"Hello Father Nigel." I almost purred at the clergyman as he approaches me. It's just too much fun watching his face twist slightly in disgust when he sees me in my red suit.
"Hell Asylum. I was beginning to believe you had finally moved on." For a man in his mid sixties Father Nigel Azi Jayes is certainly not lacking a spine. He locked his eyes with mine as he spoke and then reached out and knocked my feet down from the back of the pew I had been resting them on. "You will show
Him
some respect while you are in his house." Such audacity from a hairless ape deserves something in return but I can only manage an amused half smile as I rise to my full six and a half feet. "Do I have to ask why you're here?"
Nigel isn't a by any means a small man. Age may have robbed him of some of his strength but he was nearly eye to eye with me and I was the one who finally took a step away. "You don't have to ask." I took a deep breath and canted my head slightly. "Of course that gets rid of me and if there is anything that being thousands of years old breeds it's patience. Besides I thought we were friends now you and I."
The idea of us being friends had the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end but there was something beneath the anger. It was only a hint of a shade but there were doubts clouding his mind and that was enough to get turn my half smile into a full on smirk. "Why are you here Asylum?"
"Let's make ourselves a bit more comfortable. I even brought you a gift." Reaching into my coat with one hand I pulled out a small bottle of Jack Daniels out and offered it up to him. Of course I knew he wouldn't take it. We were still years away from him accepting anything from one of our kind but it was still fun to tease him. "You don't mind if I do?"
Try as he might Nigel couldn't quite stop himself from glowering as I unscrewed the top and motioned towards his office. Still he accepted my gracious invitation and even opened the door for me. He's such a gentleman. "Now what is it? I'd like to get home to my wife and son."
"Isn't that touching?" It's hard not to mock him when he starts in on his family. He wouldn't even have a wife if I hadn't seen fit to step in and cure her cancer. You'd think that something as simple as thank you wouldn't be above him. I had considered a putting her back just like I found her, wasting away as tumors grew over her ovaries. If I live to see another ice age I might not know why I didn't.
"You didn't come here to talk about my family did you?" Nigel asked as he rounded his enormous oak desk and took a seat opposite me. "Because-"
"Because that's the one thing you and I don't discuss." I drawled before taking a long pull from the bottle. "I can see you're bored though so let me cut to the chase. First I have to admit Nikki and Marie are both very impressive women. You were right, they don't seem to be breaking." He always does his best to keep his feelings under wrap but from an empath like myself he may as well attempt to hide with a glow in the dark jacket. "The real surprise though is about Mike."
I waited for a moment while he tried to mentally sort through his entire flock. There were only a few dozen, that's part of why I chose the Church of Cross and Crown. Unlike so many so called pastors Father Jayes had a genuine connection with his congregation. He knew their names and their dreams. When one of them was going through a rough time he was the one they trusted with their personal problems.
"What have you done?"