Chapter 9

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Ami wasn't quite sure how she was standing here now, in a giant cathedral in Rome, with the two thousand year old ghost of a very strange priest. Barabas was clearly a real ancient Roman, but there were all sorts of things about him that were unknown. This only caused her vague fear of him to linger. Something was off, but she couldn't quite place it. Still...the sad look in those eyes caused her to continue to give him her full attention. For now, she just listened. He had paused for a time, and then walked towards another, smaller adjoining room, with her following. It was very weird...her body felt light, almost as if she were on the surface of the moon. When she went to follow him it was more like moving in a dream. Her eyes gave her all the intricate details of a very real place, but deep inside she knew...this was not real at all. It was just a conglomeration of memories...put together by Barabas in his own mental plane.

How was he doing all of this? Appearing as a spirit, and having the ability to do what he did? This is what she wondered as they entered the next room.

As soon as they entered, Ami flew a hand to her mouth and attempted to stifle a cry with little success. This new room's ceiling and side walls were covered in bodies. Hundreds upon hundreds of them. It was a simple, domed room, much like the priest's area from before. Only it was somewhat smaller, and contained many rows of odd little shelves below the corpses, all with gently glowing candles lining their surfaces.

Oh...god...what is...?

Ami couldn't get the words to form coherently in her mind. Her eyes swept over the scene again and again, as if she couldn't quite grasp the reality of it.

Barabas sighed with misery. He looked at her forlornly.

This is my son's work.

She found her voice, although it trembled with emotion. Yeah...Barabas...I could have told you that. I've seen it before, in the warehouse...but thankfully...not yet in the cave. But this..this pales in comparison-

You want to know why he does this.

Well of course! Except he told me once...he said it was so he could remember the suffering of his victims.

Barabas nodded, barely perceptible. He glanced over the room himself, then back at her, his ice-blue eyes glistening in the candlelight.

That is so. But there is more to it than that. However, I am getting ahead of myself. Let met get back to the story. After our crazed union, Alonus came back to me still. She visited for many weeks which turned into months. I was blissful with this secret relationship, since I had felt somewhat of an outcast amongst my own fellow Romans. That in itself is another story that is not important, but it caused me to be as much of a loner as my unusual partner. When Alonus was here, she would lie upon the stone table over there and talk with me for many hours... he pointed to the structure to his left. It was a simple design, with a slight indentation in the center, almost like a type of long bowl. Here was a place for animal sacrifice, although its purpose changed. I used it to slaughter animals for Alonus, although she was perfectly capable of hunting on her own. It was like spoiling her...although I do not know why I felt compelled to do this.

After so much time I learned to trust this heradus without fear. I told her then that I was once married, and had a daughter.

Her name was Aelia. I told Alonus that my wife had left me, and Aelia was all I had left. My wife's betrayal had caused me to become a bitter man, and I swore I would never love anther person again. It also did something to my mind...it caused me to do something much later in this story that to this day...I still regret.

Ami blinked, listening intently. The lingering unease nagged at her even more. Somehow...she hated being right about these feelings, and saying nothing waited for him to continue.

As time went on this new life of mine turned into obsession. I longed to be with Alonus all the time, not just at night. I begged her to come during the day, but she refused, not wanting to risk being seen by other humans.

I longed to be with her intimately as well, but she had become irritable and kept me away. Not denying my company, mind you, but she began to loathe being touched in any sexual fashion...and her appetite actually began to diminish. I thought for certain she had become sick, this was so unlike her. Finally, she admitted her cranky behaviour and sore body could mean only one thing...she had become with child.

Normally Alonus is not one to show her emotions freely. But I could see the elation on her face as clear as day. I however...was in shock. I could not comprehend or accept what she was telling me.

I refused to believe it...or even acknowledge it...but I kept most of these feelings to myself.

For the entire pregnancy it went on this way. Then one night she went into labor. She called out to me...wanting my company or assistance, I could not tell. But I did not go to her, I could not.

The child came. It was male. After many hours, she herself came out of the room and ambled over to where I was sitting in my chair, head in my hands. She held the infant to her chest, wrapped in cloth. On her face remained a smile of happiness despite the weariness in her eyes, but I had to force myself to look at the child.

He did not appear human at all. He did have my eyes however...a deep blue. Alonus chattered on about how a heradus child had not been born in a very long time and for herself this was her first born. I was glad to know of her joy, but I felt nothing but unease about the child. I kept these feelings to myself. A couple of days later she had a name.

Goliathus. She said it was the name of her grandfather from very long ago. I asked what happened to him. She fell silent and told me nothing.

Alonus did most of the raising, she did not seem to expect me to do much, since what could I do anyhow? I did not mind, however, I preferred it that way. Still, she would come at night at her usual time, and always bring him so that I could spend some time with him. I absorbed myself in my work in the cathedral, one of the main tasks being to repaint the inside. There was a scaffolding built of wood that I used often to climb up and painstakingly work on the task, often spending many hours doing this. Alonus would watch with interest, and allow Goliathus to explore in the meantime. He grew very quickly. It seemed to me that almost overnight he began to crawl...then walk...then even test out his wings to fly. It would take many years for him to fledge fully, as Alonus explained to me, but he could glide and made full use of the ability. At times he would watch me paint, and tried to copy me. He spent a lot of time practicing drawing...I knew then he was very much an artist at heart. It did soften me a little to know this...he was emulating his father.

I managed to continue this secret life with Alonus and Goliathus for quite a few years. My daughter, Aelia, would often visit during the day, while Alonus was gone to wherever her other home was...I really did not know where she went during the day, and I never felt the need to ask.

Now when my daughter was going on eighteen, she began to long to marry and start her own life. It was this need within her that caused the beginning of a terribly tragic chain of events.

Barabas paused, looking at Ami. She could only stare back at him with wide, sad eyes, completely lost in his story.

It all started when Aelia decided to arrive unannounced one night. She never came at night, although she did know I often worked at these late hours. I was on the scaffolding, working on restoring some of the figures on the ceiling. Goliathus, who was now a teenager himself, was nearby, perched on one of the wooden boards and sketching the figures on parchment, trying to copy what he saw. He often asked me why we painted ourselves on walls...with other mystical creatures, and why there were no heradus. It was difficult to explain to him these things, although he often did not question things further if I failed to be able to answer him. He would just look sullen, and continue to draw.

I was immersed in my task, carefully retracing the figure of an exquisite angel when I heard a stifled cry. I looked down, and there was my daughter, her doe brown eyes riveted onto Goliathus.

I had to act quickly before she lost herself and went screaming into the night, alarming the entire city. I climbed down and grabbed her just before she could turn and go out the door, ready to bolt in fear.

It took a while, but I eventually managed to calm her down. I rapidly spoke trying to explain everything. There would be no point in lying. Aelia could scarcely believe it, but the proof of what I told her was right before her eyes. When Alonus came not a few hours later, I introduced them. Though still fearful I could see the fascination in her gaze. Truly, my daughter was like me. Her mind and comprehension of the world was different...more mature, and accepting.

She began to sneak into the cathedral at night to see the heradus and speak with them, always full of questions. It annoyed Goliathus at first, but Alonus was like a patient grandmother, taking the time to answer her and telling her absorbing stories. After a time, my son warmed to her as well. I was glad to see this...until it began to turn into something else.

The first thing I noticed was my daughter spending more time with Goliathus. She wanted to learn how to draw too and pestered him for lessons. He found it amusing, but obliged her and tried to teach her. Her skills grew, and as they did, he seemed to also grow a new and profound interest in her.

Alonus did not seem to be concerned with it. She only smiled, happy to know of another accepting human. She told me that it was likely Goliathus would guard her...as Alonus watched over me. Our own relationship was still strong. We spent many nights in privacy together, and I knew how much I loved spending time with her...so I too pushed away the concern.

A few months later, as summer neared once again, I had finished the restoration of the ceiling. Proud and knowing my son was eager to see the completed task, I went to find him. I walked all over the cathedral, but he was nowhere to be found. I went outside the grounds and searched, but still nothing. Somewhat concerned I went back inside and to the back room where the table was. It was then I heard something...coming from the basement. It was a strange sound...like a muffled moan...barely heard.

I opened up the trap door and walked down the cold, winding stone staircase to the basement. It was merely an area of storage down there, with chests and boxes filled with various items and clothes. I quietly searched about, listening, then my attention was drawn to a small door that led to a private chamber for meditation. It had not been used for a long time, so I wondered why anyone would be in there.

I had my hand on my dagger, just in case. I flung open the door, and there was Goliathus.

With my daughter...and in an act of fornication.

The shock that overwhelmed me stunned me so that I could barely move. My daughter looked at me with desperate, pleading eyes that were already full of the shame of being caught. Goliathus merely blinked at me.

I roared out, pulling Aelia away as she shrieked, and demanded she leave and go back to her mother's house. She tried to babble excuses at me, but I would not listen. In tears she ran out and I was left there with Goliathus.

I stared at him. I asked him what he had done. Aelia was his half-sister.

He did not understand why this would be wrong, but said that he was her guardian, and she had insisted on them coming down to the basement. He felt something for her he said, and she had made it clear she loved him as well.

I continued to yell at him loudly in my fury...so much so that Alonus, who had finally arrived, came down into the basement to find out what was going on.

I explained everything to her, and she agreed with me, sternly telling Goliathus that the relationship had to end, and immediately.

He did not like this, of course, and became angry at the both of us.

Things returned to normal for a while...whatever normal could be considered with our bizarre family. Then my daughter came finally to see me again...some seven months later...and this was the day that destroyed everything.

My daughter...her middle had grown huge. I found out to my great and utter horror...that she was pregnant, and had been hiding that fact from me until now. Crying she knew full well I would be beside myself, but she begged and pleaded to keep the child. She wanted to raise it. By now I had gone mad with fury. I saw nothing but blackness around my vision and my common sense, or whatever I might have had left of it. I grabbed my golden dagger with trembling hands.

In a moment of true insanity I cried out and attacked her. The dagger drove deep into her abdomen, a river of crimson quickly pooling beneath as she staggered back, her mouth wide in horrified shock. I will never forget those eyes...and the betrayal, regret, and misery that reigned within them. She gasped, gagged as blood came up to her throat, and then fell to the floor dead along with her unborn child.

Goliathus heard her scream, and came up from the basement where he had been rooting arond for art supplies. He saw what I had done and went still as a stone. I had fallen to my knees and was staring at the lifeless body of my daughter, and as the episode of insanity passed the full weight of what I had done began to settle painfully upon my shoulders.

Alonus returned that night about an hour later. When she saw the carnage, she felt more pity than anger. I did not understand. How could she not be angry with Goliathus, who had gotten his own half-sister pregnant? It was then I realized she truly did not see things as humans did. To her, it was an unfortunate consequence of a race that was dying out. Compatible humans were rare, and because I had been compatible...genetics had allowed my daughter to be...a "breeder", as well. The impulse to propagate the species ruled out.

To me it was all so inane. I could not accept it. It was a mortal sin, I told her.

"You Barabas, have committed a mortal sin. Your daughter is dead by your hands, and also the life of her unborn child. It is you who will have to deal with the consequences of such." Alonus said she would soon leave and take Goliathus with her. She felt I could no longer be trusted, and that we needed time apart because she feared my sanity would completely be lost. She called herself weak for having fallen for a human, and admitted she never should have revealed herself to me. Even as she said these words, I saw the sadness in her face. I knew she loved me, but could not bear to admit it.

I went mad with grief. I told her I wanted her to stay, and that I had not meant to kill my daughter. I said aloud for the first time that I loved her, and there were now rare tears in her eyes. But nothing I said would undo the atrocity I had committed.

Of course the death of my daughter, young Ami, did not go unnoticed. I tried to hide her body in the basement, but people were asking around, her friends and especially her mother, since she had gone missing. My daughter's pregnancy, apparently, had not been discovered because she had hidden it well amongst loosely worn clothing, and that was a secret that would never be uncovered.

But as suspicion grew over the weeks, a group of Roman soldiers came and raided the cathedral. They soon found Aelia's rotting corpse hidden in a large chest, and I was sentenced to death.

When Alonus heard of this, she could no longer keep herself away from me. She could not allow the other humans to kill me. One night before my sentencing she came to me and told me she would help me escape. I pleaded for her not to, I feared she would be harmed or worse if they found her.

Goliathus...despite the hatred boiling in his narrowed eyes...stayed by my side. I knew I had rent a terrible scar into his psyche. And yet...apparently he would help his mother protect me, even if he did not agree with it.

I felt like the lowest scum of the Earth. Who was I, to know these heradus at all, to have been gifted their company? I wanted to die, and thankfully, I surely would by morrow's eve. Again I pleaded to Alonus not to come to my aid, but she wept bitterly.

The next day the Roman soldiers came for me...I was to be burned alive at the stake. I did nothing to fight them, I did not struggle or plead. My death, as I felt, was deserved, and at this point in my wretched life...very much welcomed.

And yet Alonus did not listen to me. Once they had me tied to the stake, she came out of nowhere, screeching like a banshee and swooping down upon the solider who was trying to start the fire. Her claws dug into his neck and she left him on the ground, alive but moaning in pain. Full of fury and emotion, she turned to the other soldiers and demanded they let me go.

Their was chaos now everywhere. The citizens who had come to watch were all screaming in terrible fear and certain a demon had come to destroy them all or put a curse on them. We ancient Romans were a very superstitious and foolish people. As I have said before, my daughter and I had been very different. We were not so blinded as to ruled by fear. You, young Ami, are much like us.

He came forward to put a hand on her shoulder briefly, then sighed and continued.

I could only watch helplessly as a hoard of soldiers arrived, quickly throwing ropes. Alonus pleaded with them, but they ignored her as if she were not talking at all.

I had a curious thought in my mind how her voice sounded even more lovely spoken than mentally exchanged. It was the last pleasant thought I would ever have.

She was powerful, and managed to fight away several of the soldiers who were trying to tie her up. Those mighty wings would flap and send great gusts of wind over them, enough to knock even the strongest down. But in the end, there were just too many. They came, drove after drove of soldiers, and eventually, Alonus could no longer fight them off. The panic in me grew.

Could they kill her? Could she die?

Where was Goliathus?

I looked around for him, but I did not have to look for long. He had seen his mother in distress, her head crest up and her screeching howl filling the air. Roaring he dove in to protect her, and being far stronger as a guardian male, he tore apart many of the captors. His mother actually screamed at him to stop, but he would not. It was like he was in a mad sort of frenzy. He kept killing the humans, one after the other.

Alonus now paid no attention to her captors, to her pain, even to me. Her eyes were riveted to her son and she was practically hoarse screaming at him to stop.

I looked at Alonus, seeing the fear in her golden eyes as I had never seen before. What did she fear?

Not men...not any of those who would harm her. Her son frightened her. His behavior horrified her. But Goliathus ignored her pleas.

Would you believe, young Ami, that he managed to kill all of the soldiers? By the time his fury was finished...no one was left standing, except for myself, still tied to the stake and trembling in an overwhelming myriad of emotions.

Alonus was sobbing, she was on her knees and rocking back and forth.

After a long time, she finally stood and cut my ropes with her claws. I could barely walk, I staggered as if my knees were liquid.

Then Alonus gave out an ear-piercing shriek, screaming "NO!". I turned unsteadily to see what was going on. Goliathus had torn open the abdomen of one of the soldiers and was about to devour his organs with an almost demonic coldness in his gaze. His mother tried to stop him, but he snarled and for the first time that I had ever seen, they fought...and viciously.

But it did not last. He froze and looked around, as if snapping out of a trance. There was now an utter silence but I knew they had switched to mental conversation and I closed my eyes, trying to hear them.

I could not. The conversation was private. After a few minutes, Goliathus turned to me and told me his mother was a fool. He did not know what she saw in me. With that he flew away with a snarl.

I was then alone for a few nights, with Alonus, back at the cathedral, which was ruined...everything which could be burned was, and all that remained was the stone shell of the walls. We did not know where Goliathus went, and feared he would not return, but he finally did.

Our relationship was extremely troubled from that day on. Alonus had grown withdrawn from her son, although on a daily basis she still pleaded with him to forgive me. But he would not.

And yet...my dear, young Ami...this is not the end of the story.

She nodded, very slowly. The tormentors? Where do they come in?

First Ami, let me tell you what happened next. I knew I could not stay in that cathedral, or in the city any longer. I was a hunted, hated, and feared man. They all thought me a warlock and some even believed I had summoned these "monsters" in an act of evil, intent on taking over the city. I had to leave...so I went with Alonus and my son. She flew me to her cave in a location far from the city. The place was huge, and I soon settled into it as my new home.

But it was a very troubled, uneasy existence. My son only glared at me and barely spoke to me...or his mother. Alonus was indeed becoming estranged from him, and her depression only grew. I tried to comfort her as best as I could, but she could not be consoled.

I pleaded with her to tell me what was wrong, but she would only gaze at me with glittering golden eyes, looking so hopeless and lost.

Goliathus would not listen to either of us, either. He did what he wanted, and went back to the cathedral to try and restore it (for this was, to him, his real home) and repaint the walls. We told him it was too risky to go back there, but he did not seem to care.

One day, Goliathus did not return. Alonus and I grew worried, so she went to look for him.

Then it was Alonus who did not return.

I had no choice but to gather some meager food supplies and a skin of water and make the long trek back to the cathedral. It took me nearly five days, and by the time I got there I was weak with dehydration and exposure.

I searched the cathedral, only to find it empty. Where had they gone? Had Alonus taken her son and abandoned me?

But no...I knew she would not do this. There seemed to be an unbreakable wall of love between us, that stood the test of time and these horrid events. She had to be out there. I knew something was very wrong, so I continued the search.

I took a huge risk at being discovered. I knew the instant anyone found me I would be killed, but nothing mattered to me anymore but finding them.

Under cover of night I traveled, until one fateful day I found them.

I had gone back to the cathedral for some reason I could not quite place...and heard a noise, coming from the basement. I went down there...only to find nothing...except I was still hearing the noise...a terrible cry of agony.

It sounded like Goliathus. I called out to him, and in my mind, there was the loud and plaintive cry.

'Father! Help me! They have mother-'

The words were cut off, and I could literally feel his pain, a sharp, burning sensation across my gut. I tore about that basement, throwing aside chests, boxes, and old chairs until I found something I never knew existed here. Another entrance...leading to yet another stairwell...winding down deep into the bowels of the earth.

As I went down these stairs slowly, carefully...I still had my dagger and had it clutched tightly in my right hand. I grasped the bulla around my neck, praying for protection.

I heard eerie chanting as I neared the bottom. When I finally came into this new, hidden chamber, I saw a group of men in long white robes standing around. I could just make out my son tied to a stone table and screaming hoarsely. There was blood everywhere, a black blood that I knew was not human blood.

Gripped with rage I then saw out the corner of my eye Alonus. They had her tied with chains to the wall. One of her beautiful golden eyes was gone...someone had plucked it out, and rather crudely. Her abdomen was also half torn open, with her intestines hanging to the floor. As I took a few steps closer I did not even care that the twenty-three men here had finally seen me. All I could see was the look of unbearable pain on the destroyed face of my beloved.

She was still alive, and suffering greatly.

'Barabas...'

I tried to run to her, to tear off her bonds and free her from this wicked place. But I felt sudden and hot, shearing pain in the middle of my back. One of the tormentors had stabbed me, and quickly cold and utter weakness numbed my body. Again I felt another stab, then another. I managed to turn around and sink my dagger into the throat of one of the attackers, and watched him die in satisfaction.

But then over the shoulder of another man who grabbed me, I saw my son.

They had done far worse to him. I will spare you the details only here, young Ami. Just know that whatever he has done to his human victims...is all the same of which they did to him.

I then heard Alonus' agonizing cry of death. They sank a sword deep into her heart, and she went limp.

It was this that caused Goliathus to find a sudden surge of supernatural, truly frightening strength. He managed to burst free of his chains and in a snarling fury maimed and tore apart every one of those men just like he had done before to those Roman soldiers. Except this time he also consumed them . All of them.

I lay on the floor, dying. He came and stood over me.

'I have a special place for you father, ' he said, his voice manic and claws flexing with uncontrolled blood lust. 'Do not worry.'

I was blacking in and out of consciousness, but I remember he took me upstairs. He was talking to me about something regarding a new form of art that would be more spectacular than just mere paintings, but most of the words were not registering as the world grew more dim.

My last memory as a living man was looking down at the cathedral floor from high above, and realizing I could not move my hands or feet. I seemed to be pinned there, like an ornament. I saw Goliathus coming, scrambling up the wall much like a spider.

He stared directly into my eyes with such an icy coldness that I felt raw fear surge through me like I had never known before.

'I will eat your heart, father. And then... you will live on forever.' His claw rent open my chest, and indeed, he ripped out my heart.

That, young Ami, is the end of my story, but only the beginning of his. You see, I had ruined my son. It was all my fault...when I killed my daughter I shattered something within Goliathus. I sent him to insanity. In some way he had forgiven me...because in the end he chose to use me as his first vessel of his new art form as if a final act of reverence. He put me at the very top of the ceiling...and then I was surrounded by the next victims...the twenty three men who had tormented him.

As you know...it did not end there. Time only made things worse...Goliathus become like a statue, devoid of emotion or care, and continued to kill. The human world had betrayed him, killed his mother, tortured him, and shown him nothing but hatred and fear.

This was why Alonus spoke of very few humans being 'worthy'.

But I was no worthy human...I was only a failure. And my failure caused the creation of this monster you call the "Creeper".

Barabas stopped speaking, and fell into a sullen silence. Ami's eyes were puffed and red from the tears that had not stopped since he began. Slowly and carefully she went to him, and sat down next to his ghostly form, right there on the floor. Looking up she saw he was indeed telling the truth...his body was up there, right up at the top.

What...what happened to Alonus?

He did not move his gaze from the floor. Goliathus hid her body in one of the walls...down in the basement.

How am I supposed to find her, then?

I know you cannot get to Rome, young Ami. You will have to try and break into her mind, and awaken her.

But...but you said they killed her...? I don't understand, Barabas.

They did kill her, in a sense. But I know the restorative powers that the heradus have. Given the right circumstances, I know she can be revived. In a way, I do not think they can truly be killed.

But then where would the others be?

Barabas shook his head, finally looking at her again.

I am sorry. But I do not have all the answers. There are things that Alonus had not told even me...but I do know one thing. She is the only one who can help you ...and you are the only one who can help Goliathus. He actually smiled at her,although faintly. I know that you love my son.

And young Ami...I know that you can break him of this curse of hatred, because you can heal his damaged mind.

/

End Chapter 9 Wow. This was so hard to write..but I didn't want to try and work around this story anymore just to make it easier on my self. This is how I want it to go, and hopefully my efforts will be good enough. I know I am taking some liberties here...but it's a story so just bear with me. While I'm trying to be as realistic as possible with Roman customs it may not be 100% accurate...but then again it's fun to just imagine stuff as you go along. :P REVIEW OR ELSE. I mean, review please...I'm starvin' over here! ;)