Warnings: Retired priesties going off to the country side, a risk of nervous twitching here and there, and the usual. :)

Disclaimer: Think you guys can remember it? (hint hint)

A/N: THANK YOU TO ALL MY REVIEWERS! I bow to thee…I-I worship thee! I can't even begin to say how thankful I am to you guys for hanging in there with me. And what do you know? I was able to come up with another chapter! Yehaw!

Retirement

It had been a long time in the history of St. Matthew's church since a priest had last retired upon matters that were simply out of fear. In fact, if truth were to be told…some had to agree that it had never happened before…and Priest Herman was leaving. Many were sorry to see him go…others really couldn't remember whether they had ever seen him before or not. After all, he did most of the Confessions, so his face was always hidden behind that little decorated window.

But in any case, Priest Herman asked to leave without any fuss from the congregation (after all, who KNEW what could be lurking in the crowds after what he had witnessed in the past week or so…?), and simply packed his bags and struck out onto the streets on a cold Saturday night…heading straight for a small inn outside of town that he was very certain he would be safe in. Very few knew where it was, and he had always liked a sort of cozy life himself.

With him, he took a few changes of clothing, some ancient candles, a few old books, and a large crucifix that he was counting on to save him from whatever evil may have tried to follow him on his long walk through the deserted streets of the city, and on the road to that little inn at the least-suspicious speed that he could manage. At least he was free now. Free from that awful job that had nearly given him a one-way ticket to his grave due to the severity of the "confessions" he had been dealing with. That was just wrong. And he had no idea just how far God's mercy stretched – though he suspected it was pretty far – but no matter how far it went, at least it wasn't any of his business.

The people at the inn were, of course, courteous and kind to the old man, giving him a nice snug room on the top floor, and offering him anything that he might have needed and being sure he was comfortable before they went on to anything else for themselves. The priest blessed them for this, and settled down in his new, cozy room to pass away the rest of the hours of the night with a good book and the heater turned high enough to make him feel very snug indeed. Yes, this was very good. Very good indeed. It even beat the hospital, he had to admit. Perhaps he would even stay here for a few days.

And when Priest Herman did indeed fall asleep that night, book in his lap, he was immediately filled with very pleasant and relieving dreams…and this would be about the point when we would draw out and leave him where he is right here and now so that this story will actually be able to turn into a "Happily Ever After"…even for an old man.

But unfortunately, the fates are not so generous…and in the wee hours of the morning that night, just as the heater was dying down slightly and the light from the sacred candles was burning low…a sudden, chilly gust of wind blew against the room's little window, ruffling the curtains with a forboding swishing sound, and completely snuffing out any remaining candles that may still have been surviving in the area.

And when the room was completely let go of all extra light other than the moonlight coming in through the window, and the priest was still snoring softly in his chair with no idea whatsoever of what was happening…a dark figure slipped quietly in through the open window, not making a sound as he hit the floor below him like a cat, slowly making his way toward the chair in which the old man was sleeping like a forboding shadow come to life from the priest's worst fears.

The crucifix was ignored, although deftly respected by the figure swiftly swiping his hand across his forehead in a sign of reverance just as he reached the priest's chair, leaned down close to the old man's ear…and whispered into it in a voice that was low but smoothe…and very unmistakable.

"Wake up, Father…"

It did not take long for the old man to respond to that. And what a very nice response it was. His eyes flew open in a shot, and all the color left his face in a time that would have gone down in the records had anyone else been there to see it…and anyone else who wouldn't have been phased by the look of the figure next to the priest, who was now looking on calmly as the poor fellow leapt to his feet with a yell and scrambled backwards several feet, siezing up a fire poker that was sitting up innocently against the wall, and finally holding it out feebly at the figure before him.

"Who are you!" He demanded frantically, sweat beading on his forehead when the figure gave a small sigh from under the hood that he wore as though to shield his eyes from being able to be seen. "What do you want! Why have you followed me! Don't you know I am the Lord's servant! Be gone!"

"Be gone?" The figure asked, a light chuckle shaking his shoulders as he reached up his hands to finally draw back the cloth that covered his face. "Well, my dear man, I can avoid being seen if I wish…but to disappear entirely, that is a rare gift." He said, and when the hood fell away, the priest could now see the face of a rugged-looking man with a dark beard and a knowing smile on his face. But the strangest thing to the priest was, infact, that he had never seen this man before.

"Who are you?" The old man asked suspiciously, his hands trembling as he held onto the poker for dear life.

The man's smile turned wry. "Are you frightened?"

The priest hesitated, his immediate thought to lie and declare boldly that he was not afraid of a mere stranger, especially with the Lord on his side…but that would be lying, and heaven knew that a man of his service could not tell a lie, so instead he told the truth. "Yes." His voice came out sounding rather small, but at least it came out.

"Not nearly frightened enough." The stranger said, his voice sincere as he stole a glance out the window before turning his eyes back to where the priest stood. "I know what haunts you."

"Haunts me?" The priest breathed, his legs now shaking as well from underneath his casual but distinguishing robes. "I-I do not know what you…"

"Yes you do." The stranger replied simply. "I know what has visited you, and I know why you seek to hide here even when you had the greatest sanctuary from evil where you were in that church." He stole another glance out the window. "My name is Aragorn. I have come to bring you back."

"Well, I am afraid I am retired, or haven't you heard?" Priest Herman said, a bit of edge to his voice as he pointed the poker a little bit farther out. "I am no longer in for confessions, and I have left the church!"

"And yet you are still a man of God, are you not?" The man, Aragorn, asked.

The priest did not respond. He did not want to. Truthfully, he could not think of anything safe to say that would not give away something about himself that might lead to further disasters. The last thing he needed now was for that black thing to come back…

Aragorn nodded. "I thought as much. Then you will not come back to the church?"

The priest shook his head firmly. "I am afraid not." But a man of God he was indeed, and it wasn't long before his conscience began to throb painfully inside of him. How could he refuse the plea of a child of the Lord? He never had before… "…but why is it that you want me to return?"

The stranger's eyes never left his. "There are others that need your guidance. Those that are forever trapped by the snare of evil – "

"I am sorry, I do not do exorcisms." Priest Herman's voice spilled out, but Aragorn held up a hand.

"I was not speaking of demons, Father." The man said. "But there are some that will come to the church in search of sanctuary and relief…and Gandalf the White has forseen a destiny for you that you may not see now, but will be of the greatest value to the lives of you and others."

The priest stared at him in disbelief. "What? Me?" He asked in a very timid voice. "I-I do not…"

"The word of Gandalf has never come to us untruthfully."

"No man is perfect."

"Gandalf is no man."

"I see."

"Will you come back?"

"Mr. Aragorn…I have had experiences that you – "

"I understand your hesitation. I cannot say you have no reason for it."

"Thank you."

"What if I were to tell you that terrible things will come to the church if you do not return?"

"Posh! It is the Lord's House!"

"And yet even a simple stone structure may be destroyed."

"…will it be dangerous?"

"I cannot say."

"That is my point."

"So you will not come back?"

"No."

"Very well then."

And before the priest could say another word, the next thing he knew, he was standing in an empty room with cold wind brushing in through an open window, fire poker still held in his hand, and a look of horror still permanantly etched on his aged face.

Aragorn was gone.

But somehow Priest Herman wasn't feeling very safe anymore.

--))--

Well, well, well! There is my attempt at trying to bring him back! So retirement doesn't seem to have helped dear Priest Herman very much, has it? The poor guy. Can't even escape to the countryside. But I wonder what will happen now? He refused Aragorn, but he doesn't feel very good about it. Oh, what is to become of him? (dramatic swoon) He doesn't like me very much for continuing to stalk him down either. But if he must go…I won't let him go without a fight! (charges forward valiantly) Guwahahaha!

-Review Responses-

Deana: Oh thank you, thank you very, very much! You are much too kind. I am very glad you like this story! Hopefully there won't be anymore huge update gaps from this point on, so you guys can continue to enjoy it in peace. :) Thank you for your reviews! I really appreciate them! (hugs)

Kabuki733701: Ah, mellon nin! It doth me good to see your reviews again! (hugs) I'm very glad you liked the new chapter! But you're right. Taking the next step from the last chapter was indeed hard…but as you can see, I'm not letting this guy go! Not without a decent run-down first. He's way too good a guy to just be left out of all the excitement like that. The only difficult thing now will be to try and get him to actually help out a little bit, you know? He's an old guy, but he's a good guy…oh, and by the way, I have all of your suggestions stored away just in case of more confessions…just so you know. ;)

Lindahoyland: Oh, well thank you! You speak of two valid points for me there. Thank you very much for complimenting my writing, and I do agree with you about the "unusual" part. It is very unusual. And I'm rather proud of it, to be quite honest. :)