Building Faith

By Ellf

What is Known 3

Disclaimer: Jim Butcher owns the Dresden Files, any other works of fiction mentioned are not owned by me.

In my first life, I remembered enjoying school. It tended to be full of challenges, interesting new things to do and to learn, and I was good at it. I'd done pretty well in the K-12 arena and then went for a challenge that could have been fruitless for college and grad school. It was through a combination of luck and good timing that I managed to get the job I'd had before my death, but it too challenged me.

Going to school this time around? Much less so. The only interesting classes were the foreign language, religion and programming courses that were offered. The rest were either rote memorization, easy math, or English. Of course, physical education was a thing, but I didn't really count that as a class. It was one of the few times of day that I got to cut loose and enjoy myself. Unfortunately, we didn't have PE until after lunch today. No, this morning was going to be sleep, sleep, and what do you know? More sleep. If the teachers called on me, I'd answer the questions and then go back to sleep. When you'd been through school once before, it made things a little easier.

"But Faith," you might interject, "why don't you just test out of school if you're so bored?"

The answer to that has a lot to do with my sister. I don't really like being all that far from Molly. Not because she needs my protection or anything, (she really doesn't) but Molly and I... it's hard to describe. I definitely didn't feel anything like this for my sisters in my first life. Now I loved them, sure. I was their older brother, and I'd have done anything for them. I'd do the same for any of my younger siblings now, too. Molly was different though. She and I… in many ways, we were almost the same person, but I know she didn't remember anything about a past life. Like I said, hard to describe. Honestly, after rereading A Song of Ice and Fire through A Storm of Swords, I'd almost compare us to Jaime and Cersei… only without the icky incestuous tension. Okay, maybe not quite that comparison.

Of course, at school, we weren't always together, and Molly went a bit extreme in some of her tastes. The microskirt she'd threatened was only the tip of the iceberg.

So our school was associated with St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church, but it wasn't the school that was right near it. The high school was two blocks away from the church and run by some nuns assigned by the diocese. They were a bit relaxed about most things beyond us having to wear the uniform, which is how Molly got away with what she was wearing now.

After we'd boarded the bus, Molly and I had gone to the back, and taken a seat. I put my bag in the window, and Molly got herself even more ready for school. She'd made some modifications to a uniform which she kept in her bag to change into on the bus. Of course, that was putting it lightly. Molly's uniform modifications almost seemed like a manifestation of her hatred for it. Her skirt, and the tights she wore underneath were torn up, as if someone had taken a razor to them. Her blouse and skirt weren't in any better shape, but I could see the shape of her satin bra underneath.

"Green today?" I asked. The conservative sweater and shirt must have hidden it this morning. "I still don't get the cutting."

"You hate the uniform as much as I do," Molly said as she stuffed the regular uniform into her backpack before dipping in to pull out a make-up kit and mirror.

"Yeah, I plan on burning it after graduation, but…" I gestured. It just looked uncomfortable, but then, she fit in with the goth crowd more than I wanted to.

"Mmm." She applied her lipstick and then capped it. "Well, I like it this way."

I raised my hands in defeat. "I didn't say it didn't look good. It's just… I couldn't wear it."

"Not even for a cosplay?" Molly needled.

"As who, Slasher Girl, Queen of the Damned? Mom'd kill us," I said, reaching into her make-up kit to grab some eyeliner. Sometimes my sister was a bad influence on me.

"No, Fai, let me." Molly took the liner from my hands and turned my head toward her. Her eyes were deep blue, same as my own, and they threatened to drown out everything. She reached up to my eye to line it with the charcoal black color. I trusted her for this, but I'd need to remember to take it off before going home. "Looks good, but I think you could use a little more."

"Just nothing too much," I said, nudging her when her hands were away from me. "I don't want as much as you."

"Hey, school's a place where we need to be different." Molly pulled out some other makeup items and started applying. "Subtle works better for you anyway."

"Thanks, Moll." I sat and waited for her to finish, keeping my face still. I made facial adjustments as directed for the rest of the bus ride, and as we pulled up at St. Joseph's, we were finished. Molly held up a mirror, and I smiled. The make-up wasn't too caked on, and it was subtle, highlighting some features but not overtly so. Molly did a good job.

Standing, we both headed off the bus. Molly gave me a hug and we separated. The school kept us separate for most of our courses, but we shared a lunch and religion course. She had her own group of friends, and I had mine.

Sure, walking down the hallway, I probably turned some heads as I went toward homeroom, but there were only three that I actually cared about. Not that I wanted them to look at me in that way, but that they were my friends, and I wanted to hang out with them. Outside my homeroom, they were waiting. Jason, a sandy-haired somewhat athletic guy sat cross-legged across from Cecelia, a redhead. Andrew, a dark-skinned guy who reminded me a bit of Sanya, was leaning against the wall nearby, seemingly watching what Jason and Cecelia were doing, but he definitely saw me first. Jason and Cecelia were too wrapped up in their game of Magic to notice my approach. A smile played on Andrew's lips, but he didn't warn them.

"So, who's winning?" I asked when I got close, and I laughed when Jason nearly dropped his hand. Cecelia was in topdeck mode.

"Looks like Cece," Andrew said, gesturing at the board. "Jace's at five and mana-screwed, and Cece's got enough to overrun him next turn with her tokens."

"I don't know… One good wrath effect could turn the game around." I started to move to look at Jason's hand, but he held it away from me.

"Back off, Fai," Jason said with only the hint of annoyance. "You'll see when Cece does."

"Turn zero, Jace." I moved to lean next to Andrew. One thing I still enjoyed from my last life that happened to exist here was Magic: The Gathering. When I'd noticed the cards were being sold back in '94, I somehow managed to convince Dad to get me some, even a box. Mom and Dad were oddly cool with it, after I showed them the cards and the stories about good versus evil. While evil could be very evil in Magic, good by and large tended to win, good morals for a faithful household. Plus, I really liked opening booster packs.

"So, which deck this morning, Fai?" Andrew asked, and I blanched. Given the combination of feminine issues and Sa- the Knights showing up this morning, I hadn't had the opportunity to go change out the deck I was bringing today. Guess I had to stick with an old favorite.

"Today's an oldie but a goodie," I said, a predatory smirk coming to my face. I might be a Carpenter, but when it came to Magic? I could be an evil, evil person. "The Hive is coming out to play."

Andrew groaned. "Really?"

"Well, it's either that, or I run Burn like yesterday." I reached into my bag to pull out the deck which I'd been tuning since I was eight. It really was too bad that Slivers weren't really a good deck competitively, no matter how hard I tried to get them to be. There just weren't enough impactful effects, even with a well-built deck with all the duals.

"Thought you were working on a Tribal thing," Andrew commented, and I watched Cecelia draw the card she needed to win the game that turn.

"Yeah, I still need a few cards for that. If we make it to the shop this week, I'll see about picking them up before the tournament," I said as I zipped up my backpack.

"If you make it to the shop?" Cecelia asked. "What's going on?"

"We've got some guests from out of town this week," I replied. "I don't think Mom's going to want Molly and I out on a Friday when we've got guests."

"Pity about that, Fai." Jason stood up and put his deck into his bag. "Guess I'll just have to beat you next week."

Unfortunately, there really wasn't enough time to get another game of Magic going before the bell rang for class, so the four of us talked deckbuilding strategy and about the new expansion for Arcanos coming out in a few weeks. I'd mentioned wanting to build a monk for that, and they gave me shit because the monk for the last edition had been such a shit class to build.

Ultimately, we had to make it into class, where I proceeded to grab a seat in the last row, against the wall. Luckily my first period class was in the same room as homeroom, and I had plenty of time to rest. The moment I sat down at the desk and my teacher started talking about Europe and the Crusades, I could feel my eyes getting heavy. I closed my eyes, only for a minute.

My eyes shot open. Clearly I should have been getting more sleep before going to work in the morning. This was embarrassing, really, and frankly quite dangerous for me and my job. Today I didn't have much to do, really, so I figured I'd look at the news. Election coverage tended more and more to start depressing me when I looked at the mess my political party was becoming. I found it hard to believe that anyone could vote for that person, but I'd already done my part to try and prevent it. I'd just have to avoid going into the city when the end of July came around.

Ugh. I needed to switch to a better site. Ah, there we go, science information. I really enjoyed reading science articles when downtime approached. The EMDrive research seemed to be going well, albeit kind of slow. Maybe they'd actually get some results worth publishing this year so they could be peer reviewed. Maybe that was indeed the future.

I switched to the other computer to check my e-mail. Sure enough, I had an e-mail to come to my boss's office by… Huh, as soon as possible. Pushing out from my desk, I adjusted my belt tighter and started toward the boss's office at the end of the hall.

I nodded to the receptionist, asking, "He in?"

"He's supposed to be. You should be able to just go right in." The receptionist looked a bit different today, younger, perhaps maybe fifteen or so, but her silvery gray hair belied an older age. Her green eyes twinkled as she gestured toward the door.

Stepping through the door, my boss's office seemed different than normal. Perhaps it was the way the torches lit the room's stone walls, or it could have been the constant dripping of water in the background. While neither was truly out of place, something just seemed completely off about it. Maybe it was the guy under the water that I could barely make out in the torchlight. Whoever he was, he certainly had a good half a foot on me, and I could tell at this distance.

I approached my boss's desk and sat down. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes," he said in his faintly British accent before spinning his chair to face me. The man in front of me was of average height and build and had many of the classically handsome features that silver fox middle aged men tended to have. His hair was kept short with hints of silver throughout it, and he dressed in a very nice suit. Only in place of a tie, he wore a rope tied into a noose. "How long is it you've been with the company now?"

"About six months now," I said, trepidation eating at me. Surely he hadn't found out about that little nap already? I mean, I hadn't had an issue about falling asleep since January. He'd mentioned that it was a fireable offence back then, but he'd chosen not to write me up.

"Ah, and in the past few months, you'd managed to stay awake through your entire shift. Until today." The man sighed elegantly. "Your work ethic has been strong, and you've done good consistent work. Still, today you've managed to fall asleep on the job. Again."

"I know… I didn't mean to. I just…" I trailed off, seeing him raise a hand.

"Enough, Miss Carpenter, enough," My boss said, silencing me. "I told you before that I wanted to invest in you. I still do."

He placed his hand on the table, and then raised it, revealing a blackened silver coin underneath it. Etched into the metal was a sigil written in angelic script. He pushed it toward me with his index finger.

"So, I'm giving you a choice, you can take my investment, or you can leave it." The man, Nicodemus Archleone, smiled widely with a vicious bite to it. The man was a crocodile the whole way through, and I swear his shadow was menacing at me.

Glancing down at the denarius, I shook my head. "I'm not taking that."

"Such a pity, and you had such potential." His shadow elongated, stretching and wrapping around my own. I felt pressure on my neck as the shadow twisted and warped. My breath came shallowly at first, and then it came less, and less as the pressure grew. I kept trying to breathe, but no new air was coming in, I couldn't breathe. At all.

The world around me faded to black, and I could feel my consciousness fade away as Nicodemus choked the life out of me.