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Impure, Imperfect |
| In a coffee shop on the corner of Florence and Redding in Uptown, fifteen people bided their time. One was the owner, who tended the counter and served people what they wanted for a fee. Three were waitresses, all cute girls who had needed jobs, and had caught the owner’s fancy. One was an investigator for the KPD, who came every so often to reflect on things that had been happening, and consider a prophecy he had heard of. It was a dark prophecy that disturbed him greatly, but there were rumors flying about that the threat foretold by the prophecy had been eliminated in some manner... Three were old college buddies, there too to reflect, though they reflected on much better things. Two were fiancé and fiancée, who came by for innocent, sickeningly saccharine-coated chit-chat during their lunchbreaks. One was a mother, also on her lunchbreak. She had brought along her child, a newborn baby girl with next-to-no scraps of dull blond hair on her head. She was a pretty child, everyone said that. She had rosy little cheeks, and sparkling little eyes that could melt the heart of the hardiest hero. Those sparkling eyes were directed towards the platter of soft cookies on the counter in front of her... And the last one, innocently stirring her chocolate milk with a stirring straw, was a petite brunette, wearing a pleasant-looking blue dress. She stared down at her milk, and quietly thought to herself... People in Khazan were so flawed. They all had one or two little vices that made them bad people. Sure, at first glance, their vices didn’t seem too bad, but didn’t any of them realize that they were slowly damning themselves? They all thought that with some of the villains and murderers running around, they could sin as they pleased, as long as it was nothing too bad. But, sin was sin. There was no changing that. In their ignorance, they would find eternal suffering. Fortunately, she was there to purify them, and offer them God’s divine forgiveness. The woman with the child stood up, and lifted her child’s carrier onto her seat. “Mommy’s gotta go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” And so she very quickly stalked off, with Jessye watching her back as she left. The child had been put in her arm’s length of the cookie platter... Jessye’s gaze went from the mother’s back as she disappeared into the bathroom, back to her milk. She continued stirring. She strangely didn’t feel that thirsty, yet she had gotten herself a chocolate milk, anyway. Her classmates would’ve teased her about that, a fifteen-year-old still putting chocolate in her milk, if they weren’t so wary of her. The child reached earnestly for a cookie. There were sugar ones, there were ones with nuts, ones covered in fresh jam, strawberry and blueberry and raspberry and blackberry, but the chocolate chip ones were the ones that looked the best. They smelled so good from her spot in the carrier, but it would taste even better. She reached a little further, grasped one in her tiny little hand, and then greedily stuffed it in her mouth with two hands. Not a single person had seen it happen. Not the waitresses, not the KPD investigator, not even the shop’s owner. ...but she had seen it.... She had caught it right out of the corner of her eye, saw the child sin. The child had so blatantly stolen in front of everyone, and she had done it with impudence. Already she was damning herself. Jessye stopped stirring her milk, got up of her seat, moved to the stool the baby’s carrier, and turned it to face her.... People all over the world thought that the one constant emotion that could exist in a newborn was pure love. Well, that was false. They could love, but they were also selfish and greedy. Such a pity, a sinner in the making.... Jessye smiled slightly, just to humor the little would-be monster. The child giggled, and chewed on its left hand, friendly batting around with the other hand. She reached out with a hand, and stroked the baby’s face. She liked that, tried to grab onto Jessye’s fingers so she could stick them in her mouth. She slowly pulled her hand away before her fingers were covered in baby spittle, and searched through one of the pockets in her dress. Out of it she pulled a small piece of cloth. It was soaked crimson, and it was still fresh. “This is my body, this is my blood...” She whispered it, didn’t want anyone to notice and stop her from saving the child from salvation. She slowly reached out again, and held it near the baby’s mouth. It reached out and lightly took the cloth from her hand. It liked the color, and the wet texture of it. Maybe it would taste good? The child sloppily shoved the blood-soaked cloth into her mouth... “...consume it and know that it purifies your soul, and is your salvation from Hell.” ...and swallowed it down. Finally, someone willing to be purified. At first, the baby’s face scrunched up as the taste of embittered iron played on her tongue, but that went away. Jessye kneeled, clasped her hands, bowed her head, and shut her eyes. “Holy Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with you...” Derek Galloway looked over from his lone table near the window left of the entrance, and saw the petite brunette in the blue dress kneel. Was she praying? Bah, Must’ve just been another religious nut. Hadn’t seen too many of them at such a young age, though... “...blessed are you amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus...” The owner of the shop didn’t even notice as he stepped off for a few seconds, and went through the backroom door behind the counter.... The engaged couple stopped exchanging sugar-coated nothings. Their gaze slowly turned from each other, to the girl silently praying to the baby. It was so strange... “...Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for our sinners...” Two of the waitresses stopped to look. The third one stepped out of the bathroom, drying off her hands with a paper towel, and was surprised at the silence and the stillness of it all. She stepped up to one of the others, and quietly asked what was wrong. The one she asked silently pointed to the petite girl in the blue dress. Why was she praying...? “...now and at the hour of our death...” The three college buddies wondered why it got even more quiet than it had been already. The other two questioned it to each other, whilst the other’s eyes scanned the room. They fell upon the girl. He tapped the shoulder of the friend sitting next to him, and signaled towards the girl and the baby upon catching his attention... The mother stepped out of the bathroom, and saw the petite girl.... “Amen.” She stepped up to Jessye. “May I ask what you’re doing, young lady?” Jessye looked up to the mother, opening her eyes. She smiled slightly, smiles were good for making people feel comfortable and safe. “I’m praying for her.” The mother didn’t say a word, just stood there, looking confusedly at the solemn girl. Jessye didn’t say any more words, she just got up, grabbed her milk, quickly drank it down, and left. She had already paid and left a tip. The mother looked to her child, who was silently laying back, eyes sparkling and small grin showing through. The mother looked closer.... The waitresses, the engaged couple, and the three friends long graduated from college all got up off their seats, and closed around the baby. They all looked, curious to see what made her so special. Sadly, they did not notice the rosy cheeks, or the sparkling eyes that could melt the heart of the hardiest hero.... What was that on the corner of her mouth? It looked red.... Derek Galloway got up off his seat, finally deciding to take a look. He pushed his way through the miniature crowd that had congregated around the baby, and saw the mother reach for the corner of the baby’s mouth.... What was that she was reaching for? It looked red.... Galloway reached past, and swiped it of with a single finger. Several pairs of eyes turned to him. “What do you think it is, Mr. Galloway?” He was a regular there, all the waitresses knew his name, and knew who he worked for. He ran it between two fingers, gave it a sniff, then lightly licked it to see what it might be.... It was very hard for him to hide his surprise at tasting iron tart, but he did it anyway. His eyes searched around the shop for a few seconds. He had to think of something quick, had to think of some excuse, he couldn’t tell the mother that it tasted like blood.... His eyes fell on the cookie platter right next to the seat the baby carrier was on, and reached over for a strawberry cookie. He gave it a bite after a quick sniff. He gave a satisfied smile. “Strawberry filling. Nice kid.” Everyone seemed to let out a sigh of relief. They all went back to their seats or jobs, though the discussion following was hushed and quiet. The mother shook Galloway’s hand for some reason, took her baby out of the carrier, and rocked her back and forth silently.... Galloway frowned. He had already paid for his coffee. One of the waitresses said good-bye as he left, trying to make it look like he wasn’t in a hurry, and doing very good at it. Only when he was out of eyeshot of the shop’s patrons did he subconsciously count how many bullets he had left in his sidearm. He fished around for change in his pocket, pulled out a quarter, a dime, and five nickels, and stepped into a phone booth. He inserted the change, and dialed up the Khazan Police Department switchboard. “Operator, how may I help you?” “Morning, this is Derek Galloway, hook me up with Precinct 21.” “Anyone in particular, sir?” “Yeah, Sergeant Corzucan, if he’s free....” “Right away, sir. Please hold....” Written by Ren Start - 05/09/2002 End - Within twenty minutes. “She, the poor child born of insanity, she will die of insanity; and there’s nothing I can do about it....” |
The C. Force © 1996-2002 Matt Laskowski --- The R. Force and other assorted crap © 1995-2002 Ren