I do not own anything related to Lucifer, DC Comics, Vertigo, or Sandman series, either thru television, written books, or film. Everything belongs to Tom Kapinos, Fox, and mentioned above. I do own all the created characters. I do not own any songs, or literature mentioned. They are included to enhance the written words. Please read, review, and enjoy!
Chapter Five
Song(s): I Was A Fool (Sunflower Bean), Patagonia (Swiss Portrait)
Grace Church, 132 Kentucky Ave, Fairfield, California…
Sunday
Stepping around a large puddle that was only continuing to grow in size from the continuous weekend rain, Miriam jogged as she struggled to keep up with her brother's long-legged stride. Spying the red bricked one storey church on the corner of the street, her eyes took in the large black letters of the church, noticing that some of the letters had become crooked. Catching the church door as Aaron immediately turned left towards the stairs leading to the basement, she coughed as the smell of musk and stale air hit her nostrils.
"We've moved the Sunday School into the back room so that we can have the light of the window, and the choir uniforms are in the front room in the closet in case anyone asks you" Aaron spoke, propping open the door as a box of crayons fell onto the floor.
"Do the kids still come down at ten?" she asked, watching her brother stepping over the crayons as he shot her a curious stare.
"You haven't been away that long Miriam." Aaron chided as he pulled out a box of construction paper and Bibles.
"What is the topic?" she asked, grabbing the colored paper but ignoring the well-worn religious books.
"Sibling rivalry. The story of Cain and Abel."
Funny, I almost read that last night as the storm was rolling in
"So, the kids are all going to draw a picture of themselves and their siblings together" Aaron spoke as he spread out the crayons all over the drawing table.
"What happens if one of the kids is an only child?" she challenged as her brother smiled.
"I made sure each kid had a sibling before deciding on the activity" he announced proudly as Miriam nodded her head.
"Explain to me again why you want to go to Theology School and become a Priest?" she questioned, watching Aaron resting his hands on his hips as he surveyed the set table.
"Spread God's word and do His work" he spoke simply as Miriam felt the sour taste in her mouth.
There is no God Aaron. Any one can see that
"So, the same old rhetoric as everyone else?" she challenged, hearing the laughter of approaching children as they bounded down the staircase.
"Look, I wouldn't have asked for your help if no one else was available, so just…play nice" Aaron spat as five young children came skipping into the room.
"Who are you?" a small boy questioned as another stuck his tongue out at her.
Perfect
…
"Why did Cain kill his little brother?"
Hearing the child's question, Miriam shrugged her shoulders as Aaron narrowed his eyes.
"Cain killed his brother Abel, because he was jealous of God's love" he spoke, arching his head towards his sister as Miriam thought to herself.
God's love?
Probably jealousy over a woman
But how will we ever know?
"What happens if I find out that God loves Cassie more than me?"
Feeling the stare of the little girl as Miriam passed a piece of blue construction paper across the table to a boy who was having trouble drawing the face of his brother, she taped her fingers along the edge of the wood as she debated whether or not to give an honest answer.
"Sarah, God loves everyone the same. He gave a test to Cain and he failed when he killed his brother" Aaron interrupted as he checked his watch. "Alright guys, it's time to go back upstairs."
"Nice save" Miriam muttered as she gathered up the bits of paper and tossed them into the cardboard box along with the crayons.
"What would you have told her?"
"I would have told her that God has a sick sense of humor, and that Cain probably killed Abel over a woman."
"That's nonsense Miriam."
Following the kids up the stairs to the general congregation, Miriam swallowed hard as she heard the music of the organ from the far corner of the small room, she felt the eyes of Christ as she turned slightly and took in the restored stain glass that had been shattered just before she had moved to Los Angeles. Moving her eyes over the golden halo surrounding his head before noticing the wounds on his hands, Miriam turned away as a few kids rushed past her and back to their parents seated in the creaky wooden pews. Spying her own parents seated up front and center, she ignored them and took a seat to her immediate right, catching the eyes of the Minister.
"Today's sermon ties in with what our children were learning about in our Sunday School downstairs. Cain and his brother Abel. Two brothers, both tested, with one paying the ultimate price for his distrust and jealous nature. Today, we look at Wrath. We look at the anger that filled Cain when God declined his offering."
Tuning out the Minster as her eyes fell on the wedged in Bibles, she noticed an Old Testament and as she opened the book marker, she winced as the page fell open onto Genesis four verse thirteen.
And Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear!"
"Right well, they are reading about Cain and Abel so someone took the liberty to mark all the books beforehand" she whispered to herself as an elderly man seated across gave her a sore look.
"Now folks, we have no copies of the Old Testament on hand, so if you'll all open your Bibles…"
Fumbling with the small dirty book as she dropped it onto the floorboards, Miriam rose to her feet and turned towards the white double doors that would lead to fresh air. Letting the doors close behind her as she started to walk in the rain back towards the farmhouse, she didn't give the building another look as a flash of lighting streaked across the sky.
…
Tyler Acre Farms, 7241 Williams Road, Fairfield, California…
12:24pm
"Are you sure you don't want to eat first before driving back to Los Angeles?"
Hearing her mother's voice as she finished zipping up the front pouch to her bag, Miriam shook her head as she felt the stuffiness and claustrophobic of her childhood bedroom, devoid of most things kids whose parents had money would have had decorating the bare shelves and closet.
"No, I have stuff to do" she gruffed, moving past her mother as the woman's eyes noticed the missing cross from above the bed.
"Miriam, where is the cross that was above your bed?"
Trust me Mom, it's not in my bag
"It's in the table drawer."
Knowing her mother would be fuming with finding the cross and Bible shoved into the bedside table, Miriam felt the corners of her lips pulling into a smirk as she walked straight towards the front door. Pulling it open, she heard the rain draining down the broken eavesdrops just as a throat cleared to her left.
Looking over to her father, she pocketed her keys as she came to sit next to him on the wooden swing.
"When will you find yourself out this way again?"
Not for a long time if I can help it
"I'm not sure. I'll hopefully get a placement this summer which will take me into my final year at College, then after that, hopefully the LAPD" she began as her father nodded his head before setting his hand down on hers. Hearing the door open once more, her eyes fell on her brother's outstretched hand as he held out the small dirty Old Testament that she had found in the church pew.
"Old man Paul said he saw you drop this."
Staring at the book in Aaron's hand, Miriam shook her head as she leaned over and kissed her father's cheek.
"Old man Paul is blind Aaron, and that is not my book" she spat, rising to her feet as she walked down the steps towards the car.
"Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another" her father preached out loud as Miriam turned back and gave Aaron a hug.
"Good luck in Kansas Aaron."
…
345 E 1st Street, Apt 3, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California…
Turning her key in the door, Miriam pushed the door open as she kicked the Saturday's LA Times over the threshold. Setting her bag down, she heard the opening of Dakota's bedroom door as she caught a glimpse of the clock near the television.
"I thought you would have been back way before nine?" she questioned, watching Miriam striding straight towards the fridge.
"Traffic and rain it just piss poured all weekend. But once I got about an hour outside LA it just dried up."
"Well, hopefully it's not coming this way" Dakota spoke, watching her friend pulling out a carton of eggs, spinach, and a block of cheese.
"Well, Chris is here, so I will see you tomorrow morning" Dakota smiled as Miriam winked.
"Thanks for the warning."
…
Scooping the last of her omelet into her mouth, she sat her plate aside as she sorted through her application once more before checking that each box contained her signature.
"Right, off you go" she whispered, feeding the sheets through her scanner as she attached them to her crafted email to the Forensic Department. Hitting send, she let out a long breath before closing the lid to her laptop. Settling down on her bed, she had just angled her pillow for her back when the distant sound of a police siren met her ears.
Listening to the siren as it coasted in the air, she heard it fade into the warm night as she closed her eyes.
So blue
Moving her gaze onto the holstered silver and black handled gun that rested along the curve of his jeaned hip, she raised her eyes and noticed the rounded bottom of a tattoo peeking out from the short sleeve of his grey t-shirt.
Pars Est Sempiternum
"How the hell would you even spell that?" she breathed, rising from the bed and back to her writing desk. Opening the lid to her laptop, she brought up Google and rested her fingers along the keys.
"P…ars…Est…Sempetnurm?"
Hitting enter, she found only one entry on a Latin to English translation page and as the page opened, she scanned her eyes over the Latin text before reading the English translation.
"It is a part of."
A part of what?
Staring at the translation, Miriam flexed her fingers as she blinked quietly.
Why would I start thinking of him?
He irritates me
Yes, he's damn good looking but…
He's just a miserable man
"Wait…what the hell am I doing?"
Quickly standing up from the desk, she heard the crash of her chair as it fell backwards onto the floor just as Dakota banged on her bedroom door.
"Miriam? Are you okay?"
"Um, yeah… I just sent my application in for the internship" she muttered, staring at the chair before throwing her hands up on her hips.
"You look like you've seen a ghost" Dakota spoke, leaning against the doorframe as Miriam licked her lips.
"So…I heard some sirens and that Lieutenant popped into my head. And then, I found myself remembering the words of his tattoo and I was, googling them…" she began as Dakota started to smile.
"So, he pissed you off, you apparently pissed him off royally….and now you can't stop thinking about him? I dare say, you might have a crush. Think you have the guts to go to that detachment and ask him out?" she smiled, shifting her weight as she watched her roommate picking up her chair.
"I don't have a crush on him" she spat, pushing her chair in before slamming down the lid of her laptop.
…
345 E 1st Street, Apt 3, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California…
April 30th…
Looking at the calendar on her Blackberry, Miriam sighed before turning the device off after checking her email for the ninth time in thirty minutes.
I didn't get an internship
Rubbing her temples as she heard the apartment door opening, she remained silent as Dakota slung her bag over the back of the futon, letting it rest beside her roommate.
"Nothing in the mail?"
"Nothing in the mail, no emails, no phone calls, I even knocked on the other apartments in the building to see if anyone got mail for this unit. Nothing" Miriam spoke with annoyance as she turned around and spied Dakota kicking off her Doc Martin boots.
"And because I had hope that this time I would get something, I declined working at the library for the summer. So now, I am left with no job and no field experience to make up for the fact" she moaned, taking up her glass of apple juice before setting it back down on the table without taking a sip.
"That's shitty. So, do you think you are going to try and find a job here or go home for the summer?"
I'm not going home
"Maybe I'll see if the women's shelter has any casual positions" she muttered as Dakota swore under her breath.
"Shit, I forgot my phone in the car."
Slipping on a pair of flats, Dakota grabbed her keys and let the door close softly behind her. Walking down the four flights of stairs to the ground level, she pushed the door open and gasped at the heat as she made her way to the alley parking lot. Hearing the beep to her car, she ducked inside and unhooked her iphone from the cable radio wire just as her eyes fell onto a white envelope in the console.
"What…"
Picking it up between her fingers, she flipped it over and furrowed her brow as she read Miriam's name.
"Where the hell did this come from?" she blurted out as she turned it over and saw the California State stamp.
"Holy shit…"
Taking the stairs two at a time before jogging down the hallway of the fourth floor, Dakota threw open the apartment door and immediately rounded the corner of the futon, bumping into the coffee table as the single glass of apple juice tipped over.
"Damn Dakota!"
"I am telling you the truth when I say I have no fucking idea how this got into my car" she breathed heavily as she held up the envelope.
Focusing her eyes on Dakota's hand, Miriam felt her stomach tightening as her fingers trembled.
"Is that…"
"It's stamped from the school."
A fucking rejection letter
"I'm opening it."
Watching her friend tearing off the end of the envelope, Miriam folded her hands together and felt the nervous sweat as she waited for another summer of bad news.
"Congratulations…"
Throwing her eyes open, she watched as Dakota shook the letter hard with a big smile.
"YOU GOT AN INTERNSHIP!"
Wrapping her arms around her friend's shoulders, she felt as if her heart was about to leap out of her chest as Dakota sat back.
"Okay so, you got into the LAPD Forensic Laboratory! So, added bonus, and you start on May third, shit only a few days away."
LAPD?
"God this is perfect! What is the address? If I can get away with maybe taking the bus instead of driving, I can save a bit more money" she smiled, watching Dakota scan her eyes over the rest of the letter.
"Right. Los Angeles Police Department, the North Hollywood Division on 11640 Burbank Boulevard in North Hollywood…" she began as she caught Miriam's pale face.
"Jesus, are you okay?"
"North Hollywood Division… 11640 Burbank" she spoke as she tried to steady the voice coming out of her dry throat.
"Yeah, and?"
Staring directly into Dakota's eyes, Miriam moistened her dry lips and stuttered as she struggled to find her next words.
"That, is the Division that I went to for my ride along. That, is the Division manned by Lieutenant Marcus Pierce" she breathed as Dakota felt her mouth falling open.
"No…fucking…way…"
Feeling sick to her stomach as she rose to her feet, she grabbed the paper from her friend's fingers and stared at the address.
"This is probably the last thing you want to hear, but…do you remember when I said that if you run into him again in a city of four million within the month?"
Yeah, I do
"This is fucking fate Miriam."
What are the mother fucking odds?
Out of everything possibly available in the City of Angels…
"I'm telling you, something is messing with you. And if you say this guy is good looking? Then hell, go after him in the short time you are there."
Looking up to the ceiling, Miriam took a deep breath and heard the words in her head…
Am I supposed to meet him over and over and over again?
What in the hell have I done to deserve this?
Throwing the idea out of her head as she mentally chastised herself for even looking at the ceiling, she clued into Dakota's words as she tossed the envelope onto the table.
"Prepare yourself honey, because in three days, you are going to intern in his very own backyard for four months."
…
Please read, review, and enjoy!
