This is my last attempt, for a while, for a HON story... I hope it works out well.
I really, really like this idea, I drew from Mortal's Might a lot...
Enjoy.
Gabe hated going home, to his awful family, to his annoying stepmother, his bitchy stepsisters, his irritating stepbrother and his abusive father. John Heffer was a monster made flesh, wrapped in a religious mantle that he used for power. And yet, due to illness, Gabe was forced to come home from the annoying Catholic school his father forced him into.
And so, it was with great reservation that he stepped into his father's house... and heard Zoey running her mouth, as per usual.
"We studied this in AP biology. It's a physiological reaction that takes place in some teenagers' bodies as their hormone levels rise. In certain people the hormones trigger something-or-other in a...a...a Junk DNA strand, which starts the whole Change."
Gabe rushed into the room, just in time to hear his father say.
"God's knowledge surpasses science, and it's blasphemous for you to say otherwise, young lady."
"DAD ENOUGH!" His words silenced the room, they all turned towards him. He rushed to his Stepsister, who was marked with a fledgling's crest. He may have hated Zoey, but seeing her sick features and broken expression, his heart broke. "She needs to go to the House of Night. Go pack, Zoey, I'll drive you. You shouldn't be driving in your condition, you might drive yourself into a ditch with how sick you likely are."
His father swelled, looking massive. "Son, you would defend this blasphemy!"
"I am defending a literal child that needs help! She is sixteen, I won't have your stupid religion be the cause of her death!" He shuddered internally, having never stood up to his father, but damn it he would not let Zoey die.
John stepped closer, his cold brown eyes glaring at his only son. "Are you challenging me, Gaberial?"
"Yes, I am, try me." He was just as tall as his father, which wasn't that tall, just as average-looking with brown hair, brown eyes and with just a white skin. They were the definition of John Doe. Bland and Boring, and without any trace of uniqueness. Glaring at his father with anger and hate, he stood tall. "Zoey's an innocent in our little war, dad. Her worthless mother may be satisfied with bending to your whim, but I am not. Back off." He shoved his father back, before coughing. He hid the blood that came out onto his hand. Instead he focused on the look of shock in his father's eyes, the look of fear in Linda's eyes and the look of gratitude on Zoey's face. "Go get your stuff, neither of us will ever be here again. Oh and Father, if you try to stop her, that is a Federal crime. Try me."
Within five minutes they were out of the Heffer household, rushing off in Zoey's bug.
After a bit, Zoey asked. "You and I never got along, Gabe, why?"
He sighed. "Like I said, you deserve better... and frankly I hate John more than you do." They shared a smirk. "I might be homeless now, but hey it was worth it to tell my father to fuck off."
"Um... can we got to my Grandma's house? I need her if I'm going to do this."
"Sure."
They said nothing more as they drove, with Zoey giving him directions to her Grandma's house. Both of them coughing occasionally, Gabe's coming with blood every time. He suspected he was far sicker than he ought to be, he was worried that it was something that could not be cured... it had lasted two weeks and reached a peak that day. He felt a fever coming on, and a sense of dread in his heart.
He feared that he was going to die...
But that was ok, so long as Zoey was safe... maybe he would have done something good with his life...
Zoey's Grandma's house sat between two lavender fields and was shaded by huge old oaks. It was built of raw Oklahoma stone, with a comfortable porch and unusually big windows. Walking with Zoey up the porch, they saw the note taped on the outside of the door.
I'm on the bluffs collecting wildflowers.
"She always knows when there is going to be guests... I never figured out how." She smiled, then coughed. "I'll go and find her, just wait here, kay?"
"Sure, I am a bit tired myself... I'll wait in the car, if that's okay."
She nodded and then hurried away, towards the forest while he got into the back seat of the car.
It was then that his coughs got really, really bad. " The fuck... I ... I can't..." He grasped at his chest as blood spewed from his lips. "Someone, anyone, please help me... if a god, any god, exists, please, help me!" The world went dim for a moment and finally, after one final bloody cough, everything went black and he fell into the void.
Only, the void was less empty than he imagined it. There was a light in the Darkness, and he saw a woman standing there, with the light dancing on her flawless skin. She was tall, far taller than his five foot five, with skin that seemed to drink in the light, and a hair tied into a perfect updo. Her eyes were black though, the light seemed to bend around them. She was dressed in a black gown, like it was made of ink, cascading down her skin and hugging her curvaceous form. She looked an Ancient Greek Statue.
"Hello, Gabriel." Even her voice was flawless, perfect, and deeper than he would have guessed.
"Hi..." he squeaked out. "Are you the Grim Reaper?"
She sighed. "I ought to be, you did die... but no... my son, I am not. My name is Hecate, and I have an offer for you." She reached down and pulled him to his feet, brushing his shirt off like a mother would. "I rarely make an offer to anyone, I am not one for forcing destinies on anyone, but you did call for me."
He frowned. "I... I did, didn't I? I wasn't specific, but you answered."
She nodded. "Your open call interested me, but it was your good nature that kept my attention. You are a smart kid, a survivor and you chose to save Zoey at the cost of your own life. I could not ignore that."
"She may be a whiny brat, but she does not deserve death."
"No, she does not... tell me, Gabriel, if you did survive the embolism in your chest, what would you do with your life?"
He frowned once more. "Honestly, if I have home and health... I guess I want to help the world. Make it better than my father and those like him have left it. I want to help Vampyres and Humans mix, I hate the divide. I want to make a better world, in all ways that I can. But I want to help myself too, I deserve to be able to help myself and live a happy life."
His words must have been the right ones for the Goddess beamed. "Then that is what you are going to do. I was searching for an ally in the mortal world, a world that is forgetting the old ways... you could be that... and so I will give you the chance to be that." She gestured with her hands, and a shadow formed in her palms, dissipating until a pendant formed, one with two torches made of obsidian. He felt the power emanating from it. "Wear this and mark yourself as my acolyte! With it, you will gain the gift of magic. Study the craft until you learn to use it without my blessing. My path is one of choice, choose to be my Priest, and one day you will become just that. If you accept this path, take this talisman and wear it well."
'Should I do this... yes... yes I should. It'll give me life, piss off my father and give me a chance to actually do some good...' He shook as he took the pendant and placed it over his head, shuddering as cold, dark magic flooded his cells. "How do I go about studying?"
"The House of Night serves Nyx, but it also serves any diety that respects women, and promotes equality and the old ways. Tell their High Priestess that you are my Acolyte and she will find a place for you, now and forever."
Nodding he smiled at her. "Thank you for helping me. "
She turned stoic, even cold. "My service is not cheap. I am not Nyx, who hands out destiny to anyone with talent and power. You must prove your worth, master the craft through sheer effort to earn your powers, your skills... Do you understand this, Gabriel?"
"Yes, I do... and I prefer it that way. Never made sense to me in stories when characters were given destinies and powers when they never earned a damn thing."
"Your appreciation of truth and choice is a big reason you have been chosen... walk on my path well, my son, and show the world your power."
She kissed his forehead and a spark of her dark power shot through his body, shattering the darkness and forcing him back to the Land of the Living.
