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eBook Category: Horror Bram Stoker Award Nominee
eBook Description: The collection opens as Rev. Sutton Conway acquires a biblical artifact, which bears Hebrew-Phoenician script dated at 2500 years old. The script has been translated, revealing a copy of the Ten Commandments. The church encases the stone slab in a special display case. Conway discovers untranslated text on the back of the slab and sends the copied text to be translated. Strange things begin to happen among the members of the congregation. Ten stories, each formulated around a commandment, then unfold, followed by the conclusion story.

eBook Publisher: Fictionwise.com, Published: Nocturne Press, 2006
Fictionwise Release Date: January 2008

10 Reader Ratings: Great Good OK Poor

Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [460 KB], eReader (PDB) [147 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [126 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [112 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [150 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [176 KB], hiebook (KML) [299 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [184 KB], iSilo (PDB) [104 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [129 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [176 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [175 KB]
Words: 40998
Reading time: 117-163 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED

"Angeline Hawkes stands out as someone special... 'The Commandments' is a righteous testament to both faith and plain good storytelling!"--Charlee Jacob, two-time Bram Stoker Award winning author of This Symbiotic Fascination and Dread in the Beast.

After diligently raising money, the congregation was happy to see the church building completed. To celebrate, they used a building surplus to help finance a trip to Israel, the Holy Land. This was another church dream--for their church members to actually walk where their Lord had walked and to see the things their Lord had seen. A lot of planning and advance scheduling took place to enable the congregation to get the best rates available for the trip. It wasn't easy to book a trip for such a large group, even with special agencies providing guided tours. After digging deep into their financial pockets for the building of the church, the members didn't have too much extra change lying about even with the church surplus matching individual funds. Loans were made to those who didn't have the ability to pay at the time and all considerations were given to help anyone who needed assistance. This was a chance of a lifetime and the church and the pastor wanted to ensure that anyone who wanted to go was able to go. Reverend Sutton Conway had led his flock to their church building dreams and while in Israel, he hoped to achieve his lifelong dream as well. He had long thought, even before coming to his current position, that an ancient religious artifact would be a wonderful focal point in any church. He had a special glass display case erected in the front of the sanctuary, below the big wooden pulpit, just in case he was able to acquire such a special piece of biblical history. Talking about it gave the church a sense of unity and hope, that someday that dream too would be realized. There was a separate fund set up for donations for acquiring the artifact, should Reverend Conway be able to secure such a piece of biblical history. Conway had contacted many Israeli antiquities dealers hoping they would be able to track down a meaningful artifact for him. Conway notified the dealers of when he would be in Israel, hoping that being able to examine any artifacts in person might spur them on to locating one even faster than just phone calls might solicit. He hoped that they would have something of quality for him to purchase while he was in Israel. Conway felt being in Israel would be a wasted opportunity if he were unable to procure the desired artifact while over there. Granted, there was plenty to do and see, but he had been to the Holy Land several times before and he was more concerned with purchasing the biblical artifact he dreamed of then seeing Petra or the Garden of Gethsemane one more time. He wouldn't let his congregation know that of course as most of them had never left the city boundaries, and this was a big event for them. He wanted them to believe he shared their excitement and that this wasn't merely a purchasing trip for him. He was anxious to make a purchase though as he felt the new church lacked a certain something with that empty display case front and center beneath the pulpit. It was just a dream he wanted to see come true. Can't blame a man for wanting to see the realization of his dreams.

While in Israel, Hagai Negev, an antiquities dealer specializing in Judeo-Christian artifacts contacted Reverend Conway at the hotel where the church congregation was staying with information concerning a notable and somewhat affordable piece. A copy of the Ten Commandments had been found thirty years ago entombed in a stone box in a Muslim cemetery down the slope from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and the owner, having fallen on difficult times, had decided recently to sell it. The Hebrew-Phoenician script had been analyzed and verified to be approximately 2500 years old. The tablet was a large slab of Arkosic sandstone originating from Southern Israel. Negev wanted to meet with Reverend Conway so that the pastor could behold the magnitude of this awesome artifact in person. Negev said that photos just didn't do this piece justice. It was a magnificent artifact that had been well taken care of over the years and displayed very infrequently. The seller was enthusiastic and anxious to sell it as soon as Negev could secure a buyer. The seller was even willing to arrange a payment plan if it was needed. Negev had found very few sellers that were so willing to meet the needs of the buyer, but, as he had stated, this seller was in a bit of a financial difficulty and needed to sell the artifact quickly.

Reverend Conway was absolutely ecstatic. His congregation had already given him control over the great sum of money they had established for the potential purchase that they hoped would be made available soon. When Conway announced that they had found a favorable artifact, the congregation was elated. So many dreams coming true all at once! The church being built, the trip to the Holy Land and now the locating of a special biblical artifact! God was surely blessing their congregation.

Negev said he would be willing to work out a favorable deal as tablets such as this one were fairly common and he had no other takers. Negev stressed that this was just a copy of the commandments, albeit an old one, but that copies of parts of scripture surfaced from time to time and no one could say for sure what they were used for. For all Negev knew it was a temple cleric practicing his writing. Nothing was unusual or fancy about this particular tablet. Negev had already filed for the export permit necessary for the stone tablet to leave Israel and fortunately for all parties involved the artifact met the strict Israeli export criteria established by the government.

Reverend Conway met with Negev and found the stone tablet to be incredible. The dimensions were perfect for the already erected glass display case in the church and the price, although steeper than Conway had hoped for was acceptable even without the suggested payment plan. Negev was happy to discover that the church group had the money without having to wait. The money was transferred electronically between banks and all was taken care of in a matter of hours. The transaction couldn't have been simpler. The stone slab was crated and was in the process of being shipped to the States before Conway's church group even finished touring Israel. The rest of the Holy Land visit went along happily, made even happier with the purchase of the artifact.

Back home, Reverend Conway anxiously awaited the tablet's arrival. He had cleaned the glass display case repeatedly in preparation for the artifact. All sorts of plans were being formulated to announce and dedicate the valuable piece of biblical history. Each day that Conway had to wait, he grew more anxious for its safe arrival. He made numerous phone calls to this agency and that shipping company to check on the artifact's status. It came at last. When the shipping company delivered it, he personally uncrated the artifact and gingerly placed it in the glass display case in the sanctuary. While positioning it on its brass display rack, he noticed two lines of strange writing similar to the writing of the tablet's inscription of the commandments, but slightly different. Curiously, he traced his index finger over the mysterious text and wondered why it was written on the back of the stone instead of the front. He took the slab out and made a neat rubbing of the untranslated text. He'd find some scholar to mail it to for a possible translation. He was certain that there was someone who did that sort of thing as an occupation. Perhaps Negev could suggest a scholar or maybe he had one in his employment. After all, Negev knew all about this sort of thing and had sold the artifact to them. Surely, he had the means to translate text.

Sunday morning was an eventful service. Reverend Conway took out the holy relic and the congregation filed by to examine and touch it. Excitement was abuzz in the air. After everyone had examined it, Conway placed it securely back in the glass case and then dramatically read the Commandments from his big, black Bible. He stood before the awe-struck congregation and theatrically waved his Bible and filled the sanctuary with his booming voice. When he reached the final commandment, the lights in the sanctuary flickered and popped--white and yellow sparks showered the carpeted floor near the pulpit and Conway ducked and then hopping down the two steps to the polished altar railing, ran for cover. The lights came on with a loud buzz briefly as the congregation gasped and murmured afraid that there was a potential for a fire to develop. Then just as quickly as the lights had came back on, they fizzled out again with an eerie hiss. A cold gust of air burst from the back of the church and filled the sanctuary and one of the ushers walked to the thermostat to see if something had gone wrong with the air conditioning unit. Nothing was wrong with it. It was turned off. Somewhere deep in the wall a strange, electrical buzzing could be heard. Reverend Conway opened the double doors that led to the outside and suggested that everyone go to the parking lot until the fire department could arrive.

"Nothing to be alarmed about folks--probably faulty wiring or something of some electrical nature. It's a new building. It's not unusual for this or that to go haywire until everything gets settled. We'll have this checked out immediately. Right this way everyone. Someone lead us in a song!" he called towards the parking lot enthusiastically as he shepherded the murmuring people to the blacktopped lot. When everyone was out, he propped the doors open and went back inside to retrieve the tablet. It was insured, but irreplaceable and Conway didn't wish to take the risk of having something happen to the artifact that they had raised so much money to acquire. He could hear Brother Dan starting up a chorus of When the Roll is Called Up Yonder off-key and loudly in the parking lot. Reverend Conway cast a quick glance around the empty, dark sanctuary looking for sparks or smoke and then, by the light pouring in from the outside through the open doors, went to open the display case door. When he placed his hand on the slick glass he quickly recoiled in agonizing pain.

"Ah!" The glass was red hot. The skin on his hands bubbled and blistered immediately. "What the?" Conway studied the glass in shock and stared back down at his injured hands. The electricity popped and buzzed again and he decided he had better leave. He dialed 911 on his cell phone and called the fire department on his way out to the parking lot to join the singing congregation.

"Did you get The Commandments?" a concerned deacon asked Reverend Conway.

"No. Something's wrong with the display case. Burned my hands pretty bad," he said to the deacon who grimaced at the sight of Conway's burnt hands. "I called the fire department though, should be here shortly."

"Better let a medic look at your hands when they get here. They look pretty bad. No fire inside though?" The deacon looked worriedly from Conway's blistered palms towards the open doors of the church building. "We should probably close the doors just in case."

"No, no fire that I could see. I don't know what's going on in there. It's got to be the wiring. I think it should be covered under warranty though. Nothing to worry about, I'm sure." Reverend Conway didn't want any wild rumors started about shoddy workmanship or the church bursting into flames or any nonsense like that. Gingerly, he reached into his pocket for a handkerchief to wrap on the worst of his two hands and found that the text rubbing he had made from the stone tablet was still folded in his pocket. He made a note to contact Negev when he got home, provided he could still use his hands. He didn't like having any untranslated text on the stone tablet. It gave him a bad feeling knowing it was there. Why the display case should burn him was another thing that baffled him. The case wasn't wired or even lighted. The congregation had opposed wiring the case for lighting in case the light would somehow damage the artifact. So, why then did it burn him and how was that possible? Reverend Conway wondered if the fire department could provide some answers for him and the congregation.

With sirens blaring, what looked to be the majority of the fire department's trucks pulled up noisily into the church parking lot and secured the building. Reverend Conway dismissed the congregation to get them out from under the fire personnel's feet. He sat on the hood of his car and let a paramedic examine his raw and bloodied palms.

"Hey, Johnny, careful of that glass display case in the sanctuary," the medic called to another fire fighter after Conway had explained what had happened.

Johnny, the fire fighter, turned and asked, "Why?"

"It's hot," replied the medic.

Conway winced as the medic wrapped his hands and recommended that he go to the hospital. He shivered thinking about the glass display case. Questions just kept running through his mind. How could it be hot when there was no fire? He watched as the firefighters streamed into the empty building in their heavy protective gear. Maybe there was more to the popping and buzzing and flying sparks than met his untrained eye.

The next day, Conway called Hagai Negev. "I've discovered some text on the back of the stone slab. The writing is similar to the text on the front, only much smaller. Do you think that someone would be able to translate it for us?"

"On the back of the slab, did you say?"

"Yes. Same style of writing, but obviously I don't know what it says."

"I wouldn't worry about it. Probably the inscriber's name, date, you know that sort of thing. It wasn't unusual for the inscriber to put a bit of identifying information somewhere inconspicuous on the piece of handiwork. See it all of the time on Roman artifacts. Surprised I didn't catch it though; you have my apologies on that. If it bothers you, go ahead and send me the rubbing and I'll have someone take a look at it for you, even if just for curiosities sake."

"Thanks so much. I'll do that right after the electricians get here," Reverend Conway said, twisting his wrist so that he could see the time on his watch.