||| Prologue - Rain

||| Author - Kamui Kun

The fierce, torrid rain fell down unrelenting from the dark, night sky above, drenching the tall, high rise buildings of the City of Damascus and every passerby that was unfortunate enough to be caught in the middle of the vicious downpour. Thunder clapped, lightning flashed and the once noisy and busy metropolis filled with normal, uptight businessmen and entrepreneurs fell to an eerie silence. No one wanted to be outside tonight, not with a rampaging storm mercilessly battering away at the city for three consecutive days without any sign of taming down. However, there were just some that ran on despite the weather, pushed by faith and duty to go against the norms of people for whatever unknown purpose they had.

"I'm tired, Father Cassius. Where are we going?" a young, ten year old boy asked, trembling maybe because of the cold or maybe because of the fear brought by those that lurked in the dark alleys behind him. His whole body was drenched from his jetblack, hair down to the white and black basketball shoes that he wore. His white shirt and blue shorts were soiled by dirt and mud, probably splattered on him by some oncoming cars that passed by or by himself as he ran down the predominantly empty and yet dirty and grime-infested side streets.

"I'll explain all of this later, Faye. For now there's no time to waste," an old, forty five year old priest answered. His long, shoulder-length white hair fell down, soaking wet and a peach red color covered the white, holy robe that he wore – a shade brought about by the horrid and gruesome mixture of thick blood and rain water. "Just keep up with me for the time being."

That was all that he could manage to say now, breathing heavily as he scampered away from whoever or whatever was chasing them. Down corners and through intersections, the elder religious figure swiftly blasted right through, dragging behind him the hesitant young boy that seemed to stumble for each step that the man took. He could not stop. He must not. The hundreds of wounds and scars that ran down on the young boy's back spelling out a prophecy – if there was any truth to what it said then he just could not risk the young boy's safety for a few minutes of rest.

~The scripture on this child's back is just too important for us. They must not decipher what it says,~ he kept telling himself this thought which seemingly gave him additional strength to forge on.

Rounding off a narrow corner and out to what seemed to be an empty side street, the priests was caught by surprise when a long limo, black as the nighttime sky, pulled in front of him, blocking his sole path of escape. A man slowly stepped out of the vehicle, caring not if the rain washed away the beautiful curls of his hair nor if it soaked his untucked, white polo shirt that he wore with poise and dignity.

"The child, Father Cassius," the man politely asked, extending his hand outward, ready to accept the young boy back into his personal care. "I don't want blood to be spilled tonight so please cooperate freely."

~Damn!~ the priest cursed to himself, seeing that there was no way to escape except to surrender the boy in exchange for his safety. Although he was still hesitant about it, he had no other choice but to hand over the child to the man's hands. He knew well that he could take Faye back away from them in the near future but if he intended to do that he must stay alive tonight. Slowly, the priest stepped aside, revealing a path between the man in white and the young boy behind.

The blonde man did not hesitate to take the young boy, pulling him away from the priest's hands and quickly shoving him into the back passenger seat of the grandiose car he came with. The child screamed on, begging the stranger to return him back to Father Cassius and to leave them alone but the calm man paid no attention to the young boy's pleas. The rain, the revving engine of the limo, the child's screams – none of these disturbed his gaze that was tightly lock on the priest's eyes.

"Good choice, Father," the man who came out of the limo said, grinning back at the priest. "You have sinned many times today, Cassius. Maybe someday I would go to you and ask for a confession. You might give me a light penance, seeing that you, yourself, have broken your own religious teachings."

"I will not give up on the boy, Ortha," Cassius stated, not letting the harsh words of his adversary bother him one bit. "The marks on his body are too much for you to handle. Someday I will take him away from you for good and not even with the endless funds of the Karrington Family would you ever find him again."

"Really?" Ortha Karrington replied, grinning back at Cassius' brave words. "Like a man of faith, your words are strong and your belief in them admirable. I know well that you speak the truth tonight." The arrogant man, like a great magician, swiftly pulled out a black object from his waist behind him and quickly brought the tool upward, resting it dead center on priest's forehead. "And for that I could not let you risk stealing the boy again."

"Ortha! You said…"

A loud gunshot echoed in the night, drowned by the ravaging downpour of rain and vicious rattling of the skies above. The lifeless body of the priest crashed down on the streets as the blonde man standing right beside it slowly released his finger off of the gun's bent trigger and brought his arm down. The rain water that rushed towards the sewage opening washed away the blood that seeped out from the small hole on Cassius' forehead, partially cleansing the street from the sin that had just been committed on its own grounds.

"Forgive me, Father Cassius, for I am a compulsive liar," Ortha stated as he fastened the gun on his back portion of his wasteline. Calmly as if nothing had happened, he entered the car and slammed shut the door behind him, eyeing the young boy that stared back at him in outright shock and disbelief. "I cannot deny the sin that I just committed tonight, Faye, but I can tell you this. Do not believe anything the priest just told you. Anyone from the religious sect of Vinitas cannot be trusted. Trust only us and we will take care of you and protect you from them. I promise you that."