Storymania - Habakkuk Saints by Dee Arguera

Habakkuk Saints (7)
Dee Arguera

" Elohim. He won’t believe you."

" About what?"

" About you being well enough to go back to your duty." The man gave him a
fake smile and walked back to his post, nodding good day to another cleric who came out.

Job stared at him. He knew that wasn’t what the man had wanted to say. It
wasn’t Elohim he was fooling. Elohim himself wouldn’t come all the way to where
he lived to sneak into his room. Whoever had been in his room was not Elohim. Whoever was
in his room was the one the sentry was quietly warning him about. But not to save him.

To humiliate him.

The day was bright. There was irregular commotion at the Role Administers. Job walked
through the double doors and the guards that were checking people on their way in. As a
Prestige Cleric, he was able to walk by and not waste his time with unnecessary security
screens.

A few clerics who knew him for his fame said good-morning to him and wished him to get
well soon. Job walked down the halls with a fake smile plastered on. Ezra kept his
distance from his master the way he was supposed to. He followed him down the halls and
past rooms. Clerics of all ranks passed them by.

" Job?"

Job stopped and turned to see Christian looking at him, surprised. He was holding a
folder and was standing in the middle of the hall. " Good morning, Christian."

" What are you doing here? Your day back was supposed to be in three more
days."

" I know. But I was feeling better and decided to come. I have nothing else to do
at home."

Christian hoped the face he made didn’t give away what he thought of the remark.

" Well," he said. " There’s nothing scheduled for you, but I guess
you can stay. I have to go read these files," he said, motioning to the folder.
" I’ll see you when I get the information."

Job nodded and watched him walk off.

" Cleric Job Savone?"

He turned to see a cleric he had seen before but had never spoken with. "
Yes?" he asked, trying to remember who the man was.

The cleric stepped to him and held out his hand, smiling. " I’m Cleric Jude
Mason. I know you probably haven’t heard of me, but I’ve definitely heard of you."

Job shook the man’s hand, still not sure of who he was. But he smiled anyway.

" Sure. What can I do for you?"

" Well, nothing. But I heard you got hurt with a nodachi when you were trying to
do a haul."

" Right."

" Where is the wound?"

Job touched his chest lightly, near his heart. He felt the bandage he had on press on
his wound slightly and he winced. The flesh was raw and still oozed blood once in a while,
but he had treated it everyday and it was getting better. Still, any slight movement on or
near the tender flesh hurt.

" Is it big?" Jude asked, putting his hands on his waist and looking at Job
with a serious look.

" Yeah. It comes from my shoulder to a little over my belly button." He
traced the scar for Jude to see.

Jude nodded. " Gonna have the reminder for a while, huh?"

" Probably. I got creams and sprays for it, but the wound’s too deep to go
away completely."

" Pretty fatal spot where you got it. Wonder you didn’t die from it."

Job nodded, looking down at his chest and laying a hand on the wound lightly.

" Yeah. I got rushed to the nursing wing pretty fast, though, so that helped. But
if I hadn’t, I don’t think I could be here."

" Lost a lot of blood, did you?"

" Still do. But I’m hanging on, thank-" He caught himself before he said
it and looked at Jude. The young man was looking at him curiously. " Thank the
doctors," he finished quickly.

Jude nodded slowly. " Sure. You being a Prestige Cleric, I doubt you would’ve
been put on hold. I mean, who wants to be responsible for the death of one of the youngest
and most famous clerics in all the history of The System?"

Job was uncomfortable, now. He didn’t like it when people brought up his
reputation as best cleric. He felt like Elohim’s pet and wasn’t so happy to be
reminded of all the bad things he had done before he became Catholic. So he just said,
" Yeah, I guess. But it also had to do with the fact that I was mauled by a
pilate."

Jude seemed speechless for a moment. A funny look spread across his face and he said
slowly, " A pilate?"

" Yes." Job frowned. " What’s wrong?"

" Well, nothing," Jude said quickly. " Just that... well, I heard rumors
that a cleric wounded you."

Job locked his jaws. Just being reminded of what he was so afraid of made his skin
tingle. He avoided Jude’s eyes and murmured, " Just rumors. Don’t believe
them."

Jude looked at Job’s downcast face for a moment. " Sure," he finally
said.

All around them ,meanwhile, clerics had been passing by, going around them in the
narrow hall. Now, they heard a rise in the noise at the end of the hall, and a loud voice
said, " Get out of the way! Make way! I’ll have you all under my sword if you
don’t move!"

Job looked up sharply at the voice. He recognized it, and pretty soon, Carey pushed his
way through a mob of clerics who were snapping and jeering at the person he was dragging.
Through a break in the crowd, Job caught a glimpse of the black robe and the frail body
and his throat squeezed over a cry of anguish.

Chapter XI

Job was frozen in place as Carey came nearer to where he and Jude were still standing.
He made no move, but Jude walked forward and assisted Carey in making way. Carey was busy
pushing the man in front of him and didn’t notice Job until they were face to face.

He looked up, surprised. " Cleric Savone?" he said in a polite manner that
was a far cry from the friendly tone they had used a few days before. " I thought you
were still on medical leave?"

Job stared at the man he had been dragging and was out of it for a moment. But then he
heard Jude yell, " Get the fuck away! He’s trying to get through, you
fags!"

A few clerics pushed past him and Job snapped out of it. He looked at Carey and the
worried look in his face that told him not to mess up. " Yes, I was on leave,"
he said, fixing his composure and seeming as if the quiet man Carey had a hold of was not
there.

" But I decided it was time for me to get back to work."

Carey forced a smile. " Right. Nothing like catching them, huh?" He scuffed
the man, holding him by the collar. " Like this one."

" Is this one on our division?"

" Yes. I notified Christian. I didn’t know you were back, or I would have
told you, too."

" I’ll go with you. I think Christian’s in the Cell Room." Legs
trembling, he turned to get Jude’s attention. " Cleric?" FACE="Vivaldi">

Jude turned from his job of pushing people away from them. " What?" he asked,
nastily.

" I have to leave," Job said, not at all liking him now. " I’ll see
you later."

Jude smiled at him. " Okay, sure. Later."

Job glanced at Carey, who gave him a sympathetic look. He crouched down and took
Ezra’s face in his hands. The dog pulled away, but he forced him to look at him.
" Go to my office, Ezra," he commanded slowly. He watched the dog and saw his
ears prick. He stood up and then followed him down the hall, behind the man Carey was
dragging. He was a young priest, by the look of his tattered robes. He had a rosary
wrapped around his left hand and Job was now aware the man was murmuring something under
his breath. He had been doing so the whole time he had been with Carey. He was handsome,
with soft brown eyes and rosy lips. His eyebrows were curved and his cheekbones jutted
with grace. He looked like what Job would think was an angel. And yet, he was being
dragged roughly behind Carey. Job wanted to call out to him. To ask him if he was indeed
acting because this seemed too harsh for him.

Carey led them both down a more abandoned hallway that was in access only to the top
clerics and their Cellers. Carey was not only Celler to Job and Christian, but also to
five more pairs of clerics. He reported directly to Job because Job was Prestige and
almost everyone reported to him.

They all walked down the hall to the only room that was there. It was white and had
white furniture. There was nothing on the walls and there were chairs around the big
meeting table in the middle of the room. One of the chairs had straps on it and to this
one Carey guided the priest. Job closed the steel door behind them and stood far off.

As soon as the door closed, Carey let go of the young man and helped him fix his robes.
" Sorry for that," he said sincerely. " But there were a lot of clerics
around. They didn’t hurt you, did they?"

The young man shook his head. To Job, he seemed as if he were in a daze. He fixed his
robes and then sat down in the chair with the straps. He then looked up at Carey with baby
eyes and said, " This is where I’m supposed to sit, no?"

Carey glanced at Job and Job could now see how hard this was for him. He turned to the
young priest and said, " Yes. Well, this is where they think you should sit.
Not us."

The young man now turned to Job. His eyes burned into Job’s body and he felt he
should confess to this man all the evil he had done. There was something about this man
that made him feel the fervor of God.

The young man smiled at him slowly. " I guess you agree with him if you
haven’t raised Hell."

Job walked slowly into the room. He was breathing hard and his body felt like it had
lost all of its energy. He sank into a chair across from the man and just stared at
him. Then, finally, he said in a hushed whisper, " God’s going to damn us if we
kill you."

The priest glanced at Carey. Then he turned back to Job with soft eyes. "
You’re the one who’s helping us, aren’t you?"

Job dropped his eyes and looked at his hands on his lap. Tears were threatening in his
eyes and he blinked to fight them back. " Yes," he said.

" Then He won’t damn you. He won’t damn anyone who kills to save His
glory. He won’t damn you, or Carey, or any of the other clerics who changed sides and
die a thousand times over every day because they have to do what they don’t want
to." He raised his eyes to the ceiling. " I have nothing to regret. I asked the
Pope to let me help. And if helping means being killed unjustly, so be it. I’ll
distract them." He now looked at Job right in the eye. " I distract them, you
slip into their control room." He flashed him a big smile.

That made Job erupt in tears. He doubled up and cried into his arm. He cried silently.
He couldn’t believe he was going to kill an innocent man for no reason. And worse,
every kill he made until he was able to complete his part of the plan, they all were
another point for the wrong side. He was helping the wrong people get what they wanted. He
was doing things he had no soul for and he was dying slowly for it all.

" Job."

Carey’s voice sounded distant and hollow. It rang in his ears like a bell. He
couldn’t distinguish what was being said because there was a roar that went through
his whole body in waves. It screamed inside of him and pushed to get out. But he
couldn’t let it go, no matter how hard he pushed. It was clawing at his skin and
ripping him apart from the inside out, burning his flesh and gnawing his heart.

Then he felt a hand laid gently on his shoulder and he felt the immediate cooling
sensation. The fire in his body cooled over slowly, and he heard the priest say, " I
raped a boy. I lured him to an empty chapel and touched him everywhere. He was ten and I
was his lover. Then his mother found out, and that’s what I’m here for."

When Job looked up, the man was walking back to his strapped chair. He watched Carey
slowly strap his arms to the handles and tighten a belt around his waist. The priest
closed his eyes through this and stayed still, not making a sound. His strong jaw moved
with the way he was moving his lips in prayer.

" No you didn’t."

The bitter words resounded throughout the room. It echoed against the plain white
walls. Carey and the man looked as if they hadn’t heard him, but he said louder,
getting up, " No, you didn’t!"

This time, Carey looked at him. He tightened the collar on the priest’s neck and
then backed up, eyes on Job.

Job walked quickly over to the priest in a hurry and frantically began pulling off the
straps, his fingers fumbling. " Come on. If we hurry up, we can get you out. If I
take you, no one will question why you’re leaving. They don’t have the guts to
question me. I’ll take you to The City and the Pope can put you in hiding. No one
will find you. I’ll get your record and burn it myself and then -"

" Job."

" Shut the fuck up and help me get the damn straps off!" he yelled sharply.

Carey didn’t move. " Job," he said again, as if he were speaking to a
child that one had to be patient with. " Get away from him. Christian and the
accusers will be here soon for his hearing."

Job ignored him. With trembling fingers, he grabbed at the buckles and pulled, not
really knowing what to do or how to do it. " They won’t find him here.
They’re lying ticks. They don’t have proof and he’s innocent." He
suddenly thought of something and stopped to look down at the face of the priest, whose
eyes were still closed. " You’re going to say you did it so I can get the credit
for killing you, aren’t you? You’re doing this so everyone keeps on thinking
I’m the tough cleric and they won’t be suspicious of me, right? But you’re
innocent. This bitch who’s coming to accuse you- you’ve never met her or her
son, have you?" He suddenly got angry and shook him, hard. " You’re
fuckin’ innocent, aren’t you? You bastard, tell me! Tell me and I can help
you!"

Carey rushed at him and pulled on his hands, but Job’s rage was stronger. "
Job, stop it! Get a hold of yourself! They’re going to be here and you need to be the
one of before, the one who tricked prisoners into false confessions!"

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