Okay so after I published this story I started reading another fanfiction and I realized that the names Michael and Gabriel are used in another story for the Preist and Black Hat as well. I totally did NOT mean to do that in any way! So I apologize in advance. I was actually thinking of the movie Legion when I was thinking of names :P
Anyway thanks for the two Reviews! They inspire me to write faster by the way!
(8 years later)
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[a] Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
The large bible slammed shut as I huffed feeling a headache coming on. Not only did my toned muscles feel strained beyond belief from today's test, but a pounding pain in my temples had begun to from only the first hour of text reading.
Pulling my feet down from their propped position I stood and stretched. I could only read the bible so many times, not that I was against it. I loved reading new scriptures and such, but considering I've been reading the same ones over and over for as long as my memory stretched wasn't as entertaining to me as it once was. I could barely recall when my mother used to read to me in bed late at night with the candles the only source of light. I could remember the smell of vanilla in the air, from what I wasn't sure.
I grabbed the oversized book and shoved it on the shelf along with other texts I enjoyed reading. Truthfully we were supposed to read for three hours a night after training, but I felt the day's exercise already fatiguing me, seducing me to turn in early. The candle in my room flickered against the metal interior of the walls; shadows waving in corners and crevices like oily snakes. I walked across the cold floor to the window overlooking a portion of the city. Years ago the cold floor would have been foreign to me, but now I had grown used to it. This entire place had melded into my mind as home. Gone was the warm cabin I was lucky enough to sometimes dream about. Gone was the warmth and comfort of another person's touch; my mother's touch if I could remember her face. Everything seemed so black and white now. There was no color anymore save the days we trained beyond the walls of Cathedral City.
I sighed running my hand through my now short brown hair which barely brushed my shoulders. The city was bustling with night life of all sorts. A blanket of white would occasionally sheath them from the signs of the Cathedral. The people looked of nothing more than puppets and zombies. People forced to work or abandon the city. Even the children at a young age were sent to shops right after school.
I shook my head slowly to myself as I propped one arm up on the window frame and leaned my forehead in against the cool glass. It has been so long that I've searched for an answer. Was what we were doing truly Gods will? Or were we so blind with our nose so deep in text books that we refused to see what we truly needed. Was this all for nothing? I couldn't hope to have my questions answered soon and wouldn't dare to ask them to anyone else. All these years I have done the Clergy's bidding. I have passed the test and received the Priest mark on my forehead, but I still didn't know why I was doing this. Maybe Michael was right; we were doing the Clergys' bidding instead of Gods.
A buzz at the door interrupted my thoughts. I pulled a dark robe over my shirtless form and commanded the door to allow entrance. In walked another cloaked form who revealed himself when he lowered the hood. Gabriel, our lead Priest, stood before me with a blank face. Gabriel, next to Michael , was one of my closest friends here in Priesthood. I couldn't explain why we meshed so well. Maybe it had something to do with our superior fighting skills, or maybe the sacrifices we've been through. But over the years Gabriel has changed. I couldn't quite place it but maybe it had something to do with the Clergymen pushing him harder than any other Priest. The things the Elders did to obtain the greatest warriors were limitless.
"Sister Heather", Gabriel bowed his head slightly. Two years ago he would have just simply smiled and told me the dastardly plans for the day.
"Gabriel", I retorted with a less obvious bow of my own. Perhaps a sign to him he didn't have to be so stiff around me. I wasn't as close to Gabriel as Michael was, but we were pretty fond especially since Juno and I were good friends.
"I apologize for interrupting your scripture reading", he eyed my empty desk with a flicker of question in his eyes; probably because that three hundred pound book wasn't on there. "The Monsieur's have requested an audience with our Company in two hours time".
"What is it about?" I couldn't help but ask.
His blue eyes stared right through me as his lips tugged upwards into a half smile, "You should know by now that they never tell me anything".
I wish I did. I wanted to say, but I smiled in return and inclined my head, "I will prepare then".
Gabriel left without another word only the ghost of a smile on his lips.
Suddenly I felt a draft in the room and instinctively turned ready to fight whoever it is that's broken into my quarters.
"Could he get any more uptight these days?" Michael was leaning against my wall with his arms crossed over his broad chest. His dark eyes lingered on the door where his friend departed.
I rolled my eyes mimicking his stance, "You know you could just knock on my door instead of traversing the ledges of a hundred story building".
His eyes shifted to me as a grin played across his full lips, "That's no fun though". As if this was his house he sat backwards on my desk chair, "Besides can't have any of the other Priest thinking were engaging in any inappropriate behavior now can we?"
I chuckled moving in the bathroom to change into my Priest robes, "Is sneaking into my room considered inappropriate behavior?"
"Who knows", he called back from my bedroom. "What do you think the Clergy wants?" I heard shuffling of drawers and poked my head out of the bathroom to find him going through a stack of papers.
"What are you doing?" I quickly ran over with only one boot on and tried to snatch them away. "Put those back!"
"Well well whats this", Michael smirked standing on his tip toes so I couldn't reach them. Damn him for being so much taller than me.
"They're nothing, quit snooping and give them back!" I was actually jumping to meet the height of his hands in vain.
"Gray, sheets of gray
Colors fawn outside the barrier
But Gray; sheets of gray", he read aloud in a mocking sort of tone.
"Ughh", I huffed throwing my arms up in exasperation, giving up on prevention.
"My my my Heather", he grinned "I've known you for twelve years and all this time you never mentioned you were poetic".
My covers rumpled as I threw myself down on them burying my reddened face into a pillow, "I know it's awful".
I felt him sit down next to me and pat my head like some poor puppy, "Now I didn't say it was awful it's actually really good"
One eye peeked up at him, "Really?"
Everything was silent as he continued reading to himself. I watched his dark eyes roam back and forth over the papers. He set the papers down on the bed with a smile when he was finished, "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
I shrugged sitting cross legged on the bed, "I don't know I figured you'd think it was…."
"Weird", he finished, "Well yea it is pretty weird".
I punched him in the arm hard enough to where it would cause a bruise later. He laughed clutching the darkening spot, "I especially liked that one about the two lovers in the tree".
"It's a story my mom used to tell to me. I couldn't remember a lot of it, but what I could I wrote down"
He seemed to mull the thought over in his head. Heaving a sigh he laid back on my bed with his arms under his head, "Do you remember your mom?"
My eyes lingered in space for a while as I tried to conjure up a picture in vain. Frustratingly I shook my head, "It's all a blur. I can hear her sometimes in my dreams, but I can't see her. Probably because I can't even remember what she looks like".
His dark eyes probed me under half closed lids, "I remember a farm, and my dad, barely".
I scooted closer. Since he was taken when he was twelve he remembered more than most of us. I was always intrigued by his stories; though, I knew it pained him to tell me of them.
He took my signal to continue with a small smile, "Every morning before sunrise I would have to get up and tend to all the animals before noon. It was a pain, but for some stupid reason I liked it".
"What kind of animals?"
"Chickens, cows goats you name it".
"Horses?" I asked mainly because I liked horses. You hardly saw any healthy ones these days, but when I did I spared a second too long to watch them.
He leaned up draping an arm over his propped knee with a smile, "Yes Heather, horses too".
We stared at each other for what felt like minutes. Our eyes intermingled; lost in each other's hidden memories and feelings. I could never talk to Juno the way I could Michael. She was always so lost in Gabriels' well being I felt violated if I mentioned a problem of mine.
I heaved a sigh, "I wish I could remember as much as you do".
He dropped his gaze and shrugged, "Well, maybe one day the Monsieur's will grow a heart and let us visit our homes again".
I knew that wasn't a possibility at the least percentage, but grinned anyway, "Maybe you can teach me how to ride a horse then too huh?"
He chuckled taking my wrist in his palms and fiddling with my bracelet, "Maybe".
I watched him twist the silver cross attached to the leather around, "Do you think the Clergymen have found the Queen? You think that's why they want to meet with us?"
Michael look up at me, "Maybe. They never ask to see all of us unless it's something important".
"Do you think they'll send us after her?"
A hint of malice shot through his eyes for a brief second, "Knowing the Monsieur's I'm sure they will".
I nodded in agreement and ran my hand through my hair in frustration, "They would see it as a chance to rid the world of vampires".
Michael stood suddenly and walked over to the window, "They would see it as a chance to rid the world of us".
My mouth fell open, " What are you saying?"
"Just think of it Heather", he turned to me, "The Queen is no threat to us and neither are her vampires. There are too few of them and too many of us. We've wiped them out and rounded them up in cages for target practice. The Monsieur's hardly have a use for us now, and they either want us dead or want us to try and blend in to society".
"If that was the case then why would they spend over ten years training us?" I retorted with a slight cock to my hips. I have never seen Michael so….paranoid.
He only shrugged scrunching up his lips in anger, "A failsafe maybe. Tell me Heather when was the last time we went out on an actual hunt?"
It took me a moment to think, "A year ago….maybe two?" It was true now that most of the vampires were wiped out we've spent most of our days training and reading texts.
"Exactily. They're hiding in their nest", he gestured violently out the window. "They're going extinct and so will we once they figure out we're useless".
"Okay what's gotten into you?" I asked jumping up from the bed, "For the past few years you've been…obsessed with this..this ..God I don't know what to call it".
His erratic eyes seemed to soften as he realized what he sounded like to me, "I'm just being careful". Michael turned back to the window watching the bustling city below, "I don't want anything to happen to us".
In that instant I tried to find my friend as he faced away from me shadowed in the darkness of my room. He had changed so much. He wasn't a little boy anymore. He wasn't the little boy that was chirpy and bold on my first day. Michael always had a way about him that made me feel safe. Maybe he resembled a characteristic of my father, but I wouldn't know for sure. It was why we've clung together after all these years.
I walked slowly over to him and wrapped a hand around his bicep turning him around, "Nothing will happen to us Michael. They've always needed us and they will always need us". I placed a hand on his cheek and scraped my thumb across his stubble.
His lidded eyes looked down shamefully, "I'm sorry Heather". One hand covered mine; the warmth of it seeping through my gloves.
I nodded in understanding. Michael was in pain. Not the pain I could see, but pain inside him. I only hoped God would help him through it.
"We've been through so much. No matter what happens tomorrow or the next day Michael promise me we'll always be there for each other".
His eyes darted back up to me; sincerity etched in those dark orbs, "You know I promise".
I pulled him in for a hug feeling him tense at first but slowly give in and wrap his arms around my shoulders. This was where I always felt most protected. He was my best friend and we would always have each other's back.
It was minutes later that we both pulled away and I threw up a disarming grin, "Now go get dressed we've got a meeting in an hour".
Blah I know it's sappy and plotless now, but next chapter will be much more interesting:D REVIEW PLEASE!