Death Dreams Dire Wolves: Part Five

Nine: Temptation of Saint Therin

The school's hallways are brightly lit with the fluorescent lights that keep the details of the beige stone walls and tile floors ever diligent to their decree of a no nonsense environment. Hallways of empty tile and hollow stone echo even the rustling of a feather as it comes to rest on the ground. Like moat Schools this one was designed with the intent of its students being heard but never seen and so much to that purpose of the easy echolocation, the hollow halls now feed into the anxiety of Manzers position as someone who only wants to escape to the outside world in one piece.

He knows Sister Therin is here, looking for him as a good shepherd would after a lost sheep. But as any smart sheep would know, most Shepard heard only the sheep dumb enough to be lead to a slaughter. Manzer was not going to be one of those kids who ended up dead in a field somewhere, or with his face posted on the missing posters you see in the entrance to the mall. He was planning on living no matter what the cost, even if it meant breaking a few of the rules.

Manzer had gotten to know Sister Therin only a little bit in his time in her foster home. She was a woman who spoke very little and had even less to ask anyone about. Her looks and gazes always seemed cold or distant, as if she were always thinking about something she left somewhere, and had yet to be found. Her demeanor of worry is what gave her tense reasoning and would otherwise be what Manzer would surmise to be the reasoning behind her need to instill a strict curfew in the house she was in charge of.

Manzer would not count himself and sister Therin on a friendly basis, being that Manzer was something of an agnostic who did not really believe in the powers of god or the holy ghost or even those of jesus. His belief system was one of logic and books written by men who could put answers to questions in the forms of resilient argument as a means of creating what could only be considered stone cold knowledge.

As Sister Therin often tried to involve Manzer in her Sunday school classes of learning of the stories of the bible, Manzer would often take a hard pass and try to occupy his time with something a bit more conventionally useful. Like math or science or something canonical in the eyes of modern society.

Sister Therin would never seem to give up or give in to Manzers moody demeanors. She would simply gently and patiently drift bits of wisdom or knowledge in Manzers Direction, and only seemly hope that they touched with Manzers better sense of inter worldly intrigue.

"The Bible is the oldest known record of world history Manzer. If you are to study the science of man then you must know the reason as to why man even invented science." She once said to him after a heated argument. A statement that once left Manzer in a dead cold bout of mindful tinkering that left him speechless for days.

As Manzer walks he tries to analyse everything he knows about sister Therin in his head. Every small little detail that would give away who she really is in a town where kids end up dead or missing, or why Sister Therin would be one of the First people notified along with the police, and who it was that would call her to a school of all places? One thing that stood out about her was that she seemed to sometimes be very cold to the touch, and other times almost too warm. She never left her crucifix anywhere, not even for a second, and never allowed anyone into the large attack on the top of the house even when it looked like the two main floors might become overcrowded. Manzer also realized that Sister Therin was somewhat unusually strong, something that made her appearance as a person who only wore Nunnery robes a bit more retentive then what would usually be perceived.

Most Cerial killers would try to make themselves the first person called to the scene of a crime, and no one would suspect nun to be a cold blooded a brutal murder; would they?

Manzer walks up to the front door, and peering through the glass he can see sister Therins car sitting in the school parking lot. It is sitting in a space that has its own sign in front of it standing with a stolid unbroken black cross in the center. Showing this as a place where sister Therin would usually park.

Manzer can only surmise that the Church sister Therin is from made a great deal of donations to help build this school, as a good number of churches usually do help in building such structures as these. But even from inside the building Manzer can see that Sister Therin is no sitting in her car, she is absent. Somewhere else.

Sister Therin is a smart one, not a nun who takes per privilege lightly and someone who is as sharp as any arrow made to point people in the direction of the nearest church. So if waiting for Manzer to leave the Building is not currently her biggest priority; then what is?

This whole circumstance draws out Manzers Curiosity to find answers, and gives Manzer a good idea of how the hierarchy of this school system works. (A log of who knows who and where the pipeline leads.) Manzer takes off the souls of his shoes and begins to walk through the hallway. Using a stepping technique that he learned from movies about ninjas and comic books.

He follows the signs in the hallway that lead him to the counselors office. But just before stepping into the maze of office connections, he finds himself just within earshot of a conversation being had between two adults. One is sister Therin. The other is a yet unnamed male voice.

The conversation is so low that Manzer can barely even hear what they are saying at first; But something in him starts to turn up the volume and help him hear what is going on.

"When did they find her?" Sister Therin asks.

"This morning over near the Lock yard. A couple of students were apparently ruff housing and they ended up discovering the body."

"Poor children." Sister Therin says as she makes a cross in front of her. (Something Manzer can oddly enough hear her doing in the air.) "And you believe that Manzer was involved in this?"

"Apparently a few students say he instigated the conflict. Punched another student in the stomach. Send him to the nurses office."

"Manzer? I never took him for the violent type. As smart as he is, he does not seem like a person who would hit another person without good reason for self defense."

"Yeah, well everyone is making him out to be a bit of a bully. Maybe even a bit of a little psycho path. I do not know what his little deal is but you Definitely have to reign him in Sister Therin. Punching another student in the stomach is not exactly what I would call a healthy first day at school." He says while pouring some type of sand into a cup of liquid. Coffee and sugar is what Manzer guesses, but then again, Manzer just might be losing his mind with the unfilled details. That is until he can smell the coffee too.

"I don't know Mr. Drabber. I just do not want to be too hard on him. He seems like he is so lost into what is actually going on."

"You mean... He doesn't know?"

"No, but who would honestly remember something so traumatic. His mother killed his sister and.... How he was found wandering the streets."

"His mother? Story I was told is that it might have been him. Covered in blood from head to toe?"-

(A sister? I had a sister? Manzer thinks.)

-Most gruesome thing the police said they had seen in years. All that blood everywhere. So much they had to burn the house down."

"No, it couldn't have been him. I sense no evil in Manzer, nothing malicious, nothing dark. Just a frightened and smart little boy. Whatever it was that he saw, he just does not seem to be able to remember."

"Are you sure? Have you had your eyes on him twenty four seven?"

"There are too many cases happening. It is getting hard for me to keep track of all the incidents taking place. It's like something is calling them, gathering strength. I am not sure what it is but-"

"But it's not our problem. If we are to have any more dead bodies on our hands or missing kids, Things are gonna go really bad really fast. You better keep a close eye on that kid, and if he ends up in the same place as another dead body then I am going to have to pull rank, and you don't want that to happen."

(Pull rank? What does that mean? Who are these people really?)

Sister Therin is quiet for a moment. Ita odd Manzer can hear her breathing but it sounds off.)

"What do we know about the girl?" She asks finally.

"Telania Beltrice. Of the Bletrice family."

"The.... Beltrice!?"

"That's right. There's going to be hell to pay for this one. It's not enough that it's going to have to be a closed casket.``

"This is Definitely going to upset some borders. Lord have mercy on us all. We might be looking at an all out war."

"A blood bath with lots of innocent people."

(Manzer exhales as the news shocks him. It isn't much but it is just enough to get the attention of Sister Therin.)

"Wait, what was that?" She says as she stands.

Manzer turns and begins to run, something that isn't easy to do as the blood runs from his face.

"Shit someone snuck up on us?!" Says as the sound of a weapon being pulled can be heard.

Manzer rushes down the hallway as fast as he can, he looks back for a second to see sister Therin pointing some type of silver crossbow at his back, aiming dead at him. Her finger on the trigger. As their eyes meet it's like the crossbow vanishes into thin air. And sister Therin is left echoing his name down the hallway.

"Manzer Wait!"

Manzer rushes outside. Running barefoot into the streets the hot sidewalk sears his feet as he runs, but his adrenaline is too high to notice and in a few minutes he is lost, past a couple of blocks and into the surrounding neighborhoods.

Chapter Ten:A million Steps

Manzer does not know how long he has been running, or where he is running to, his lungs burn more with the as every warm gust of air he pulls into them, the choking exhaust of his tired state only a slight inconvenience to the adrenaline that his heart pumps through the tired inner tissue of his young body; he has never run so hard and so fast for so long in his life, but knowing what he might be running from gives him very few reasons to think about where he is going to just so long as it is away from the woman who was just pointing a weapon square at his back.

The houses that pass by him mix in a blur of details as he strides across the sun heated sidewalk of a suburban neighborhood. Houses painted in shades of color that all blur into the intrinsic grey of a mind that has too much to think about and too little oxygen to think about it with. All the yard he cut through and the fences he jumped over mean very little to the account of the local monument as he only sought to put distance between him and the killer nun that may currently be hunting him down. So many footsteps between him and her, but even so a million would not be enough if it was the difference in staying alive and living to see tomorrow, or even the day after that. If Manzer managed to make it to the end of the week it would be a miracle, and it is a thought similar to this one that causes Manzer to stop and take a rest near in the cover a bush at least some time to collect his thoughts and figure out where he is and what he should do.

Manzer has reached the edge of the neighborhood at this point. A place where the road ends and the neighborhood instantly converts into a thicket of dense trees and thick evergreen forest with thick bushes below them in the shade.

He makes sure to keep out of sight from anyone, but then again thinking about it, who knows how many peoples attention he caught while running down the street barefoot, or what that image might send to a number of concerned people who just heard that their has been a murder discovered near the school where he was seen running from, or what might be involved in such matters as these.

The network of secretive people in this town could be far more expensive then Manzer would ever know, every window, door or fence gate could be hiding evil, as traps set for fools naive enough to trust the lies painted onto a white picket fence.

Lies; these were things now too troubling to let sway in the winds of whimsy. As who knows how fragile his world had become.

Manzer is drenched in sweat. His black sweatshirt causes him to overheat once again; Manzer decides to pull his backpack and sweatshirt off, exposing the salty sweat drenched black T-shirt underneath it. For a moment he looks at the writing on the shirt, the upside down soft rubber letters of a cheap T-shirt bought at the mall not just but a few weeks ago.

As Manzer begins to cool down he thinks about the mall and the Girl there who once invited him to spend his after school time with her. Much like this alternatively styled T-shirt, she too was a result of an odd if not fostered upbringing. A survivor of Sister Therins household of christian nonsense and weapons that could be pulled at any time.

This led Manzer to the fact of that matter, that someone had in fact survived living in such a place, and somehow turned out to be relatively normal if not healthy.

Manzer could not help but think that he might just be imagining things. That maybe a lot of this was just the figment of his imagination or some sort of delusion onset by too much stress, or a dream he had yet to wake up from.

As Manzers Body begins to cool down, he is made more aware of how much his feet hurt. Grabbing the side of his ankle he twists and bends his leg to get a good look at the damage his running did to his feet. He braces himself while pulling off his sock, to inspect the level of injury he would now be dealing with. Looking at his feet, Manzer knows right away that they are beginning to blister pretty badly on all the main pads and landing that his feet would use to make contact with the ground. A familiar sight and diagnosis as Manzer spent many days dealing with the blisters he got from walking around from place to place avoiding his mom.

"My mom" Manzer thinks as he ponders the discussion that his foster caretaker had with whoever that person was in the school office.

It was a harsh realization to consider the facts of the matter. Manzer does not remember the day that his mom Committed herself to the Mental institution all too clearly. He remembers speaking with a number of councilors and people, but some of their names and faces remain totally blank. The entire process of getting into Sister Therin home took almost two year and a half and seven months of that time were totally missing from Manzers memory. Manzer does not even remember having a sister. Does not even recall her name or what she looks like. But it seems like the detail of wandering around the streets covered in blood would be something that not even he would forget.

The Blisters on his feet seemed familiar. Seemed like they were somehow attached to those missing months and whatever it was that a bunch of social workers and state officials did to make Manzer forget the whole thing.

Was Manzers Mom even still alive? Somewhere out there in a place he has yet to see? Or was she one of the people whose Blood he was soaked in in his wandering days.

Is that what this all was? Could Manzer be some sort of killer kid with no remorse. A murderer being watched over by a hired assassin there to put him down if he felt the need for blood thirst yet again?

Manzer sits For a moment searching his feelings. Looking deeply into the nature of who he is or what he wanted in life, and out of all the things he heald dear hurting people or wanting to murder others was not apart of any of them, Anywhere.

Manzers heart is now calm, he can no longer feel it beating in his ears or throbbing throughout his body. As this condition of pulsatile tinnitus subsides. Manzer Can hear the sound of something in the distance. A fluid white noise of gently flowing water.

Wincing through the pain Manzer get to his feet after stuffing his hoodie into his backpack, and putting his socks back on his feet. He walks forward about twenty yards and comes across another gently flowing creek. (These being common in this area as a river flows not too far away from where he is, as it passes through the center of town.)

Manzer figures that this is a good time to cool off the burning sensation he feels with every step.

The creek is a good size, five feet across in some places and the water is not stagnant or stale and lacks any algae growing on the rocks so he knows it is relatively clean.

He Finds a good sized Rock that will support him and sits, dipping his feet into the water to cool them down and alleviate some of his sores.

The world that Manzer knew was becoming quickly distorted by the odd nature of how things in this new town were unfolding. Manzer had learned a lot of things in his short time on earth, but it was not really enough to give him the ability to make sense of the actions of adults. Or what really is taking place in the world, and seeing the face of that dead girl all combined with the uncertainty of his safety was enough to make Manzer want to cry; and so, he does.

It starts with a few tears seeping from his eyes as his emotions well up. They fall into the water and create ripples that seem to change the energy of the entire stream as it whispers its way through a small valley. Manzer is full on into an emotional breakdown when he notices something in the water around his feet. At first it feels like some type of seaweed but it's black, thick and tangling into his toes. As Manzer Pulls up his feet he notices that they are covered in thick black hair. Hair like the girl who was found dead in the field by the school.

Manzers Blood runs cold as a pale hand reaches up from the water and grabs him by the ankle. He pulls on him very hard and does not seem to want to let him go.

Manzer tries to claw his way out of the grip, but as he does looking around, he can see shadows peering out from behind the trees. Their eyes piercing the shadows of the forest with a thirst for blood. It rushes in with unreal speed to grab a hold of Manzer, but only barely misses as he is pulled into once shallow creek and into water that goes far over his head and covers his entire body.

The world is soon engulfed in dark water as Manzer struggles to get to air before he is drowned.