Whee! 41st chapter! Not much to say but enjoy and leave me some reviews, ok? -puppy eyes-

Order 41: Cold Heart's Failure

Maxwell's Office. 1:30 P.M.

Yumie had felt the obligation to tell the chief. Though Anderson may have abandoned the responsibility of Skey, she was now an Iscariot regenerator. It would have been easier to let the girl walk out still being fully human, but the fact stood that she wasn't considered 'human' anymore. The Vatican now considered that girl not just a girl anymore, but a weapon of God. Skey wasn't her own person anymore. The Vatican owned her. As far as those men were concerned, Anderson didn't just lose a sister of the church or a former student. He lost a weapon of the Vatican and mind Anderson's indifference, they needed her back. No word should get out what exactly the Vatican did to their special agents in their Section XIII. Maxwell sat in his office chair, seething in anger at Anderson for his foolish decision to leave the girl by herself. A conference with Anderson had been called by Maxwell for 1:30 P.M. Yumie stood behind Maxwell. His arms were crossed tightly across his chest, the greeness of his vision hardened into stones. The doors came open, Father Anderson walking calmly into the office.

" Close the doors, Anderson."

Obediently, the giant priest did without a word. For a moment, one had to admire how he kept such a coolness of attitude given the circumstances. He knew full and well what he had done to betray Skey, yet he felt nothing for it. The main focus in this one's mind was the vampires and how to kill them. Even after doing some thinking on his own, this priest came to realize like the others, that this war the vampires wanted to bring to the Vatican was indeed that little girl's fault. Skey was important to him once upon a time but now what mattered truly was the safety of the Vatican. Only now, he walked towards the seat before Maxwell's desk with a cold composure. Maxwell studied his face. Father Anderson kept narrowed eyes and lips that have the impression they knew not what a smile was. The liveliness Maxwell had seen in him when Skey was around had left and given Maxwell his best agent back. But was that a good thing?

" Father Anderson, where is Skey Seryc?...Have you forgotten what we have done to her? We changed her into a regenerator!"

" WE didnae. The Cardinals did."

" We LET her! And given those circumstances, she became property of the Vatican, of God! We cannot let our specialized agents loose from the Vatican to roam the streets like a regular human. If anyone was to find out who she was and what the Vatican did to her, how would we look in the eyes of our followers? Worse, citizens are not aware vampires exist. To them, vampires are something out of Brom Stoker's novel! To find out what Skey really does for the Vatican, we may come off as looney towards our devout Catholics! Have you ever took this into consideration before you left her in that city, Father Anderson!"

The priest's composure didn't melt away so fast under such words. Like stone, nothing changed. He only sat there and let the words blow past him. Yumie stood there thinking to herself why Anderson would change.

" Maxwell, we dinna have time for this. Tomorrow, ae battle between us and the heathen vampires will start. Ah care not whaur Skey is...aif she is ae true Catholic, ae true Iscariot agent, she will come on her own. Ah am not gaun tae chase her around jus cause ye say so, Maxwell. Aif ye want her back so much, YE go and track her doon. Ah'm leaving tae go train."

" NO YOU ARE NOT!"

The yell fused Anderson into his seat. The ends of his fingers dug into the chairarms madly, his teeth grinding in anger. Yumie herself even shrank back. Maxwell stood up and pushed the chair back, walking around the desk to come to Anderson. This was very unexpected of Maxwell, but he had punched Anderson across the face then took him by his priests' collar, jerking him straight.

" SHE was your responsibility! Ever since you brought her here, we all put up with it and let you keep your little 'pet'! But now, you got her in deep! Then you discard her like some kind of old toy! Don't you understand! We cannot let a 'special' agent like her loose like this!"

Maxwell pushed Anderson into the seat, regained his cool exterior and walked towards the open window of his office. The rain was threatening to come down from its exhalted atmosphere.

" Anderson, I am giving you an order to go find her. Yumie, you are to accompany him. We must have her back in time for tomorrow night's attack. Anderson, you will not let this happen again."

" Yer such ae cold hearted beast, Maxwell. Jus cause she is noo Vatican property, ye send me oot tae find her. Ah know though, tha' aif Skey wasnae like me, tha' ye wouldnae care if she is deid. She only matters til ye noo cause she is PROPERTY. Ah bet aif she had run away and wasnae ae regenrator, ye would blow it aff and say "tough". Ah know ye better than ye think, Maxwell. Ah speak the truth, dae Ah not?"

" LEAVE!"

Anderson did but left a long glare at Maxwell before exiting the doors then slamming them together with all his strength. Yumie cringed and looked to a seethering Maxwell. Not wanting to become his object to focus his anger, she left hurriedly to catch up with Anderson.

St. Peter's Square. 1:45 P.M.

Yumie found Anderson outside waiting for her. This was the Anderson they knew a year ago, the one that was sent to battle vampires ruthlessly, the one without remorse and mercy. Many feared him, respected him and were in complete awe of his power and prestige. Most still were. Then he Skey and everything completely changed for him.He remained cold and ruthless for a while but Skey's playful attitude softened him. Did he get sick of being the fatherly figure, caring and loving, of Skey? For this to happen couldn't have come at a worser time than now. Just a day away from one of the Vatican's biggest battles...

Both started out on their way, their expedition to find Skey. Yumie couldn't help but stay mad at Anderson for this. Skey was finally starting to feel good about being here, feeling excepted. Then he goes and hurts her, making her afraid to return to the Vatican. How could he have done that!

" Father Anderson, what did you say to her...?"

" Ah told her tae get oot O' ma way...Ah'm tired O' her acting like ae child...she's ae grown woman and yet she disnae tak anything seriously. It's time she shaped up and started tae tak everything seriously."

" You idiot! She takes YOU seriously!"

" Ye know whit...Ah bet ye anything she is better ON the streets...instead O' gaun through oor hell. Hell on the streets and the hell in the Vatican are twae different things. On the streets, she has freens...guid yins aif they would kick the addiction. Ah've met them mysel'. But oor hell, Yumie...we kill vampires, and cannae be known tae the citizens...Like me. Ah'm well-known in Iscariot. Ah'm the most feared by thon vampires and agents. Everyone knows ma name...but the people hae nae idea who Ah am. Ah cease tae exist in humanity as dae ye, as does Skey...as does Heinkel, Maxwell and everyone else in the orgnization. At least...aif she was on the streets, she is known by her own kaind. Maxwell's wrong...Aye, it's true she is ae regenerator, but tha' disnae exclude her and maself, from being human at hert."

" Father Anderson, don't you remember those vivid images of when you brought her in! She was skinny, nearly anorexic. Her eyes were so dark, so sad, her veins tainted to the color of black...bruises all over and she was so damned helpless! You carried her into the Vatican in your arms and proclaimed to Maxwell you didn't care what he said, you wanted to take care of her no matter what! On tha day, you actually, openly, showed affection for the human kind that YOU protect for God! What the hell happened to you today that would make you discard her like trash!...You know what? You're no better than Maxwell."

"...Yumie, jus go back til the Vatican. AH'LL fine her mysel'. Get oot O' here."

Yumie didn't object. The man may be trying his best to attain what he once was, but his word had always been one to trust. If he said he would find Skey, he would.

Anderson continued on without Yumie. What the girl had said struck him heavily. To be likened to Maxwell was the lowest insult. Still, despite how ruthlessly Yumie bombarded him with her perspective which was right, he still felt no remorse in his heart. Skey took a liking to him and now it was time for to stand on her own two feet. He laughed, knowing exactly what Yumie would say. Something like " She's stood on her own two feet for too long! Let her rest!". It would be exactly something Yumie said. That girl had an excuse for everything, and most of the excuses highly believeable or true. the storm had brought a slight chill to the town. Anderson shoved his gloved hands into the pockets of his coat, his head held high and scanning the roads and shops in hopes of seeing her. The sea of people, citizens and tourists alike, washed over him like rolling waves. So many people and none of them the Skey he was looking for. In his right mind, he knew he should apologize to Skey, but...his arrogance wouldn't allow it. Apologies just weren't his thing.

Stag Ave. 2:00 P.M.

Malakai walked side by side with Skey, glorifying the life he would give her. She did listen but absent mindedly. A part of the girl's heart belonged in the Vatican rather than to this vampire. The scenario promised to her a mistake, but she was oblivious to it still yet. Since agreeing, she had shed her Iscariot coat, carrying it in the crook of her arm. the two came off as a good couple but this was to others' eyes. some women secretly snuck looks of the prestigious Malakai, wishing to have some kind of man like him. Malakai stopped near the mouth of a dirty alley, pulling Skey close to him. The body was cold; dead to Skey as she leaned onto it. this was a moment when one vampire couldn't be happier to have someone love them. Skey nuzzled him affectionately, closing her eyes...and secretly, wishing it was someone else.

Down from the street, not far away from where the two stood, Anderson approached. the bitter wind was nipping at his tanned skin venomously. Storms always brought out the bitterest cold. A brisk gale hit him in the face, but he walked through it, not becoming weathered by the persistent lashes. Then someone dark approached him. Slowly the man walked like out of a dream. People around him and this stranger became blurred, nonexistent in these mens' eyes. The green locked into the red, whole and indefinite. This place, was not good for a fight. Too many witnesses and too many innocent bystanders. None of them deserved to know the paranoia that walks their streets at night.

" Malakai..."

" Father Anderson, I presume. You've caused little Skey great pain."

That struck him. How did he know about anything that has happened? Two bayonets had been gripped within his coat, but not revealed. Then the most heartbreaking, mind seizing tragedy happened. Skey stepped out from behind Malakai, a cold icy glare glazing over Anderson. In his chest, Anderson's heart stalled for one or two beats. Breathing came to be hard, as if someone had hit Anderson over the back and knocked the wind out. The dirty vampire let him arm around Skey's shoulders, holding her in a loving embrace.

" She says...you lied to her. Such irony...a priest. And one of the first Ten Commandments..."Thou Shalt not Lie." All you priests are hypocrites."

Inside the side of his coat, his hand shook, the bayonet chattering. Wrath was always a sin Anderson had a hard time dealing with. Staring into the face of this obnoxious vampire who thinks he has won only itched him to throw a bayonet through that face. Yet, the wrath wasn't because he was a vampire. It wasn't because he pressed to wage war on the Vatican. It wasn't even the vampire's cocky attitude. It was the fact he had tempted Skey and even though she was not a vampire...it meant that as long as she was at his side, SHE now was one of his enemies.