~~~Apollos
I talked to the kids, it hadn't been long since I'd been around them. I felt a deep pain in me, a guilt that would never clean off of me no matter what God accepted me. I was hurting in a way that I didn't think I would hurt. It was never easy to have a conversation but they pulled me into the conversation. Claire smiled at me as she said, 'Thank you for telling me I was the prettiest girl,' I hear her say. I smile and say, "Thank you for being brave. I know it must have been hard for you," Her eyes had begun to cry as she said, 'Apollos, I want to be honest with you. I know how I look,'
I saw those pits of eyes focus on me as she says, 'I know what I look like and I've always known. When I first saw what happened to me, I was crying. I cried for days without end. Every day I was alive, I realized what I was. Every day I was alive, I was in pain. Every day I was alive, I knew this was how I looked, this was my new tomorrow. This was my new life yet everyone always said I was the prettiest girl but I knew I wasn't. I knew I was some fried-looking child,' Her saying the words really echoed something to me, 'But do you know what made me the prettiest girl in the world?' She said, echoing the tears on her face.
'Because I saw the beauty in everyone. I knew how ugly I was but I didn't want anyone else to suffer the way I suffered. I would not have survived long and my life would have been short. To be honest with you Apollos, I think you need to hear this truth so that your convictions can be hardened. The reason why we're all so happy isn't just because we're all naturally bright children,' She says, tears falling down her face even further. I wanted to comfort her but I knew she didn't want to do anything to her, she wanted to talk and she wanted me to listen.
'We're not just regular children, Apollos and we're not just offshoots of Lucifer. We're artificial, Apollos. Our souls are not real. Yes, we're offshoots of Lucifer but what is an offshoot of an angel?' "A soul, right?" I say, almost certain. She smiles and says, 'I wish. We're offshoots of Lucifer, we're artificial souls created from Lucifer's excess energy. When we were born into this world, we weren't born through the womb of a woman. We were born through the wombs of goats,' My eyes widen in shock, "What?" 'Apollos, all of Lucifer's children aren't born through the wombs of women. They're born through the wombs of a goat,' I heard what she said but I couldn't understand what she was saying.
I run my hands through my shortcut as I say, "Are you telling me that you were all born from Lucifer through a goat? There is a reason why it's his animal, there's a reason why he uses a goat as his symbol because, for the most part, that's who he is. He is the beast of God. He lost being the angel of God years ago," Hearing this truth, she says, 'We were never really human, we were just beasts and I need you to understand that,' I see those pits of eyes focused and they were staring deep into me, this was a stare only someone who experienced hell or soldiers could have, this was the thousand-yard stare.
I see it, those eyes of rage at the world, those eyes of rage at society. Claire then says, 'I had blue eyes before I was burnt and I was known for being the prettiest little girl in the city. Yes, some people did not like me but I was loved by everyone. Even my parents who knew how I was born didn't see me as a devil child. They saw me as the prettiest little girl who had ever been born and they said I was a miracle from God. Apollos, what we need you to do is to stop us, stop this terrible thing from happening. Mankind will die if you can't stop us,'
What was I supposed to say? What was I supposed to do? She was right. 'This may be too much to ask while you're in this state of mind but I want you to do your best to be the best man you can be. You'll be fighting challenges no man should fight and I also never said thank you for being a good man, Apollos.' I heard her voice and yet I was still surprised at what I was hearing, I've heard people say I was a good man but I found it hard to believe, I always have. Good men don't do the things I've done.
'It's time, Apollos,' she says, grabbing my hand and putting it to her heart, 'It's time to do what you came here to do,' A somber look came through me as I then said, "Fine but let's give you the best day in the world before we see you off," It's then that she whispered in my ear and she said, 'I want you to grant me one wish,' She whispered in my ear and I said, "Claire," She said, 'No, that's what I want,' "Then I'll grant it for you,"
Claire has the strongest psychic readings of any vampire in this place and I realized why she wanted me to do this. I realized and I made the choice to give it to her, a choice so innocent that a child could have and I was going to give it to her. My telekinesis was not on the strongest side, I couldn't give anyone mental images or hallucinations. She was asking for something that would take a while to do and I knew who could help me: Jeane. Jeane was the best option at this moment and I had to make a few calls.
~~~Priscilla
As I walk my way to Apollos' hotel, I could smell the faint smell of burnt flesh, it was that girl. I feel like she's trying to steal him away from me but then I think about it, he told me so much about those kids and I know those kids would never steal Apollos from me. I need to not be selfish, I know he's doing his best for them but I need to talk to him anyway.
I need to let him know that I'm sorry for what I've done after she leaves. As I make my way down the halls of the small, expensive inn, I see him leaving his room, I see his eyes focused, committed but sad. He's going to do something he doesn't want to do. Something bad's happened and I can tell that it's bothering him. "Apollos, I want to talk to you when you get a chance," He looks at me and his eyes shift from sad to nothingness, almost as if he couldn't be bothered to deal with me right now, the same look he gives Mother sometimes.
'Yes, Priscilla?' He says in an almost annoyed tone. Did he not like what I said that much? "I wanted to talk to you about the information I found out in terms of the werewolf clan," He looks at me as he says, 'Can it wait?' "Yes but you told me to give you any information I found out as soon as possible so I thought it'd be prudent to give it to you now," 'I understand that it's important information but I have affairs to get in order and I have to get in contact with Jeane,' "I can do that for you if you want,"
'No Priscilla, I'll deal with it. You can go home to be with your mother now,' "I always wanted to apologize to you. I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that," His eyes were passive but then there was a moment of anger as he then said, 'It's unimportant. You said what you had to say. Now you should return home to your mother, I'll be home in a few weeks,' I then tried to grab his hand like I normally do and I saw him immediately move it. He then said, 'I have something to take care of,'
"But I can help you," 'I don't need your help, Priscilla. I won't be needing it for a long time,' "Fine. Do what you want. That's what you always do. You don't even care about how I feel right now," 'I can't be bothered to care about someone who would put me on the spot in front of other people,' It upset him that bad, I think it's because he feels betrayed by me. I shouldn't have done it, Kaoru said this isn't the right time telepathically and I still did it. I see him walking away from me, completely dismissing my presence.
I take a deep sigh as I get ready to leave. I pack all of my clothes into a suitcase and I put my swords away, he clearly didn't want me around and I wasn't about to anger myself any further. As I got ready to leave, I felt something coming down my face, a blood-red tear. I rubbed my face as I began to say, "I should have listened to Kaoru. I should have waited to talk to him and now he feels slighted by me," I then begin to make my way out of the hotel as I see that Apollos is on the phone with Jeane.
I try to wave bye to him but all he does is give me a callous wave goodbye. I press my lips together in anger, wanting to get his attention but I realized this wasn't a good time so I decided to leave. As I'm beginning to leave, I see Kaoru waiting outside, the daylight shining on his black hair and his brown eyes as he sat in a grey business suit. He looked at me and said, 'Hey, you heading out so soon?' with a smile. "Yes, I'm not needed here as I thought and I don't think I want to be here,"
'I understand,' he says, 'But I feel like you want to talk about something more,' I look at him as I then say, "Yes, I do," As I begin to talk, he says, 'Well you put yourself in a bit of a pickle,' "But I didn't think he'd react like that," I say to him. 'Yeah but the problem is he's never been the type of person to express his emotions like that and putting him on the spot in front of people he doesn't know. To be fair Priscilla, you should've known better,' He says to me.
"You're right. I should have been nicer," I say to him, "But does he have to treat me" 'Like he treats Lilith?' "I shouldn't have been so rude to him," I say in a regretful tone, "I don't want him to hate me. I just want him to understand that I love him a lot," Kaoru rubs my head as he says, 'I know you do but this time, you might have to give him space, a storm is coming and Apollos is one of those people who can weaponize a storm no matter what,'
As he says that, I realize how what I've done. Not only did I put him on the spot but I made it seem like he does nothing for his family. I'm almost 300 years old and that's how I decided to act. He's protected me in battle, I even stood by him in battle. I shouldn't have done this, I shouldn't have handled it like that and now I'm beginning to see how much strain this put on Apollos and how he's beginning to become colder. I should have talked to him, not humiliated him.
'I'm actually on my way home too,' Kaoru says with a smile. I then grab his hand and say, "I'd like nothing more," Blood-red tears were falling down my face, and my feelings were genuinely hurt.
End of Chapter: Miscommunication