A/N: Inspired by the '100 themes challenge' suggested by vazy; thank you!

We've reached over 100 reviews! Thanks to all of you who follow this series of one-shots; it means a lot to me that you guys review with such nice comments and that when I'm stuck you help. "Thank you!"

Today's theme: Breaking the Rules – Larten's POV

Disclaimer: I'm not Darren Shan. In-frickin'-credible.

"We can stay in here!"

I looked up at the large, ornate building in front of me and groaned: the sun was rising quickly and we needed a place to stay. And apparently a church was the perfect place for that.

"Come on!" Arra called from the top of the steps that led up to the wooden doors, sealing the church from the outside world, "Help me get these doors open."

"It is a church. We cannot break into a church: it is . . . . not right." I weakly protested.

"Why can't we? Aren't churches supposed to help those in need?" I nodded weakly at her logic, "Well, we're in need of shelter. Therefore, we have every right to break in." Arra tried to get the doors open again, but failed. She gave me a look and I shook my head, completely at a loss, but slowly walked up the steps towards the door. I managed to get the doors open without too much bother and I tentatively followed Arra in, glancing around cautiously as I quietly closed the doors and shut out the harmful rays of morning sun.

I turned around slowly and looked around the church: there were pews and an alter at the front of the hall, lots of decorations and holy sayings pinned to the stone walls, but no one seemed to be here. There was a door leading to a stairwell to my right and I checked it out, just to make sure no one would appear from the upper floors of the church. Fortunately, the place was empty of all life but that didn't make me feel any easier: we had broken into a church, into God's house, and surely that was a sin.

"The place is empty." I called as quietly as I could as I came down the stairs and walked down the aisle, keeping my head low. I set my bag down on one of the pews near the alter and went over to Arra, who was carelessly flipping through a Bible, "I really do not think we should be here though." I hissed.

"You just said it's empty, so what's the problem?" She replied, slamming the Bible shut: a plume of dust shot into the air as she did so. I stared at her as if she had just asked the stupidest question ever (which she had) and groaned again, putting a hand over my eyes, "What?" I heard her ask, worry slightly tainting her voice.

"This is a church," I explained, taking my hand form my eyes, "and we have just broken into it. We have broken into a house of God."

Arra shrugged, "So?"

"So!" I almost shouted, alarmed at her lack of consideration, "This place is holy, and we have just committed a crime, a sin."

"By breaking in to save ourselves." She stated, "What are you worried about? Holy water?" She grinned and walked over to the alter, "The wrath of 'God'?" She turned to look up at one of the stained glass windows, "And it's hardly a sin, Larten. Don't over-react."

I stared at her in shock and opened my mouth to argue but closed it again after a moment, "Do you believe in God?" I asked quietly.

She glanced at me, "No." Her answer was simple, full of strength and a kind of pride, as if she thought not believing was something special.

"Why not?"

"Bad things wouldn't happen if there was a God." She answered, sitting down on a pew, "Everything would be happy and easy. Vampaneze wouldn't exist, and neither would vampires." I sat down next to her and looked at the floor, "If there was a God, then there wouldn't be war or murder or pain . . . . " she trailed off slowly.

I hesitated, unsure what to say. We had never had a conversation about religion or beliefs before (I don't know why) so this was new to me, and it shocked me, "Do you believe in the Gods of the Vampires?" I asked.

"I don't know." She said simply, "I don't think I do."

I nodded, leaning back against the hard back of the pew, "If there were Gods of the Vampires, then surely we wouldn't have to go through such a hard life, right?" Arra looked at me, almost pleading.

"I suppose." She did have a point, one that I didn't like to think about, but I had to answer.

"Do you believe in God? Vampire and other?" She asked with a slight smile.

"Yes," I nodded, "I was brought up with a very religious family, and it was all we had, our faith that God would make life better."

"It didn't though, get better." Arra pointed out carefully.

"It did for me." I sighed, "Seba found me and saved me, giving me a second chance at life. And the one I have now is much, much better then my human one. So, therefore, I do believe that there is a God." I smiled at her, "God lead me to vampirism, and consequently, to you."

"That was 'destiny', idiot." She smiled.

"I believe that it was God." I paused, "When you were going through your Trials, you prayed to the Gods of the Vampires."

"Yes," Arra replied slowly, "But I think everyone who is close to death prays to a god, just for peace of mind."

I nodded and went silent, watching the morning sun play on the stained glass windows: the bright colours shinned onto the floor of the church, casting the hard grey stone with beautiful colours and patterns, "Do you believe that there is a Paradise?" I asked quietly, my eyes still trained on the colours.

"No."

I glanced up and saw Arra was watching me warily, "What do you think happens to you when you die then?"

She hesitated before answering, choosing her words carefully, "I think . . . . I think you relieve your happiest memories. The happiest moments of your life get played over and over again, and it never gets boring or tiresome. But that's only if you've lived a good life." She added, "If you've lived a bad life, then you have to relive your worst memories. And all the worst moments in your life, and every bad decision you've made . . . . it just keeps replaying."

I considered this for a while, thinking it through and eventually came to the conclusion that this was a perfectly acceptable belief system to have. My eyes wandered around the church, straying back to the colours on the floor from time to time, and all the while I was aware that Arra was waiting for me to say something.

"You could be right." I finally sighed, looking up and smiling slightly. Arra relaxed and returned my smile, moving to rest her head against my shoulder, "I'm sorry for shunning your beliefs." She mumbled after a while.

"I need to be more open minded anyway," I replied absently, my eyes pinned on the figure of Jesus Christ on the cross that was hanging behind the alter, my whole religious beliefs shaking and crumbling in my head. For the first time, I managed to see the world as Arra did: one with so much pain and hurt that there was quite obviously not a god. That there was no one to help in the worst of times, when all you needed was some sort of faith in something or someone.

And then I realised that the faith that had gotten her through the Trials and through so many other hard times in her life was not in God, but in the people around her: her friends, the people she cared about and the people who cared about her.

That faith was better then any God could bring forth: because that faith was visible, it was living and breathing proof that God wasn't important. What was important was the people you care about, the people you trust and love.

Yeah, that was kind of my thoughts on life and religion. Kind of weird and it didn't make much sense, but whatever. I thought it was good what did you guys think though?