It was the first time that the name I had chosen felt like mine.
17
Azrael
January 2nd, 2023
How interesting.
I turned back towards their sacred little sanctuary, my eyes finding that door that led to most all of their secrets.
I twirled my cane and pulled out my pocket watch, a shiver of delight sliding down my spine. So many things to do, so little time.
“Tick tock goes the clock, even for the devil.”
The Favorites, particularly that one, was my key into the true inner workings of this masterpiece Pastor Masters had built here. If I wanted to know more, get an accurate depiction of what they were doing, I was going to need to use the dear little sinner who clearly had an eye for something…chaotic.
My eyes found the large cross they had hung above the stage for all to see, an anatomical heart placed in the center of it as red as the blood seeping through the girl’s shirt. It was just a glimpse of what happened back there, but it was enough.
I left the church a few minutes after they did. I suppose most would condemn lies in a church, but weren’t lies what this whole place was built on anyway?
I didn’t have a meeting with anyone. Not with anyone in this church, at least, but at the end of a long drive, there was a rose growing wild that I needed to see.
~ ~ ~
“I like what you’ve done with the place,” I hummed, looking around their new abode. “Comfortable for someone who isn’t staying.”
It reminded me of the daffodil’s home in the woods. Floor to ceiling windows, dark wood, black floors and accents, granite, with touches from the rose that made it warm. Flowers, her dog and everything that came with the spoiled pup. Lots of pink, but not an overwhelming amount.
“Fuck!”the mountain boy cursed, spinning around.
I stood several yards from the door, my smile stretching across my face. Sneaking up on them was the best part of who I was.
He had been in the kitchen, cooking something for dinner, while the rose had been sitting on the couch, reading, her pup lying beside her, as unfazed as she was.
She flipped a page without looking up. “Good evening, Azrael,” she hummed.
Her plaything glared angrily at me, putting his stirring stick down and covering the pan. “What are you doing here? And how did you get in? Jack designed the security system himself.”
“Pity, and here I thought he was getting better.” I drifted over to the couch behind her, reading a few lines of her book over her shoulder. “Oh, is he not doing it for you?”
“Stimulation of the mind is as important as stimulation for the body,” she purred. The rose put in a napkin as a bookmark, set the book to the side, and turned to face me. “Agenda?”
“Part of the game,” I replied.
She looked me over. “Progress?” she asked, finding my eyes again. A challenge. She loved pushing and pressing for more information on the assignment that forced them to turn the plane around two weeks ago. Although, out of them all, she was the least annoying when it came to her line of questioning.
My smile widened. “Working. What is your goal with this school, mountain boy?” I liked to ask that question periodically. I needed to make sure his goals were still the same, still heading down the correct path.
He grabbed a dish towel, his eyes unforgiving. “Control,” he answered. “The more peoplewetrain and put in certain positions, the more control we have.”
And in our lives, especially going forward, control was necessary. The more control we had, the less control others did, and wasn’t that the addiction of life?
Our dear father had the right idea, but his main focus was power. He wanted an empire without adaptation, without change. It worked for a few years, but in order to remain at the top of the hierarchy, we must become something new. It was an idea I may never have thought up, but would I ever give mountain boy the credit he deserved?
No. Giving praise was their deal, but it would never be mine.
“I’ve made some calls, mountain boy,” I went on. “The heads of the six families father dearest hired for our ‘expansion’ have agreed to consider a position at your university. They already passed the Initiation program, but of course, their children will need to be the first ones put in classes when it begins.”
