Knock Knock {Michael, Melissa}

[Father Dantes]

When Dantes came to, he was laying on the floor of a small church in Italy. It was a tiny family chapel on his family's large estate. He groaned and struggled to sit up. He took inventory of his injuries, which had begun slowly healing. He was covered in cuts and scrapes from the Cougar's claws. He also was burned across his shoulders and back from his jacket igniting. His face was also pretty much mangled from where it hit the alley floor after his expulsion from the window. He whispered a prayer of thanks that he was able to make it to his present location before passing out again.

After a few weeks of simply healing, Dantes was almost ready to return to New York. He had spent his time in Italy in reflection. After his encounter in the forest outside the city with an "angel" and his recent defeat by the Light Witch he was beginning to reconsider his purpose in life. He spent his days pondering scripture, and came to the realization that he should be using his power only to punish the wicked....and only those that were wicked. His targeting of all shifters was...wrong...it was a mistake..and yet how could his sire have been wrong? Dantes struggled with the realization that he had murdered...Thou shalt not kill...he had broken the commandment. He was going to have to earn his way back into God's good graces by dispatching only those that deserved it.

Armed with a renewed Purpose, Dantes decided it was time to make his return. He had changed his clothing a bit, and replaced his jacket. Now though, under the jacket he wore the vestments of a Roman Catholic priest. The guns were still there, but the massive sword was no where to be seen at present. He knew that those he had battled with belonged to an organization called Single Earth, and that seemed like the logical place to start on his path to redemption. He closed his eyes, and returned to New York.

He found the Single Earth center in Ramsa easily enough. It seemed like a good enough place to start. And he thought he could sense the Cougar, but was unsure if she was actually there or if it was just his conscience. With the tiniest amount of fear, he approached the door. Hesitantly he lifted his hand and knocked....and waited...who knew what could be on the other side of that door....

[Melissa Arthur]

Melissa actually wasn't a daily face at the Ramsa Single Earth center, but she had enough business there on a regular basis that it really wasn't all that surprising to see her there.  She actually happened to be on her way out, right after joking with Michael over something unimportant, when the knock came at the door.

She personally thought it was strange that someone was knocking, since the center was open to the public, but it wasn't much of a big deal.  Opening the door to see Dantes was.

The cougar froze, staring at him in absolute horror, but only for an instant before she'd dropped the bag she'd had hanging from her shoulder and backpedaled a few feet, right into an amateur sort of defensive stance.  If she was going to fight, she was going to shift, but she wanted to get something else out of the way first.

"MICHAEL!!!" she shrieked, and there, it was out of the way.  As soon as Dantes moved, she was shifting.

[Michael Light]

"Yeah, well I think if y---" he'd been saying, absently mostly, with his back turned to her. He'd somehow gotten roped into accompanying her to do research, and hadn't actually done much but antagonize her comically up until that very moment. She was still a little shaken by what had happened, though outwardly it didn't show much, and Michael understood, and wordlessly shadowed her when she requested it. This time, he suspected he was actually supposed to be carrying books, which was fine - he could bench press a truck, why not a few books?

That was, of course, until she shrieked his name.

He was moving in front of her with terrifying speed as Dantes' appearance filled his vision. The vampire prepared to give him a psionic blast to outerspace to go chill with creepy Sam Neil and the Event Horizon, but he hesitated for only a moment, which gave him enough time to say, "Are you SERIOUS?" to Dantes.

[Father Dantes]

Father Dantes bowed his head as she screamed. He knew that coming here, and doing what he must do would not be easy. But Dantes was bound and determined to finish what he had started. He clasped his hands together and kept his head bowed, looking every bit like a priest. He had even made sure to wear a freshly starched white collar. He was rubbing his black rosary nervously in his hands. Being with out his sword made him very nervous. But what ever happened here this day would be the will of God.
He raised his face slightly to meet that angered glare of Michael Light. But Dantes spoke softly.

"Yes...I am serious. The Lord has called me to follow a very strange and difficult path, one very different then your own. I am....I am.....I am sorry for the actions I took against you and the young woman there. I was out of control, and perhaps out of the Lord's best graces at that point. I have come to beg youy forgiveness."

With that being said, Dantes once again bowed his head and just stood waiting. If Light lashed out, Dantes was simply going to take as much abuse as he could, then teleport, to demonstrate the lesson of turning the other cheeck.

[Melissa Arthur]

What the hell was he talking about?  He was there to beg forgiveness?  What was the deal?  He had to be insane!

But of course.  He was insane.  That's why he'd attacked them and knocked her through walls, a ceiling and windows, after shooting her.  All to kill a few young girls.  He was insane, and now he was trying some other freaky trick.  She didn't know what to do.

She looked at Michael nervously, glad to have him around.  She had a feeling that this would go so much worse without him, on her end, at least.  She didn't want to face this psycho alone.  "Different is right," she murmured, but she kept it low.  They'd both probably still hear it, but she wasn't going to openly antagonize the vampire.

[Michael Light]

"Wut." Michael couldn't actually manage anymore of a reply than that - he just stared blankly at Dantes, before dipping into his mind to see if he was lying. He raised a brow and looked back at Melissa. "I think he's telling the truth, dear," he said. It still didn't mean he was going to let him in, though. Instead he stepped forward, edging Dantes into the hall, and shut the door behind him with a click, leaving Melissa in the office - moreso because if he DID suddenly flip out, she'd be safe, but also because if she didn't want to deal with it, she simply didn't have to listen.

"Listen," he said. "I'm only going to say this once." He looked Dantes directly in the eye. "Whatever brand of crazy you're selling, I'm not buying it. You threw my friend through a window after shooting her several times, and then after I singe your asshairs, you're suddenly 'right with God'? Have you been eating those psychotropic berries that grow on Mayhem? Seriously?" he demanded.

[Father Dantes]

Why must people doubt the Lord so? Dantes had been healed by the grace of God, and had his path reaffirmed yet slightly altered by Divine Grace. He was guilty of the offenses named by Light, but he had repented those sins unto the Lord, and was now following the correct path in begging forgiveness from those he had wronged. If the could or would not grant it...well then that was between them and God. Dantes would be absolved fully just by asking their forgiveness, and that was what he sought.

"I can't make you believe in the grace of our Blessed Father..if you chose not to forgive then that is on your soul, not mine. I have told you that God called me to a strange and difficult past. I was a priest in my mortal life, and cleansing the world of sin and wickedness was always my dream. A chance encounter granted me this Angelic power to do just that, but I was slightly misguided and lead to believe that shifters were demonic creatures that had to be wiped out. An angel appeared to me some time ago and told me that I was mistaken, and after out encounter...and the time I spent healing in my childhood home, I have realized that I made some errors, but the Lord has forgiven me, and I am asking your forgiveness for the good of all of us...holding malice in your heart is a terrible burden."

Dantes once again slightly bowed his head and waited for the witch's reply. He had no idea what Mayhem was or about the berries, but he knew sarcasm when he heard it and hoped that perhaps the Holy Spirit would manifest itself and move the man before him.

[Michael Light]

"Oh, for fuck sake," he exclaimed. "Melissa?" he said, turning to look at her, a brow raised. It was up to her whether or not he was going to set him on fire, but either way, Michael had zero patience for this guy. He figured if Melissa said she didn't want him to die lyke nao, Michael supposed he could take him to someone who would be slightly more... receptive. Like Violet.

He awaited her answer patiently, still itching to smash Dantes' face in. He was dimly aware he shouldn't care so much about the situation, but he couldn't help it. He had a little crush on Melissa. Just a litttle one.

[Melissa Arthur]

Melissa's thought processes probably would have died right then and there if she could have heard Michael admit that he had a 'little' crush on her, but fortunately (or unfortunately, since she really didn't want to be here), she couldn't.  Being left behind while Michael moved the conversation out of the room she was in wasn't quite what she'd had in mind, though she didn't rip the door back open to 'be involved'.  She just listened through the door, wondering what the hell was going on with that freak.

Psychotropic berries?  That sounded about right. 

Obviously, Michael had heard her move to the door, since he said her name a moment later, and she opened the door enough to peek out.  It wasn't like the door would do that much to protect her from the crazy guy, but it was there, and that was all that mattered on that subject.  She turned wide blue eyes on Michael, trying to gather exactly what he expected her to say.  Did he WANT her to forgive Dantes?  No, it definitely didn't sound like it.  She wished she could just tell him to burn the psycho to a crisp without feeling bad, and something told her that she SHOULD say that.  How many people had Dantes killed?  How many WOULD he kill?  She didn't really think she believed that this 'change of heart' he'd had was going to last.  She never wanted to be anywhere near him again, though.

He'd given her nightmares.  With all the things she saw and heard all the time, she hadn't had nightmares in a very long time.  She knew that she didn't see the worst of it, but she heard horrible things from victims who'd been 'rescued', even though some of them didn't think they were any better off, or safer.  She hadn't had nightmares in so long, and Dantes had completely destroyed that for her.  He'd scared her, deeper than she wanted to admit.  Now, he wanted to make friends.

"Michael..." she started, giving him an unpleasant look, though nothing like she blamed him.  Just, something to mirror the unhappy-worried-borderline scared feelings she had.  "I don't really want to be anywhere near him.  As long as he goes away, I don't care what happens to him," she finally told him quietly, but honestly.  He could go peacefully, or Michael could chase him off.  She was normally more forgiving, but this wasn't a normal situation.  He'd shot her, the first time she'd ever been shot, and then beat the living hell out of her.  If she'd been human, she would have died.  That wasn't something that was easily forgiven.

[Father Dantes]

Dantes stood there before the pair. He knew that they would probably not forgive him. But he would be absolved by seeking forgiveness, they would have to deal with their own burdens. Dantes lingered for a moment, wishing to do something that would prove to them that he had really had another connection with his Lord.  He bowed his head, and stepped back several paces.

"I leave you in peace then, I am sorry for the pain I have caused you. Please...search your heart and look for the grace that will allow you to forgive. That burden will become heavy if you carry it long enough. I am truly sincerely sorry for what I did. I was in error...I was...confused, but my path is straight now and my heart is light...please, seek the Lord."

Father Dantes reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of weathered Rosary Beads he had picked up in the old chapel of his childhood. They were of similar design as the black set hanging on his wrist. He crossed himself and then sat the Rosary beads on the small table by the door. Perhaps they would take them or they would leave them, but Dantes meant them as a blessing and a token of remorse to those he had wronged. After placing the beads on the table he once again bowed his head.

"God Bless you...and watch over you"

Then he took a couple more paces back, and vanished. He was off to contemplate his new found peace, and perhaps judge a sinner....