Chapter 10
Revelation 2:2
I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.
Tobias's Journal:
Once the war was over, at long and bloody last, I was stationed in the United States Of America. Simon believed that I was ready to go out on my own. After speaking with many of the American GI’s we fought with, he felt that I would be a good fit. Afterall, My family had originally set up a home there, or what would later become part of the United States at least. I didn't mind the posting at all, despite leaving Europe, and settled in a small town in Lakeland Fl. It was centrally located in Florida and anything I couldn't drive to, I could travel to Catholic churches that were familiar to some extent with The Order. There was also a “ward” that Simon felt needed a bit more attention and Lakeland would work out perfect as its new home. The timing was perfect, I was just another man, coming home from the war, looking to move on with life in a new town. Back then, People were much more neighborly and observant. With all of the contacts we made during the second world war, and having more than just the few members of The Order to call upon, Simon decided it would be a good idea to keep the networking going. We knew many skilled fighters who didn't back down when they met true and literal evil face to face. I had gotten addresses or hometowns for most of the Americans I worked with so after I got settled into my new home, I went on a road trip. I drove all over the country and visited my old friends. Some were now married and, although glad to see me, weren't interested in my offer. Some were done with that life all together, and I could completely understand that too. There was however, a small handful, who were grateful and eager for the offer. These men became the first Manus Patris, or Hand of God. Florida was Much more sparsely populated and one of the members had a large orange grove and cattle ranch we were able to use for training. I put them through most of the basic familiarity training, going over the different creatures we may face and whatever weaknesses they may have. Simon joined now and then and we really had a wonderful team. By 1949 we had all the training set up and the support of local churches. As men would retire from the military and return home, a few would be sent our way to help grow and replenish the ranks. Finally we had members spread out throughout the southeastern United States who could respond if needed, to smaller issues taking some of the pressure off of The Order. This was later implemented globally and helped make the M.P. what they are today. The church was a big help as well, and stepped in with clean up as well as caring for any survivors. Eventually this was also implemented worldwide, which was wonderful because I'm really not great at comforting people. It's not that I'm calloused or anything, I completely understand what they are going through and understand it's absolutely awful…. I just tend to stumble over my words or say exactly the wrong thing at the worst possible moment and normally make things worse. Just NOT at all one of my gifts.
As for Manus Patris, I have a shoe box full of metals, and pamphlets from the funerals over the years. It's incredibly difficult to see the men you fought side by side with age, retire and pass away. It's also hard to lose anyone while barreling the hoards of evil. I would visit when I could and talk with the men about “The good ole days” and often wonder about some of them. I know some who retired, married and had a wonderful life. I know others who lived a regular life but would give it all up in a heartbeat to go back in time and fight in one more mission. I don't have the answer, and I probably never will. All I can do is make sure the brave Manus Patris members are never forgotten. We have a memorial wall at The Order compound, all the names of the men and women who had fallen in battle are recorded in a book. I heard the American CIA has something similar. I still try to keep an eye on the families they left behind. I’ve attended a lot of funerals, thankfully the majority from old age. Long life has its perks as well as its downside… I do what I can to honor their lives. I can't imagine how Simon or some of the other members deal with it but I imagine that is part of the solitary lives they live.
Undisclosed location, Vatican city Rome.
The Order Compound
November 28TH
We walked inside holding hands. It felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest the entire way to Simon’s office. I kissed Angiola on the forehead and knocked on the door. “It's open”. I could hear Simon saying from behind the door. I cracked it open and poked my head in. A large bookshelf ran along the wall the door was on and a filing cabinet was at the end, then his desk formed a large U shaped cubby to sit in. Across the desk from him were 2 chairs pulled up to the back of his desk. All of the elders had about the same office set up, and a much larger workshop area around the compound. The offices were mostly for typing up reports and tended to be a bit spartan, other than books of course. “Tobias, I'm glad to see you two are back, come in and have a seat". Simon said, pointing to the two worn chairs opposite of him. We both sat down and told him we basically got zero information. He wanted to hold a meeting anyway to go over everything in detail, just in case there was anything we may have missed. Not to mention the last one ended short and was derailed by our interrogation and this mission. Simon called the meeting then hung up his desk phone. He looked across at the two of us smiling and shook his head. “So is this going to become a problem?” He asked the two of us. I couldn’t tell what exactly he thought happened between us but he obviously knew how to read me rather well. Perhaps he could just tell I was happy and that doesn't really happen after a failed opp. “I don't see why it should be, we are all professionals, adults and there's a looming apocalypse. Not to mention there's no bylaws saying we can't date coworkers”. I said. Simon just put his face in his palms and sighed then rubbed his stubble covered cheeks. Simon groaned and said “Well, Tobias, When the bylaws were written... All the members were A. men and B. took a vow of celibacy... When women began to join the order, there was STILL the vow of celibacy so there's not really any ‘DATING’ at all going on. Of anyone”. He said in a toneless deadpan. His face was starting to get red and I could tell he was aggravated. “Hey Simon, I know you would just LOVE to hash this out for the thousandth time buuuuut... It's the end of the world. So let's focus on that for now, Shall we”. I said as I stood up and wrapped my arm loosely around Angiola’s waist, Modestly with my palm on the top of her hip. Shortly after we all ended up in the conference room and had another sit down with the elders. Reginald, Simon, Phillip and Thomas were all there again. Simon started the meeting off by going over what little information we got from the Vamp we captured and tried to interrogate. When that was over Angiola and I went over everything that happened in great detail, omitting the kiss obviously, and answered several questions about all of the random bits we gathered. After the little info dump I cleared my throat and pulled the custom 1911 I had found in the market and slid it across the table towards Thomas. Realizing I had forgotten to mention the gun deal simply because we got absolutely no information from the guy. He snatched it off the table and reflexively dropped the magazine and checked the chamber. Then he recognized the gun he was holding and his jaw dropped. “My word Tobias! Isn't this one of the first pistols you custom built? It started out as two 1911s you welded together to take a different magazine and did something different with the sights if I'm not mistaken. I remember you spending hours to build a matching pair. If I recall you took the capacity from one gun, the ammo from another and added a few features you liked from yet a third. You said it was perfect for close in work, you lost one battling ghouls an hour or so down the coast right?” Thomas said, still admiring the work we put into it. “Yes, THAT'S the one I lost” I said gesturing towards Thomas “While shopping around and looking for information I saw it sitting on a table for a local gun dealer. He said he completely forgot he had it. I guess the old sigils we put on there are still working. The twin to that one is still sitting in my safe at home! I gotta take this as a sign we are on the right track”.
“That's all fascinating, but it seems you two didn't uncover much at all that will be of much use unfortunately”. Reginald said cutting short our fond reminiscence. “Although I have to say that I believe the two of you are correct in your summation. Either The Dark Pope is missing something he needs to complete his plan, or perhaps he is waiting on a date of significance. Philip, is there anything you can think of that would be of significance coming up soon?” Philip stood up and paced a bit before saying “Well, we are fast approaching several dates. His papacy began December 30th, and he was taken out by The Order March 27th. If he is personally going after us, and the hijacking of Tobias's transit here seems to make me think that, the March 27th date would make more sense to me. However moving this out in the open doesn't sound like something he would do with four months to go before his end game. I'll have to go back into the archives and check but I'm sure there’s something else we are missing here”. He finished pacing and walked straight to the door. Turning around just before closing it he said “Give me 48 hours or less and I'm sure I'll have something a bit more concrete. For now, let's plan on the December 30th date. If I'm unable to come up with something more, we at least have a good potential date to move on and a deadline to our planning phase”.
Simon and the remaining elders began to talk in hushed tones about different possibilities and contingencies, It all faded to a background hum when I noticed Angiola was staring at me. We were seated towards the end of the large rectangular table and across from each other. Her smile was absolutely mesmerizing. I leaned in across the short distance and asked “What's so funny?” I had a smile on my own face now. Her smile was so infectious, my cheeks were actually sore from spending the day with her and laughing and smiling so much. I can honestly say I can't remember that ever happening to me before. I was born in 1578, I stopped aging at 25 but I'm over 400 years old and for the first time in my life... My cheeks HURT from smiling all day. Wow.... “I was just thinking, You have a birthday in a few weeks, If the world doesn't get wrecked at least. Once we get things over with, or if there is time beforehand we should do something to celebrate together”. She giggled. Wow, She was right of course, I was born December 15th but I hadn’t really thought of my birthday in many, many years and had completely forgotten all together with everything else going on. I began to chuckle and said “Huugh your right, I stopped paying much attention to my birthday after I hit 100, I guess I'm normally working or don't really have anyone to celebrate with. Yeah we can do something, What do you have in mind?” The conversation in the background suddenly died off and we looked over to realize that all the remaining elders were staring right at us. Angiola and I both looked over at the elders, then back at each other, then both burst out laughing. Not the most professional thing to do but the look they were all giving us was just too much. It was abundantly obvious that “something” happened between us and it was equally obvious that Reginald was NOT happy. I honestly think Phillip and Thomas were not too surprised but desperately wanted to stay out of it. With nothing more to add to the meeting, and the whole thing wrapping up anyway I stood up. “Reginald”, I paused to clear my suddenly parched throat. “Sir. I know that I have a bit of a reputation around here .I also know that no one approves of some of my choices but”... I trailed off slightly as Angiola stood up and just blurted out “Reggie, We are in love! Okay, and Frankly the world is ENDING, so can we please just be adults and move on. Please? If the world doesn't end we can all be mad and argue till blue in the face if you like, but for now please, let's all move on. I will forever be grateful for all you have done for me. You have been like my father, and I owe you a debt of gratitude I can not even begin to articulate. Nevertheless, I am happy, and I am an adult”. Reginald sat there briefly dumbfounded. He cleared his throat, nodded then stood up and left the room. Thomas and Philip quickly exited as well. I turned to Angiola and she smiled up at me, lighting up my world and quickly turning the knot in my stomach about the possible confrontation into butterflies of joy. That had gone… Well, not at all how I expected to say the least. “I can't believe I just did that”. Angiola said, paling slightly and sitting down. I panicked but did what I could to just keep my mouth shut. If The Order kicked me out, at least it would likely be after this mission. “I've never spoken to him like that before. I'll make sure to take some time to talk with him before we run this mission. For now, I think it's best if we all take a bit to calm down”.
It seemed like we had about 48 hours before we would be needed. I wanted to go home and perhaps talk with The Owl again. I didn't think he would say much more but I was grasping at straws. Angiola led me down the hall and into her studio. I knew she did a lot of the computer hacking and drone surveillance but I had no clue she was an artist as well. The room was painted black all 4 walls, ceiling and floor. Much like my transit room back home but there were multiple paintings hanging on the walls, frames lit up by spotlights similar to a museum setting. A work table covered in paint tubes and brushes sat next to an easel in one corner. On the easel was her current project, an absolutely amazing painting. It was a stunning landscape at midnight under a full moon. The closer I looked the more I saw, there was a Wendigo in the woods peeking out from behind a large dead oak tree. There was a Shoggoth and a few Ghouls in a pack by a stream. It was haunting and sent a chill down my spine seeing how detailed and beautiful it all seemed when laid out on canvas. There was a finished painting hanging above a black couch. It was an amazing work of the crucifixion of Jesus. The painting had the cross in the center and the perspective had you looking up at a steep angle. The pain on his face and the blood from the crown, nails and lacerations from being whipped were all so pronounced. The sky looked like rolling fire and the details throughout were mesmerizing, and dark. She was an incredibly talented artist, with a dark side similar to Titan’s The Flaying of Marsyas or something Paul Booth would tattoo. “I had no idea you were an artist! Your work is absolutely amazing. Every time I look at one I see a new detail I hadn’t noticed before”. I told Angiola, walking around the studio and glancing back and forth at the different works hanging on the wall. She smiled at me and asked “You really think they're good? I don’t really show my art to anyone. I'm sure some people have seen them, this is my studio and office but I don't really show them off? I know the stuff we fight is pretty horrid but when I was going through the training I started to sketch out the different creatures. I would draw full color anatomical diagrams and label the different weak spots or what their skills, strengths or weaknesses were. It was a great study tool for me and I really liked drawing and how some of them turned out, so I started to paint them when I was finished. This hobby actually all started out as a simple study tool”. She chuckled at my astonishment, then she walked over and kissed me again. Still in the embrace from the kiss she asked me “Would you like one of these? Is there any you would want to hang at your house?” Shocked, I answered “I would love to have one of these, How much are you selling them for?” I wasn’t much for decorations, my house was pretty bare other than the random things I've picked up through the years on missions. “I was thinking we could trade, Perhaps some of my art for some of yours?” Angiola said. “Some of mine? I'm not an artist”. I told her. “Your guns are works of art, functional art but it still counts. I could tell from looking at the one you found today, you put a ton of time, effort and energy into it. I can't wait to see your current work”. She said, I had already planned to give her the matching 1911 to the one I got today. “I was going to clean up and function test the one I picked up today at the market then give you the twin that was in my safe to remember our first date. I guess if you call it a date?” I said as we sat down on the couch below the beautiful painting of Christ on the cross. I pointed up at the painting hanging above us and said “I would love to hang this in my living room… I just finished a 4th spare to my custom 2011, I test fired it last week. I machined a custom titanium frame and added a titanium Phoenix Trinity grip this time. It's super light but the recoil is really manageable. I anodized this one and did a cobalt blue to purple fade from the frame to the grip. I color case hardened the slide and it turned out to be one of my favorite builds. I just haven’t field tested it yet. You are welcome to that one if you like it, I can pick it up when I go home to check in with one of my contacts in Florida”. Angiola’s face lit up when I talked about the finish I had put on the pistol. She stood up and started laughing as she walked over to the table and bent down to drag a large rifle case out from underneath it. She picked it up and set it on the coffee table in front of the couch with the latch facing me. She grabbed the painting down from the wall and set it next to me where she had been sitting. She sat in my lap and leaned forward to open the rifle case. Inside was her THOR 408 Cheytac. Instead of the factory tan, It had a tiger stripe camo pattern with a cobalt blue base and purple stripes. “Sounds like it will match perfectly! I'm not really a fan of normal, and between the ruins and sigils engraved to keep eyes off the gun and the distance... It's not like anyone would see it anyway”. She finished sheepishly. I just laughed and shook my head. “Let me guess, Reginald wasn’t too happy with the finish?” I asked. I could understand not wanting the sniper to have a super flashy set up but no one really sees what we do anyway. “No, not really.” Angiola answered me, turning slightly, placing her feet up on the couch and curling up in my lap. She placed her head on my shoulder and I wrapped my arms around her and leaned back a bit. It had been such a long week already and I was physically and mentally exhausted. It felt nice to just sit for a minute, relax a bit and unwind. Plus having her in my arms was absolutely amazing. It was crazy, but it was like we were two halves of the same whole. I had never really been able to open myself up completely to someone. I always had to stay guarded in everything I did and said. I always had to distance myself and keep an ending or an exit in clear sight. I could feel she felt the same way. “Sooo That speech you gave to Reginald, did you mean what you said or was that just to get him off our backs?” I hated to ask and I had a horrible feeling I was going to screw this up somehow because this was all just going entirely too well. I instantly regretted asking but the words just spilled out before I could really think. It had been eating at me since the meeting and I guess my brain just glitched and I spoke out loud what I was thinking. Sleepily Angiola said “I don't really know”. My heart was in knots and I must have tensed up. She looked me in the eyes and my panic eased up a bit. “I know how I feel,” she continued “I'm just not sure about how you feel. So you tell me. Are we in love?” Gazing into her deep blue eyes I nodded and said “Yes, I am absolutely in love with you”. She smiled and said “Good, because I have fallen in love with you too, I have no clue how all this happened so fast and I know it's the worst possible time but”. She was rambling and I could see the panic creeping in on her face. I pulled her in and kissed her, cutting her off mid sentence. She relaxed then snuggled up with her head on my shoulder again. I closed my eyes and had thoughts of going home and before I knew it we must have fallen asleep.
Mouse... Tobias is back. I can smell him in the black room. I don't think he’s alone. I smell someone else, and she smells so familiar too. It sounds weird but I've been having a dream lately where he meets someone new, and everything changes for him. I can't remember all of it but I know he's not alone any more and that he is so very happy in my dream. It's her, it has to be her. I've had this dream my last few lifetimes. I can never remember all of it, but I remember her scent and I remember him finally being content with life. It's been so long I was beginning to think it was just a happy dream I had for him. I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens when he opens the door.
Some time later I woke up and with a start realized that we were no longer in Angiola’s studio, but in the transit room at my house. The painting was leaning up against the side of the black recliner I was seated in. Also, to my astonishment Angiola was still in my arms! That had NEVER happened before. I had NEVER traveled like that before, without a ton of focus and meditation first! AND I had never gone with anything more than the clothing and gear I was wearing! Any time this mode of “traveling” was needed for a mission, we would all end up in roughly the same area, a safe house or something like that but it was done one at a time. Nothing like this! I sat up slightly with a start and that woke Angiola. “Whaaa, how, where are we?” She asked me, looking around the room. It was pitch black painted floor to ceiling and the window had been sealed up. There was a motion sensor I had rigged pointing at the chair to trigger mood lighting when I got back. It was activated and had turned on blue rope lights running along the baseboards of the floor, where the ceiling met the wall and up the corners of the wall outlining all of the natural lines of the room. She stood up and looked around the empty room, then she did a double take when she saw the painting next to the recliner I was still seated in. “We are at my house. In Florida. In my transit room... I have no clue how this happened, the last thing I remember was that we were sitting in your studio at headquarters. Then I woke up and we were here”. I stood up and walked over to the door, opening it and letting in some light. Mouse immediately bolted in and jumped into my arms then climbed onto my shoulder like a parrot and pawed the air in Angiola’s direction. Her face lit up as I reached up and started rubbing Mouse behind the ear. Mouse didn’t really like company, he would normally just stay in his cat tower any time I had anyone over and refused to sleep in the bed on the occasion I had someone stay the night. “Awwww, who’s this little guy? I didn't know you had a cat!?!” Angiola gushed. “Angie, This is Mouse”. I said as she walked over and actually shook his paw. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Mouse”. She said as she shook his paw up and down 3 times. Mouse let out a very satisfied meow and hopped onto her shoulder rubbing his cheek onto the side of her face purring loudly. Angiola reached up with a giggle and rubbed him behind the ear. “Oh my goodness he is such a sweetheart!” Angiola said in astonishment. “Actually, he normally ignores anyone but me completely... He even scratched the last person who tried to pet him that wasn't myself”. I said, puzzled. I walked out of the transit room and across the hallway into my bedroom. I picked up my cell phone and called Simon. I explained what happened and he was just as surprised as me, as far as he knew no one had EVER traveled on accident and no one could take a passenger with them. Well, except for that one time when I was first learning to travel, but I truly was trying to travel then… It just happened by accident sort of. He wasn’t happy but he couldn’t be too upset with me because I obviously hadn’t done this on purpose. I just fell asleep there, and somehow we both woke up here… Angiola walked into my bedroom and Mouse hopped off her shoulder and onto one of his cat towers. I hung up my phone and set it down on the TV stand. Fiddling with my phone I turned on Pandora thumbprint radio and connected it to the Bluetooth system throughout my house and garage. “Well, let me give you a tour I guess since we're here. I'm still not sure HOW that happened, and Simon said he’s never heard of anyone traveling on accident OR taking along a passenger with them”. The opening notes of Mastodon Oblivion came over the speakers. “Let's start in my workshop,” I said, leading her down the hall and to the garage. Once inside the garage shop I opened up the safe and removed two pistols, setting them onto the workbench running along one wall. One was the twin to the one in my coat pocket that we had gotten in the market. I pulled the one out of my pocket and set it on the work bench next to its twin. Reaching back into the safe I pulled out 3 modified M3 magazines and a plastic ammo box. The second pistol was the custom titanium 2011 I had mentioned to her. I reached back into the safe and pulled out a spare USPSA style belt with holster and mag pouches. Then I reached in and grabbed 5 MBX 170mm mags, setting them all onto the table. Angiola picked up the 2011 and chamber checked it. She then worked the slide back and forth a few times, flipped the safety on and off twice, then pointed it at the wall across the garage and peered through the Holosun 507. With a huge smile on her face she dry fired the trigger, then reached up with her left hand racking the slide then she let her finger off the trigger slowly, to feel the trigger reset. She turned to me with a huge grin and said “This is an absolute MASTERPIECE!” Walking over to the reloading press at the end of my bench I grabbed the tray full of loaded practice rounds that I had the press making before I left. Shaking the tray slightly I asked her “Do you want to shoot it?”
After about 45 minutes at the range in my backyard we had her dialed in pretty well. I could tell she wasn't too comfortable with pistols but she was very accurate and got the reloads from the belt down in no time. The only reason I could tell she wasn't as comfortable with the pistols is because everything she had done before had been with such an unconscious grace to it. She walked around as naturally as water flowed around rocks. She just had an understated grace and fluidity to her movements, it was hypnotizing. We finished up and came back inside around 4:30pm local time. With all the time changes and constant running I was starving. “I'm planning on going to see The Owl spirit this evening if you would like to join me. We have plenty of time if you would like to go out and eat first?” Angiola nodded as she shut the sliding glass door and said “I'm pretty hungry but I only have the clothes I'm wearing and after the range I'm pretty sweaty”. I hadn't thought much of it but in typical unpredictable Florida fashion the day had gotten to the low 80s. It would drop down into the 60s at night and this would be normal until we got another ‘cold front’ and temps may go into the 40s again at night and low 60s during the day. “Well, you're welcome to get a shower and clean up. I'm sorry, again I have no clue how we ended up here. I have a pair of pajama pants and a tee shirt you can wear and I'll put what you're wearing in the wash”. I really did feel awkward about this. I was already head over heels for her but I wanted to take things slow and not just show up at my house a few hours after we got together. Thankfully the house was clean and after Sam left, I could tell I wouldn’t be seeing her again, and I had tossed the bath robe and stuff I had picked up for the occasions she would stay overnight. I'm sure she was back with her mom and dad desperately trying to put all this supernatural craziness behind her. Angiola had taken off the shooting belt and set it on the dining room table next to mine while I talked. “Do you have anything we could eat here? I want to go with you to meet The Owl spirit, but would it be okay if we stayed in for a bit?” said Angiola. She walked through the galley kitchen and headed into my bedroom. I followed her and said “Absolutely, I have some steaks in the fridge I was planning on cooking when I got back from Sarasota. Everything was such a hectic mess when I got back I didn't have a chance”. I had followed her into the bedroom and leaned up against the door frame stopping when I saw her removing her shirt and head into the master bathroom. “A steak sounds AMAZING right now, Medium rare please”. Said Angiola, While turning the shower on. “Great, I'll get dinner going”. I said and quickly walked away. I paused in the kitchen, took the steaks out of the fridge and let them rest a bit in the sink. I didn't know what I was doing. If Angiola had been any other woman I would have followed her in and joined her in the shower. I shook my head to clear the cobwebs. I can be a gentleman after all, besides she was different, special. I actually wanted a relationship with her. Leaving the kitchen I went into the hall closet and removed a spare bath towel and an extra loofah. I walked into my bedroom and got a pair of pajama bottoms with a drawstring waist and the first T-shirt from the stack. I walked into my bathroom and set the towel and loofa on the closed toilet lid in easy reach of the shower. Then I set the clothes on the counter by the sink. I walked to the bathroom door and leaned up against it with my back to the shower. “I put a new loofah and a towel there on the toilet seat for you, Pajama pants and t-shirt are next to the sink here. The pants are drawstring so they should work out okay”. I said as I paused at the door. I could hear the shower curtain move as she opened it to grab the loofah. “Ahhh yeah, Thanks”. She said, Talking to my back and almost sounding disappointed. I quickly walked back into the kitchen and got dinner started. I had the two steaks sitting out and I grabbed a big cast iron skillet and a regular pan setting them both onto the stove. I went to the fridge and grabbed a stick of butter, some asparagus and a jar of minced garlic. I reverse seared the steaks with butter and garlic to a beautiful medium rare and did what I called butter burnt asparagus. Basically a good hunk of butter and some sea salt in a hot pan till the asparagus was ready. I made sure I kept busy and got the table set, and the guns put up while dinner was cooking. I also tossed her clothes in the washing machine. Just about the time I pulled the steaks out I could hear the water shut off. A few minutes later as I was plating the food Angiola walked down the hallway and into the kitchen. Her hair was still damp, and it tickled my neck slightly as she wrapped her arms around me from behind and went up on her tiptoes to whisper in my ear “dinner smells amazing but I figured you would have joined me in the shower”. Before nibbling on my earlobe. I set down the pans and turned around to hold her tightly to me. I looked down and kissed her briefly before saying sheepishly “I'm sorry to disappoint you, I was just starving”. Angiola reached up and tugged playfully on my goatee back and forth saying “I highly doubt you would EVER disappoint me, but let's eat. I'm absolutely famished”. I plated the food, and got her laundry into the dryer before we sat down to eat.
We ate dinner in a comfortable silence, I had put Thumbprint radio back on and it was playing softly in the background. The zombies sang about the time of the season as we finished our meal. After we ate, Angiola and I went and hung the painting in the living room. It looked truly amazing in the space I had in mind for it and it was a perfect fit hanging above the couch. There is a short wall between the hallway and the dining room creating the small galley kitchen on the opposite side of the wall. Once that little project was completed it was around 6:30, It was a bit early for the visit but we could still go and walk around the lake for a bit. If no one was around we could sneak in alright, either way I was determined to get out of the house as quickly as possible without making things awkward. Angiola’s clothes were finished in the dryer and she had changed into them while standing in the laundry room. I was in the attached garage putting the hammer and level back up. I made sure to look at the press and walk around my shop much longer than necessary, not wanting to walk in while she changed. After grabbing a backpack and making sure I had the lantern and tobacco loaded up, I gave Mouse some lovin and we were ready to go.
The heat of the day had broke with the setting sun, so I put the top down on Gypsy before driving the quick 10 minute drive to Lake Mirror. It was a beautiful night and the air was cool and crisp instead of muggy like normal. Once we got to the downtown area and parked, we walked down the steps of the outdoor amphitheater. Once we made it to the lake, we started walking around while holding hands. Just another couple enjoying the beautiful evening. After two brief laps and determining that we were the only ones there, I stopped at the gates to the old underground section. I unlocked the gates and we went inside, locking up the gate behind us. Once we rounded a corner I turned on the lantern and led Angiola down the pathway to the same room as before. “Greetings Wise One, I am sorry for intruding again and for bringing a guest. Times are desperate and I would ask for clarification if possible”. I said into the void. I added some fresh coal to the brazier and lit it up, then we sat down. Angiola wasn’t in on the briefing I gave the elders so she looked a bit confused. I leaned in and whispered “We need to just wait patiently, be respectful and above all else, just stay calm. He probably won't show up. After Simon introduced me to the Owl, I have never brought anyone with me before”. The coals in the brazier had caught pretty well and I added a few pinches of the cherry tobacco into the fire, and after a few minutes of the smoke wafting down the hallway I could feel the pressure change. There was a slight breeze coming from behind us in a rhythmic fashion. “I am truly sorry for returning so soon after our last visit. Please do not take this as a sign of disrespect, but of the grave importance pertaining to the matter at hand”. I said in a formal tone to the breeze at my back. Angiola slowly began to turn her head, I locked eyes with her and slightly shook my head in the negative, then nodded to the brazier in front of us. Picking up on the hint, she grabbed another pinch of the tobacco and began to slowly sprinkle it onto the fire saying “It is a great honor to meet you Elder, Tobias has always spoken highly of you. I apologize for this intrusion, and mean you no disrespect. My presence here was unplanned but fortuitous”. The great owl swooped overhead as Angiola finished speaking, he then gilded overhead, circling us twice before landing gracefully on an old desk. After a few moments of silently staring at her rather intensely, he finally spoke. “I know you did not plan this young one”. The Owl said in a deep and booming voice. It always amazed me how deep and commanding his voice was, you could feel each syllable in your chest. “The chains of fate have bound the two of you and they are too heavy to be shaken off. Fate can be cruel in that way”. The Owl continued. Not exactly sure what he meant by fate being cruel by putting us together, but wanting to stay on task I asked. “The last time we spoke, you mentioned the storm that was coming. Is there anything else you can tell us?” The great owl fluttered his wings slightly as his ears cocked back and forth. “There is great evil in this world, a plague upon mankind. It is not only an evil in the hearts of man but a great indifference, apathy of the soul. For evil to triumph, man needs only to stay static, and watch. The winds of change are blowing stronger every day. Like a river rising onto the floodplain, in the blink of an eye the waters will be here”. Said The Owl. He started to take flight once again then stopped and hovered a few inches above his perch then landed. He ruffled his feathers and actually hooted, I had *never* actually heard him do that before. This time he looked straight at Angiola and said “The chains of fate that bind you to this man are both bitter and sweet. The future grows darker, so very dark. Then it finally shines like the sun. Do not let this cup pass from your lips”. With that he took to the air again and was gone. We sat there for a moment in the smoky room, the mellow hints of cherry and vanilla from the pipe tobacco creeping in. “The chains of fate are both bitter and sweet?” Angiola intoned in puzzlement. “I'm not exactly sure what he meant by all that but he does tend to be more cryptic and poetic than straight forward. I'm sure you noticed that with everything else he said too”. I said, trying to make light of the situation. It had unnerved me too but hearing that we were bound together by fate did make me feel really happy inside. In life, he was a holy man for his tribe. Now, his spirit inhabiting a great Owl, his prognostic abilities were considerably more in tune with the world around him. I've been alive a long time, and everything I have gathered is, there seems to be a veil. Alive, with blessings, practice or some magics, you can get a slight glimpse behind it. However once on the other side of the breach, time and probability seems to be viewable in more than just what we can perceive in the bodies we are born into. I'm sure there are much more elegant descriptions and considerably more facts to this but, despite my own abilities in these areas, I try to stay out of it as much as possible. My life is odd enough and if God wants me to know something, I **will** know it. I really try to avoid “tinkering” or trying to gain more insight than what I’ve been blessed with. Despite all of that, I’ve also seen enough of the puzzle to put a few pieces together on my own. Thankfully The Owl doesn't seem to mind my reliance on his abilities on the rare occasion I’m in need of something like this.
We snuck back out of the underground area, and I locked up the gates. We slowly made our way back to where Gypsy was parked. On the way home I called Simon and told him what little bits of information we did get. I didn't hold back and gave him a word for word of absolutely everything that was said, Including the parts about me and Angiola. He didn't sound too surprised about that oddly enough and that was another strange thing to add to the list. I guess bringing her with me when I accidentally traveled must have been a strange enough phenomenon to get The Elders off our backs, and they already figured that there has to be something more to us ending up together and falling in love so quickly. I was backing into my driveway about the same time I hung up with Simon. He was concerned about the time frame and agreed that we would have to try to make a move here pretty soon, possibly in the next 48 hours. Unfortunately, we might be sidelined due to us landing in Florida. I could travel back to Rome easily enough but it would be hard to get Angiola on an international flight with no passport or I.D. We could charter a private jet with the help of the local churches but that can be rather time consuming and would require calling in a lot of favors not to get flagged flying her out with no identification. We could get documents made for her on the fly but again, there just wasn't enough time. Even if we got back to the compound in the next 48 hours, it couldn't be counted on so we wouldn't be a part of the battle plans. Frustrated and feeling like there wasn’t anything else we could really do about the case, we sat down on the couch and paused. Conversation had stalled, but I was still at my house sitting next to the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, so I didn't feel too bad. “Do you have any horror movies?” Angiola asked me. It caught me completely off guard, because I was just wondering to myself if she liked horror movies. Life can be so strange sometimes. I laughed out loud and stood up saying “Well, follow me” as I took her hand and pulled her off the couch. We walked down the hall and to the door on the right just before the transit room. The house was a 3 bedroom 2 bath and I lived alone, except for Mouse. I can still remember the first time I saw a moving picture and I was instantly hooked, it was pure magic. From nickelodeon’s to the drive-in theaters when I got home from WW2 I spent a lot of my free time enjoying movies. With modern technology, I went a bit overboard. Walking into the 3rd bedroom Angiola took in a sharp breath. On 3 of the 4 walls were classic horror movie posters, from the 60s to early 2000's. There were multiple floor to ceiling bookcases full of VHS, DVDs and Blu-ray boxes. The 4th wall was an 85 inch UHD 4k TV and surround sound. There was a plush loveseat closest to the opposite wall with dual recliners. Angiola took it all in and began to squeal and jump up and down excitedly. She ran up to the VHS case and started to run her fingers across the titles. “This is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen!!!” She said excitedly. We decided to watch the classic Dawn of the Dead from 1978. We snuggled up on the couch and relaxed. I was sitting with my feet up reclining and Angiola was laying down on the couch with her head in my lap. Mouse joined us and was curled up in a ball against Angiola's stomach purring contently and enjoying the occasional scratch behind the ear. It had been a long day and we were both sound asleep less than half way through the movie.