to become a conduit for the
departed. He spent a fortune trying to close the portal. He sought out
professional psychics, paranormal investigators and spirit questors. They even
brought him to the famous SPIRIT HILL in my country and bathed him in the
supposedly enchanted stream in the hills.
It
touched our hearts to the point of being pleasantly shocked that the dead
should come back to ask his best friend to marry his wife. How many stories
have you heard of someone marrying his best friend’s wife after he is gone?
People gossips...right? Well, next time; don’t...someone beyond the grave could
have fixed the marriage for who can you trust but
the best among your friends.
(AB by the way didn’t know
that engineer KP went to the empty house in that evening and confronted the
spirit of M. Remember...he told his wife; he wanted to go to the empty house
and sleep there at the precise moment KP was calling for M’s spirit. He learned
about it several years after the incident when I showed him the final lay-out
of APOCALYPSE COUNTDOWN 666. We resigned from the Ministry of Health in 2000.
My wife and I visited them in their house (Manila) in 2007 but we had to wait
while someone called for them. He told me; they were in a prayer meeting. I didn't ask if he is okay but the prayer meeting keeps me wondering...I STILL
SEE DEAD PEOPLE.)
END
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Nosca-Khalid/author/B01NA7APYQ?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
