Omens in Ashes

[Verne]

Location: St James Cathedral
[against_peace][/against_peace]

* Verne was sitting in one of the golden chairs behind the ritual table at the top of the stairs. He looked up upon hearing the large wooden double doors of the Cathedral swing open, and found his lips manipulated up into a half-smile by the pang of humour that struck him. "I should have known you would be the first to find me here."

‹Mona McGee› Mona tentatively walked into the Cathedral it had been ages since she had stepped foot into the place. It had been a place of sorrow since the Death of her friend. She had lost Dom maybe she hadn't been good enough friend or maybe it was the pull of being a Vampire Mona did not know Dom was different now it was either accept it or not ... and Mona did not like the options. She walked down the corridor She was not expecting what she found. She thought the post online was a hoax ... If it was a hoax it was a damn good one her lip turned up as the man sitting there spoke to her "Who are you ?"

* Verne got to his feet and walked down the pair of steps that separated them. Mona looked different, that he recognised right away. Had she put on a little weight? Verne stood at the bottom of the stairs dressed in a black turtleneck sweater and a pair of faded blue jeans. "You eyes do not fool you, my friend. I know it has been an age, but trust what you see and hear before you."

‹Mona McGee› The space between them vanished in seconds but the look on Mona's face wasn't of a friendly greeting she came to a abrupt stop in front of the man and her hand flew in a large arch the echo of the slap to the side of the man's face sounded through the cathedral . She didn't know if he was real or not yet but either way he deserved that " ******* ******** you killed yourself how can you be real "

‹Gideon Barnes› He'd been slumming around the city looking for...something, or someone. No, something was right. A vampire wasn't a someone. But to no avail. Mona's text had come in and Gideon was interested, only because Mona had texted him. If it had been anyone else other than her or his brother, he probably would have ignored the message. After confirming the location, Gideon made his way to the church that once had a history, but was as dead as...well the leeches in the city. "Mona?" He called out as soon as Gideon found his way in the entry.

* Verne for a split second he saw red, and as the world came into focus again, Verne found himself looking at one of the stone tombs situated in the corner of the cathedral, a candle flickering at the edge of his vision. He straightened to look at Mona again, a little surprised she was able to slap so well, and rubbed his jaw. "Turns out I can't die." He sounded so blasé about it, but the truth had tortured him for years. He couldn't die, heaven wouldn't accept him. "I'm cursed, maybe."

‹Mona McGee› Mona heard Gideons voice as she watched the man recover from her assault "In here," she called out to him. She stared at him looking for flaws in his appearance anything that would say to her that it wasn't Verne. "How do i know you aren't some two-bit fraud looking for a cheap thrill and a way to get in good with the Paladins?" She gritted her teeth "How do I know you are Verne?"

‹Gideon Barnes› He followed the sound of Mona's voice, not missing anything she said. Though he was confused at their relation (whatever that may be) and the name Verne, Gideon found his way beside Mona, eyes on the other guy. "Like they say, Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." He whispered, eyes locked on the guy, his words for Mona. If someone was supposed to be dead, there was a reason they weren't. Vampire maybe? or as Mona called it. A phony.

* Verne what more did she need, he wondered, as he stood here in the flesh. She had slapped him, so she knew his skin was hot, not cold like that of the undying. She knew his voice, took his measure, but questions remained. "If my presence is not enough, perhaps a memory we share, ask anything," he said.

‹Mona McGee› Not many people knew that she had left Harper Rock or why only those closest to her had known about her trip and they had suffered for her absence. Dom had succumbed to that horrible ******** and he had made her into one of them while Mona had been away. It always made her feel guilty to a extent but only three people in Harper Rock knew the answer to that question one was her father the other was now a vampire ... and the Third was supposed to be dead. "I left Harper Rock why ?"

‹Gideon Barnes› Gideon didn't know anything about why Mona left Harper Rock, so he remained silent, but focused his attention solely on the mystery guy and ruled out the possibility of him being a paladin turned vampire (Salience-failed). "Well, least he's got a pulse." That much gave him a little more credibility, or at least a little more weight then lacking one, in Gideon's eyes.

* Verne slipped his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans and bowed his head. He nodded, thinking back-- yeah, there was a brief time in which Mona had needed to leave the city to take care of something far more important than hacking up and trying to destroy vampires. "Your mother," he answered, "she wasn't doing so well, you had to go take care of her."

‹Mona McGee› Mona still wasn't sure So she drove the Nail in "What happened while i was gone?" Her eyes narrowed because she had known What had happened had Torn the man known as Vern apart only he would know this.

‹Gideon Barnes› Well, Gideon had no idea what the hell was going on, so he decided to park it on a pew, eyes going back and forth between the two of them, before he scooped up a bible from under the pew he claimed and flipped through the pages. If Mona was in danger, he was nearby, but it seemed this guy was who ever he said he was given he knew some f the story, if not all of it. Didn't churches get new catachists every year? "Your words are outdated. Messages are going to fall on deaf ears." He mumbled with a shrug of his shoulders.

[Mona McGee]

[against_peace][/against_peace]


* Verne turned his eye on the man as he sat. He heard him mutter something, but it was Mona's words that burned in the forefront of his mind, consuming his every thought. "I went home to Russia, and I came back to heartbreak," Verne said. He swallowed an invisible lump in his throat and turned away for a time, a moment in which he could gather the strength he needed to say the words. "Dom was kidnapped and turned."

‹Mona McGee› Mona thought Gideon had the right idea She thought she needed a seat too. She made her way over to the pew and parked her *** next to the father of her children. "You ******* killed yourself ... How did this happen?" she still wasn't quite believing it .

‹Gideon Barnes› "Stranger things have happened in Harper Rock." Gideon commented as an idle observer, shrugging again and glancing to Mona now that things seemed to be as they should be. She had texted him, she knew the guy and this seemed to be their sort of thing, so he was fine with sitting here and being extra muscle, or an extra sword if need be.

* Verne "You tell me," Verne said, he would love the answers to that question just as much as she. "I blew my brains out, or I tried. Next thing I know I'm in a wooden box six feet down and suffocating. Everything healed."Verne said quietly, "there isn't even a scar." He didn't get it, his look said that much. "I figure the lord has other plans for me, bigger, better plans. I have work to do here, we all do."

‹Mona McGee› She looked at the man incredulous " So where the **** have you been ? Stuck in a grave all this time?" Mona somehow didn't believe that it had been way too long and why choose now to reappear ? There were just way too many questions and Monas mind was reeling.

* Verne laughed at that, how could he not, typical Mona humour. "In Rome mostly."

‹Mona McGee› "Why are you back Verne ? Any clue ? or have you heard rumours and want to rejoin the fight ?"

* Verne "The fight?" he laughed. "What's changed? So the people know of the vampires, are we just going to accept them now?" He paused. "It took me a long time to get over what happened here, I don't know if I can ever fully accept it, but I believe I am alive for a reason, and that reason is to kill vampires until every last one of them is dead."

‹Mona McGee› Monas eyes narrowed she didn't want to give too much away and it wasn't hers to give away so he wasn't getting the whole story her hand creeped over to Gideons and squeeze it lightly " Well there are rumours there is a cure for Vampires and there is one or two now walking around that used to be vampires that are human " she paused trying to judge his reaction "I thought you might have heard of that "

* Verne thought it was then he knew he had returned at the right time. "And for those who refuse to accept a cure?"

‹Mona McGee› Mona wasn't sure about how to respond to that without giving too much away. That was for the man sitting by her side to say all she knew was that he was determined to get rid of the blight of vampires in this city but for now forcing them to take the cure was not a possibility. "I don't know at least not yet There are other factors other beings here in the city now and you just don't quite know who to trust nowadays " She stared, leveling with him.

* Verne nodded, he knew she did not mean that as a slight, he had been gone a long time. "This weekend,"Verne spoke up. "We will fill the cathedral with like-minded individuals and come up with a solution. I need your help for that Mona, we need all the help we can get, or this curse will keep spiraling out of our control."

‹Mona McGee› Mona laughed times have changed Verne it's all nice to be full of fire and brimstone but when you have a lot to lose you tend to cool your heels and bide your time and strike with stealth and cunning ... I have a lot more to lose these days i have a family" her fingers tightened around Gideon’s once more "I don't want to loose them in some half baked holy war that hasn't been thought out properly You will have to count me out until i know more of what your plans are "

* Verne "Well I won't risk involving you then." He hadn't stopped to think that she might have a family now, of course, that's what normal people did. Verne waved off the woman and her obvious partner in crime, and retreated to his study, he had plans to make, people to catch up with. Perhaps Mona had forgotten how he ran things, he thought, he could bide his time for now until faced with the opportune moment to strike.